I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Month: August 2020
A trip to the farmer’s market these days is as appetizing as it is inspiring.
August is a wonderful month to celebrate the fresh and flavourful tastes of the garden by incorporating what is available locally into a year-round favourite meal.
I went to the market yesterday to begin preparing for my dinner tonight.
I was looking at colours as much as taste to prepare my:
Summer Spaghetti Sauce
ingredients:
10 – 15 fresh ripe Roma tomatoes
I medium purple onion
I medium Spanish onion or sweet onion
1 larger shallot or two smaller
I red pepper
½ green pepper + ½ orange pepper (depending on what is available)
*it is as much about colour as it is taste
I medium carrot
I large stalk of celery
1 ¼ cup chopped or sliced fresh mushrooms
5 or 6 (or 7) cloves of garlic
At least 250 grams (1/2 lb) of lean ground beef, or pork, or Italian sausage.
(if you want to go vegetarian: 300 grams of shredded or chopped eggplant or zucchini (or a mix of both)
Two tablespoons fresh basil
Two tablespoons fresh oregano
1 ½ tablespoons of lemon pepper
A pinch (or two) of sea salt
Two pinches of nutmeg
I handful of chopped, fresh broad-leaf parsley or cilantro.
1 – 450gram package of dried spaghetti (or, my preference, spaghettini)
or, if possible, fresh whole wheat pasta
This recipe is flexible, can easily be be doubled for a larger meal or to ensure leftovers, but the above will give you three or four servings. The quantities of herbs and spices
are approximate and the measure often depends on my mood. Don’t be timid!
All ingredients can be adjusted any time of the year to suit your tastes or depending
on what is in the fridge.
eg. If not using fresh Roman tomatoes, use 1 or 2 cans of diced tomatoes.
In preparation, put your bag of tomatoes in the freezer overnight.
Also put half of the red pepper in the freezer with the tomatoes.
The next day, take the tomatoes and pepper out frozen and run lightly under warm water. The skin will easily peel off the vegetables. Put the peeled tomatoes and pepper in a medium saucepan, covered, over low heat. As you check occasionally, and see the vegetables soften as they warm, take a knife and chop as you go.
When tomatoes are soft and chopped, turn up the heat slightly and let them boil down and reduce.
At this point, toss one whole peeled clove of garlic in the pot.
With your finest grater or kitchen rasp, shred the carrot in with the tomatoes (this will sweeten and thicken the sauce – no need for tomato paste)
As the tomatoes continue reducing, prepare the remainder of your vegetables.
Chop onions as you wish. I prefer longer (not quite julienne) stands so they mix well in the pasta, but chunky works too.
Slice peppers in a similar fashion.
You can mince garlic with a sharp knife or use a garlic press.
Dice or chop or slice celery and shallots thinly (a shallot will brighten any meal; pretty much).
In a large frying pan, begin browning your meat. If going vegetarian, add a tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger and an additional teaspoon of pepper to zucchini and/or eggplant.
If using Italian sausage, remove the meat from the casing. When half cooked, drain most of the fat from the pan then add the onions, shallots, garlic, and peppers. Depending on the meat, you may need to slightly drain the mixture again before seasoning with lemon pepper (or black pepper) and half of the basil and oregano. Add a pinch or two of sea salt.
While this is cooking, add the other half of the basil and oregano to the pot of tomatoes, which should be thickening now.
When the onions are clear, add the diced or sliced or chopped mushrooms to the mix along with the celery, turn up the heat and give it some time to slightly brown the mushrooms.
When everything has cooked, turn off the heat on the frying pan until your tomatoes have reduced to a thick sauce then add the meat and mushroom mixture. Now add the nutmeg.
Allow time for the flavours to mix into each other. Depending on dinnertime, you can let it sit for a while. When you begin heating up, a half-hour before serving, add the fresh parsley.
When serving, keep an eye out for that lone garlic clove you put in the tomatoes at the start of the reduction process. Some people react when they see a whole glove of garlic in something; personally, I make sure it ends up on my plate.
Serve over the boiled pasta, topped with Parmesan cheese (freshly grated if possible)
Serve with a baguette and butter and a green, spinach, or Caesar salad.
Often, I’ll expand the recipe to ensure there are leftovers, which can be portioned with pasta and sauce and tucked in the freezer for nights when you don’t feel like cooking.
Enjoy the tastes of summer.
I know what I’m having for supper tonight.
08/19/2020 j.g.l.
Posted on August 18, 2020 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
I spent most of yesterday morning painting by the lakeshore and, yes, it was as calming as it sounds.
It was mindful creativity; it was non-judgmental art.
I’m doing that this month: art.
It is, pretty much all I’m doing this month.
Art.
I’ve got several projects on the go and none of them with a specific deadline. I’ve taken artful adventures with and without my camera (I think of them as field trips) and I’m also mindful of random, spontaneous artistic thought.
The painting session was as spontaneous as a painting session could be. I had intended on writing, but painting on a picnic table by the lake sounded more beneficial.
I’d gone to this same spot two weeks earlier and painted, essentially the same scene. But it looked different yesterday, and not only because it was hazy. I know two weeks ago, as I had undertaken this August art immersion, I was thinking more as I was painting. My paints had sat in the wooden box too long, and I was refreshing myself on technique and considering composition and all sorts of things that can clutter the mind.
Yesterday I just painted; seven small sheets of paper, one scene, and several different versions of the same scene.
All created without rushing.
And all created without judgment.
Sometimes you just have to paint.
Sometimes you have to just be.
Sometimes there are mindful thoughts in watching paint dry.
Would you like a small post-card sized painting from the Toronto lakeshore?
If you send me a postcard from where you live, telling me something about your corner of the planet, I’ll send you a handcrafted postcard from my city.
During the month of October, on this website, soultalk will will be celebrating Homecoming Month. In addition to writers I have invited into this space, postcards will be used to help make this world a little smaller. I’ve already received cards from around the world, but I’d like more.
If you’d like to be involved, send a email soultalk@mythosandmarginalia.com and I’ll send you details and my address.
peace
-j-
Is there anything as comfortable as a new pair of sneakers?
I mean, really?
I bought a new pair of running shoes last week, having literally worn the tread off the pair I bought a year ago. Fitness was always the goal, but my increased daily activity over the past four months has taken its toll. I have taken hundreds and hundreds of thousands on steps.
It was only lately I realized my feet we more tired than usual and I had to acknowledge the wear and tear on a rather reliable pair of sneakers.
I set out to buy the exact same model of shoe I’ve been using; they haven’t let me down. Why change a good thing?
While price shopping from store to store, I walked by another shop of another brand and noticed the ‘40% off everything signs’. Of course, I had to look.
It’s not that the brand was unfamiliar to me; I’d bought them before (it was actually the first pair of branded athletic shoes my parents bought me in elementary school) and had never been dissatisfied.
The brand I was currently using was highly recommended at both a running store and by my chiropodist. But these other shoes just felt right, and checked all the boxes for fit and function. I ignored fashion and studied everything about these particular shoes form torsion to traction and then made a decision that saved me a good $50.
I’ll guess I will see if they are worth it.
Right now, all I know is the comfort.
08/17/2020 j.g.l.
