All Right Now, Baby It's Alright Now

A subject that I never thought was news has come up a few times this week and that was using what some would call waste products in your cooking.  Examples being leftover gravy, nubby potatoes, wilted greens, meat bones, etc.  And there is a small window when you can use them and when it's time to let them go. My mother was very frugal and hated waste. She would wrap and save the tiniest piece of cheese for a quick snack.  I learned this behavior and it's always made sense to me but there was always a bit of shame that came with it.  Like I was eating spoiled food or cheating my partner out of fresh ingredients.  Now it's considered smart and efficient!  But if you truly cook all week then you have an assembly line of sorts going with your fridge stock.  For example if I buy a bunch of cilantro and use most of it but keep the stems for another few days, then I keep that in the back of my mind not to go way past their peak.   I know I only have a short window of time to do something like use it in a salad dressing or to flavor rice.  It's like a blinking yellow light before it turns red and you need to stop, throw it out.  The art is in letting as little turn to garbage as possible before that light turns.
Leftovers are different, a sort of cook's secret treat.  They often taste better than the night before even though the colors aren't as bright.  Like this chicken with mushrooms and braised baby bok choy.  Super tasty the next afternoon for lunch with just a squeeze of lemon juice on top to wake up the flavors. It might not be good tomorrow but it's alright now.

If You Don't Know Me By Now, You Will Never Never Ever Know Me

Our friend had a 5pm show in the city on this day so I had to race home on my bike and smear on some lipstick and new deodorant, race out the door to make it in time.  The show turned out to be magic with good sound, light and ambience.  They had a real piano and lots of wood, on the beams and floors, to add to the visual sound.  So, P is never late.  Me, I'm 50/50.  So when we travel together there is a good chance we'll be detained.  I sometimes make the mistake of thinking I'll know exactly which subway to get on and which stop is the best when really, I'm never quite sure.  So we were near full gallop by the time we reached the right block and somehow it's my fault even though we both understand I have NO sense of direction. It's established!  Under official marriage ruling, if it's an established flaw then I think the second party must claim partial responsibility...if not all.    

Coming back we both felt a sense of accomplishment.  We took a cab. The sun was still out and I was starving.  Yes, we could have picked a million amazing spots to stop and have dinner there in the city downtown but I was already flooded with next morning work dread, so we picked up a few slices from next door, Lean Crust Pizza and left it at that. 

The Cherry Tomato slices were so juicy like a whole party of fun burst in your mouth at each bite.  And the crust is so light and thin.  Yes, we're not eating bread normally but once in a while you have to just give your inner people what they want.  Even when you don't deserve it.

Listen To What the Man Said

A B C.  A always. B, be.  C, cooking.  Always be cooking.  Actually my motto is now always be doing something, but it doesn't fit to the reference here and not a fun quote.

Wasted free time is a bit of a sin, or at least a type of failure to utilize our short passing moments here on earth.  Idle hands are the devil's workshop. I'm someone who could daydream their whole life away given the chance, so I give myself lists.  Constant lists. So many lists. I get so much out of cooking.  It allows me to shop for groceries, create, produce, experiment, take photos, write.  All fun things that I love to do.  And then you can eat your own art!

If you look at cooking like being a musician, then one thing I know for sure from being a lonely companion to one, is that you must constantly play, practice, write.  Again, always be something.  The growth comes with the process.  For me sometimes I love to just sit and think about food.  Think about what's good, what I want to eat, what's in season, ideas for future meals, ways food all ties into my whole life past and present.  I wonder what my friends and family is eating.  I also consider ways I could have cooked past meals better.  So I justify my constant daydreaming basically by making it part of the progress.  Spin your weaknesses.  Why beat yourself up.

On this day I thought of my mom and her home cooking before the restaurant.  There was a chicken casserole type dish she made with zucchini and mini corn on the cob pieces that soaked up all this delicious flavored rice with a bit of chicken fat to make it all glisten.  One of my favorites.

Due to time and also to trying to slim down recipes, I made my version with quinoa, skinless chicken, and left some bite on the vegetables to keep color and vibrancy.  No one can cook like my mom, except maybe my sister Rachel so I'll say this was me giving a nod to my mother's dish.

Always be cooking.  Always be eating.  Always be creating.  Always be doing something.   For all we know it will grow into something good.