I haven’t written about food in a while. And I can’t say it’s because I haven’t been spending time in the kitchen. A large portion of my everyday is devoted to preparing produce, cooking up recipes, washing dishes, washing dishes, washing dishes. That hasn’t changed. I grocery shop on a daily basis and our produce box is still providing us with weekly organic delights. But still, things have been feeling a little uninspired in that favorite nook of mine lately. New recipes are at a standstill. Homemade energy bars and hummus have been replaced with the packaged variety. Meals are cooked and consumed without even a thought to pause and pose them for photos. My heart just hasn’t been in it lately, I don’t know why. Yesterday morning I happened to emerge from my cave of an office just in time to catch that one, elusive stream of morning sunlight as it made it’s brief daily pass by the kitchen window. And I suddenly realized that my recent lack of inspiration and creativity in the kitchen is simply a matter of light. It is the light that brings color to my foodie realm.
Tag: Recipes
Gingerbread Spice Makes Everything Nice
There is something about a cold, stormy day that stirs up a craving for gingerbread. Talk about seasonal flavors…warm gingery spices with that deep flavor of dark molasses…nothing says winter like gingerbread. With a storm brewin’ outdoors this weekend, I decided to hunker down in the comfy confines of my kitchen and bake up some of those gingerbread flavors.
Clouds and Cookies
When I was a child, my grandma would always send the family a big tin or two of homemade goodies for the holidays. Date pinwheels, persimmon cookies, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate chip cookies…the contents never varied. Opening that tin always felt like saying hello to old friends and getting a big, warm hug from Grandma. The chocolate-covered pretzels were my personal favorite, but I always wondered about those persimmon cookies…what, on earth, is a persimmon?
What to Do with this: Pomegranates
I love pomegranates. They are a pain to prepare, they make a mess and all that effort seems to yield so little usable fruit. And yet, there is just something so endearing about pomegranates in the fall.
Soup, Salad and a Sandwich
The past week has been testin’ this foodie girl’s patience. With my kitchen in complete disarray (not that there was much order there to begin with) and my favorite space invaded, I was compelled to seek the path of least resistance. That being, the simplest suppers imaginable. We’re talking soup, salad and a sandwich.
Autumn Spiced Butternut and Apple Soup
Yesterday morning I woke up early. Too early for a Saturday. I couldn’t imagine why this body of mine insisted on rising at the crack of dawn on this particular day, when sleeping late was the simplest and most important goal. I stumbled and grumbled my way to the kitchen to brew the coffee and let the dogs out. When I opened the door I was hit by the most delightful sensation…the morning air was so cool and crisp. I dare say, it was downright chilly. Oh, yay! Autumn! It’s here, it’s finally here! I felt a celebration was in order, so I decided to commemorate this moment of autumnal bliss with a warm pot of seasonal soup.
Spiced Pear Cake
I knew, the moment I opened my eyes in the early am hours, that this was going to be one of those cake for breakfast kind of days.
What to Do with this: Fresh Figs
Since we started receiving our weekly box of organic and locally grown produce, I have come to adore this time of year. And that is saying a lot. At this point in the year, I am mentally and physically done with summer. The desert heat is trying my patience, it is draining my energy and any twinge of adoration I might feel for this season is attributed to only one thing: food, of course. I may not feel it in the air just yet, but I can see the beginnings of that blessed seasonal transition in the contents of our weekly produce box. Heirloom tomatoes, Asian pears and fresh figs. I absolutely love fresh figs and their appearance in my box is a reassuring sign that yes, autumn will eventually bless us with its presence. And yet, the bounty of beautiful fresh figs in my kitchen provokes that all too familiar question: what to do with this?
Cool It, Summer
With August nearly done and a new school year begun, I keep expecting a shift to occur. You know, those subtle changes that come with the changing of seasons. The air gets a little crisper in the early morning hours. The light begins to change and long shadows fall a little earlier. Mother Nature hints that autumn is finally making his way around. In the desert, it is a very subtle shift, nearly imperceptible. But you can feel it, if you’re paying attention. And I, for one, have been attentively and not-so-patiently awaiting that shift. Unfortunately, Mama Nature’s not quite ready to indulge, so summer is still very much in full swing in these parts. C’mon, Summer. Cool it!
What’s in Your Lunchbox?
At the last minute, my hubby and I decided to take a break from the everyday and indulge in (what seems to be turning into an annual thing) an adventure of a different sort…Las Vegas…Star Trek convention. Yes. That’s what I said. And while we were there, we experienced quite a few fun Trekkie moments. But my favorite was this…Teacher got herself a new lunchbox!
Seek a Little Solace 