FALLING!

get up, get to work, get out, and get after it, then go to work;
get out of work, get home, and get back to work.
yup.
i make that move every single day.
why?
because rules is rules.
and that's the way a worthy warrior poet does his thing.
yesterday,
my dude nate is one the east coast, staying down in southern maine,
coming by way of the california side of lake tahoe.
but,
he was all up in this woodsly goodness especially to see me!
expert recognize expert, i suspect.
so,
the least i could do, as a gracious adherent of viking values
and a disciple of the virtues of gratitude and generosity,
was provide something good to eat for his face.
uh-huh.
i did just that, too.
bouncing out of the job-spot,
and jaunting over to the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress,
so we could experience some fall fiesta flavors, in F*ing full-effect.
it's nice to have an audience to witness the complete lack of direction,
and the overabundance of drive,
that make the mealtimes come together through sheer explosive force of will.
i'm like that, and i like when someone can bear witness to the process.
what did i make?
i made some heavy-handed heavyweight starch explosions, son!!
check the equinox-dinner-type teleport:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD.
i confess, i prepared the tart ahead of time,
but i baked it when i got back to the warm embrace of my kitchen.
my patented pastry crust was perfect,
the blue potatoes were soft, the leeks were all melty,
the carrots were smoky in their caramelization.
thee beets?
well,
twice baked beets can't be beat for tasting sweet and a lot less like dirtbombs.
nice.
the brussels were a bit hard,
but i sort of suspected that tiny whole brussies might be resistant to the oven.
didn't matter,
my homemade gravy, and the molto buttery blops and gouts of crust and cream
more than made up for any overly firm bites.
ha!
i had the oven raging at 410F,
which is damned hot,
but it broiled the bejeezus out of those button mushrooms,
and the woodiest, meatiest, thickest flavors rose to the surface.
guys,
salt and olive oil and hot were the only ingredients.
that's dope.
i laid down a bed of leafy greens, strong-to-the-finish-style,
so i could have some correct color-matching to set off those butter-seared seitan steaks.
friends,
i used cornstach, and GPOP, and  ground mustard,
aleppo pepper, black pepper, smoked paprika, and nootch,
and floured them up for a ferocious crust, sealing in all that soft, tender sexxxiness.
i don't think nate was ready for that much hottness,
but he acquitted himself nicely, and cleared his plate like a champion.
sweet.
the mushrooms, some parsley spranks, some tomatoes,
and a whole mess of gravy completed the look for that meatless meat.
delicious just isn't a strong enough word.
i steamed that broccolini over a bed of sweet onion,
and i let the onions do what they do as well as a clove or two of chopped garlic.
that's one-pan multitasking, and that's a new thing for me.
the onions sat out on the side,
and the brox got gravied, and garnished with redder and better tomatoes,
straightforward, but molto expert.
where'd the onions go?
next to the mashed butternut squash, of course!!!
c'mon.
what are you? an A*-hole?
OBvi, the squash needed some sweet jauns to accentuate the hottness.
half a squash, half an onion, two cloves of garlic, and some salt,
boiled up until everything was super soft,
and mashed with butter, GPOP, and brown sugar.
damn!!
everything went to eleven,
and i even got to share it with my homeboy.
that's a good day.
***********
today,
it's going to be a bit darker than yesterday.
i s'pose i'll have to endure it.
tonight, it's going to be longer than it was last night.
again,
i'll endure it.
soon enough, however,
it'll be blacker than black,
and the brightest spots won't be nearby enough to light my way.
what's the secret?
i think you just close your eyes in advance.
once you're used to the dark,
you can navigate completely by feel.
ha.
we can discuss my stubbed toes in just a little bit, i should think.
there's a lot of falling going on.
fall out, fall down, fall apart, fall fall fall.
it's all really happening, and it's not easy, but it IS necessary;
never quiet, never soft.....