Saturday, May 31, 2003

Ha, I didn't know Robbie and Danny Aykroyd were pals.

Urrgh, complete breakdown this afternoon. Okay now, though, mostly. Feel like Richard. Lovely hard rain on the roof; hope it keeps up.

Posted at 5:51 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Friday, May 30, 2003

Oh, now I remember why I'm so tired. The eyeball thing.

Posted at 10:16 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I got a beautiful little shad fish in the mail! She is so sweet. Dean says she's not a shad, but I know better. I put her next to the base of my monitor, near my tiny uni shell. It is almost the same size as she is.

We saw Novaki eating at the Haj restaurant again! He is clearly their best customer. He even walks back into the kitchen and everything, as if he practically lives there. We've never seen the Haj restaurant guy at Novaki's, though, sitting there having a cappuccino and pastries. Maybe he doesn't go when we do. Novaki recognized us and called us "my friend." I bought a dress for Jan's wedding, in the girls' section. $19.99. It matches my lips. (No, not blue.)

Posted at 9:38 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Thursday, May 29, 2003

*whimper* Just got the new Design Within Reach (yeah, right) catalog. This is the coolest coffee table ever. I covet it.

Posted at 10:40 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Cooked part two of the shad roe this afternoon, but, since four sacs of shad roe are an awful lot for one lone shad-eater to consume (I don't know why Hale gave me so much; he must've thought I actually have someone to share it with), I separated the pair and used one of them for unscientific dissection purposes. The roe inside was much more whitish than smelt roe or flying fish roe, and very--I don't know how to describe it--sticky together-y. The individual eggs clung closely and densely together, even at upside positions or when being fingered. You can run your fingers over them, but not through them. They also seemed much more smushy than smelt or flying fish roe, like they wouldn't be crunchy. I didn't try eating any raw because I'm not too sure about the contents of the CT River. Haven't eaten the final cooked sac yet; I put it in the refrigerator for later. I bet it would be good cold, like as a sandwich spread. Maybe a shad roe, lemon squeezings, and goat cheese sandwich... (they should have that on the menu at Rein's).

Posted at 7:22 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Basement tapes, I love you so much.

Posted at 5:14 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Sapidissima, in spades!

Wow. Milt is wonderful.

I am really proud of myself for cooking that stuff. I have never cooked an animal product in my life, and it was a bit squeamy looking at those things, raw and slightly bloody. Then I touched them. I liked touching them; the roe sacs feel really cool in your hand. The weight and feel of them, how they move around. They're near to bursting with tiny eggs, just visible through the membrane. Reddish orange before they're cooked; white and gray after. It's so dramatic how things change colour when you cook them. I am not used to these things. The milt sacs are pink, like a human organ. They look slimy, but they're not. They just feel like skin. Inside, the shad milt is supposed to be white as quartz, but you can't see it. When it's cooked, it turns the colour of veal, and it's so delicate and delicious, just melty. The flowy liquid milt inside becomes solid, pale pale. Salted and very slightly floured milt cooked in a frying pan with butter and olive oil, just done, soft like eggs, spread out on a slab of freshly sliced white bread, the buttery scrapings and leftover escaped roe eggs poured on top, soaking into the bread like escargot butter. Exquisite.

Roe is good with goat cheese, and asparagus. And lots of juicy lemon!

Hale told me that he gets lots more bucks near the beginning of the shad run, starting the second-to-last week of April. Shad season's almost over. This week or next is the end.

Here's what cooked milt looks like. (Not a pretty presentation; my plate is kind of a mess because I cooked and devoured the roe first, with lots of fresh asparagus!) And, if you're curious, here's the raw roe (front, and back), and the raw milt. The roe is much larger than the milt. Milt's more intense. I love milt!

Posted at 7:16 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I am in the possession of shad milt! And roe, and jelly roe (a rare delicacy, according to Hale), and fillets. He gave me the milt and jelly roe for free. Hale's is incredible. Rocky Hill is the shad capital of the world!

(Sorry the picture's so terrible--I didn't want to look like a complete goof [or block other cars] and stand around taking photos of Hale's actual place--plus it was raining out--so I just snapped a shot of the sign through my rainy windshield. The real Hale's says "Come On Over" on it, and the place is huge!) [Edit: Oh, here's what the logo looks like! It was on a photocopy he gave me.]

Posted at 2:47 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Off to Hale's! He only found me one pair, alas. Maybe I'll have to get some roe to go with it.

Posted at 1:13 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Tuesday, May 27, 2003

I think if I'd never seen live sea cucumbers (and imagined the hideous squishy slimy feeling of stepping on them...) I wouldn't find the thought of eating them so scary. There are lots of sea cucumber recipes and articles online! (Unlike shad milt...) It's a Chinese delicacy. And an aphrodisiac!

Posted at 10:53 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Oh, I almost forgot! When I was at the Starbucks near Oats, "The Weight" started playing! I couldn't believe it. It wasn't even the normal version, either--it was a live version. (From Rock of Ages, I think.) Of course, I had to stay and listen to the whole song. Crazy Chester in Starbucks!

Posted at 7:23 PM by Laura W. Petix.

A Dong is so cool. I got a big slab of frozen eel (on sale!) and the most ewwwwww imaginable food in the entire world (also on sale!): sea cucumber!! (Seen many times by me while snorkeling, so I know firsthand.) The idea of eating a sea cucumber is barely fathomable, but of course I had to do it. Fortunately, it's frozen, so I don't have to eat it immediately. Sea cucumber! Yikes. Supreme coolness. Echinoderms! I scratched my throat on the special bread I got to have with my milt. [Edit: Grilled ferns for supper tonight, yum.]

Posted at 6:03 PM by Laura W. Petix.

MILT!!! I'm getting milt! Hale's Shad! Hale said he'd set some aside just for me! Tomorrow will be Shad Milt Day (I hope)!

Hee hee hee, when he said "I can get you some," I replied, "Oh, really???"

No one else likes milt! Only some old Germans who aren't around anymore. But he's going to catch some bucks for me and save the milt. I have to call back tomorrow and see if he has it. Is milt the fishy equivalent of grogurt? What is wrong with people???

Posted at 2:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Monday, May 26, 2003

Played "Crash On The Levee" and "High Water," so now I guess it's "Tupelo." It's raining so hard, I even used an umbrella! Got cherries, apricots, grapes, blackberries x 4. Then I cut all the tulips that weren't too bedraggled, while wearing a grocery store bag tied on my head, cloche-style. Very cute; it's my new favourite hat. The rain soaked through my jacket and now my back's all wet and clingy. Bellows Creek's on the run; the road's awash; there's standing water in the flower beds. Love the rain sound on the roof. Maybe I'll see some silvery shad swimming through the back yard!

Posted at 4:35 PM by Laura W. Petix.

Sunday, May 25, 2003

I had some caviar, and it tasted like Block Island. Small gray and black pearls, like the air on Vail Beach. The waiter said he was going to kill the owner, and threatened to stab him with his pen, then threw his apron at him. The owner told one of the other waiters to escort him out. I really liked the chairs.

Novaki appears to be a big fan of The New Yorker. That shad stamp dream-idea is pretty good. They could have a commemorative pane of 50--America's Fishes--and the Connecticut stamp would show the shad. That sounds like a real thing. And Hawaii's would have the humuhumunukunukuapua'a! (I'm so cool. I still remember how to spell humuhumunukunukuapua'a without looking it up.)

Posted at 6:48 PM by Laura W. Petix.

I dreamt there was a shad stamp.

Posted at 4:56 AM by Laura W. Petix.