I’m a practical cook by necessity. I don’t love cooking, but
I do love fresh, homemade, relatively healthy food. Naturally, now and
then I get utterly sick of cooking and need either a break or a new source of
inspiration. So when my friend Marianne
suggested a trip to Penzeys Spices in Sarasota, FL, I jumped at the chance. Our
excuse, if one was needed, was the need to buy a wedding gift for the daughter
of a mutual friend.
Marianne was familiar with Penzeys through her in-laws, but
she hadn’t been to the store herself. We took our time strolling through the
displays of everything from adobo seasoning to zatar (“a Middle-Eastern
tabletop blend”). Penzeys had vanilla beans, and freeze dried shallots, and
special herb blends for every possible cuisine you could name. Each one had a
jar for sniffing and we sniffed. We made two passes through the store, first to
choose spices for a gift box for Amanda, then to choose spices for ourselves. I
saw many that I wanted to try, but I limited myself to five, including Sicilian
Salad Seasoning, Ruth Ann’s Muskego Ave. Chicken and Fish Seasoning, and minced
ginger. With my purchase, they gave me a slim book filled with product
information and recipes. I’m already making a list of more items I want to
try.
Penzeys (no affiliation) might have a store near you.
According to the list in their book, they have 66 stores in 28 states, as well
as mail/online ordering.
Sometimes a field trip is all about exploring, sometimes
it’s a treat, and sometimes I look for inspiration to send me on toward my
goals. It’s a lot to ask of a few spices, but I hope they’ll help change
cooking from drudgery back into a simple pleasure.
Do you need inspiration? Where could you find some?
Photo courtesy Alex Drahon |
Introduction by Ted Kooser: In this poem by New York
poet Martin Walls, a common insect is described and made vivid for us through a
number of fresh and engaging comparisons. Thus an ordinary insect becomes
something remarkable and memorable.
Cicadas at the End of Summer
Whine as though a pine tree is bowing a broken violin,
As though a bandsaw cleaves a thousand thin sheets of
titanium;
They chime like freight wheels on a Norfolk Southern
slowing into town.
But all you ever see is the silence.
Husks, glued to the underside of maple leaves.
With their nineteen fifties Bakelite lines they’d do
just as
well hanging from the ceiling of a space
museum—
What cicadas leave behind is a kind of crystallized memory;
The stubborn detail of, the shape around a life turned
The color of forgotten things: a cold broth of tea &
milk
in the
bottom of a mug.
Or skin on an old tin of varnish you have to lift with
lineman’s
pliers.
A fly paper that hung thirty years in Bird Cooper’s pantry
in Brighton.
Reprinted from “Small Human Detail in Care of National
Trust,” New Issues Press, Western Michigan University, 2000, by permission of
the author. Poem copyright © by Martin Walls, a 2005 Wittner Bynner Fellow of
the Library of Congress. His latest collection “Commonwealth” is available from
March Street Press. This weekly column is supported by The Poetry Foundation,
The Library of Congress and the Department of English at the University of
Nebraska, Lincoln. American Life in Poetry ©2005 The Poetry Foundation Contact:
alp@poetryfoundation.org This column
does not accept unsolicited poetry.
Today is Labor Day in the United States, a day “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.” I’ll
be spending it caring for my horse, checking in on a vacationing friend’s cats,
making a birthday cake for my son, and puttering around the house doing chores
that make our lives run smoothly and happily. My husband is grilling chicken
and shrimp, my mother-in-law is visiting, and my son will be stopping by later
to eat that cake (and probably do some laundry). We spent the first two days of
this three-day weekend painting our bathroom and cleaning up after Hurricane
Hermine (no damage, just a lot of debris in the yard). This hasn’t been a
textbook example of a “relaxing” weekend, but it has been one full of family,
food, and many of the simple pleasures that bring me deep satisfaction.
Whatever you’re doing today, I hope it brings you joy!
Storm debris: Eleven bags, two trash cans and a branch (not visible) |
“To age gracefully is to experience fully each day and
season. When we have truly lived our lives, we don’t want to live them again.
It’s the life that was not lived that we regret.”
—Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler, Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us About the Mysteries
of Life and Living
Happy birthday to two of my favorite people: my son, and my father-in-law. They both are great examples of living life fully.
Photo courtesy Alexander Filonchik |
The internet has been humming with interesting stuff lately,
and I don’t mean the latest gossipy tidbit about a celebrity or political
candidate. I’d rather spend my time being inspired or taught (or looking at funny
animal pictures). Here are a few of my
favorite recent discoveries. Enjoy!
I spent too much time watching the Olympics over the past
couple of weeks. I loved the equestrian events, of course, but I also enjoyed
seeing sports I never watch: water polo, table tennis, volleyball (which I
loved playing in high school and college) and track events. There’s something
inspiring about watching people achieve their dreams after hard work and sacrifice.
I was also touched by this story, about the 10 athletes who are refugees, but
still have the drive and desire to compete.
Patience is an important quality to cultivate, but few of us
had someone actually teach us how to be patient? I found this post on Raptitude incredibly helpful. Remember, “Patience is really nothing
more than the willingness to live life at the speed at which it actually
happens.”
Simple but effective ideas from Sandra Pawula in “9 Ways to Find Serenity in a World Gone Mad.” I could not function without #8.
“11 Ways to Be Happy Right Now” combines simple physical
acts (“eat a piece of quality dark chocolate”) to more in-depth experiences
(“train your mind).
Check out these “16 Quotes That Show Us Life From a Different Perspective.” My favorite: “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But
in the end, nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you do not belong.
It’s always better to be exhausted from meaningful work than to be tired of
doing nothing.”
How happy are you? Take a quiz to assess your well-being,
and learn more about how to thrive here.
Loved the takeaway message from Marie Forleo’s Oprah Supersoul Session: “Everything is ‘figureoutable.’”
Have you made any internet discoveries lately?
Introduction by Ted Kooser: I’ve lived all my life on
the plains, where no body of water is more than a few feet deep, and even at
that shallow depth I’m afraid of it. Here Sam Green, who lives on an island
north of Seattle, takes us down into some really deep, dark water.
Night Dive
Down here, no light but what we carry with us.
Everywhere we point our hands we scrawl
color: bulging eyes, spines, teeth or clinging tentacles.
At negative buoyancy, when heavy hands
seem to grasp & pull us down, we let them,
we don’t inflate our vests, but let the scrubbed cheeks
of rocks slide past in amniotic calm.
At sixty feet we douse our lights, cemented
by the weight of the dark, of water, the grip
of the sea’s absolute silence. Our groping
hands brush the open mouths of anemones,
which shower us in particles of phosphor
radiant as halos. As in meditation,
or in deepest prayer,
there is no knowing what we will see.