Nicoiserie

This beautiful salad I ate for lunch today was only reminiscent of the nicoise salads I enjoyed in days of yore. Here, grilled vegetables from last night's dinner stand in for the roasted potatoes found in a traditional nicoise salad. The piquant capers effectively transported my tastebuds to the rooftop restaurant in Athens, Greece, where I first learned to love this culinary genre. This was a delicious, empty-starch-free lunch.

My first impulse was to title this post "Nicoisish" but then the second syllable unlocked a random and almost forgotten memory of having studied an element of Neoclassical Decorative Arts called "Chinoiserie". My mind is all over the place today, but it's rather exciting. I am so surprised at what is coming forth. Most of these emerging memories had been faded, forgotten and potentially lost. Could it be that the Wahls' Protocol is beginning to work? I love thinking, and remembering. I've had a lovely life thus far and it'd be a shame not to know about it.

Along with a few of my fellow Art History Major compadres at my alma mater, William and Mary, I was fortunate enough to take a wonderful Decorative Arts class within the Dewitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia, across the street from the College and historic Duke of Gloucester Street. "Chinoiserie" was one representation of European Neoclassical Decorative Arts toward the end of the 18th century. It is simply the Eastern influence in European designs in furniture, textiles and other decorative items created during that time. It was one of my favorite classes.  It was amazing to be able to study the actual items instead of slides in a sleepy, dark auditorium. How I'd love to do it all again -- even the dark auditorium part!

Fun fact: The historic building which houses the Dewitt Wallace Museum was formerly a sanitarium (modern euphemism for what used to be called an "insane asylum"). A former neighbor of my mother's was in residence there in her later years. The neighbor used to babysit my mom and her younger sister, and had always made mom uneasy. Currently there is a history museum to commemorate the building's former incarnation on the upper level of the building. True story.

Breakfast Bowls!

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day. It's a tough holiday for me since losing my amazing mom, Jeanine McKenzie Allen. This was our third one without her.

There's the sweet Angel, just the way I remember her. Since it's a bit of a melancholy day now, we keep it kind of low-key. I cut my own bouquet:

Then I announced I was skipping short-order cooking for the day. We ordered Thai food for lunch and Mexican for dinner -- they were both excellent meals and for me, dairy- and gluten-free. For breakfast, I did cook, just for myself -- the bowl! Here's the cooking shot:

Two eggs in coconut oil, a tomato, some leftover sauteed mushrooms and spinach. Onto the top of the cooked bowlful I piled chunks of half an avocado. This was so nutritious, filling and energizing. It makes sense for me to make breakfast a priority. A lot of work goes into being me. There are my injections and supplements,

some of which are tough to keep down if my stomach isn't otherwise occupied. The process cannot be rushed effectively, in other words I can't just wolf it all down without feeling sick, so some days I work breakfast and supplements into and around laundry and dishes and by the time I'm done it is about 11:30. So the big bowls really serve as brunch. If I want more food around lunchtime a small salad or fresh green juice will suffice. The bowl above was so delicious -- the eggs came out perfectly, only softly set in the center. I toasted a piece of gluten-free bread at the end to sop up every remaining drop.

Here's another morning's bounty:

I love how the coconut oil makes the edges of the eggs so golden-brown and crispy! As you might imagine, a brunch bowl is an excellent vehicle for leftovers. I didn't warm the steak from the night before. I prefer it on the rare side and warming it would have likely spoiled it for me. I really enjoyed the warm and the cold together, and now that I know it is good for nervous system regeneration, I enjoyed the fatty gristle on the meat too. Give a bowl a try!