First, it isn't the rain that matters most of all anymore. This little hideout here and the hide and seek, the finding of pecans after the tree has been thoroughly shook. I leave the opened ones for the ants and keep promising to leave a few for the squirrels. They are like tiny brown Easter eggs..the best ones found under the juniper fronds and close to the ground. Sometimes I count to ten and if I don't find one within ten seconds, it's time to go in. Last year's unopened ones are black and fossil. Very hard and perhaps these are the trees of the future so I leave them all alone.

It's alot like poetry i.e. pecan work.

I didn't even know I had a pecan tree and I think of that one up on Laundry Hill, want to go find it. They produce fruit for three hundred years if left alone and perhaps more when cared for. The pecan tree is actually a hickory. I have a whole set of antique deer antler knives but no old hickories, the kind that were treated with such neglect in the drawer by the stove.

I made pecan mamoul last night. They were brilliant. Frek as well with two cups of whole, old fashioned oats. Such appreciation for food around here. Perhaps I will share some of that this time around.


Frek (Ramadan Soup)

Broth from chicken or beef, 4 cups or more
chicken or beef, diced, shredded or whatever size one likes
1 1/2 to 2 cups of whole oats
olive oil
onion, carrot, bell pepper diced small
3 tbsp tomato paste
two bouillion cubes
pinch of cloves
two teaspoons of harisa(Morroccan pepper) paste

Saute vegetables in oil for a few minutes. Add broth, spices, pastes, bouillion cubes and simmer for a while, almost an hour or so. Add oats and meat and simmer for ten minutes more, stirring so the oats don't burn. Salt to taste and add hot pepper if that's your thing.

Serve with salad, tabouleh is best but even a Waldorf will do.