My bathroom mirror says, in pink chalk  marker, "if you want to be strong and brave, be strong and brave". I'm not someone who sticks inspirational post-its around the house, but I heard a female athlete say this after she'd failed her course attempt on American Ninja Warrior (yes, I love watching American Ninja Warrior). Her response to whatever the interviewer's inane question was struck me: "well, if you want to be strong, be strong!", so I wrote it on the mirror. I added brave because I could benefit from a bit more bravery.  

I'm a glass-mostly-full kind of person and I love big ideas but I can get stuck in making the leap from big idea to big life. As much as I would love not to admit it, there's a fear factor. I have a longstanding list of big ideas that I haven't pursued. The reasons usually sound like I'm too tired and I'm too busy and I'm too old and I'm happy enough already. Um, really? Unless it's something that has to be planned for financially, like travel around the world for 3 months or truly isn't possible, like be queen of the world...let's be honest...the reason for not trying is some kind of fear. Fear of failure. Fear of looking stupid. Fear of too much work. 

Although I don't make resolutions, the New Year seems as good a time as any to decide to be strong and brave. Time to do some scary things and discover whether the worst thing happens...or not. Because, I remind myself, the worst thing won't happen. The less than optimal  might happen. So what? Learn. Grow. Be strong. Be brave. 
 
On my list...   

• Train to run 13.2.  It's scary because my body will hurt and I might fail.  I trained a few years ago and ended up with a hip injury because I trained wrong.  This time I should stick to the training schedule, right?*  I don't love big athletic events, so it's not about running a specific half marathon, but I do want to run the distance. Maybe I'll decide to run in an event, but I don't have to.
• Learn to dance. My view of the dance floor has been there are people who dance and people who don't.  I don't.  But I so, so, so want to. I envy people who dance and look like the music is in their bodies. I cringe for people who dance and look awkward and out of sync. I realize I should celebrate their "I don't care what I look like" attitude, but watching them unleashes my "that's what I would look like" angst. Dance lessons. 2018.
• Get more involved in the Nashville art community. It's embarrassing to confess that the only problem with this one is me. Like many creative types, when I was being made my social confidence got borrowed from to fuel my creative spirit. I'm not naturally comfortable in crowds or new social situations, even if I really want to be there. I took a couple of small steps in the past few months by attending a meeting of Nashville Creative Group (but I didn't actually talk to anybody except the friend who went with me) and by volunteering at Creative's Day, during which I had a lovely conversation with Kristen Chapman Gibbons, a local storyteller/artist who I admire. Have to keep taking those baby steps.
• Write more. This one includes so many sub goals. Write every day. Publish once a week. Grow a following, which leads to the marketing/email list/social media rabbit hole. I love writing. I've written my whole life...journaling, professional writing, blogging...but it took a turn for the serious this past year. If I'm going to be serious about it, bravery will be required. What if readers don't like what I write? But oh wait, what if they do?

There are other things on my scary big idea list but no need to go on and on. It gets tricky because there are already a bunch of other not scary pieces to my big life and I need time to sleep. The question is "what will I do to be strong and brave today?"

What will you do? What are your big ideas, even if scary? What will you write on your mirror? (These aren't just questions to wrap up this blog story; I'd truly like to hear...)

​
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*Not to do advertising for Nike, but I downloaded the Nike Run Club app yesterday for a 1/2 marathon training plan. Very easy, lots of features...I think I'm going to like it.

Every spring I plant one jalapeno plant and every summer and fall I'm faced with the culinary challenge of what to do with the dozen after dozen after dozen small, green and hot peppers this plant produces.  I don't know why my local Home Depot consistently stocks hot-dammit-hot jalapeno plants or if maybe it has something to do with my soil?  Could that possibly make sense?  I don't know. Whatever the reason, my jalapeno plant (and poblano plant for that matter) produces copious numbers of hot! peppers.

Jalapenos go on pizza, with anything Mexican, and can be stuffed.  These are the obvious. I also roast them in the oven or on the stove top in a grill pan and put them in soup and in the freezer.  In large quantities. Even over the course of a winter, there are only so many jalapenos a person can use!  I dehydrated some for good measure, although, seriously, I'm not sure what to do with them now.  I made a chili paste of sorts but was only about 70% satisfied with it.

Even though it's a little late for the jalapeno harvest in most of the country, this entire jalapeno conversation came up the other day when a friend of mine continued to rave about how the relish I'd given him has become his favorite of all time. Jalapeno, cabbage, and onion relish had been the answer to my final jalapeno harvest.  I perused some relish recipes and adapted for ingredients already in my kitchen. In my humble opinion, this recipe turned out to be an epic win. Collateral benefit is it took less than an hour from start through clean up.

The only potentially tricky step in this process is the canning, if you aren't familiar with the process. Because there is so much vinegar in the relish, the process is a little easier than canning something without vinegar.  You'll need a half dozen or so small canning jars. Grab a big stock pot. Fill it about 2/3 with water. Boil the water. Put the jars and lids in to boil for at least several minutes. You won't have to put the filled cans back in the water bath though if you keep them sterile throughout.

Step by step instructions for the relish:

1. Place food processor on counter and plug in.  Set up for shredding.  
2. Count out 12-15 jalapenos and cut the stem off.  For less heat, glove up and take the seeds out.
3. Shred them in food processor.
4. Take 5 or 6 medium size onions, yellow or white, cut ends off, peel outer layer, cut in quarters.
5. Shred onions in food processor.
6. Take that leftover half of red cabbage out of refrigerator, cut in wedges.
7. Shred cabbage in food processor.
8. Dump shredded peppers, onions, cabbage in soup pot.
9. Add a couple of tablespoons each pickling salt and pepper.
10. Cover with 2 cups of white vinegar and 2 cups of rice vinegar.
11. Bring to boil and gently boil for 10 minutes.
12. While boiling relish, put vegetable scraps in compost, wash food processor parts and cutting board. Put away.
13. At this point, I lift the jars out of the water with tongs and set them on the counter, empty of all water.
14. Using a slotted spoon, fill the jars with relish within about 1/2"-1" from the top.
15. Add a little of the liquid from the pot as needed the top of the relish.
16. I take the lids from the water and place them directly on the jars, using an oven mitt to tighten.
17. Done.
18. Check a bit later as the relish cools to make sure the jars have sealed.  If you press the center of the lid and it's sucked down tight, it's all good. If you're hanging out in the kitchen while they cool, you'll hear little popping noises as they are vacuuming sealing themselves. If you can press the lid down with your finger and it pops back out a little, it didn't seal.  This usually doesn't happen, but if it does, keep that relish in the refrigerator from the beginning and use it first.

Like pesto, relish is very adaptable.  I used half a head of red cabbage because I had half a head of red cabbage. Green would've been fine. Though not as pretty. Unless you used red onion.  Which would've also been fine. Carrots? I think yes. Maybe even parsnips. I would say no to beets, but that's because I detest them. You might want to give them a go. Not a fan of hot relish? Use banana peppers.  I'm not a fan of bell peppers in relish...but you wouldn't be making relish for me, so maybe you'll try bells and it'll be amazing.  The vinegar can be played around with too. The recipes I looked at mostly called for white vinegar. I didn't have enough regular white so did half and half with rice vinegar. As always, you get the idea.

My favorite two ways to eat it are with white beans or on vegetarian hotdogs/sausage.  If you aren't vegetarian, it works especially well with things like pork chops, hotdogs, sausages,  and bologna.

​Enjoy!

Making pesto is one of my life long strategies for helping make the world a better place. Wielding only a blender, I declare "I am not a food waster! I am a happiness maker!" Making pesto is a small but purposeful step toward hugging the planet, myself, my friends and family.   

Pesto is a serious topic for two reasons. First, I love pesto. It's on my list of essential foods. It shares that space with avocados, grapefruit, 15 grain bread with extra seeds, pizza from 5 Points Pizza in Nashville, curried anything, nuts and deep dark chocolate.  I put it in pasta, spread it on toast, layer it with mozzarella and tomato slices on crostini, scoop it with crackers, and use it as a condiment for any sandwich.

Second, I hate wasting food. Not wasting greens sometimes is a challenge. Greens simply don't last very long and they aren't a suitable candidate for freezing, canning, or drying.  I think I would feel really lofty and healthy if I could say greens never go to waste at my house because I always eat salad...but I don't.  I mean, I do eat salad and its ok, but I don't love salad.  Definitely not as much as pesto. 

Traditional pesto is basil, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic and salt. For years I thought of pesto as a summer thing, when fresh basil is plentiful. Even in Tennessee where we have a long growing season, basil is such a tender plant, it doesn't survive past the first cold night. Adding insult to injury, I've had to make successive plantings the last couple of years because I have some basil plant mildew killing thing going on.  

In this pesto story, tradition is not required. Perhaps not even desired. I would never diminish the importance of food tradition when it comes to using pineapple in pineapple upside down cake or tomatoes in marinara, but for pesto, basil is not required. Pine nuts are not required. If you're vegan or dairy free, Parmesan cheese is not required. Nutritional yeast can sub in. I would say garlic is required, but you can use fresh or jarred; don't let anybody say you can't. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a substitution for olive oil or salt, but go ahead, play around.

                                                           In the blender, add:

• olive oil, a small pour--I would guess it at about 1/4 cup.  
• garlic--I use 2-3 big fresh cloves unless I'm out, then I use about 2 T. of minced jarred garlic which I always keep in the fridg as back up.  Beware, this will be garlicky. Yum.
• salt--I use too much, 1-2 t. sea salt...I love salt.
• Parmesan cheese, grated, about 1/4 cup.  This is where you can also use nutritional yeast in about the same quantity if you're vegan or dairy free.
•  Nuts. Any kind. I tend to use walnuts but if I'm out I've used almonds*, cashews, mixed nuts, whatever. Pine nuts are great, but they're so expensive.  I throw in a handful, maybe 1/3 cup?
• Greens. I fill the blender with greens, not a hard pack but I do push them down once or twice to get enough in there.  I have made pesto with basil, spinach, mixed greens, kale, mustard or other stronger greens. I'm a huge fan of all spinach pesto but not of pure stronger greens.  If I'm using kale or mustard or similar, I prefer them about half and half with spinach or basil or combination of all.  Baby kale better texturally (to me) than big kale. Watery greens like most lettuces don't work well...they disintegrate and taste very wet and lettuce-y. That said, I have used mixed Spring greens in combination with sturdier greens and they've worked out well.

​The point is, there are few pesto rules.  You may want more or less oil, more or less garlic, more or less salt...cheese...nuts.  Play with it til you achieve pesto happiness.

Remember:  Peace. Love. Pesto.
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*I'm phasing out my use of almonds. Almonds are delightful and it's not their fault it takes so much water to make them, but it takes titanic quantities of water that California doesn't really have to spare right now.  Sadly.