gymnopedie and foodie thoughts

I'm home alone after a good day of work, waiting for the husband to come back from his evening. week mostly spent in Dallas, then back last night... audition and spots this morning, narration through the afternoon, an unforeseen bonus session at my agency, early dinner snack with M, finance team meeting at the church, loud iphone shuffling on the stereo all the way home. all in all, a lovely, blessed day in this lovely, hot city, praises and riches and there's no place like home. I'm listening to one of my favorite 'decompress' artists, Mr. Erik Satie. I actually heard a refrain from one of his pieces in an anime I was recording, of all places, and was so captured by it I went and found his music. which was called 'furniture music', if I recall, as it sort of blends into the background of the room. I used to think it was just 'autumn' music, good for leaves turning colors and the invigorating melancholy that comes with the onset of colder weather, but now I'm want to listen to it all year round to accompany different moods. the anime title in question, incidentally, just happens to be one of my all time favorite dubbing experiences... a really sweet, dark, lovely little show about ballerinas and talking animals. but that's not what I intended to post about, so click on the arrow below and let's move further down the page together, shall we, my people?



ah. it's better already, isn't it?

mellow.


we've seen quite a few movies lately, and here's my moviegoing scorecard: out of 5 stars, Harry Pott-ah, four stars. I've heard some not-so enamored reviews, but I thought it did what it needed to do and pretty well enjoyed myself. Food, Inc., four stars. Funny People, an expletive-laden 2.5 stars at midpoint (liked the cameos, and there were some really real-feeling, touching moments), which dropped to an apathetic and annoyed .5 stars by movie's end that was, like, a million minutes later. the movie was in desperate need of an editor. and maybe a tighter story. and the last half of it cut out almost completely, even though that would mean slicing up the bits staring the director's wife and kids. my opinion only, of course. take it or leave it, Mr. Apatow.. you know, whatever.

Food, Inc., was the propaganda piece you sort of expect it to be, and while I found it a bit long I thought it did a good job of getting across some salient points... like, you should probably know what's in the food you're eating. and maybe a bit about how the people who make the food are running their businesses. we were already into this topic, so it gave us the extra push we needed to really commit wholeheartedly to seeking out alternative food choices and elevating our opinion of the things we put into our bodies... to attempt to think about the bigger picture, to try to purchase local, organic foods when possible, and learn a bit more about companies that attempt to put out healthier, whole-food options. we agreed to allot extra monies to our monthly food budget and made our first trek to Central Market to get the lay of the land, as it were, and begin to replace some items in our pantry with organic or local options. I'll tell you, I was a bit daunted. I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't really know what foods are in season when, and if buying locally grown produce was better than buying organic stuff from another state (if there wasn't a local, organic option). this is going to be educational for me, and I'm glad of it. we're already dreaming of the hypothetical garden at Woodfin... the idea of inviting friends and family over to eat things we've grown and harvested in ground we've worked is massively appealing to both of us. I really hope it happens. in the interim, it's all about the baby steps. I've replaced my Aunt Jemima Lite syrup (like the 'Lite' part is making me any skinnier, c'mon) with organic pure grade A maple syrup, my Eggo waffles got chucked for all-natural, gluten and dairy free Central Market Blueberry Buckwheat Waffles (not a perfectly whole food, I realize, but still), and our bacon got an incredibly succulent upgrade to uncured smoked bacon from Pedersons Farms, a Texas outfit that sells natural pork products. Pedersons Farms makes this tasty bacon in Hamilton, Texas. where I graduated from high school. coincidence? I think not.


my husband, being a lover of food and a bit of an artist with the cooking of it, has made some really lovely meals for us in the last month or so. here are a few offerings:


tender pork with brussell sprouts:




the FANTASTIC meatloaf with braised cabbage and green beans with almonds.




and then, the evening after our Central Market trip, he threw down scallops on spinach linguine with cantaloupe:





acting the part of the waiter and pouring me a glass of bubbly sparkling water, which is a fun way for us to feel special and tastes so good and refreshing to me:



when I got home from Dallas late last night, husband had made me a delicious salad of cucumber and fresh mozzarella in balsamic vinegar & olive oil with sea salt and ground pepper... plus one of our favorite dishes of Randall's store brand cheese-stuffed shells and pasta sauce. we loooove their store brand frozen pasta and sauces (which actually don't have much of anything bad in them... try the vodka sauce! new discovery...). I don't know that frozen stuffed shells or asparagus ravioli quite make the organic list... but they sure are tasty. like I said, baby steps.

I realize that, for some people, making these sorts of food choices doesn't seem realistic, and I don't mean to come across flippantly or judgemental about these things. to eat well is more expensive, as the delicious uncured natural bacon reminded me, and it could easily be viewed as a luxury. for me, right now I think I might rather sacrifice in another area to be able to put better food in my body. I liked the parting ideas from Food, Inc... that we all get to vote on what we want to support three times a day, and I'm grateful to be able to make such a choice. plus, if I were really all that awesome would I have scarfed two or three fat cookies from Fudruckers or some such thing in the finance team meeting? seriously. the real trick for me will be to learn about local farmers markets and actually go buy something there.

-m.y.


p.s. speaking of food, we apparently had dinner with Mo last night... see us there, in the picture? God love this little girl.