There's not much bacon can't fix

When I got home from tour, I had a hankering for tomato basil soup. I had cup in the airport on the way to Houston and it was damn damn good. It's not often you find actual good food in an airport. I had only ordered a cup....and didn't have time to order another one. So the soup was on on my mind for most of time I was out on the road. Once I was back at home,I searched on line, found some Tomato Basil Soup recipes, mixed and matched a few and whipped up the soup. It's ok. not as good as ones I've made before, or the one I had in the airport. But good enough. Had a bowl. waited a day, thought it maybe needed to settle. I started to think, how could I fix it? Thicken it up a bit. Should I add spice? Just seemed kind of blando. When I put the soup in the fridge I noticed we had a little bacon. When I saw it I thought, what could I do with the bacon? BLT's? It was just a few slices. Hmmm. Then I started reading my husband's cook's illustrated magazine I saw a recipe for simple Italian-style meat sauce. For some reason I thought maybe the recipe included bacon.....it didn't. But the recipe looked really good so I ended up making that and it was damn awesome. I followed the directions exactly. I figured the test kitchen people worked hard to figure out the best way to make it so why don't I just trust the experts. Generally, as I mentioned with the soup, I research recipes and try to create one from all of them that tastes great. Lately, except for the soup, I've been pretty successful. Anyway, i scooped up a spoonful of sauce and tasted it and it was so delicious I was kind of startled. Not startled, but definitely surprised. The combination of flavors made it simply delicious. I tasted it and it reminded me of Anthony. My sister's old roommate. Anthony died of A.I.D.S. but before he did, he taught me how to make sauce and meatballs from his grandma's family recipe. the flavors in this sauce was exactly the same as his. I hadn't thought of Anthony in a long time As I sampled my sauce, i was flooded with memories of Antny. When he died I think I was a freshman in college. I'd known him probably 10 years. He'd been in a band with my sister and roommates with her as well. I used to go up to Boston and visit her in the summers. The first time I met Antny he was in his underwear (I think they were either red or blue and they were um...form fitting) painting the kitchen. I came out of my sister's room, she had gone to work I think and I was like Woah. and he was all, "Hi, you're Donyne's sister" or something. I went back in the room and called my sister at work.  She informed me of who he was and that he did live there. So I went back out into the kitchen.....and so my relationship with  this super fun gay man began. He was the coolest most interesting kind of guy I'd ever met at that time. He was a waiter at Friday's (When Friday's was new and cool) and he wanted to make a hat out a big tub of fluff he had on the top of his fridge. He asked if I liked fluff......Fuck Yes. So he proceeded to feed me fluff n nutters galore. I was in heaven, we NEVER had fluff at home. This guy was awesome. When I met him, I was too young to really get what gay was. I just thought he was fun. He had toys and he had fluff  and he was just damn fun. So as I kept tasting the sauce I kept thinking of making sauce with him in his kitchen. And him telling me how he used to make the gravy on Saturdays with his grandmother. It was an all day affair. but when we finally sat down and ate it, incredible, just like this sauce I made.  It was nice to think of Antny.......but what about the bacon?

So this morning I pull out the bacon, the soup a little cheese. I cooked the bacon, chopped it up and sprinkled it on top of the soup....with a little Italian cheese mixture on top. Soup fixed...thanks to bacon. 

It's good to have connections

So I was on tour this weekend down in LA. Had been looking forward to the trip for a while as it kicks off several trips away from the cold and rainy northwest.  Friday night, great fun. Good show, danced, partied with friends I hadn't seen in a while. Good times. Next day, woke up and reached for my vitamins, I was out. I knew my old man had some, but he was sleeping so I thought I'd ask him for them after he woke up. I never remembered to ask. That afternoon, we were invited out to a bbq. We went & ate like fools.  When you are on the road, the chances to eat a home cooked meal are few and far between so we grubbed it up. Some of the best food I'd had in a while...a real meat fest. got back to the slanty bus. ( we were parked on an angle next to the HOB, shit was sliding down toward the front of the bus....) had a puff and started to cough. Not totally unusual, but the cough continued into the night. Just a little cough. Didn't think much of it. met up with more good friends and had cocktails and dinner. Rocked out at the show, had more cocktails and generally more fun. That evening I was supposed to have the day room as I was leaving the tour to go back home the next day and the band was leaving that evening to go the next city but due to a room mix up & the singer getting sick, we ended up sleeping in the drivers room that night. I think that was the kicker.....he is a smoker and the room smelled worse than the bar. smokey and gross. I hardly slept due to the stink, the tiny bed, and my husband rolling over on me due to the tinyness of the bed. my head was pounding, I was nauseous and mud butt was in full effect. When we checked out, I had the chills, the sweats and a headache. My husband insisted I must have partied too much and I kept telling him, no, this really doesn't feel like a hangover dear, it feels like the flu. So we walked around and tried to find something to eat. We ended up going back to the hotel and me having a nap by the pool. Took some advil and the fever started to break. I felt a world better. (comparatively). that evening  I was home back in my own bed. I thought if I just get a good night of sleep, I'll probably be cool. Nope. I slept for a while and then woke up with the rigors. I was moaning and thrashing. My husband asked me at one point when should he take me to the emergency room. I told him never. I thrashed around for a while and finally he gave me something to sleep and I passed out. Woke up coughing a few hours later. the flu or whatever this is really had me in its grasp. Totally sucks. Luckily, I had a massage scheduled for that night. My wellness associate Dr. Amanda Anderson, gave me a hydro therapy treatment. and then I had the massage. not too deep. I came home and slept...and slept and slept.  I still am a little snotty this morning, but the fever is definitely gone and my body doesn't hurt to walk, move or blink. I am so thankful to have health connections. If you get a chance and need some wellness help, and you are in Portland Oregon, check out Emily Gilbert at Emilygilbertmassage.com and Dr. Amanda Anderson at FamilyTreeMedicine.com. They are wellness rock stars!

I think I may have turned off the hurry

Time

I used to be very 

uptight

about being

on it. 

But I've grown

soft & soggy

in this Portland bubble~

3 years of 

rain

has softened my

soul

and I think I may have

turned off the 

hurry. Washed

clean of the 

need for

speed.

Shanta M. (2008)