I was jarred
Plucked in my prime
Scrubbed and rinsed
Chopped and minced
No mercy!
You threw me to the brine
I was so jarred
By your salty ways
I could not process
Lost all that is tang-able
As you relished in
My demise
A bit of a cheesy quadrille for dVerse Poets Pub.
Stop by and join in the fun with 44 words.
Give me those dog days of summer
Hot spells, cotton candy skin
Sweet corn, salt and peppered
Butter dripping down chins
It beats those ice crackling
Snow shoveling minus 20 winds
Show me your plum pickin’
Rib stickin’ watermelon grin
I’ll dip my tutti frutti toes
In nippy waters, shin deep
Sketch my dreams in the sand
Before sailing off to sleep
~
Corn
Beans
Squash
Native
Folklore
Upholding
Traditions
Spirituality
Haudenosaunee
Sustainability
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This week at dVerse, Anna has us experimenting with 3 different approaches to poetry…Reduction, Oulipo and Surprising Conceit. I chose to attempt a very simple Oulipo, where each each line is a single word, and each successive word is one letter longer. You will find a few different recipes for this soup online. The photo above is my version….without beans.
http://www.motherearthliving.com/cooking-methods/soups-on-three-sisters-soup.aspx
You sprinkle the flour
Careless chaos across my counter
I want to even it out, but I resist
This is your life now
You knead it
~
Watching you with motherly eyes
I finally see
That everything you are
Did not originate from this kitchen
And I thank God for that
You’ve moved on from
These minds, crumbled and torn
This table set robotically
With knives scraping on Corelle
Just to break the silence
~
You twist and turn this art
Into your own
Scoring precisely as planned
Filling the old loaf pan
With new hope, rustic and pure
This bread will leaven
And my heart will rise
~
Written for dVerse and inspired by Gail’s nurturing poetic prompt using the subject of bread.
#18. “Food is one of life’s greatest pleasures.”
The last “best thing I ever ate” was a Green Chile Cheeseburger in Hatch, New Mexico.
What is green chile?
It is NOT a jalapeno.
It is NOT just a chile pepper that happens to be green. It is what it is…green chile.
There is nothing like it. The flavor is so unique and the first time I tried it, it reminded me that there is so much in life that I still need to discover!! I know, I know, it’s just green chile. My point is that along my journey of 50 (ahem) years, I have become more open to new experiences, new places, new people and new foods.
Life is too short to waste a minute saying “eww, what is that, I don’t think I will like it”.
Green chile is now a staple in our house as an addition to breakfast burritos, chicken enchiladas and my personal favourite, green chile stew. Yes, this Canadian girl can make a mean green chile stew. Hatch has it’s own brand of green chile and you can find it by the can in many local grocery stores. You can also buy it freshly roasted or roast it yourself!
My husband and I go “home” to New Mexico approximately once per year to visit his family. My father in-law has made it a tradition to drive to Hatch for the green chile cheeseburger experience. Consisting of the freshest ground beef I have ever tasted, a perfectly melted slice of cheddar and….drum roll please….a slathering of one of New Mexico’s greatest treasures…GREEN CHILE!
Hatch, New Mexico is located about 40 miles north of Las Cruces. Rows of red ristras dress up this quiet rural town and can be purchased for a reasonable price at many roadside markets.
Driving into Hatch, you would not expect to find any culinary magic happening here.
Actually you would not expect to find much of anything happening here.
Population: 1,680
Then you see it…a line of people gathered in front of a small restaurant called “Sparky’s”. This speaks volumes considering the unusual array of familiar, yet unrelated statues adorning the entrance. Maybe they are there to disguise the true identity of this gem. Seating is minimal, after all.
You can choose to dine outside with Ronald McDonald and Sparky the robot constructed from tractor parts or inside surrounded by even more whimsical decor. I know what you’re thinking, but trust me.
Whether you find this place to be amusing or just plain odd, one thing is for sure. If you’ve been here once, you will be here again….and again.
It may be a good thing I am only in New Mexico once a year because the spicy potato wedges and old fashioned milk shakes are also delicious!
So if you are ever in the area of Las Cruces, New Mexico, be sure to visit Hatch, the self proclaimed Green Chile Capital of the World.
What’s the last “best thing YOU ever ate” ?
Image via Wikipedia
Maple syrup brings back sweet memories.
As a child, my grandparents were the only people I knew that bought the “real” maple syrup. It came in the most beautiful tin container covered with Canadian scenery. I can still see it sitting in my grandparents’ pantry in an orderly fashion next to the many other treasured cans and jars on the shelf. It looked so big. Or maybe I was just so small?
I remember sitting at their 50’s style kitchen table with it’s shiny, chrome legs, waiting patiently for my grandmother to pour the smooth, rich, liquid candy on top of my pumpkin pie. That’s right, I said pumpkin pie. It was a tradition in our family or so I realized after mentioning it to many people throughout my life and getting the strangest looks. Trust me, it is delicious! We also used it as a topping on vanilla ice cream.
The tradition continues. Last spring, my son tapped one thousand maple trees on an organic farm near Peterborough. Eight months later, he finally came home. He was busy, you see…..busy making the best maple syrup I’ve ever tasted .
It is pure sweetness, bringing back old memories and making new ones.
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
mishunderstood 