Sunday, June 19, 2011

Thoughts on Why and What

This morning I was reminded how important all the senses are when I cook. The burners on my stove stop cook unevenly. I'm always moving things around in the pan to and from hot spots. I put some butter in a pan to scramble eggs and walked away to do other things. I was listening for the sound the butter makes when it starts to bubble but I had set the pan too far forward, away from the hot spot, and the butter melted too slow and never bubbled. It was just beginning to brown. Brown butter has a wonderful nutty flavor so it wasn't a problem but the process had slipped past my ears.
These days my cooking is organized around what Debbie brings me from the farmers market. In the spring and summer she goes every day to buy stuff for work so when she takes me shopping she brings me things. She says there is a woman who shouts "watercress" at her when it's available. She always buys me watercress. It is my green of choice.
She knows I'm always going to want peas and peaches. She has been bringing me bunches of spring onions and asparagus but says these things are winding down. This week she brough a bunch of breakfast radishes. One week she brought me a huge bunch of kale because " it was only a dollar". I ate huge piles of kale for days. All my dinners are very green. It may be pasta, or soup, or just a plate full but it always has peas, asparagus, spring onions and watercress.
For the last two weeks she brought big juicy heirloom tomatoes. In the summer I tend to eat more cold food and I foresee salads filled with the pepper and bite of watercress and radishes. I bought some corn last week. So the colors on the plate are spanning out.
And we have entered the big bowl of fruit and yogurt for breakfast time of year. She brings peaches, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. I eat cherries for snacks. The abundance is joyful.
I started this blog because I thought it might be a way to kick up my writing and I thought it might be useful to document how I (a fat person) eats. Not all fat people eat the same way and I don't feel more virtuous because of how I eat. I eat for pleasure and nutrition. I just happen to like watercress and peaches.
When I first started writing I tried to look around and see what people were doing. There are SO many bogs now. And many of them look and sound the same. I'm not saying they're bad I just feel like they're missing something. Something authentic and raw. I'm not drawn to go back.
Cheryl sent my an interesting aggregate on which I found some muffins this morning, which I will making ASAP.
So the reasons for why are the same and the what is as rambling as ever.
Heh.