Notice anything unusual about this sentence? A black cat dances – eerie, feline, ghostly – hanging in Jack’s kitchen like mist; newly opening people’s questions regarding spirits, till, utterly vexed, wraith Xavier yells, “Zounds!” No? No? How about this one: All birthday cards delight, even from George, housed in jail; katherine, living monastically near ottawa; Peter, quarantined respecting some terrible unknown virus, which … I couldn’t quite finish that one, actually. Ideas on a postcard to The Ordinary. I’ve been having a rough time sleeping the last couple of nights, and this is how I occupy my brain. It’s a very good way to avoid worrying! Unless it becomes worrisome in itself. Another thing I like to do is think of songs that are connected in my mind, and make a chain with them, and think about why I like them. For instance, I love John Lee Hooker’s Send Me Your Pillow. It’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s so immediate and raw and yearning, and musically so beautiful. It’s so intimate and human. A pillow full of her tears!! And it always reminds me of The Smiths’ Some Girls are Bigger Than Others, with the line, “Send me your pillow, the one that you dream on.” I think Morrissey is actually quoting a completely different song, but, to me, it has always seemed like an extension of the John Lee Hooker song, but ethereal, out-of-body, still desiring, but in the realm of the mind and the irrational – musically, too, sparking, fleeting, but grounded – like a train passing. And this song reminds me of Tom Waits’ 9th and Hennepin…And you take on the dreams of the ones who have slept here
And I’m lost in the window, and I hide in the stairway…And I hang in the curtain, and I sleep in your hat…And no one brings anything small into a bar around here. We watched Harvey, about the giant rabbit the other month, and this line is from that. I nearly fell off my chair. Everything’s connected! Everything makes a chain in your head! I could go on from there… Try it, some sleepless night, make us a chain of songs!!

So this started as a cauliflower puree, which is a thing I like a lot, but it needed a bit more oomph, so I added some eggs and cheese and baked it till it was golden and puffed and delicious. It worked out quite well! Not a souffle in the sense that I didn’t make a bechamel, or whip eggs or anything, but light, a bit crispy, and quite nice!!

1 medium-sized cauliflower, core removed, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 cups baby spinach, washed and roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, roasted or toasted and smushed
2 T fresh tarragon, leaves only
pinch nutmeg
3 T butter
1/3 cup milk (+/-)
2 eggs
1 cup cheese
salt and plenty of pepper

Boil the cauliflower in salted water till soft but not mushy. Drain well.

Put the cauliflower in a food processor with the spinach, tarragon, garlic, and butter. Process till smooth, adding just enough milk to make it completely smooth. Beat in the eggs and cheese, and season with salt and plenty of pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 and lightly butter a small baking dish or cake pan. Spread the cauliflower mixture in the pan.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes, until puffed and golden on top.