The Mint Patch Monologue

Tag: recipes

  • The dinner party, for 1.

    Gladys Taber loved to entertain, she wrote often of whipping up a spread for guests in no time. Somehow, she made washing up the dishes… the whole kitchen… sound like a chore of love. She was thoughtful and kept things frozen in anticipation of a gathering of friends and neighbors, she loved sharing meals with people. I on the other hand am in a bit of a social pitfall. There are strange transitions of being in and out of the company of others when everyone is living their own lives. Mine has recently consisted of throwing my own dinner parties.

    For the love of a theme, that’s where I generally start. I decide what kind of mood I’m in on a Friday night: what kind of meats, what kinds of wine, if I’m going to lounge in linen or denim, big and flowy or simple and neat attire. I consider the things I miss, and the things I prefer to think about; sometimes solemn and sometimes festive. I might mix margaritas and make cilantro lime chicken, or dirty martinis with cheese and crackers. I use my glassware, and my vintage floral print napkins, I eat slow, I sit and cross my legs.

    Last Tuesday I found myself missing the coast, a place of salt-healing and soul-settling. I bought a cheap bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and made crab cakes. They were perfect, honestly. I used lump crab meat, one large farm egg, bread crumbs, a scoop of mayo, lemon zest and lemon juice, and Cajun seasoning. I pan fried them in shallow avocado oil and then I made the sauce; I topped everything with more lemon juice and fresh cut parsley from my herb garden. I set a rickety table next to my fountain, and pretended to inhale the salt air of the ocean. As the sun set over my own dinner party, I savored the moment of quiet, and indulged in the sweetness of satisfying the senses.

    If you read my last post you understand my love for beauty, and this was a beautiful meal. I finished it off listening to French café music, and the night was perfect.

    The weekend was rainy, so an indoor event took place. I had a hearty meal of beans and beef topped with a bit of cheese and some cherry tomatoes. The fresh flowers are always left behind before my husband leaves town for work, nothing makes a dinner more special than a hand picked bouquet from a lover.

    Sometimes it’s really a brunch that you’re wanting to plan, instead of dinner. This calls for the perfect bloody mary, and by perfect I mean adding salty snacks. A bloody mary can be a drink and a snack all together. This one featured turkey pepperoni, cheese, olives, celery, and a good lemon slice, all rubbed up against a seasoned salt rim. Next time I’ll make one even bigger, add a couple of cocktail shrimp or a fat slice of bacon?

    Have yourself a little party for 1 this week if you’re alone, or make something special about just another meal. Choose a country, choose a culture, something nostalgic, bust out the charcoal grill and have you’re own block party, buy a watermelon. Think of me, and Gladys Taber, and all of the minds of wonder that you’re a part of too. Eat slow, sit and stare, feel the salt air enter your lungs, even if you’re in the desert.

    email me, share your photos, I certainly can’t be the only one enjoying my own company.

    Don’t forget that I do love to chat and love hearing from you, cheers!

    justicesarah67@yaho.com

    Garden update coming soon, I promises!

  • The Other Herbs

    There’s nothing that makes me feel more clever than using homegrown herbs. They grow lawlessly, and you can use them just the same. I don’t count, I don’t measure, I pinch hand fulls with my heart and by their nature, they grow fuller from giving. Anyone would benefit from modeling themselves after herbs.

    This year I have my first successful grown-from-seed basil, strong in stems and in scent. I would be happy to have buckets of pesto by September.  I was once a restaurant server at  CJ Maggie’s restaurant in town, famous for fried zucchini strips but also known for the variety of menu choices. On the pasta list was the “Green Meanie” a bowl of linguine smothered in thick alfredo sauce mixed with pesto and topped with grilled chicken.  I’ll try not to get ahead of myself over writing about pesto, July is the month to indulge the reader, and I’ll be sure to over do it then.

    The chives are shining this week, all of their purple blossoms are open like perfect little pom poms atop each long, green stem. They are always “juicy” when fresh cut and I think I probably underuse them, sadly. So this year I’m making chive blossom vinegar, soaking the little purples poms in a jar of white vinegar to be left alone for several weeks. This will yield a very flavorful sprinkler to use on just about anything. Splashing it over chicken, cooked any way, is reason enough to add this to my pantry.

    Lemon Balm is so much like mint, in that it spreads like little wild fires all over the yard if you let it, and trust that I do.

    The leaves when crushed between your fingers, smell of a bright and tart lemon scent, earthy and herby. There are lots of uses for lemon balm, somedays I venture out to steal a handful at a time just to simmer in a pot of water on the stovetop. Sometimes I add cinnamon sticks, lavender buds, orange rinds, or a chopped apple to fill the house with the smell of abundance, but lemon balm alone is enough joy itself for the senses.

    There’s more; an old creeping English thyme plant is thriving too, alongside a sage bush, and a little rosemary stem. The first sprouts are the best of the year, and pretty soon I’ll be trimming, giving, drying, chopping and steeping luscious piles of green. Thyme works well in potatoes, diced and roasted with olive oil and garlic powder; sage is good with any meats, laid over a chicken breast while it cooks, stuffed into a turkey, or chopped into sausage for added flavor. You can also toss a hand full of sage into the backyard firepit and wish good fortune to all of the neighbors lucky enough to smell the smoke.

    With a setting sun I will close here; just as the rotations of what we orbit and what orbits us, I make my own rounds about the house and garden. I will encourage you to stay curious, and to use your imagination. Acts of domesticity no longer beckon for rigidity but can be works of art, specific to your own domain and the ideas of your heart.

    Of course and as always, reach out to me because I do love to chat!

    justicesarah67@yahoo.com