“The country is making a big mistake not teaching kids to cook and raise a garden and build fires.” ~~~Loretta Lynn I made my mother-in-law’s recipe for chicken pot pie last night. I’ve probably made it hundreds of times over … Continue reading Color and Texture
Stir the Roux When we’ve finished, I’ll turn off the quiet with the music of pot and spoon, metal on metal as flesh on flesh. Stir the roux. Whole peppers, onions, celery stalks I’ll chop into bits of Holy Trinity, the colors of contentment. Stir the Roux. You will be in that space between awareness and drift, the salt of your sweat settling into your skin. Stir the roux. As the gumbo simmers, we’ll watch the earth absorb the sun and the stars will mirror our eyes. Stir the roux. *** Prompt via NaPoWriMo.net: Write a poem using repetition. I … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 8/30: Stir the Roux
Todays prompt on napowrimo.net is to write a poem inspired by, or in the form of, a recipe. I’ve been on a quest for quite a while for the perfect blueberry scone recipe. My local coffee shop has the best I’ve ever tasted and I’m determined to make a scone that compares. So far, I think I’ve tried three different recipes with the last one from NYT Food being the closest. So, here’s my little poem about the blueberry scone. (Again, rough draft.) Blueberry Scones I introduced you to blueberry scones, the taste of sunny butter with a pop of … Continue reading NaPoWriMo 2/30: Blueberry Scones
On Wednesdays at 6:00 pm Poet Fida Islaih facilitates a chat for poets called #PoetteerChat on Twitter. I’ve been participating for a couple of months and have enjoyed chatting and getting to know other poets. Two weeks ago Fida had poet Nicole Gilotta, author of Eat This Poem, as a guest on the chat. (Transcript here.) I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about her book and the inspiration for writing it, so much so that I invited the other participants to join me in writing a collaborative poem about food. I’d always wanted to do a collaborative poem and the subject piqued … Continue reading Writing With Poet Fida Islaih
I love cooking shows and in the past week or so I’ve seen two touting the foodie virtues of egg in the hole. The Pioneer Woman and Bobby Flay both served up mouth-watering variations on this (apparently) breakfast staple. I’ve never eaten egg in the hole so I decided today I needed to correct that deficit in my culinary experience. Plus, I was hungry and I thought what could be better than fried egg and bread? I made the basic version – just egg and bread and butter – oh, my! I’d recently baked two loaves of homemade bread so I used … Continue reading In Praise of Egg in the Hole
I always chop the olives by hand. I like a rough chop that says someone still cares about the preparation of food instead of settling for little identically square bits popped out by a steel thing attached to a cord that gives it life. The knife and I give new life to these olives; messy, uneven life such as it is. The earthy texture of the black and the pungency of the green will soon mix with onion, pimento and the special piquant of a home-canned Gardiniera. Aaron Neville croons “Tell It Like It Is” in my ear as I … Continue reading Live Luscious
Amalgamate: to unite (two or more things, such as two businesses) into one thing After a little thought I’ve decided to rename my occasional “Hot Reads” post to “Amalgamation”. It’s a word that I like pronouncing it. It rolls off the tongue like those little beads of candy on nonpareils, you know the ones? Plus, the definition is perfect for what Hot Reads has morphed into, which is to say, posts about more than good things to read. It’s also good things to watch, good things to eat, good things to listen to. Not all every time but enough times … Continue reading Amalgamation: June 4,2016
There’s so much good reading and listening on the Internet it’s overwhelming. How do you choose which piece to read,which podcast to listen to, which video to watch? And I’m always wondering if I’ve missed some really fantastic thing. In just the past few days I’ve read some really good stuff and, this morning, watched a very cool Periscope post by Indian chef Kalyan Karmakar. Do you watch Periscope? I downloaded the app a while ago but have only watched a couple of Lonely Planet posts. But when I logged on today there was a notification that this was streaming … Continue reading Hot Reads, Etc.
Here are a few cool things I’ve read this week and I’m just realizing several are actual lists by other people. Great! That means you have a galaxy of stories to read. Women’s History Month is marching right along and Change Seven Magazine has given us this gem: “7 Reads We Recommend: Women’s History Month” by Laurel Dowswell and Emily Ramsey. I’m slowly savoring these sweet nuggets. Also in Change Seven, “Distracted by Life” by Sandy Ebner is a frightening account of living with ADHD and how she found light at the end of that dark tunnel. A fascinating read. “Just … Continue reading Hot Reads: Lists & Blueberry Cobbler
