Oak Den

So. Yesterday something possessed me and I felt like cooking. A lot. Of different things.

I went to the grocery store and stood in front of the meat section somewhat befuddled and then the butcher came out and I started asking him questions. Lots of them. I probably stood there talking with him for a good ten minutes. Asking him all sorts of meat questions. I had the thought that he might have been asking himself how someone as obviously old as I am has been able to get to this point in life and be so amazingly clueless about meat and what to do with it.

I didn't explain all my years of going meatless and how when I became pregnant with Abbie I decided to eat meat "for the baby" and I haven't been able to go back to the meatless ways yet.

Anyway, he helped me get the kind of meat I needed for what I was going to make, and I went on my merry way, undeterred by the lateness of the dinner hour.

You see, two friends have recently asked me if I've made The Pioneer Woman's Steak Bites yet, and I haven't and I was told in no uncertain terms that I "HAVE TO MAKE THEM!".

So I did.

And I forgot to take a picture.

But they pretty much looked like this:

(Pioneer Woman's Steak Bites from thepioneerwoman.com)

Just on MY plate. Hers do actually look better. But I'm sure mine tasted as good.

And I also made Crash Hot Potatoes. But you already know that I am making those every few weeks.

And the family gobbled everything up. They were in a mild state of disbelief that I had made such cowboy food for them.

I also made her Apple Tart only we don't have the puff pastry in our little grocery store so I bought Phyllo dough instead. And it worked fine. A little baclava-ish, but good none-the-less.

So, yes, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen again last night. But it was pretty fun and everyone did enjoy the food.

But what I really want to talk about is this:

I used fresh lemon on the sliced up apples ( I used Granny Smiths) and tossed the apple slices around and then put the brown sugar in and tossed them around again.

When I cut into that lemon I was overcome by the smell. I wondered how long it had been since I've smelled an honest-to-goodness lemon. Not a lemon scent. Not Realemon from the bottle. Real I-just-cut-this-lemon-after-rolling-it-on-the-counter-to-make-it-juicy Lemon.

I was taken away to a new place. A real place. A sweet citrusy place.

And I liked it.

And the leftover Granny Smith apples slices covered in lemony brown sugar? Wow. That was as good as anything else last night.

It made me think that I need to have more real lemons in my life.

I think that when life brings me sweetened lemon-aid and I'm tempted to go for the soothing distraction, I need to say "No thanks. I want the real lemon."