My Blog Is Talking To Me
THIH Blog: Pst! Psssssssst!
Jessie: *snort* … Eh?
THIH: Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeessie …. come work on me … I’m loooooonely …
Jessie: Wha … ? I thought I was working on a paper. I must have fallen asleep.
THIH: Why, no. You’re 100% awake and conversing with your highly intelligent blog. Your blog is sad, Jessie.
Jessie: Huh … ok. I’ll play along. *maternally* There, there, why so sad?
THIH: I have heard naught from you in nigh on a week. Are you angry with me?
Jessie: Not at all! I’m just busy with school and work. Those come first, of course. And, also husb and doggles and family and friends. You come in last, my dear, uh, blog.
THIH: But, you LIKE working on me! C’mon, pleeeeease?
Jessie: Well … no. As much as I’d like to, my community nutrition portfolio won’t write itself.
THIH: *flutters pixels*
Jessie: Yeah, there’s no way you’re anywhere as cute as Madeline. Nice try, though.
THIH: I’ll give you, uh … cheese!
Jessie: Ok, I cannot be having this conversation right now. Much less from my website.
THIH: … Ok, I still lurve you …
… Before you start berating me for making my computer cry (?), I just want to point out that despite what engineers in Germany say, motherboards do not have feelings.
A few days ago, I was reading a great post written by LeQuan in which she talks about blogging and how it’s MUCH more fun when she views blogging as a hobby, rather than as a job. I admit, I have fallen into “the abyss” myself: feeling the pressure to get a post up just because it was a certain day or it had been a few days since my last post. I think it took preparing for my trip to China and Hong Kong to realize that I feel the same way as LeQuan. As I was preparing posts to go up while I was gone, while packing and working at the same time, I thought to myself: This is ridiculous. And most unfun. From then on, I resolved to only post when I really wanted to, rather than force myself to stick to an arbitrary schedule. I’m a free spirit, anyway :D So far, my new mentality toward blogging is great! I love being part of a healthy community, and sharing a little about what I know. Let’s keep this fun, shall we? :)
Anyhoo, moving on to a more edible topic … I remember when I was a student at Amherst College (and had moved past my non-eating homesickness phase), I relished the dining hall’s thick, gloppy garlic red pepper sauce that had more than its fair share of oil – my Amherst pals will know exactly what I’m talking about ;) I wish I had a picture of the oil pools that formed when I let the sauce sit around too long before eating it. Needless to say, I have moved on from such cafeteria fare … but my tastebuds haven’t changed. So, when I saw this colorful bunch of bell peppers at the local farmstand last weekend, I knew exactly what I was going to do with them – not let them get lonely, that’s for sure!
NOT Red Roasted Pepper Sauce with Creamy Carrots
Ingredients:
4 – 5 bell peppers, any color except green
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp canola oil
1 large carrot, peeled, chopped, and steamed until soft
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cream or half-and-half (optional)
Before we begin, let’s ogle some more gorgeous bell pepper pics:
Ooh, baby.
Slice the bell pepper in half and pull out the seeds and white stuff. Spray the pepper halves with a little oil and roast at 325 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until tops are blackened and skin pulls off easily. Let the peppers cool before pulling off skins. Feel free to use the plastic bag method to help remove the skins.
In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients. For example, you COULD use two cloves of regular garlic … or you could use one ENORMOUS clove of elephant garlic!
Saute the minced garlic in the canola oil over medium-low heat until softened. Place garlic in a blender with the roasted pepper, steamed carrot, paprika, and salt. Blend until smooth and yummy. Drizzle in olive oil and blend again. If you want, you can add the cream or half-and-half for a little extra body.
Served with whole grain pasta and chicken from a roast chicken that Peter just decided to “whip up” this afternoon.
Beautiful sage leaves:
I think next time I wold leave the garlic raw to give the sauce even more flavor, but overall, the NOT Red Pepper Sauce is a tastier (and healthier!) version of my oily favorite.
Have a great week, everyone!
Q: What’s your favorite way to enjoy bell peppers?
and
Have you ever had “conversations” with your computer? ;)
