Still not keeping up very well

This weekend was supposed to be kind of crazy, and was still pretty packed. We had tickets for Sleater-Kinney in Chicago on Friday (because I screwed up in responding to Ticketmaster “get your tickets now!” emails, and bought tickets for the Riviera in Chicago on October 18, when I meant to buy tickets for the Riverside in Milwaukee on October 16, all of this back in like June when October seemed like a dream), and for the Madison symphony on Saturday, and the Lyric Opera on Sunday.

After weeks of trying to figure out how to make it work, I finally decided we should just skip Sleater-Kinney. That set of tickets actually cost more than the Madison Symphony, our other skippable choice, but I listened to Sleater-Kinney’s new album that I got as a free download for buying the concert tickets, and didn’t like it all that well – too techno. Plus Janet Weiss left. Greg Kot says the show was a run through of the album, so I probably made the right choice. What I really want is to see Corin Tucker fronting up Filthy Friends, the super group she’s in with Peter Buck & Scott McCaughey and Kurt Bloch and others.

Which meant we could go to the opening for the Wisconsin Triennial on Friday. I think there was more art I liked better other years, but it was still good to go look. And a nice walk there and back for a mild fall evening. I ate a meatloaf sandwich for a late lunch/early dinner before we left. When we got back, I didn’t need dinner. Mark made himself eggs, I think, and I still had a few work things to do, stuff to post to the website, and related emails to send, so we settled in in our respective lairs for a bit. I mixed a whiskey-soda, not anything I’d thought of  as my drink, but I really liked the bubbly whiskey taste of it. Finished the email, and then had to watch This Is Us on my computer because on demand on Spectrum TV was too pixelated. Sent a message to my brother, who knows his drinks, and he says he likes deconstructed whisky-soda – shot of booze, chased with a glass of bubble water.

Saturday we went to the Farmers Market and made it back just a little too late for me to make it to yoga. The line was really long at Colectivo, and Mark got irritated with me when I stopped to let the checker get to the register, and another woman budged us. In retribution, they lost her drink order, and Mark’s latte too, though I don’t think he deserved that. I bought probably too many squash. I tidied up the basement a little in anticipation of John & Megan coming to get some of their stuff, to make room for us to bring back some of our stuff from Chicago, now that we have to give up the apartment down there since Mark’s retired. I set off for my errands by bike: I exchanged this coat that I got on sale at L.L. Bean last spring for this one that I think I will like better. Still doesn’t have a 2-way zipper, but it’s more what I want in a winter coast. And purple. A little grocery shopping (I forgot the ketchup), and a trip to Penzey’s Spices (making the news of late for their anti-Trump stance – Go Penzey’s).

After errands I came home and graded until John & Megan arrived. I made a baked pasta with kabocha squash and leftover cheese ravioli and the last tiny end of a bag of dried pasta that our exchange student Anna left for me after preparing one of her pasta meals, and cottage cheese and mozzarella cheese. The kids couldn’t stay to eat though, they loaded the truck and dropped a few boxes and a desk at Goodwill, and headed back to Chi. I hope we are as efficient when Mark brings the truck of stuff back from his place.

Sunday we got up on the early side and drove to Harvard for the train to Chicago, to see the Opera. Luisa Miller – star-crossed idiots Mark said, and I’d have to agree, but the staging, by the San Francisco Opera, was terrific. I didn’t really understand it, I think it was some kind of contrast between the pure mountain village and the corruption of the court, but it looked great. There were these big square backdrop pictures hanging from a massive outstretched support, sliding doors, and actor/singers creating silhouettes.

On the walk back I stopped to take a pic of some columns at Millennium Park lit red.

Here’s a gallery of what the weekend looked like.

After the gallery I’ll tell you more about the food.

So I guess I mentioned the meatloaf. And whiskey-soda. Here’s the baked pasta.

Sunday after the opera I wanted to go back to the apartment and order a pizza, but Mark wanted to go Maggianos, so we went there and came back stuffed with rigatoni al arrabiata, with a creamy, and spicy, tomato sauce, sausage, and spinach, and a container of lasagna for Mark to eat Monday.

Saturday at the market I bought three big red peppers and roasted them. They’re in the freezer for future use. I need to roast the broccoli, cauliflower & peppers I got in my last CSA, before they go the way of the cute little melon I bought, and the four tomatoes Mark bought Saturday, that looked a lot the worse for aging when I got back from Chicago Monday. I ate as much of the melon as I could and composted the rest. I put Mark’s tomatoes in the fridge so hopefully we can slice around the bad spots. And not sure what to do with the fennel. Maybe I can add it to the roasted veg. Or no, I know – Pepperonata, with the fennel, peppers, and Mark’s tomatoes. It will be delicious over goat cheese at the cookie party.