So warm outside. No humidity really to speak of. And a breeze coming through the windows that was soft-spoken and light of touch. Absolute perfection, in my humble opinion.
I spent a lot of the day in the kitchen, happily so, cooking homemadeTuscan soup and absolutely loving the fact that, well, that I CAN. Gone are the days of microwaved and/or meals otherwise short-ordered in a broiler oven. How I've missed REAL cooking, baking, preparing the table, the presentation… ah, well. I have it now in my little Tuscan style kitchen. The Tuscan heartbeat of my little kitchen (though so much larger than the kitchen of my old apartment) breathes life into the rest of this home. It's rather like having a small little slice of Italy in a way… but the kitchen… the kitchen… well yes, there's that.
So the main meal for Sunday is lunch, and today it was Zuppa Toscana (not really a name, but rather a description); a simple Tuscan soup with a not-so-simple flavor. Anyone who's been to Olive Garden has probably tasted a similar soup by a similar name. It's basically a sausage/potato soup with kale and garlic, a few simple veggies, etc., etc. based in a heavy cream and chicken stock base. Served with soft Italian bread of choice, and a little Tawny Port (love the cherry flavor), a few slices of fruit, salad, or whatever… it becomes an extraordinary meal, especially with the warm breeze flowing through those gauzy white sheer curtains near the table. So perfect.
And it's not just a meal. It's an experience. We choose to eat with cloth napkins around here. It's no bother to launder them, and if you choose wisely and choose patterned… well, you don't have to worry so much about stains. So in our case, meals are formal and stuffy, but rather beautiful and little elements of celebration each day. Even if we opt for a simple meal, even if the meal is one spent in front of the tv while T watches the game, we are never 'mindlessly eating.'
….I've gotten a bit off-track.
I love spending time cooking and baking in my kitchen. I love being surrounded by the black marble countertops with their copper and gold flecks, the natural stone tiles, the cream and caramel cabinetry, and all the beautiful colors that hint of that old Tuscan style. I love the newness of all the appliances (hey, I'm a girl!), and I love the light that comes in the window while I'm doing what I love to do in there. I even love our 'celebratory white dishes' (Bianca Laurel) and hope to get the gorgeous charger set to go with them. Yes, we use charger plates as well, though not highly decorative ones for everyday use. Either way… we enjoy these little things in celebration of everyday life. We call it living.
It's when the ordinary become extraordinary.
Maybe it's only the light.
Maybe it's just the angle of stretching shadows.
Perhaps there's no change at all. Yet…
Maybe, it's simply how you see things.
Maybe that's what's changed.
Or, it could just be the afterglow of good soup and wine shared with extraordinary company. Cheers!
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