‘woman reclining’ by sierra pardus, the most magical child on earth…

so it seems that just when i am finally back to blogging, i am also steering clear of the kitchen, living on somewhat plain fare. one of these days soon i will again balance this whole blogging, cooking and eating thing but right now i am focused primarily on the FRET which is not conducive to creativity in the kitchen, at least for me.

but regardless of any of that, in order to post i needed photographs to inspire me so the first order of business was to get a new camera as my old SLR had moved out. and then suddenly a beautiful nikon D40 landed so graciously in my hands. and i am growing to love it more every day, learning how to use it properly while coming to terms with the fact that it’s hard to focus on anything, when everything else is blurry…

i’ve decided that somehow this sculptural primary colored figure of a woman represents me, except i don’t really ever wear hats. and she is oh so painfully thin – and well, if nothing else, at least i’m on my way back down… but still she is me, reflecting on how she managed to get herself onto that hard surface in the first place and wondering what now to do… but dear readers, please know one very important detail about her, one that may be hard to discern being that her face is quite flushed. she is flashing a blazing smile. because she remains hopeful with an open heart…

and maybe she holds out hope because one of the best parts of life is that it’s full of all kinds of surprises. and as unlikely as this small one might sound, let me tell you about a cracker from vietnam…

we were shopping at a local global market when these were spotted right next to the rice paper wrappers, and for $1.79 or thereabouts, we decided to bring them home and see what they might be. the ingredients read: rice flour, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, onion, sesame oil, dried shrimp, salt, water, MSG, and sugar. they came with no directions or suggestions so first we tried to soak them as one might do with rice paper – but to no avail. so next they were popped into the oven and in just a few minutes, they became food.

the one on the left is uncooked, the one on the right is…

today when i baked one in my small convection oven, you could actually hear it expand. but you had to listen very carefully – just as one desperately needs to do in order to grow themselves… it was like hearing food stretch after waking up from a good long sleep. the heat transformed this curious disc  – and quickly, into something quite nice. there was a spice factor that i couldn’t quite figure out based on the ingredient list but nevertheless, MSG and all, they are damn good.

the tiny dried shrimp almost appear as if in suspended animation

along with a day filled with butterflies, hummingbirds, fawns and four point bucks, this was just another example of the beauty that surrounds us…