The Civilized Lunch Project

Know When to Fold ‘Em

TGIF people! (I never, ever thought I’d be someone who’d use that expression—but what I’m starting to realize is that it’s probably best to never say “never.”

Things change. In fact, change is the only constant. And I’ve never been more aware of that fact than in the here-and-now.

Another thing I never realized is how much I like Kenny Rogers. But, I was just sitting here, staring at the photo of the truly delicious soft tacos that I made for lunch when the words to The Gambler popped into my head.

The neural connections between one thing (a folded soft corn tortilla) and another thing (a song about when to quit a metaphorical poker game) are just one of the mysterious aspects about our brains. How do images from the present and the past connect in such a spontaneous and often surprising way? I don’t know. But I sure do enjoy the randomness of it.

I enjoy it almost as much as I enjoyed my lunch. Today’s meal is a great example of using leftovers in a truly spontaneous way. Exhibit A: a big spoonful of my spicy pork sausage and sage from early in the week, augmented with pan-fried slices of apples with cinnamon and honey. What a delightful contrast.

The idea to make tacos came to me upon my discovery of a big pack of La Burrita corn tortillas way in the back of my refrigerator. When I spied them I was like, “oh yeah, those guys,” because they’ve been there for about a million years. But, they seemed OK, so I was game to give them a try.

One of the reasons they’ve been sitting around for a long time is because I’m way more of a flour tortilla type of lady. And, I’m always pretty mystified by corn tortillas, even though I occasionally buy them. My uncertainty is centered on how the hell to heat them up. From experience I can tell you that the microwave is not a good idea. Ditto on wrapping them in foil and letting them sit in the oven. I’ve also had them steamed in restaurants, but they alway seem a bit floppy and sad.

So today, I was inspired to heat them up in a giant cast iron skillet with the perfect coating of fat from my weekend steak-cooking exploits. I turned the heat on high and them let fry. Dang. Why didn’t I do this before? The results were outstanding. The tortillas were soft-yet-browned-and-crunchy.

I definitely knew when to fold ’em.

The fried tortillas were the perfect wrapper for my re-heated sausage and apples. Along with a nice dollop of sour cream and salsa. I think this might be my all-time favorite lunch yet. Now if anyone out there is a corn tortilla aficionado and a regular reader of Bon Appetit, you may be shaking your head. Because after making this lunch, I read the definitive guide to heating a corn tortilla and it explicitly states that you should NOT fry a corn tortilla.

Well, what can I say? I did. And I’m the better for it. But, you be the judge.

Good to Know

Alcohol

It’s hard to write when you’re tired. Trust me, I know. I’ve been doing it all day—although, not very successfully. But that’s what happens when you only sleep two hours due to extreme anxiety.

Don Draper makes the whole creative-director-in-an-ad-agency-thing look super cool, but in the modern age it’s not about boozy leisurely lunches with co-workers on Madison Avenue. Although maybe I could use a glam Mad Men-era dining establishment as my Zoom backdrop? I’ll have to look into that. Most of my co-workers lean toward visuals of outer space. It makes sense. At this point, we desk-bound remote workers just want to board a space ship and fly away. Star Wars themes are also really big with my colleagues. But that’s not my thing.

Well, my extremely chaotic workday is over. So I’m better now. However, I didn’t stick to The Civilized Lunch Project, aka: eating lunch no matter how randomized I get from Slack notifications and impromptu Zoom calls. (Damn it! I was on such a roll!) But, I’ve made up for it with a refreshing bourbon-based cocktail. And since I haven’t eaten since breakfast, it’s technically lunch, right?

I was inspired by my bourbon, Campari and lemon juice concoction, but it was a little sweet. On a whim, I added a splash of pickle juice. Boom. Oddly perfect! Like so many things that I shunned in my youth, I’m now finding endless reasons to love not only pickles, but also the brine. There are a lot of cool ways to use it.

As I sat sipping my drink, blaring my music, and contemplating my options for lunch, er I mean, dinner, I started laughing at the thought of all the stuff that in theory I know—but is easy to forget in the day-to-day scramble. It seems the most obvious truths can be elusive. But before I get to those truths, one note on my new method for “finally getting organized.”

Right now I’m big on loose-leaf paper and clipboards. I have a bunch of them, each one dedicated to a different task, project or channel in my brain. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with photographing these handwritten clipboard-bound notes and organizing them by category on Evernote. I’m loving the old-school x digital mashup.

For years I tried purely online-based folder systems. Inevitably, they failed me, so I’d revert back to Ye Olde Moleskin. Alas, a single notebook doesn’t work any better. It’s impossible to keep track of ongoing project details when they are scattered across multiple entries over multiple days.

But loose-leaf sheets of paper. OMG! They can be easily reshuffled and paper-clipped! And with a quick iPhone snap, uploaded and digitized! It makes me optimistic. One day I may actually feel like I have my proverbial shit together.

One of my clipboards dedicated to random thoughts was just sitting there. So, I made a stream-of-consciousness list of things (life lessons?) that sprang to mind. It’s interesting what bubbles up when you’re tired and a little bit drunk. Here you go:

Keep your data secure. (And, I mean this metaphorically as much as literally. Maybe even more so.) There are hackers out there, and the worst ones hack into your emotional core. No need to hand them your passcode on a silver tray.
Don’t be afraid to cry. You will inevitably feel about a million times better. I did it today and it was almost like being reborn.
Make time for love. Love of people. Love of family. Love of friends. Love of pets. Love of plants. Love of the sky. Just fucking love. Don’t let the corporate treadmill obscure what is essential to your existence.
Doubling up on the friend theme: FRIENDS ARE GOLD. I am so grateful for my relationships, there are no words.
Keep you’re knives sharpened. (Chef-recommended!) It’s highly useful in the kitchen, and cooking with a sharp knife is much better than cooking with a dull one.
Save your pennies—and start young. They (whoever they are) should really teach the principles of saving when you’re in Kindergarten and reinforce the beauty of compound interest throughout the course of public school. Whether you come from privilege or humble means, it’s going to benefit you in the end. I talked to a salesman from a financial management firm today (with a Zoom background of a very slick headquarters with very big windows looking out onto very green trees.) The background looked real, but he was just sitting at home. There’s nothing like talking to one of those guys to make you feel like you’re in deep shit when it comes to ever being able to retire. (But maybe I won’t live to be 85?)
Turn your stereo up super loud once in awhile. (To hell with the neighbors—at least for one of your favorite songs.) It’s important to be considerate of other people whether they’re next door or half way around the world, but sometimes those old-school manners that your grandmother taught you need to take a temporary time-out. Enjoy a tune on full volume. Dance around your living room. Then turn it back down.
Save things. It’s easy to be wasteful, but don’t be. It never really feels good. There’s a lot of comfort in the worn and familiar. Patina has value.
Give things away. Sometimes things look nice on the surface, but they no longer bring you joy. Donate them. Find a new home for them. Lighten your load. Possessions have a way of weighing you down.
Be bold. This is the hardest one of all. Does something or someone make you miserable? Is there something your heart is yearning to do? It might seem like there is no way to cut ties or head in a new direction. But there are often more possibilities than your fear allows you to see.
And most importantly: Try not to be a damn workaholic. It’s not a good way to be. Trust me, I know.

Goodnight.

Farro is Far Out

Grains

I feel very good about my lunch today. It’s a little bit higher production value than I normally go for. But wow, my work day was stressing me out! Somehow slow-cooking a big pot of farro was just what the doctor ordered. (Bulk bags from Palouse Brand are highly recommended.) That, and roasting a tray of carrots with olive oil and a generous handful of fresh herbs.

These two things combined are like the world’s simplest and not-terribly-expensive meal. So you can feel thrifty and style-y all at the same time.

When I sat down to enjoy this wonderful combination of grains and roasted vegetables, I stopped mid-meal to consider what I might do to make it even more amazing and delicious. “A bright lemony-gingery-mustardy sauce” was what pretty quickly came to mind. So I made one with not-measured quantities of lemon juice, grated ginger, stoneground mustard, olive oil and salt. Heck yeah! It was pure perfection drizzled over my plate. Plus, a bit of grated Romano cheese and a little bit of ground pepper.

Best of all, I have plenty of leftovers to enjoy later this week.

This is a good combo. Try it and lemme know what you think.

Chop, Chop

Salads

Kale. So ubiquitous, but utterly supreme. I like how tough it is. That attribute of toughness seems admirable on a good day, but now more than ever. Plus you can make a way-too-big salad and toss it with a crazy-generous amount of dressing and 24 hours later it will still be fresh as a culinary daisy with some snap to its bite. But let’s not forget about the health benefits.

According to Healthline, Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet—though you don’t really need to read up on Kale to know that it’s good for you. You can just tell by it’s beautiful deep green hue.

I really feel very virtuous when I eat a kale salad. I like that sense of indulging myself yet also knowing that I’ve done something super healthy. It’s a great experience.

At first you resist it, much like you deny being a super fan of beauty articles like Next-Level Fabulous Skincare Secrets on Goop. It seems cliché or like something that’s downtrending. And maybe both of those things are true. But man, who the hell cares?! It’s just good, and good for you. Don’t fight it.

I grew kale the summer before last, and you know what? That endeavor felt even more virtuous than eating a kale salad, which is really saying something. It was nothing short of a magic trick!!!

Kale makes you feel like a very astute farmer with a thriving crop, though any fool with a raised bed and some decent soil can grow it. The real magic is that it just grows back after you cut it. I didn’t know that.

I’m mad that I didn’t grow kale this last summer. If I had, I’d still be harvesting it now—even in the middle of this unseasonably cold weather in the Pacific Northwest. The summer got away from me, though. I didn’t grow my usual seasonal crops like kale or tomatoes. I dropped the ball. I’ll do better next time. Especially now, that I see how much this wonderous leafy-green vegetable really means to me.

Today’s salad was simple yet delicious. Finely chopped kale with a healthy serving of leftover spicy orange BBQ’d chicken, pecans, locally-made croutons from Rachael and Bread dressed with a mustard-ginger dressing in a white wine and olive oil base. So good!

The Ultimate Comfort Food

Potatoes

There’s really no debating it—potatoes are the ultimate comfort food! And the best way to enjoy them is in crispy-smashed form.

For years, I’d heard rumors that the proper way to achieve a crunchy-on-the-outside texture with a creamy-on-the-inside mouth-feel was by first boiling and then smashing and baking the spuds to golden perfection. (And it’s true!) But it was only after I discovered an enlightening and absolutely hilarious Bon Appetit video that I was inspired to give it a try.

Bon Appetit recipes are always solid, so my first effort was flawless. Plus, crispy smashed potatoes are crazy easy! While Molly at BA’s recipe calls for a yummy umami sauce with golden raisins and walnuts (and that sauce is amazing!), I am also partial to roasted garlic on potatoes. I often forgo the umami sauce and just go with melted ghee (or butter), roasted garlic, and a handful of fresh herbs.

As I’ve mentioned in every one of my posts so far, it’s very hard for me to find time for lunch, let alone do any cooking. My hack is to repurpose leftovers. Unfortunately, smashed potatoes are not very microwaveable. You can rejuvenate them in a frying pan, but honestly, there’s nothing like a fresh batch. So, what I do to save time at the lunch hour is to boil the potatoes the night before. Then, all I have to do during the business day is just plop them on a pan, smash them, butter them up and bake at 425 for about 25 minutes.

Trust me, this is one of those go-to foods that you’ll always be happy to have in rotation. And it’s not only a great lunch. It’s a fantastic side dish, late-night snack or the perfect thing to serve if you want to amaze your friends at happy hour (eating and drinking, of course, at a safe social-distance outside while wrapped in a thermal blanket on your patio.) Or better yet, under some nice heat lamps.

Enjoy the potatoes!

Battered, Bloody, Bruised

Uncategorized

OK. Apologies, that’s a ridiculous Apple News-feed-style- click-bait title. Forgive me. Things aren’t that dire. But, I’m not out of the woods yet.

I’m going to try (try) and avoid talking about boring rant-inducing topics like W_ _ _ _ and stick to life outside W_ _ _ _ – focused hours.

So. It’s super interesting how when you start something new and share it with people, you get a super wide array of reactions, and some of them don’t really resonate with your intended goal. So the question is: “Whoa, am I semi-delusional?” and “If so, do I care?,” and lastly: “If people don’t get my vision, should I ghost them?” (Answer: Definitely not.)

No. Please don’t cancel people that don’t immediately (or ever) find Nirvana in your ideas. It’s good and important to keep people in your inner circle who push back and ask you challenging questions. Sometimes it can be annoying or upsetting. But it’s important. So look out for that.

Today’s lunch is a portrait of a slipper-y slope, meaning that I almost skipped lunch, but remembered that I’m not supposed to. I made lunch, but almost forgot I was supposed to photograph the food. Here you go: “Light falling on egg-sandwich-wrap.”

It’s the Little Things

soup

Today was a rough day on the work front—exactly the sort of day that inspired me to start this project. It’s weird. I used to consider myself pretty good at dealing with the challenges of the modern workplace. But lately, I’m not so sure. Between the endless meetings (now on Zoom) and a constant barrage of IMs on Slack, the ability to focus on any one task for more than a few minutes is nearly impossible. The end result is that you actually can’t do any meaningful work until the official work day is over.

At the moment, I don’t have a solution to this problem. I’m not even confident that there is one. But I’d like to try and figure it out. Whatever the solution (or coping mechanism that doesn’t involve alcohol, pot or pills), I remain convinced that sitting down and eating a proper lunch is most certainly a step in the right direction. And yet, my lunchtime plans nearly went off the rails despite the very best of intentions.

Thankfully, I was saved by one of my neighbors, an extremely thoughtful woman who occasionally leaves unexpected treats on my front porch. Today she left me a jar of homemade soup and a delicious homemade muffin. Can you believe it? That’s a pretty nice thing to do—and her timing was impeccable. I was feeling so overwhelmed. The soup and the muffin didn’t solve my problems or calm my fears, but they did touch my heart. And I am grateful. So very grateful for that.

Fire x Sweetness

Herbs

“The ingredients speak to the best course of action. There’s no longer a need for a recipe. The garden informs every part of the meal.”
– Wild Flavors, Didi Emmons

Today’s lunch reminds me how much I adore fresh sage.

I live in a home that was built by a master gardener. A couple years ago, before I moved in, the former owner and I developed a relationship that’s unusual in most real estate transactions. Why? Because one day she dialed my number and we had a lengthy conversation.

My agent was horrified. Her agent was horrified. But speak we did. Many times. Mostly, it seemed like she was looking for a sympathetic ear. She was pretty stressed about moving from her home of 20 years. And frankly, I was stressed out, too. In the end, our admission of feeling mutually overwhelmed resulted in my renting the house back to her for a few months after the closing date. It was an arrangement that worked out great for us both.

Later, after I’d officially moved in, I asked her to come and visit me and give me a personal tour of the garden surrounding the property. This tour had the air of formality because well, she is a rather formal lady and also a bit pedantic. As we walked from bed to bed she quizzed me on my horticulture knowledge, which was basically just good (or bad?) enough to be dangerous. And while I failed in impressing her with my recitation of genus and species, I do think that I reassured her of my commitment to loving the beautiful garden that she had created.

For me, the strongest memory of our afternoon was when we stopped to admire the herb garden, which over time has become my favorite part of the overall design. The day we met was an unseasonably warm spring day. The herbs were thriving and the air was fragrant. She reached for a sprig of sage from an incredibly healthy and beautiful plant, closed her eyes and held the leaves under her nose. “Oh, the scent of sage makes me so terrifically hungry. Be sure you enjoy this with pork. That’s the best combination in all of this world.”

She was right. I especially love pork sausage and sage with a generous dose of spice (cumin, cinnamon, Alepo pepper, coriander and a crazy number of fresh jalapenos), along with some apples and yellow onions. Today, I added just a touch of maple syrup to balance the fire with a little sweetness. Reminds me a bit of my relationship with the previous owner. She’s a lady with a slightly tough shell, but the minute she starts talking about gardening, she’s one of the warmest and enthusiastic personalities you could ever meet.