Caramelized fennel, leek and orange; the farro again; jury duty

Friends, I do not want to go to jury duty tomorrow. I simply don't. I love to vote, am committed to community involvement and so forth and so on, but jury duty does not float my boat. In the least. Ah well. I did a great deal of cooking today which was a lovely way to spend much of Monday: smothered okra for lunch; caramelized fennel, leek and orange; the fab farro salad again... I also seem to have the dessert-craving tapeworm again so sprung for a jelly-filled, powdered-sugar-dusted beignet at Whole Foods, the best of their bakery goods (in the context of those that are good because many are not). It was, as always, fantastic.

Nanny and Mom often made smothered okra when I was growing up. I am an enormous, enthusiastic fan of okra except in gumbo where I truly believe it has no place. #honesty

Anyway, smothered okra is one of those crazy-simple, crazy-good comforting home foods that makes me happy. I hadn't thought about it in ages, but when I took the boys to Louisiana in August, Mom had just made a huge batch with a bushel of Louisiana longhorn okra some friends had grown and given her. I swear I ate 90% of the batch and have been craving more ever since.

Today at the market, I saw some decent okra. At $6 a pound I didn't get more than would feed me, but it made such a sublime lunch. I sat in silence, on a stool at my counter, breathing in the scent of long- and slowly-cooked okra in bacon fat. I wondered why on earth I gave up bacon for so long. I marveled anew at how good something with two ingredients -three if you count salt- can be. And I thought of home.

On double-checking the caffeine in tea you give your child; fall; porcine magician; misc

Of course you can have tea, sweet child

It occurred to me last night around 11pm, when Jack was still awake and truly unable to do anything about it, that perhaps the pots of tea we'd shared with my dear friend, Gay, while at her house playing Monopoly with her and her grandsons, had not been caffeine-free.

It was green leaf tea from China, and we must have steeped three full bags during our hours at play. I realized that my headache subsided but felt sure that was the tea's ancient medicinal power coming through. Also, green tea doesn't have any caffeine, and so I watched with pleasure as Jack downed cup after cup with such pure contentment while we played. An eight-year-old who requests honey and happily grasps a warm mug of tea on a cool afternoon- what is more charming?

Y'all, green tea does have caffeine. You probably all knew that. And my poor little guy was wired to beat sixty. He awoke on the wrong side of the sleepless bed and was rather a bear today, but I could hardly blame him. Literally. #momfail

Somewhat inexplicably (because a sports family we really aren't), young chap read the sports section while eating breakfast this morning.

Fall is falling

After an absurd series of intense dog days last week, fall broke overnight last Thursday, sweeping in with an invigorating zip. It was glorious today; bright, blue, crisp. The sort of day that makes you feel utterly alive, like you want to make applesauce and pumpkin bread and rake leaves and later enjoy something warm and cozy. Indeed, I have flannel PJ pants on right now, and from the moment I slipped them on, I have felt satisfied. This heat-loving lady does love the advent of fall!

Last night, we enjoyed steaming bowls of gumbo, and I again thanked T for making a double batch last month and freezing some. My farming friend gave me a stunning Cinderella pumpkin recently; it is the perfect home accessory this time of year. If only I'd made it to the farmers market today for some fall goodies. Alas. I did make an apple pie with a pecan crumble topping on Friday. We ate it all before I snapped a pic. Oops!

Have you ever met a porcine magician?

I hadn't until yesterday.

These pics = enough said. Look at that eye in the second shot; studying my every move!

Miscellaneous

Fresh garbanzos! Delightful! Harder to peel than they appear.

Fresh ricotta: always the best! Dollops of this beautiful snow dot my pizza tonight.

On November 21, Benedict's movie, The Imitation Game, in which he plays the incredible WWII cryptographer, Alan Turing, opens. He will be excellent in this role!

Five days with no smart phone

This past Tuesday morning, my phone -which has always seemed like an iLemon and, as I've now found out, is eligible for not one but two part recalls- fritzed out in a grim way. Its capacitive touch screen refused to register 99% of all input, and so, while I could see and hear that I was receiving emails, texts and calls, I could do nothing to acknowledge or access those. As the iPhone 6 is not yet out and I have a few weeks left on my contract before I can purchase a new one at the reduced rate, T said he'd fix mine by installing a new screen which he quickly ordered and was to arrive yesterday. In the meantime, I was phoneless.

The first 24 hours were, I'm sad to admit, rather like what I imagine detox to be like. Though I'd sent a mass email letting everyone know that I was only reachable via home phone and email, I did feel wildly out of touch and slightly insecure. I couldn't let anyone know I was running late. If I were in a wreck, I wouldn't be able to call anyone for help. People couldn't reach me in any immediate way. What was happening on Facebook? When would I get to see those pictures a friend texted me?

As the next day rolled in and back out, I felt increasingly peaceful and less harried. Checking email every five hours versus every five minutes reminded me that my life has little in the way of fires that need to be doused and to-dos that are as urgent as they often feel. There aren't many emails that really need to be answered ASAP. Most Facebook updates aren't life-altering or even important. Twitter and Pinterest  haven't even entered my conscience.

Not sleeping with my phone on my night table has meant non-distracted bedtime reading. It's meant waking up each morning without the beckoning buzz of unreads, 90% of which are nothing more than advertisements and utterly inconsequential "news."

Not carrying my phone with me has let my mind slow and be in the moment to a much greater degree than it is when calls and pings make me feel like I'm jumping through a sieve. I've known both that I'm unreachable and that I can't reach out, and that has, frankly, been enormously freeing.

Most of us are so busy, too busy, in the best of times. This forced experiment has taught me that 'right now immediacy' is often a false veil that hides us from peace and mindfulness. It may sound silly, but I have really learned much this week and hope to adjust life in the future accordingly.

Food for thought!