God's Hugs

I recently (3 days ago) returned from a trip to New England and I guess you could say that this was one of those things that was on my "bucket list". My whole life, be it growing up in sunny California or most recently living in the big state of Texas, I have daydreamed about those Courier and Ives magazines with the covered bridges and the small town warmth that appeared to jump from the pages. For me, this was that trip. I departed with two other girlfriends, one an artist and the other a nature girl, along with myself the "foodie" (more blogs later on that). The trip was a whirlwind 4 states in 4 days, but we did it. All five senses came alive on this trip. The air was crisp with the hint of pine and a rustic dampness from the piles of leaves that covered the earth wherever we traveled. The people were kind and appeared to be hard workers from days gone by - you did not see them on cell phones making business calls but rather slowly discussing the days events and how the weather was changing with the people around them.

It was quiet out in the mountains. Occasionally a gust of wind would stir up and produce just enough vigor to make a pile of leaves do a little jig right before our eyes. We were blessed to have near perfect days (no rain) and as we drove from one quaint little town to another, I found myself daydreaming that I, too, could someday drop it all and retire to a place like this. We traveled to pumpkin patches and apple orchards, drank hot apple cider and munched on sweet, sugary apple cider donuts. I tried cheese in Vermont and maple syrup products that would make your head spin with thoughts of easy, laid back morning's sipping coffee and devouring a huge butter ladened stack of pancakes - things that I can do now, but always seem so much more relaxing when being done on vacation.

We saw wild geese, healthy cows, chickens, ducks, sheep and horses (for my Facebook friends, these are the real ones, not the ones on "Farmville"). We saw covered bridges and red barns. We ate sandwiches at picnic tables and watched the townspeople doing their daily routines. We walked down country roads with canopies of gold, orange, red and rust-colored trees. A strong moment for me was when my artist friend said (as we were driving down a road with trees and mountains on either side). It's like we are being hugged by God! That really made me think. Am I so caught up on the next blog, PTA meeting, e-mail, TV program, etc., that perhaps I'm taking for granted my hugs from God? Every moment of everyday I get them, yet, for some reason, I had to be taken out of my element to really grasp that. Today I am back to my routine. I will feed my family instead of chickens, I will grocery shop instead of pick apples, I will catch-up on Facebook instead of sit in the Rockwellian town square. But, I WILL take a moment in all of this and receive those abundant hugs - I'm jus' sayin!

Open Your Back Door

Have you ever wanted to go on a culinary food trip? You know, those ones that you can arrange through a travel agency that takes you on a gastronomical trip through Europe tasting all those delicious ethnic foods and then learning how to cook them. Well, as amazing as those trips are - and I do hope to go on one someday - the economy and my budget forces me to think on a smaller scale, taking "mini" trips or, put another way, foodie field trips. Seriously, I don't care if you live in the Big City or a small little Norman Rockwell town, there are always culinary adventures for the taking.

Google is your friend! Start by Googling a nationality and put the word "store" or "market" behind it, along with your town - such as "Asian Market Austin Texas". You will be pleasantly surprised as to what you may find. Now, I live in the town with the flagship Whole Foods store and corporate headquarters, so of course your thinking "why go so far for those delicacies when you can do one-stop shopping?" I'll tell you why. First, when I go to the Asian Market (for example), I am not laden with 4 choices of fish sauce. I get a whole aisle of fish sauces and I get fish sauce from more countries then you can shake a wok at. Why do I want all these choices? Because it's FUN and we live in the land of amazing possibilities.

Second, if you have questions about any of the food, what better way to get answers than go straight to the source. The majority of people that shop in these stores are "regulars" and always seem to have a smile on their face. More importantly,they are generally very willing to answer my silly questions!

Third, if you are looking at this trip from an artistic stand point, nothing screams art to me like all of the labels on the food in an ethnic market. It's like rows and rows of art and color in a food museum. Don't be squeamish of the language barrier - I can usually find a picture on the label that will give me some hint as to what's inside.

I have found that almost every city I have visited has its own unique little pockets of culinary wisdom. Try stepping out through your own back-door... You just may find those same kinds of gastronomical adventures, on a much cheaper "E"-ticket. I'm jus sayin'