goodness

A family friend came over today for tea and cookies. It was a good conversation that felt too short. The sort of thing where you tell each other a bunch of interesting things but afterward I felt like there was more to say and share. I feel like it was a conversation that needed footnotes for later on.
There was conversation about blackberries, love, family, friends, the irritations that come with loving people, oysters, machismo of Australian sailors, people who harvest oysters, good writing, bad writing, the trials of writing, Iceland, sheep, creating things, nobel prize winners, people who haven't won nobel prizes, knitting, pie. All the while the kids ran around and climbed on me, chased each other with cooking utensils, sat on the sofa with their cocokies, and making a mess.

I am going to miss conversations like this with family and friends. Yes we can write and talk to one another a great deal. (and for that I am thankful) But I do like a good face to face conversation.

Today's conversation gave me some good encouragement.

...

I made these ricotta dumplings today. It was from that cookbook on the food of Calabria. It is served with chicken stock. I added a few vegetables to round out things. I really loved the dumplings. There was that hint of sourness from the ricotta and they were so light. The rest of the family wasn't as enthusiastic as me. I will have to make these again. I have quite a few leftover that I haven't cooked. Maybe I will cook up some more tomorrow for lunch. Delicate and a little wrinkled when cooked. They look a bit like brains. We had this with bread and butter on the side. The kids seemed more interested in the bread and butter.
I shall look through the book to find something else to make next week. As for the rest of the weekend. I envision slowly roasting something.