Pickling: A Summer Love Affair

Canning and pickling are organic processes that take patience and intention. During the summer when the days are longer, clearer, and there just seems to be more time, I have an urge to get down to the basics... to build layer upon layer and transform ingredients. During this time of year, especially in Florida, and all warm states for that matter, I tend to crave bright, briny, and fresh flavors. This craving is satisfied by but not limited to cilantro spiked salsa and crunchy dill pickles! Cold beer too, of course. Quite ironically, I was reading last months yoga journal and came across an entire section on pickling!

Now, I am going to be honest. I do not have the time to go pickling cucumbers and canning fresh orange marmalade but I promise by the end of this summer I will ditch Smucker's and Valasic and make some from scratch!

Coastal Cooking

Last week, I arrived in Destin, Florida to do my summer internship at the Emerald Grande Resort. As I drive over the bridge from Fort Walton Beach into Destin each morning and carefully peak my eyes just past the bridge railing through my car window, I find myself melting into the emerald green gulf.

After working and living here for a week, I am still on my way to finding what people eat in a town surrounded by lush coastline. Let's consider the area: Northwest Florida. A very southern vibe, a deep sense of comfort and hospitality... and of course SEAFOOD.

I've noticed the comfortable and casual feel of all the restaurants here. Always live music, outside decks, and friendly faces. Very unpretentious and I love it. I haven't really been in the mood to cook. The atmosphere here is so laid back that all of us kind of just go with the flow and often times we are so busy working or beaching it that we don't even think about food.. which is certainly new for me!

Write soon...

America! America?

As I ponder the title of Martha Stuart’s magazine, I find it quite ironic. Simplicity is something we rarely encounter these days. Maybe that is why we need a magazine like this in the first place. Instead of skipping towards my favorite section: “Five Easy Dinners,” I flip through the pages and investigate the things that the writers are trying to make simpler for us. Among the colorful pages adorned with advertisements, I find articles entitled, “How to Save Smarter.” and “How to Stop Procrastinating.” And while these topics can be useful, I notice that they are written in response to a future oriented accomplishment: saving for the future and postponing tasks for the future. It can only indicate that we rarely do anything to dedicate ourselves to the present moment which, in reality, is all we have. As I spend the weekend with my cousins at their beach house, I can’t decide if the maintenance of a vacation home out weighs the supposed relaxation benefits. When my cousin commented that he wanted to trade his home in for something a little bigger and closer to the water, I couldn’t help but think to myself, Well, that is sure not a way to save smarter... And then I ask myself, what about the house you already have? Can you take a moment to enjoy the blessing of even having a vacation home in the first place? The fact that we and, I include myself in this, always want more, explains the reason we need articles in this particular vain. So we are conflicted. Because on the one hand we want so badly to achieve The American Dream... Homes, cars, clothes, money, but on the other hand we are killing ourselves to get it. I am not condemning my cousin or anyone for that matter. It is really more of a compassionate curiosity of why “the next thing” always matters more than “this thing, here, now.” I am also not scoffing at luxurious homes and gorgeous clothes but as I am in the midst of my formative years, I believe I must question the values of those who came before me. I must ask what really matters the most and is the American Dream really just that... A dream?

The same thing goes for food. We are so quick to turn to process meats, bread, and substitutes for the real thing, i.e. Splenda and Smart Balance (quite an ironic name, huh?). Is a tablespoon of sugar in our coffee and a pat of butter on our toast really going to kill us? Give us heart disease or Diabetes? Coming from a mother and grandmother who have never used the substitute but have always eaten in moderation, I am going to say no. We no longer eat to sustain ourselves but rather we want to be as thin as possible as quick as possible. I am happy to say, I do not include myself in this category any more but as a woman with a former “weight problem,” I know what it is like to dream of being thin and the “life it promises.” I have also found that thinness really doesn’t promise anything lasting or deep. The failure of this promise had led to a miraculous discovery of a self worth that goes deeper than any amount of weight loss. So I ask you and myself daily... what do you really, really want? As John Tarrant once said, “All wanting--for love, to be seen for who we are, for a new red car (or beach house or Rolex, or to lose 10 pounds)--is wanting to find and be taken into the mysterious depth of things.” I am sorry to say that the depth we seek cannot be grabbed with bare hands, cannot be taken and hidden or locked up or saved or lost. It can only be experienced and felt. But isn’t that so much better?

What a Girl Wants

As I sit down on the couch and dive into a new memoir entitled "The Art of Eating In," I ponder the idea of the quarter-life crisis. As a 22 year old nearing her "quarter life" I can't help but have millions of questions about what I really want and what makes me truly happy. Even more confusing is the fact that lots of things make me happy and the art of exploration itself and the freshness of new adventures continues to add more and more things to that list. How can a woman be expected to rank from 1 to 10 the things that she enjoys the most? I want it all perfuming my existence at regular intervals, please!

There are many different directions in which I could go. Graduate school, cooking school, or working in the hospitality industry. Staying in Tallahassee or moving home... or moving to New York... or taking an internship in Scotland. Do I want the beauty of space and greenery or the fast-paced totally mod city life? All of these hypothetical possibilities are, in the least, slightly overwhelming, and, I guess all I can say is I'd like to experience it all. And though sure, it is about choices, it is more about experience, and what ever experience you have it is yours and only yours. To me that is perfection in itself.

Gimme Pizza!

It is Springtime (in Florida at least) and I couldn't be more excited! After a long winter, I am definitely ready for breezy, blue skies and steady 70 degree weather. Springtime also means lots of new veggies to enjoy... beautiful green ones in fact! Including the triple A- artichoke, arugula, and asparagus! Yum. This week asparagus were only 2 dollars per pound at Publix! Definitely a steal. A tip for buying veggies and fruit... if they are on sale, they are usually in season!

Anyway, as I was pondering ways to use my left over garlicky sauteed asparagus, my mother called and stole me from my kitchen nirvana. I brought the dilemma up to my mother and naturally she had an answer right away! "Honey, just throw it on a pizza with olive oil and parm!" Perfect, I thought.

Most super markets sell there pizza dough fresh in a bag by the bakery. I bought a big, doughy, ball and headed home to make my highly anticipated pie.

I started by sauteing fresh spinach in a pan with garlic, olive oil, and salt. You can use arugula too, but my spinach was on its last leg and I didn't want to waste it! Don't be shy with the spinach... it will wilt to almost nothing! Place the spinach mixture aside and use the same technique with the onions. I cut mine into rings for long, luscious, caramelized strings. Saute until desired tenderness with salt and a little olive oil.

Grease a pizza pan, or any baking dish you have and place the dough inside. Press outward from the center with your fingertips until the dough reaches the edges of the pan. This will take a little effort but it will get there! Brush the top with olive oil, layer the onions, asparagus, and spinach, and douse that baby with some good Parmesan cheese! Stick her in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 and dinner is served!

Soup for the Soul

Flu season is here folks and let me just tell you... I've been hit. I'll spare you the graphic details, however, I will say that when you combine a whole mess of gray, rainy, cold days with flu symptoms all you really want to do is curl up on the couch and drink hot things. I've had my fair share this week including lots of hot tea, oh, and did I mention way too many Ricola?

With my symptoms still not at bay and the doctor not taking anymore appointments this week I am left to the good old fashion chicken soup cure. The problem is... I hate chicken soup. Yes I said it... the tried and true American classic honestly tastes like sink water. Can I have some Split Pea Soup please... or what about Spanish Bean? Tomato? Anyone? Oh, and can I get a grilled cheese with that.

I have a bag of split peas at home and I am contemplating making a hearty soup in the slow cooker with cubed ham, carrots etc. Here is a really classic recipe for you!

• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. dried green split peas, rinsed
• 2 cups diced ham
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 ribs of celery plus leaves, chopped
• 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp. seasoned salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
• 1 1/2 qts. hot water

Layer it up in the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours!

I love my food with a kick so I always add a little Red Pepper Flakes inside... and of course... some Parmesan cheese on top!

The End of a Decade

As I look back on this year, and even more so, this past decade, I realize how much as changed and how much keeps changing... how the outer experience of the world actually never stops changing. As the world becomes more and more fast paced, the changes are happening so quick that we can barely keep up with them! Amidst the good, bad, ugly, beautiful... birth, death, light, dark, I find it especially important to recognize that each and every thing in this life is transient... from the food we prepare each day, to the intimate relationships we share with our family and friends. They will ebb and flow in and out of our lives to teach us something and to show us those parts deep in our heart that are forever unchanged. Yes, deep within each of us there is an unchanging unwavering love begging to permeate your life experience.

Whatever it takes for you to get in touch with that love, do it. If you don't know what it is, learn how to ask for it. Maybe it's your morning cup of coffee... maybe it's not. Maybe it is simply sharing a quiet moment by yourself...

I know today when I am preparing Parmesan Cheese Straws and Chocolate Shortbread Bars for my New Years Eve party, I will settle down, relax and enjoy this moment exactly as it is with the wisdom that life is only made up of these little moments.

Love,

C