Winter and the Winter Solstice Moon
Tuesday gratefuls: Emunah. Faith. Panentheism. MVP. Rich. Susan. Jamie. Marilyn. Ron. Joan. Tara. Yet more Snow. A new year on the way, Gregorianly speaking. So many new years. 2025. A quarter century into the new millennia. Y2K. Those of us born in the middle of the last century of the last millennia. Mark and an orange/red Moon. Kep, my sweet boy. Kate, of blessed memory. Jon. Ruth. Gabe. Pammy. BJ. Sarah. Anne. Pork tenderloin medallions. Easy Entrees.
Sparks of Joy and Awe: Good sleeping
One brief shining: Chose to make my own Christmas meal with Pork medallions, mashed Potatoes, and mixed Vegetables; got out the small cast iron skillet, drizzled some virgin olive oil in it, poured water into a sauce pan for the mashed Potatoes, and tossed the steam-in-bag Vegetables into the microwave, pressed the on button for the skillet, ticked down to 7 on the induction settings, waited for the oil to shimmer and placed the Pork medallions in the skillet, put the wire oil catcher on it, hit 3 minutes on the timer, after 30 seconds I set the microwave to work, at 3 minutes I turned the medallions over, made the mashed Potatoes while they went another two minutes, ding, the Vegetables came out, plated it all and Merry Christmas, Charlie!
I enjoy cooking but the trick for me now is a meal that doesn’t take too long to make. With frozen vegetables and dehydrated potatoes I can focus on the entree, meat or fish. Neither takes too long when cooked in a skillet. The elaborate meals I used to make for Kate, for the grandkids and Jon are more work and clean-up than I want to expend. When cooking for just me. Clean up is a factor, too. Elaborate meals require many different bowls, pans, utensils. Using a cast iron skillet cleanup is easy. Ditto with the frozen Vegetables steam-in-bag and the dehydrated Potatoes. I know they sound awful, but really they’re pretty good. Some meals I’ll make Rice in my Rice cooker. Also pretty straight forward.
Even with this quicker fix for a meal I still don’t cook often. Maybe 3 or four times a week at night. I make breakfast each morning. Eggs. Fruit. Yogurt. Bean burrito. Sometimes tinned fish. Toast with Bread Lounge sourdough. Sometimes Mueslix or steel-cut Oats. Varies. Lunch is often Sardines, crackers, fruit. Or, tinned Tuna. Tinned fish have no additives, are easy, and taste good.
Another quick but good cooking method involves prepared meals from the Evergreen Market or Easy Entrees. They sometimes are a little more work, but they provide variety in my diet. Pork schnitzel. Cannelini beans in an herb sauce. Pork fried Rice. Green Beans with Bacon and vinaigrette, Steak au poivre or Steak Diane, a roasted vegetables skillet dish. That sort of thing. These are once in a while meals.
Don’t eat out much. Breakfasts with friends. A very occasional meal like the one I had with Alan last week at Bastien’s Steak House or the Urban Farmer for Thanksgiving. Sometimes lunch out, but rarely. So I make most of my own food with an emphasis on simple and quick, and tasty. Took a while to get into a rhythm after Kate died, but I think I’ve found one that works for me. Mostly healthy.
