Weather-wise, a wild week: Torrential rain on Friday, and quite possibly the most exquisite spring Saturday weather I can remember. Some unseasonably hot days prior.
Rhonda and I sat outside and had Sweet Amalia oysters with Aaron last night around six pm; I can’t remember feeling quite so blissed out, with the warm waning sun lighting up the small lot on historic US 40, the wine, the food, and the company. I reflected on how lucky we were to spend a glorious afternoon at Bellview Winery soaking in the day’s after-the-flood warm, dry weather. And things only improved from there. It was one of those moments where I waxed ecstatic about living in the weird interstitial region that we do: rural, poor, blessed with amazing produce and wine and some niche spots worth exploring. Wide-open skies and a short hike to the beach or one of the nation’s best restaurant towns.
I can’t complain.
Rhonda’s Green Thumb
We had some fried eggs this morning for breakfast, a plan we’d hatched the night before because there were enough asparagus stalks coming up in the garden to make it worth our while. We didn’t have bacon, which is usually the breakfast situation: we’ll get three pounds of bacon at the butcher, and keep it around for about as many weeks. We don’t always eat it all, but it usually works out.
Rhonda mentioned the asparagus and suggested that it would be good with fried eggs in lieu of bacon, which was a sound idea. The asparagus from our back yard is tender, mild, and lacks the flavor profile so many find objectionable in the venerable stalk. I have grown into an adult who loves asparagus from a child who hated it. My remembrances of it were mushy with an off-flavor, a kind of cabbage-y heat that made me similarly dislike Brussels sprouts. Perhaps the culinary revolution that occurred in the mid- to late-90s helped improve the preparation of heretofore loathsome side dishes. ‘Cause I love Brussels sprouts now, too.
So I stabbed the gooey yolks of my eggs with asparagus instead of bacon. The kale in the pic is from the garden as well; it does not grow in abundance, but I’m always able to add a handful to my salad each day.
NYT App and NYT Audio
I was check the New York Times app Wednesday morning and saw a link to a story, “Why Boys and Men Are Floundering, According to Relationship Therapist Terry Real.” It offered a “listen” feature, which I clicked and listened to. It was a feature of the Times app I had seen before, as with Apple News, but never tried. It was a great listening experience, as it uses AVAudioSession (I think) to play the audio even after the phone locks and the display dims.
The Times on Safari links to their own NYT Audio podcast app; writing about the app proper’s audio support above led me to it. I had already installed it some time ago on my iPhone 🤦♂️ but never used it. I logged in and I’m ready to go. Very nice. I spit the audio out to my HomePod mini in my office while I prepped lunches for the week and wrestled the frozen turkey breast into the sous vide machine. One criticism: the app was playing its version of Facebook’s Reels or YouTube’s Shorts upon launching the app and the audio of the podcast I was listening to.
iPadOS 19
These are leaks/rumors, but the word is that iPadOS will take some much-desired steps towards more Mac-like functionality. I’m excited about a persistent menu bar when the iPad is connected to a keyboard. I’d really like to see a clipboard manager, too.
Vermont Lonza
This prosciutto-like meat was a welcome pairing with our other Appyhour cheeses and Sunday spritzes. Very lean, not terribly salty, with a nice chew. I paired a slice with black pepper asiago from Bagliani’s and it was great.
