The voices in my head

I came to realize not too long ago that I have a running dialog going on in my head at all times. It's a voice narrating everything that I do, as though it will all be written in my memoirs someday. It ranges from the exciting, major events in my life to things about my kids to the mundane everyday occurrences. It can be annoying, as it seems to come without my control and about silly things ("I backed the van out of the garage, careful not to hit the sides.") I guess it's some sort of writer's tool, though, something that has come from years of practice, years of writing things in my head while driving, years of imagining how I will start out an article even before I get to the computer. I imagine what I will write in my blog, or in an email to a friend before I write it. It's also a memory tool, memory being something I have been very conscious of since a very young age. I am used to freezing a scene, a moment, an emotion, smell, sight, touch, in my brain at any given time so that I know I will always remember it. And I always do. If I could get down in words even a fraction of the things that are written in my head, it would be amazing. Maybe someday I will. Maybe I already have. I wrote this entire blog entry in my mind while loading the dishwasher one night last week.

I don't mean to turn this into a food blog or anything, but I tried a new recipe tonight and I just love to share. I found it on a vegan food blog. I made regular meat tacos for the meat-eaters, and for myself and Gracie I made some lentil tacos. I started out the recipe like I start out 99 percent of what I cook; I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil. Then I added dry brown lentils, cumin, chili powder, chopped up dates (the recipe called for raisins, I don't have any), oregano and water. Let it cook for 20 minutes or so, add some salsa. I put it on a soft tortilla, added lettuce and some homemade guacamole, and I was in spicy taco heaven. I just wish everyone else here would eat my vegan food and enjoy it. Grace always does, of course, and sometimes Garrett does as well but usually not. So I have to have a friend over to eat some or write about it here. I am just loving this cooking thing! For dessert Grace and I shared a bowl of fresh strawberries. There is really nothing more wonderful than that, unless maybe it's fresh pineapple. Wow. That's all I can say.

Last night Grace wanted some crackers and we were all out of her gluten-free stuff, so I dug out my cookbook "Cooking With Whole Foods" and tried out a recipe for rice crackers. But instead of using just rice, water and salt, I added some ground flax seed and ground up sunflower seeds. I mixed it all together in a food processor, rolled it thin, made a big mess, and baked it at 300 for 40 minutes. What came out was a bunch of misshapen, crunchy, very tasty crackers, and I was pleasantly surprised. I think I will experiment some more with the recipe, and next time make a bigger batch. It has to be cheaper than those store-bought crackers. I bet they would also be delicious with some homemade hummus, but when I tried to make some of that a while ago, it didn't turn out. I guess everything can't be perfect.

And my mom can't figure out what a person would eat if they don't eat meat. It's a crazy world.

Gotta go, children screaming...