whew!!! what a couple of weekends. for the first one, i had plans. yet i was broke - or as H (my manny, more about that later...) likes to put it, temporarily out of cash. luckily, eyes were wide open going into the weekend, so a biatch knew to economize. the thought was to clean my way through my broke weekend. i had some allies on my quest for wind/water perfection: google, of course.... for weeks/months/years i had been lusting over recipes for homemade laundry detergent. (don't you hate it when, already cash-poor, you go to the store to get stuff to wash your clothes w/& EVERYTHING is $20? for a combined total of $75 - for some damn laundry? (& i would consistently think to myself, 'it's just not sposed to be like this. really. it's... not.' whatever happened to 'wash your ass!!! water is free & soap is cheap!'?... gone... the way of the bison... which is really so delicious - k! i'm rambling.)
thank goddess my grrrrl the lovely & aforementioned SHM/mamasutra needed help w/childcare overnight; a visitor is good to keep nashira occupied, especially her BFF, W.nashira was thrilled. & b/c of it, this weekend, while W's mom, mamasutra taught me the true myth of medusa (the so-called ugliness is a contortion of features resulting from profound embarrassment & an inability to complete the molting process from which a goddess is created; leading to - & leaving us with - a goddess yet unevolved; frozen in time; interrupted), nashira & her best friend W taught me about friendship.
the cutest tings ever!!! (yes... sigh, i mean to leave the 'h' out of tings...)
best outtakes:
first, upon meeting nashira, (years ago, when she was a little grrrrl, as nashira puts it @ the ripe old age of 4) W stared dead in her eyes & was like, "you look like my thister!" & let me break it down real quick like: that was when she stole my soul, right along w/nashira's. among the magical tings about W:
W asks for water... (& i just love that about her. no dairy, NO sugar, no nothing; such a healer. W, unlike my daughter the baby-rexic, LOVES. FOOD.)
they tend to exchange wild-eyed looks over the theme song to such goodies as Angelina The (rat - why are they all rats & pigs??? from minnie mouse to olivia - i just... don't get it.) Ballerina.
they compose arcane songs like: "somebody is looking @ my yoni", "somebody is looking @ my lingam", & nashira's favorite: "somebody is looking @ my poo-poo". yes, yes yes & more yes. (i KNEW i'd watched far too many Chappelle Show reruns when i was pregnant.)
& of course last, but, never least, sigh, who could ever forget the epic, "you have a yoni like me!"
the abuses were relentless, joyful & hilar.
@ some point while i was running a bath for them, i was blindsided by the two of them barreling toward me in a frenzy of giggly profanity:
nashira & W: "nipple nipple nipple!!!" (screeches, the two of them convinced that they are shocking me to pieces.)
me: "yeah yeah yeah nipple nipple... lemme get y'all's crackers... y'all want cheese too, or is this dry?"
nashira & W: "somebody's looking @ it though!!!" laughter in peals.
me: "that person is... me... are y'all bathing, or what???"
heh-heh.
negrettes please!!! when i was nashira's age, my mother - the pistol - furnished me w/an anatomically correct pop-up book about Where Babies Come From; so don't try to phase me ladies. i can't be phased.
W is a self proclaimed stylist (yasssss hunty, she is 4 not 40) & dresses nashira in fabulous, feather/sequin/spike festooned fantasies. nashira would give W the bedazzled tutu off her back.
"aw!!!" they (ritually) exclaim @ each other, "you look so cute!!!"
i can't.
a word about W's mom, SHM: yogini/rootswoman/midwife??? she is oya's daughter, a fierce air element (& PLEASE. please? believe that air cuts. in the tarot deck, air is represented by SWORDS.) fairie/warrior, & i have always loved/been awed by her, (in fact, you know the color of perfectly cooked cornbread? that perfect honey/gold/brown? holding her (((absolutely GORGEOUS.))) son in my arms when he was an infant, it came to me that his spiritual name was 'Cornbread-Earl-&-Me'... his mom rarely comments when i affirm this to her... hm.) & our meetings have always been epic. right now, she is putting my green/kitchen/witchery to shame, do you hear me? in her L.E.S. palace, the shelves of her lovely earthy kitchen are lined w/healing herbs. she teaches kundalini in her living room. & both Cornbread-Earl-&-Me & W kiss nashira on both sides of her cheeks, when we visit. i could go on, but then this post would really end up just being a love letter to my sis & her cubs... & i don't even know if she is aware of my poetic waxings - she's as busy as me! point being: it was a must that, broke or not, the red carpet be rolled out for W's weekend stay:
Tuna Casserole:
preheat oven to 375
1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil
1/2 cup diced vidallia onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced cremini mushrooms (rich, brown, baby portabella - once you have gone cremini, there is no other)
*saute the divine trio w/the butter, then set aside*
*1/2 # butter, melted, to which 4 oz flour have been added. cook till lightly toasted, & add
2 cups milk - this is a simple bechamel.*
Freshly ground black pepper
2 (6-ounce) cans tuna packed in water, undrained or *1 pound of fresh tuna, cut into chunks, marianted in lemon/garlic then seared to opaque*
1cup buttered bread crumbs
*1 lb.fusilli, cooked al dente*
2 cups grated white cheddar
2 eggs, whisked
add to your cooked noodles, all other ingredients save 1/4 the cheese &the breadcrumbs
once the total mixture is loaded into a grease baking dish, sprinkle the reserved cheese & breadcrumbs on top, & bake for 45 min to 1 hr - till bubbly around sides/toasty on top
...while all of this was going on, i was rockin out on the laundry! after studying a few recipes & combining them, this seemed to be the one that drew from the best of all parts:
laundry detergent:
8 oz. soap, octagon, castille, ivory for children's clothes... grated
1 box washing soda
1/2 box borax
combine all well. scoop out 2 cups of the mixture (there should be close to 64 oz. altogether)
add a gallon of water to this in a pot used only for this purpose
heat to simmering, then stir, & let cool for 24 hours.
the mixture should become a gel. <--- so, so cool...
use 1- 2 cups per load.
homemade oxyclean, anyone?
equal parts peroxide & washing soda (arm & hammer) - you've probably passed this by a million times in the supermarket, & not known what it was for. it is what baking soda dreams it is @ night - a super powerful natural salt that cleans/disinfects. yes.
pre-soak laundry for 30 - 60 min, then run it -
^^^as per the above household hint:^^^
i am not even claiming to be a domestic goddess w/that one. i wants revenge: once, recently, on my second $20-something jug of scandalously ineffective tide, i noticed that the ring around the collar remained. i don't think so. not like, $60 in - we are all too broke for this crap. so i finally indulged my homemade detergent fantasies: the shit is non toxic, ACTUALLY WORKS, unlike damn near everything else, & is 2 cents a motherfucking load.
& that's my 2 cents... lmbao.
the next weekend, & next chapter in the thister's book of enduring childhood memories, was a lot less broke; & thank goddess, b/c one of my oldest friends, the most kindhearted, sumptuously beautiful grrrrrrrl, SR, (whose name means - yes - *good friend*, & which means that in my mind, she will forever be called 'my good friend, Good Friend') had a birthday party in the vineyard. i thought this was a priceless adventure for me & the grrrrls. visiting my good friend Good Friend, sun, sand, toddlers, spells awesome. so the 3 of us set out: & BTW it is 3 buses, a train, & a ferry to MV. & yes! i was economizing, & did not drive; (must take the effing road test this year. no excuse.) i knew what kind of adventure i was getting us into. was it worth it, you ask? worth the hour long delays @ every juncture, worth the mocking manhattan mini storage ads throbbing from within my skull - "bad things happen when you leave the city" - was it, you ask, worth the Dolores Claiborne flash backs?
the answer: a resounding YES.
mac diva initial D, the writer/director was the first person to expose me to the fabulous teensy idyllic paradise. since she herself reminds me of yemaya, i thought that the island's charms could only be extended in her presence. she was the first person to school me on the fact that we should all get out of the city periodically. not just the little mermaids. we need the salty ocean & sand to heal us. not only that, but apparently the underground railroad runs all throughout the north east w/key stops in brooklyn heights/fort greene, sag harbor, rhode island (as a cab driver in newport once sagely informed me: "you haven't yet noticed all the street town names: freeman's drive, freeport, liberty way, but you will. i did.) & finally, martha's vineyard. it is believed that slaves' ancestral bones are among the priceless riches @ the bottom of the sea. it is also said that while lovely orisha yemaya, star of the sea, owns the top (turquoise/silver/translucent) upper half of the sea, that her consort/twin olokun owns the bottom half. the tsunami half. the blackest, coldest half, filled w/the bones of those who did not complete the crossing. whenever i am in that region, it is as if the deities & the ancients have woven forces in a protective/magical/purifying DNA stand of flyness. i feel their closeness in the healing, saline mist that films my eager face on arrival. i see their ascendant influence on the preternaturally joyful little mermaids. i taste their influence in my food. it is so much more full bodied/vibrant/straight yummy on the island. orisha yemaya, w/her transformative influence on/ownership of children, fertility, birth, the home, womb, & friendships/sisterhood btwn women is in all her glory on the island, & in fact the island imagery is almost comically indicative of her pervasive presence as the symbols of the anchor, fishnet, seaweed, & mermaid are all her property. all hail to orisha yeye-omo-eja (mother-of all-fishes)!!! she remains all powerful, fully realized, gloriously un-interrupted...
on this outing we only had time, since we were only doing the weekend, to do some
nothing in particular reunion chicken
& a brunch that included sublime - do you hear me? SUBLIME honor system sage sausage... omg - from the store near aquinnah, of course! that doesn't charge any set price, really, for grassfed milk, cage-free eggs, or the aforementioned SUBLIME sage sausage... the tiny seaside store has no employees, & is run in such a way that you take what you need/contribute what you can.
the quality? speechless.
here's the chicken, & the homefries that we had for brunch:
nothing in particular reunion chicken:
preheat oven to 425
2 3 - 4 # fryers cut up & marinated in a mixture of whatever seasoning salts you have in your possession, (just discovered a new one: camp - from new england; love...)
1 TBSP lemon zest
sriracha
fresh cracked pepper to mist the entire bird
8 cloves garlic pulverized, or grated on a cheese grater
soy sauce
set aside to marinate for 1 - 2 hours, particularly if the bird is cut into serving pieces
pull from marinade & sear in a black pan till nicely caramelized;
remove to the oven
while baking,
add
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock (from a previous post), *pictured below*
simmer till particles have lifted from pan, till reduced to a near syrup then add
1 stick of butter cut into 1-inch pieces, stirring until each piece dissolves into the sauce. when all the pieces are dissolved, remove from heat. when chicken pieces are completely cooked, & juices run clear, pour the lemon butter garlic sauce over all & serve.
preheat oven to 425
2 3 - 4 # fryers cut up & marinated in a mixture of whatever seasoning salts you have in your possession, (just discovered a new one: camp - from new england; love...)
1 TBSP lemon zest
sriracha
fresh cracked pepper to mist the entire bird
8 cloves garlic pulverized, or grated on a cheese grater
soy sauce
set aside to marinate for 1 - 2 hours, particularly if the bird is cut into serving pieces
pull from marinade & sear in a black pan till nicely caramelized;
remove to the oven
while baking,
add
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock (from a previous post), *pictured below*
simmer till particles have lifted from pan, till reduced to a near syrup then add
1 stick of butter cut into 1-inch pieces, stirring until each piece dissolves into the sauce. when all the pieces are dissolved, remove from heat. when chicken pieces are completely cooked, & juices run clear, pour the lemon butter garlic sauce over all & serve.
homefries:
1 stick butter, preff. grass fed
3 vidalia onions cut into medium dice
6 cloves garlic sliced thinly
2 red bell peppers medium dice
chopped scallions
2 shallots, sliced thinly
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
paprika
seasoning salt - old bay, borsari, camp
make a cross @ either end of the potatoes & drop into salted, boiling water.
when a fork pierces each easily, remove & chop into 1- inch cubes.saute onion, garlic, shallots, & scallions bay leaf & thyme - in that order, till light brown around the edges, & translucent. add boiled, chopped potatoes & toss in the oil onion mixture till coated w/oil. let sit on flame till the potatoes develop a crust. flip, & do the same on the other side. break up w/a spatula, stir, & let sit again till again, crisp. once the potatoes are @ desired crispiness, they are done.
after this weekend, my life feels sparkling fresh, just like my laundry... & the grrrrls?
thisterhood is powerful:
thank you for your time!
