# 316: Memories & Mismatched Mugs
Upcoming Classes
Virtual
April 6: Quick Meals for Solitary Eaters
Vegetable Pancakes
Miso Soup with Kim Chee and Egg
Marinated Rice Salad with Tomato and Feta
Pie Cottage Scones
Oven Baked Bacon
Greens, Garlic and Eggs
In Person
April 26: Art of the Pie Workshop
This is the original Art of the Pie Day Camp Workshop taught at Pie Cottage in Port Angeles, WA.
Memories & Mismatched Mugs
I stay up too late this past Saturday night binge watching Wheel of Time S3 before the Prime membership I cancelled runs out at midnight. Four hours later Mr B says he is ready to start the day. Really? There isn’t a hint of the rising sun on the horizon to the east but since he may have to go out I dutifully pull the covers back, swing my legs over the side of the bed, sit up and slip on my burgundy felted slippers. My four-legged friend follows me to the back door.
“Bosco, hurry up,” the words I say for do your business as I open the door.
There’s a steady rain outside and as a blast of cold air comes in the door he debates if he will go out in it at all. I’m getting cold.
OK, Bud, if you’re not going out, I’m going back to bed.
I close the door and run the video backwards until I am back snuggled under my still warm comforter. A few minutes later I hear the click of his nails on the wood floor and quiet rustling as he comes in the room and settles back down on his bed for a few more winks.
Good boy, Bosco.
A few hours later I pull back the blackout curtains and see moist air seasoned with sun. This time there’s no hesitation when I open the door and his tail wags eagerly when he comes back inside. He knows breakfast is next.
I wrap a shawl around my shoulders, make myself a mug of tea and head over to the couch. Mr B is already there curled up on a fleecy snowman blanket for an after breakfast snooze. I slide in next to him and feel the warmth and weight of his body as he snuggles closer. We both let out contented sighs.
When first nesting in the kitchen at the post and beam house I want everything to be just so…matching bowls, matching dishes, matching napkins, matching cobalt blue mugs all set on open kitchen shelving. Now I have a collection of motley mismatched mugs that are full of memories. Today I choose one from my sister Helen. We meet for the first time in 2020 and have created many memories since then.
I see the green chair across from me and I think of the last photo taken of my dad. He is sitting in it writing a letter to my brother who is away for a junior year abroad in Rome. Our dad has just received a diagnosis of leukemia and is writing to say that he likely won’t be there when my brother returns. Our dad dies ten days later at age 54.
Next to the green chair is one draped with a black scarf that I bring back from NYC when I attend the 2017 James Beard Awards. Art of the Pie is a nominee in the Baking Category that year. I buy the flowered shawl from a little Ukrainian shop in the East Villlage the morning after the awards. During the photo shoot for the book I would walk past the shop and see beautiful shawls, scarves and embroidered blouses in the window but the shopkeeper had already gone home for the day. This time when I walk by the shop she is there and I go inside. There is a photo of a small cabin on the wall and I show her a photo of the little one-room cabin I lived in for five years.
Between the chairs is a standing lamp, part of a set of three I buy for $20 brand new at CostPlus in Seattle in 2002. The store is very close to The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle where The Beatles stayed at in 1964. My mom, brother and I stay there on my first trip to Seattle in 1972 before we take the Princess Marguerite ferry to Victoria BC. I fall in love with the trees and snow covered mountains on that trip and set an intention at the age of nineteen that the Pacific Northwest is where I will return to live someday…and I have.
These mismatched pieces fit together, each adding to the jigsaw puzzle of my life as they create a patchwork of memories.
P.S. I’ll be taking a hiatus from our Saturday ‘Toon Day this week as I will be traveling to California to see my brother who had a serious stroke this past fall and to celebrate his 76th birthday with him.
What I’m Listening To
In Reverence by David Tolk
There were lots of things going on at Pie Cottage this past weekend past and I was either cooking, baking, prepping for the next meal or doing dishes. While I wiped down counters getting ready for the next day here’s one of the songs I listened to.
What I’m Cooking
Tortati Carcioffi (Artichoke Torte)
So we would not be alone for the Thanksgiving of 1969, the year my dad passed away, my mom and I travelled to San Francisco to share a few days with two of their closest friends. While there I had a delicious artichoke torte and came home with this easy to make recipe. I hope you enjoy.