Real Foodies

Yesterday I visited with KBH and her family in NH. KBH is one of my oldest friends; we met when we were 15 at a crazy Catholic retreat. When I'm feeling cash poor, and I'm so cash poor at the moment I'm sick to my stomach, it's my friends I'm grateful for, and she's one of oldest.

Our visit, of course, was all about the food -- secondary of course to enjoying one another's company, but still. KBH had made a beautiful salad with blueberries she and her two-year-old son Zachary had picked, and strong Danish blue cheese she'd picked up the day before and was excited to share. I brought wonderful bread leftover from a loaf a friend brought to dinner last week, along with ripe red cherries and smooth dark chocolate. Zachary, in a nod to how he's going to be on Valentine's day, bit a chunk out of each cherry before carefully placing it back on the plate. In another nod to how he's going to be on Valentine's day, he picked the lone red tomato off the plant on the deck and gave it to me, with no prompting whatsoever from his parents.

Anyhoo, I've realized lately that it's all about the food with my friends and I. It's pretty much the cheapest way to enjoy life, especially in the city, and it's such a pleasure. Friday night, L and I went to watch Shakespeare in the park and we picked up Vietnamese sandwiches for $2.50 beforehand -- she also brought fresh fruit and I brought chips, chocolate, and crunchy flat Spanish cookies. As noted previously, she and I had gone on a food tour of the South End recently, and I also spent a morning at farmer's markets with Amy.

JoyceFrances, who's coming to visit from Albany in August, takes trips to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods when she's here, and cooks both lavish and simple meals. Even OSB whips together vegetarian delights from Martha Stewart. Oh, and at dinner at my brother and his wife's last week we were served salmon with a pea pesto that took 2 and a half pounds of peas to make -- peas he and his wife sat in front of the TV the night before shelling.

And now I, even as I am sick to stomach in my brokeness, am thinking of taking my emergency $20 bill to Russo's, because the produce is fresh and cheap, and I'm low on fruit and veggies.