Skip to main content

Budget cooking: tasty thigh topping

 You wanna get real? Let's get real. Life is a mix of good and bad, up and down, sweet, spicy, savory, and everything in between. There's pleasure and pain, sunshine and rain. Fuck, I sound like a country song.

Mushrooms, radishes, red bell pepper, green onion, and cherry tomatoes

Money's tight, not just for me, but for just about all of us. Interest rates are up, inflation is bending us all over the barrel. Gas, necessities, luxuries, fucking groceries all cost more than they seem like they should. It's not fun, it's not fair. It's just bullshit.

Chicken thighs, bones removed, with salt, pepper, and paprika

Beyond the financial concerns, building and maintaining relationships is some bullshit. I mean, it's always been a shitty situation if you're a middle-aged introvert, but tack on the realities of living in a post-Covid world and things get worse. Add in a few shots of anxiety and depression and you've got a cocktail of loneliness. Granted, my girlfriend and I have been getting to know each other better and have braved a few storms so far; if only I could see more of her, you know? At least then I'm able to be lonely with someone else. 

Dumped in the mushroom, radish, and some green onion while the chicken finished

You know, I do miss sleep. I've had a hell of a time getting to sleep for a while anyway, but the waking up every 30-45 minutes all night fucking sucks. I spend all day fucking exhausted, then get to lie in bed most of the night wishing that exhaustion would lead to something beneficial. One day I'll sleep, though, right?

Confit garlic and red pepper flakes in the drippings/butter/oil

So what's the point of all this bitching? 

Tomatoes and green onion; added some spinach, balsamic, honey, and capers later

Life's hard for most of us. Every single day we're given the choice of whether we're going to keep fighting or give it up. I'm proud of you for still being here, same as I'm proud of myself. We've seen some shit, haven't we? We've been through it, fought through it all. No matter how hard those demons are who are pushing us constantly to give up, we've persevered so far. 

Chicken topped with tomato/spinach/onion, veggies on the side with parsley

So we find a way to stretch those dollars, we make the sparse moments we have together count as much as they can, we work when we have to and rest when we can. I'm keeping my chin up and face forward, and I know you are, too. We'll keep working, we'll keep loving, and we'll keep eating. In the words of Anthony Bourdain, "Fuck it. Let's do this." We got this shit.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I don't understand food

Part 1 the morning after, while eating a sausage, egg, and cheese everything bagel from Bergen Bagels Last night, I had the pleasure, privilege, and audacity to eat at a Brooklyn restaurant named Aska . I know it's cliche to refer to a fancy restaurant meal as a life-changing experience, but this was straight up paradigm-shattering. I've written before about food being a medium of communication, about how I strive to reduce food waste as much as I can, about sharing our cultures and stories with each other through the meals we create, but seeing how Chef Fredrik Berselius is able to do this at such an intricate, elegant, and elevated level is both humbling and inspiring. The experience started before the first bite. I walked into the 10 table restaurant, and they knew me by name. I was shown to my table (right in the middle of the place, looking directly into the open kitchen), and they even pulled my chair out for me and pushed it up under me. I was a little uncomfortable with...
Post a Comment
Read more

Restaurant week: My new Mexican restaurant

 As I mentioned the other day, my Mexican restaurant closed down. Luckily, they opened up in a new space a couple of months later. Great new look, new name ("Lopez Grill"), they've got a bar, staff is expanded, and the place is always packed. Business seems to be going great. Now, this isn't just a rehash of my post about the 'Dolo. While the menu is largely the same, there have been a few changes, plus I'm going to share a few things I've learned eating there. On my first visit to the new location (which was opening day, right when the doors opened; yes, I was standing in line outside with the other faithful), Señor Lopez brought me a bowl of their new salsa. He called it "guacamole salsa," but it's a jalapeño-based sauce. It's got an almost creamy texture, but is dairy-free (I asked for my vegan friend). Being a jalapeño salsa, it's got some heat, but not nearly as overbearing as some capsaicin-phobes may fear. It is perfectly bala...
Post a Comment
Read more

Trying a new idea

I decided to try out a new concept: plain seasoning on my food with a bold sauce to kick it up a few notches. I was thinking that a pretty boring salmon fillet with a super flavorful sauce would be a fun way to put food on the plate. Sort of a "oh, this isn't that great, but wait! There's more!" kind of deal. I just salted the salmon and poached it in olive oil. Meanwhile, I also made some mashed potatoes with some sautéed green onion and orange bell pepper mixed in. A little butter, a little cream, yada yada. The potatoes were great. The salmon was boring. So how about that sauce? I made myself a roux (butter mixed with flour), then added in some white wine, and I let that simmer while I cooked the fish and potatoes. Unfortunately, it thickened up a bit much, so I added some more wine. With the extra wine, it was too watery, so I dropped in some creme fraiche, all while repeating my Randy Marsh impersonation of saying, "creme fraiche!" That gave it a great ...
Post a Comment
Read more