Are temperatures starting to drop? The day is unusually warm for this time of year, while nights are a crisp chill. Global warming causes autumn — as well as the other seasons — to act funny. And, our new government is slowly dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). C’est la vie… but, it’s not normal. Fall for SmoothieNumbers 31: Spiced Pumpkin Coffee. It’s an energizing drink for staying ‘woke’ in a super-charged, political climate, while keeping the spice ‘real’ with pumpkin puree.
Fresh Food Fast
It’s truly fresh. It’s super fast. It’s a meal made in 30 minutes or less.
Disconnect to Reconnect
My neck is less sore these days as I walk without looking at a smart phone. Up until last year, I had a couple android tablets for reading digital magazines, newspapers and books on the subway. Since that time, I’ve rediscovered how print books not only allows my mind to escape into another world, but they allow my eyes to rest from electronics. Instead of staying up late at night working on food blog posts, sleeping thru the night allows my mind to rest. In turn, my writing and my focus at work is better. A friend called to express her dismay at our lack of communication. It was a touching and confusing conversation, because I thought Facebook told me all what’s needed to know about her daily life. These day’s I’m trying to call more people to say hello and listen to them.
#SmoothieNumbers 29: Orange Chocolate
When Meiko Drew of Meiko and the Dish and Aaron Hutcherson of The Hungry Hutch asked me to participate in her virtual potluck to celebrate Black History Month, I thought it was endearing to participate. I chose to write about a dessert. However, fancy sweets aren’t quite right right now. My thoughts are enraged with politics via podcasts, television news shows and office conversations. Needless to say, “Let’em eat cake…,” isn’t coming from this food blog.
The Art of Doing Nothing
Earlier this year, I started saying no. No to promoting food-related gadgets, because I live in a New York small apartment with limited storage. No to promoting food samples, because the pay isn’t great and the contests aren’t worth my time. No to writing reviews for below-average cookbooks, because the pay isn’t great. No to freelance design, because I design full-time during the weekday. No to doing more social media, because it’s time consuming. No to special theme Saturday brunches requiring me to discard the one day a week of sleeping in without an alarm clock. And, no to developing an editorial calendar for this food blog. I’m doing nothing with my extra time, and it feels good to be too selfish.
Bring Back Cheddar
It wasn’t until Cabot Creamery delivered a box of cheddar, that I decided to toss cheddar back into my salads. The only reason why I stopped, was because feta, parmesan or goat cheese also became a few of my favorite salad additions. As a kid, Dad used to effortlessly toss large garden salads of tomato wedges, crisp iceberg lettuce, chunky carrot slices and thick, sliced cucumbers with cheddar chunks thrown into the bowl. Other people made similar salads with cubes of meat. Dad also introduced to us to salads made with greens grown from our backyard garden. When most people were eating sweet iceberg, we were munching on delicate, bitter greens: the type of pre-washed greens most people currently buy. Today’s salads are nuanced plates with artfully arranged vegetables.