NFTNIF12

NFTNIF Episode 12

Last week we took a giant stride toward functionality – we bought 3 chairs for the dining room! Chairs! We got them at the resale store next to WinCo when we went grocery shopping. WinCo is a life saver by the way on a tight budget. Two of the chairs have a pale green tough plastic covering, and the third is maroon leather. We can now all sit down to a meal at once, and using the desk chair we can even have a guest! All sitting down! Inside the house (instead of on the deck which is the only place we have been able to sit down to a meal – and it's getting way too cold for that to last).

The colors have fallen from the sunrise into the foliage - color changes – a pair of willow became the palest yellow; flaming golden aspen, rusty gold on aspen; maroon burning bush, crimson and scarlet maple, some bush I don't recognize - bright orange, another tree I don't recognize, the leaves are a deep purple.

The last sunset I missed but I caught the polychromatic wash of post-sunset colors, and the most fascinating was rust red mixed seamlessly with the palest blue – both existing at once, blending somehow but still discernible as individuals. No human artist can achieve these effects, only nature can give us something that vivid, that rich, that heart breaking. Well, I suppose a human artist can manage heart-break too.

Dustin and I walked on the first nice day to buy winter boots. We went to “Boot World”, confident that we would both find something. The courteous salesperson was apologetic, chagrined and spoke as to a pair of long-time confidants – there were no winter boots in the store! We were the 3rd party to come in that day asking for boots yet none had been delivered. His every entreaty to Boot World corporate had fallen on deaf ears – he implored our understanding. We promised to call him back in 2 weeks. We walked to the next store – they had 3 pairs only! They were also waiting for their boots. What's up with that? Don't people realize we need boots BEFORE the snow flies since we are walking to the store?!?! Of course they don't realize that – everyone drives everywhere here in Idaho Falls.

Our next door neighbor Donna got a burn permit from the city of Ammon. Her nephew came over to help, D., Glenn and I gathered all the sticks, stems, branches and brush taken from our yard and put them over the fence in her yard. There the nephew sawed up the cherry branches trimmed by D. from our cherry tree (!!!) and Donna kept the thickest pieces for smoking. In her field, now stripped of everything growing, we made a heap of sticks and set it to burning. There was a persistent breeze and it fanned the flames as we stood guard and kept the blaze flaming with everything we had gathered. We chatted about the neighborhood, about our house – it turns out that our house came from another town where, in a flood, it floated off of its foundation. It was moved to this lot and that explains many of the novel and kludgy set-ups here such as the gas pipe that winds around the house to the back where it enters to feed our utilities – then about China and our Congress, about food and college. Finally we had a mound of white ash and lumpy cinders, which we raked about and then soaked from the hose.

Meanwhile, having chatted with the neighbors on the other side of the house earlier that day, I gave the mother a quantity of fresh apple butter. In return, the entire family came over with rakes and bags, and in a trice they had cleaned up all the leaves in the yard. They took them to their yard, piled them with their own leaves, and mom and kids ran and jumped in the pile! Everything worked out for everyone! They also told me that there will be some trick-or-treaters but not many. They advised us to only get candy we will eat and not too much of it unless we planned to eat it all anyway.

Speaking of candy – D and my friend Diana sent us some Halloween candy! We were so happy to get it – thanks very very much Diana!!!!!!

Aside from Glenn's birthday lasagne (see Episode 11), garlic bread and the regular fare of breakfast 'taters I have not made anything too notable except - potatos au gratin. I will say that the neighbors on both sides got some lasagne, just to keep up our end of things – remember this if you forget everything else from NFTNIF - “who feeds me is my friend” - this is a basic human truth, extending to other species as well. It's worth noting here that I am still eating plums and apples – both still so delicious!

Potatoes au gratin recipe – start with 3 cups of freeze-dried sliced potatoes from WinCo! Pour 3 cups of boiling water onto the potatoes, make sure the water covers them, stir a bit and let them soak for 10 mins, then drain and discard remaining water. In a small sauce pan, melt 2 TBSP butter, and stir in 2 TBSP of flour and 1 tsp of salt, and mix until well blended. Remove pot from heat and add 2 cups milk. Return to heat and boil mixture stirring constantly. Stir while boiling for one minute. Butter a baking pan and lay down a layer of potatoes. Mix 2 cups grated cheese (I used medium cheddar) and ½ cup of chopped green onion and put half onto the potatoes layer. Add half of the milk/flour/butter/salt mix, then repeat. - potatoes, cheese, sauce mix. Cover with grated Parmesan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, let sit for 5 minutes before serving. It's amazing!

Next time I am going to use some cream, and add chopped garlic to the sauce mix. If anyone tries these or has a variant – let me know! You could also start with fresh potatoes, wash and slice them into thin slices, then quarter the slices so that they cook through.

We have been very grateful for our Indian summer – it has been 6 days of perfectly clear, cloudless warm days and deep sky at night – elegant Cassiopeia reclines languorously on her couch, mighty Orion watching with unsleeping vigilance and at his heels his dog Sirius! Jewels on a geometry of black velvet.

That's it for this episode – stay tuned for more NFTNIF!