New Year, New Home, New Kitchen, New Beginnings…
I can’t believe it is almost a week since we rang in 2008. Father Time must have put on his jogging shoes this week. I am so delighted and feeling so blessed and I really think that 2008 is going to be the best year yet! Why is that? Because I am determined to make it so. Roberto and I have just moved to a town we both fell in love with when we moved to Florida a year ago, January 2007. We have moved to a wonderful little place in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, founded in 1565, “discovered†(because as we know there were already Native people living here) by Ponce de Leon about 40 years earlier, just 20 years after Christopher Columbus “sailed the ocean blueâ€. Coming from New England we loved walking alongside history in our daily lives, there is just something so grounding about it. Roberto grew up in Rome, and I am a self-described history buff, so when we moved to Florida, a relatively new place in the grand scheme, it felt a little stale. We loved the weather, the palm trees, the little lizards everywhere and the beautiful flowers. But we missed the small town feel, the old streets and the large, stately, almost ancient homes of New England. So when we went to St. Augustine, on a day trip with my mom months ago, we found what we had been looking for. A beautiful small town steeped in history, right on the ocean. It could not have been more perfect.
So here we are, in our new place, and I have a new kitchen to initiate. I wanted our first meal to be something that was very homey –to communicate to the space that we were happy to be there and intended to make it a place full of warmth, love, happiness and comfort. A refuge. I wanted our new home to know we were down to earth, simple people who would take care of it and be happy there. So I decided to make sausage pasta – simple, robust, hearty and full of comfort.
The ingredients had to be GOOD – organic, whole grain, healthy, no skimping.
I set the table, lit candles, put music on and away I went. I turned the stove, heated up the burner, warmed the olive oil, cut the garlic and onions and sautéed it in the pan. I laid the sausage in and with it I put my hopes for our future in this house and in this town in the sauce, and I stirred it all around with a helping of love and goodwill for added measure.
It was delicious, and hearty and comforting just like I hoped. We had it with salad – and crunchy Italian style breadsticks, a Roberto favorite, and we toasted our new home and kitchen with a new wine, which has become a new favorite – rich with a berry blush with a wisp of smokiness in the background. We had a great time laughing and talking and enjoying our new space – making it ours, making it home.
Sometime in the middle of this New Year, I had discovered what my secret ingredient in cooking is. It is the energy that you put into it, the intention. I learned about how food is such a powerful tool. Things I had always known, but never really put into concepts or words. I plan on discussing this more in future posts, and as part of my New Year’s resolutions, along with getting organized, finishing up things in the new house, and getting back to meditation and quiet time with myself, I have decided to start some writing projects, maybe even a book. I also have ideas of how others can profit from this, not just I. You know me, I am all about community. So stay tuned!
In terms of food and cooking here are my resolutions:
1) Utilize the wonderful Farmer’s Market here in St. Augustine (YES, I finally have one in my community!!!)
2) Eat even more seasonally – take the cue from the Farmer’s Market
3) Buy what is on sale – but only good stuff – learn to be even more creative with what is available
3) Use my cookbooks more
4) Have people over for meals!
5) EXPERIMENT
Heather - January 8, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Aww, that post of yours gave me a big fat case of the warm ‘n fuzzies! Again, congratulations on your new home.
Jennifer - January 8, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Many congratulations, Jenn and Roberto. I keep trying to say it on my site, and I can’t do it without sounding really hokey.. but I think that that secret ingredient is love. When you make something with love (could also be called intention, like you called it), it tastes differently than what anyone else’s would even if they followed the same recipe. If I sound maudlin, okay. But I think that’s the secret ingredient!!!
Jennifer
The Leftover Queen - January 8, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Thanks Heather! I feel them too!
Totally Jennifer, it is love..I was saving that word and more on that for another post – but I don’t think it is hokey at all, but true! I am so with you!
Cris - January 8, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Congratulations Jenn and Roberto! Hum, I am dreaming now of what your neighborhood is like, the streets etc. I wish you guys all the best and looking forward to hearing about your findings around the area! Good luck with your writing! 🙂
Peter G - January 8, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Congratulations Jenn. A very inspiring post that certainly rings true. And what a way to “christen” the new kitchen…a delicious, hearty pasta dish. Look forward to the book.
MyKitchenInHalfCups - January 8, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Gosh you make me feel comfortable and happy just reading about it. Congratulations on the new digs! Lovely kitchen, it can only love you back. Happy comfortable pasta dish.
Adriana - January 8, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Congratulations for you new home!!!!!
Kat - January 8, 2008 at 8:12 pm
what a warm and fuzzy post! Congratulations!
Kevin - January 8, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Congratulations on the new home. The kitchen looks nice and big. 🙂
Judy - January 8, 2008 at 10:13 pm
What an inspiring post. You are so lucky to be in St. Augustine. I spent so much time there when I lived in Daytona! Congratulations on your new home!
Marie - January 8, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Jenn,I can already see you’re going to be “stirring” up a lot of new dishes in the months to come in your beautiful new kitchen, Congrats on everything!!
núria - January 9, 2008 at 4:52 am
You are soooo sweet, Jenn! I hope all your wishes come true!
A toast from Spain for you, Roberto, the new house, the new kitchen and St. Augustine!!!!
Laurie Constantino - January 9, 2008 at 5:24 am
I love new beginnings. It’s alwsys so much fun to start in a new house, especially one that is in a place that sounds as great as St. Augustine. I like your resolutions, especially the one about eating seasonally.
Camila Lipsi - January 9, 2008 at 6:13 am
Hi, Jenn. I always visit your blog but never commented before. This time I was compelled to congrat you and tell you how much I appreciated this post. I wish you the best in this fresh new start.
I loved your resolution! They are so true, so right!
I am very curious about this new town. I will be waiting for pictures here 🙂
Your visitor from Brazil,
Camila
Windy - January 9, 2008 at 7:05 am
Congrats Jenn! What a romantic dinner you two had with your new house.
Bellini Valli - January 9, 2008 at 10:14 am
I have read about St. Augustine. When we lived in Ontario and used to visit our friends in Florida I always had it on my list of places to visit, but, never seemed to make it there or to Key West. My life is not over yet here in the wild, wild, west….but I have loftier dreams like Italy and Croatia on my mind. It looks like your new home will be filled with lots of love and plenty of great food!!!!
The Leftover Queen - January 9, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Hi Cris! Yes I am sure we are going to go on many of what Roberto’s daughter Gwen likes to call “tasty travels”. It is really such a great area to explore. I feel so happy here. A perfect place to be inspired to write.
Thanks Peter G! I am loving having time to really ponder this book. I have already started. Hope to have it going soon.
Really, Tanna? That is wonderful! 🙂 Yeah, I do love the new kitchen. I do hope it loves me too!
Thanks Adriana! 🙂
Thanks Kat! 🙂
Thanks Kevin! Yes it is pretty big for a condo – these people really did a great job on the design.
Thanks Judy! Isn’t St. Augustine just wonderful? I am so lucky to live here.
Thanks Marie! It is true! I already have so many to post, PLUS ones from the holidays I still haven’t posted. They get away from you, you know?
Thank you so much, Nuria! But I think all will agree that you are the one who is so sweet!
Thanks Laurie. I agree there is so much promise in a new beginning. I am inspired by them! Yes, eating seasonally has always been one of my big culinary goals. I do what I can, but without a local resource for food it is difficult to maintain. So I am really so happy about this farmers market. I think it is going to help me a great deal.
Camila! I am so glad you commented! Thank you so much for continually reading my blog. It means so muh to me. I hope to hear from you often! I will come see you over at your blog too!
Hi Windy! Yes, it was really romantic!
Hey Valli! Yes, it is a wonderful place to visit and believe me a lot of people do. We are always amazed at the tourists out and about, even on a Tuesday night in January. You should still come on out to St. Augustine! You have a place to stay for sure 🙂
But Italy and Croatia sound pretty darn good too!
Patricia Scarpin - January 9, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I am so sure you are going to make 2008 special, dear Jenn!!
The Leftover Queen - January 9, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Thanks Patricia! 🙂
Hélène - January 9, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Love the look of that kitchen. And the meal looks really yummy. Many happy years in your new community.
The Leftover Queen - January 9, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Thanks so much Helene!
Superchef - January 9, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Congratulations on the new home and the new kitchen!! kitchen looks fab!!
Ivy - January 9, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Congratulations and my best wishes to your new start. Cooking with the heart makes everything tastier and as we say in Greece “love passes from the stomach firstâ€, so I am sure Roberto must love you very much. Good luck in your new resolutions and especially in writing a book.
Suzana - January 9, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Lovely pasta dish with a nice karma, Jenn! Wishing you all the best for the new home – many congratulations!
Johanna - January 9, 2008 at 5:42 pm
your new town sounds lovely – and your kitchen looks wonderful (is your house an old one?) And I love your giraffe label on the wine bottle – little things like this make a meal special 🙂
Ben - January 9, 2008 at 9:20 pm
I know how you feel about historic places. I grew up in Mexico City and I always loved walking the narrow streets of the Historic District of the city. Here in Ohio when a building is 50 years old they tear it down to build a new mall, that is just wrong. If you like historic cities by the see you should visit Veracruz sometime. That was the first Spanish settlement in the continent even before they destroyed the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan (where Mexico City sits now) I am a little history buff myself, too.
Congratulations on your new house and good luck with your resolutions. I like the one about experimenting. That is the best part of being a foodie 😀
Lilian - January 9, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Happy New Year! Great resolutions, Jenn (particularly 1, 2, and 5…regarding the first two, have you read Barbara Kingsolver’s book about eating locally and seasonally? I recommend it). Your new kitchen looks lovely, and I look forward to reading more about your impressions of St. Augustine. I’ve never been to Florida, unlike most fellow New Englanders (who head there for winter vacations). (I’m on Martha’s Vineyard.) Like many New Englanders, however, I do wonder how sensible it is to live on the oft-hurricane-battered Florida coast. I hope your house stays out of the water!
Deb - January 9, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Looks like a fun new kitchen to do your “experiments” that you will be sharing with us! Congrats on your new digs Jenn! I have been to lovely St. Augustine and you have made a great choice. I love that little town! I am jealous that you have a farmers market. Looking forward to seeing photos of it!
The Leftover Queen - January 10, 2008 at 11:21 am
Hi Superchef! Yes, I love my new kitchen and I am starting to know my way around it pretty well…
Hi Ivy! Yes, I believe that is so true. There is more to a good meal than the food – it is all like a symphony, or a work of art – so much more has to go into it. I feel myself very blessed to have found someone that loves me for all my culinary craziness!
Thanks Suzana! Yes, cooking karma, I like that! 🙂
Johanna! You know it was that little giraffe that made me buy the wine – I am so glad I did. You get it as you are no stranger to the love of giraffes! 🙂
The building where our condo is, is in fact old. The building was build in the mid 1800’s. However they just gutted the place and rebuilt these beautiful condos a few years ago.
Hey Ben, I hear ya. There is just something stale about a place that is too new – which seems strange because we usually refer to old things as stale. But as everyone can see from my post, I do believe in the energy of things and to me historic places are just BUZZING with it. Veracruz sounds great! I already love the food of that area, so that is half of it, right? 😉
Hi Lilian! Florida is a weird place. There are forces beyond my own reason that got me here – a story for another time, perhaps, but had you asked me 5 years ago if I would ever move to Florida, I would have laughed in your face, like most New Englanders. But you can understand the pull of the ocean, being from MV. That is the real beauty about this city – the vibe from the centuries of habitation and the pull of the great natural force of the ocean. Good old Mother Nature, you never can predict her. She sure wreaked havoc when we lived in Vermont – leaving us freezing with no power for a week. So I guess no matter where you live, she is always present.
Hi Deb! You will have to come visit! You are not that far, right? 😉 *wink, wink* I do have some pics of the Farmers market and I have already cooked 3 meals with the wonderful spoils – but I have to upload them onto my computer! I will take better pictures of the market itself a week from this weekend when we go back! There is no farmer’s market in Key West??!! blast them! 😉
Deborah - January 10, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I love that you mentioned that the secret ingredient for cooking is the energy you put into it. My husband and I had a conversation about this not too long ago. I am a believer that if you are passionate about what you are doing and put that passion into your food, it’s always going to turn out better than if you were to just follow a recipe. I don’t know how it makes such a difference, but it really does!!
I wish you all the best in your new home and your new kitchen!
Kate - January 10, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Congratulations on your new home, Jenn!
What a great post- it’s so true about the energy you put into your food, just like the book Like Water for Chocolate. Cooking, like any other creative act, really is an expression of yourself. That’s why I love it!
Emiline - January 10, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I’m glad you have found happiness in the new town that you have moved to. It sounds wonderful. I can’t imagine living right by the water.
This has been quite a year for you. I look forward to reading more in the future.
Karen - January 10, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Today is my first visit, and I love it already. Your food looks wonderful and your new kitchen is great. I look forward to visiting everyday.
I wish you the best in your new town.
Cheers!
Ley - January 10, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Ohh, St Augustine is BEAUTIFUL. You guys will just love it there!
Have you ever seen that movie with Sarah Michelle Geller called Simply Irresistible? (It’s the one where she’s a chef, and whatever emotion she feels while she makes a dish is the emotion her customers take on when they eat it?) It’s cheesy and lame, I know, but it reminded me about what you said regarding your mood affecting how your food turns out. lol.
Andrea - January 10, 2008 at 9:59 pm
It sounds like you initiated your new kitchen well. Best wishes to you in your new home and community (and I’m so envious that you have a good farmer’s market nearby).
🙂
Diana Caspi - January 11, 2008 at 9:15 am
Congrats on your new home, it sounds like you have found what you are looking for. And good luck with 2008.
I’m so glad you posted on my site. I never seem to have time to check out other posts. And this is a great site. I love that there is a site out there that uses stuff in the pantry. What a genious idea:)))I do look at the pantry and say there’s nothing to eat… From now on I’m going to check out your site first:)
The Leftover Queen - January 11, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Hi Deborah, I couldn’t agree more. I think there really is something to it! Passion is another one of those things.
Thanks, Kate! Yes, it is much like “Like Water for Chocolate”, such a perfect analogy.
Yes, Emiline, you said it, it has been quite a year. I am truely blessed and can’t wait to see what 2008 brings – I always love adventure. Living by the water is awesome! When I lived in AZ, it was so strange to me to be comepletely landlocked. But I have never lived this close to the sea before.
Hi Karen! Welcome! I am so glad you stopped by and like what you saw. Looking forward to seeing you again.
Hi Ley! Yes, we are loving it here so much, already! Such a great vibe! You know, I have always wanted to see that movie because I am a HUGE Buffy fan and am compelled to see everything that Sarah Michelle Gellar is in! LOL!
Thanks Andrea, I hope so. There is nothing better than a Farmer’s Market!
Hi Diana! Glad you stoppd by! Just had to comment on your Turkish Coffee post. I did have some yesterday too by the way – but my foam was not so great…See you in the blogosphere!
Sue - January 26, 2008 at 12:40 am
I’ve just been catching up with your blog. That was a lovely post, Jenn. I wish you so much happiness in your new home. It all sounds lovely and you deserve it!