A Perfect Meal, or How I’m Getting My Groove Back

I have been absent from this personal space for far too long, because, frankly, I have been in a funk. I have felt fried and maxed out and wholly uninterested in anything but the day-to-day basics. I felt this way when Sophia was four-months-old, too, so it must have something to do with the rhythms of new motherhood. I’ve been trying to make sense of why I am where I am, and wonder if  there’s some burnout zone between the adrenaline-rush sprint that is caring for an infant and the long-haul marathon of raising a little person. Regardless, while we’ve still been eating well, my cookbooks have been growing lonely on the shelf and it is time I turn this around. This project is for me, and I’m hoping my return to this corner of my life helps me to commit a bit more each day to personal renewal. On that note, on to this perfect meal...

My expectations for Mother’s Day are fairly realistic. We have a busy four-year-old and a needy four-month-old and Ben only has two hands to do all of this tending. With that in mind, I helped plan three beautiful meals for Mother’s Day, which I happily shopped for (while Ben hung out with Joseph) and which I happily helped prepare. For breakfast, Ben and Sophia made waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream (yum) and, for lunch, we girls made homemade pizza with Kalamata olives, fresh spinach and Volpi sausage. Also yum.

But dinner. Oh, dinner! On Saturday, Sophia and I went to the Longmont Farmers’ Market and bought the most beautiful organic baby arugula from Ollin Farms here in town. Gorgeous, tender little leaves fresh from the garden. We also bought some spectacular cranberry walnut bread from the Styria Bakery, which we paired with Haystack Mountain’s Haystack Peak, a “creamy fresh-ripened goat cheese [with a] creamy interior enhanced by a bloom-rind surface that gives it character and complexity.” On Sunday, Ben made a simple vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and we topped the organic arugula with Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings and toasted pine nuts. To finish off this beautiful meal, a perfectly-grilled, medium-rare New York strip steak.

This meal was so simple, so divine, such an unbelievably perfect combination of fresh, seasonal flavors. It was truly perfect, and really reminded me of why I love spending time in the kitchen, enough so that I even love helping out with a little bit of cooking on Mother’s Day.

And for dessert? Well, dessert could not have been more special, and was my favorite moment of the whole day. At Montessori preschool, students made Mother’s Day cards and inside was a single peach tea bag. Preparing and serving tea with a friend is one of Sophia’s favorite works at school. So, at the end of our beautiful day together, Sophia and I got out my lovely little porcelain tea pot, filled it with hot water, and she made us tea to have with our walnut brownies. She steeped, stirred and served, just like a grown-up hostess, and we sat together, we two girls, and had our own little tea party. 

A beautiful moment, right here in my own kitchen, and one I hope will continue to inspire me as I work to reclaim my culinary groove.