" And remember that life's a great balancing act..."

                                             

I work in an industry that often assumes, if not flat out expects, that if you are a part of it, your work should take precedence over your life: all of it.
And when it is not the case, you are viewed by some - or most - of your coworkers as lazy, lacking ambition, not devoted enough...  It doesn't matter if you are a fantastic worker. If you go above and beyond to help out or be a team player. If you always have a smile on your face and never fail to do what needs to get done.

I was raised by people who taught me the value of hard work. As a result, I have always had a very strong work ethic. Finding myself in this line of work was a bit like adding insult to injury.
I fell right into it's trap. I never questioned the long hours, or the bad pay. I always justified that if I was working hard, and doing something that I loved, then it must be worth it, or at least ok. I never wondered if it was right or wrong. It was just the way that it was.

                                               

Then one day, life changed it's course and blessed me with an injury that made working those hours extremely painful, and sometimes impossible if not under the influence of pain medication. And I started to wonder if all of this actually makes any sense. Should it really be, that in order to pursue the work that you love, you must deprive yourself of all other pleasures and even basic care? Does that really make any sense? How is that even sustainable? If you keep overworking yourself, and hurting your body, without ever giving anything back to it by the time you're 40, you won't even be able to work anymore!
And in my case, what is the point of giving myself wholeheartedly to a profession that I know I will not be able to keep doing for much longer? 

  There are some people, who choose their career over their personal life.  Others, choose their personal life over their work.  Then there are those blessed few, that either out of sheer luck, or valiant effort, find the perfect balance between both.
 No one is right, no one is wrong.  We are not better, and they are not worse.

                                            

  You go to work, you punch in, you do your job.  You do it well, you do it right, and you take pride in it.  But when the time rolls around, you punch out and you are done.  You call your man, you text your mom, you go to yoga or walk your dog. You meet a friend for dinner, you volunteer, you go spend time outside. You live your life.  You enjoy your home.  You go to a movie, or an art show.  You read a book or cook some dinner.  They watch you, and although they secretly envy you, they judge you.  You must not be committed enough to your career.  You just don't have enough passion.  You arent' ambitious enough to push yourself further.

  On the other side of the coin, you watch them, and feel sorry, for they expend all of their energy on work.  They neglect friends, family, lovers... They neglect their home, they don't have any pets, their fridge is empty, and worse of all, they neglect themselves.
Sure, they are climbing to the top of the mountain, sometimes at an impressive speed.  They are being showered with awards, recognitions, promotions, and often, financial rewards.  You keep walking a straight line, learning, growing, evolving, but not really making any tangible progress as far as the career path is concerned.

                                                         

  But at the end of the day,  or the week, you are less tired.  You enjoy better health, you have more people who have your back, and more love and laughter to rejoice in and spread.  You are not better, they are not worse.
  It's just a matter of which side of the coin means more to you.  What do you want to see in the fabric of your life when you are looking back on it?
Ultimately, the ideal, is to join those who have found the balance.  However, this is sometimes easier said than done.

  Working in this industry after my injury, has made me realize that I don't want to do this forever.  I always remind my coworkers that "first and foremost we are humans" and sometimes, in this line of work, people are treated in a way that does not necessarily respect that statement. 

                                                     

  I want to work in an environment that respects the fact that it doesn't matter how hard we try, most of us can't leave our problems at home.  I want to work somewhere where we can be as committed to our work as we are to our lives, and where most of my coworkers understand and agree with that mindset.  I want to work somewhere where the first thing you hear when you get in is "Hi, how are you today?" and where you can catch up on what you did over the weekend while working.
I want to be on the side of the coin that spends time with their loved ones, that has weekends off to go on little getaways, that has energy to do something fun on their days off.

  Don't get me wrong, I do believe that it is possible to achieve this environment in this industry, and had it not been for my injury, I would still consider finding or creating that place where the passion for the craft and the respect for the worker can coexist. But the truth of the matter is, when my leg hurts everyday, and I have to stand for a living, with no option of sitting down, at any point during my work day or anytime soon, I am forced to reevaluate my situation.

But then again, how do I switch it up? I have been doing this for 12 years now.  I have a fantastic resume.  I am good at it.  I enjoy it (well, I enjoy most of it... Not so much the insane hours, or the mediocre pay but everything else yes...).  How do I dive in to the unknown? How do I face my fear of failure? How do I even make the transition? Who will hire me with no experience at doing anything else?  And what if I miss the industry?  What if I am suffering from a classic case of "the grass is always greener"?

                                                    

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it's just like diving into the ocean, or a river or a lake...  The water might be cold, or murky.  My skin might tighten up as soon as my feet get wet, and I might consider for a moment that I should just lay in the sun instead.  But I don't. I force myself past that initial uncomfortable feeling, because I know it will be worth it. I force myself to get in the water, even thought I am not sure what else is in it.  And when I find myself submerged in it, swimming freely and playfully, I forget how hard it was to get in.  There is nothing as wonderful as swimming in a natural body of water.  Communing with nature in such an intense way that you almost forget where you are, while at the same time being more present and aware of your surroundings than at any other point in that day.

So, this year, I vow to myself that I will make that change... I will slowly enter the cold water, even if my entire body hurts when I submerge myself past my belly button.  I will dive in, even if I am terrified at who or what I might encounter on the other side.  Because the truth of the matter is, life is too short to work only for my days off.

                                                              

And if I fail? "On I will go, though the weather be fowl...Onward up many a frightening creak, though my arms may get sore and my sneakers may leak..."

The grass is greener where you water it, and my arms can no longer reach to water my current lawn (and I can't afford to buy a hose!)  So, I must move on to a smaller patch...And I must believe, that just as I was able to water this one and keep it green and alive for this long, I will be able to care for this next one, and watch it grow into a lush, beautiful lawn, for many years to come...

The abominable eggplant

                                                          

  Last Saturday at the market, I marveled at the beauty of a large mound of at least six different varieties of eggplant. As I handed the vendor my choices she said to me "Aren't these beautiful?"and she added that I was missing out on her favorite variety, the Bianca Rosa.  She is from Israel, where she told me there are so many varieties of this fruit (I know, weird) and out of all the ones she has ever had, this is the best. I ended up going home with a Bianca Rosa and a Fairy Tale (even the names are beautiful!) currently in my favorite bowl on the counter.

                                       
                                       
    When we were kids, my parents were very strict about our eating habits.  As annoying as most of their rules were to my childhood self and my brother, looking back now, I see that most of them were meant to keep us as nourished as possible while also teaching us the value of food.

                                    

  We weren't allowed to eat sugary/colored cereals; cookies and snacks were kept in a locked pantry to which only our mother held the key; sodas were only for vacations or special occasions; you had to eat what was served whether you liked it or not, and if you didn't eat it, it would be served to you again for your next meal...Fortunately for our little brother, these rules seem to have been forgotten by the time he was eating cereals, but that is another post altogether...

  One of my strongest memories of these enforcements, was a night at the dinner table, when my brother F didn't want to eat his eggplant.  We hated it! He fought, he cried, he argued, while my parents calmly explained to him that there were people who didn't have anything to eat, and that eggplant was not only delicious, it was also good for you, so he had to eat it.  Against his will, F swallowed the eggplant, and minutes later, I watched in horror as he threw it up all over the dining room floor.

  I am not sure if this turn of events changed my parents rules at all - they actually claim to not remember this episode - but it made my disdain for eggplant became embedded in my brain forever.  Or so I thought...

 Years later I ended up working at a Greek restaurant first as a cook, then as a sous-chef.  There is a quintessential Greek spread made of eggplant called Melitzanosalata.  We made buckets of it every day, which meant I had to taste it every day.  To my surprise, I loved every bite of it.

 After that, I decided I would let eggplant into my life, and discovered that there are only a few preparations of it I don't enjoy.  Among my favorite are picy szechuan eggplant which is amazing (they deep fry it before stir frying it with the seasonings), as well as a Japanese dish, in which it's served with a sweet sauce that also blew my mind the first time I had it.

                                                  

 This past summer, I found an easy and quick way to prepare it (very similar to Melitzanosalata) that can be used as both a dip or a side dish (I love me some dip!), and I  made it almost every week (I'm actually making another batch today, since from my visit to the market on Saturday it seems as if Northern California is still stuck in the Summer as far as produce is concerned).
 Below is the recipe.  If using as a dip, it's delicious with whole grain pita chips.  If using as a vegetable, it is fantastic mixed with equal parts of brown rice or quinoa for lunch.

 My brother still won't eat it, but I hope my experience will inspire him to some day  open to the sweet side of this old enemy of ours.
 
Roasted Eggplant Dip/Side

2                    ea                 Eggplants, peeled and diced into large chunks
2                    ea                 Garlic Cloves, diced
2                    ea                 Tomatoes, diced into small pieces
1                   TB                 Shallot or Red Onion, finely chopped
2                    ea                 Lemons, juiced (you might need a bit more or less to taste)
                                           Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil and Cilantro or Dill to taste.

                                    

Preheat the oven to 350.  On a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, toss the eggplant with the garlic, enough olive oil to coat, and a few sprinkles of salt.

                                        

 Add a splash of water to tray, and roast for about 20 to 30 min, or until the eggplant is soft and looks shiny and brownish.  If it looks like it's drying too much, add more water.

                                        

Let cool.  In a food processor, puree the eggplant with a little olive oil and the juice of one lemon.

                                      

Then add the tomatoes, onion or shallot and the herbs, and season to taste.  If it's too dry, add more olive oil, or even a little water.

                                        

Enjoy!

Summer Caipirinha

    For the last week, I've been on a Caipirinha kick.  Although I usually don't randomly have cocktails during the week, I was on vacation last week, visiting my brother, my sister in law and my gorgeous niece and god daughter, E.
   Once at their house, I found out that my grandma had decided to come see me from the Dominican, since Florida is a lot closer for her to travel to than our city by the bay.  I was so incredibly happy!

                                              

   My husband had stayed in San Francisco for this trip so that I didn't get distracted from my self appointed duties of nanny/personal chef for the family during my stay, and one afternoon while I was on the phone with him, he suggested that I get a bottle of cachaça and make some Caipirinhas for my grandma and I. It sounded delightful!

   On one of our outings,  my sister in law C and I, took little E on her first trip to the liquor store to get some goods for my brother and I: Presidente for myself (it's my favorite beer from back home, a tasty, refreshing Pilsner and I can't get it on the west coast), some random beers for my brother (including a delicious bourbon barrel aged bock from Schmaltz Brewing http://www.shmaltzbrewing.com/CONEY/hb.html) and a bottle of cachaça for the house.  We were fortunate enough to find one of my favorite (both in brand and in style),  Ypioca Prata http://www.ypioca.com.br/empalhadas.html .

                                 
    That same evening, I made a few rounds of Caipirinhas, basing my improvised concoction on the memory of my friend D's Brazilian friend's recipe (he showed us how to make them a few years ago in the island) my husband's (named one of Sf Chronicle's Bar Stars and Cocktail Wizards in 2012, but my cocktail wizard and star since 2006) guidance, and my taste bud's memory.

                                         

   Sitting out on the patio in the calm humidity of a warm summer night, right after a light drizzly rain, catching up and savoring this delicious cocktail, was just what the doctor had ordered.  We enjoyed the drinks in love and laughter, in an absolutely lovely evening.

  After the first two rounds, I went back in the kitchen to make our third, but we only had one lime left.
I searched the fridge for a hidden one (I was sure I had seen another one in there a few hours earlier) and instead found a half melon.  Bingo!

                                           

 I made our third and last cocktail of the night with the addition of sweet summer Melon (alas, I believe it was a cantaloupe from California even though the south can produce some fantastic summer melons...), and they were exquisite.  I wanted to add some Basil or Mint in there too, but we didn't have either.

The "Melon Caipirinhas" were so good, that a couple of nights later, I made some more.  And a few nights ago, back in San Francisco with J, I once again, enjoyed another one.

   It's a tasty and refreshing drink.  Light enough for those faint of "spirit" (pun intended), tart enough for those who prefer something more acidic, but sweet enough for those who like a little more sugar in their lives.  And for those of us who miss the tropics, it's just as heartwarming as a nice comfort food meal.

  Melon Caipirinha (serves 2)

 2                                   ea          Large limes, sliced in 6.
1 to 1 1/2                       TB        Evaporated Cane Sugar
1/2                                 cup        Ripe Melon, cut into medium size chunks
1/2                                 cup        Cachaça (I prefer Ypioca Prata but any will do)
                                                    Crushed Ice (enough to fill two rocks glasses)

Note: Evaporated cane sugar is less refined than your average white sugar, and therefore has a much stronger sugar cane flavor, which I prefer.

  In a large measuring cup or bowl muddle the limes with the sugar. I found tit was a lot easier for my non expert muddling self to do it in a receptacle with a handle so I could make sure to muddle the ingredients well enough, without risking the bowl sliding out from under me and breaking :)

                                            

  Since I didn't have an actual muddler, I used the back of a pestle from a classic Dominican mortar and pestle or "pilon de majar" (http://www.etsy.com/search?includes%5B%5D=tags&q=wood+mortar+pestle).
 You could use the right end, provided you don't use the mortar and pestle for anything savory such as garlic or onions, or your drink will taste rather funky, and not in a good way.  If you don't have a muddler, or a pestle, you can use a large metal spoon, or a wooden reamer citrus juicer (http://www.oxo.com/p-464-wooden-lemon-reamer.aspx)

Once the lime juices have been released, add the melon and keep muddling until the fruit is in very small pieces, and you can see the juice in the bowl.

                                      

  At this point, add the cachaça, as well as the ice, and mix a few times with a spoon or a chopstick.  Taste, and add more lime or sugar if needed.  The sweetness of the melon will determine how sweet or tart your drink will be, adjust accordingly.

                                       
   Pour directly into two rocks glasses (this is one of the few cocktails that are served with the same ice used to mix them with) and enjoy.
 I highly recommend sharing it with loved ones (the more the merrier) and if possible, sitting outside while doing so.
Salud!

                                       

Cucumber and Lime Salad

This summer I have started to enjoy a few vegetables that were not my favorite in years passed.
One of them is the cucumber. I have always loved it's crunch and refreshing flavor, but found that after I ate it, I found myself burping cucumbers for the rest of the day (maybe too much information :)).  Luckily, in the last few weeks or month, I discovered that all cucumbers are not created equal, and also, that when I remove the seeds, this unpleasant side effect is no longer a problem (at least for me).

                                   

The revelation came in a serendipitous way. I was out with my little sister, on our way to the Academy of Sciences, when I got so hungry that I had to stop somewhere and grab a snack (I usually have snacks with me, but I had purposely made myself a giant mid morning breakfast of fried eggs, toast, avocado, early girl tomatoes and bacon to ensure I was full for our outing...my constant hunger is inexplicable!).  When I realized that it was serious, we were right in front of the new location of a fabulous Mexican restaurant.  We went in, and since I just wanted something to tie me over, I ordered one taco, and at the last minute, saw the cucumber salad (printed on the menu as: Fresh Cucumber Salad, Lime, Radishes, Chile) and couldn't resist.

 

  Some of my chef friends joke that I put lime in everything (not true!), others agree with me in that most things taste better with lime (most definitely true!), but all of them are on the same page as far as the fact that I do love limes, and am prone to order anything that features it as a main part of the dish (most definitely true!).

                                                
   When the salad arrived, it was as simple as it sounded. The cucumbers were cut on a bias, unpeeled and unseeded (the varietal was English cucumbers), the radishes were sliced thin on a mandoline, scattered freely around the plate, and the lime juice was so present that the aroma immediately filled the air.  Specks of chili powder gave the pale green palette a fiery spark.  When I placed one in my mouth I was blown away by how fresh, crunchy and satisfying a cucumber could be. Light yet filling, the lime and the cucumber perfectly balancing one another, and the saltiness and spiciness enhancing both flavors. Genius! Or as my lovely husband would say: " Sweet simplicity!"

   A few days later, on my birthday, I decided I had to make this salad for our afternoon gathering! I got some cucumbers, but unfortunately could only find regular ones and using my taste bud's memory, recreated the dish as best I could.  It was wonderful, and I ate lots of it.  Unfortunately, the aforementioned side effect made an appearance later that day.  I packed some for my lunch the next morning (I have found that the salad holds incredibly well for up to three days, without the cucumbers getting mushy at all) and later that afternoon, I was once again attacked by the cucumber burp monster. I sadly thought it was over for the lime cucumber salad and I .

                                       

 A few weeks later, we were in Auburn at my friend's farm for the weekend.  They went out to their vegetable garden and came back in with several Armenian cucumbers and summer squashes. My friend E had made Pozole for dinner, so I figured I would contribute a nice fresh summer salad to the meal and try my luck with the cucumbers one more time.  This time, I included the zucchinis, as well as some corn, tomatoes and avocados they had laying around the kitchen, and some thinly sliced red onions.
It was fantastic, but more importantly, there were no side effects!

                                              

 

 

 

                                        

We ended up taking some cucumbers and zucchinis back to the city with us, so the following morning, I made another batch, this time just cucumbers, zucchinis and a few slices of heirloom tomato (I had a few green zebras, which made the salad a beautiful green rainbow), no radish at all, and I seeded the cucumbers. I ate it a few days in a row, with no issues whatsoever!

                                      

 This salad is extremely refreshing and light, and so easy and quick to prepare. Great for a first course, or an afternoon snack or mid morning break. If you have the same problem as me, I definitely suggest going out of your way to find either English or Armenian cucumbers, and why not, take the extra step of removing the seeds (better to prevent than lament). I hope you can still find some of these delightful summer veggies in your area, and if not, take note for next year. One of my favorite things about discovering or creating new recipes, is adding them to my mental repertoire and revisiting them every year, when the season that delivers whatever ingredients were the focus of that particular dish. finally arrives once again.

Cucumber and Zucchini Salad
Ingredients:

1              ea               Small Armenian Cucumber (seeds removed...or not :))
1/2           ea               Zucchini
1              ea               Heirloom Tomato
2              ea               Limes, juiced
2              ea               Radishes, thinly sliced (optional)
1/2           ea               Avocado, cut in small chunks
                                   Salt (to taste but be generous, cucumbers need a decent amount)
                                   Fresh Chili Powder (to taste)

Method:
Slice the cucumber in half lengthwise.  If doing so, use a small spoon to remove the seeds. Then cut the cucumbers diagnoally into about one inch chunks.  Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and cut in chunks about the same size.
In a glass or other non reactive bowl, mix the vegetables and add half of the lime juice, the salt, the chili powder and radishes and avocado if using.  Mix well (it's better to mix by hand to distribute the juice evenly and not bruise the delicate flesh of the fruits and veggies) and let sit for five minutes.  Mix again, taste, and at this point, decide whether or not you would like to add the rest of the lime (or more salt) and add the chili powder ( I personally find that for this particular dish, you need to add almost too much lime juice -if there is such a thing- for the flavor to really be imparted into the cucumbers and have a lasting effect.
You can enjoy right away, or refrigerate for up to 4 days (maybe more, I just always finish it by day 3 :). If you are eating is a leftover, make sure to lighlty mix it again before consuming it.


Notes: If using radishes, it's better to enjoy the salad right away. When they sit, they bleed into the lime juice and also loose their crunch.

My dear abandoned readers:
A lot has happened since the last time I posted anything (almost three months ago!).
I became an official aunt ( I have plenty unofficial nephews and nieces, but this one is my brother's daughter, which makes me a legal aunt!), I turned 31 (I can no longer check the 25-30 box, now I am in the 30-31), my dad turned 65 (which is how old I remember my grandparents being when I was a little girl), and our landlord raised our rent to a grand total that makes living in this wonderful city a very big challenge (according to a report released by the national low income housing coalition, San Francisco is now officially  the most expensive place in the country to rent housing. Having lived here on and off for over ten years, this doesn't surprise me at all).

 

                                                

On my birthday, as I enjoyed some tasty snacks and libations, surrounded by loving friends and beautiful flowers that they all had brought me, my friend E called me on the lack of blog posts.
  She's a fiery little thing (which I am sure is partly due to her wonderful, explosive mix: half Filipino, half Mexican), but at the same time she's sweet as a peach at it's peak, and in her high pitch voice she just said it: you haven't written since June! Just write a small post, about anything, about your birthday! Do it tonight after we leave! Do it right now!

                                         

As my eyes filled with tears that I was careful to hold back, she apologized for making me feel sad, it wasn't her intention. There was no need for her apology. She was right! And that is exactly what made me sad. I needed to be called on it, to be held accountable for my lack of presence in my own blog.

  But here is the thing about writing (and about a lot of other things in life) the more you do it, the more you do it.  And, just as much (or I guess I should say just as little), the less you do it, the less you do it...
  Practice makes perfect, and lack of practice makes us forget that we were ever even remotely good at something.

 

                                           

  It starts slowly, with a minor change in schedule (which for me usually amounts to a vacation, having to work a 6 day week, or working doubles for a while), and then when trying to catch up with the things that were put off due to the change (the pile of laundry in the hamper, the floors that need to be swept, the menu that needs a seasonal update at the restaurant....) I get caught up on the long, never ending list of to do's and I find that writing becomes one of the things that I add to the list every day, without ever crossing it off.

                                               

  Then before I know it, a new routine has creeped into my life, in which writing is not even a part of it (now it's not even on the list, which makes me feel a little less guilty about not crossing it off) and although I still yearn for it, my brain no longer thinks in blog posts, or essays, or book excerpts , it now thinks in regular thoughts, the way I imagine non writer's brains must think all of the time.

  I find that mostly, the reason why I put it off, is because of how much time it takes me.  And when lack of time presents itself as a challenge in my personal life, and I have to put things on the scale and weigh my priorities, my yoga practice always comes first, and (this may come as a surprise to you :)), cooking (and eating) comes second.

                                    

  Therefore, even though I have not found the time to write about it, I have still been cooking delicious and nutritious meals.
 So to make it up to you for the lack of posts in these past three months I plan on backtracking and sharing  my favorite meals of this past summer, before the first day of Autumn.

 I hope that you will all find at least a couple of recipes that you can still enjoy before we transition into pumpkins and cranberries!

A promise is a promise

                                                          
  How does the saying go? The way to a man's heart is through his stomach? I for one fully agree with this one. Although it might apply to us ladies as well (at least it does to me :).
  As you might remember from a post not too long ago, sometimes, when I am trying to convince my husband that the purchase of a certain cooking or serving utensil will be beneficial, I tell him that I will cook something in it that will make him be happy that we got it.
  I consider it of out most importance to the ongoing success of our marriage, to always, and as soon as possible, follow up on such promises.  As my dad always says "he who pays, rests".

   So this past weekend, even though I had a lot of chores to catch up on, and I spent an entire day of potential catching up on responsibilities  having fun with friends instead, I decided it was time to pay my culinary dues.
 The items in question were purchased together, as the sighting of one brought on the discovery of the other.  My husband had to provide some cash help for the purchase, and he didn't get his usual veto right that he gets at thrift shops.  These dishes had to be special...Very special.

  This was the main reason why I hadn't  cooked this meal right away.  Although for the bundt pan, I had known what I would bake in it when I bought it (it was one of my arguments but more on this later), for the roasting pan/dutch oven, I had to really think about it.

                                                
    It had to be something large, something that would keep well for leftovers, and something that my husband would find particularly appealing. That meant one thing: meat.  I thought about doing Moussaka.  Kokkari's version (a wonderful Greek restaurant in San Francisco) is his favorite thing to eat.  For whatever reason, I  happen to make it very well :).  But for that same reason, I don't enjoy it that much (made it one too many times).  So a pan this large filled with that dish would mean that my husband would have plenty of food for the week, but I would be kind of screwed.
 A Lasagna would have been good, but he is the Lasagna maker in the family, and I wouldn't want to steal his thunder.  A stew would have made sense, but something in my heart told me that the first dish should be something baked.
  I looked at a few cookbooks for inspiration, and found it! Pastitsio!  As my husband dubbed it, a "cousin to Moussaka" Pastitsio is a Greek dish of pasta, meat sauce and bechamel, baked in layers to a delicious creamy perfection.  I love Pastitsio!

                                
    So Monday morning, pressed for time and hoping to fit in some actual sitting down before I had to go back to work at 4am on Tuesday, I tackled the task of making these two dishes for our dinner.
  I read a few recipes (Kokkari's Cookbook and Falling Cloudberries) to remind myself of the main spices and layering techniques and to make sure I had everything I needed.
Pastitsio is traditionally made with Macaroni Pastitsio, a long tubular pasta.  Although I appreciate the beauty of it, this one would be made with our house staple of whole wheat penne.

                                                   
  I had some ground beef and pork from Marine Sun Farms, a cooperative of local Northern California farms that raise pastured animals, and since I had been to my friend C's farm last weekend, I also had a surplus of fresh milk from her sheep.

                                                        
I cooked the pasta, made the meat sauce, made the bechamel, and assembled the dish in my perfect pan. It looked gorgeous even before I baked it, and so unbelievably appetizing after it had spent an hour in the oven.

                                       

                                                         
As for the cake  I had been waiting for it for days now so even though my husband was almost opposed to me making it, as he is always trying to get me to sit down, I started prepping for it in between layers of Pastitsio.

                               
    My first cake in this pan would be the orange cake I had read about hours before purchasing it. When I saw the pan, I immediately saw this cake in it.   It wasn't actually a bundt cake, but the recipe had captured my undivided attention, from the moment I first spotted the picture in the cookbook until... well it hasn't really stopped yet.
                       

                                     
    It looked beautiful and delicious, but it was also interesting from a technique and ingredient point of view.  Why did it have yeast? Why was the yeast not bloomed before adding to the batter? What would this cake's texture be like? I created an idea in my mind of what these variables would produce, and it was going to be very special. I cannot express how much joy I experienced upon depanning this cake, as well as every time I eat a slice or even walk by it, as my suspicions were confirmed: this cake is fucking awesome!

                                  
That evening (if 6pm can be called evening, when you have to be up at 3 am dinner time is earlier than usual) we sat down together to enjoy our meal.

                                              
                                     
  I am happy to report that both items delivered enough deliciousness to make the purchases well worth it.

                                     
  As we cheered to our meal, I made sure to remind J that this is only their first round, and there will be many more delicious eats prepared or served in these treasures.
  I hope that this inspires you to put your own treasures to use.  When things are not being used, they are still beautiful in their own way, but when you use them as they were intended to, they come to life.