Wisdom and Teeth

On Wednesday, I went through the unfortunate experience of having my wisdom teeth removed.

Much to my friends' and family's disappointment, I did not act loopy on painkillers, and as a result, I did not end up on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

I was dreading the surgery not because of the pain (I can take the pain) but I knew that for a few days, it would be difficult for me to eat. When I don't eat, I get unbearably grumpy.

To prepare myself, the day before my surgery, my mom and I made a list of all the foods I could eat without chewing, in addition to making a homemade chicken broth.

A mere 8 hours after my surgery, I was in the kitchen chopping carrots and boiling star pasta to add to my homemade broth.

Obviously, food is a big thing in my family.

The day after my surgery, knowing that my favorite vegetable is cauliflower, my aforementioned best friend came by my home to babysit me while my parents went to a doctor's appointment. She brought with her  homemade roasted cauliflower soup. Molly doesn't cook for just anyone. She's mostly a baker, and I was touched by the gesture.

I had two bowls of her soup that day, which was more than anything else I ate, including my homemade broth.

Food is a big thing in my family, and it tastes even better when family makes it.

Memorial Day Lunch

Sometimes all a girl needs is a gooey panini, cold orange juice, and her favorite Whole Foods kettle-cooked barbeque chips. 

But I had some creamy homemade potato salad, as well. 

I've always been an overachiever. 

I'm working on layering the color in my photography to make it pop. Keep in mind--I am by no means a professional, so I'm still learning! 

Southern Hospitality

I had a wonderful time yesterday with my best friend's family. 

Whenever my parents go to parties for dinner, I hate staying home and eating dinner alone. That's when I call up Molly. 

Her family is fairly used to my bringing over food. Whenever I bake, I bring the extras for them. Whenever I make something not-vegetarian that I absolutely have to show off, I pop over to their house.

When my parents went out of town for a wedding and I stayed at their house, they took care of me. I got sick, so they let me sleep in Molly's bed, put on my favorite movie Lady and the Tramp, and made a special trip to the grocery store to get me ginger ale. 

A couple weeks later, I brought over my very first whole, organic, roasted chicken basted in butter and stuffed with garlic, lemon, and herbs. It was my way of saying thank you. 

But this time, I made Greek chicken slathered in lemon zest, juice, olive oil, whole garlic, and oregano. I tossed it with fingerling potatoes, fennel, and red onion. 

I took over their kitchen, roasting it in their oven until the whole house smelled like Mount Olympus. 

After it was done, we all huddled around the sheet pans and stared at it. Then we threw them onto the beautiful, Southern-style platters they had, and I took them to their living room. 

I sat them on the bare carpet, opened the windows, and started taking pictures. (Did I mention that I've known their family since the 7th grade? Bless their patient hearts.)

At one point, Molly and her mom came over and her mom spread a gorgeous lace tablecloth and began taking pictures with me. I was beaming. 

Then we ate. Molly, Molly's mom, dad, grandmother and I all sat around the small wooden table and afterwards, they broke out the lemon custard pie with vanilla ice cream. 

It was beautiful. 

Vegan Eggplant Stack