I don’t mind when
the sun paints my face, with thick broad gentle strokes, forcing me to
recognize it, which I do. It reminds me
that I should focus on the now, the present.
At this very
moment, it’s all about today. Focusing on the elements around—the feelings,
paired with sounds, sights and smells, has a balancing effect. My mind is
racing elsewhere: thinking of the books I’m listening to, the wonderful big
band music I saw and heard on Friday night, the headlines slapped across this
morning’s newspaper, the dinner I will make tonight, the work I need to do, the
nostalgia for family no longer here, one that profoundly infuses me this time
of year. The elements, and the rhythm of my feet below, ground me and push me
forward as I run.
My mind goes back,
as it so often does, to the recipes. The weather’s chill has me thinking of
soup. And though I could rifle through my collection of saved NYT cooking
recipes, or the many books that I still have (even after unloading hundreds
haver the move!), I am set on one: carrot soup from Moosewood Cookbook.
And this is what
brings my after-run steps to my book shelf, and right over to one cookbook in
particular, to a page I have marked from long ago.
Moosewood
Cookbook, the original, was one of my first on-my-own cookbooks.What I mean by
that is that I always had my mom’s recipes, yet I searched for those recipes I
could adopt and call my own. Moosewood, at the time, was my great resource.
Moosewood was also
the first cookbook I ever endeavored making just about everything from. The book
itself, now decades later—food stained and a bit unsteady in keeping all the
pages together— represents a period of time, my twenties, when I expressed a
lot of my independence and creative energy through food. (Wait, am I still
doing that?!)
This carrot soup
offers the balance of two flavors I love combining: sweet and salty. But as I sit to write this
blog, I recognize that you might not share my passion for cooking. Still, I’m
guessing you probably share my joy of eating.
It’s funny how when I teach, I touch on the topic of food and almost all
my students have a positive reaction; though they are still struggling with
English, their second, third, and even fourth language, food remains a first
language. They wax nostalgic about their grandma’s cooking, dishes that say
“home” to them. Food is their common ground…our common ground. This is why I
still say if we could just all sit down and share a meal, we might have peace
in this world.
In the meantime, now and in the next year,
I will continue my ever-expanding exploration of dishes (so many recipes, so little
time!), as well as travelling, dancing, reading, writing, teaching, and of course enjoying the
many meals I look forward to composing, creating, and consuming with family and friends.
With these
thoughts, and this note, I wish you and yours lots of peace, and many many delicious soups and other dishes with loved ones during this holiday season, and in the year to come.
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| Carrot Soup Garnished with Roasted Apple, Toasted Almonds, and Parsley |
