Out of Gas

I'm hoping today is the low point and that tomorrow will be a little better.

And the day after that, better still.

I lay awake last night with anxious thoughts swirling through my mind, then slept the morning away. I couldn't tell you what I did with the rest of the day. Except that I made a fabulous dinner. Crispy chicken thighs with lemon and tarragon and some tiny fingerling potatoes that roasted while I sipped a cocktail.

After that, I began to feel a little human again.

It's got me thinking about what I thought I'd be writing this summer. A few years ago my son suggested I start a food blog. I laughed at the thought of it, but then I thought about it a little more, and a little more after that, and began to think I might like to try it. 

Then during the toughest Covid year, I spent four months writing every day as part of the Akimbo community in The Creatives Workshop and had tremendous response to my food writing. Truth be told, I still didn't feel confident enough to put it out beyond the 400+ people in the workshop, so I never did. A few months ago I decided to finally do it this summer. Use my summer writing project as a pilot.

Well, you know what happened and where my mind has been for the last six weeks. 

But as I spend time here at Mom's house, and do some cooking in her kitchen and think about the times we cooked together and the love for cooking that is a family value, I begin to revisit the idea of the food blog. I'm not planning on starting it any time soon, but a bit of food writing might show up here and there this summer.

After all, food is life. 

Here's the recipe in case you'd like to make this yumminess -

Crispy Chicken Thighs with Fresh Herbs and Tiny Fingerling Potatoes

I used tarragon, but you can please yourself with herb choice. Use more than one if you like.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Tuck the herbs under the skin. Thinly slice a lemon - two lemon slices per chicken thigh. Cut the fingerling potatoes in half, lengthwise. 

In a cast iron skillet, add a small amount of EVOO and prepared chicken thighs, skin side down. Cook on medium heat until the skin is golden and crispy. About 7-10 minutes. 

Flip the chicken over and add the lemon slices, two on each chicken thigh. Tuck the halved potatoes into the pan around the chicken with a little salt, pepper, herbs, and a drizzle of oil. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes.

***

Creating Space: Three Months of Showing Up for What's Showing Up is a daily writing practice. Turns out that a lot of this writing explores the landscape of grief. My mother died shortly before I began this writing, and this is what my mind is on most of the time these days.

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.