Thursday, April 10, 2014

Spoiled

Because of my recent medical battles, I've had to be on a rather strange diet.  Temporarily, and slowly now being reintroduced, I've not been able to eat most veggies/fruits.  And, those I can have must have no peels and must be very over cooked and low in fiber content.  (While the dietitian explained the diet to me I kept muttering "Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck")  I also cannot have nuts yet.  This is difficult because nuts in all forms were one of my daily snacks.

But, now that recovery is happening, I can slowly start to add the foods I actually like back into my diet, with some caution.  (YAY)

Several of my lovely human friends have been so helpful and supportive during this time of foodie hell.  One keeps a growing list of foods we will have once I'm back to 100%.  Another has reminded me several times that the moment I'm up to it, she and I will have a meal to beat all meals at a super-wonderful, best-meal-ever, tapas restaurant we love.

Now, stay with me while I seem to veer off topic.

Last month, two nice young people Phenom and I are both acquainted with got married.  They are very young and both work in the field of journalism (print journalism too!) and thus are dirt poor.  Because of my medical situation, we were unable to travel the many miles to their wedding and partake of their blissful beginnings.  And, because of my medical situation, last night we finally got around to ordering their wedding gift.

While I was hospitalized in January (at the beginning of this nightmare), I watched the entire series of "A Chef's Life" on public television.  It is a series about a chef who left NYC to return to her rural hometown to open a restaurant.  She is committed to local foods/farmers and being inventive with classic southern ingredients.  (She does some damn interesting things with grits.)

As it happens, this chef's restaurant is in the same town as the newly wedded couple.  And, just because I can't eat fun food right now doesn't mean I have stopped obsessing over other people getting to eat fun food.  I ordered a hefty gift card for this restaurant for the couple.  I figure it will be enough for a few fancy date nights.

Less than an hour later, a good friend of ours called to check in on my recovery.  During the conversation, she suggested that once I'm fully recovered, I should come visit her (far away from us) and that hey, have you heard about The Chef and the Farmer restaurant?  It's not too far away from where she lives and she too watched the PBS series and we should go eat there.

How cool is that?  And, OH YUM!  And, the outpouring of affection and concern and sweetness and generosity from so, so many people during the past few months has been the most life affirming, lovely thing ever.  I'm such a spoiled monkey.

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