Local Food, Food Of Love, Food That Nurtures

“When you have the best and tastiest ingredients, you can cook very simply and the food will be extraordinary because it tastes like what it is.”
? Alice Waters, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution…

Alice Waters has been my inspiration, my idol, the model for me, someday, although I feel that I am moving along, in that direction, quite nicely, right now.

I began reading about, and following Alice Waters, a long, long time ago. To me, she IS food. She IS local food. She IS community food. She was my inspiration when I was learning to cook, I aspired to one day be her, after I lived on the west coast. She taught me the beauty of simple food. Her books and writings taught me what beautiful eating means. I learned that food is not just something that you throw down, toss up, grab to fill a void.

Food. Real food. Local food. Community food. Real dining. Intimate dining. It is all right there. It isn’t hard.

I am big on cooking. Cooking makes me happy. Cooking for other people, opening up bottles of wine, going to my friends’ houses for impromptu dinners…

Every night, I relax by making dinner. Every morning, I make breakfast. They are the rituals of my day. I light candles, I put on music, I pour a glass of wine. Wine for dinner, not for breakfast, although there are days…lol. Kidding. People love coming to my house. They always say that it’s the most welcoming feeling. That they feel happy as soon as they enter. They love my dinners or even just platters of appetizers for a lighter fare.

Like Alice…I know that the best conversations, the best memories, the best times in the kitchen, are all centered around food. Someday, in the dusty corners of my plans, I hope to aspire to run an intimate little place for dining, just like she has done over all these years. Not even a restaurant. More of a private dining invitation, just once in a while, for a few people, randomly.

I began thinking about this, last week, as I was making a dinner completely out of every single item I had purchased from this little local market of love…my passion for good food, simple food, the art of preparing, the art of serving it. Food…right from our own community. Each breakfast, each dinner, features all local items from this market.

Vibrant colors, smells, tastes…simmering sauces, crisp salads, wilted greens, seasoned with fresh garlic or dried herbs. I always have a freezer stocked with the locally produced meat of this market. (I’m a vegetarian/vegan, but realize people who dine with me, appreciate locally produced goodness of the meat kind). Breads for breakfast along with fruits, and jams.

I love smiling at everything I unpack, each Thursday evening, knowing that in the course of the coming week, I will turn things into lovely, delightful taste sensations.

And, when you buy fresh, locally produced, community spirit foods, you don’t need much else.

Great coffee for breakfast, and hey, we offer that, too! A great wine to uncork, well, you have to go use your own judgment at the local wine shops.

My point, this evening, as I begin an amazing pasta sauce using locally produced tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic is this…shop from this market, even for just one week. Don’t even have a shopping plan. Order colors, order something out of your comfort zone, order something that just jumps out at you.

Then, cook for those items. You have the basic, tasty, simple community ingredients…just from this market.

Let us know what you prepared! I can hardly wait to share your creations…

Peace, Love, Good Vibes…
Cosmic Pam