the recap, from away.

guys,
i made food,
for christmas dinner, even,
in connecticut.
i s'pose that constitutes a minor miracle,
and a big deal for all of us spanning time together
in the 'hood-adjacent jauns that i grew up in.
mmmhmmm.
check the teleport:

neighbors,
c'mon!
angel hair pasta,
with peeled plum tomato sauce,
loaded up with caramelized shallots and sauteed garlic,
tempered with braised asparagus,
and held tight with baby spinach!!!!
there's herb crusted tofu (!!!),
browned to perfection in the presence of my parents....
tamari-blasted brussels sprouts, too?
baby cabbages all up in it to win it, on the real.
and baked butternut squash with herby oniony sprankles!!!!
i kept it expert,
and i took the opportunity to make it all extra fancy,
because, really, that hasn't happened before,
and who knows when it'll happen again?
 -
was i inspired by my second time at the ethiopian spot?
at the very least, my color palette sure was...
teleport:

right?
huh?
oh, yeah,
i went back for more.
i had to.
i'm sayin', duders,
i even hung out with the owner for an hour.
really.
nobody should have to eat alone, he said.
so we talked, and i ate,
and we talked some more,
and i ate some more,
and then we talked a bit more,
and i put another portion in my face....
too much is the right amount, kids.
and i really made sure to do what i could to be the best example.
overdoing it to eleven on ethiopian food?
yuuuuuup.
oh, go ahead-
insert any terrible joke from the 80's right here.
{                                                                        }
aaaaaannnyway,
i filled way up on all of it,
well past the advisable limits of good sense,
so that by the time christmas eve's dinnertime was in full effect,
i didn't want to munch up a single thing.
not that there was much going on anyway...
now,
normally,
italian families get absolutely filthy with the overdoo-doo-ing
of all things aquatic on the night before,
and everything is stirring, in a pot or a pan
until the whole place smells
like a dead-zone in the ocean.
yuck.
-
then, on the big day,
i got busy making the magic happen,
uninterrupted, and uncriticized,
surrounded by the old people from my old life,
inside my childhood home,
y'all may not know how crazy that is,
so you'll have to trust me.
it's nearly unbelievable.
but it all really happened....
and that,
honestly,
was the best present i've gotten in ages.
i'm grateful for the small gains we've made,
me and mine,
and all of us,
spanning time as it unfolds along the creases and edges of a secret plan
that is only becoming less mysterious as we march across the threshold of
the unknown outer limits.
jeez.
and to all a good night;
never quiet, never soft.....