Thursday morning dawned sort of cloudy and rainy looking. The forecast was iffy so we didn’t plan anything too involved. Some of the folks went to the beach after the sun did come out. But a little while later I looked up from my keyboard and it was pouring down rain with rain lashing against the sliding glass doors in the kitchen. I had used the morning and on into the afternoon as it turned out, to catch up on my writing and manage posting some photos to the web. Miss Vickie disappeared early in the morning to the beach, and never returned even through the rainstorm. She spent the day in pursuit of sharks’ teeth. She was rewarded for her day of labor with some prize finds.
Miss Vickie reported her day on the beach was interesting. There were not a lot of people on the beach because of the poor weather, but the folks who were there wanted to know what she was looking for. She became the “shark’s tooth guru” teaching everyone what to look for and helping them.
Thursday night we were having Ragu Bolognese ala Wes III. Yours truly had started around 11:00 AM (assisted by daughter Aylea) to prepare my well-tested pasta recipe. I even brought my Lodge cast iron Dutch oven all the way there since I feel it is a necessity. (if you are driving—flying is a different story) Aylea and I chopped, sautéed, browned, deglazed, crushed, simmered and stirred. I had even brought San Marzano tomatoes from my stock at home. When all was properly combined it went into a 225º convection oven for the rest of the afternoon.
I retired to the kitchen table, with a view of the beach and waves rolling in, to capture some of the events of the week. Folks came and went, shopping, eating, beaching, playing guitar hero, just regular daily stuff for a sort of off and on rainy day at the beach. It was a nice day of respite in some ways. You can’t ask for a better “writers perch” than overlooking the ocean, with a happy family surrounding you, and dinner from your own hands slowly simmering in the oven.
Sometime during the day, my son discovered the house we were renting had a hidden elevator. He was looking at the breaker box (like nosy engineers often do) and noticed a breaker labeled elevator. Once he did it was obvious there was a locked door, all in alignment, on each floor. On their own they appeared to be just locked “owners closets” but when taken as a whole they spelled elevator. Me being a half cripple, it was a little disappointing that the owners of this particular house chose to let me struggle up and down four flights of stairs all the time when I could have ridden. Just a word to the wary, if you rent a 3 or 4 floor beach house with kitchen and gathering area on the top floor, be sure to ask if it comes with an elevator and if that elevator is only for the privileged.
As everyone started gathering for dinner, I made some Yoder’s cole slaw and got some Barilla Plus pasta ready to boil. I am partial to Barilla Plus spaghetti with my Bolognese and what’s even better is it is good for you. Tom and Marain had made the trip to Myrtle Beach for the day and called to see if we needed anything. I ordered up some crusty chewy bread to go with dinner and everything came together nicely.
The food must have been ok cause it got snarffled up with just a few leftovers. Anyone who would like the recipe let me know. It’s somewhat laborious to make, but rewarding in the finish. While I was finishing up dinner Miss Vickie returned from the beach and cooked up a massive tray of her famous peach Jello shots. These went into the refrigerator for later appreciation.
After dinner, we got out the Rummy Cube game. It is one of the few games I can really play. (I’ve just never taken the time to learn a lot of the others, sorry kids) We had a bunch of spirited players, and half way through Miss Vickie passed around the tray of her special libations. We played and talked and sparred until everyone succumbed to the call of the bed. The whole day was wonderful.
More later,
Wes
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