ODE TO THE THIN MINT

ODE to THE THIN MINT
by Leslie Aitken

Oh thin mint of the Girl Scout variety, 
how you mock us with your "Serving Size: 4 cookies"!
You know that when we open that crinkly cellophane tube
we are just puppets created only to eat the first serving
without thought! Then to realize halfway through
"the second serving size" that we have ravenously eaten
NEARLY EIGHT COOKIES!
Giving no thought to caloric, sugar or fat content,
feeding the annual insatiable need for
THE THIN MINT!

If At First You Don't Succeed..........

YOU KNOW YOU MADE A FOODIE FAIL WHEN:  Three 18 year olds take a pass at what you made for lunch!  

HA!  I am usually pretty good at making something out of nothing.  I was hungry and thought hmmmmm -- let's play "what's in the fridge?".  So I sauteed half an onion, then added two sliced pickled jalapenos, and two sliced banana peppers - then chopped up some left over steak fries and some leftover roasted baby carrots.  When those were hot, I turned down the heat and added five scrambled eggs -- think frittata. 

Then the fatal error.....I added about 4 tablespoons of Tostiso's cheese dip and spread it on the top of the fritatta, than covered it with 4 slices of American cheese.  I added about 1/2 cup of water, covered it and turned up the heat to melt.  When I removed the lid, I was really surprised to see how much liquid there was!!  The cheese sauce and American Cheese had not only melted, but liquefied   So I removed the lid, and turned up the heat and "reduced" the liquid back to a thickened cheese sauce. When it tightened, I sprinkled on some dark paprika.  Honestly.....it looked "kinda" okay.......

So what was the problem with the kids?  It looked and tasted TOO FAKE CHEESY! 

So there ya go......even a veteran goofs up from time to time!!  I also think the moral to the story is that I rarely use processed foods like the cheese dip or sliced American cheese -- and my kids and their friends recognize that.  The good news is that a friend of mine gave me these:

Delicious, home grown cherry tomatoes!  Yummmm -- the first fresh from the garden that I have had this year.  Oh goodness, I had another "food moment" with these yesterday......fresh off the vine...still warm from the sun, and I still could smell the tomato vine scent on the stems. PERFECTION!!

They also gave me these:

Tonight for dinner?  Lightly sauteed fresh zucchini  onions and cherry tomatoes over fresh pasta with olive oil and chopped basil..............Mmmmmmmm......so much better!

Fresh is best -- accept no substitutes!

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!!!

Oh my goodness!  I am having a food moment.  One of those moments where you know the item that you are eating is so delicious, so perfect that you wouldn't change a thing.  You just want to savor every moment of the perfection.  What has created this moment of wonder?  A delectable, juicy navel orange!  It is perfection in a peeling!

I got up early this morning, had my coffee and a bowl of oat-y/fiber cereal with raw milk and fresh strawberries.  It was tasty and filling.  But it was a couple of hours later and I was feeling a bit peckish (obscure Monty Python reference -- Informal chiefly Brit feeling slightly hungry; having an appetite).  I was considering what to eat when I remembered one last orange in the fridge.  I retrieved it, and when I cut it - the scent of orange filled the air.  The juices ran out and I grabbed a plate so as not to waste a single drop!

As I took the first fragrant bite, I thought how fantastic it would feel to make one single piece of food that tasted and smelled as good as that orange.  It was so succulent,the bite I took was so juicy that it ran down my chin and fingers!  I had to run and get a napkin!  What a joy, what a gift from one single piece of fruit! 

I was transported!  I thought of my childhood and eating peaches we had just picked from orchards in Hartville, Ohio where the soil is so rich that it is all most black.  Our hands and faces would get sticky and the peach fuzz would cover them and prickle.  I thought of sitting in my own front yard, peeling oranges off of my own tree with my toddler daughter Emily.  They were still warm from the sun and she clamored for one after another!

 I remembered staying with some Mennonite friends of my folks for a week, and walking through the corn fields picking corn for dinner.  Mr. Wengerd stopped and peeled one of them and handed it to me -- right off of the stalk.  I looked at him wondering what to do with it.  He told me to take a big bite, and I did.  

If you have never had that experience -- I suggest putting it on your bucket list!  The sweet glorious taste of just picked corn astounded me.  It was one of my first "food moments" -- and to miss out on them my friends is missing out on a wondrous part of life. I fear that we as a society have gotten so far from the farm, so far from the source -- that we don't take the time for these fantastic moments.

We can however, come close by taking advantage of our local farmer's markets and patronizing them.  I bought my California grown orange gems at our own Altadena Farmer's Market - Wednesdays 4 - 8pm, 600 W. Palm Street.  
                                
  I love this market for many reasons.  One is that it took years for a great market like this to come to fruition (note that the word has fruit in it).  Another is that the foods are grown and made locally and are FRESH, FRESH, FRESH! Some complain about the "high prices" -- but THINK about it!  You are buying FROM THE SOURCE!  The hands that give you your food are likely the same hands who earlier in the wee hours picked it, washed it, sorted it and packaged it!  Who cares if that bunch of baby bok choy cost $3.00?  It is so fresh that it is still growing!!

So much more taste, so much more healthy.  And when you shop at a local market, you are contributing to the sustainability of our local farms, farmers and your health.  A movie and popcorn cost $20.00!    Stay home, spend the money at your local market and invest in farming, in building a sense of community, and your own health!!  You can even buy organic popcorn to pop at our local market!  

The Altadena Farmer's market has some very cool things.  They lend out shopping carts,

you can purchase a shopping bag, or a T-Shirt supporting the market.

(T-shirt worn by Joseph Shuldiner, Market organizer, Food Author, Teacher and Director of the Institute for Domestic Technology)

Summer hours are from 4 - 8 pm, they have live music, you can borrow a blanket and have a picnic right there in the park, there are FABULOUS food carts with yummy prepared foods,  at least one of them will prepare food that you just purchased, to eat right there.

And most of all, you can sit down, listen to the kids laughing, hear some music, smell the aromas of the herbs and food -- and who knows, maybe have a "food moment" of your own!

WOULD YOU PUT MARINARA SAUCE ON PUMPKIN PIE?!?

This sounds like a NO BRAINER doesn't it?  In life there are certain truths that we hope to hold self-evident like:  You "don't tug on superman's cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger"........and you don't put marinara sauce on butternut sqaush ravioli with sweet pumpkin filling!  Seriously, one would think that this subject would never be up for discussion!

And yet, here I sit discussing it with you.  This is the story.  After spending a week recovering from a health issue, I found myself, sitting at home alone.  I hadn't even been out of the house for a week.  My fear of becoming a complete shut-in became stronger than my fear of going out alone, so I made a plan.  I would attend a local art show and treat myself to dinner out.

So I showered, put on my "glad rags", some lipstick and headed out.  I decided to stop at a local bistro that I've enjoyed.  It looked particularly inviting with twinkling votive candles aglow in the windows. As I entered, I was met by delicious aromas, it was cozy warm inside and there was live music!  A local woman, Donna Barnes-Roberts was singing with her lovely soft toned voice filling the space with ambiance.  My evening was off to a delightful start.

I was given the menu, with it's simple and appealing offerings.  I needed to look no further than the roasted butternut squash ravioli with a Cesar salad and my mind was made up.  I was gleeful -- great ambiance, great music and one of my favorite dishes!  The waitress brought a plate with 2 small slices of zucchini bread and 2 small slices of white bread and butter.  Both breads were delicious, and minutes later my Cesar salad arrived.  It was good too, with a mix of baby greens, croutons, Parmesan cheese and a perfectly salted dressing.  I couldn't have been happier.

Shortly after clearing my salad plate, my waitress arrived with my main dish ravioli.  When she sat it in front of me, I was immediately taken aback.  The butternut squash ravioli was covered with MARINARA sauce!  And to add insult to injury, tossed on top of that was a white cheese of indeterminate origin.  It was semi melting, giving the dish the look of enchiladas.  I said to the waitress as she started to leave, "Excuse me, is this dish supposed to come with a red sauce like this?"  She assured me that it is always served like that, except normally they grate a harder cheese on top -- but they were out of it.  So -- I continued on. I was all ready skeptical, so I tasted the marinara alone.  It was very good, tasting of fresh ingredients, tomatoes, garlic, onion.....delicious.  Then I cut into the tender perfectly cooked ravioli.  To say that the flavor combination that met my palate next was jarring would be an understatement.  The ravioli filling was sweet!!  Like pumpkin shmear from Einstein Bagels sweet!!

I would have found a sweet filling like that somewhat irksome, even served in a white sauce or a butter sauce with parsley -- but the combination of the sweet filling in the butternut squash pasta, covered in a tomato/garlic marinara was, in a word, WRONG!!  It was so bad that I ate three bites to REALLY make sure that it was bad.  The thing I found more surprising is that anyone would MAKE and serve such an odd combination of flavors.  Would you offer fresh Marina sauce to accompany pumpkin pie?  So ODD!

Then I was in a conundrum!  I didn't want to make a fracas, someone I knew was singing, so I decided to not send it back and ask for a to go container.  I secretly wanted to take it home to get other people's opinions about it.  I ordered coffee and a piece of carrot cake.  The coffee was delicious and so was the carrot cake.  The cake itself was VERY good with a "frosting" that is probably all cream cheese with a tad of sugar added.  It makes for a lovely presentation and isn't overbearingly sweet.  It was a redeeming finish. 

I went on to the local art show that I enjoyed.  I met some interesting new people.  I had to laugh though as I met this new group of people with newly graying temples and beards.  They look the age that I imagine myself looking.  HA!  As I was talking to one of the artists, his wife came up and took his arm and said, "Oh yes honey,......this is Daron's Mom."  Daron by the way is my 33 year old son.  Hey, how did his friends become my age?  HA!!

Later that evening, after I returned home, my 18 year old daughter and her entourage of ever energetic friends came home.  They were scouring the fridge for food and found the ravioli container.  They asked what it was and upon hearing ravioli, opened it and dove it........I waited. Within seconds......"Ewwww, what the heck IS THIS?"  ...................At least it wasn't only me!!