Was
your Tuesday Fat? Now it's time for Ash Wednesday.
Now
I
love putting away Mardi Gras décor as much as I like setting it out. My drapes
of beads are replaced with simple, empty bowls.
I
love the “rest” we get during Lent. I credit learning about Mardi Gras in Port
Arthur and the season’s history with my deeper understanding and appreciation
of this stark – often cold and dreary – season. I imagine my Cajun ancestors as
they collected fresh eggs and scooted to outhouses on frigid Louisiana
properties. They must have surely been awaiting spring’s first shoots and
lighter and warmer days in a way that I can barely understand as I dash from
heated car to heated building.
Live
Simply is a message on one of my favorite tiny bowls. It’s decorative, but it
can also hold a few nuts or raisins that I can eat slowly and think about those
who haven’t got a bite. If they had that much, it would be their meal, not
their snack.
My
culinary adventures are relevant as I appreciate each bite, avoid meat, hear
stories of other cultures’ traditions and focus on whole grains, fruit and foods
that don’t come in boxes.
One
egg, one apple or one dish of
yogurt is simple nourishment during this time.
And,
by the way, smoked meat never smells so good to me as it does on a Friday, when
I’m abstaining. I know that those with other traditions have felt “sorry” for
me that I couldn’t “have” what they are having. I in turn have felt “sorry” for
those who have not taken some time to live a little simply.
Darragh
Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who’s doing more with less this season. Reach
her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com
