Baby, It's No Surprize

Collard and Green Bean Bake

Small discoveries are just as important in cooking as the big eye openers.  Fresh collards are abundant, and cheap, but can this resilient green be made to taste more delicate?  The answer is yes, yes, yes!  I chopped them in small squares, then blanched them in boiling stock for a few minutes with garlic and lemon.  I included them in my green bean bake and they were such a lively pop of bright green, yet, so very tender.  It should be no surprise after discovering the elegance of a quick sauteed cabbage.  

It is so incredible how collectively, we are learning how to use all of these beautiful vegetables unorthodoxly. When I grew up, you had to boil and cook down things like cabbage and collards for hours. Thems were the rules and no one dared question them, yet.  I definitely came from that time when recipes were definitive.  Now, anything is possible it seems. Creativity may be something that expands, like the universe.

Love Don't Live Here Anymore

I have a confession. I'm just going to say it. I hate football. Okay, the world didn't end so I'll keep going. I recently lost what very little I had for football. It just fizzled out silently like the end of a candle with no warning, lights out. The flame never burned bright by any means truth be told. I think I used to talk myself into trying to enjoy it by searching out any detail of the game that might interest me. But mainly I think I just wanted to be a cool girlfriend to be honest. Sometimes women have to do pathetic things in order to spend time with their partners too. But you know what, I can lie no longer. I got nothing for this game. I do not heart the NFL. I'm over Faith Hill butchering my girl Joan's song. And when are people gonna learn that putting on a brand new pair of leather boots or pants DO NOT make you a rocker. I just need this season to end. It does end doesn't it?


In the end though, a girl must make the best of her situation and when life gives you men chasing a ball back and forth for hours upon end airing every damn day of the week and your partner seems to be entirely captivated by this nonsense, then its time for you to surrender to its power and find your own good thing. And when I find it, I will surely let you know.

Two nights ago though before I had entirely given up on football love, I figured maybe a steak would give me the butch I needed to enjoy this treasured sport. Turns out no, still nothing but I did make my lightest collard greens side ever! I boiled them for 10 minutes in salty water before draining and then sauteed them in a bit of olive oil, garlic and chili oil. Then I just topped them with some bacon bits. The garlic and the heat from the chili oil brought out the flavors and they weren't missing anything.