We are out driving around in search of a clockwork to replace the broken one in my kitchen clock. I don't want to replace the clock itself because it's a one-of-a-kind, hand painted cartoon cat swiping at the mouse that swings on the pendulum. Hickory-dickory-dock.
"We should think about dinner," Oz says. His stomach's been grumbling for an hour.
"Your stomach has been more vocal than mine. What does it want?" I ask.
He thinks for a while. "Pasta salad."
"Okay. I have pasta at home, but we'll have to get these other things." I list the ingredients and we drop by the grocery store after we fail to find the right kind of clockwork at the last craft store in town.
1 lb. dry pasta, any short and chunky shape
3 tomatoes, diced
8 oz. feta, crumbled
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 handful chopped parsley
1 scant handful pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, some extra for the pasta pot
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
12 (or more) kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
black pepper to taste (the feta and the olives contain plenty of salt, so you don't really need it)
Boil the pasta in salted water with olive oil in it. While the pasta is cooking, prepare and combine the other ingredients in a large bowl. When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the bowl. Stir, serve, eat.
"So is this what you were fantasizing about earlier?" I ask.
"This is better," Oz says. "I mostly just didn't want anything fried."
259 words | May 29, 2004 06:43 PM | Kitchen