Well howdy, stranger! The months, they keep a flyin' by.  I've been enjoying a fair bit of winter hibernation, and not enjoying a sore lack of culinary inspiration.  It all makes for a big lack of blogging.  Boo.

Many of the meals I've made these past months have been rather blasé'.  Not necessarily bad, but not much to be chirping about either.  Simple soups made with some kind of legume and whatever kinds of vegetables are flopping around in the fridge.  Unremarkable frittatas.  Boring pastas that just make me depressed when I consider all the amazing pasta dishes I was lucky enough to enjoy in Italy.  And then, for the times when I can't even muster up that stuff, there has been takeout.  Burritos and Indian food mostly.

I did make an awesome but small batch of refried black beans a few nights ago, which inspired me to buy a big bag of pinto beans the next day, and cook them in the same method, and the second batch was just so-so.  Nonetheless, I find refried beans to be such a delightful comfort food.  Even a so-so batch really hits the spot for me on these cold, blustery days.  If the worst problem I have is boring food and so-so refried beans, well then, I could be doing a lot worse!

Tonight, however, I made the WORST stir-fried tempeh & green beans that a person could ever make.  It should have been rather healthy, you know?  Tempeh, green beans, quinoa, all the makings of a good meal.  Except I managed to make it charred black, artery clogging, greasy and heartburn inducing.  I told the little mister that we might as well have eaten bacon for all that fat and grease.  At least bacon would have tasted good.  He finds the mere idea of bacon to be revolting, and he swears he actually liked tonight's dinner, which is good, because I wouldn't dream of eating tonight's leftovers, as much as I hate to waste food.  I don't know if I'll ever come close to mastering or even *getting* the art of the stir fry.  I think I might need to take a class or something, or just stick to ordering Chinese takeout next time I get the itch.

To add insult to injury, tonight was the night I was going to make the first batch of holiday pizzelles, but even though I had thought I had all the ingredients on hand, it turned out I didn't have enough flour, and only had anise flavoring as opposed to real anise extract.  And after that greasy heavy heartburn inducing artery clogging meal, the last thing I wanted to do was to duck out to the store and wander around in search of real anise extract which they may or may not have at the market down the street.  So, no pizzelles tonight, but hopefully,  later in the week.

Wish there was something more exciting or inspiring to report, but sometimes, you just do the best you can, and your best is boring, uninspired,  greasy, and charred. And in those times, I find it helpful to remember that it's a very great gift to be able to have any kind of food, and a kitchen in which to cook it, inside a warm, cozy home, shared with a loving partner and sweet, devoted furry four-legged pals.  When I think about it in those terms, it's hard to complain about  a single thing, and in fact life feels very inspired after all!

Everything changes and passes eventually, after all. I have total faith in that.  But in the meantime, if anyone out there has any tips on the art of the stir-fry, by all means, please do pass them along!

Until next time, warmest winter wishes to you and yours.