Shulman concludes

This week Wild Boo and I came down with a cold. We steamed up the bathroom and played with twenty or thirty of his favorite toys, and then after taping up pictures of fishes, (one of Wild Boo’s favorite things) we blared C & C Music Factory, LL Cool J, and PM Dawn, and splashed around in our bathing suits in the Drews’ giant bathtub.

It is cold here in Denver. Cold and dry. I’ve gone through a whole bottle of lotion just for my hands and arms. Baristas remind patrons to drink water. I was inspired to make a kale, red cabbage, jicama and apple salad, mostly because I found a mandolin attachment on the Drews’ grater.

It’s weather for crunchy sounds and zesty afterbites. It’s weather for steam rooms and apple cider, and clementines. So many clementines. And swiss chard, endive, radicchio, kale, spinach. And buffalo meat.
Tomatoes? Tomatoes are a fond memory for me, one I’m happy to return to as we conclude our visit with Martha Rose Shulman.

I know this is actually 4 questions in one. Pick what you want to talk about and see what happens.

4. What fruit and what vegetable each deserve a week-long celebration? Please explain.

Tomatoes. They deserve a few months, not weeks. They are only good during that summer/early fall season, and should be the focus of every meal during that wonderful time. Figs too.

5. Is there a time in your life you could have used a Nola studiola? (alone, in New Orleans, semi off-the-grid, unemployed) What’s one thing you’d be sure to do if you were ensconced in my Nola studiola?

Perhaps, to write a memoir.

6. What would be your ideal meal to eat on a wide, deteriorating balcony overlooking misshapen live oak branches, in the middle of a hot New Orleans summertime? What time of day would you suggest partaking of this meal? (It’s low 70′s in the morning and high 90′s by afternoon.)

Having begun my career in Austin, Texas, I am familiar with that kind of weather. The meal would be best just after the sun sets, when the softness of the night justifies the heat of the day. There might be some champagne to begin, or rosé. Rosé with the meal. Might start with something light and refreshing like gazpacho or carpaccio. Gumbo is a bit too rich for the heat of the summer but paella is close, and would work. A seafood paella with some vegetables like flat romano beans and red peppers in it. Followed by a simple green salad and some melon granita (and for my son an ice cream sunday with profiteroles and creme brulee and a steak on the side)

Optional bonus question: What are your favorite and least favorite sounds? Did you ever have a job where you got to hear your favorite sound(s)?

My favorite sound is the sound of the ocean. But I have never worked at the ocean. My least favorite sound is the sound of a noisy restaurant.

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