Elliott Thompson, Man of Many Talents

Monday, February 10, 2014 – Elliott Thompson, Man of Many Talents

I’ve always known Elliott was handy around the house, but he generally has avoided working in the kitchen.  Since his vision isn’t too good, I’d rather not entrust him with knife wielding tasks such as chopping vegetables.  And a few decades ago, he discovered that dishwashing aggravated his back pain.   So I’ve gotten used to handling meal prep and cleanup on my own.  Today, however, he surprised both of us by fixing an expertly made Reuben sandwich for his lunch.  (For those of you not familiar with this deli specialty, it’s a grilled sandwich of corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut with Russian dressing.)  As you can see in the photo, he’s beaming with pride in his accomplishment.

Elliott shows off his Reuben sandwich.

 Aside from cooking, Elliot has been busy getting a head start on the destruction/reconstruction of our kitchen.  Over the course of the past week, this involved pulling off baseboard moldings (there were splinters of wood everywhere) and perching on a ladder in the laundry room to explore plumbing lines that run under the kitchen.  We are continuing to refine the specifications for the cabinetry.  

Elliott in a familiar pose

 We both had a marvelous weekend with Elisa and Christian visiting from New York.  We’re especially fond of Christian’s new look, inspired by Elliott, I’m sure.  While Christian was at the Georgetown basketball game in DC on Saturday afternoon, we got together with Matt and Lauren (Elisa’s dear friend and a long-time friend of the whole family) for lunch at a new restaurant called Passion Fin Asian Bistro in Merrifield.  Elliott raved about his teriyaki steak (finally, an Asian restaurant he can get excited about), and Matt was similarly impressed with the Thai basil chicken dish he ordered.  The girls and I splurged on some special sushi rolls.  Before lunch, we stopped by Greenspring to say a quick hello to Grandma Katie.

Special rolls at Passion Fin Asian Bistro

Dinner was a home-cooked meal with a western Mediterranean accent (think Morocco, Spain):  codfish filets baked in a zesty tomato and spice (cumin, coriander, smoked paprika) sauce, espinacas con garbanzos (spinach with chickpeas, one of my favorite tapas dishes at Jaleo in DC), garlicky roasted eggplant with peppers and red onions, a beet salad with fresh orange segments, a crusty loaf of bread, some Spanish Iberica cheese, dried figs, and plenty of red wine. 

Elliott and enjoyed an unusual concert at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts on Sunday afternoon.  The King’s Singers is a men’s a capella group from England.  They performed some traditional Negro spirituals, but most of the music was from The Great American Songbook, i.e. songs from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s by composers such as Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Rogers and Hart.  They are an incredibly talented group of musicians, with voices ranging from bass to counter-tenor.  I still can’t get used to hearing falsetto male voices in the soprano range, though. 

With no subbing on the schedule this week, I’ll be able to concentrate a full range of activities, including exercise at the gym, some tutoring at Beth El, the reading assignment for my history class, and a couple of lunch dates with friends.