Mulligatawny, French wine, and a Grollis post from Hollis.

Hello, everyone!

I feel very content this October evening.  I am sitting at our dining room table (formerly the Jones’ kitchen table), having a break from dinner preparations.  Looking up, I can see the lights shining from other people’s apartments through the dining room window.  The sliding door facing out toward the Thames presents a very dark, very solid view.  My music sounds good, the kitchen smells delicious.  Greg is still at work – he finishes at 8:30.  It’s been a bit lonely with him working this shift.  He started out working 9-5:30, which allowed us to eat dinner together – something I think both of us really enjoy.  My dinners without him are…..nutritional…but much less inspired.  I’ve discovered something very exciting (and which I feel a little strange admitting, having previously held such a firm negative  opinion about the matter): I enjoy cooking!  This realization follows directly from another discovery: there are many styles of food preparation.  I am still not sold on all forms of cookery, but I really love making things like stews and soups which allow me to take my time, listen to music, have a glass of wine…the high-paced, demanding style of cooking necessary for stir-fry, for example, remains a formidable, ugly enemy.

 Anyhow, tonight’s dinner is soup.  Mulligatawny.  I had to improvise a wee bit (macintosh apples instead of granny smiths, chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts).  I just had a small sample – tastes pretty darn delicious, if I may say so.  Except I put in way too much parsley.  It’s actually pretty repulsive looking – I’ve been trying to skim it off the surface (thank goodness parsley floats).  Why do recipes call for parsley, anyhow?  Is it just me, or does parsley completely lack taste and/or flavour?  Perhaps I am commiting a serious cooking faux-pas by snubbing parsley? Perhaps my underdeveloped taste buds lack the discerning character required to appreciate the wonderfully elitist qualities of parsley?  Ohhh, I am rambling.  I’ll tell you what I do appreciate…and am currently appreciating….delicious, velvety French wine.  We opened our bottle from Mary Beth last night to enjoy with our fawn heart.  Mmm, heart.  I sincerely apologize to those of you who feel adverse toward eating the vital organs of small, adorable animals.  Believe me, if I think about it too much, I too experience the horror and disgust you are now feeling.  But if you could taste it without knowing what it was….ohhhh, you have no idea.  And isn’t it more humane to “use” as much of the animal as you can?  Isn’t it worse to think of eating cows and chickens who spend their whole sad existences in meat factories??  Rambling.  I am rambling.

So, school is going very well.  I am enjoying being a student of library science.  (I met a grad student taking “neuro” the other day on the bus – felt a little silly when she asked me what I was studying and I had to call it library “science”.)  My classmates are fun, my assignments are (for the most part) practical and applicable to real life (whatever that may be).  Plus, I get cool discounts all over campus because I’m a grad student.  Western has a beautiful campus.  Lots of trees and black squirrels.  Squirrels here in London are a reasonable size – some of those grey beasties in Niagara are positively alarming.

I miss home and friends.  I miss having coffee (or tea, in my case) with my brothers and sister in the morning.  I miss coming home to Mumma cooking dinner, or working at the computer, or around the house.  I miss (I can’t believe I am actually writing this down) being woken up by Dad in the morning.  I miss Hunter.  I miss being able to call up friends and meet for lunch, or for a movie date.  When we were home for Thanksgiving, I could hear the QEW as I fell asleep at the Jones’ – I realized that I miss hearing it at night.  But these are all good feelings!  I miss all of these things in a good way.  I am so, so happy to be living with Greg, and to have our own little apartment (complete with all of our silly decorations).  I like London.  It’s a very pretty, very active city.  I miss Lake Ontario….but I love the Thames.  School’s busy, family and friends are kind of far, but I am very, very happy.

Rambling.

So, anyhow, there’s my update.  Soup is ready.  Table needs to be set.  Now that Gregory has spiffed up grollis.ca (looks pretty awesome, eh?), I’ll try to post with some kind of regularity.  Hope you are healthy and happy!