Follow your bliss. Joseph Campbell said that and it’s good advice. It’s wonderful if you could have followed your bliss all your life, but you can start anytime. You’re never too old. I think it’s another positive part of the
Follow your bliss.
Joseph Campbell said that and it’s good advice.
It’s wonderful if you could have followed your bliss all your life, but you can start anytime. You’re never too old.
I think it’s another positive part of the aging process, out with the old, in with the new. If you’ve always wanted to write. Write. If you’ve always wanted to paint. Paint. Learning to do something new is healthy for mind and body and spirit, if you’re into that.
Confession: I always hated to cook. Used to warn my friends, “If I ever invite you to dinner and you know I’m cooking, head immediately for Nome.”
All “ugly Americans” have a cook in the kitchen. For all my years as an expert I stayed as far away from a stove and oven as possibly. I remember one occasion when I discovered — suddenly, in the middle of the night when welcome guests hinted for a snack — that I didn’t know how to turn the lights on in the kitchen.
Today, at a ripe old age, I’m learning to be a creative cook, 2013 style. Microwaves are fun. But the greatest latest cooking device in the place where I keep the refrigerator is the Vitamix. I’m not selling them, I don’t hold any stock, and I don’t expect anything for the mention, but that is the greatest culinary discovery since deviled eggs. The greatest cooking device since the campfire coffee pot.
Soups — soups, soups, beautiful soups — are an art form I’m learning to master and there’s one thing I know — other than I’m not Julia Child — everything I put in that little wonder is as nutritious as the stuff I toss in. No nourishment gets lost in the shuffle. Whatever you put in comes out in the wash.
I haven’t learned the fancy lingo but, boy oh boy, do I love the whirr of this hard-working cooker. I love to toss in unexpected flavors, a squeeze of lemon, a sprinkle of dry white wine, an experimental herb. Color. It’s a work of art. Tomatoes are red. Potatoes are white, with a brownish tinge if you toss in some mushrooms. The aroma when you take off the lid, don’t forget to turn it off first, lets a hot healthy smell fly up your nose.
I’ve got to stop, my taste buds are screaming, “Feed me. Feed me.”
I don’t know how I lived to be 82 without it.
Quick share. Make chicken broth or vegetable broth. Or buy it in a jar. Bake a potato in the micro. Saute onions, artichoke hearts in oil, garlic, green peppers, carrots, bite size bits of chicken, whatever, in the microwave.
Toss it all in Vita dear — don’t forget the magic stuff, Brewer’s Yeast and Wheat germ-flip three switches — whirr, whizz, sing. Open. Pour. Enjoy.
Delicious for breakfast, lunch or dinner. A treat for a welcome guest who’s yearning for a snack.
I even ordered an 11-inch chef’s cap.
• Bettejo Dux is a Kalaheo resident and author of “The Scam: A madcap romp through North Shore Kauai.”
