California Lemon Pie

Put on Mrs. Miller, because recently you and Elise have become obsessed with her. A housewife with no talent, singing old pop songs in a ridiculous opera voice...it's a perfect background to our pie-baking.

1 9-inch unbaked pie crust, which you have to make from scratch since you forgot to take the pie dough out of the freezer yesterday. Making your own goes surprisingly well. 
3 eggs, separated. "Separated how?" Asks Elise, eyes wide with faux-innocence. "Like, around the house? Like an Easter egg hunt?"
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened in your hand
1 cup milk, also using the measuring cup with sugar residue
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel. Since there's no grater, scrape away as much as you can with a paring knife

EARLY IN DAY--LIKE AROUND TWO:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prick piecrust with fork; bake only 8 minutes; set on top of refrigerator.
2. Turn oven control to 350 degrees. In small bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. However, since for some reason the mixer was left out but the beaters were packed, you will have to do the best you can whisking with a fork by hand. When your hand starts hurting unbearably, pass off to partner. Whisking as hard and fast as you can, sprinkle in a 1/2 cup sugar until dissolved, or close enough.
3. In large bowl, with a small fork, beat 1/2 cup sugar with butter and egg yolks until well mixed; at "low-speed," beat in milk, lemon juice, flour, and lemon peel.
4. With wire whisk (but you don't have one of these either, so use rubber spatula), "gently fold" whites into yolk mixture. Stop Elise from beating the mixture together, because the recipe did say gently, after all. Pour into pie crust. Look at it for a moment, since it doesn't reach up to the top of the crust, it looks a little sad.
5. Bake 35-40 minutes, taking the time to call Amber for her birthday and write this blog. Then stick a knife into the pie and when it comes out clean, it's done. Sprinkle/dump some powdered sugar and do a photoshoot. Refrigerate and start watching Band of Outsiders, or have Elise cut your hair. Makes 8 servings.

Elise "Monet" Cowin

She's wearing a gramophone horn

 I met Elise my senior year of college at Goucher. We were in a composition theory course and a Virginia Woolf seminar. She was a thoughtful, intelligent classmate, and I respected her. We slowly became friends. Her figure, grace, and color scheme had me calling her "Elise Monet:" she looked like she had just stepped out of a painting.

Elise walking down Van Meter

Our friendship cemented when she said she'd like to visit me in Cleveland and actually did. Christopher and I returned the visit, staying with her in Chicago, leading to the move here. She's a woman of her word. Reserved with her emotions, but strong in her friendships.

She has given me a lot in terms of fun, creativity, and inspiration. Her ideas for projects are like a cool wind blowing my mind open. Her sense of humor catches me off-guard, and I love the weird things she gets excited about, like Elizabethan collars.

Rocking that post-op style

She works tirelessly, obsessively on her art, with many late nights, aided by glasses of red wine, and early mornings, with the necessary tiny cup of espresso. Her big black notebook is a staple of her days, with its pages full of notes comprehensible only to her: snatches from Woolf, Bauhaus performers, eccentric Italian costume designers, and scribbled drawings of her own perpetual motion machine.

Performing "The Weight of My Right Leg" in 2013 at the Sullivan Galleries

Her work method sometimes takes a circuitous route, as she works from feeling and intuition rather than a methodical plan laid out with measurements and little details. But no matter the route, it arrives, and lands. What I like about her art is that it has an enormous respect for the audience, those people that come to shows to be inspired, or moved, or even "just" entertained. She won't reward your patience and time with repetitive motions that don't develop, or a piece where nothing happens, and there's never some masturbatory confessional element. She creates something out of disparate pieces, choreographs them, and entertains and enlightens her audience. Her work always gives people something to discuss, and it's rarely what I expect to see. Check out her website for more of an idea: www.elisecowin.com

Her parents are so clearly responsible for how their daughter turned out. Her father is passionate, intelligent, and his sense of humor is sometimes opaque and for that reason, a little intimidating. Her mother is equally matched, with the addition of loveliness and grace. She will calmly dish out quips, which can be sharp, but never cutting. Elise and I were walking around Bucktown one day, and she was telling me she had been emailing a certain gentleman she'd liked for awhile. "And he's writing back?" I asked. She laughed and said I was just like her mother, which I took as a very high compliment.

Saturday will be Elise's birthday, and since I will be at a chorus retreat, we are celebrating today. I made her the pie of her choosing, and bought her a little succulent.

Elise Playlist
The Lady is a Tramp - Frank Sinatra
I Could Have Danced All Night - Chet Baker
Here You Come Again - Dolly Parton
You're The Top - Patricia Barber
Tea for Two - Pink Martini
A Fine Romance - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
Mack the Knife - Peggy Lee
Blue Velvet - Lana Del Rey
Fur Elise - Beethoven
Sister (Miss Celie's Blues) - Suede
Royals - Lorde
Sweet Home Chicago - Eric Clapton
Bend it! - Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

Elise's Birthday Pie
Chocolate Mousse with graham cracker crust: reminds you of childhood.