Home: Kitchen: Recipe Aubergine (Puree) Memories

a lemon is better, garlic crushed
nicer

Broad nails, sturdy hair

steady, solid, grounded.

Earth fragrant he cooks

cause I didn’t learn yet.

Patlıcan poor man’s meat

carrier of garlic and spices

mild, pale, flesh vessel

which when unsure,

sprinkled with salt draws

clear drops of unhindered

bitterness, anger

frustration.

Patlıcan is a love affair

the curve of a wrist

the sure supple

knife flick, slice

the boiling kettle

when coloured and soft

the oven

heating the room.

I: top, tail,

half, drizzle oil

in oven

wait…

chop garlic

mix olive oil

vinegar

salt

pepper, stir.

A lemon is better,

garlic crushed: nicer.

when coloured and soft

separate the skin

mix the flesh into: dressing

mix

crush for chunks

chop garlic

whizz for silk

Annem

I watched her

he smiles a line in his cheek

and it tastes

of Istanbul

not the nomad

not the stories:

of goats, sheep,

nights under stars

it tastes

good and alive

of travel

my kitchen

home.

my kitchen
home.

Food: Tagliatelli Carbonara, Italian comfort

I see: 

no egg

no egg I say...

The egg makes it

when taken

set aside 

I see: no egg, no egg I say

waiting

Just after the Tagliatelli

waded through mushroom

creamy flesh

silken soaked 

in heated cream.

Al dente cooked dough

crunchy salted fat

succulent coated

black pepper pig

and the egg

stirred at last

the end

into it

before consumption 

even serving

after fire

is cooking like heating

is comfort like no other

the egg 

the egg I say

makes it.

Body: Feet and the wonders of Olive and Jasmine essential oil

Feet

A bowl of warm water, Olive oil, Jasmine oil
and tired well worn feet :)

There is so little that can be said to do them justice.

I'm grateful to have them carry me, balance me, move me.

I like their shape but never really look. And when I do - look - like this morning, I feel bad for them, I owe them a treat.

There's nothing in the bathroom that looks like foot-anything so the kitchen it is.

I find:

Olive oil and a tiny bottle of Jasmine essential oil.


Olive Oil is perfect for feet because it is a nourishes the skin and has anti-inflammatory properties as well as anti microbial benefits. Meaning that if my feet have any problems like: dry or hardened skin, or open blisters it will soften, feed and heal them.

Jasmine Essential oil I choose because it is a cicatrisant, in other words it makes scars and stretch-marks while also being an anti-sceptic and especially good for dry and flakey skin. Another reason I'm attracted to it is because it also is an emmenagogue which means it can help with period regulation, onset of menopause and painful periods.

I mix a good slosh of Olive oil into water that is not too hot but nice and warm and add some five drops of the Jasmine essential oil. I sit with my feet in the warm water, smelling the Southern hemisphere, warm...

... ... ...

After their Olive and Jasmine essential oil bath, smiling,
smooth and clean 

When the water has cooled I clean my nails and cut them. The warm water has made the nails and cuticles soft and the pores are open.

I don't dry my feet but rather massage the oil into the always hungry feet and lower legs while still damp.

I have to say it was so easy, cost me nothing and felt great!

House: Kitchen, Moving away from the old

I don't like stuff much, and stuff on work surfaces
makes me ugh...

They say the kitchen is the centre of the home.

We lived in a 2 bedroom apartment in the Kinkerbuurt in Amsterdam.

The galley kitchen was separate from the other rooms. With in it just enough space for one person.

Mum.

There's nothing like doing the dishes to
make me feel good

Now the kitchen is mine.

Things are done a certain way.

When children, gardeners or others use it I can't help but be territorial.

Now, I've decided I'm letting go.

I'll clean up the mess and worry about it no more.

I'm not to do anything after anybody doing something in the kitchen ...

I'm moving my workspace upstairs.

The best feeling: clear and clean worktops

I do dishes, worktops, grill, stove, fridge and floor.

I look at it and feel good.

Wipe down cupboards.

Rinse the espresso pot.

I know how to have it like this always.

And finally a sink unobscured and clean!

I'm loving you kitchen!

I'm loving you like you've never been loved before.

I'm hugging and kissing you and making you feel good.

I'll clean tops of the cupboards, wash out shelves and under the sink.

I'll even clean the lamp and maybe give the extractor a wash and change...


You wait and see. This kitchen will stay pristine!

Leftover Bread - Forgotten Rice Bread

I like to be with just me for a while.
Not to think of others. I like not thinking of others.

Time takes a little to pitter patter into potter state.
A glass emptied. A book moved. A surface wiped.

Yesterdays rice in the fridge.
It sits there waiting to be rememberer knowing it has been forgotten.

With a little: yeast, flour, water...
and there is forgotten milk, black pepper, a little...

knead into a pliable, softness and leave.
Like the beginning of new life it needs time.

Wandering from room to room
following paw prints that lead in and out the window.

The cat fighting the fox.
The dog barking at them both.

Weaving in the cold as the dough won't rise.

Next morning with blood on the wall
battered but not beaten sleeping tom.

Time for pottering gone, the dough forgotten it in the bowl.
Bubbles! Let it rise again...?

In the bowl goes, rice-dough.
Up high. Then down low.

When I look again there is a crust, the bubbles are there too.
I turn it and find the loaf to be light. Lighter than I thought it would be...

It is like the breads I like, full and light, a little moist but with a good crust.

Ah, left over forgotten rice... ....thank you!

 


Do you ever bake bread with left overs?
Do you bake bread?
What happens when you bake?


I always have more questions  than answers and would like to hear from you and your Recession baking and cooking adventures.

Thank you for your interest and don't forget:

Leave a message, subscribe and enjoy...! Until next time :)


Anja Bakker

Oh No! And so we come to a new beginning.

whatever possessed me but all of it is deleted... ...a moment of madness... ...

All the thoughts on what a Recession Kitchen is, about how my grandmothers did it. Women who looked after families in times when society didn't look after those who had little. And they did it... ...they made their budgets no matter how little and their ingredients no matter how limited work for them... ...they had to...but maybe it needed a different approach.... ...what's done is done so here we go, again... ...

There was a book I borrowed once written by a mother in the '80's recession. With a budget of next to nothing she fed her family amazing meals. She based all that loving and caring around the baking of her loafs of bread. The recipes were simple but required the magical ingredients time and focus.
Her focus was on keeping her family fit and healthy. The book inspired me to look at cooking and shopping for food differently. Budgets are strange things...and seasons give us different ingredients.

And the further I went the more it became about what was available rather than what I felt like eating. The Recession Kitchen is now exactly that. How tasty can I make whatever it is that we have to cook with? A little like in the Ready Steady Cook programs presented by Ainsley Harriott...a limited bag of goodies, not what I was dreaming of but what is available.

As it happens eating what is available (in season) is way better for you then eating processed foods.

So yes, it is sad that the old posts are gone...have been eaten by the big bad memory eradicator but maybe it is time to give a new start to a much loved, seen in a different light many times, topic. And hopefully I'll find other cooks and books, blogs and sites that deal with cooking with what we have rather then with what we want even though the recession is coming to an end.

Recession cooking not from scarcity but from abundance.

Wish me luck.