A cold winter day

Today was an almost perfect cold winter day.  The ground was covered in the purest snow of white.  The sky was vividly blue and void of clouds.  The air was still making the below freezing temperatures bearable.

I got an early start on my day and did the groceries as early as possible. I'd wanted to do so, in the hopes of getting a roast into the slow cooker for a nice dinner.  We bought a quarter cow from my in-laws last fall and still have a lot of meat left; many of which cuts that I don't cook with often.  I asked Brett to go pick one yesterday morning so that it could thaw and he picked a chuck roast.  I'd never really cooked one of these so I searched the ever reliable internet and found this recipe: Slow-cooker Pot Roast.  I noted a few ingredients which I didn't have and bought them today along with the rest of the groceries.  As I didn't read through the whole thing, I failed to realize I was out of red cooking wine, and beef broth.  How does one run out of beef broth anyways?  I improvised and used white wine instead of red, and vegetable broth instead of beef broth.

As the roast, vegetables and sauce started heating up, delicious aromas filled the house.  It sure made us both very hungry all day!  Every 2 hours, Brett would ask: "Is it time to eat yet?"

As the roast tenderized in the crock pot, I enjoyed a productive and fun day.  I reviewed a lot of paperwork, as kids outside were sledding down the small hill of the green belt that lies behind our house.  Just a year ago, I'd watched children doing the same, as I held and rocked Preston, all the whilst telling him how we would go sledding together the following winter.  How things change.  I didn't wallow in the pain of my loss though.  I just savored the memory.  Perhaps the intoxicating incense of the spices that permeated the house helped make it so.  Delicious food and smells have a way of making people happy, somehow, don't they?

In between piles of paperwork, I played a few games and did enjoy an evening with friends, online on World of Warcraft, as we attempted to defeat two different encounters.  While we were not successful, we learned a lot about the fights, and laughed quite a bit.  It's nice to be able to have fun and laugh.

An so, it was an almost perfect cold winter day.  Sitting by the fire, a cat on my lap, hubby by my side.  Only one thing it missing; a perfect, smiling little boy.

Nom nom nom...

Nom nom nom - my version of yummy.  I don't remember if I started using the expression because it's something Brett uses.  Or if it's something I picked up while playing World of Warcraft.  Or perhaps when reading a Manga.  Wherever I picked it up from though, it stuck.  When I would feed Preston, I would say it to him a lot, when he needed to eat just a little more.  Did it work?  Who really knows, but I figured the easy repetitive sound might be helpful to him.  I hoped that by association, nom nom nom would trigger him to know food was coming, and that he was hungry.

We're so blessed to be able to eat as much as we want, when we want, and to a certain extent, what we want.  On day 4 of my 30 days of gratitude challenge, I am thankful for food.  I like to eat.  Actually I love to eat.  I would eat all day if I could, but I know better, lol.  It's so easy to take food for granted.  Yet, there are so many people that go without it every day.  In impoverished countries, and even in first world countries like Canada and the US.  So many children are malnourished and it's heart-breaking.  It's one thing to be an adult, where there are certain things you can do to try and help yourself.  It's another to be an innocent child with no knowledge or resources to find food.

I often find myself saying "I'm starving".  It's a poor expression we've come to adopt, and I aim to use it less in the future.  I've actually felt a form of starvation on more than one occasion.  When I was hospitalized for bowel obstructions, I wasn't allowed to eat for 7-10 days.  Granted I was on fluids to keep me hydrated, and on narcotics to numb the pain but once I was off the pain meds, the hunger pain could be felt.  It was nothing like when I'm hungry for dinner, because I'm eating an hour later than usual.  I can only imagine what it would be like to live with this feeling every day.

I don't want to go through life feeling guilty for enjoying a really cheesy pizza, or delicious beef tacos, or even a decadent chocolate cake.  I often have to restrict my diet because of a Crohn's flare-up.  I went a decade without eating salads which ironically are great for you.  I had to limit the amount of vegetables I ate, especially those with insoluble fiber for a long time.  I'm still careful with them.  I've had to go without most dairy foods for months at a time.  Ice cream is a rare treat for me.  All this gives me a greater appreciation for the food that we eat every day.  It makes me feel good that Preston never had to wonder when he would eat next.  We provided for him to the best of our ability.  I can only hope that the number of children who suffer from starvation only diminishes from here.

As you know, I'm hoping that November 19th, Preston's birthday, will be a day where everyone spreads happiness around the world.  My plan all along has been to make it a weekly event for myself.  I was planning on making a lunch and handing it to a few of the homeless people that I see every day on my way to work.,  The hope? Brightening their day, and filling their bellies.  But perhaps a better option would be to find a way to give food to children who need it.  Research project for the long weekend!

There are so many delicious things to eat.  Some of my favorites: juicy roast beef, pizza, Caesar salad, homemade burritos... and as fall approaches, I look forward to making my French Canadian Meatpie.  Nom nom nom...

That was for New Year's 2013 - That's what it says on the pie though it's hard to read.