Sour Notes

July 23, 2012

Are you sometimes plagued by sour notes?

I think we all are at some point or another.

And I’m not talking about something major, like when your best friend betrays you, or you were a #1 candidate for that dream job only to find out it went to your less experienced (but much prettier) colleague.

No I’m talking about some seemingly petty things. Like when you see that despite eating healthy and working out, you will never look like a Victoria’s Secret model (even if you wear their lingerie). Or when you have a short chat with your ex-boyfriend only to realize that he got over you and moved on eons ago while you’re only half-way there. Or when you stop for a minute and think that there are a million other food blogs much more successful than yours (even though you have a pool of dedicated readers and still enjoy writing every single entry 🙂 ). Yes, I’m talking “lemony” notes like that.

It’s hard to deal with disappointment, no matter big or small. Our perceptions are often build on expectations, whether real or imagined, thus the whole picture could be skewed depending what exactly you’re waiting to happen.

And when it doesn’t, it seems like your whole world is tumbling down (even though it is not) because the “pictures in your head” were so much better and as elaborate as a 6-hour documentary. So, when you get an equivalent of a 10-minute “pilot preview”, which has very little potential to be developed into any kind of show, you feel lost and disappointed wishing for more than a fleeting moment.

Or maybe you’re just a drama queen!

What’s Cooking This Week

Summer is in a full swing, bursting with colors and an aroma of fresh produce. Veggies are ripe, fruits are juicy, all the reasons to make more nutritious meals. Even if you feel kind of sour. Add some brown sugar then. Food cures anything. Or at least it should. 🙂

Russian Sweet And Sour Cabbage Soup

1/2 small green cabbage

2 medium white potatoes

1 large carrot

1 medium red bell pepper

2 medium tomatoes

2-3 fresh garlic cloves

5 Tbspoons tomato paste

1/2 lbs bacon (skip for a vegan version)

2 Tbspoon brown or raw sugar

1 Tbspoon lemon-pepper seasoning

1 tspoon each dried basil and oregano

lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste

fresh herbs for garnish

Put a large soup pot with 3/4 full of water to boil. While the water is boiling, cut bacon into smaller pieces and cook until almost done.

Also shred the cabbage, slice garlic into tiny slivers and chop all the veggies, set them aside.

Add garlic, pepper and carrot to bacon pieces and cook for about 5 minutes, set them aside.

When water is boiling, add lemon-pepper seasoning, dried herbs, salt and pepper, taste to see if you want to season more. Then add diced potato and shredded cabbage, cook until both are almost done.