7.18.2009

OVERDUE


Not me, not quite yet anyway, but postings on this blog are long overdue. Looking back through my camera, minutes ago, I noticed that my last real food photos were from the excursion Chris and I took to Pittsburgh a few days after Christmas and the day I seriously began to suspect that I was pregnant. While that was, obviously, a life-changing time to for us, rest assured, we have continued eating and cooking and even enjoying food like normal non-expectant human beings. I was always a lover of dill pickles and ice cream and dry cheerios and so, I suppose, the second and third trimesters of this pregnancy haven't been as much a departure from me in terms of tastes as they have in terms of energy. Our meals are markedly simpler, as complexity of any sort interferes with my nap schedule.

We have had a great deal of other changes as well. On March 31, Chris and I sold Alchemy Spice Company—trading one baby for another, I suppose. After 160 hours of consultation work with Alchemy, then, I became virtually unemployed. Finding a job for the months between May and August seemed a futile exercise, especially in consideration of my hard-to-hide "bump," so I am spending this time working to build a respectable freelance writing career, finishing my book, and, of course, preparing for our little one's arrival.

Chris and I both lost a grandparent recently as well. In March, Jerry (Chris's father), Chris, and I traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts to attend Jerry's mother's funeral. Amidst the proceedings, there was a good amount of time to visit Jerry's favorite haunts and eateries, tour his childhood stomping grounds, and get to know extended family. Best of all, we loaded the trunk with Millie's Pierogies, Chicopee Provisions hot dogs and brats, Moxie soda, and devil dogs and brought a taste of New England back to Tennessee, some foodie salve for a son in mourning.

Our other loss occurred just two weeks ago, my grandfather died July 3, and, sadly, I was deemed too pregnant to travel by my midwife and, therefore, missed the services. They were reported to be a good celebration of his life and family, however, replete with the food of my grandfather's western Pennsylvania heritage: rigatoni, halupki, and ham sandwiches.

In May, Chris visited Chile and Argentina with his MBA class and came back aglow with the energy of new cultures and tastes. He plans for us to visit Argentina in next couple of years and is especially eager for me to taste his favorite calamari at a Buenos Aires Italian joint called Broccolini. Besides the Argentinean cuisine, which he particularly enjoyed, he was impressed by his ability to purchase a good bottle of Malbec and a liter of water for three American dollars. Cheers!

I'm now five short weeks from my due date—feeling very excited, large, unphotographable, and hungry. Chris is out of town for the evening, so I am enjoying one of my favorite single-girl meals, which includes a few pregnancy no-nos that I've chosen to ignore: Fromager d'Affinois double-cream brie; nitrate-free sopressata; chewy, fresh ciabatta; cantaloupe with black pepper; and heirloom tomato salad.

In the language of road-side stands across the country, enjoy the 'maters and 'lopes!

1 comment:

PattonPottery said...

If the guidelines I've read are to be believed, then no French babies have ever been born. . . .