The kitchen, the night of the day that this country's band-aid was ripped off to expose what wasn't really a mosquito bite, after all. Cue flesh-eating bacteria.
Not a good description of dinner, is it?
But dinner was actually good. And the process of making it, necessary. Even though it could have fed an imaginary army. (Is that what I was doing?)
I revisited the burdock chapter or Forage, Harvest, Feast and reproduced the slow-cooked Burdock Root and Beef Short Rib Hot Pot on page 67. Didn't matter that I didn't have mugwort. In fact, if you don't have the burdock, use parsnips! Or even potatoes. It's delicious.
And it heats up beautifully, the next day.
My burdock came from Chinatown, and in years past I have seen it at Whole Foods, too. But autumn winter and early spring are good times to dig that tenacious taproot.
What were you doing while Rome burned?
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While Rome burned I was watching on in horror from across the pond. How all you good folk are coping with this I have no idea. Keep cooking, it's warm, safe and tasty ... and will take your mind off a multitude of sins.
ReplyDeleteWatching with shock and horror and that it's time that human beings grow up.
ReplyDeleteWondering if the fabric of a country, stretched to breaking point, can ever resume its shape...
ReplyDeleteAnd thinking of friends who face the double-edged sword of Covid and rebellion.
I don't think we want the old shape back.
DeleteWatching, in horror (and I didn't then know the half of what was happening) and disbelief, even though it had seemed inevitable that Trump would light the tinderbox that he had helped create...and then retreat to safety with his lieutenants to watch the conflagration on a screen.
ReplyDeleteGiven that US news happens while we are asleep, the whole thing was already laid out for me to scandalise my morning tea. But here's a link entertaining to those of us from a country at the receiving end of such news bulletins. Follow the links and then the whole twitter thread.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/09/capitol-storming-us-failed-state-kenya-patrick-gathara
After four years of telling the world who he was and brainwashing those who would listen, this was still unbelievably shocking. The lack of planning by all the departments that should have known to plan to keep the Congress and Senate safe, the anger and boldness of and the sense of righteousness of the mob, the sense that this mostly white, mostly male are so entitled they could photograph themselves and then post their crimes. Took my breath away.
ReplyDeleteIn 2016 millions of women and men marched to show their displeasure of what we knew was this man's intent. We did it again in 2017 and in 2018.
We did not storm the White House or any other building, nor did we destroy anything.
Watching CNN online from the UK, not believing what we were seeing. The only positive .... that people now see the reality of the past few years.
ReplyDeleteI love the way you've paired the act of cooking, the necessity that calls us to the act of cooking, talk of recipes and foraging, as spine chilling videos play across America, so Rome temporarily "burns" in the background- but you serve us a blog post in poetic form. Thank you. I made a tuscan white bean soup with a touch of bacon (veganism currently out) and a pile of very spicy brown sugar molasses cookies (sugar consumption currently back).
ReplyDeletePS to all the commentators above I am with you 100% you are right.
ReplyDeleteI made blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. The dates were pretty old (4 years old?) and dried out, but, oh, they were tasty. It felt good to use up what we had.
ReplyDeleteI turned on the tv to see the announcement about the Georgia US Senator runoff results, only to find the chaos at the Capitol. It totally felt like 9/11 for me, being home alone and watching this all unfold on tv, as if it were a make-believe movie. But, unfortunately, it's real.
I'm finding I'm revisiting old recipes, like Armenian monti and Julia Child's potato leek soup, to gain some sense of comfort.