Cookin' in the 'Cuse

On Saying "Good bye": A little love note to the 'Cuse

I have struggled long and hard with this post.  As you may know, I have accepted a new position in Chicago and my family and I are in the process of moving and grieving this incredible city and region we love so much.  I have seen many blogs come and go over the six and a half years I've been writing Cookin' in the 'Cuse.  Many of them simply faded away with a last recipe and no "goodbye".  But after the past few months when our food community has said sudden goodbyes to Deb Whiting, Linda "Sparky" Mortimer, and now chef Brian Shore, I've decided that I must find the words to express my love and gratitude to my adopted home because tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us.  As a priest, this is a fact of life I know all too well.  As a human being, it is a fact I'd rather deny.

This may not be my last post.  There continues to be much I'd like to write about in this space.  However the impact of Faceback on my "online" time has been enough to alter my blogging energy.  I also cannot discount becoming a mother--the most desired and wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.  My blogging has become very infrequent and I wish that were different.  But I thank each and every one of you for reading, keeping up with my food passion, and for inspiring me to seek out the most incredible food, food producers, and cooks/chefs Syracuse has to offer.

Even more, I am incredibly grateful that I have come to know and cherish so many of you.  Each time someone who reads this blog introduces themselves to me it totally makes my day.  And truly, one of the shifts for me has been about going from being a solitary writer and newcomer to the area to one who feels so engaged and connected to this community that it is painful to leave it.

I can't tell you what it means to be chosen to speak at the Slow Food CNY Food Speaker and Film series--I'll be at the Red House next Wednesday at 7pm to speak and the film, Food Stamped will be shown.  I am thankful for this last opportunity to gather with my food family.

Yes, there is great food in Chicago.  Nearly every neighborhood has a "celebrity chef" cooking in it.  And none of that matters to me.  I find myself asking the question I pondered exactly 8 years ago when I was preparing to move to Syracuse:  How will we eat?

Behind that question isn't just the mechanics of where we will buy our food.  This question is really about what community of farmers, producers, advocates, cooks, and friends will nourish us.  Syracuse, Central New York, the Finger Lakes--for all the ways you have nourished me and my family, thank you. 

I'm not sure what will become of this blog--we'll see.  I'm also not sure if I'll blog about food in Chicago.  But I do know this:  this is a great food destination and I will be back to visit, eat, and rejoice in this delicious community.

All my love to you,

Jennifer

If you see my Moleskine...

Photo courtesey of Molecover.

Or my black checkbook/wallet for that matter--please let me know.

I love the 'Cuse, and I know these are tough times, but I'm getting weary of things being stolen from my church.  Back in December it was our copper-lined downspouts (I'll be posting about a fund raiser we're having to help replace those, later).  But tonight, it was more personal.  My wallet was taken--I canceled all my cards, and will take a loss on the receipts, the work-related expenses for which I now won't be able to get reimbursement.

But it's my Moleskine that is making me cry.  It was covered in a leather cover like this one and it contained my training log, prayers, poems, and other bits of inspiration.  I was never without it. 

I'm assuming that it is utterly useless to the thief (unless they want to sit down and pray and read about what I've been eating for the past few months).  If they toss it somewhere around the University neighborhood--and you find it--please drop me a comment and let me know.  Or drop it off at Grace Church at the corner of University and Madison.  I'll be forever grateful to the person who can reunite me with my beloved journal.

Just me...

Self Portrait on the Occasion of my Birthday.

No recipe.  No food pics.  No market recommendations. Just deep gratitude for another year of life--the good, the bad, and the ugly.  But overall, mostly good.  Really.  And many of you know what a year it has been. 

On the phone with a dear friend I remarked on the numbers of friends who are no longer with us but should be--died way too young.  Makes me grateful for all the things--large and small--that keep me alive.  Or, to answer the question posed by the Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, these are some of the things that are saving my life right now--and I'm profoundly grateful for each and every one:

• A weekend full of memories of being with mom, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Lots of cooking, food, and laughter.  Reconnecting to the people who helped make me who I am.

• A loving husband who never fails to surprise and delight. 
  

• Amazing friends who are endlessly loving and forgiving.

• Days that begin with a cup of good coffee, morning prayers, and a few minutes of knitting.

• A dog that keeps me laughing hysterically.

• The health and strength to run and practice yoga and a body that feels healthier now than even four years ago.

• Living in Syracuse and knowing how good we have it.

• Hope for another day and the year to come.

• Gratitude that you, dear reader, are willing to share the journey with me.
  

Speaking of plans...(not about food)

Yesterday my secretary asked me a short but complicated question.  She asked "how I do it".  Meaning--how do I juggle all of the things I juggle which is mainly whatever challenges my own life seems to present and then the challenges presented to me by the lives of all the people in my care as priest and pastor.  It took me a while to answer and I don't really have a satisfactory answer except to say, "I do what I have to do", "I do what I know to do".

The more I thought of what a typical day or two looks like the more crazy my life seems.  On Tuesday night I was partying it up at the launch party for Edible Finger Lakes (more on that soon) and dreaming up a Memorial Day wine excursion to Seneca and Keuka lakes.  I woke up on Wednesday to attend my 5:50 am spin class while still hyped up on Renee Suzette's amazing truffles.  I went home, showered, had breakfast, met with a friend, went to the office, and then went to the hospital to bless and give communion to a parishioner who recently had both legs amputated and may not live more than a few days.  And then I went to lunch with a couple of colleagues and got a pedicure and manicure before heading back to work--then home again, finally at 9:00 pm.  In a few hours I leave for my 20th college reunion at Smith College.  Those are the drastically edited highlights--is it any wonder that I can find delight in a simply rolled truffle, a perfect cup of coffee or baby leeks tossed in a honey truffle mustard vinaigrette?  Does it seem absurd to be enjoying chocolate truffles and pedicures while people are sick and dying?  In some ways, yes.  But we all do what we can, don't we, while trying to enjoy the goodness that always seems to accompany difficulty.

In my email in box this morning was this quote from E.B. White.  I don't know how any of us who loves life with  all of its challenges and deliciousness "does it" but this quote makes a lot of sense to me. 

E. B. White                                 

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

               

Source: Notes and Comment, the New Yorker

How many signs does it take?

Where have I been?  I've been here.  Wanting to write, not able to write.  Not able to write about something that brings me such joy--food.  There's no great reason except, perhaps, writing exhaustion.  Within the past few weeks I've had to write for and edit two newsletters, write and preach several sermons, lead more meetings than I can count, and my last full day off was sometime around the middle of last month. 

So I haven't been able to write much.  Not that I didn't want to.  I thought about it every day.   

But today there was a sign that I should write something, anything.  A friend at the Co-op basically asked if I was ever going to blog again.  I guess it's been that long.  Then at the Regional Market I ran into a family that reads my blog and I was once again reminded that I hadn't written.  Then, I stopped by the Wake Robin Farm booth to pick up some milk and Bruce asked about the blog.  So I decided I'd write something--anything.

Then after running a few errands at the mall I found myself driving home behind a flat-bed truck filled with Toad Hollow Farm compost--alright, I get it! 

I have to give it to my fellow bloggers who are able to write nearly daily for years on end.  I hope this blog will be around for some time to come and I thank all of you for reminding me that it matters.

Archive Alert:  On this date in 2005 I was discovering Twin Cities Thai.