this morning, in the midst of writing and trying to be a productive human, i decided to roast some vegetables.
yesterday i walked through the union square farmers market. with only $15 in hand, i bought some parsnips, mushrooms, sweet potatoes...and some apple cider. i even had some dollars left to spare.
when i was in grad school in england, i was introduced to roasted veggies. i mean, of course, i had had them before but they weren't something i ever thought of making myself. but in grad school we would have these nice group dinners in our building. and some of my friends would roast vegetables. when i realized how easy it was to make them and how good they were once roasted, i was hooked. i began roasting veggies all the time.
that was back in 2008/2009.
it has been a while since i've roasted vegetables. i honestly can't remember the last time i did. i mean, i've roasted some butternut squash on its own, but the last time i chopped a bunch of veggies--mostly root vegetables--and let them get golden brown and delicious in the oven--i can't remember
and so this morning, as i cut the sweet potatoes and the parsnips and the mushrooms, i was flooded with memories. i remember my friend from germany talking about making sure the mushrooms didn't burn. and i remember my friend from argentina sprinkling salt and pepper over them and asking for "parsil" which after a few moments i realized was parsley. and i remember another friend who was living in london and i remember helping her preparing parsnips for roasting. and i remember trying to do figure out the oven's temperature since it was in celsius. and i remember getting back to the states and trying to figure out what the temperature would have to be in fahrenheit.
and all of this came to me while i tossed the vegetables in olive oil and salt and pepper in my kitchen. and that part of life feels so long ago. those friends are spread out now. some are married with kids now. some have lived in several other countries. some stayed in pretty much the same place. i remember those moments and i cherish them because we were closer then. that moment in time can't be repeated.
i roasted the veggies and ate them for lunch. the taste was familiar. not quite as good as they could have been, but good nonetheless. i'll work on it for next time. i ate them at my desk, my new desk which used to be the dining table, but now is the desk. i ate them after writing nine pages of a play and before heading off to do a reading. i ate them and got an email from someone thanking me for their feedback on their work. i ate them and thought about how we crave root vegetables in the winter. they help keep us grounded, well, rooted, in a time that feels all in the air (ayurveda how i love you and how i need to reconnect with you).
i ate this food that reminds me of 22/23 year old charly and that time and i thought of her and that time and i thought of where we've been and i thought of how we are here now. we, me, the vegetables, and time. we are all here.