Monday, February 16, 2009

Cheese!


You may have noticed (all three of you) that Unreal City has suffered a rather distinct hiatus. I won't make excuses, but I will say that a hectic combination of working all day, reorganizing the house and going to a couple of parties doesn't do much for my particular creative juices. I know, activity is just wasted on me. All those stimulating hours spent folding jeans, serving customers, moving furniture and participating in engaging socio-politic-philo-sophomoric discussions simply left me wondering when I was next going to enjoy lazing on my battered vinyl couch. 

So I approached this Inevitable Late Blog Post with a great deal of nervousness - what on earth was I going to talk about? The girl who screamed that I was violating the Trade Practices Act at work today? That 'original' poem gifted by a hobo at the bus stop (only to discover it was a Whitman)? That book I just finished? Lightening never struck until I'd finally given up and decided to write about dinner.

It was a quiche, by the way, an adaptation of my mum's Never-Fail recipe (seriously - it never fails) -  tonight's filling was roast sweet potatoes and caramelized onions. Quiche is my ultimate comfort food, and passes the Maisy Seal of Approval, which basically demands that you can use whatever ingredients on hand and that it always makes delicious and plentiful leftovers. 

I was in the middle of a rather ingenuously staged a photo op of The Quiche & I, with a knife poised to cut the first steaming slice out, when my lovely assistant managed to make me laugh. The resulting pictures - one with a posed smile, the other genuine - were so distinct that it was though they were two different people.

It seems strange to me that I'd never seen my own candid smile before, and that the person who is more familiar to me is the one gritting her teeth. And while the thought does seem rather sad, it is quite nice to think that my real appearance is entrusted with the people I love, and not with my devilishly critical self-conscious mind. 


Oh, and yes - for my mother's benefit - I am wearing some items and are thereby obligated to describe them: a really comfy oversized wrangler cashmere jumper atop a pair of G-Star 96's. Somewhat safe, but nothing is Safer or indeed Folksier (Oh No!) than baking and then musing about the nature of smiles. 

5 comments:

  1. To whit, the Trade Practices Act 1974, does not forbid a merchant from refusing to return an item sold to a retail customer, so long as the said goods meet the 'merchantability test' as outlined in section 66(2) of the TPA:

    "Goods of any kind are of merchantable quality [...] if they are as fit for the purpose or purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly bought as it is reasonable to expect having regard to any description applied to them, the price (if relevant) and all other relevant considerations."

    Just so you know.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh yes, that second smile is the one we want to see.

    Now where's the recipe for the quiche. Don't be a tease.

    Darla (faithful follower of your Mom's blog)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes Billie-Mae, make sure you give Darla the recipe! Honestly, Darla, it is completely foolproof & yummy. I've been making it for decades, but Mae has totally perfected it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would also love the recipe for this yummy looking quiche, please. Not that you wanted this blog to turn into one associated with food, neces-Sarah-Lee (oh, I am so sorry, I couldn't resist!):-)

    Mervat
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOL
    I love those somewhat shameful but always appropriate advertising puns that wriggle their way into our lives :)

    Have now posted the recipe. It was quite hard to nail the essence down because all I got from mum was a decade or so of watching, which is hard to distill in one coherent piece. She really is an excellent cook!

    ReplyDelete