Conversations

     Today you get two for the price of one.

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     1. Traditions

     For yesterday evening’s Passover dinner, Beth made sauerbraten, one of my favorites among the many recipes in her repertoire. The following exchange ensued:

     FWP: Say, who first came up with the idea of sauerbraten? Was it accidental?
     CSO: No, probably someone ate a chunk of meat pickled to preserve it and decided it would be good if it was just a little milder, maybe with a nice gravy and some spaetzele on the side.

     FWP: I was thinking it might be accidental, like the way Africans discovered that you have to boil cassava to detoxify it. Aren’t a lot of culinary developments that way?
     CSO: Some. Like that Heineken commercial.
     FWP: “It’s just a big sea cockroach! Why would the first man eat this?”

     CSO: Exactly. At least on Passover we Jews actually answer the questions.
     FWP: Yeah, yeah. “Why is tonight different from all other nights? Because tonight we eat in the dining room and use the good china.”

     And I alone am escaped to tell thee.

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     2. Titles.

     CSO: Isn’t Fluffy [our longhaired Maine Coon] locked up?
     FWP: Yeah, why?

     CSO: Because I’ve got Fluffy hair all over my clean clothes.
     FWP: Consider it her legacy.

     CSO: “The Fluffy Legacy.” If only Robert Ludlum were still alive!
     FWP: Hey, death hasn’t stopped V. C. Andrews.
     CSO: True, true.

     (NB: Our four cats have their own room, where we confine them when an artisan is scheduled to come by. Today is Exorcise All The Annoying Plumbing Noises Day. Just a little reassurance for any “born free” animal rights absolutists out there.)