Tuesday December 28th
Alison leaves today, I don’t know how the time flies by so quickly. We sat yesterday evening for our last dinner together for a while. Caz made the most divine latkes I have ever eaten and we piled apple sauce and sour cream on top. This used to be a Christmas Eve ritual but it slid down the calendar until now, thank you Covid.
The roast salmon and fresh spinach to follow seemed uneventful after we had all stuffed ourselves with potatoes. I always forget that while Caz learned to cook at home as a child, she was trained under chefs in the Esalen kitchen and runs the kitchen like a professional. I do as am I told, ‘whip the eggs please’ comes a commanding voice, ‘grate the onion as finely as you can’ follows. ‘Yes chef’ I say with a smile in my voice. I whip, chop, wash chopping boards and knives, keep the sink empty and the dish rack full. I have my eye on the fish cooking happily away in the oven and put the spinach on a low heat to gently collapse into a warm, dark green heap, with some butter and chopped garlic stirred into it. Caz is checking the color of the potatoes ready to go into the pan, they have the right number of eggs added and she is ready to cook. Ali is opening wine while checking her phone and responding to clients at the same time. Never a break.
The crisp, flat, very hot potato latkes are ready to eat. We raise a glass of wine to the chef, smile at each other, the blackness of a forest night surrounds us and keeps us safe. For now, we are home and together, what could be better?
