Weekend Update, May 25, 2014

"One lives in the hope of becoming a memory."

Antonio Porchia 

Have you ever done that thing- that thing when you run into the grocers for just a few things, a very very tiny number of things, less than three things, really, so you don't even need a cart.

Pot roast and hot dogs. Two things. That's it.
Wait. Do we have potatoes and hot dog buns?
And I think we may be out of ketchup.
And potato chips. okay. Six things...

And before you know it, those one or two things that didn't even need a cart are 9 or 10 things that are ooching out from under your elbow and held precariously in place by your chin. Not to mention your arms are starting to hurt and that gallon of milk is really cold.
There are of course several things that could be learned, each and every time this happens.

One could learn to bring along someone
with large and willing arms.

One could learn to always get a
cart. Even for one or two things.

Or, if you're like me, you could forget learning any of that practical stuff, and as the eggs slip a little further out from under your elbow, you could stand in the middle of an aisle, thinking that groceries

are like your brain.

That is, sometimes we ask our brain to hold so many things, that one or two things inevitably drop off.  You remember and remember and think and think and plan and plan and get to the end of the day only to remember that you forgot. And the most frustrating thing is that you don't get to tell your brain ahead of time which things are too important to be dropped. You remembered the groceries, and you went to work, and you mailed that package, and you picked up the prescription, dropped off things at the cleaners..... but there's something....wait. Why is it so quiet in here??

You forgot to pick up the children. 

Such a human thing, forgetting. And such a human thing to wish to remember. Maybe that's why all over the world, humans set aside a day for remembering wars and those who died in them. If that seems a particularly human oddity, to memorialize war, remember that relatively few people have died while waging peace.  

though there are some...

The funny thing is, that on a week set aside to cook traditional meals of Memorial Day, I forgot. One day, I forgot to cook at all. Then on the day set aside to try the Mediterranean Farro Salad, I forgot to get red peppers and chives and who knows what else...

but it was okay anyway.
There it is next to the Rosemary Salmon.
Which would have been better if I'd remembered to take it
off the grill before it overcooked.

I forgot to only use half of the farro for the Mediterranean Salad, so the Chicken Farro Salad  which was to be made with the other half lives on not in memory, but in possibility.
Here's a plate of Grilled lime and chili chicken and vegetables, and some of you may think that you spot right off a thing I forgot:

that charry stuff in the foreground is a pile of grilled leeks.

But it's not forgetting if you didn't know. Here's what I learned: Leeks, which are wonderful almost all the time, go tough and stringy on the grill. If you love grilled onions, try grilling slices of regular onions or the smaller green onions. Save leeks for things that get them all sliced up into little chewable bits before they're cooked. 

If you're looking for a low-fat high flavor burger, and no one in your crowd is allergic to mushrooms, try these Buffalo Portobello Burgers

The lid and cheese are off so that you can see how much it
does not look like a mushroom burger.

The thing is, what lean meat sacrifices in fat it loses in flavor, and a carnivore is then left with two choices: eat delicious fatty meat, or eat lean meat and find a way to boost flavor and moisture. These mushroom burgers do the trick without looking too suspiciously like they took a walk on the veggie side. 

And yes, that is Alton Brown's potato salad next to the burger. The best basic potato salad ever. Serve it simple, or dress it up with more pickles (though those tiny cornichons in the recipe pack a super pickle punch) hard-cooked eggs, green olives, bell peppers...It's just a great blank canvas kind of recipe. 

Our go-to start here potato salad recipe from now until forever.

And if remembering a potato salad recipe is a worthy goal, then so is remembering a whole lot of other things. 

though sometimes remembering isn't just hard, 

Sometimes remembering hurts.

Still, it matters. 

What you remember. 

Who you remember.

Why you remember.

and what you do with what those memories give you.

It matters. 

Just like it matters every time you try to leave in

this warring world a memory of peace.

a memory of hope.

a memory of love.

True, you may never become famous. 

But who knows?

maybe, if you leave enough memories, 

you may become immortal.