The Good. The Better. The Stuff.

It seems I have forgotten how to write.

I think I am still capable of forming complete sentences. But putting those sentences together in my head to form a cohesive story has proven to be extremely challenging as of late. I am hoping that it is, in fact, my head that has been causing a temporary dilemma, and not a permanent disabling of my actual writing functionality. It is not for lack of stories; I have been cooking and eating (and sleeping) up a storm. What I think is really going on is that my mind is overly cluttered lately with The Stuff, and therefore, has been too exhausted to help me out with story formation.

I really hate it when I can’t get past The Stuff. We all have The Stuff. It’s The Stuff that causes slight disruption to pleasurable activities and small responsibilities. The Stuff is usually what is hindering me when I forget birthdays, neglect to say my prayers at night, and, relative to my blog, forget to take pictures and write down recipes. The Stuff is distracting me right now, because I am having a hard time going forward when all I keep thinking about is how funny the word “Stuff” is.

The Stuff is anything stuck in your head that demands your attention, however important, or not, it actually is. Currently my Stuff includes, but is not limited to, bills and household items (a frequent Stuff offender), winding down my old job, preparing to start my new job, real estate/rental negotiations and politics, the health of two pugs, the health of my herb garden (which my two pugs have decided is a salad bar, and mom I swear if you nag me one more time to get a fence, you will also be Stuff), upcoming weddings, and these vampire books I can’t seem to stop reading.

I'll have to try to negotiate with The Stuff for brain capacity, because I have so much to share with you. For one, I finally got to tag along with my husband to one of his fancy benefit dinners! And you know what? I really was not impressed with the food. I know, right? What gives?

Whenever my husband goes to a work-function-gala, he fills me in on the wonderful meal that was presented as a part of the glamorous evening. It always sounds fabulous. In this case however, I actually thought my dinner I had prepared the night before was much better. He disagreed, but that’s okay with me.

At the event, we had a small plate of Fettuccini Alfredo to start, followed by about 1 lb of beef (I wish I could say that was an exaggeration. It was an embarrassingly large portion of beef) and polenta (too dry) with roasted veggies. I have to admit, the dessert was wonderful - I had a poached plum with cinnamon ice cream, and Nathan had a slice of chocolate cake that I didn't try but looked good.

My dinner the previous night consisted of a skirt steak that I marinated in lots of garlic and olive oil, and served grilled, smothered in Chimichurri sauce, a sauce made with fresh chopped parsley, garlic, jalapeno, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and red wine vinegar (I didn't write down the quantities, I'm sorry; I blame The Stuff). I also had some farmers market veggies - radishes, beets, carrots - that I tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and roasted at 475 for about 20 minutes. I think the carrots were Thumbelina carrots - they were very small.



Sometimes I just like my own creations better. That is, when I can sift through The Stuff and make myself some dinner.