A Dash of Creativity

To ring in the New Year, we are having a couple of friends over and enjoying a time of food and fellowship...traditional Italian style (with a little eccentricity thrown in for good measure). We are all contributing to the dinner tonight. Isn't that the most interesting way to do a meal? I used to turn my nose up at the word "potluck." (It may be the images of green bean casseroles and rainbow marshmallows mixed into fruit salads that it conjured up in my mind's eye.) Tonight is a time for everyone to bring a gift to the table. I'm becoming more convinced every day that everyone has something creative to offer. Everyone. They may not know it yet. I didn't know it about myself until recently. Cooking has been such an inspiration to me this year. Looking back, I don't remember what sparked it. Was it the day I opened up Marcella Hazan's "Marcella Says" for a recipe and found that the first half of the book was like taking a cooking class from her? Or did I get a burst of inspiration from the recent novel "The School of Essential Ingredients?" Or did my husband's creativity and boldness in the kitchen rub off on me? Whatever it was, whoever it was...thank you. Thank you, Matthew. Thank you, Marcella. Thank you, Jamie Oliver. Thank you obsessive food bloggers who actually keep up-to-date on your blogs. Thank you, big-fat-yellow-Gourmet-cookbook-with-everything-in-it. And thank you, Father God...for showing me that You are beautiful and creative; for showing me that I am made in that image; and for giving us all of this wonderful food on our planet that we are able to be creative with...the possibilities are endless!

Garden Blessings Needed!

(I know, I know...I've been terrible about keeping up on this blog. I'm still cooking, though. In fact, I should be in the kitchen right now...)

I ordered my seed catalog this week and I will be running down the street to the mail box every afternoon until it shows up. Tomatoes are on the top of my list of things I'm going to attempt to grow this summer. Last year I tried growing them from seeds. When that didn't work, I tried seedlings from the nursery. When those died, my sweet husband brought home a full grown plant in a pot. It grew one piece of fruit. One. So, this year I'm doing my research first. I found some varieties that are specifically for the northwest climate (that is, a short growing season). (See: http://www.territorialseed.com) It can't be that difficult to grow a little vegetable garden in my back yard, can it? It sounds like such a wonderful idea. I think I'm ready for this. Or am I?I know that if the whole thing dies and doesn't produce anything edible, it will be difficult for me to try again the following year. But that's life...or death. Sure, I want to save money by growing some of our own food. But I also want to experience the joy of it: of being creative, of watching my daughters be involved in something creative, of tasting the difference of the flavor of store bought vs. homegrown goodness! The tomatoes in the grocery store usually make me think, "No wonder I never liked tomatoes growing up! And no wonder my 3 year old makes that face..." Even Marcella Hazan (of whom I've become a disciple, to put it lightly) tells us to use canned tomatoes for homemade pasta sauce if the fresh ones in the store are unbearable. So, bring on 2010 and all of the sunshine the Pacific Northwest have to offer (which isn't always much). This spring, I will be the crazy neighbor lady praying over my seedlings after I put my kids to bed at night. I can hear myself now, "God bless the moon, and God bless me, God bless my garden and my tomato seedlings!"