This week my sous chef and I have been busy bees in the kitchen. It seems like we have so much going on both right now and on the horizon... all of it buzzing around in my head making me a little bit nutters. What do I do in times when my head is full? I cook.... I dust off complicated recipes and spend time inventing dishes sure to produce smiles at the table and full happy bellies. I do it for my family but I also do it for me. I find a comfort in a simmering pot of this and a baking dish of that. Lately I have watched as another little person has been dragging his step stool over to my counter and joining me in this simple pleasure... "Momma... can I be your zoo chef today?" It's like our version of bellying up to the bar. We laugh and joke and have a grand old time while we prep and cook.
It makes me get that familiar feeling in the back of my throat as I watch him sifting and mixing. I have visions.... of him far from me with a pot of something delicious on the stove filling his apartment with smells from home... of us in the kitchen over fifty Thanksgivings chopping and laughing and making as a big a mess as we do these days. It's a simple thing we do... in days filled with the rigors of being a two year old but I think it might be my very favorite. I think it might be the most important.
Now... if I could get him to actually eat half the things he prepares we'd be in business.
This Week's Menu So far:
Monday: Chicken Piccata with Barley Rissotto
Tuesday: Port Marinated Steak Tips, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Tomatoes Provencal
Wednesday: Carnitas Tacos with pickled red cabbage slaw
Mr. Blue times two
