BADMINTON

Who knew it was a sport?  Last week we couldn't work out because the championship Caribe, Latino, Canadian badminton games were happening in our gym.  Where was the USA in this event?  Ignoring lesser nations and busy defending empire, I guess.

I only knew a few of the countries those flags hanging across the stage represented, but we watched outfit-identified players from Chile, Cuba (oh, maybe that's the reason for no USA representation), Brasil, Colombia, Jamaica, Barbados, Costa Rica and, of course, Mexico.  According to el sr J they were playing "mixed doubles" which I guess means a woman (in front) and a man.

The players seem to pretty much ignore the boundary lines and whack at the shuttlecock from wherever they can.  The shuttlecock starts with a mighty whoosh, but it peters out pretty fast.  Sorry I can't tell you who won.

DULCE DE LECHE

I follow a blog by David Leibovitz:  http://www.davidlebovitz.com.  Mr. L. used to live in Berkeley and made desserts for Chez Panisse.  We've eaten there twice and I'm a great admirer of Alice Waters and her contribution to the American food revolution.

Mr. L. now lives in Paris and writes about France and food.  What could be better?  I bought his latest cookbook when we were in Portland.  The dessert section is at the end and when I arrived there I saw several recipes using dulce de leche.  Dulce de leche is sweetened condensed milk that has been reduced, either by boiling the can (hoping it doesn't explode) or, as Mr. L. advised, baking the milk in the oven.  He said you could buy dulce de leche, already made, in Mexican markets.  Hmmmm. . . .

I've never in my long life bought a can of sweetened condensed milk.  Why, you might wonder.  Well, the idea of sweetened milk in a can is not very appealing to me.  Also, it's probably made by Nestlé, a company I've boycotted for 50 years for encouraging new mothers in non-compulsively consuming countries to use their, Nestlé's, baby formula instead of breast feeding.  Result: formula mixed with dirty water and dead babies.

But. . . Mr. L. and those recipes.  So the next time I went to the store where I buy flour I looked around and, sure enough, there was a whole shelf of dulce de leche.

I stuck my finger in and it was delicious.  Caramel tasting.

 I made one of his dessert recipes with chocolate, eggs and dulce de leche:

And I had to buy ramekins to do it.  So much for downsizing.

Speaking of boycotting, we watched the movie about Cesar Chavez and the CA grape boycott.  Very moving.  The good old days.

CALCETINES

Just finished a pair of socks for my sister:

The Pauler sisters think that matching is bourgeois.

EL GATO

I was Skyping with my mother this afternoon when I looked up and saw this:

We have chicken wire halfway up the front window to keep thieves from taking the 3 cacti plants on the ledge.  The gato climbed up the chicken wire and tried to figure out what to do next.  He couldn't drop down inside because the cacti were there.  He reached up but we have screen in the top of the window. So he stayed there while I tried to get el sr J interested in coming into the front room.  Finally, after passersby kept knocking on the door to tell us there was a cat in the window and we said it wasn't ours, would they like to take it, and they said no thanks, el sr J encouraged it with a broom to jump to the sidewalk.

EL CUMPLEAñOS DE UNA NUERA

Happy Birthday, Donna!

A pair of fingerless gloves

And a cowl to keep her warm in Chicago winters

The yarn is beautiful, soft, Japanese Noro that we picked out together on a recent visit.

MOZZARELLA

There are lots of different recipes for making mozzarella.  I used one from the internet that sounded easy and used the microwave.   We haven't eaten it yet, but I don't like the texture much.  Too gummy.

4 liters of milk for this little piece of cheese.

You can imagine hot much whey I had to find room for in the freezer and fridge.  And, to complicate matters, el sr J was making a big batch of posole at the same time.