Eating with Friends

Eating with friends is a multi-faceted activity. It can nourish our bodies and our souls. Or it can deplete them. I find myself wanting to eat with friends to fill my soul especially when other things are depleting me. Right now, I've got a lot going on, both on the personal and professional front. My company is being acquired and my job is being eliminated so I'm both keeping things going at work and looking for a new role. It's been difficult having a foot in two worlds, one that is ending and one that hasn't quite started yet. I've also started a class to become a certified coach, which is exciting and draining - School habits are so very different than work habits for me!! So, it's time to nourish my soul with some people that know and love me and that I know and love. 

I headed to Chicago a couple weeks ago (I know, Chicago in February???) to visit those friends, including one of my best friends. She and I spent about a week hanging out and reconnecting in person by spending time catching up, going to an orchid show, the auto show (the cars!!! the rides!!), and watching some movies and the super bowl. Of course there was food, because there always is!

For Super Bowl Sunday, we decided to make a cheese plate, some dirty martini dip, and some dirty martinis. Now, for those of you that do not like the dirty martini, I can only express my deep sadness for you. For me, the perfect lightly dirty martini is a drink that is both complex and simple. It's only 3 ingredients; vodka or gin, olive juice, and dry vermouth, poured over ice and stirred or shaken. I'm not here to debate stirred or shaken with anyone - live and let live on this one. I prefer shaken because I want my alcohol "bruised."  We also had vodka, because that's what we felt like. I am not usually a vodka drinker but sometimes I like the way it can step into the background and let the other ingredients in a cocktail sing. We also had some hydration tools available, because if you're going to start with a dirty, you are going to need to give your liver some support...

Our cheese plate was a delight and was a clear example of how our eyes are often bigger than our stomachs. We made the mistake (but was it really a mistake??) of getting our cheese at Costco, where everything comes in a size Large or greater. In our defense, we did look for a pre-made cheese plate, but alas, there was none. So we went about getting massive amounts of cheese. Making a good cheese plate isn't hard but it can be painstaking. I'm a firm believer we eat with our eyes before we eat with our hands and mouth, so making it pretty and having a variety of visual textures is important to me. Moving on to tastes: I like a lot of flavors and textures, so I use different types and strengths of cheese flavors, along with lots of different accompaniments - fruits, nuts, and a little prosciutto on this one was perfect. Now,  to that dirty martini dip - We were smart enough not to shop for the ingredients for the dirty martini dip at Costco, but weren't clever enough to make a half recipe. I found the recipe on Instagram and it's super simple - cream up some cream cheese, sour cream, olive juice, blue cheese and either gin or vodka together. The add in diced olives and blue cheese crumbles and fold in gently. Let it chill for a few hours (we did over night) and use your favorite dippers. YUM!!! 

We may have overserved ourselves with both food and drinks that night. I mean, it's possible. In fact, it's likely. Ok, we totally did. So the next day was for recovery. We ate a late breakfast of cheeseburgers and fries, and then walked it off at the orchid show and the car show. Two different events in so many ways - one at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, filled with the feel of living, growing things. The other at the Chicago Convention Center, filled with the sound of car engines and man-made creations. On Tuesday, it was back to work for my girlfriend, and I focused on job searching and getting back on track. So, back to body nourishing food, simple and comforting as well. That meant a breakfast scramble with potatoes, spinach and some Trader Joe's zhug sauce - spicey and familiar, all at the same time. 

Walter joined us on Wednesday and the adventures took another turn. We met some other friends for dinner out, had a fantastic date night on Friday, and headed to the Brew Pub Shootout on Saturday. Then headed home on Sunday, stopping for a Torta at Frontera in the airport on the way. I've been back for a bit over a week and the rhythms of life are back. I'm still thinking about my trip, and taking nourishment from it- remembering the conversations and the tastes, the hugs and the flavors, the comfortable silence of being with someone you love and the comforting textures of familiar foods that wrap you like a warm hug. I'll be nourished by this trip for a while.