Picture This...Spinach Dal and More Heroics from Phil

Frazzled morning, phone appointment first thing, and the certainty now that my camera was lost. Getting my essays and poems proofread and sent in for the "packet" deadline was an even more pressing priority, but how was I going to blog without a camera?


Well, picture this...
...a cup of red lentils, soaked for a couple hours and rinsed...
...a cutting board, with a chopped yellow onion, and three cloves of garlic and a half inch of ginger minced on the side.  Also on the cutting board, a bunch of Full Circle Farms spinach, roughly chopped, and some chopped parsley.

Now picture the onions sauteing in a little coconut oil, with cardamom seeds, crushed chilis, and turmeric. Picture the onions getting nice and yellow, and slightly translucent. Picture the lentils added to the pan, stirred around with the onions, changing color and getting a little shiny.

Listen to the roar and sizzle as water hits the hot pan--about 3 cups of water, and then imagine the pan covered, allowed to come to a boil, the odors of cardamom, turmeric and onion wafting invitingly as it simmers.

Imagine taking the lid off the pan, letting any excess liquid boil away. Imagine folding that beautiful spinach into the lentils, and adding the garlic and ginger, and a good teaspoon or so of black pepper, a little salt. Imagine serving it steaming in a bowl with parsley sprinkled over the top.

Does that sound yummy? But is it a reasonable and sustainable format for sharing recipes sans pictures?
I thought not.

I was shamefacedly preparing to email all my friends around here, to see if anyone might be willing to loan me a spare camera until I bought a new one, let everyone know what a loser I was. Phil was looking for used cameras on Craigslist. He turned over to eBay, then handed me the controls. A moment later, Phil said "Hey, let's just do that later..." and handed me my camera!

It had been in one of the side pockets of my bag, where I'd carefully stowed it when I came down from the car. I'd checked the bag at least three times, but he just gave it a little speculative feel from the side, knowing that I tend to pack things along pretty carefully. I hadn't even thought to check the side drink bottle pockets! This is so unlike me--not the putting the camera in an unfamiliar place, but both that I forgot it was there, and that I didn't find it there. I think with our tea kettle and immersion blender both having quit working a few days ago, I just jumped to the conclusion that this was another small domestic disaster, and was wondering what was going to go wrong next.

So, it's an execrable picture of the last remaining little bit, but here is a picture of the creation!

And Phil is the hero of the hour. It's a sweet role reversal, as usually I'm the "finder," but it's also a sweet regression for Phil, as in most of his other relationships throughout his life, he's been the finder!

Speaking of Full Circle Farms, I hope you enjoyed their Thanksgiving eBook. I was a little concerned that it would be meat, wheat, potatoes and no special diet accommodations, and was thoroughly impressed that most of the recipes had a gluten free and/or vegan variation. I'm so grateful that they were sensitive to that. Now they've put out another free eBook with recipes, tips and techniques for the holidays. You can get it here. Enjoy!

Have you ever thought you lost something and then discovered it after all?