You may have noticed that I haven’t written about food much in the last 3 weeks. The last two noteworthy meals I made were Eggplant Rollatini & Easter Brunch.
Since I joined Facebook back in 2009, I posted photos of my food, descriptions, lessons, and recipes. It gave people ideas of recipes to make or how to make them. When I didn’t post for a few days for one reason or another, I would get messages asking if I was ok. LOL
As I type this, I still crack up, just like when I read a comment I got from a guy I went to high school with; it was either Ray or his twin brother Randy. I think it was Ray, though. He wrote under one of my food posts, “Don’t you ever eat the same shit like the rest of us?” My reply was, “Yeah, but I don’t post it.” 😜
People would comment about how I could make a bowl of yogurt topped with Cheerios look good; I told them it was just the love I put in food and that I like plating it. One night, I posted a hot dog photo, beans right from the can, and tater tots on a paper plate. The comments were that it looked delicious and better than theirs, and they couldn’t believe I used a paper plate! 🤣
I haven’t made anything noteworthy lately since I’ve had terrible headaches, stress from my mother being in the hospital for 5 days (She’s ok), and I’ve been so tired. Today when I woke up, I felt my spark again. Finally, after a month, I didn’t want to nap and really wanted to cook. I didn’t make anything fancy; I made a pantry meal.
Pantry meals come in handy when I have nothing defrosted or ready to use. Tonight, I made Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce. I used a box of Barilla GF pasta, a can of chopped clams, olive oil, butter, a few cloves of garlic, dried oregano & parsley, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper, and a splash of wine. The first bottle I’ve opened since I don’t know when.
The meal took under 20 minutes and was really good. I made garlic cheese bread with a package of GF rolls we had sitting around. It did the trick and was tasty.
Having a stocked pantry is essential to pulling recipes right out of your ass at a moment’s notice. I always have in my dry pantry pasta, canned clams, tuna, different varieties of beans, crushed, diced & whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, Thai curry paste, coconut milk, olives, pasta, rice. You get the idea.
I always have in my fridge onions, garlic (not in the fridge), potatoes, heavy cream, parmesan and or pecorino romano cheese, different cheeses, plain yogurt for marinating meats, butter, eggs, tofu, and pickles. Of course, there is more, but those are the always-on-hand bunch.
We usually eat dinner with candlelight and real napkins just because I like to, but for the last three weeks, it’s been paper napkins, paper plates, and food is just thrown together. That’s ok; I cooked a lot this winter as we all did; I needed a break, I guess, while I got my shit together. Soon, I will be marinating things, making dry rubs, grilling and making pizzas outside, plus a lot of beautiful salads with homemade dressings to share with everyone.
Sometimes, I do eat the same shit like everyone else Ray. ❤️