16 bean soup was dinner tonight, and I'm making oat granola cereal for breakfasts for the rest of the week.
I've been giving a lot of thought to the idea of being a Foodist.
I really like the idea of, "Cook what you've got, share with who you meet." as it really sums up the kind of cooking that I enjoy best. I suddenly discover that I need to make dinner, and I realize that I've totally failed to plan for a meal. So I stand in the middle of the kitchen and become MacGuyver or Dr Who and look around at what I've got.
I see three or four elements and a plan starts to form in my head. In a little while, without any duct tape or sonic screwdrivers, I've got a meal.
This isn't fancy cooking. This isn't gourmet styling. This is basic kitchen chemistry. This is getting good stuff prepared to eat so that it'll be tasty enough to get down and healthy enough to keep down. This is knowing how to stretch elements and fluff presentation and fill in details with gestures. This is Fun Cooking.
This way of cooking changed how I look at the market when I go shopping. When I saw the pork neck bones on sale, I lept on them. Katie and I made them up into stock and then into an amazing soup. We ate one awesome filling and healthy meal off of the soup and we've got a good sixty ounces in the fridge for lunch for the rest of the week.
Two bux for the beans, a buck fifty for the bones, scraps and waste parts of veggies for making the stock, half an onion, two carrots, three stalks of celery, herbs and spices that are already on hand... So for maybe five dollars and a few hours of easy work we've got at least ten individual meals. That feels great. This soup tastes great. It is healthy and filling and easy to change up with a dolop of salsa or sour cream or even tossing a serving in a pan and slicing up some zucchini in it and let it heat up slow together.
One of my girlfriends gave me her wallet so that I could pick up a few things for her at the store while I was out today. She told me to get some fresh French bread to go along with our soup while I was there.
Had she not done this I couldn't have afforded the fresh bread for the soup (today I could not afford the time to make it for myself, and I could not afford to buy it made for me).
As I walked through the Wegmans, grabbing the things that she needed and lingering over the baked goods as I searched for the bread I wanted, I thought about the articles I've been reading lately about the politics behind where people shop.
What an awesome world we live in, that some of us have the luxury of choosing where to shop as a reflection of personal ideals and as a tangable choice to support one company over another.
I don't have that luxury right now and it is very tempting to feel embarassed that I've got to shop at Aldi or a surplus or overstock center.
But don't worry about embarassing me by talking about it. I'll just stay quiet and dish you up seconds of soup. Have some more bread, really, it's no good the second day.
If you ate out in a fancy restaurant tonight you probably didn't have a dinner as good as mine. If someone brings you breakfast on a silver tray tomorrow, it's not going to be as good as my homemade mango peanut oat honey granola.
You get hungry, you stop by. I may not have much, but I've got enough to share.
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Comments
I'm looking forward to reading anything you care to share about breadmaking. My Da's old boss used to say, "No man who can make really good soup or really good bread, can be a completely bad man." Thank you.
Welcome to OS, I'm looking forward to reading what you'd like to share.
Will you share some of your creative experiments with us, please?
Someday soon I suspect I'll be very tempted to feel ashamed or embarrassed about something as trivial as where I shop. I'll turn around and glance behind me. I'll know that you and Owl are standing there behind me, quiet and strong.
Then I shall raise my middle fingers high into the air and state calmly and politely that I will never ever be ashamed.
Thank you.
I know we made our own dog food for our very picky pekingese - we used eggs, whatever meat was available, rice, and vegetables (usually canned) - cooked the rice in broth, browned the meat, scrambled the eggs, and then sort of stewed it all together. We often had a bowl ourselves as well - but it was a helluva lot cheaper than canned dog food on a serving by serving basis.
Last Christmas when we visited my parent's place for the holiday, I found myself early one morning sampling the very tasty chicken and veg stew boiling up on the stove. It was delicious and glorious. I was tempted to sneak a piece of bread into toast and just stand there sopping up gravy and stew for breakfast.
Unfortunately, Dad caught me and told me that I was eating the dog food. He laughed and then taught me his recipe, and offered to make me a bowl of my own if I liked it so much.
I can´t cook... that´s one thing..
From the days I grew up with one mother and a few maids... to the 1st wife and 2 daughters... to my 2nd wife and after she too took off to Pete´s HonkeeTonq (Saloon) "up there.. to my present mouth food provider (our burly housekeep, dogwalker) who knows only about island food from the Canaries which is mainly pulpo and yello tuna from the surrounding ocean and chicken from far away Chile and yesterday´s eggs from the passing farmboy for her famous everyday soppas for me but not the dog.... At my age of 90 minus a strike or 3 I don´t need much she claims and if more than my 3 chick medicos will tell her which "big pharma" pills to feed me with for recontinued companionship... Well.. she´s usually not around except for the daily 12 minutes to walk the dog and bring in the "homecooking" and on early weekend days does sweep my habitat out and clean when I´m out for a stroll and yak to some nit-pickin´ old birds and cats on the shoreline´s sunny bar terraces.. all singing the same tune about getting "senile" and complaints about itchy toes rotting off on both ends...from time to time....
So in order to keep being able to consume the presented I have my self prepared biweekly "super desayuno" of one slice 1/2 brown bread con real butter, jam, cheese, pata de cerdo, sunny-side-up fried egg w/ tomsato, lettuce, pepper, salt, french mayonnaise and sweet ancient recipe french mustard w/ hot black & sweet Arab coffee from Brazil con 1 shot of US Jack or Jim bourbon with a small glass of real milk and orange juce. I am on my diet....
I am allowed to feed the dog his breakfast of sugar, butter, tuna. health bread and ham con milk to make it not too soppy else he won´t eat... and his last meal of the day of regular and standard canned dog meat (cow meat and chicken w/no fish or other mixed dog food) but not without a slice of fresh cooked ham from the peninsula (Spain) else he sits there for unlimited time staring at me..... I have other things to attend to such as banging on the wave keyboards of my various computers for a hobby.....
So.. not knowing much how to cook or being unabled to go to Aldi (we don´t have such outlets on this island) but having a string of good restaurants for the price of self cooked dinners.. and a tienda or 3 across the street to lose some shekles....I admire your energy to go thru it day after day after day.... Be assured I might be the town jester... or crier.... vodeffah..
from this GripeVine & Donah////
Nice avatar change, BTW.