A Cozy Saturday in Madison: Afternoon Reflections

Early Afternoon, Saturday, September 28, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hi, everyone. I woke up later than usual – according to the microwave oven’s clock, it was 10:16 AM EDT when I emerged from my bedroom and walked blearily to the kitchen – so I’m writing this later than I would like. Since it’s Saturday, I am not concerned about keeping to a set schedule; it’s my day off from working on the novel, and I don’t have anywhere to go this afternoon, so I’m not worried about starting my midday break late or that I’ll be working on Reunion: Coda till seven or eight PM to make up for my late rising.

As I write this, it’s a less nice day than yesterday. It’s not freezing outside; the temperature is 68°F (20°C), but the sun is behind a veil of clouds. You can see glimpses of sunlight every so often in the mostly cloudy sky, and there’s no rain in the forecast, so I’ll be able to go out for my daily walk sometime after lunch.

Yesterday, I finally made one of my favorite dishes for lunch: spinach Florentine. I’ve been wanting to make this dish since I arrived in mid-December of 2023, but I couldn’t find Green Giant Creamed Spinach (the main ingredient) stocked in either Market Basket or Hannaford until late last week.

Spinach Florentine is one of the first vegetable-based dishes I learned to prepare when I was in my 20s. It’s one of the few spinach-based dishes that I like, and it was the only one I loved as a child. I’m notoriously fussy about vegetables, and I don’t like plain spinach, but I like this variant because it’s topped with eggs and Parmesan cheese.

You can find numerous spinaci alla Fiorentina recipes online, but most are more complex than mine. Mine is incredibly easy: lightly butter a baking pan, add one pouch of preheated frozen creamed spinach per serving, top with an egg per serving, and finish with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Bake it in an oven at 350 degrees until the eggs are cooked, and there you have it! The spinaci alla Fiorentina are ready to serve.

I don’t know what I’ll have for lunch today. I usually don’t plan my meals, but I might make a modified Maddie Burger (without cheese) or heat a can of New England-style clam chowder. It’s getting chilly now that it’s early autumn, so I need to eat something nourishing and hot; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich simply won’t do on a cold late September day.

I have no concrete plans for today aside from a short stroll to stretch my legs and breathe in some fresh air. I’ll catch a bit of sunlight, though mostly it’ll be the UV rays sneaking through the thick clouds. Should inspiration strike, I might tinker with Reunion: Coda later this afternoon. If not, that’s fine too—weekends are meant for relaxation, after all.