The Dear Ordinary

June 10, 2018 by M+N In Construction, Design, Food, Other, State of Mind 2 Comments

Our crossing guard Betsy asked “Do you live on the left up the hill?  Yes, we do.

“Dr. Eason lived there.  He was our family doctor, he delivered all four of my mother’s children.”  Yes, we know that we live in Dr. Eason’s house.  We bought it from his widow.  October 1989, the day it went on the market, $5K over listing to win out the bidding.  We had driven from Manhattan every weekend for months with our new baby and looked at dozens of houses.  Many ok, several fine, none right.

Walking in on 8 Devon, we knew. Moss green woodwork, green shag carpet, a small dark avocado  green kitchen, pink, grey and peach bathrooms, vacated doctors offices.  Massive safe in the basement, hauled in through a hole cut in the garage wall.  Yet, there were the windows, the dental moulding, perfect oak floors under that carpet, a flat, large (for Summit) yard, the amazing light even though it was late afternoon.

After we moved in, the neighbors regaled us with stories about Dr. Eason.  He never turned away a patient, opening his office at any time day or night, was often paid in-kind, flocks of crows would descend upon  pallets of Entenmann’s baked goods frequently left on the driveway by one patient.  Our beloved house has had only two owners in 75 years.  For  a long while, we were known to live in Dr. Eason’s house.

It’s become quite real, a move date now tangible enough to have resonance.  A finality that belies the last two-and-a-half years spent in the quiet holiness of everyday, as I sat in our pretty house; finalizing paint, mouldings, doors, bathrooms and tile for our next home.

Marilyn Robinson’s 1981 novel Housekeeping attends to the ordinary details of lives.  This is our dear ordinary:  light streaming through our bedroom windows along with the morning train whistles,  Mike’s kiss on my cheek leaving for the 5:55, daily walk on Ashland Road to Maple Street to Summit Avenue punctuated with three crossing guard conversations and the background music of Brayton School children, post-Bar Method coffee with the girls, the luxury of quietly working at a desk facing the gardens we planted.

The acts of faith performed in laundry, tidying, feeding my two men (so different from the years of family meals for seven), the sounds of little ones from next door playing ball in our back yard, weekends around the fire-pit with dearest friends under tall oak trees. Numinous, using Robinson’s word for these last years and months and now days; survived through a reverence for the grace of the dear ordinary.

File under things not to think about. You never know when you might be seeing someone or something for the last time.  We hope to be seeing many of you in Chapel Hill.  Maybe we’ll have this chicken, a family and company favorite.

 

 

Chicken Tenders  (a Technique)

Cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts in lengthwise slices about 1″ thick (thighs also work)

Dredge the chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper (alternatively S&P the chicken before dredging in flour)

Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a large sauté pan at medium high heat.  When the butter is foaming hot add the chicken tenders, don’t crowd, this may take several batches.  Allow the chicken to sear on both sides  (each side is ready when no longer sticks to the pan and golden brown),  remove cooked chicken to a plate until all the chicken is seared.

Add aromatics of choice (small yellow onion or a few shallots finely minced) to the hot pan and cook until translucent.  Mushrooms, sliced or chopped) can also be added and browned.

Deglaze your pan with about a quarter cup or so of an acid (white wine, Marsala, vermouth, vinegar, lemon juice…) of your choice.  Scrape up the browned bits in the pan and reduce by about half.  Add a cup or two (depending on how much sauce you want)  of chicken stock to the pan and bring to boil.  Add in a few glugs of dairy (cream, half & half, milk, sour cream, creme fraiche) amount depends on how much and how creamy you like the sauce.  Bring sauce to a simmer and add the chicken back in with any accumulated juices.  The flour on the chicken will thicken the sauce a bit.

Let the chicken gently finish cooking in the sauce about 15 – 30 minutes or so.  Can be made  ahead and gently warmed.

Serve over noodles, rice or our family favorite, orzo.

Photo note:  I walk pass this little bit of fence everyday. The dear ordinary.