Cooking with Jane: "Senora, you lost your pot!"

Jane, Jane, Jane..what to do with you? I know that it's much too hot to pop a casserole in the oven, but what are you going to do without that nifty grey cast iron enamelware pot I gave you last spring? I was out and about today, looking for something to do other than sweat to death in that over heated house of mine, when I came across a familar sight. There are some things that you just know are meant to be found. When I saw that casserole I knew that price didn't matter. Once again I had something in my hands that had, at one point, rested in yours.

It's been hot, in fact, today was a record breaker both at the Bremerton Airport and at Sea-Tac (102 degrees). I needed to find airconditioning earlier, but that was just an excuse to go second handing. I could have hung out in the hardware store and done just fine. In fact I found what I needed there. What was funny to see was the dearth of box fans. They were down to seven inchers. Talk about not being prepared. But again, I found what I needed (a screen door tensioner, well, three or five different kinds...I'll need to go back with my old one in hand). But I just knew that I wasn't "done". I have to find another cool spot, so I went up the way to Goodwill thinking I would find another cookbook or a movie or two.

I was tired of overhearing the "oohs" and "aahs" over Elmore Leonard and JA Jance novels so I moved over to the cookware. Looked down and saw the grey enamel piece that had stowed away in your Capt Nemo trunk. I have to wonder why you gave it up, it you ever used it. When I see things like that I tend to wander the store, look to see if I can find anything else I recognize. Last year when I found I Hear America Cooking I also found the pear print. I don't know what else you have to unload. But if I could I would love to find that Pinto Pony shirt. Maybe I'll go back and see if I can find it.

Nevertheless it's too hot to cook indoors. I pulled together a pot of Bun Bun Noodles and have some pork marinading. I had a couple folks come through the house today but I think that they were just the first of the "lookie loos". I picture a month or two of them, then, when I least expect it, there will be someone with a bit of imagination, someone who can see the fine lines, the underlying bones of the house. It's sort of like going to the market and seeing a meal tucked away in the meat counter or in the produce aisle. This house is ready for the right person to come along. Well, maybe after I declutter it a bit more.

But anyway, nice to find that pot. I know now that it was you in the alley the other day. You might have seen the "for sale" sign, you might just have been on your way to Goodwill to unload a box or two, but all the same I know that you were close by, even if it was just to say goodbye to the house. You have have unloaded a pot, but buddy, face it, you can go the rest of your life unloading things and it will never unload your heart.

It's always the 27th, Jane, always.

Your WHMB