Lesson From the Kitchen

I absolutely adore fresh asparagus cooked in scrambled eggs. I first quickly sauté the bottom 2/3s of three asparagus stalks cut into bite sized pieces in a tiny amount of olive oil or sesame seed oil till they turn bright green yet are still not soft. Then I add the top 1/3. Being tender, they do not require but a moment of time to be perfect. I then pour the scrambled eggs over the veggie and turn off the fire. The residual heat in the pan gently cooks the eggs until just set, not hard cooked. A little salt and pepper the only seasonings needed. To me, the combined taste and texture of the silky eggs with the pieces of asparagus still semi-crunchy is simply pure, clean and delightful. We eat a lot of spicy, salsa covered, pepper filled dishes and the contrast of this asparagus egg dish makes it stand out even more. Add a toasted bagel or English muffin and it is a breakfast meal fit for a king.

I grew up with fresh vegetable from the grandparents’ gardens but never experienced fresh asparagus until I was an adult. On the rare occasions we had asparagus it came from a can. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it but once the fresh crisp asparagus made its way into my life I could not eat the canned again. Asparagus is not meant to be soggy in my way of thinking. To prepare the asparagus you must first remove the bottom portion of the stalk that has grown tough and woody rendering it unusable. When holding the stalk at the very bottom and gently bending it will snap at the point that divides the good from the bad. The hard end pieces go into the compost pile leaving you with only the delicious and nutritious parts; the good stuff.

This morning’s preparation of asparagus and scrambled eggs served as another life lesson from God. While removing the rigid end pieces, it occurred to me that we, too, must have our inflexible parts removed so we can be usable to God. Hardened hearts and unbendable minds and spirits are fairly useless in the Kingdom. It is the tender and willing to change attitudes that can become less like their original fleshly-selves that become good. The eggs, as well, have hard exteriors we must do away with to find the wealth of nutrition inside. Once we have the good with which to work, they are tested by fire to bring about the desired result. We, too, have daily tests and trials. It is the end result, the finished product that determines how well we withstood the trials. Will we come out delightful to our King or will we wither under the fire of trials and be useless?

I found my morning meal to be satisfying and a pleasure. My desire is to live and be transformed into someone God can use and hear Him say, “Well, done…”so I willingly ask that my inflexible, rigid parts be removed; rendering me useful and good for His purposes.

My day is off to a great start, hope yours was too!

Breakfast of Champions

I happen to like fish for breakfast. A little Ocean Perch revs up the morning for me! Many of my friends and family find this odd but I find fish to be an excellent breakfast food. I usually buy two pounds of the perch at a time; steaming half of it with some Old Bay seasoning to use in omelets and scrambled eggs. Then the other half I simply sear in a hot cast iron skillet to relish its flaky texture in every bite. I love fish anytime but fish for breakfast is nurturing for me.

The word ‘breakfast’ is a compound word which simply means, according to Webster, ‘to break fast.’ The fasting is done at night while we sleep. So, breakfast would be anything we consumed first. This discourse is not about the virtue of eating breakfast; although I did have the privilege of having two grandmothers that thought you would surely perish and the world would come to an end if you did not have a large breakfast. That’s another kettle of fish….

We are predisposed by the culture and tradition in which we are raised to find things acceptable; apparently, fish for breakfast in America falls outside that norm. There are exceptions, like me, of course. I bet you can find the camper/fisherman that relishes a freshly caught fish cooked over a camp fire beside a lake in the early morning. Sounds yummy to me! Makes me drool to even contemplate that!

Many cultures find this commonplace and would probably laugh at our American noses wrinkled at fish for breakfast. If you recall, fish for breakfast is Scriptural ….well, it is written IN scripture. Jesus, Himself, cooked fish for breakfast for the Disciples. Fishing for them was done overnight and Jesus greeted them in the morning with fish over a campfire on the beach. If it’s good enough for Jesus…….

We tend to get locked in to a routine of familiarity and anything outside that comfort zone is not for us. Sad, that! My husband asked for eggs this morning. I was happy to oblige his request. Before I could walk into the kitchen, he was saying he only wanted scrambled eggs with tortillas. This meant he wanted to make egg tacos. We were out of tortillas and this ruined the whole thing for him. He did not want eggs without taco potential.

But fish for breakfast? One morning I presented him with a plate that had scrambled eggs, tortillas, refried beans and steamed fish. The look on his face was priceless. Not wanting to be rude and hurt my feelings, he proceeded to eat...very slowly. This was common breakfast food for my King of Tacos; all but the fish, of course. I bet if I had fried the fish and smothered it in the dreaded ketchup he would have had a whole ‘nuther attitude! Let’s just say he will have to ease into accepting fish as the breakfast of champions.

The Art of Living

Quote: Cooking is the deepest of the arts of living. It touches us daily more profoundly than any other ritual. ~ Jacques Pepin

Jacques Pepin is an acclaimed chef on television. I love Jacques. My Honey likes him, as well. He’s French and his accent alone makes the food taste good! I shared this quote because I believe what it says. It is a truism in our home. As a chef wannabe, cooking is more than just putting something on the table for me. Yes, there are times that I have done just that but for the most part, I put a lot of thought and study behind meals. I watch several cooking shows. I, the willing student, consider them classrooms. Loving to try new dishes, watching a seasoned chef walk through the process gives me confidence to try.

Food, it seems, means different things to different people. To my husband, it is a Love Language. My Honey is a man that loves to eat! It is more than an occasion to tickle the taste buds while fulfilling a primal need. He is the most appreciative person I’ve ever had the pleasure for which to cook. Believing that presentation is everything, I take care to plan meals that delight the eye as well as the palate. I am rewarded for this effort by his reactions when presented with a plate made especially for him. His eyes literally dilate in anticipation and appreciation. He notices the detail of color; the aromas that greet and delight his nose. He lights up; making all the effort worthwhile. As he eats his meal, he comments on how the different dishes compliment one another. This, in turn, feeds my chef-self and continues to inspire me to delight him. As Jacques stated, he is profoundly touched by my efforts and I am profoundly moved to please him. The look on his face alone would be enough but I am rewarded by the fact he notices my efforts and derives pleasure from them. We have a mutual admiration society over the dinner table.

Cooking is the deepest of the arts of living. It touches us daily more profoundly than any other ritual.

I contend the arts of living have fallen by the wayside in our hectic world today and special effort need to be made to rekindle the grace of days gone by as a means of nurturing our souls; to reinstate them in our day-to-day rituals. To that end, I have made a practice of having tea in the afternoon. I initially began making the point of stopping all activity to sit down and a savor a cup or two of my favorite hot tea before the kids got home from school. It was a time to regroup and re-energize myself before the evening chaos. Regardless of what I am doing, I still stop and have tea at two every afternoon. It is a moment in time dedicated to the endangered art of living, not just existing.

If you do nothing else today (yeah, right), take a few minutes and think about one thing you can do to nurture yourself; one thing that profoundly touches and enhances your art of living. You are worth it. God thinks so, why shouldn’t you?