FOOD PORN--AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Many of my recent posts have been either deeply theological or about my various health issues. But it is time to take a break. So this is frivolous, fun, will get your stomach rumbling, and maybe give you some ideas for making great food in the future.

Y'all know that I think about food constantly. When I get up, when I eat breakfast (always a homemade pumpkin nut muffin with tea), in the loo, when I walk on the flat deck to get my steps ("Hmmm, make a lentil soup in the Instant Pot for tonight? Or maybe a smoked red pepper and onion frittata?"), during the day, at supper, even afterwards. ("I overdid the steak, less time on grill next time.") I am like a model constantly looking in the mirror, assessing her appearance, wondering what she could do to make herself more attractive, except...it is all about food!

  One of my fav meals for summer is to harvest fresh cherry tomatoes, or get them from your market, and sizzle them up in a cast iron frying pan in some olive oil until they burst, along with one chopped onion and 2 chopped garlic cloves. Then I add some really good tomato sauce from my organic market, chopped fresh basil leaves, a splash of balsamic reduction--simmer for 15 min., and serve over paparadelle. Cut burrata into pieces, put on top, grind some Himilayan salt and pepper over the top, and voila! This is unbelievably delicious, could be for company, and is not hard to make at all.

  Then there are the nights when we have Green Chef, which by and large, I love and has eased my cooking burdens due to my weird autonomic nervous system disorder. (Dysautonomia if you've a mind to look it up.) On a cold night when our commander in chief stated "I am the chosen one" and the Amazon was burning (still is), I made barbequed meatloaf with a spicy sauce, roasted herbed carrots, and slaw on the side, to which I added fresh snap peas from the garden. This went a long way to sustaining and refreshing our spirits.

One other night, not with depressed spirits thank God, I made a roasted pork tenderloin from Green Chef with a dried fig and onion sauce over it, accompanied by cooked carrots, and a lovely buttercrunch lettuce salad. 

This was amazing. Really restaurant quality. (These have been Paleo but I also do Keto from Green Chef.)

   Then there was the recent day where I hobbled out to the garden using a walking pole, crouched and harvested a bunch of red sweet peppers and some jalapenos. (WHY did I plant these? Might have to pickle them.)  They were so beautiful I had to arrange them artistically on a plate from Italy which my dear mom brought back from their trip in 1966. Little did any of us know that she would be gone in 6 years from lung cancer.

On a wobbly dizzy day I rebelled to make homemade pizza. It is what one does when the old corpus is complaining. I made french bread dough with mostly whole wheat flour; set it to rise; picked my cherry tomatoes and arugula; chopped sweet red peppers from garden; and caramelized some onions. ("Life goes better with caramelized onions" could be a good billboard.)  After punching dough down (1 and 1/2 hrs. to rise on stove), I divided it into 2 balls and stretched them over a greased pan. Baked 10 min at 350 then out to cool. Once cool, spread good tomato sauce on top, basil pesto from store, the onions, sweet red peppers, cherry tomatoes, chopped fresh oregano, salt & pepper, and burrata on top. (Next time would not cook the cheese at all.) After 15 min. at 400 degrees, I took it out and spread fresh arugula on top. By then I was ready for PJs and bed, but I soldiered on. Each one of these can feed 2 people, or cut it in half and save half for the next day. Mervioso!

  I think I am up to my eyebrows in food porn. Let this be a lesson to you. Don't come near my house 'cause you might catch this; I think it is a food virus, not fatal, but expensive and exhausting. But damn fun! When life intrudes with weird health shit, cook. Just cook. And if your legs wobble, why, order a rolling chair from Amazon to sit in while you prep (zooming from one counter to another), cook, and even eat. Salut! Savor your life and the graces within.

 And don't forget the blessings of a fresh cup of hot cappuccino!