Anyway, I opened it out of a very vague curiosity. And I saw a dish that looked heavenly.
My family would never eat this. But look how delicious and healthy it looks. And I love rosemary on chicken...and brussel sprouts lining the roasting pan, and thin sliced lemons in a vermouth and fresh herb sauce....oh my!
So I did something I almost never do. I wrote down the ingredients and went to the grocery store. Many of the ingredients were only vaguely familiar, but I found all of them, all by myself. Except one. Pancetta. Now what is Pancetta? It sounds like a bread. I took a chance and went to the Bakery section.
"Do you carry Pancetta?" I asked, with a show of confidence. If I looked like I was in the right place, perhaps I would be.
"Yes!" she said smiling. I exhaled.
"It's over here, I think...." She led me towards the deli. Not a bread? What was it, then?
She started rifling among things like pastrami, and prosciutto, and I saw a small container labeled Pancetta.
"Here it is!" I said, as if I knew all along what Pancetta was.
It looked like bacon. Pancetta is a fancy word for bacon. I would never have guessed that.
Anyway, then I had to go find a dry white wine, since I didn't have any at home and the recipe called for it.
I don't know what a dry white wine is. I don't drink white wine.
So I went to the wine section, and asked the saleswoman if she could direct me to a (cheap) dry white wine.
"No," she said, "I just am helping stock today...I don't know wines..."
A man leaned over. He looked French, and debonair. Just the sort who might know a dry white wine (though maybe not cheap.)
"Here," he said, handing me a bottle, "You can never go wrong with a Chardonnay."
Fine. I accepted the bottle and headed on home with my haul.
I followed the directions EXACTLY. For those of you who know me, this is as common as the earth deciding to orbit Polaris instead of the sun. It took me a full thirty minutes to prepare, slice, crush, dice, pour, measure, toss, and assemble. I called my husband and told him to be home by 6:30. He knew something was up, if dinner could not warm for whenever he showed up, give or take 3 hours.
It smelled luscious. I had a nagging suspicion my family would not eat it, but I felt hopeful anyway. It certainly looked utterly gorgeous. The prettiest meal I have ever made.
It was delicious. It tasted as delicious as it looked. Maybe there is something to this concept of following a recipe. In a way, there is a spiritual parallel. The Bible is God's recipe for a purposeful life. Most of us ignore His recipe...or substitute when we don't quite like the ingredients He suggests. Sometimes we leave whole sections of His recipe out because it is just too much trouble...or we don't see how such a seemingly insignificant ingredient could make a difference. We don't follow it exactly because we are free spirits, and frankly, we figure we know more than He gives us credit for....
I am a believer now. Follow His recipe. It is so so so much better.
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Good girl Vicky! It looks yummy! I get the Rachel Ray digital version(but have to tweak recipes if I can't find ingredients here). Now growing my own herbs....and grapefruit seedings starting.....
ReplyDeletewow Cathi! A real pioneer woman!!!
DeleteI love your analogy and the scriptures! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteoh thank you!
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