Inspiration from an Onion
I've been thinking a lot about inspiration lately (as well as the words intention and attention - but that will have to be for another day). Yesterday, before I left for work, I checked my pantry to see if anything sparked a creative idea of what to do for dinner. Midweek is the worst time for me because I want fast and easy - and that rarely translates into me cooking - which I'm trying to do all week.
I found, sitting in the side of my pantry, a very large onion (which reminds me - why am I NOT using those bins I bought at the container store for my onions??). It had been there long enough it needed to get used. I thought about the onion once or twice during the day (along the lines of "what could I make that requires onion"). These thoughts normally come just before someone finally asks a question that actually requires my attention in a meeting.
Before I left the office last night (waiting for a light rain to stop so I didn't get wet walking to the car), I perused the days blog postings and ran across this article from Aarti Sequeira which features a spicy ragu. I had all the ingredients in my pantry/freezer, I've been dying for a good meat dish - and it uses my onion! So, home I went to gather my ingredients and make dinner.
In truth, the whole episode turned out to be less than inspiring as I realized that at some point I've taken my beloved Pampered Chef can opener to mom and dad's (anyone have a good suggestion on a can opener for folks whose grip just ain't what it used to be?) and ... upon opening the can after a trip to CVS for a new can opener realizing I had grabbed the can of peeled tomatoes, rather than diced (good thing I love my chef's knife). So, dinner was served around 8:30 but it was good - and all because I got inspired by an onion and a recipe from one of my favorite chefs. And, now, I have left overs to enjoy the rest of the week.
If I get it started or done with another project tonight, you might even get to see how I got inspired by a toilet paper tube :-)