2012: Lessons through food

2012: Lessons Through Food

** My heart and prayers are with all the families at Sandy Hook who have lost loved ones. I hope we will take this unspeakable tragedy to do something about the state of mental health facilities and gun control in the US. My heart hurts with sadness. My family and I are praying for all those affected.” **

Kale (persistence): I know it is good for you. Yet, I cannot seem to warm up to it. But, I eat it. I add it to soups, salads, and make chips with it. I eat bits at a time. I roll my eyes (making sure the kids aren’t watching). I make a face. I eat another bite. At least, it isn’t as bad as celery.

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Kombu (grace): A new ingredient can bring new tastes to life. This simple seaweed adds umami to stock. And to top that, it is good for the heart. It has a quiet almost gentle quality about it. Letting new things can open so many new doors. (istock photo)

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Sweet corn chicken soup (comfort): At least once a week, I make sweet corn chicken soup. I make it exactly the same way, using the same ingredients. I once added a new ingredient: ginger. The little one sulked and the older one looked at me with puppy dog eyes that said, “How could you?”  There is a lot to be said for things that comfort and letting things be as they are sometimes. (istock photo)

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Talenti (change): As much as I like to try new foods, I have been stuck on the same ice-cream forever. And then I tried Talenti’s flavors. This has taught me to love but also to wander and try new things.  To remember that I haven’t yet discovered my most favorite flavor of ice cream. (photo credit: Talenti)

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Garlic (so much to learn): I make the mistake sometimes of thinking I know an ingredient well. Garlic is a perfect example. I have been using it since I was about, I don’t know, ten! I thought I knew all about garlic. Then, along came dietician and amazing author Rebecca Katz who taught me this: to benefit from garlic, you have to cut it and leave it for ten minutes before you use it. “This activates the enzyme that converts garlic’s mild-mannered unassuming alliin to its cancer-whooping alter ego, allicin.” (istock photo)

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Tea (all is well): I was lucky to visit an old teahouse in Paris this year. I sat at a table with new friends. One was visiting from Switzerland and the other from Seattle. We have known each other online but not in the real world (I am often reminded how the virtual world seems more real to me now). The minute the tea was poured, we started chatting like old friends.  Just like the cheesecake in Golden Girls. Some foods bind.

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Eggs (surprise): I learned that I could cook eggs in a bag. I thought I knew how to cook eggs: I could fry them, deep fry them, boil them, scramble them, poach them,  bake them but, I never knew I could boil them in a bag. I learned this on a culinary trip to Paris. Reminds me of why it is critical to keep an open mind…. so much to learn.

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Chicken in a plastic bowl (gratitude): A friend, who doesn’t normally cook, made a chicken curry for a dinner. He then brought some over in a plastic bowl for me to try. His face was anxious; I know that cooking was a major accomplishment. I tasted it. He wanted my opinion because I write about food for a living. “It is superb,” I said. His anxious face changed and he beamed.. a big, huge smile.

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Ramen Noodles (just plain perfect): Always remind me that the best dishes aren’t the most expensive or the most elaborate and complicated. They are the ones that bring back the best memories. (istock photo)

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Cake (pride): I am not a baker. Thankfully, I did not pass that onto my kids. My older son, now 13, baked a Tres Leches Cake for my friend’s birthday. He found the recipe on line, came with me to buy the ingredients, put them in a bag to take to New Jersey where he would bake the cake.  I glowed the entire time.

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So tell me: what has food taught you this year?

Thank you for reading and being so loving and so supportive of my work.