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May 13, 2007
This Looks Disgusting, But It Tastes Really Good!
Or: Unusual Mothers' Day Gifts.
Happy Mothers' Day to all you moms out there. We're not doing the big Mothers' Day this weekend because I am so swamped with work (election on Wednesday) but next weekend I'm taking my mom to Longwood Gardens as her Mothers' Day present. We'll have lunch on the terrace and then walk through the gardens.
In the meantime, I whipped up a quick batch of my homemade salsa verde to take over to Luke and Christine for Mothers' Day/new baby congratulations. I hadn't seen their baby yet, since things have been so busy that I haven't had a moment to make it over there. The baby is, well, small. Obviously human, but still has his eyes closed, as though he were a kitten. About the size of a large butternut squash, but with hair. Looks a lot like his father. He was three weeks early, and only weighs 5 lb 6 oz! About a third of the size of my cat.
Christine asked if I wanted to hold him.
"No way," said I. "I don't like to hold those things till they're about 35."
The way I figure it, I don't want to hold anything that might get hurt if you drop it. I don't even like holding fancy crystal glasses, much less children. By the time they're in their late thirties, they're okay to stand on their own.
The best part was that I got to see Lucy, Luke and Christine's cat. She's a magnificent creature, with beautiful green eyes and very, very long black and white fur. She was lounging in a sunbeam in a chair. We nuzzled and kissed and cuddled, and I got covered in fur. You could almost see her thinking, "Finally, someone who knows who is important around here!"
I can't help it. I like cats more than babies.
Here's my salsa verde recipe, not too spicy but flavorful:
tomatillos
several varieties of chili powder
habenero flakes
garlic
lemon juice (fresh)
dash of Emerill's "Kick It Up" green sauce
dried cilantro (though fresh would be better if you had it)
Blend in the food processor. Allow to chill for a day so the flavors meld together before serving.
For Luke and Christine's salsa, I added a half a can of black beans, drained, to make it a bit more substantial. That's what made it look a bit like the excrement of a sea monster. I handed it over to them and said, "This looks disgusting, but it tastes really good!" Then I dropped off another jar to our new employee, Cindy, who lives in the house MR and I used to live in with her eight month old son. Her husband is coming in July from California.
One thing about CR and life-extension in general is that it makes me think about what these people who are babies now will be like when they're forty or so. I plan to be quite alive and well and running around forty years from now, when I'm 72. My grandparents would tell you that some of the best years of their lives took place in their seventies, when they were retired and could do whatever they wanted, financially comfortable, done raising rugrats, and still perfectly healthy and active. Their de facto CR'd lifestyle is I think largely to credit for this. Intentional CR, plus any age-reversing technologies that evolve between now and then, could lead me to be even healthier than they were.
That's the idea, anyhow.
Posted by april at May 13, 2007 9:15 AM
Comments
Hi April,
I have a strange question. I live in an urban environment, and occasionally I will see someone who is super-skinny. Inevitably, running. Or, there is one person I run into a lot who tends to be wearing tennis skirts and carrying a racket. But, does NOT look healthy.
Except, they don't look good to me. I've seen two this week, and it gives me pause. I have a friend who is in the double-digit club (but short) and doesn't look that bad, maybe because she wears enough clothes. Ballet dancers, too, look okay to me. I mean, this is someone who is running, and they have tiny thighs and I wonder how they can run. Their quads are the size of my biceps, and they support their entire body on that? I don't want to be judgemental, really.
Here's my question: do you see these women, too? Is there a visual difference between someone who is anorexic and someone on CRON? These women give me the feeling of vertigo that Julian in the NY Times article had, the wondering if I'm stepping into another world.
I know I'm not there; I'm barely normal-weight according to the WHO/BMI calculation. But I know that my perception of "normal" will adjust down as I lose weight, even as it adjusted upward as I gained weight. I'd like, if possible, some reassurance that I won't lose all sight of normalcy, that I won't end up looking like them.
Posted by: RG at May 13, 2007 12:45 PM
Thank you sweetie. You are the best daughter in the world and a very good mommy to Kieffer and Philomena.
Posted by: Marti at May 13, 2007 1:01 PM
I like cats better, too!
Posted by: Rebecca at May 14, 2007 9:54 AM
Babies, Cats, No way! Give me a dog any day!!
Posted by: carolyn at May 14, 2007 10:59 AM
Great post! And re: liking cats better than babies, I'm with you and Rebecca all the way!
Posted by: Rachel at May 14, 2007 11:26 AM
Babies are wonderful! It's the 2-to-5 stage that drove me around the bend! However, in retrospect, I'm with Carolyn -- get a puppy! Love them & train them for a couple of months and you've got a marvellous little companion for the next 10 to 15 years! No trouble, no arguments, no worries! JD ;-)
Posted by: Judith at May 14, 2007 4:49 PM
Loved cats until the baby became allergic.. darn it.. got a dog..now I have more babies which = more work...hmmm, something is not working here. Well at least now (fast forward ten years) the babies are old enough to take care of the dog..now I get to put my feet up...on some days, like Mother's Day :)
All in all, they are all joys to have.
D
Posted by: Deborah at May 14, 2007 6:15 PM