Monday, June 27, 2011

A matter of time


Last night I made jerk chicken on the grill. This is Howard's old beat-up grill we are talking about. It is a Millennium and yes, we bought it in the last millennium. 

It is funny remembering buying that grill. Howard bought it at Target. This was back when he lived in Amherst and we walked to Target to get it. That is not as tree-hugging as it sounds. His apartment was right next door. When we bought that grill it was 1999 and we had been going out for about two weeks. Buying that grill was one of the first things we did.

How time flies!

Which reminds me, so, last night I am making this jerk chicken. Easy and fun! It is out of this $5 cookbook I bought at the Broadway Market back when the Broadway Market had that cut-rate book stand. You put together an easy paste of two tablespoons lime juice, two tablespoons rum, two tablespoons oil, 2 tablespoons allspice (that seemed like a lot to me so I used two teaspoons, maybe next time I'll be more brave), a half teaspoon cinnamon and... oh, this is great. "Salt."

Um, how much salt?

Don't you hate it when cookbooks do this? 

It is not as if I am going to take a spoon and dip it into this sauce and take a taste.

But anyway. I guessed a teaspoon salt which is what I almost always use when these asinine cookbooks refuse to give me an amount. And it turned out delicious.

But here is what was funny. At the last minute, this is about 10 p.m. we are talking about, my friend Michelle comes over on her way home from a party. This is Michelle K, brunette Michelle. I have two friends named Michelle as I may have mentioned. There is Blond Michelle and Brunette Michelle and they are both beautiful.

I told Brunette Michelle, "Michelle, you have to have some jerk chicken. You liked it last time!"

Because in the cookbook I had written: "Good ... easy .... made for Howard and Michelle K. Michelle liked. Howard and Ari liked. 6/27/03."

Ari is our friend Ari Silverstein. He must have tried the jerk chicken too! I wish Ari could have been there last night.

But the thing is, Michelle noticed that the date was almost the same. Yesterday was June 26.

EIGHT YEARS ago!!

Where does the time go??

Speaking of where do the years go it is coming up to the day Leonard Pennario died. I was thinking about that. It is either today or tomorrow. I can never remember the day which is stupid, you know, considering I was there. It is ridiculous when I am forced to look it up on Wikipedia.

Which I just did. It is today, the anniversary. June 27.

That was three years ago!

One more thing and then we get on with our onerous Mondays. The artist in Hawai'i I mentioned a few days ago, I was talking to him yesterday. This artist is amazing. He is a former Marine Corps colonel with a wonderful deep voice. He and his wife were friends with Pennario for decades and they live in a house carved out of the side of a volcano. I am telling you, no one in my book is normal! 

But anyway, he told me that when the news reached Hawai'i that Pennario died, the classical radio station there played Leonard Pennario all day.

That is a most wonderful and civilized state, Hawai'i.

I want to move there!

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