Highlight #128: Simple pleasures

This blog is mostly about eating out, which I figure would be more appealing to those who read it. But I do cook in and do it often, especially when J is about to go on another long trip to Asia, where he will have little control over what he eats. During these times, we keep it very simple. I'll always put on some sort of meat that is not heavily handled like this simple broiled hanger steak, cook up a large serving of dark greens like collards with lot of caramelized garlic, and an unadulterated pot of plain rice. While J is not picky about food (he will eat anything that you put in front of him, which is why I married him), it took me nearly a year to figure out exactly how he likes his rice. There is no mixing of the rice, no stickiness from too much water, no flavoring from stock or other spices, and no mineral taste from unfiltered water. It's just pristine, soft but resilient, unperfumed yet naturally fragrant short grain rice. I have really grown to love that first whiff of starchy warmth as I open the pot to serve. I miss that smell and the man who is not home for me to feed.