Tuesday, July 28, 2009

i'm not exaggerating when i say he's the best dog in the world

Hello, frenemies. It's been a tough day here at GFD HQ. I rolled out of bed at 7:15 a.m. (which is a full hour earlier than I usually rise, and two full hours earlier than I like to get up) to get started on the redonkulous amount of work I have to do (still!). I'd made a tight little schedule (7:15: wake up; 7:16: pee; 7:17: drink a glass of water), but the best laid plans of mice and men and little dogs go oft awry.

At 7:18 our little dog sneezed; at 9:30 we were still sopping up the blood from his hemorrhaging nose. When the vet used the word "euthanasia" on the phone at 9:44 a.m., I laid on the recently mopped floor and sobbed for two hours. Which was not on the schedule. Then I euthanized the vet, and around noon got down to work.

All of which is to say, I don't have much energy for bl*gging. So I offer you Mojie's ace-in-the-hole, which she served to me this past Saturday night. It was a farm-to-table dinner, the farm being Mojie's front-yard garden, the table being one I eat at as regularly as I can invite myself over, and the dinner being delicious.


Linguine With Tomatoes and Basil

4 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound Brie cheese, rind removed, torn into irregular pieces [Mojie did not use brie, thank god -- any ripe, soft-ish cheese will do; see Mojie's other recipe notes below.]
1 cup cleaned fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
1 cup best quality olive oil
salt to taste
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds linguine
freshly grated imported Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Combine tomatoes, brie, basil, garlic, 1 cup olive oil, salt and pepper in a large serving bowl. Prepare at least 2 hours before serving and set aside, covered, at room temperature.

2. Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the linguine and boil until al dente, about 10 minutes.

3. Drain pasta and immediately toss with the tomato sauce. Serve immediately

[Notes from Mojie: "I didn't use brie and I used some big tomatoes and some sun golds and I didn't bother with the parmesan cheese."]

And because we were celebrating the yachtsman's birthday, my stepmother made a blueberry pound cake from an ancient family recipe (speaking of dogs, it seems relevant that I mention here that my stepmother was called Candy growing up, and she had a dog named Bimbo; I'm just sayin'):


And because we were celebrating the yachtsman's birthday, Mojie provided some fancy, local red meat. Here's what the big boys ate:


I'm thinking my little dog deserves a nice steak right about now. He can eat the ribeye while I crawl into that bottle of pink wine.

12 comments:

  1. A) It's 8:30 in the morning and I might need a giant plate of that linguine immediately! It looks amazing, Mojie!
    B) The same can be said of pictures 2 & 3.
    and
    C) Candy and Bimbo? My only guess is ... mid-west?

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  2. South Face, south! Georgia and Florida is where she grew up. Oh Bimbo. She also walked Candy to school and dropped her off only to walk all the way home on her own! Standard poodle. Candy and Bimbo.

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  3. Just to clarify, Bimbo was a he. And proud of it.

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  4. I hope Abe Lincoln is ok! i've never seen a dog's nose bleed before. sending healthy doggie thoughts.

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  5. At the risk of making a world of enemies, I would like to affirm that Abe is indeed the best dog in the world.

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  6. That's the thing about best dogs in the world - we've all got one (or two, or three, or. . .)

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  7. Bimbo was a white standard poodle, great in splendor and adept at various tricks, if I recall from the photographs I've seen of him. As one who shares a household with a black standard poodle (who's panting in the heat), I imagine that Bimbo's (cooler) white coat served him well in the sunny south.

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  8. Given their names alone, I think the only way Candy and Bimbo could be any more Southern is if they both ate exclusively pecan pie for breakfast.

    Kate, if you're not ripping Bimbo the Dog for a story, I am.

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  9. Bimbo deserves respect. He was from a litter of Poodle post-war refugees in Germany. Kid you not. How he ended up in the south is yet another story.

    And thank you, Mark. He truly was great in splendor.

    (If pecan pie happened to be in the house, at least Candy ate it for breakfast.

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  10. You can have Bimbo, Q. In my hands a dog named Bimbo would be completely unbelievable. In yours, pure genius.

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  11. But what about the pup?

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