Thursday, January 05, 2006

Cookin No. 38 - A wonderful Day and Spinach with Clementines

Today was one of those perfect days. The kind of day where nothing goes wrong, and nothing could possibly harm the wonderful mood that your in. The kind of day where you got a song in your pocket, and a bounce in your step. Everything even looks crisper, crystal clear out your window. And you just know its going to be wonderful, what ever comes your way.

That was me on my way to work today, I went into Wegmans, and readied myself for some good ol’ cookin. As I was grabbing a shopping cart to go and grab some ingredients, I ran into my 7th grade English teacher, Ms. Divine. She was the one who really got me to have a passion for writing, especially poetry. Up until then, I thought poetry was dull and drab. But I did love to write. Mainly because my parents used to make me write stories out so they could help me with my spelling. It didn’t work, my spelling is still atrocious (you probably wouldn’t be able to read any of this if it wasn’t for that wonderful invention, spell checker), but I did find that I loved to write. So one day in school, my little 7th grader self finished a test early, and I still had a lot of time to kill, so Ms. Divine told me to write her a poem. I complained and threw a little 7th grader pout, but she didn’t seem to like that. So I sulked back to my desk, and wrote a poem. I don’t really remember that poem, it probably was filled with adolescent angst. But I do remember feeling some sort of thunder bolt, “wow, I like this stuff”. After that, poetry kind of pored out, and all I wanted to do after that was become a writer. As we can all see, that never happened, because my career choice is cookin, but I still write in a journal daily, and love to read poetry. Especially Rumi, he’s the bomb digity.

So after a lovely conversation and saying good-bye to Ms. Divine, I continued about my business, and started cookin barbecue roasted leeks, and a spinach salad with clementines. I wasn’t too sure about this barbecue roasted leeks thing, but the salad sounded really good. It was a slow night in Wegmans, though I had a nice steady flow of customers, really nice people. And then one of my favorite customers showed up, a little girl who comes in often with her family, and always heads my way for some samples. She always gives a big smile and nods her head. One of those genuine little kid smiles, that just gives me such a wonderful feeling. Kids don’t lie, they let you know if they like it or not, they are always sincere, because they don’t know how to be any other way. So I have come to call this girl my taste tester. If her tender taste buds enjoy the food, then it must be good. Because when we are young, our taste buds are young, they can taste every little thing, and they give honest reactions. This girl is so wonderful, because she will try anything, even brussel sprouts. I can only hope that I will have a child like that some day.

Anywho, after a while, it was so slow, that I had to find busy work… cleaning. I scrubbed my refrigerator, rearranged my dishes, made everything look supper pretty, and then the night was over. I headed home for a quick change, and then to the bar to meet megan. Where I had such a wonderful time, I was kind of sad the bar was closing.

Now I’m home. This entry really isn’t so much about cooking, but more about my wonderful day. Which I just wanted to share, but I will also share the salad recipe:

Spinach Salad with Clementines (courtesy of Wegmans):

1/2 Tbsp Wegmans Olive Oil2-1/2 Tbsp Wegmans Orange Juice1 Tbsp honey1/2 Tbsp Wegmans Brown Sugar1 bag (6 oz) Food You Feel Good About Fresh Baby Spinach1-2 cup Clementine oranges, sectioned (1 cup total segments)1/2 cup chopped red onion4 Tbsp Wegmans Virginia PeanutsSalt & pepper

Combine olive oil, orange juice, honey, and brown sugar in small bowl; set aside.

Place spinach, Clementine segments, onion, and peanuts in large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I added balsamic vinegar to the dressing to give it a good kick. Try this with some walnuts and goat cheese…. Mmmmmm…

Anywho… until next time, Bon Appetite.

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