Fish and Fudge

When Cousin J-Yah comes down from Petaluma to visit, I never know what goodies she will bring with her. Sometimes, it's kitchen magic, other times it's a mystery, but it's always slightly surprising.

Last week, in honor of my Social Security birthday (62 - I'm not waiting, in case they run out!), she brought me fish and fudge. See what I mean?

Here's one of the pieces of fish, a lovely mild snapper that she purchased from her "fish man," to date a mystery figure. I've gotta meet this guy, however, as he has wonderfully fresh fish.

I prepared it simply by brushing it on both sides with olive oil and broiling it on one side only, 6-8 inches from the broiler until done, just about five minutes, then brushed with a butter melted with lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano and pepper to taste. I broiled a fresh tomato at the same time, drizzled with some olive oil and brushed with the same butter once it came out. Delicious. Scrumptious, in fact. But, next time, I'd try broiling the butter, too, as I think the nutty flavor of the cooked butter might have been even better.

J-Yah also brought us a nice big piece of salmon; stay tuned. And I'm thinking about what to do with the fudge, too.

Tea Ball on Steroids

Cousin J-Yah loves garage sales and she is a true connoisseur; she scopes them out in record time, rejects all the junk and manages to buy wonderful things for a song. She found my tiered stand and the crinkle cutter, for example. When she brought me this contraption, however, my faith in her was shaken.

What does one do with a tea ball on steroids? I thanked her and, after she went home, put it away in the very back of a cupboard where I put things that, frankly, I never use.

Then, I learned how to make mint-chamomile iced tea this summer, which involves immersing tea bags and crushed mint leaves in water - and then having to fish them out, one by one.

You guessed it - I rummaged around 'way in the back of that cabinet again and brought forth the perfect solution, the giant tea ball! It opens up to accommodate easily the leaves and tea bags, works to weigh them down in the water, and is easy to remove with the chain, which is long enough to wrap around the pitcher's handle so it doesn't fall in!

The woman is a genius as well as a garage sale maven!