Barn Wood
the way a man feels before work
1 pkg. (5 or 6) of Chicken Legs or Thighs
⅓ can of Cannellini Beans 1 large Carrot
½ stalk of Celery Extra Wide Egg Noodles
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes / Original ½ Yellow or Red Bell Pepper
½ Medium Onion Mushrooms
Salt and Pepper Italian Seasoning or Bay Leaf
Red Wine 2 pkg. Jiffy Cornbread
Bring the chicken to a boil in a large pot, then simmer until very tender and you can remove the bones and skin. This may take an hour but well worth it.
When the chicken is ready there should be good broth starting to form with some fat on top. You can add a carton of vegetable or chicken broth if you like - use this broth for soup base.
Leave the soup on low simmer and add carrots and celery chopped into thick slices.
Slice and add the onion and about one-half of a bell pepper, sliced into thin strips.
(All ingredients are added proportionally based on the volume of the soup base.)
Throw in a handful of cannellini beans. Slice a few mushrooms and add if you like.
Add a bay leaf or a few pinches of Italian Seasoning. Stir in a can of Rotel tomatoes (this is often all the seasoning you need and gives a nice flavor).
Continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Pour yourself a glass of wine while you wait!
Stir in a couple of handfuls of noodles a few minutes before serving so they don’t get mushy.
By the way, this disappears quickly with fresh-baked cornbread on the side.
Mangiamo!
yes, she liked to smoke a cigarette now and then…
Pasta and Meatballs a la Geneva
½ lb. ground chuck ½ lb. hot Italian sausage
1 egg ⅓ can of Cannellini Beans
1 medium Carrot ½ stalk of Celery
½ Medium Onion a cup (or more) of Rigatoni Pasta
½ Yellow or Red Bell Pepper Fresh Mushrooms
1 jar plain Ragu Spaghetti Sauce Salt & Pepper, Italian Seasoning
1 Loaf of Italian Bread Olive Oil
Mix equal parts ground beef and hot sausage together in a mixing bowl, add an egg and mix well. I learned the egg trick from my mother. She would add bread crumbs and chopped onions and garlic and other magical stuff, too, but I’m too lazy. Form several (8 or 10) medium-sized meatballs by hand and brown in a skillet. Turn the meatballs with tongs from time to time so they are browned all around. Continue to simmer slowly and cook all the way through.
Start a pot filled ⅔ with water and about two tablespoons of salt on low heat. If it begins to boil, turn off the burner and cover. This gets it ready for later when you’re ready to cook the pasta (it will then boil quickly). I figured this out all by myself, believe it or not.
Keep an eye on the meatballs, and in a separate pot begin to heat the Ragu pasta sauce. My uncle used to work for Ragu (little known fact) and he always vouched for the product. Plus, my mother always used Ragu (blue label original) so I can vouch for it, too. Go easy with warming the Ragu since it can spatter and burn if it gets too hot. Just a slow simmer while preparing the other stuff is good.
You should have one burner open on the stove I hope. In a skillet, heat some coconut oil hot enough (not too hot) to saute some simple veggies. If you use olive oil just know it burns at a high temperature (this I learned from my wife Emily).
Chop the carrot into thin slices and same with a small stalk of celery. Slice the onion and about one-half of a bell pepper into thin strips. Rinse a handful of cannellini (great northern) beans. Slice a few mushrooms if you like and maybe a little fresh garlic.
Throw the bell pepper strips into the skillet with hot oil. These take the longest to cook. After a couple of minutes add the onions and carrots and celery. You don’t need very much of this concoction. It is called “soffritto” in Italian. This is added to the sauce to give it some additional flavor and substance. Throw in the beans and brown them a little (they add a nice texture and mild flavor). Once everything is tenderized and sauteed, in the same pan make space for the sliced mushrooms (funghi in Italian…foon-gee in my way of speaking) and add them with a little olive oil. The mushrooms soak up the oil and can be very tasty. Add a few pinches of Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper.
Continue to simmer until everything looks cooked.
Check the meatballs to make sure they don’t get too dry. Pour yourself a glass of beer and stir the Ragu on very low heat. Turn up the heat on the water for pasta and bring to a boil. Toss in a cup or two of rigatoni (or any pasta preference) and cook for about nine minutes (al dente).
Combine the sofritto and meatballs and Ragu in a saucepan (maybe the one used for the sauce if it's big enough) while the pasta cooks. Turn off the burners but cover the pan so everything stays hot. Drain the pasta in a colander and you’re ready to serve.
Mangiamo!
or as my mother would say, “sit down, eat, don’t fill up on bread!”
'You'll toss around and call my name'
Your Cheatin' Heart, Hank Williams, 1952
After years of tossing around, consumed with questions of where to live, what to pursue, how and where to travel - I was feeling major burnout. Thinking too much. Worrying too much.
Circumstances changed, however, and we decided to buy a house and just live life. The challenge was, this modest house on a regular street in a regular small city was nothing special. I have been used to special places and houses for most of my adult life so this was different. I had mixed feelings about the commitment we had made to this kind of lifestyle. Surprisingly, shortly after we moved in I had a profound insight.
I have been a student of Alan Watts’ lectures for decades and recently listened to one of his talks on the Bhagavad Gita. Krishna’s teaching to Arjuna about action without motive is profound. I let that soak in and went about my daily activities. I now think this teaching started to turn a key within me.
A few days later, we had a discussion about settling for something less than we had envisioned. We voiced concerns about this house not being extraordinary. And I immediately thought, ‘the extraordinary is within the ordinary’. This is a principle I have held close for many years and I believe it to be good and true. I went to bed that night content with the groundedness and simplicity of being a householder.
The next morning it came to me: just being human, having a body, gaining human consciousness and experiencing life - regardless of setting or circumstance - is the extraordinary experience!
When we think in terms of good or bad; when we compare; when we strive; when we adopt others’ expectations of ourselves - we often suffer and lose our way. This has been my experience.
I look out the kitchen window as I allow everyday grace to wash over me. I see kids going to school and geese overhead. I pause to notice the countless things that make up my everyday experience and I am grateful for this extraordinary life.
remembering our friend Dr. Abid Mohiuddin, sufi, poet, physician, companion.
"La ilaha illallah"
~
Things I am Unable to Capture
digital / slightly rendered / 2022
An Amish boy walking down the lane after a day's work;
Horses on the next farm neighing in the evening light;
The scrubbing of fall leaves. The smell of fresh manure on a fallow cornfield.
I can't describe the breeze that arose at sundown.
So I am left with a smudge of moonlight through the quickening clouds.
~
