Sunday 14 March 2010

A heightened state of deliciousness

Today was the day. Today was the day I spent all afternoon in my kitchen, blissfully free in bare feet and with the living room window open, cool air kissing around my legs as my long skirt swished and moved.

Today spring was like a voice in my head, the one that talks with a rhythm spun out on gypsy jazz, all bouncy nonsense and playful lisps.

Spring and autumn are my most sensually extravagant times. In the fall I go mad for plums and the first of the root vegetables. All of my body seems to gravitate to my hips and legs, those pillars that are heavy on the earth, intimate with its lumbering ways. But in the spring I’m all toes and fingers and buzzing brain. When that sun finally finds its way into me I am like a newborn thing, fresh and wide open to every passing scent and sight.

Yesterday I shopped. I bought bright things: a pink shirt, a purple one, one with red roses, a blue bra, a little white sweater. The air was cool but the sun was out and as warm as I have felt it in forever, so I swung my shopping bags and sashayed from store to store. Today I dyed my hair a little blonder, looked in the mirror to see my blue eyes glow just a little brighter.

Tomorrow my beloved visits and I wanted to prepare something that exudes my current heightened state of deliciousness. A collaboration of many, many good things. So I have cooked up a traditional lasagne, made the rich tomato sauce, simmered it long and slow with garlic, onions, carrot, torn pieces of salty prosciutto, a good dash of white wine and a massive handful of fresh, soft, fragrant basil. The ragu alone took three steps and plenty of cooking, and when it was finished I alternated between squeals of excitement and groans of pleasure. Oh, it is good.
The lasagne waits to be baked, gorgeous strips of mozzarella and the rest of the prosciutto tossed around atop the creamy white sauce that covers the pasta. Forty minutes in the oven and if the aroma does not seduce my Scotsman, then my kitchen witch days are numbered.

For dessert I have made mousse chocolat, a Green and Black’s dark chocolate wonder with a slosh of French brandy. For now they also sit in the fridge, bittersweet clouds drawn down from their formations and piled into wine glasses.

Oh my, spring is here. Mmmmm…tangy.

20 comments:

Alexandra MacVean said...

Oh sweet lady! I'll take a day like that!! Your first paragraph made me envious of your lovely day! hahaha :)

Any of that fantastic dessert left???

Hugs!

Notes From ABroad said...

Lovely, these thoughts of coming back to life in the warmth of a spring day.. and chocolate.
Where I am, I am happy to be cooling off in the breezes of an early fall day, promises of blue skies, bright sun and just cool weather, no snow, just not to hot!
Chocolate would be good too.
It really sounds like your kitchen witch days are still there, simmering below the surface.. enjoy your Scotsman .... and the chocolate.

Julia Christie said...

You make me want to learn to cook better...Love to bake, but cooking can be a chore for me. Sounds lovely the way you do it.

Kay said...

What a lovely day you portrayed..thanks

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh seduction of all senses. Love the prose here, voluptuous and sensuos descriptions.

Jana said...

Your kitchen witch days huh? wish i suffered from something exactly like this for i am hopeless in the kitchen...
I could imagine everything that you described so beautifully and thought it a perfect day.

Dale said...

:-) Happy Spring!

* said...

Mmm, what a sensual post. Any leftovers, by chance? :)

Marcheline said...

I think you are one of the few people who really, really GET the fact that delicious food and delicious thoughts lead to delicious.... everything else!

Am still humming with ALL of that just now, myself...

wheeeee!

Word verification: "ephinte"
Definition: A magical green elixir usually drunk by vampire pachyderms

Anonymous said...

oooooo I need to come to your house for dinner.... pleeeaaassseeee!!

Carol Anne Strange said...

What a wonderful post. I'm also feeling those spring vibes now. Isn't it just magical! xx

ellen abbott said...

So glad spring has made it's way to you. And I want that mousse.

Mike McLaren said...

All of that incredible food for just two people!? That's not right. You should be inviting everybody to dinner... or at least me.

Zhoen said...

Long skirts, a sensuous delight. Sad so few men know how lovely that feels.

Helena said...

What a wonderful insight into spring! "All bouncy nonsense and playful lisps!"

I loved the menu - but I went straight to the dessert - Black and Green's? That'd be enough seduction for me...!

ps.....my daffy's are on a go-slow this spring!
x

Anonymous said...

mmmm yummy yum yummers.

Ruth said...

Well I am seduced, even if the Scotsman isn't. You remind me of the pleasure I felt the first time I watched Nigella Lawson, and I realized how sensual food is.

Thank you, good woman.

Jo said...

What a lovely post...! I have a feeling you bewitched him. Oh, yes, indeed...! :-)

Cheryl said...

I hope I love cooking as much as you do one day. It probably helps to cook for someone I love, even if just myself.

Tammie Lee said...

oh, yum
and yes skirts and colors
yes!