The healing properties of cooking

Tags

cooking, darkness, food, optimism, postaday2013, sadness

I like to think of myself as an eternal optimist but this morning I woke up in an extraordinarily bleak mood. The darkness that engulfed me upon opening my eyes seemed to mirror the dark skies outside. I felt heavy and my morning coffee and oatmeal didn’t change it either; actually as I was reading the news of the day, I felt even more dismal. I got ready to go see my nurse practitioner for a follow up exam and when I was at the gas station filling up the car, I was thinking that I’m 45 years old and nothing is going to change, everyday will be the same; worrying about trivial and petty things that do seem to matter just the same, but in the grand scheme of things, shouldn’t life be deeper and bigger than that? Am I going to live my life just sweating the “small” stuff? That got me even more depressed, thinking that if I don’t get it in gear with my book, I might just miss the opportunity to leave something tangible of myself in this world. All this was rattling in my head as I was getting closer to my Ob/gyn’s office. When I went in for my follow up exam, my nurse practitioner examined me and said that everything seemed to have corrected itself and I was in better shape and my mammogram next month should verify that, but she said that I needed to keep my stress levels down.

After hearing this good news, my mood gradually lifted throughout the day and then it got much better when I started prepping dinner for my hubby who is coming home tonight. There is something so therapeutic about snapping string beans, chopping garlic, peeling and slicing potatoes. The smell of roast beef wafting though the house while at the same time the sound of drippings crackling pierces my thoughts, both act as a soothing balm to whatever worries me. By the end of today I will be right back where I ought to be, relaxed and looking forward to a new day.

The menu is a very simple one; roast beef studded with garlic cloves rubbed in salt and pepper, a potato gratin with heavy cream, Swiss cheese, salt, pepper and fresh nutmeg, broccoli rabe sautéed with garlic and parmesan cheese and red pepper flake (that’s for me) and string beans sautéed with slivered almonds and garlic. What is even better is that there will be left overs for the baby boy, so I don’t have to plan another menu for a day or so. Hooray!

My great escape

Describe in great detail, your ultimate escape plan.

The escape plan isn't really my forte. The implication, it seems to me, is that first you are somewhere that you are escaping from and I am always at home so that would have to mean that my home is under assault. That, then leads me to the question of where would I escape to? My hubby is a great one with these logistical dilemmas. He was an Eagle scout and probably one of the best ones at that. He is also one of the most prepared individuals that you would ever have the pleasure of meeting. I, myself, much prefer the idea of hiding. I have always been very good at hiding and not being found. Patience has always been a virtue of mine and I have always been able to out wait my opponents in hide and seek and ring-a-lario ( a two team version of hide and seek).

My hubby has his escape bag that he brings with him at all times; filled with all of the necessities such as a poncho, matches, toiletries, first aid kit, flashlight, batteries, hidden cash, passport. I never travel like that, but since we would be together, I wouldn't have to worry. The thing is that since we already live in a place that most people would be traveling to in any kind of catastrophe; like the ones that you see in the movies; I really don't see where we would be escaping to; we live in the mountains in a town not on the map so we are pretty safe here. I'll take my chances with hiding since that used to be my forte.