One hundred days. One hundred posts.
I started this project, A Year of Meals, on January 1st, 2025. That was one hundred days ago. Since then, I have posted something about my food (and my marriage) everyday.
Is this project silly? Yep. Absolutely. It is silly to write about food every day, especially when people are scared, hungry and being disappeared. Yet, I have decided that silly is helpful, especially in hard times. It is wonderful to read these posts to my husband Kevin every morning and hear him laugh at the little jokes or an interesting turn of phrase. The guy gets me, even the silly parts.
Is this project important? Sure. Maybe. It certainly is important to Kevin. The guy loves hearing me read it to him every morning. He enjoys seeing the post pop up in his email. Heck, he even has notifications from SubStack alert his phone when I publish. Kevin is quite proud to say he was my very first subscriber. In context of the bigger world, is this little project important? Maybe. Or maybe not. For now, I’ll just keep tending to my little corner of the universe, one meal, one post at a time.
Last night’s dinner was inspired by my baby sister dropping a recipe into the family group chat. Supposedly, the recipe is based on a dish cooked by Moroccan Jews for Pesach. It sounded seasonally appropriate, and I have plenty of chicken thighs (my favorite) in the freezer.
I titled this piece ‘Almost NYT Chicken with Artichokes and Lemon’ because, truthfully, I hardly ever follow a recipe. While this particular recipe sounded nice, it seemed a little delicate. I wanted a bit more depth, more flavor. Also, I craved more vegetables but didn’t want to dirty another pan. So, I dug into the cupboard, riffled through the fridge, and glanced over the spice rack. In the end, I kinda followed the NYT’s recipe, but add lemon stuffed olives, preserved lemon, baby zucchini, and a big spoonful of ras el hanout. (Oh, no way did I use fresh artichokes. Way too expensive and time consuming. I simply opened a can of artichoke hearts, drained them and dumped them in. Easy peasy.)
Dinner last night was nice. I carried the skillet in as Kevin was lighting the candles. We sat. We ate. We chatted. We did all of that with shared attention, with pleasure, and with more than just a little love.
One hundred days. One hundred posts. Over three hundred photos. Thousands of words. Dozens of shared recipes. All served with a big dollop of silly, and small nods to the incredible importance of being present. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
May you be nourished. May you be safe. May you know pleasure. May you be loved. Amen. ❤️
Menu: Chicken with Artichokes, Zucchini, Lemon Stuffed Olives, Preserved Lemons and Ras el Hanout, Saffron Rice, Grapefruit Salad
Company: Me, My Guy
❤️Michelle
I also did sheet pan chicken thighs a la NYT artichoke recipe last night. Also with stuffed (garlic) olives, canned artichokes, more veggies and seasoning. It was fabulous and will be for several more days.