Slowing Down

I broke my leg before Christmas. Nothing like an impairment to your mobility to offer a new perspective. Something like running down a road that you have only driven previously and you see, smell, and feel things that were never there before. Aside from pouring through all the beautiful seed and plant catalogs and websites, it has been an opportunity to catch up on my other reading. Largely that is relative to food. I suppose it is not a big leap to assume that whoever likes plants likes food. The last time I was laid up after a ski accident I watched the Food Network at least 4 hours a day. That was an urban life however. We live differently here. For one thing, we are too cheap to pay for satellite so the Food Network is not a possibility. I do have great cookbooks however. Did you know that if you read The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook from cover to cover it could be listed as one of the Great Books? After my daughter told me @ Christmas how she is using Michael Pollan's new little book Food Rules as her daily guide to eating, I revisited Botany of Desire and In Defense of Food. Michael Pollan knows how to eat. Not just what but how. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." is his mantra. He also advocates "Eat a meal. Not alone. Slowly." (and I would add "With flowers."). Thankfully we are in a community that values this notion. And even more thankfully our back door neighbors are the King and Queen of this concept. They have kept our pantry full and invited us to roaring fires, laughs w/ friends, sophisticated (and not so sophisticated) cocktails and slow food. Just this week we were treated to the King's shepherd's pie that took most of an afternoon to cook and all evening to eat. And the Queen is always ready with her fabulous home canned "Dilly Beans" and salsas made from vegetables from her own garden. The thing is though, even if it is a quick stir fry and salad, these people know how to eat fresh food with friends. Perhaps life sets us back sometimes to remind us of the value of our health and our friends.