inspiration, collaboration

The title of this blog post sounds like the title of a truly gruesome graduation speech, doesn’t it?

(Sidebar: my high school graduation’s speaker was the local weatherman. Not even the main local weatherman. The assistant, weekend-shift local weatherman. The next year it was Ben Affleck. How is this fair?!)

The point was that sometimes the blog inspires ya and sometimes it doesn’t, yknow? This week there was just too much summer (with an emphasis on hotness and misery earlier in the week, and an emphasis on freedom and awesome in the later).

Still, there’s nothing like a gorgeous photograph that I must must must post to tug me back. Never mind that I was not the one to take it.

My hand operated a spatula, rather than a camera, when this rather exquisite photograph was captured.

Maya come over! Occasional writer of The Collegiate Gourmande. First a blog friend, now a friend friend.

Obviously, we food-laborated.

Maya was craving green things… I had green things. Leftovers were inspected. Farmer’s market purchases appeared. And this happened!

Sauteed green onion ‘n garlic

 

Threw in some greens and cooked down. Put in a casserole dish, topped with some leftover steamed asparagus.

Maya took the carb lead. Livened up some leftover cooked rice (my adorable mother always makes 1 dry cup of rice despite the fact that she the only person in the house who actually likes white rice. Plus there is usually- as there was this time- already leftover brown rice in the fridge), adding organic vegetable broth for moisture and flava.

Made creamy and luscious with various cheese (3 laughing cows- 2 sundried tomato, 1 herb). Poured atop the green base.

Then- sheer brilliance- eggs baked on top! Beautiful fresh farmer’s market eggs floated beautifully atop the other ingredients when Maya expertly cracked them

(Informal poll of other people who eat farmer’s market eggs: how they treatin’ ya? The adorable Mennonites who sell us these have never ever done us wrong. Steve, on the other hand, though he paid $3.50 instead of $5 for a dozen at his farmer’s market, ended up with one rotten egg and one horribly disturbing chicken fetus)

Anyway, then the whole thing went under the broiler.

 

Those things underneath? Leftover fries- of the traditional and sweet potato forms- leftover from brunch at a country club (!) with my sister’s godparents. Seeking moderation in all things, I went for the “Healthful selections omelet” (egg whites and veggies) with a side order of sweet potato fries.

Maya is a good sport, in eating my family’s leftovers in not one but two contexts.

(3 actually, since I also bulked up a leftovers salad. It was camera shy).

Once our collaboration was done, it was photography time. In which I was considerably outdid by Maya.

 

On Facebook, where she posted the pic, Maya referred to it as “savory rice pudding meets asian greens meets cheese meets eggs? It works.“ It totally worked.

The fries were a nice touch.

And the evening ended with totally fun boy HYSTERIA. It has been seven months (!) since I was last single and… suffice it to say that gossip, intrigue, and speculation are still fun. And giggling. Lots of giggling.