birthdays are fun, getting older? hmm...

About this time every year, I really start thinking about my age and about my mortality. Not so much in gruesome terms, more like a startling afterthought, as in oh! forgot that for a moment. As much as I think, talk, and write about health and diet issues, I often forget that we are all transients on earth.

Obviously from my morose verbiage, I'm guessing one can tell my birthday is coming up, February 20th to be precise. I love birthdays---I think. It could be more like how I love giving parties and celebrating holidays. It's mostly the idea I like. The actuality, not so much. I love looking forward to birthdays, for sure. I love giving myself permission for little indulgences that I might forgo other times of the year. Yesterday for instance, I spent half the day at a spa after having breakfast with my daughter, Kristen, and followed all that with pampering from my hairdresser, Michelle. This whole day thing was a first for me.

Yes, the little indulgences part of birthdays is not the rub. The getting older part? It can't be all bad. It has it's good points. Compared to the alternatives, older is better. As I mulled this post over in my mind, I thought of talking about my age, my specific age in years, as part of a whole picture, full disclosure sort of thing. A this is who I am kind of thing. Then I remembered something my sister, Beverly, shared with us recently. She said a spiritual leader and teacher who we both respect said one should never tell her (or his) age. Not to be secretive or deceptive, not to pretend to be younger or older, but because we limit ourselves and others enough as it is. We label and define even without meaning to do so much of the time. He said not to add yet another meaningless bit of data to that limiting mess. So I am not talking specific numbers.  I may stop that entirely. For much of my life I have felt the need to reveal more than was needed, probably more than was wanted. For now I'll refrain and rethink those habits.

I will say, for me this is a significant birthday in many ways, my age being only one of them. In recognition of this, my daughter is planning a small celebration with my family. We met yesterday to talk about what we might do and what we would serve. As she started with a list of favorite party foods that we've loved and served over the years, I realized I could no longer eat any of those dishes. Wow! Times have changed. I now control everything that comes into my kitchen and as a result, everything that comes out of it. I focus on good foods I can eat and enjoy and all but forget about the rest. I tend to forget that not everyone cooks or shops the way I do. Not even those very close to me. Of course, if this were a party for someone else, I'd just eat first and no one would notice. Since the birthday celebration is for me, it feels a little different. We have worked it out, I think. Works well for me, anyway.

I love grilling or broiling shrimp even for cocktails. These are from US Wellness Meats.

So far we're planning lemon chicken sate with Sunshine Sauce via Well Fed, lots of beautiful fresh veggies like asparagus, cucumber, sugar snap peas, red peppers, grape tomatoes with a dairy-less dip as yet to be determined. We'll also have rare, grilled steak strips or chunks, shrimp in some form, baba ghanoush, mixed olives, our marinated mushrooms, fresh fruit, and a couple of versions of almond flour crackers. Did I mention this is a very small party? Well, my family is not all that small, but if we didn't overdo the food, we wouldn't recognize ourselves.

On what I find an interesting note, Kristen often says she's afraid to cook for me, even before I knew I had major dietary issues. She is especially hesitant to cook in my kitchen. I don't think I'm that picky, but we never know those things about ourselves, do we?

it's eggplant season, finally.

My attitude toward food is relatively simple. I count myself one of those who lives to eat rather than eats to live. That, of course, leads to lots and lots of decisions, some peculiar, a few mainstream, about what constitutes good food. On these issues I am certainly not unbiased.

I emphatically favor local foods in season, which means we try to buy that way. It's not necessarily easy, but it's good for the planet, and maybe more importantly, the food just tastes better and is most certainly healthier. With modern transportation, refrigeration, and demand, all sorts of foods are in stores all year from all over the world. They look tempting, but under that lovely exterior, lies virtually nothing that deserves a place on our plates or in our mouths.  The issues of genetic modification, hybridization for the purpose of creating thicker skins and more readily shipped produce, as well as ad campaigns to convince us we need tomatoes and grapes in February are worthwhile topics we'll save for another time. Right now it's summer, and so much is available to us, we could have a food party every day just reveling in the excitement of summer produce.

fresh, organically grown, local---it doesn't get much better

I live in central California in the San Joaquin Valley, and here this year tomatoes are just entering the markets. I mean real tomatoes, grown in the ground and grown just miles from where I live. This is the time of year to really enjoy tomatoes. If you want them in February, buy lots of them now or in the next month or two and throw them in freezer bags to be pulled out and used next winter. Clearly, you won't use these tomatoes in a crisp salad, but they'll be great as an ingredient in any cooked dish.

Another vegetable we see way too much throughout the year is eggplant. What kind of eggplant grows in December? And where? I know it's not in my garden, and I live in an area with a pretty mild winter. Eggplant needs heat, and it needs summer. Right now eggplant is looking pretty good. We cooked our first of the year this week, not a fancy or elegant dish by any means but seriously good.

large chunks of perfectly fresh eggplant

Often eggplant recipes begin with directions to peel, slice, and salt the purple beauty. It's a pain, it's wasteful, and it's totally unnecessary. What is important is starting with very fresh, very firm, and fairly young eggplant. Organically grown is always a plus as far as I'm concerned. Bottom line as always---it's going in your body!

For a simple dish that can be prepared after work in about an hour, try this eggplant with rice. And if you're lucky enough to be able to eat cheese, you must try eggplant on pizza. It doesn't get much better!

Eggplant with Rice

• 1 medium eggplant, cut in large chunks
• 1 onion diced
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped or sliced
• 1 lb ground beef or chopped lamb shoulder
• 1 to 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 can diced tomatoes in juice, I use Muir Glen
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in saute pan and brown eggplant. Eggplant will absorb oil as it browns, so add a bit more if needed. Add onion, garlic, and meat to pan and saute until light brown. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper; you can add more later if needed.
Pour in tomatoes and juice and simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes or until eggplant softens.
Add rice and continue cooking, covered for about 10 minutes until heated through.
Taste, adjust seasonings if needed, and serve.

I know this looks like a winter dish, but trust me, it's great in the summer.

Not very pretty, but really, really good---that's eggplant.