For those of you who are both fascinated by the prospect of the river choosing a new course and who are into this kind of thing–like me, more or less professionally–there’s a work of environmental history you shouldn’t miss: Beyond Control: The Mississippi River’s New Channel to the Gulf of Mexico. The book is basically a detailed, scholarly statement of the article’s premise: Change is coming to the Mississippi basin.
Well, my overnight oats and cold brew coffee are working their light’s-out-in-the-fridge magic in preparation for Monday morning, and I have a few minutes to reflect on my first week of culinary self-reliance.
I’ve been thrilled by the simple but deep satisfaction that comes from making my own food. I used to hate grocery shopping, but I find myself wandering the aisles now, endlessly inspired by the colors, smells, and flavors; the possible interplay of ingredients; the timeless alchemy of salt, fat, acid, and heat. Only one week in, I can already say: if you’re searching for something real, something human–if you spend so much time in front of a computer that you want to disconnect the electricity and go live in a cabin–go to the market. Buy a good loaf of French bread and some butter (these are essentials) and think about what to make for dinner. It’s working for me.
I’m not good, of course. I’m still making very simple dishes and relying heavily on other people’s recipes. I don’t want to post a lot of food here until my own skills are worth writing home about. I do want to highlight some of those recipes that may not be readily available on the web, though, or that I just think are unique. So here’s one: “Favorite Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins” from the back of a box of Quick Oats you can find at Family Dollar.
Favorite Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup Quick Oats
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup fresh blueberries
Heat oven to 400 deg. F. Combine dry ingredients in bowl. Mix egg, milk, and oil into dry ingredients. Stir blueberries into batter. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with batter. Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.
It really makes 9 muffins, not 12, if you scoop them into your muffin pan with an ice cream scoop. If you make them, they’ll come out looking something like this.
“Favorite Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins”
I love back-of-the-box recipes. They’re like this little gift attached to the box–just about as exciting as the toy in a box of cereal, now that I’m grown–but we just throw them away most of the time. That’s a shame, because a lot of them are really good. I took these to work for a birthday party last week and they were all gone by the end of the morning, so I thought I’d share them here. Try some of your own. They just might surprise you.
This week I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Like many Americans, I’ve spent my entire life on a weight loss “journey,” but the only times I’ve ever had any success have been those times when I truly take ownership of everything I eat and drink. This means planning meals and cooking for myself.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time thinking about what it means to live in a world being “eaten by software”—a world in which computer technology replaces our other technologies one by one, changing our lives forever in ways that we are only just beginning to understand. As food delivery and, soon, on-demand food “printing” and manufacturing powered by the web begin to take the place of home cookery, what are we losing?
With those things in mind, I decided this week to try something new: I don’t want to eat or drink anything that I haven’t made myself. No ordering out, no vending machines, no packaged “convenience” food. Just fresh, simple ingredients and food that I can feel good about.
Here’s my example from last night: Teriyaki Grilled Salmon with sautéed Asparagus and Roasted Sweet Potatoes. It’s not fancy, but it was healthy and delicious. Just as importantly, it allowed me to step away from the keyboard for awhile.
It’s more important than ever to make things by hand. We may not be able to go back to the analog world, but the planning, focus, and skill needed to make things for ourselves offer a powerful antidote to the digital doldrums. More to come.
It was over 100 degrees when I took this yesterday. The railings on the boardwalk overlooking the marshy fringe of Lake Jackson burned my arms as I leaned to capture this photo of dead trees and scorched grass lining the shimmering lake. This lake disappears every twenty years or so, leaving a scarred grassland in its place on the north side of Tallahassee, but Florida’s most powerful Mississippian chiefdom was based on its shores 500 years ago and this rich ecosystem continues to shape the region. Florida’s prosaic landscapes, far away from its charismatic beaches and springs, have both delighted and baffled humans for thousands of years. It’s difficult to know what to make of scenes like this, but for me they are just home.
Close your eyes and check in with your body. Start with the top of your head and scan down to your toes. Check for places where you’re holding tension. What’s your posture or pose like? Where are your muscles relaxed or contracted? Write about your current state.
People say we “hold tension” like it reflects negatively on our character. I just want to say hey, maybe this tension is carrying me right now, but I don’t think we’re supposed to say that here in the always-be-positive land of the lean-into-adversity go-getters. And then again maybe I’m just troubled by this prompt because I am carrying a bit more tension, I think, in my neck and shoulders these days, and I don’t know what to do about it.
With education you progress, it seems, from a machine to a bench to a desk; but here, eyes straining behind dusty spectacles, legs and arms bent in a collared shirt and wrinkled slacks, I sit before a more cerebral machine as it shapes me into an image of itself.
Note: I am working through the book The 1-Minute Writer byLeigh Medeiros, which is available right now as part of a Humble Books Bundle at Humble Bundle.
You’re on the phone with a far-flung friend who wants to hear about where you are right now. Check out your surroundings. Capture the essence of what you see around you in just a few sentences.
The light streaming through the windows in my office is brilliant most mornings, but this morning it is shifting with the clouds: bright yellow-white one moment, a dull gray-white the next. It shines on a mess of papers spread around my computer—the litter of a week in which I missed two days sick and came back to a growing list of things to do. The computer and its two glowering eyes perched atop the desk leave little dominate my field of vision as thoroughly as they dominate the room itself. I wonder sometimes if I am meant to serve the computer or if it is meant to serve me. The brilliant light streaming through the windows eases these thoughts, while the pines, water oaks, flowers, and grass it reveals with each blossoming moment offer a compelling antidote.
C.B. Crenshaw 