So, I'm Gonna Put You Down for Awhile

Slow Roasted Pork over creamy-cheesy Polenta and kale.

Instead of a whole shoulder, grab a couple of country ribs.  They can be done in no time. Besides, consuming too much pork at your age is not a great idea.  

Apples, onions and kale was the perfect accompaniment to the spicy pork and creamy polenta. 

I will never be enough for this dear boy.  He is always waiting for his true love to come home. 

And it Makes Me Wonder

Sheet pan Chicken and Sausage 

Sweet peppers, tofu and frozen kale joined this bird over some corn meal mush.  This is one of those highly satisfying meals that does not require much but provides such deep comfort. 

The only recipe would be to put all the vegetables into a large bowl, spice with chili flakes, s&p, oregano, olive oil and a dash of balsamic vinegar. And you know how you like your chicken, so do that.  Lay your lovelies on a sheet pan and slide into a 450 degree oven. Give it 25-40 minutes and you're golden. 

I wonder, is it insulting to give a recipe for a sheet pan meal?  Is it like those videos that make you fast forward through 20 minutes of chopping common vegetables? I think it's safe to say we can all cut an onion thus far, so I always say, get to the good stuff lady!  I should mention though, that if you haven't, you must, roast tofu.  Firm tofu, drained to the best of your abilities and then highly seasoned is such a treat to add a tray!  My husband tends to eat all the meat but then I can be left with rice and vegetables for lunch and tofu being the substitute for meat. 

The Battle of Evermore

Pineapple Salsa

I must have eaten from Freddy's Taco truck at least 6 times this month.  To feel less guilty, I prepared a homemade element to fortify the meals, like this pineapple salsa. My body was fighting a bug in this new familiar way that takes it down hard in the eyes, the throat, energy and muscle aches.  In other words, when I fight a flu bug or cold now (post COVID times), my body goes into overdrive when defending itself almost to the extreme and that brings on old symptoms, like shortness of breath, muscle spasms and eye pain.  The great thing is that I usually don't get the actual bug but instead exhaust my body fighting it off.  This makes me wonder if the amount of SARS virus that stays in your system continues to fight for dominance over other incoming diseases.  Or perhaps your body defense system experiences a PTSD type of trauma when faced with an invasion. 

But Not a Word I Heard Could I Relate

BBQ Oven Pork Chop w Barley

A mound of fresh sauteed green beans with soy, sesame oil and garlic served as a more than worthy side.  I choose to fight ignorant battles with food.  If I would just take the time to read how to properly cook basic things, it would save me so much time.  Yet, I'm stubborn, slightly daft and slow to learn.  But in my defense, I enjoy the process of figuring things out in the kitchen.  This means, I've both over and under cooked my green beans many times because I'm also forgetful. 

I spent an inappropriate amount of time making funny videos for my great nieces with these stuffed animals before we opened but then erased them all because I decided they were not for public consumption.  There is a line between quirky and psychotic and I'm afraid I crossed that line.

Somedays, nothing comes out right.  I was trying to capture the moon, visible in the daytime sky and how it seems almost magical up there staring down at us.  It absolutely has a presence, like a giant eyeball relaying reassurance telepathically. 

You Are the Sunlight in my Growing

Spring Chicken

Feta takes on an alternate flavor when baked.  Cherry tomatoes are all the rage when they pop their sweetness inside your mouth, and are made even sweeter by roasting. With the chicken, olive oil and garlic together, it was a nice spring meal, zesty and fresh, yet soul-warming.  Serve with side salad.

Is this a feature of Cherry Blossoms or a hybrid that they can flower both white and pink on the same tree? 

I like to get right up next to the flowering trees and surround myself with all their enchanting blooms. It's always incredible to see pink when for months you see only black and grey.  The flowers come before the green on the trees.  I liken it to the smell of newborn baby heads.

One day the Gowanus canal will be lined with high rises filled with upper crusties and no one will remember the black sludge and bodies, or the foul smell and the fact that if you happened to fall in, you may lose your life from the bacteria.  That's the Gowanus I love. 

Brunch at Verde on Smith.  Ultra cool grown man-waiters that still take pride in the position of serving food and crafting a special experience for the diner.  A lost art. 

Mr Mango market

Yellow bursts onto the scene as far as the eye can see

Leaves are Falling All Around

Fall finally came in the first weeks of December this year,  in Brooklyn.  The trees were very slow to change colors, in fact some just shed their green leaves in the last storm and said screw it.  I thought the season might not come at all, and then suddenly, here it is!  This was to be a brutally cold winter according to meteorologists and its early yet but so far, the weather has been incredibly mild. Still, warming stews and soups are always welcome at the first sign or chilly weather.  This simply seasoned chicken stew was great for a lunch box meal and after a microwaving, just a squeeze of lemon was needed to awaken all the great flavors. 

With You There is No Wrong

Giant Chicken Panzanella Salad

I may have a hard time recognizing potential friends these days, but one look at this salad and I knew we were destined to be best buddies.  It helps that I made it.  Fresh corn, red onions, tender chicken, mushrooms, and herbed-up giant croutons.  This salad is like eating the top off a pizza.  I topped it with a little Queso Fresca.  Each bite is a mouthful of your favorite vegetable side players dressed for the night in a light vinaigrette.  It's festive, it's fun.  Your tastebuds need to party too and your eyes get to feast on the excitement.  I love when there's no guilt of a giant second helping. 

Do you recall your first salad bar memory?  Depending on your age, you may have been present for some of the first, like at the Sizzler Steak House or Pizza Huts of the 70's.  You could choose anything you wanted to put on your cold iceberg lettuce.  You were hungry but the main entree was coming, so even though you loaded your plate, you left some room for that, and bread, lots of bread.  After mushrooms, tomatoes, and olives, I always went for bacon bits, plenty of cheese, egg slices, croutons and a disgusting amount of bleu cheese or Ranch dressing over the top, in other words I avoided most of the icky vegetables.  It wasn't the healthiest time in history but it did introduce people to the idea that you could eat a plate of cold vegetables and it became intriguing to see all the color on your plate.  Before that, you would normally have just one faded boiled to death vegetable on the plate either from a can or frozen to accompany your meat and starch.  Fresh vegetables were a summer treat, when we grew our own or bought corn and fruit from corner Farmer's stands. 

Now, we have the luxury of putting almost any vegetable available to man on our salads and we make our own dressing, we grate our own cheese.  We even make our own croutons, like I did here.  I shucked and removed the fresh corn from the cob. 

We've come a long way, baby. Hopefully this doesn't end in supply issues, crop fails, contaminated harvests and damage from flooding or drought.  But I know I truly appreciate this salad today.