What We’re Cooking Sundays: The Deconstructed Carbonara and Thoughts on Gratitude.
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.”
…..A.A. Milne
‘Thank you.’
Yes, this was meant to be a Sunday post, but once A got home from work, well, there wasn’t time to write, only to talk and play catch-up on old ‘Parks and Rec’ episodes. I never watched the show in real time, but this whole ‘cuttingthecord’ on cable has been pretty amazing. There are shows out there that I never bothered to watch and now, they are all inside of the magic box, just waiting for me to find them. That’s exactly the kind of magic I like.
We cooked a lot last night. I was inspired by having a lot of eggs and one giant spaghetti squash. I don’t want to ruin the carbo…never mind, the surprise, so let’s talk about what it means to be thankful, first.
I’m always thankful. It’s not an exaggeration to say that I am honestly thankful every day for something. Sometimes, it’s making all of the green lights on Riverdale Avenue (they aren’t synched correctly, I swear). Sometimes it’s a good cup of coffee, or the security guards at work saying ‘good morning’ and other times it’s seeing a person visit our campus for the very first time. They are always wow’ed by what they see and who they meet. I’m thankful for A, every minute of every day. And for my friends, even when I am being a bad friend and not staying in touch like I want to. There’s the cat and the bunny. They make me thankful. When I was growing up, my mom was always finding reasons why we couldn’t have pets. Now, being an adult, and having pets of my own, I’m kinda thankful that I had birds early on because they taught me patience. Trust me, you need patience if you’re raising a bunny and a cat together.
I’m thankful for the gift of learning how to fish. I was especially grateful to one particular striped bass that, upon swimming past all of the fishermen in the Housatonic one fine morning, picked yours truly. Seriously, giving birth, crossing the marathon finish line a few years ago (more on that later, too) and catching that bass all rank up there as serious moments of “I did this? I did this!”
Damn it. Digression. I’m thankful. And lots of people I know are thankful. This whole post started out about what I think it means to be genuinely gracious when people do nice things, but I got sidetracked when I realized that this isn’t really about that. It’s about the opposite (and there’s something to how hard it is to write a lie and how fast my fingers type when I’m not searching for a parable) and what it means to assume that every good thing that happens to you is destiny just giving up the goods because you’re so, well, deserving. Saying ‘thank you’ feels like it’s a dying art, but I can’t blame it on age. A is always thankful. She’s so genuinely thankful for everything that it’s almost like she’s never had anything bad happen to her, but she has. None of that stops her from being humbled by every act of kindness, ever.
Perhaps being gracious and grateful are nurtured not nature’ed? No, I don’t believe that. But what I do know is that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this because there are so many people I know, some intimately, who can’t ever find the right response to good things happening to them. Maybe the act of being thankful is less important than just being kind. I’m not sure I believe that, but it’s the only way I’ve been able to explain all of the people I know who accept, (ie: request/demand/expect) while always forgetting that ‘thank you’ would get them so much more in life.
Like, carbonara, made from spaghetti squash. Yes, ladies and gents, it’s time for the food segue. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to cook, but I had eggs and I had a squash and by golly, I was going to put them together. Cue: Internet magic and: Deconstructed spaghetti squash carbonara, paleo style. What is ‘paleo’ and why do I want to eat like my ancestors who didn’t know what a shower was? Whatever, this was so delicious and I know that because I have reviews from my testers (namely, A): OMG, mom, this is amazing! Why haven’t we made this before!?’
Let’s cheat this week, shall we? Let’s send you right over to the actual recipe and all you have to know is that I swapped the bacon for $27.99 a pound Parma prosciutto from Garden of Eden in Union Square (shout out to the deli guys for being so awesome) and remember, you can never have too much garlic (never) or too much wine (we went with a dry Prosecco).
My egg poaching skills are getting only a little better than they were a year ago, but A has decided that poached is her keyword for ‘fave’ and that can only mean: lots more practice. Practice for which…I am grateful.
http://popularpaleo.com/2013/05/15/deconstructed-spaghetti-squash-carbonara-paleo-style/
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