For all the beautiful things that make you happy…

I can’t believe how long I’ve been away.  The daily churns of life, zipping along like cars on a freeway; work, house remodel, chores and errands, blablabla…WAHHHH!hhh!!!  I’m sure I’m not the only one.  Why does it feel that as you get older that life just seems to speed up? (anyone else have this problem?) You start hyperventilating that there isn’t enough time to do all the stuff you want to do, all the places you want to see, all the different kinds of food you want to taste…right as you’re looking to turning the big FOUR. O!

After several long deep breaths, I realize that you just have to make time for the things that are important, to you, and take what you can and know that while you can’t have it all, you can kick and scream and kick ass as much as you sanely and happily can, to soak it all in, whatever that keeps you going or makes you happy.  And catch the unexpected, as in these beautiful trees in late winter Chicago.

I’ve missed my time away writing away about food.  It’s not that I don’t cook, just “been busy” as everyone else is.  Some memorable foods as of late are; White Bear dumplings in Flushing, NY – with props to LauHound who seem quite the dumpling connoisseur (a total hole in the wall place with handmade dumplings with skins that flutter like delicate rose petals), baby butter lettuce I found at local Nijiya Market that Mike describes as butterfly wings drizzled with smoked olive oil, lemon juice and coarse sea salt, sous vide filet mignon, sous vide eggs – both made by me:) – and all the beautiful new spring vegetables popping up in the market.  Bright red ripe strawberries with its perfume, sugary snap peas, fresh rhubarbs and the incredible kumquats that keeps pumping out strands of orange jewels that we’ve adding to our backyard.

Kumquats will eventually mean…kumquat preserves/jam with goat cheese, sliced thinly over a fatty salad, as a marinade on pork or chicken, maybe even as a sorbet or ice cream?  That would be like creamsicle, hmmm?  And what about kumquat infused vodka?  I think I may be unto something here…

And along with new fruit trees planted (pomegrante, avocado, lemon, lime, orange and nectarines), hunting down the very special Pink Cloud Sakura/Cherry Tree has been incredible!  We named him Linus (van Pelt a la Snoopy) and he stands tall and beautiful right in the smack middle of our backyard.  Can’t wait for him to grow old with us…

For all the lovely things in your life that makes you happy…happy living~

-ck

About chefkelly

Leveraging a lifelong passion for food and combining a unique cultural mesh of korean cuisine, robust flavors of Texas BBQ and California cuisine, Chef Kelly brings her own signature style to delectable perfect bites exploring complex and often surprising interplay of flavors, textures and colors. She has honed and shared her craft through her experiences from five star restaurant kitchens to private cooking instruction to her self-written food blog at chefkelly.com all made with 2 tablespoons of love; love for food, love for life.
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