farewell dinner

i'm in the process of moving out of my apartment. the boxesboxesboxes make me a little nervous and discombobulated, and everything i own is somewhere, but damned if i know where exactly. i'm in pack animal mode again, and it's all a little overwhelming. but, determined to find equilibrium if it kills me (ha), i worked (and was fairly cheerful and engaging), came home, went running, did laundry, took a bath, and cooked dinner. it was all pretty okay (which is to say--good), but the dinner is what you'll want to hear about.

looking to use up a big bunch of collard greens, i came up with something that pretty much encompasses my greatest comfort food ambitions. preheat your oven to 400 (the way the best comfort food recipes begin). after sauteeing onions and garlic with spices (the usual suspects--red pepper flakes, cumin seed, coriander, sesame seed, salt), i added the collards, chopped finely, and allowed them to stew a little. i usually don't like to stress my veggies out, but this was an exceptional case. in the meantime i made a simple cornbread batter--cornmeal, flour, a tiny bit of sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, oil, an egg. when the collards were fairly well stewed and sweated i poured the cornbread batter over them (this is all in a cast-iron skillet, by the way--very important detail). place in the oven and wait for the cornbread to brown. amazing. next time i'll probably try to make more of a corn pudding to go on top just so it's a little more bubbly and gooey. but this was good. and the egg i used in the cornbread batter was double-yolked. lucky.

comfort food (part one of many more to come)

i like to push my moods out of my head. good at ignoring, good at pretending, good at secret-keeping. if you know me, even if you know me well, you most often have no idea how i'm feeling unless i'm feeling loquacious (or tipsy). as a result, i am often able to ignore how i'm feeling too. until i sit down to eat.

anything on toast means i'm tired, probably a little sad or lonely, and unmotivated. peanut butter and jelly is one of my low-point foods. i think i ate pb&j most every day in high school, and when i was in france (forgive me, foodies) i could often think of nothing loftier than spooning peanut butter into my maw right from the jar. comfort food. simple, salty, creamy, full of fat good with raspberry preserves...what more could you ask of a food?

a new thing for me is avocado on toast. something hearty spread with strong dijon mustard (there's a local mustard company that goes by the name of lusty monk--their honey mustard is exquisite), slices of avocado, and maybe some smelly cheese. i've also done a lot of the avocado-salt-pepper combo this winter--minimal effort, satisfying. sounds pathetic, i know, but we all need something uncomplicated to soothe our souls after a day of work. the other half of the avocado is good with honey (comb and all) spooned into the depression where the pit was. don't judge me, please. try it for yourself.