The Lindsey Series Part 2

Pasta. Filling, comforting, versatile pasta.

After the miso soup there was still a little spinach left. I had been eating so much soups and light foods lately that I was in the mood for something hardy. Something comforting. Something to fill me up and satisfy me. Pasta. So after a not-so-brief internal (and external) debate I decided on something creamy with almost a toasty taste to it. This is how I got there...

Melt equal parts butter and flour in a large sauce pan. Whisk occasionally to brown evenly and keep from burning. The darker brown this flour mixture, called "roux", gets, the more toasty flavor will occur. I was going for a caramel color. At that point I quickly whisked in about 1/3 cup of whole milk, and about 1.25 cups of dark veggie stock. I may add more or less of the stock depending on the thickness of the sauce. Ultimately you want to the sauce to be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon without running. I added a little fresh ground pepper at this point and just let it come to a simmer, stirring every once in a while.
While all that was going on I had boiled some water, salted it, and dropped my pasta in. Once it was cooked just through I strained it and threw it back in it's pot. I took the last of the spinach, ran a knife through it and toss it in the pot with the pasta, put the lid on and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes.
Once the spinach is wilted I dumped it all in the sauce, tosses it around, and threw some grated pram on top.
Just for a little extra fresh flavor I added a little cut basil.

It was everything I hoped it would be.
I was completely satisfied...if only I could have stayed home in my nice warm nest instead of having to work.

The Lindsey Series

My oldest (in years of friendship) friend, Lindsey came over yesterday for a how-have-you-been chat.  Lindsey joined a CSA this year and since she's going to be in NYC for the week she brought over some of her early season greens for me.
As she was leaving she casually said, "let me know what you do with those greens."
This morning when I woke up and started making my breakfast (yes, breakfast) of miso soup I reached for some of the spinach she brought over. That got me thinking, somehow I should record what I make with her greens so when she returns I can show her my results.
Her Bag of Greens contained 3 leafy wonders; spinach, red leaf lettuce, and a large bok choy.  So it looks like this series will be at least 3 parts.

Back to the miso soup.

Miso is a paste made of fermented soybeans.  Sometimes it is fermented along with other grains such as rice or barley.  It ranges in color and intensity.  The darker the color the stronger the flavors.  I usually get mine at Whole Foods where I've only seen a couple varieties, namely Yellow and White.  Out of these I prefer the yellow since the flavors are a little stronger, but because I had my lovely fiance pick it up last time we went to the store I am now using white.
I'll use miso base as a starter for any kind of soup, usually whatever is in my fridge goes into it.  So this morning when I started my soup I grabbed a piece of scallion, a small chunk of zucchini, some tofu and, of course, a couple leaves of Lindsey's spinach.
To finish the soup you'll need some hot water (I use a tea kettle), the miso, and I like to add some rice wine vinegar and some tamari.
Miso shouldn't really come to a boil or it will loose a lot of it's flavor so i dissolve a large tablespoon in a little bit of the hot water, then add all my veggies, top it off with some more hot water and splash in the vinegar and tamari to taste.

That's really all there is to it.  You'll have a super fast, delicious AND nutritious meal or snack in minutes. Wait, did I say nutritious? Yes! Miso is a great source of manganese and zinc, packed with fiber, and has up to 2 grams of protein per tablespoon.

Enjoy!

Childhood memory

When I was a kid I envied boys.
They were always the ones in charge. I never saw any of them get bullied, in fact they were the ones bullying me.
Aside from the random, passing boys from my childhood school years, there were the ones in my family. The cousins, the brother, the uncles, the grandpa. The dad.

Before I continue this story I would like to make one thing clear. I did not want to be equal to a boy. I wanted to BE a boy. No, not in the sex change, new age bullshit type way. I just wanted to BE one of the guys.

Ok, so the biggest deal to me: The Wolf River.
The Wolf River was a trip that all the males in the family got to go on once a year. They would leave at the crack of dawn, be gone for several days and come home looking tired, stretched thin, and hungover (if i knew what that looked like as a small child). And I envied them.
There was a rule: what happens at the wolf river, stays at the wolf river. And this rule was no less serious than the one applying to bachelor parties.
God, i wanted to know what happened at those weekends. I STILL want to know what happen at those weekend, but now I can probably guess with a little more accuracy.

This there a point? Not really.
Does it explain why sometimes, after I grew breasts I would look in the mirror and lift my shirt up as high as it would go, pulling my breasts up with it, just to see what I might look like as a boy....maybe.
Does it explain my jealousy when my fiancé goes to his boss' house for the super bowl and I can't go because it's a "guy thing"...probably.

None of it really matters but somehow the older I get, the more the "mysteries of men" aren't so mysterious.

Nothing profound

Kids. They keep crossing my path. It's not that I used to hate them, I just would get very annoyed with them. Now, I thoroughly enjoy them.

I have a cousin. Sarah. She's 4. Sometimes while I'm hanging out with her I feel like I'm hanging out with my (cooler) self, as a child. We get each other. And the thing I admire most about her is that when her siblings are falling to pieces around her and everything is in chaos she is sitting back with an almost "knowing" looking on her face and smiling. Sometimes laughing. She can be totally exhausted, over stimulated, and in desperate need of quiet bedtime, but she can hold it together better than most adults, making jokes and having fun until it's time to be alone. Amazing.
I dream abut this girl playing with my child. Literally, i've had dreams.
She makes me think about life and love and happiness and energy and fun. She makes me want to be a better person.

She makes me want to be a mom.

The past plays a part, too.

The journey that we are on concerns the present and the future, but I also think it should take the past into account.
The past is what has helped us along on our path, what has made us who we are and what has brought us to the place we are in.

This being said, I think that I will be starting to include some of the memories and experiences from my past that make me happy, remind me of who I am, or that I just happen to be thinking about.

2011

Time has progressed. Everyday is a new day. Yet, for some reason, when it becomes a new year we all stop to think about what we had the year before, what may come in the next 12 months, how we changed in the last and what we are going to do differently in the following.

There was a period of time when I was making "New Month Resolutions". Every month I would make a list of goals to achieve in the next 30 days. They tended to be things that would " better" me...talk to each of my siblings at least 4 times, have dinner/hang out with my parents 4 times, work on said art project, start new said art project, explore a new place in the city...you get the idea. I'm not exactly sure why I stopped doing this. It helped me to make different conscious choices and to use my time a little better.

The beginning of a new year is a big deal. Starting at that point you almost have a clean slate. A chance to do things a little different that time around, not make the same mistakes, to use the knowledge you have accumulated to make you the person you want to be.

But do you really only want that chance once every 365 days? I don't. I want to take that time of reflection and chance for change ever 30 days, or even every 7 days or maybe every 24 hours. Taking those shorter periods of time to analyze give you a better perspective of time, and the things you hold most dear to you.

When I look back on a year I tend to see things I didn't accomplish like "not traveling enough", job success, and other large item things. When I look at a month at a time I know that if I could I would talk to my siblings in person, but the important thing is talking. I realize that writing a letter or two a week could greatly improve someones day instantly in a time when I never would have been able to be be there for them.

Sometimes that change of perspective is all we need to remember the things that are truly important to us.

Happy New Year, Happy January, Happy New Day!