February 5, 2005

• Today I made a discovery, in my quest for a good walk.  I also found a suitable place for coffee.  I mean tea.  I forgot, I gave up coffee.

  
  

  The coffee shop was big as a minute.  Everyone in there seemed related, and I don’t mean inbred.  A man and woman were playing cribbage and, one by one, people would come in and join them briefly, catching up on the hourly news.  It’s how a coffee shop should be.  The owner, or at least she was in charge, brought in crepes for breakfast, for herself and the girl working the counter.  Tastes were had by everyone but me.  When a very large old man in fishing gear came in my purse was moved and the other chair at my small table was pulled out for him.  There were other places to sit but I knew then that I was in his spot.

  
  

  I excused myself and strolled down the street, curious about the riverbank.  Eureka!  I entered a street that looked more like Rhode Island.  I spent a week at a friend’s summer house on Watch Hill and when we went into neighboring towns where it wasn’t so much mansions as much as homey cottages with a lot of stonework out front, this is what it looked like.  The houses are at least a hundred years old and they have made a park out of the riverfront across the street.  There is a walkway above which winds down to the river and then crosses over a bridge not accessible by car.  The sun was shining and other than heavily accessorized bicyclers, I saw only three other people.  One of them a woman my age walking a dog.  She was lovely.  And a retired couple who explained that everyone leaves for the weekend, that’s why it was just us.  Walking back to my car I couldn’t wait to get on my bike and get over that bridge to check out the other side. 

  
  

  I came home and had a successful experiment with tofu.  I made a salad and used  tofu to make the dressing.  It was smooth and creamy and very few calories.  I won’t give you the amounts because it needs work.

  
  

  Salad:

  
  

  Diced:

  
  

  Bok choy

  
  

  Celery

  
  

  Granny Smith apple

  
  

  Green onion

  
  

  Then I added:

  
  

  Slivered almonds

  
  

  Red grapes

  
  

  Cut up cooked chicken

  
  

  Cut up cooked tofu

  
  

   

  
  

  Dressing:

  
  

  Dump all this into the blender:

  
  

  1 T oil

  
  

  Dijon mustard

  
  

  Curry powder

  
  

  Garlic salt

  
  

  Lemmon pepper

  
  

  Apple cider vinegar

  
  

  Maple syrup

  
  

  8 oz tofu (first boiled in chicken broth)

  
  

  some of that broth

  
  

  I was going to stuff it into pita bread (Tandori Naan) but it was too messy looking.  I ended up liking the chunks of tofu better than the bites of chicken.  It was canned chicken I’m embarrassed to admit.  My last boyfriend talked me into splitting some with him at Costco.  Yuk.  The only problem with the dressing is that because there’s no mayo in it it’s a little harsh.  I am thinking about coconut milk.

  
  

  I want to talk about money.  I am pretty worked up about it so I will wait until I’ve cooled down.  But just to put it out there, for you who have children or even if you don’t.  I’d be curious to know what your opinion is about spending money for a 16-year-old.  Actually this applies to the older girls, too.  When I was married their father was in charge of handing out the money.  He just kept a pile of ones and fives on his desk and before school they would come in and grab what they needed for lunch, etc.  If they needed more than that, for clothes, we went shopping together.  Once they started driving, I’d give them the Nordstrom’s card, with a note and they would report back with their purchases.  I thought they did a pretty good job.  Well, as you can imagine, I’m not handing out any credit cards, and there’s no stack of ones.  Never mind.  I’ll do this when I’ve thought about it more.  It seems a little weird to talk about money here.

  
  

  Enjoy your weekends and go get some tofu

  • 6:06 pm
  • 3 Comments