Signature Dish

I avidly watched this season of The Next Food Network Star. As I watched the competitions I went over the assignments and the timelines and wondered how I would stack up against the contestants (I wouldn’t – I can’t even breathe, much less talk and cook, if there is a camera pointed in my direction). The problem I had is: what is my signature dish? What is my “approach” to food. Hmmm. I love Italian food. I make great Chicken Cacciatore. My brother in law loves my Beef Stroganoff, I can make, and love to eat, really great tacos. But a Signature Dish? I don’t think I have one. At the stadium food remake I’d have done Frito Pies (homemade chili, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and/or guacamole on top of fritos) yum. I’m sure I’d have won. But what about the rest of it?

I recently read “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver and her family. Ms. Kingsolver (one of my favorite authors) deplored the “food culture” of America as something like – and this is ABSOLUTELY paraphrasing – what you can eat in your car between appointments. I want to adopt the “local” food culture but it requires a LOT of planning. You may have heard of the “100 mile food” initiative or something like it. I probably won’t adopt it this year but I am making efforts. I have been buying masses of “salad” size tomatoes (not quite as big as a golf ball, but too big for one bite) and drying them in the oven. In a couple of weeks, when tomatoes become dirt cheap at the Farmer’s Market I plan to buy 100 pounds (4 largish boxes) and make and freeze sauce – when I moved here, pre-Pumpkin in 2003, I made 25 pounds into sauce for no reason at all so I’m certain I can manage 100 pounds when I DO have a reason. I DON’T CAN. But I might next year. Also this month I must buy masses of zucchini (you know, when people will pay you to take it) and shred and freeze it. If you go to AnimalVegetableMiracle.com you can find the Fabulous, Amazing, Incredibly Delicious recipe for Disappearing Zucchini Orzo and you’ll know why. Yes, you can make it in winter with zucchini grown somewhere other than Virginia but I’m doing my very small part to eat things when they grow here and do without them when they don’t. Since I have a toddler and this would require that I never again buy bananas this is clearly NOT a firm commitment but I’m trying.

Do I have a signature anything? What do I stand for? When people think about me – what do they think? What do I think about when I think about me? (Yes, I think Toby Keith did write a song about that…) I agonized over this for several days, in part with this post in mind. Most nights, my sweet baby Pumpkin reminds me that if I’m around all is right with his world and that is how it should be. But what about the rest of the world? I think I expend a lot of effort to not care too much about anything that doesn’t directly impact my family. But if you start to think about things like how much energy (read: foreign oil) it takes for me to buy lovely pre-washed California Lettuce in December in Virginia you have to go a little farther - is it possible that I could eat lettuce only in the Spring and Fall – when it actually grows here? Is this where I draw the line? Do I stand for this? If I do, I’d better get cracking; according to Ms. Kingsolver, the time to think about what you’re going to eat in February is in August.

What I’m really trying to get at through this whole food analogy thing is: Do I say anything of enough general interest to say it to the general public on this blog? I want to be a person with enough belief in SOMETHING that I can pour my heart out to the world at large in an effort – not to exactly sway anybody – but to show that even if your gut instinct is to disagree with me totally, maybe I have a sliver of an idea that you agree with and perhaps, even though you don’t agree with most of my thought processes, my point is valid enough to address.

Hmmm. That seems kind of whiny… I am essentially a very private person. I received a phone call from Jack Webb’s campaign committee shortly before the election in – was it November: I can’t even remember, I am a formerly intelligent sleep deprived person with no memory – well anyway, fairly recent election when Virginia surprisingly voted in a Democrat to the Senate – asking if, as a registered Democrat, I wanted any campaign materials for my lawn. I told the very nice man that although his candidate definitely had my vote, it was my quiet, private, vote since if I put Mr. Webb’s signs on the lawn, that would require that my PC put the other guy’s signs on the lawn, then the neighbors might get involved and, most importantly PC might actually remember to vote and then my vote would be canceled out, etc….

Now, I’m throwing myself out there for public perusal. Ick. Still, before I state a conviction out loud I think it through pretty thoroughly, so here I go. I believe in local food (with the apparent exception of bananas which all toddlers seem to feel are a god-given right). I’m trying to live up to my belief. I believe that I have a duty to do my best to pass on the planet to all of my children and to their children and so I am committed to recycling (this is new – I pretty much ignore recycling and landfills whenever I have a child in diapers).

I hope that as I continue with this blogging adventure I will become confident enough to express more of what I believe in. I am more of a listener than a leader but I think I might try to talk a little more. Maybe I can become a persuader. What a concept…