Vineyard Shadows (25 page)

I poured icy Luksusowa into a glass, added two green olives, and went up and sat beside Zee.

“I'm going to do it,” she said. “I'm going to start practicing again. I thought for a while that I'd never touch a gun again, that there was something evil about me knowing enough about shooting to have done what I did to Logan and Trucker. But lately I've realized that what really bothered me was the idea that I could kill someone. I didn't want that to be true, and I was going to prove it wasn't by never shooting again. But now I've accepted it; I've accepted that part of me is willing to kill to defend myself and my family.” She looked toward me. “I was afraid that you couldn't love me if I could do that.”

I tried to choose the right words. “You never have to be afraid of that. I love you because you can do it if you have to, but you'll never do it if you don't have to.” I said, “I don't want an angel for a wife; I want a woman who can be as strong as she has to be. And that's what I have. Of course, if you'd rather be considered a goddess . . .”

We stared out over the darkening waters. Then she took my hand in hers. “If I decide to be a goddess, does
that mean I have to start thinking of you as a god? I hope not, because that would be very hard.”

“I hate a vain deity,” I said. “No, I'm content to be a mere mortal basking in your celestial radiance.”

“Stop basking and slide that chair over here,” she said.

I did that. Her lips tasted like ambrosia.

That fall I got an envelope postmarked from a town in Oklahoma. There was no return address. The envelope contained a cashier's check for the amount I'd spent on cell phones and the cash I'd given to Carla. There was a brief note from her. Thanks for everything. The Riminis were both teaching, and the boys were in school. Things were going well.

I hoped that they really were.

Q
UICK
C
OQ AU
V
IN

This is an excellent dish that is fast and easy to prepare.

Up to 8 pieces of chicken. ( J.W. prefers dark meat, but Zee prefers white, so they usually use both.)

1½ cups dry red wine

1 package (1 3⁄8 oz.) onion soup mix

1 beef bouillon cube

Place all the ingredients in a 2-quart casserole, cover, and bake 2 hours at 350°.

Serve over rice or riced potatoes.

Serves 4 or more

G
RILLED
V
EGETABLES

Even people who don't like vegetables like them when they're cooked like this.

Chop or slice your favorite vegetables into bite-size pieces. J.W. and Zee usually use:

Onions

Red and/or green peppers

Summer squash and/or zucchini and whatever odds and ends of veggies they find in the fridge

Portobello mushrooms

Eggplant

Parboil such veggies as carrots and broccoli.

Marinate the vegetables for a half hour, adding mushrooms and eggplant during last few minutes. J.W. and Zee use a combination of Good Seasons Garlic and Herb salad dressing, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil.

Place the vegetables in a grilling wok and grill over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, turning regularly.

Delish!

C
LAM
C
HOWDER

There are as many chowders as there are chowder makers, and a lot of cooks never make it the same way twice. This is a good one, but feel free to alter it to suit your tastes.

J.W. digs his own clams, but you may want to buy yours at the grocery store.

1 large onion, chopped

4 or 5 slices of bacon cut into small pieces, or a small chunk of salt pork, cubed

2 cups diced potatoes

2 cups water

24 or more clams

¼
pound ground kielbasa

Salt and pepper

Hot pepper sauce

1 quart milk

Fry the onion and bacon (or salt pork) until the onion is pale and cooked.

Add potatoes and water and boil until the potatoes are done.

Meanwhile, steam the clams, and save the broth. Remove the meat from the shells and grind or chop it, then return it to the broth (using as much broth as suits your fancy) and add the potatoes, onion, kielbasa, and bacon (or salt pork), salt and pepper to taste, and a few shakes of hot pepper sauce.

At this point you can add the milk or you can freeze the chowder base for future use and add the milk later, after you've thawed and reheated the base.

Philip R. Craig grew up on a small cattle ranch southeast of Durango, Colorado. He earned his MFA at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and was for many years a professor of literature at Wheelock College in Boston. He and his wife live on Martha's Vineyard.