Coffee and Cabbage Soup

[Crystal]

As I updated this site, this morning, I realize ironically that I'm not much of a "foodie" and yet I am. Born of culturally German parents, I gravitate toward simple peasant food. Garlic, vinegar and hot peppers are Pavlovian to my appetite. But no fear, I can gobble up a bag of Doriitos in one sitting or a chocolate fudge 1/2 gallon of ice cream in 2 days like the best of you.
Food has become a world issue the past year. I remember seeing a TV news segment 6 months ago about Italians being up in arms about the high cost of pasta. We recently are hearing about Haiti, and we have for decades known of the starvation and famine in war-ravaged and arid parts of Africa. Now, we in America are beginning to see how the politics of food is affecting us. Gas prices, bio-fuel alternatives and inflation will be affecting the way we dine over the coming months.

Some of you might know that the past few years have been especially difficult for me financially. I walk a strange path in that I'll attend a high-end conference dining on some Thai specialty and then come home to being able to afford $20 worth of groceries for the week. Lately, I find that instead of herbal teas, I've been lusting each night for the comforts of the next morning's coffee-- black without cream or sugar--as if somehow the warmth and richness of that liquid provides some sort of undefined security. I buy the large generic tins and add a few scoopful's to the previous day's filter. No connoiseur am I in that regard.


Yesterday's all-day meal was a huge pot of cabbage soup and noodles-- garlic base, with apple cider vinegar, lots of pepper, some tarragon and basil--- I first ate in out of a bowl and subsequently drank it from a cup, basically sipping cupful after another from noon to evening. The garlic was relatively pungent in the house and truth be told probably on me-- good thing I'm bunkered in alone on this beautiful Spring weekend in New Jersey.

This morning, I've had my 3 mugs of coffee (new filter day for Sunday) and there's about 2 bowl's worth of the cabbage soup sitting in the fridge .Counting literal pennies, I'm deciding if today's meal will be those left-overs or something using the two remaining egss and brocolli in the fridge, or the cans of tuna and bagful of rice in the cupboard. I somehow feel more natural and healthy when my finances are low. Simple food reminds me of the heartiness of our humble earth. Maybe it is a good thing in these times to bring our perspectives back to the basics-- food, shelter and survival and the meaning of companionship of friends and family to this beautiful and yet sometimes so volatile earth. Admittedly, I am looking forward to the next high-end restaurant treat, when ever it'll be, or maybe a homemade burrito will be just fine, too.

[Yonni's Wacky Workshop]

Sweetie - omg. Cabbage/Vinegar/Coffee? Wtf. Take a suppository for goodness sake - you'll get the same effect! ;)