Don't Worry, I Focaccia!
In 1990, dinner was at 6. Snacking on any dish that my dad had made after having three hours of basketball practice. Those chicken wings. Deep fried goodness in the perfect soy sauce, garlic and ginger marinade. He added corn starch so the marinade would stick to the chicken wing adding that tang with every bite.
In 2003, I would be starving riding the train home after ending my work day at 7pm. Head over to a local restaurant down the street at 8pm. They served this perfect wasabi tuna burger. The tuna was perfectly seasoned with crunchy seaweed salad. It was seared lightly. It was like eating the perfect sushi burger topped with wasabi mayonnaise. I devoured the burger within 10 minutes and I would be home by 9:30pm. This continued for over a decade, only the food got even better as I was paid more at my job. I was obsessed with eating food and drinking wine. I wanted to be able to cook it, but I didn’t always have time to learn or try recipes. Scratch that. I wasn’t ready to make time to learn. Shall we try to recreate that tuna burger? I sure will.
2021 and I’m now racing to get dinner on the table by 5:30pm/6pm every night. Slow cooked ribs in the oven and finished on the grill. Roasted carrots with fresh greens salad with a side of focaccia. Oh my focaccia. This bread will be gone in minutes. The only reason you might still have leftovers is because I’m watching my carb intake and trying really hard not to finish it. Makes for great sandwich bread the next day after being toasted. Holding off on eating it for leftovers? Try putting it in the freezer until you're ready. At Chestnut, if you didn’t have time to eat a lot at staff meal, which was usually the case, we snacked on this bread when no one was looking. Enjoy!
PS. Big win this week. Thinking of all my Black friends out there and people across the nation. Let's hope this is the beginning of change. Love you all.
Dear Diary,
Last night E ate 3 pieces of shrimp curry, a bit of rice, no bok choy. After dinner she ate apple sauce and apple slices.
This morning she ate eggs, rice and soy sauce. Maybe one bite of oatmeal and some of her smoothie. She ate 85% of her lunch - edamame, veggie sticks, mangos, chocolate graham bunnies, crackers and cheddar cheese. Tonight she ate guacamole, cheddar cheese and tortilla chips. Not the taco I made her. She then ate apple sauce and pear slices after dinner while watching Gabby's Dollhouse. She really likes cheese and fruit.
Taylor ate everything. Feeling lucky.
Thanks for listening,
Jannie
All the new wave, plus a couple more favorites that are in the gray area. Shout out to the show Glow for reminding me of this gem: Destination Unknown by Missing Persons. So good.