Food Glorious Food--Part One

There are two things that I love musical theater and food.   Living in Kansas I don't enjoy the former nearly as much as when I lived in the Metropolitan New York area.  And the scale and mirror tell me that I enjoy the latter way too much.

I don't merely enjoy eating food.  I enjoy cooking it as well.  Peeling, cutting, dicing.  Deglazing a pan and making a reduction sauce.  Kneading dough.  Stuffing the Thanksgiving turkey.  I enjoy the process as much as watching others tuck in to my finished product.  And those who have watched me do a home remodeling project or planting pansies know that I can drag out the process better than most.

I even like to go food shopping!  No not like, enjoy.  Who am I kidding I revel in going food shopping.  Seriously.  Perhaps it is a throw back to when I would shop with my mom, but I relish going through the aisles, opening an egg carton to check for damaged goods, and squeezing a tomato for firmness in the produce section (hmm, that doesn't read quite right) ;>)

Perhaps when I go food shopping I don't see it as onerous toil, but rather as a reflection of God's abundant blessings and grace.  First, I have a job and have enough money in my wallet to buy food.  Second, I have enough food every day--three times a day with snacks in between.  And of course the wide variety of food.  Stand in the produce section and look at the colors and shapes and smells and remember the tastes.  There are tart yellow lemons, green limes and orange, well oranges of course.  Mrs. Carrot next to her cousins Misters Parsnips, Turnips, Rutabagas--all waiting to be thrown into a pot of browned stew beef to make a savory winter soup.  Apples.  Not merely the Macintosh of my youth, but Granny Smiths, Red and Yellow Delicious, Galas, Honeycrisps, and Fujis!  Really?  All this variety in just one variety of fruit.  What a blessing from an awesome Creator God!  And do I even need to mention the produce from exotic lands such as mangos, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, ugli fruit, and papayas?

God isn't boring or limited in his provision to us. He is creative and boundless.  Clearly he could have provided us with just one food item: the bread from heaven that he provided the Israelites in the desert during all of the years of their wanderings.  (And even that wasn't bland as I had supposed: Exodus 16:31 "It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.").  No, God created us with tastebuds and he clearly overwhelms them.

Monday night after work I shop for food and then take a portion of my spoils and make dinner.  Here is yesterday's dinner.  Took about 15 minutes to make and is delicious.

       Boil some gnocchi in salted water.  It is done when it floats to the top.

      While the water is getting hot, pour some olive oil into a pan and saute some onion.

    

      Add some dry white wine to deglaze and then some spinach, red pepper flakes, lemon juice, frozen peas and some cream (it is ok to use half and half).  Let it go to a soft simmer.

     Add the gnocchi and a small amount of some of the water that the gnocchi cooked in.  The sauce will thicken.

     Serve in bowls with parmesan cheese flakes and parsley sprinkled over the top.

ENJOY!