On Turning 34

I'm an asshole. I forget to write down the title & artist.

 I was born the year of the snake, which it's description paints me as saint and sinner.

And I'm a Gemini.

This could mean my good qualities outweigh my bad qualities. My bad qualities outweigh my good qualities.

Or that I'm a duel-minded, tortured soul.

Then again, maybe I'm the happiest person you've ever met.

Most days are a little bit of everything. Which is why this year, like every year, I vow to grow, blossom, and maybe even transcend. (Okay, I admit "transcend" is lofty.)

Lately I've been practicing intentional awareness (aka reflecting) as I'm observing my relationships with family, friends, work, hobbies, and self move into new stages and transform into something new things. Honoring my place/not place in those relationships is probably what's most challenging. From a friendship that flourishes immediately to one that fizzles out, I'm beginning to see that we all have our places and times with one another, and that each moment should be cherished, and that sometimes respecting someone else's needs before my own is/is not beneficial.

The snake and Gemini in me is skeptical of all this hippie bullshit.

But I can't deny how food is molding who I'm becoming as I step into a new year.

Food offers me sustenance, but beyond the basics it challenges me, comforts me, eases my worries, creates worries, motivates me, and provides me with connections to others.

Sarah L.'s Hello Kitty Birthday Cake

Take for instance Hello Kitty birthday cakes.

Last year practically-my-sister SEM made me a kick ass Hello Kitty cake.

And this year Sarah made a gluten-free version with all of my FAVORITE flavors: rhubarb, strawberries, pistachios, meringue, lavender, and chocolate. Thoughtful and fucking delicious.

It's a blessing to me that both Sara(h)s meshed my ultimate icon with my number #1 passion: food.

Being surrounded by love only proves to me that good food is a form of good love. 

[OK, so here's a blogging moment where I don't feel I'm communicating what I want to communicate. Or that it sounds more "out there" than is my intention. Sure, I feel good food means pure, local ingredients from local farmers, butchers and gardeners. But more so, I just love how food brings people together, and how those who love me know my stomach and heart are the same organ. And I fully appreciate that. From the-what's-left-in-the-fridge-becomes-amazing dinners with FD to Kiderowski Bakery's cupcakes to Sally's seven-layer salad to Babine's simple syrup to Sarah's Ex-Wife potatoes to Revolver's Polenta to Tator Tots after a very gourmet meal to Better Made BBQ Chips to all the meals I've had and shared with my peeps far and wide, my post-birthday wish is that food continues to nourish my relationships and continues to draw me closer my passions and callings. I appreciate every food moment in the present and past moments. As tacky as it is, it's truly how I feel. Food is similar to spirituality, at least in my forever-clashing brain. And I hope it gives me enough sustenance for another 34 or more years.]

In the next year I wish to make even more good food to show some good love.

And So It Goes...

The semester is drawing to an end.

For some that means graduation is right around the corner. All the excitement of the future is ahead of them. Along with the wonder, frustration, hope, and possibility.

And while I'm excited with them, I'm sad because it means some very good friends will be moving away.

I don't take good-byes well. I never have. I prefer the "see you later" approach. But year after year of friends leaving is making my heart feel just a bit more heavy.

Last year was Babs, and this year is Amy, Chris, Alex, Nikki, and Ian.

The hardest part for me is that I happen to make friends with folks who love food, who love to eat, and who are frequent dinner guests at our house. Come this summer, Sundays will just be a little quieter. Picnics at the quarry will be a little smaller.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Right now we're trying to get in as many games of Blokus and rounds of The Game of Things as possible. We're trying to eat as many kale salads and tofu bites as possible. We're spending as much time together as possible. FD's beer cellar is slimming down a bit, and the liquor cabinet is almost empty.

Of course the greater parts of my days are spent grading, presenting, student conferencing, food writing, editing, and cooking because I have to but mostly out of avoidance. I just don't want to see our good friends leave. But so it goes...

In the meantime, there's a polenta tarte in the oven, pork tenderloin to roast, and glasses to clink before the formal good-byes begin.

VOTE!

Chef Micheal Bulkowski from Revolver, our all-time favorite restaurant, is up for Food & Wine's The People's Best New Chef 2011.

Vote for him.

He's put Northwest Ohio on the map as a culinary destination. He's talented, humble, thoughtful, playful, and RAD.

Vote for him. Right now!

Resolutions (Of Sorts)

Every new year I make a list of resolutions--most of which I abandon at the end of January.

Last year I wanted to bake our bread instead of buying it. I attempted one loaf that was way too dense to eat. I'm okay with buying bread from Zingerman's at Happy Badger; it tastes better. I did cook with rutabagas, though, with much success. There were other resolutions too, but I've forgotten them.

This year my only resolution is to not have resolutions. To not limit myself to list but be open to whatever adventures arise.

And turn this blog into a space for ??? (??? = something but I don't know what).

While I'm figuring out the ???, be sure to check out my BG News column every Friday and From Plate to Palate at Connotation Press.

Until the next post, eat more offal.

"Thank You, Baby Jesus..." I'm Cooking Again. But, First, Check Out My Tree.

Thank you, Kaleidoscope Farms for an amazing tree.

Loveliest tree ever.

Will eventually have a live tree in my office or kitchen that only has food/food-relate ornaments on it.

One of my favs I got from FD's parents the year FD and I married.

Creative Nonfiction: A Call for Nominations

The literary journal Creative Nonfiction is hosting a food writing issue and calling for a few good food blog posts. Rather than asking for submissions, Creative Nonfiction is asking for nominations--a pretty clever idea.

Without a doubt, dear reader, I would like you to vote for your favorite posts from The Everyday Palate! These are a couple of posts that supporters plan to nominate: In-N-Out Burger, I Melt for Melt, The PawPaw Adventure, PawPaw Season 2: Admitting Failure, I Can Sweat Duck Fat, and The Greenhouse Tavern: Revisited.

According to Creative Nonfiction, ""Deadline for nominations: 11:59 PM EST, Monday, November 29, 2010. Nominate as many posts as you like, though we ask that you not nominate the same post multiple times."

You can cast your nomination here: Nominate A Blog!

There are many other food writers too which awesome posts I am nominating: Prose & Potatoes, Quest for the True Climate, Madame Fromage, A Written Recipe, and many more!

Thank you for your support! And eat on (in lieu of rock on)!

Give A Dog A Bone (I Mean, A Carrot)

Bleu dog is 3 today. And he's hungry. Always hungry.

He's hungry for the carrots I'm dicing for a Lentil Soup.

He's very happy when I offer him a carrot.

Off he goes with his carrot. Happy Birthday, Bleu.