What I made for Friday night dinner:
deconstructed peach/melon soup
sweet and sour lentils
plain rice noodles
Asian eggplant
amaranth greens with garlic
cucumber salad with sushi dressing from Moosewood New Basics
It has been three weeks since I blogged any cooking. I did make meals in that time, but I have been feeling unmotivated to cook and disinclined to write about it. I'm not as into my food as I have been, perhaps because of the heat. Even though it's August and we are finally getting the lovely tomatoes, eggplants, herbs, and fruit, I can barely get interested. Friday's cooking was particularly challenging. Only two burners on our stove are working. My mother-in-law was on her way. I tried to make my tapioca dessert and the tapioca balls somehow were both not cooking and were also sticking to the pot horribly. I got my friend's recipe for sweet and sour lentils and realized part way through that I only had some of what I needed to make it. I carried on and it was quite good in spite of everything.
I usually make a peach-cantelope soup: I peel the peaches and the melon, and purée them together, maybe add a splash of orange juice. I opened the melon, which I thought would have orange flesh. It was green. So I puréed the melon with half a Tazo mint tea bag, and then did the peaches separately. When it was time for the soup, I poured out the melon part and then drizzled in the peach purée. It was good, but the peaches were a bit tart.
It was my first time making amaranth greens. They were okay. The Asian eggplant I made with these special sweet long skinny pale purple eggplants and it was brilliant as usual. I had good farmer's market eggplants and greens and cucumbers.
We were invited out for a splendid meal at a friend's house on Saturday. Among the many delicacies was tomatillo guacamole, black bean and corn salad, homemade salsa cruda, polenta and a truly magnificent dessert. We had individual key lime pies. Oh gosh. The meringues had little peaks on them. I am really not immune to food, just to the food that I make! We were hanging out with good friends and I had some profound realizations. Like, for example, I have been feeling horrible guilt that I haven't spoken with this close friend of mine who moved away since she turned 40. I started to get hung up on how I had to get a present or a card because I hadn't done so, and it's an important birthday... my perfectionism was starting to hang me up. So today I phoned her.
I think I am a bit, just, uh, kinda depressed actually. What am I doing with my life, you know, that kind of stuff. In general I'm pretty cheerful but I am starting to feel that horrible inertia. I don't know how to describe "horrible inertia without total incapacitation, slight negative affect and a bit of sleeplessness, plus the same general feeling of anxiety as always." Not-exactly-depression-but-slightly-under-the -weather emotionally? Plus mosquito bites. I mean, I have been out of a job for months and I find that way stressful, plus the white racists in our neighborhood have a freaking HOTLINE NUMBER on the bottom of their anti-Semitic fliers. I mean that is hilarious in a very sick way. "Quick! I need to phone a racist anti-Semite RIGHT NOW! Where's the HOTLINE!" Plus we have a visit with my mom coming up.
Well I have more to say about this subject but I'll come back to it later.
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