Pretty Little Patty Pans

When I went on safari in Africa, I was determined to capture photos that would last a lifetime. After all, when would I ever be going back?

But, as our little group of 11 frantically struggled with dusty lenses, wobbly trucks, and Thompson’s gazelle that just wouldn’t sit still for the perfect shot, our Kenyan guides said to us, “Put down the cameras and just be. You don’t want your only memories of Africa to be from behind a camera lens.”

They were right, of course.

Safari guides are so smart!

My film (I was still using film back then) got damaged by Africa’s less-than-high-tech airport x-ray machines.  Even after a whole lot of color correction and futzing, the Acacia trees of my dreams are so much more vivid and beautiful than the ones I photographed.

Recently, I’ve been having a similar experience with food.

Everything I cook, everything I eat, gets photographed and hastily documented on scraps of paper that I eventually lose.  Between homework, Globe work, and work-work…I’m simply running out of words for this blog.  I’ve started half a dozen posts that I’ve never finished.  I just found this one in my drafts folder from July 21.  It’s now a full three months later, and I still haven’t found the time to finish it.

I swear.  Some day soon I will start a post that doesn’t prattle on about my CSA and how awesome it is.  Today, however, I’m going to prattle on about the pretty things at my CSA.

Pretty flowers!

Pretty friends!

Pretty patty pans!

Yeah, that post had promise. I took step by step photos of the recipe I created. I lovingly set the prettiest of my finished patty pans aside and picked the perfect plate, placemat, and props to photograph it. And then…I forgot. I have no idea what was in that recipe. I don’t even remember if it tasted good.

So, the other day, I decided to put down the camera…and just be. I made my dinner, without taking notes or having to worry about getting sauce on my camera. I ate the prettiest portion, instead of saving it for a picture. It was lovely.

Of course, I did snap a iPhone pic right before I dug in!

Chicken masala (chicken cooked in sauce from Trader Joe’s, made a little special by adding slivered almonds) with a veggie side dish of fairy tale eggplant, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, and onion cooked in curry paste and mango chutney.

No, I can’t share the recipe. It’s not that I’m mean… I just didn’t bother to write it down.