living off the land

ahhh....

it looks as if I'm out of the Christmas dinner coma.  I've recharged my phone (I've barely touched it since we left for our 17 hour road trip to Houston) and my fingers are slowly starting to familiarize themselves with the keyboard.  It's funny how it's so easy for me to forget about my reality via technology for awhile.  I'm slowly getting more into the crazy world of gadgets and internet (and I admit -- it's fun and much easier to keep in touch) but I've never been obsessed with it.  I get that from my dad.  He's been joking more and more about leaving his international engineering job and just living off "the land."  And I completely take him seriously.  He has 42 acres about an hour and a half west of Houston where wild hogs and turkeys, deer rut around.  He has two ponds where he's caught a good size bass (it was mighty tasty.)  Of course, he could also drive his Ford truck into town and go to the local buffet restaurant where he could get all the buttered lima beans and apple pie he could get his hands on.  He grew up on a farm in Alabama (my great grandparents were sharecroppers-- but that's another story, another blog) and the farmer in him never really left.  He's lived in far away and exotic places like Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Russia, Korea and traveled all over the world in between.  He's grown to love the finer things of life -- russian vodka, fine dining, stylish clothing but after all that, dad has always appreciated nature, the spirit of it, all that it has to offer....and I admire him for that.  

our christmas menu

My mom, sister and I are at the beginning stages of planning the Christmas menu.  We were emailing back and forth so that my mom can get the first of many grocery store treks out of the way.  Visions of cranberry scones, and warm cereals, soups and pork loins were dancing in my head.  I spent about twenty minutes, typing as fast as I could -- taking advantage of "free" (my mom has a less limited budget than me) food to do my heart's (and stomach's) desire.

Meanwhile, my sister had emailed a link to some pictures from a book called Hungry Planet: What the world eats.  It was fascinating to see the pictures of families standing behind their week's supply of food.  They (and their food) came from Germany, Poland, China, Ecuador, Mexico, Egypt....  The tomatoes and squashes and breads piled up in red, orange, green and yellow mounds, creating little topographic models of their home landscapes.  (Isn't it funny how much our food looks like our land from afar?)  Unfortunately, the American family stood behind mounds of plastic and cardboard more than fruits and veggies.  The food is probably made from the same stuff as the packaging...and tastes the same too.  What's just as bad, was the family from Chad who sat behind wrinkled cucumbers and a bit of casava flour.  

Funny --- isn't it.  Both the American and Chad families....I'm equally heartbroken for.  It's impossible to compare the injustices really...  One group has all the choice in the world...and chooses to eat chemicals and sugars and food coloring.  The other family doesn't have much power at all in their food decisions.  These families, couldn't have more different life circumstances-- but I truly believe, that both affect the other.  The reason that the Chad family eats so little has something to do with the fact that the American family eats at Burger King, Pizza Hut, Crispy Cream, and when they do sit down to eat, it's Macaroni and Cheese or some sort of robo chicken that never stepped a foot on the ground and was shot up with crazy growth hormones.  Americans (6% of the world's population) use up 30% of the world's resources.  For some reason, Americans don't realize that the world has a limited amount of "stuff".  Limited means that after we take all that we need and want, the rest of the world has to fight over the rest.  Some people win those fights...other people lose.  It's obvious that the Chad family is losing.  Surely, we can do something about this.  

olive oil silkiness

Jeff and I went to Winter Park Friday night for a party.  Our friend is working at the clinic there for the month and had everyone over for her birthday and recent engagement.  We all brought our sleeping bags and slept packed in rows.  The next day, since Jeff couldn't go skiing with a broken finger, we went to a coffee shop and read. (I'm reading Great Expectations and Jeff is reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.)  Of course we spent moments in between paragraphs listening in on other's minor conversations or glancing at newspaper articles from a far. Every once in a while Jeff and I returned the favor with our own chatting.  We overheard one man coming in for fruit juice.  Listening to his exchange with the barrista, I found out that he doesn't have a sense of smell -- so coffee just tastes bitter.  And then I realized how much my love for coffee has much more to do with the sweet, earthy aromas than the taste.  I started thinking about how most food is like that.  All five of my senses work in harmony to create my deep passion for cooking.  The bright hues -- greens, purples, browns and yellows.  The way whites creep up stalks of celery and darken into green or how the whites suddenly break off to green in green onions.  Touch -- how fresh green beans break in crisps with one flick of the fingers or the silkiness of fresh bread dipped in olive oil on the roof of my mouth.  The sounds of soft blops of bubbling marina sauce or the whistle from the rice cooker.  The smells of butternut squash and apple bisque that's been simmering all day long on a cold day or kabobs and pineapple on the grill during the summer.  ...And of course tastes are important too.  The flavors of wine at the last few bites of a meal -- when it's had time to breathe and you've had time to synchronize the taste of food with the tannins of the grapes.  

snow, snow, snow

It's been snowing all day with no signs of letting up.  I still hope that we can go to Winter Park tonight for Erin's party.  I'll probably bring some champagne and cheese -- fun party food.   Tomorrow morning we'll go snowshoeing!

We haven't been in the mountains at all this winter (this is a picture from last year) and since we only have six more months left in Denver, I'd like to get up there as much as possible.  There's a calmness that the snow brings to the mountains -- as if nature senses that everyone needs time for quiet and solitude.  Folks are doing the opposite these days with the madness shopping brings to our evenings and weekends.  Thank goodness I don't have to participate.  I've shopped for a couple of gifts  but never at rush times.  I've simplified my gift giving a great deal this year and it feels very healthy.  

new life!

My best friend Amber Simpson just had a baby girl yesterday.  I'm an aunt!  Little Ellie Ryanne is absolutely perfect.

It's amazing to think that Ellie has been shaping and forming for the last 9 months.  Of course I think about all the food that Amber has been eating and how that has truly impacted who Ellie is at this point.  I'd like to think I had a part in that. :-)  I spent a week with Amber and Andy in October stir-frying curries, simmering soups and baking pies.  We ate what we could and I froze the rest.  

I also got three baby food cookbooks so that Amber and Andy can make lots of healthy, organic purees when it's time for Ellie to graduate from the boob.  I know that this will make a big difference to the start of Ellie's life.  Welcome to a wonderful world Ellie!  You have amazing parents and an "aunt" that adores you!  Come over to bake cookies anytime!