When I was a kid we moved around often, like every two years. These weren’t international moves, but America is an enormous country. While maybe not as different as say France and Spain, the customs and phrasings of Tennessee are not the same as those of Wisconsin – that was the move I made between second and third grade. As soon as I could identify the differences in these places, I would adapt like a little chameleon: soda became pop, ya’ll became you guys, nasal sounds were replaced by flat long vowels, easy peasy.
I think that I am just someone who adapts; maybe never living in one place does that to you. While part of me hates a change a bigger part of me loves evolving, traveling, learning, experiencing; these are all types of changes. One thing that almost always causes change in me, even if it’s only for a short time, is reading. I am a person who adapts to the book I am reading. When I read Little House on the Prairie, I desperately wanted to go west and pioneer. Little Women had me convinced I should become a writer. American Psycho left me terribly angry and violent. So you can imagine the effect Eat, Pray, Love has had on me. Not only have I researched Bali and Yoga, felt sick with nostalgia for Italy, and strongly considered planning a trip to India, but also I have wanted to eat everything in sight. I haven’t been eating a lot, but today I simply had to bake bread to go with pasta tonight.
So in honor of finishing Eat, Pray, Love, which I absolutely enjoyed and will address soon, I give you Basil Pasta Nests(i.e. pasta with basil marinara sauce) and something resembling a loaf of bread from Europe.
It never ceases to amaze me that flour, salt, yeast and water can create something that is so delicious and sustaining.
This is a recipe, if you can call it that, is from Rachel Ray’s 365 and No Repeats; it’s so good and of course so quick. Basically sauté some garlic and onion, add a can of crushed tomatoes, add fresh chopped basil and then finish with three spoonfuls of prepared pesto. While not difficult it was far better than jarred sauce.
Do you like change or does it freak you out?
