Sunday, January 31, 2021

Winter night, before the snow

Saturday supper. In cold weather we eat at the kitchen counter. So, all winter. And last night it was covered substantially in the loot we had gathered in a giddy half-day of shopping at the Union Square greenmarket and Eataly (downtown). Inbetween food-buying stops we walked up and down the Arctic length of the winter High Line. The sky was blue, the sun shone, and we felt like visitors in our own city.

My guiltiest pleasure was a potful of New Zealand cockles. I love them. Just some garlic, finely chopped in butter, an overly-generous dash (meaning about one-third of a cup) of dry vermouth, cooked till boiling, and then the shellfish, steamed until open. 

After those we moved on to a smoked trout pâté (made by whipping flaked trout with cream cheese and Meyer lemon juice), unapologetic, oil-cured anchovies, smoked oysters (part of our early pandemic stash), green Italian olives marinated for an hour with blood orange zest in good olive oil, nine-minute eggs topped with bottarga, cucumbers washed in tulip poplar honey (a summer find at the greenmarket) and white wine vinegar and...a couple of rich slices of wild smoked salmon, each. 

The radishes were crunched as palate cleansers.

There is the out-of-focus Frenchman with an in-focus potful of cockles. With last week's tulips, our much-delayed bottle of New Year's Eve Champagne, and hot sourdough toast under the red napkin.

It is snowing, now.

And January has come to an end. We thought it never would. 

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Find me on Instagram @66squarefeet

12 comments:

  1. Hot toddies on the snowy balcony?

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  2. Beautiful, and inspiring. This January went faster for me than usual, I think because we didn't have any days that the wood fire was forbidden. Also, walking on the beach was a tonic. You show a very good way to stay cozy in the winter. Happy February!

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  3. Looks delicious, happy February (almost spring).

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    1. Thank you! Spring, spring, spring! But the snow's pretty nice..

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  4. Drooling here....5 seafood courses!!! That's what I call heaven!!! Except here in SA the vermouth wont be going into the pot, but into my cocktail!
    Uncle Cyril giving speach again tonight....maybe we might be able have a white wine mussel pot soon.....

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  5. Cockles! (pipi, to me)
    It all looks wonderful, in-or-out of focus.

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  6. Your Saturday shopping and hiking must have been so much fun, and your Saturday dinner sounds and looks like a peak meal! IMHO, you two know how to live, and you certainly came up with great ways to cap what always seems to me the longest month (this one seemed particularly so). Hoping the wind dies down enough to let you see the snowflakes falling, Leslie

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  7. HOW DIVINE and civilized. I so enjoyed reading and seeing...now we are under 30 inches of snow in New Jersey and I'm inspired to trek to the city for the green market. Thank you! This evening I ordered dahlia bulbs - a vote for spring, but winter's blanket is lovely, silent and peaceful tonight.

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  8. Even liking the snow here in Central Va. Still warm enough that the streets are clear, but the ground is covered. As long as we have fire in the living room, I'm good with it all. A rich beef stew for us, with claret. There are some joys from winter evenings, tho I long for spring.

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