Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘food’

hot and spicy oregano

I must say that it is hard to eat these days. No worries. I’m not wasting away. My survival instinct is pretty strong and when I need to eat I most definitely track down some food. What seems to resonate most right now is intensity of flavor. I’ve been disappointed a few times of late when I order something spicy and it is not spicy to me. I’ve been reading how taste buds, as well as appetite, can be affected by grief/loss. Mostly I cope at present by thinking about food creatively. I look out on the porch and see what’s there. The basil I gifted but the jalepenos I’m using. And then there’s the hot and spicy oregano. I’m trying out a marinade of oregano, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and so on on some salmon tonight. We’ll see.

Given events of late I did not fertilize the tomatoes on the porch enough. Lots of foliage that smells wonderful but not much fruit. Just one ripe one so far and I decided today to purposefully slice and drizzle it with olive oil and white wine vinegar and some sea salt and black pepper. You see what I mean? Intense flavor. It was a lovely appetizer. And yes I know it was only one small tomato but the exercise I think helps to reawaken the taste buds.

Didn’t photograph the baked salmon but the portion I had was good. Needed more hot and spicy oregano and maybe some lemon. On the porch the pepper plant still flowers, there are tomatoes that are small and green and I will endeavor to give them a bit more love. Tarragon, rosemary, thyme and the various oreganos. As the summer season progresses I think there will be plenty of opportunities to be creative and stir the tastebuds … and still to gift on occasion. πŸ™‚

Read Full Post »

One of my favorite poems is This is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams. I thought of that poem as I stepped out onto the porch today and picked some greens. He ate plums. I picked some swiss chard. πŸ™‚

Here is What I Have to Say

I’ve been eating 

the swiss chard 

from a pot

on the porch

just like a rabbit

nibbling a few leavesΒ 

at a time

so delicious

crisp and crunchy

colors bright green

and oh yes the ruby

all divine

Read Full Post »

What I continually learn on this journey with Steve as a cancer and stroke survivor is the power of meaningful and functional engagement with the world. Do a physical exercise just to do the exercise, no matter how good it is for you? Nope. Need to help do tasks to feed family and friends as you’ve done all your life? Oh heck yeah! Someone was fiercely determined to grate the roma tomatoes for a big batch of no-cook pasta sauce. He gave it a good effort but those tomatoes were tough so out came the knife. Big chunks to toss in the blender along with garlic and celery. Success with the slicing … except, as I turned around, I noticed someone eating the tomatoes and so his sous chef position was temporarily revoked.

Later we did the taste test. I wanted to add salt (I always do) but Steve said, “It’s good as it is.” And so that’s how we served it up for dinner with some items on the side, sliced leftover chicken, sauteed mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.

Go team! πŸ™‚

Read Full Post »

I shall call this “blizzard pesto.” As the snow blew sideways yesterday, Steve picked the basil. This morning we made the pesto. It is garlicky and cheesy and we’re serving it with some black pepper pasta for dinner. Given the state of the world, I have to say, we are grateful for these moments, and flavors.

Read Full Post »

Usually, in the morning, I let … I mean that I empower … Steve to roll out of bed, make coffee and cook me, I mean us, eggs over easy. Always one egg on one piece of toast and maybe some fruit on the side. Kind of spartan but it works. But in recent times I noticed the number of eggs in the fridge were diminishing at a faster rate. Now Steve’s tai chi instructor Jon makes occasional house visits because it can be a bit of a trek for Steve to make it to the dojo. Jon can come in the mornings usually after I’ve left for work. One day I called home to ask Steve if Jon had shown up. He said, “Yes. I cooked him breakfast.” I did a double take. “Aren’t we paying him to come over and give you a workout?” “Yes, but I asked if he was hungry and he said yes and so …”

Now what I remember from ages ago, after Steve’s surgeries and he could appear and was indeed pooped all of the time, is that for a visit with company customers he pulled together (without me being present as sous chef) an amazing fruit and cheese grazing platter BEFORE they all went out to dinner and THEN returned to our place for a nightcap that he orchestrated. He was in heaven. When I described this scene to his PCP she nodded sagely and said, “Some people are energized by being hospitable.”

And so this morning as I raced out of bed (alarms didn’t go off) and raced about to make coffee and check the egg situation … well, there were three eggs. I knew Jon was coming by for class. If Steve and I had one each that would leave just one for Jon. So I put the container back in the fridge and decided we were having smoked salmon and cream cheese on toast. Steve, without even knowing the egg situation, said that would be just fine.

When I returned home, I looked in the fridge. One egg in the case. I asked Steve, who was in another room, and already knowing the answer, “Did you fix Jon breakfast?” “Yes,” he shouted back. “He said thank you before we went outside to practice with the kendo sword.”Β 

I smiled and closed the refrigerator door. Gotta buy some more eggs this weekend.

Read Full Post »

cucumbers in brine with hot red peppers and oregano

Read Full Post »

pickle experiment: cucumber with oregano and hot pepper
sage and hot peppers

Read Full Post »

from the garden

Read Full Post »

IMG_20200805_184737853~2

Read Full Post »

IMG_20200706_181548544

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »