Poem I Like

I heard Garrison Keillor read this poem on his Writer's Almanac feature on NPR this week and liked it. I thought I'd share it:

Poem: "To My Yugoslavian In-Laws" by Debra Gingerich, from Where We Start. © DreamSeeker Books, 2007. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

To My Yugoslavian In-Laws

If we could speak,
I would tell you that we have
trees here too, and rivers.
I know how to hammer
a nail. Transatlantic phone calls
are expensive, even for us
with our two cars, dishwasher
and American salaries. That he
will not get lazy or forget
about the ways he needed to make money
during the war, the merchandise
exchanged in dark corners of Turkey.
He is still thankful for good health.
He passes on every kiss
you tell him to give me.
I would admit that he misses
the stone beaches of the Adriatic,
he accepts the Atlantic's murky water
as part of the compromise. He thinks
Lancaster's streets are too vacant
at night and there is no place
to ride a bike. Also, that I wouldn't take
your name and will never
believe the wine in the cup
turns to blood. That he and I can't
agree on a slipcover for the couch.
That there is no perfect place
for anyone.

Baking with my New Tart Dish

I'm really excited about the tart dish I found at Tuesday Morning because 1) it's gorgeous, 2) I've been looking for the perfect tart dish for a couple of weeks now, and 3) it's a brand called Appolia made in northern France. I got an awesome deal on a dish that usually costs around $60, but I got it for $25. In order to break it in last night, I made and baked a sweet tart dough and this afternoon I made a two-layered filling. The bottom is honey roasted peanuts in caramel, which is topped by a chocolate genache. All the recipes came from Dorie Greenspan's Baking. I only made two mistakes in the process: 1) I didn't "coursely chop" the peanuts -- oops! and 2) I burned my finger on the hot caramel -- dangerous! We'll be taste testing after dinner.