October 29

..WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM ADT THIS AFTERNOON...

.TODAY...RAIN...HEAVY AT TIMES. WINDY. HIGHS AROUND 46. SOUTHEAST
WIND 30 MPH. WIND GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH.

Our friend Susan was born on this date in Juneau and spent many years here. She claims to like this weather.

Perhaps this is the reason that John insisted on nuts in the meal last night. I skidded into the kitchen minutes before he did and claimed cooking privileges. He had set his heart on stir-fried chicken with baby bok choy, bean sprouts, and roasted peanuts. He permitted me to make dinner ONLY if the aforementioned peanuts were included in the dish. So he built a fire in the woodstove while I sliced and diced the skinned and boned breast, marinated it briefly in a soy/sherry/cornstarch mixture, chopped the bok choy and an onion, sliced up a appropriately named Golden Delicious, mourned briefly for the red Bartlett pear that peaked the day before and today was compost material, steamed some white Basmati, and cracked open the Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc. The only thing wrong with this (delightfully crisp, grapefruity) wine is that it is so easy to drink. I used for guidance in the process (the cooking, not the wine-drinking) Ken Hom's Easy Family Recipes from a Chinese-American Childhood, which by the way has the best wonton soup recipe in it ever.
So we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner, with Lang Lang on the stereo,Veramonte in the glasses, and planned where we will travel when the kids are out of school. Then we watched The Philadelphia Story and all was right with the world.

We do note that our friend Susan now spends quite a lot of her time in California.