Remember the days of feathered hair, high waisted slacks, and men in tight polyester pants with mustaches, when everything seemed to exist in shades of brown and yellow? Yeah, I had forgotten those days too, that is until Jesse discovered youtube.
I lay half asleep on top of the white comforter, enjoying the cool air as it swept in from the giant open windows next to the bed. Due to the arrival of Jesse, we have moved our bedroom into the office, which has a giant wall of windows. Minnesota is relatively flat, and so from our sixth floor apartment, the rest of the world drops away beneath the sill, leaving our bed floating in an expanse of sky. This morning the sky was perfectly blue, with white puffy clouds that blended in with the bedspread. I was listening to the construction going on outside, enjoying a day off from work, and marveling at how tired I must be to not feel one ounce of guilt for staying inside on such a beautiful day. The construction buzzed in a continuous loop of white noise, with the occasional beep of traffic, or a peaceful oceanic wave of a truck, and then.. 'were gonna make our dreams come truuuuuuueeee, doin' t our way'
"Jesse!" I shouted. "Could you turn it down?"
"WHAT IS IT?" He shouted over Laverne and Shirley, who sounded like they were enunciating in an auditorium and not from a computer screen in our living room.
"I said COULD YOU TURN IT DOWN?" He had already shut the volume off and now I was shouting, apparently, for no reason.
"What's the matter? Why are you shouting?" Jesse said, concerned.
"Nothing, Jesse, it's okay, I was just hoping you could leave the volume turned down."
"Okay, sure" he said.
I went back to my nest. Where was I, oh yes, oceanic trucks waves of them, and the buzzing of a motorcycle. I could smell hot dogs grilling, and I imagined the people gathering around the hot dog vendor. An island of grass is just around the corner, where the people wade across the street to vacation for their 45 min lunch breaks before funneling back to the giant towers of the financial district. I imagine myself nested in branches, swaying in the wind. I close my eyes and feel the blue sky on my eyelids, and then..
"GREAT SCOTT" The rumbly, theatrical, familiar man's voice shouts. I get out of bed, resigned to participate in the day. Jesse is sitting in front of the TV, his back to the future toys lined up in front of him. He is rocking back and forth in pure bliss. I suddenly was transported to being a kid in pajamas, watching cartoons on a Saturday morning. There was nothing better. Jesse reminded me of Tom Hanks in BIG, the body of an adult with the child like passions of his youth.
I started to make my salad, and decided to make one of the first recipes I ever learned. Hummus. It was a novelty then, in the days of one meat, one starch, one vegetable cooking, but my mother had some worldly friends who had given her the recipe. We dusted off her food processor one Saturday morning and gave it a whirl.
Hummus:
in a food processor, blend
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 cloves purple garlic
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp olive oil
optional: 1 Tbsp tahini paste (some people don't like the flavor)
Dressing (this dressing really needs the sorrel in the salad to have a full flavor)
3 Tbsp light olive oil
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
Salad:
1 small bunch sorrel
1 cup sliced radishes
1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1-2 cups mixed baby greens (depending on how much sorrel you have)
Christina's vote: "Delightful"
No comments:
Post a Comment