Imperfect and Comfortable
Travel my dear is the real essence of life....
That is truly something I believe. And, I have been on the road more than I ever imagined for the last three months. In my own version of around the world in 40 days, I went from the comfortable to the nostalgic to the challenging to the global and back. From US to Italy back to both coasts of US to Japan to China to Singapore back to Italy to London to Ireland to North Italy and, finally back again to central Italy, my temporary home!
To me, Panzanella feels the best way to reintroduce myself back into the world of reality from the surreality of the last few months. It also brings me a whole circle to my Italian present, the dreams of my past, and the groundedness I have always sought......
Preserved Spiced Labneh Three Ways
Handmade cheese has a flavor unlike any store bought, not simply because of the small batch and uniqueness of the process. It is as much because it was made with the warmth of hand, and possibly your own, rather than the cold steel kiss of industrial factories.
Celeriac and Parsley Root Soup
This soup is a celebration of parts of a plant that is familiar yet not used in main stream. Celery stalks are often consumed as are the leaves of the parsley plant. However, the roots of both are not only edible but also full of nutrients while exuding milder notes of the familiar flavors.
Winter... Soup and Snowstorms
I spent the day reading and souping for lunch. I made a softly spicy soup with charred poblano and jalapeno peppers and then tossed in celeriac cooked in orange juice and rutabaga, rounding it off with lots of cream and a creamy, caramelly Dutch aged Gouda. It has just a little hint of spice from the charred jalapeno that makes it warm all the way inside you. And, the rest of it is just creamy, healthy, vegetable, Winter goodness!
It is perfect! :)
Winter Break
I am going to unplug for the rest of 2016. To reflect on the many amazing, insightful, mind-opening, trying, strengthening experiences I have had this year. A year in which, I lived in so many places, so many different lives, reinventing myself literally every 2 months. A year when I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone, but, yet to understand where that has taken me because I have not had the time to process. So, I am going away from the internet world for the last week of 2016... To bury myself in books and thoughts and come out refreshed in 2017!
But, I will leave you something to munch on of course... :)