Tuesday, October 20, 2015.
The End. Cuban At Katie's.
The Twinnery Massacree comes to an end. Dave volunteers to dig the hole in which we will place my all-time favorite cat's coffin. We write messages on top of the box, and say a few appreciations for his fifteen years of effectiveness as a mouser and gentle friendship. We cover the box over and place a piece of sheet metal and a flower pot on top, to keep the dogs Susie and Steel from exhuming Twinnery. This is the most elaborate pet burial among the four we have conducted in twenty-five years at the Cool Water Ranch. The spot is a leaf-filled depression under a black tupelo tree. Twinnery spent many hours surveying the scene from that natural bed. It's his forever now.
Still no word on my car's repairs after eighteen days, so I keep the shop's loaner so I can go into town for the first time in a week. Our Round Table program returns to the radio for the first time in weeks. A good bunch: Hugo Montero from Casa Borrega, the newish Mexican restaurant on Oretha Castle Haley; Ron Iafrate from Chef Ron's Gumbo Stop, the spartan Creole-Cajun café on the service road between I-10 and Causeway Blvd; and Kim Kringlie, the chef and co-proprietor of Dakota in Covington.
In terms of diversity and balance, this is as fine a panel of guests as we've ever had. So interesting, in fact, that the guests took five listener calls in two hours. Usually, I don't get any calls when we're at the Round Table. The entire show is unusually busy. If I knew what I did to make that happen, I'd do it all the time.
Mary Leigh gets her car back today after only two days. I had diagnosed the problem accurately when I drove the car this past Sunday: a bad wheel bearing. Now she and Dave are free to drive to Pittsburgh, where Dave has brief business. Then they go to Washington, where Dave has a job waiting and where they will set up residence. If this sounds familiar, it's because I thought all this was happening about a month ago. Now we say goodbye to our daughter all over again. Mary Leigh tells Mary Ann that she doesn't expect to see me often from now on. I will have to make sure that prediction doesn't come to pass. Easy enough: the Amtrak Crescent will take me nicely to Washington.
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Grilled oysters two ways.[/caption]
Our last supper together (for now) is at Katie's. We start with a dozen grilled oysters and oysters Slesshinger. The former is a good rendition of the dish that really should be called "oysters Drago." The latter is a pure original, with spinach, bacon, blue cheese and cream. Rich flavor. Oysters lately are on the small side--not just here, but everywhere I've had them. Although we have had some very cool evenings, the daytime temperatures have stayed in the eighties, and that's high enough for the oysters to have only a slight leaning toward corpulence.
I have the soup of the day, a creamy bisque of red peppers--excellent. Mary Ann and I split an excellent Cuban sandwich, loaded with roast pork, ham, pickles, and a bit of gravy, then press-grilled. I ate more of that than I wanted to, but it's irresistible. The Lovely Couple eats salads. They are both in great physical shape as they prepare to launch their pre-family.
I have white chocolate bread pudding, to balance of the one I didn't have at Gallagher's two nights ago. This one is very light in texture but looks scorched on the bottom. It doesn't taste that way.
