Food and Simplicity

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein

Today I woke up with my son jumping on my stomach announcing it is “wake up time” and that means it is also time to make breakfast. His favorite time of the day is breakfast, and snack time.

I always pay close attention to what he asks for to eat. It is in those moments when I realize the simplicity of life.

“I want avocado, mommy!” he shouted, I responded “for breakfast?” “yes, cause it’s good and yummy.”

Cause it’s good and yummy. One fruit that has fallen off our large trees and landed in our backyard became the staple of breakfast, and sometimes lunch. Often I go to grand recipes of time and elaborate design to prepare something unique and pleasing to the tongue. But in the moments of frustration I can forget sometimes the simplicity of life; one item can be just as magnificent. A sunny morning in the garden munching on a perfectly ripe avocado while my son talks about the food we grow. And although he doesn’t yet understand, he is having a philosophical conversation about life and soaking in all the wonderful simplicity of it.

These moments can quickly be erased by the watch on our wrists or the phone call about a project for work, but setting time aside to have simplicity where nothing happens can be the most motivating moment. When these moments happen with a friend or my son I like to think it’s a bit like social meditating.

Take in the details, the sensations, the conversation, and have an avocado.

First Pumpkin!

First pumpkin of the summer.

While watering and checking the garden I found our first pumpkin ready to be plucked. It is not grand in size but JUST right. A beautiful orange color. Along with the pumpkin were about 20 tomatoes sun ripened and ready to pluck.

It is always exciting to see everything grow and thrive and know you have made it so (along with mother nature!) but the most exciting part is that I did not plant any pumpkin seeds this Spring. This pumpkin was the aftermath of excellent composting. I believe a handful of pumpkin seeds from last years batch were mixed in with our compost…and here it is! Beautiful. I am a huge advocate for composting and keeping it organic. A good compost pile can create one of the best gardens.

Now onto the harder part, WHAT am I going to make out of this pumpkin?! Pumpkin bread, pie, pumpkin ice cream? The possibilities are endless.