picture yourself in a boat on a river

Picture if you will a beautiful bowl of beans, ranging in color from lemon yellow to pale green. You have to picture it because my camera is broken. Black-eyed peas are in season, people! Now that I've tried fresh ones, dried ones are going to taste like ashes in my mouth. They will taste like shame and pain. Two pounds in the shell is enough for two entree-sized portions. Shelling them sucks. Here's how I cooked mine, and they tasted like food of the gods.

Saute chopped onion and gypsy pepper (also in season) in two tbl olive oil, 1 tbl butter until slightly soft
add 3 cloves garlic, continue to saute one minute
throw in beans, then add water to just cover
-cook until desired softness, about 20 minutes
-salt and pepper to taste
the beans lose their lovely color and turn brown as they cook, too bad.
I had this for dinner with a sliced golden tomato from Watanabe farms (their booth is back for the summer and filled with tons of varieties of tomatoes), some bread would have been nice.

Now picture if you will, a show at Old Ironsides on a monday night with a ton of happy people! Picture our friends playing in a band backing Phil Wilson on two June Brides songs and the Singles ripping it up after. It was such a treat to watch the Singles surrounded by a sea of pop fans, rather than the usual scenesters (I didn't say hipsters) who often don't pay much attention to whatever band is playing. Now if we could just get the pop fans to put down their knitting, savor the last sip of their chamomile tea, lock the door on their thatched cottages, and come to more shows. J.K., pop fans, you know I love you!