Weekend Update May 5,2013

"When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest." 

― Ernest Hemingway,

As it turns out, Hemingway, at least during the spring he wrote of here, was happiest in Paris (as were a great many other arty-writey types of the era).  And, although a trip to Paris is as much of a daydream for me as it is for any other travel-loving soul, my own preferred destinations are a little easier to get to- even when they're a little harder to find.
Because the place where one is happiest, well, it's not always a fixed point, is it? It's not necessarily

                      city                                                                    or beach                                                 or mountain

it's nowhere in particular, but it's somewhere on the map between

               boringburg                                    and crazytown

You know you're there when you realize that

you dare relaxing in safety                                    and feel safe being daring.

and if there are people there, in the places where you're happiest, then they're the sort of people who are able to take all your flaws into account

"There there....It'll be alright.
We all have days when we're not the humans we wish we were"

and yet never really seem to

count up all your flaws

My many flaws. Paradoxically, they're what made a sort of not unhappy place out of the kitchen this week, as I made one mistake or miscalculation after another, and yet.....
well.
I'll tell you about it.
Lets start with the fish.
I'd planned on  tilapia with pecan browned butter, but since these lovely little trout were already in the freezer, I opted to use them instead of tilapia.
 I didn't want to be picking the bones out of cooked fish, so I thought "easy peasy. I'll just fillet them. True, I've never actually filleted a fish myself..... but I've watched my boys do so on many occasions. I'll just do what I remember them doing."

 It's a thin, moveable and blurry line, the one between confidence and presumption, isn't it?
So I began an unexpected fish wrestle, changing knives about three times, hoping that the process would become as easy as it had looked if only I could find the right knife.
The knife was not the problem. At least, reaching for a different one was not a solution.
After what seemed like a very, very long struggle that left me scale spattered and frustrated, I had this mangled plateful of what used to be a couple of pretty nice fish.
(Boys, if you're reading, hide your eyes. This is going to hurt you worse than it hurt me)





And here's what I learned.
That there are a whole lot of little (or big) kitchen errors that can be corrected by frying them til they're golden brown. See?

and it doesn't hurt if you also plan on covering your mistakes
in browned butter and toasted pecans.

Onward, then, to Lentil and Cauliflower curry. Which was actually pretty good- (true, it's hard to go too badly wrong when you cover a few of your favorite veggies with nice curry paste that's been mixed with coconut milk.)
Except, even after reminding myself in this public arena that our pantry and fridge were chutney-less... I forgot the chutney.
And then I forgot that I forgot. And didn't remember that I forgot until about 10 minutes before eating time.



sigh. I tell myself that I forget these things
because my brain is busy with other things.
I suspect the truth may be that I'm just
stupendously absent-minded.

This time it was the internet that turned what was a mistake into a happy discovery.  Look at this recipe for apple chutney that conveniently calls for ingredients which were all on hand! What a great surprise!  It took minutes to stir up, and while it wasn't the Major Grey Mango Chutney that I'd planned on, it was nice enough to keep the curry from tasting like it was missing something.

And then there was this cucumber and radish relish that I'd been looking forward to trying. Not quite what I'd hoped, but really interesting. And wherever the happiest place is, it is certainly a place of interest, isn't it?

It was so interesting- how the radishes, which were actually quite hot, were cooled by the addition of cucumber. Unfortunately, they were cooled into near tastelessness. The crunch was great though, and I'm thinking that maybe when summer blasts in, this wanna be relish could be mixed with a little cilantro and plain yogurt and become a very nice side salad. For now, when it comes to saucing a fish taco (and fish tacos are becoming favorites around here) I'm sticking to the absolutely spectacular sauce from this recipe for Rodrigo style fish. If you haven't tried it yet, it's sort of like pesto for anything Latin.  And my little miscalculation about the radish relish (in retrospect, if I'd read the recipe more imaginatively, I'd have made a different choice)  just confirms this sauce's place as the top of  taco toppings.

I hope that wherever you are, whether winter is arriving or departing, this week gives you one or two of those delicious days that persuade you to forget your troubles.

 I hope for a week of spring. Full of life, and free of regrets and sorrows.

It's possible, of course, that there will be moments this week when you find yourself backed into an unpleasant corner, boxed in by mistakes and flaws; cooped up with only the most nettlesome parts of your life for company.

If, despite all my hopes, that dreadful circumstance occurs, maybe this week will give you the hope to open a new metaphorical window.

Or knock on a new metaphorical door.

Or step over a new threshold that may lead you to (who knows?)

your new kind of happy place