Menus, December 19, 2012

Not all of us can do great things. But all of us can do small things with great love.

Mother Teresa

And if you wonder whether or not that's true, I offer exhibit Zach.

Zach cooks up lunches at Sweet Marley's, a Hill Country cafe so welcoming that it seems a cosmically deliberate thing that 'Fredricksburg' and 'Friendly' have (1...2...3... oh, alot) of letters in common. He explained the deliciousness of my bowl of potato-broccoli-cheese-bacon soup by telling me that he had made it himself.  With Love. And bacon for goodness. And broccoli for nutrition. A winning combo that I'll be attempting to duplicate on Friday.

disclosure: that's an empty soup bowl.
because, you know, I ate all my soup.

And next, evidence from Lampasas, where I was drawn by row upon sunlit row of these:

which were hanging outside a shop where I  bought these:

and wished to buy a whole lot more- because the owner of the Red Bell plant stand, like the guys at Sweet Marley's, besides being super interesting to talk with, is happily passionate about the power that can be contained in something as simple as a bowl of soup and as small as a jar of jam.  

The power to create something that can nourish and nuture yourself and those around you.

Here's the difference love makes:

red bell preserves on the right, and a nice grocery
store brand on the left.

ok. so my phone cam doesn't do a great job of showing you the difference love makes. But I'm tellin' ya. It tastes like all the best bits of summer on a spoon.

So, I'm hittin' the home kitchen with some fresh inspiration. Inspiration that will put some extra love into some favorite old recipes for some old friends, and some extra excitement into the great holy grail chili quest.

Wednesday: Roast Chicken and oven fries

I've made this roast chicken enough to want to play around with it a little, and here's how I'm going to do it. The recipe calls for potato slices under the baking chicken so that any dripping fat or oil will be absorbed by the potatoes. Because if it's not absorbed, the high cooking temperature will cause that dripping stuff to smoke. (dangerous habit, smoking. Especially before dinner) I'm going to see what happens if I try carrots or butternut squash or cauliflower instead of potatoes. It may be great, or I may have a pic of a very smokey kitchen to show you on Monday. Any one willing to hazard a guess or place a wager? 

Assuming the fire department does not pay us a visit that changes my plans, I'll be freezing any leftover chicken for chili on Saturday night

Thursday: Lasagna and green beans

Dilemma- what do you do if you've become allergic to garlic and love lasagna? You come stay with a friend who has a great lasagna recipe and knows how to leave out the garlic, that's what. I'll  be tossing some green beans in olive oil and salt and roasting them alongside the lasagna.

Friday:Roast beef and Broccoli Potato Soup 

This is the recipe that comes closest to the soup we had at Sweet Marley's-I'll be topping it with crumbled bacon. Hope I do you proud, Zach.

Any leftover beef will get to show off it's versatility in Sunday's chili.

Saturday: chicken chili

a trip to the airport and then some last minute shopping today, and then back to the chili quest! By the look of the recipe,this will stir up faster than deciding where to go for take out.

Sunday: Hot stuff chili

The first beef chili of the quest, and it looks like a contender!

It seems that there are more little tasks in these last few days before Christmas than anyone can count, let alone accomplish, doesn't it? A million small things to be done- but if you look closely, I'll bet you'll see that each one is somehow evidence of the deep love you carry for the people around you.

I hope that even if you've reached the edge of exhaustion, you recognize in yourself that resilient, determined love, and find yourself pouring that great love on all kinds of small things that need loving.

Even dinner.

Stay sane, my friends, stay sane.