Lemon Bars, a Homeless Guy, and the Big Questions (An Essay)

Hi! Today, I’m mixing things up and posting this essay that I wrote last year. (Thanks to my writing club friends for some helpful edits!) I’ve been scouring some earlier and unpublished writing since this little blogging experiment is a tad more time-consuming than I thought. I have a fresh post for Friday with one of my FAVORITE time and money-saving tips, so get excited! 

Tuesday, February 7th, 2017, 9:23pm - San Francisco

I’m biking home from working a catering event at a fancy Venture Capital fund in downtown San Francisco. The attendees were sipping wine while debating the future of Artificial Intelligence, discussing questions like: Will AI wipe out the middle class? If robots kill us all, will it be out of blood thirst, or because they think they’re doing it for the greater good? 

I work these kinds of events regularly enough that I shouldn’t be surprised, but the subtle splendor of free food and drink available at many SF offices still amazes me. Among the La Croix and San Pellegrino, there were at least thirty $10-each juices in the office fridge, not to mention beer, wine, protein bars, Philz coffee, and countless snacks filling cabinets upon cabinets.

A seemingly-innate hatred of food waste means I’m carting some leftovers home. They’re all strapped up on the rack of my bike. Tonight I restrained myself and only took a little bit - two containers of veggies, three chocolate chip cookies and six lemon bars. 

As I bike up Sutter street, taking in the surroundings of downtown San Francisco on a Tuesday night, I notice a man on my right who appears to be homeless. He’s sitting on a bench, wrapped in a blanket, and he’s rocking slightly forward and back. The look on his face can only be described as excruciating. I’m not sure if he’s cold or in pain or both or neither. 

Ahhhhh. So sad. Poor guy. I push away my first thought and keep biking. And then I remember I have food - I could actually stop and give him some. Ehhhh, do I really wanna stop? I’m exhausted and kind of just want to go home and I actually do want all the food I took tonight. 

Sometimes I take food just so it won’t get tossed and I intentionally look for homeless people to give it to, but that wasn’t the case tonight. 

Great - so you’re gonna be another one of those people who just passes by thinking “how sad” and does nothing? How many times have you done that before? 

Then comes the swift safety check - there are other people on the street, and a woman is taking out the trash at a restaurant next door to where the homeless man’s sitting. Just in case he’s crazy I wouldn’t be alone with him. 

I pull over at the corner just past him. I break into my leftovers and consider what to give him, getting my food gift ready to hand over quickly so that I can make a swift exit if needed. I walk my bike over to the man. “Hi! Do you want some food?”

He smiles at me. He has a big gap between his front teeth. He’s smiling so big he almost closes his eyes - an expression drastically different than the one I saw just moments ago in my periphery. He nods - it seems like maybe he can’t speak. 

“Veggies or lemon bars?” I ask. “Or both? How about both?!”

I hand the man a container of veggies. “Here’s your dinner…” I tell him. “And here’s your dessert!” I exclaim, handing over the bag of lemon bars. 

He opens the veggies and starts eating, looking at them lovingly. As I fumble around to strap my bag back on my bike, I notice his stench. I am simultaneously grossed out and incredibly pained for him that he lives smelling this way. I also realize that my bike headlight is shining awkwardly in his face. 

“Ok - well, enjoy!” I say, “Sorry about that light!” He looks up from the veggies, his eyes not quite focused on me, as if he’s in a bit of a daze. He’s looking in my direction but kind of gazing off in the distance. He’s still smiling as big as ever.

As I pedal home, a million thoughts pummel me: 

Well, that felt good, right? Good deed for the day?!

Yeah, or a reminder of how many other times you DIDN’T STOP and did nothing. Or of how many other homeless people are out there tonight without food.

It’s crazy that in the span of 10 minutes I went from fancy rich person office to smelly homeless guy on the street and I interacted directly with both. How can such drastically different things coexist in such proximity?

Lately I am plagued with big questions about society. There are so many problems worth caring about. How do I balance caring - and taking action to try to make things better - with living a happy life? Is it even possible to live a happy life while genuinely caring about this stuff? 

In trying to write a conclusion to this story, I realize I don’t have one. I’m sure I will always have these questions, and I will probably never have any answers. I am grateful for whatever made me pullover to give that man some food, because the encounter reminded me of three things:

1. Above all - recognize my common humanity with everyone I encounter.

2. A simple smile can make an impact.

3. Ask the big questions, always. Even if you’ll never have the answers.

---

PS. You can sign up to get my blog posts in your inbox here. Usually they will be short updates that include food tips, quick recipes, etc. This essay was a special treat :).

Five Minute Red Curry Sauce, hello old friend!

Today I would like to reintroduce an old recipe friend and favorite. It’s a five minute sauce/dressing that packs a BIG PUNCH of flavor. No chopping required, one measuring utensil, a jar and a shake and you’re in business. We’ve made this in the last two cooking lessons I taught and I was surprised by the excitement it inspired. Among the comments: “OMG this is going to be my new dressing - I’m putting this on EVERYTHING!” and my favorite: “That’s it?! That’s all you have to do?”

This sauce was in my 2017 Recipe Calendar as part of the Avocado Endive Bites recipe. It does taste especially great on/with avocado, AND it works as a salad dressing, a dipping sauce for lettuce wraps, and in all other instances in which a sauce could be used - ie, on anything! You can use either red curry paste OR miso to make it. I’d start with the red curry version - it has a nice bright red color and a vibrant flavor (whereas the miso version is richer with more umami). 

Cost of Red Curry Paste at SF Grocery Stores (from Instacart)
$3.39 Whole Foods
$4.59 Safeway
$3.99 Molly Stone’s
$3.29 Gus’s
$3.09 Rainbow
$3.99 Birite

^Isn’t this fascinating how much the price varies?!?! Further evidence for why I don’t like Safeway! Rainbow wins!

If you’ve never tried red curry paste, it’s a staple Thai ingredient that can be found in the international section of most grocery stores. This is the kind I usually buy (note that’s it’s a 6-pack), although this one also looks very good. In the store, one jar will cost between $3-5, so I’d recommend buying it there over Amazon, since you probably won’t want a 6-pack if it’s your first time buying it. A little goes a long way, so this small jar lasts me a few months in the fridge.

---

Five Minute Red Curry Sauce 

• 1 T red curry paste (OR use miso for an alternate version)

• 1 T soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)

• 3 T toasted sesame oil

• 1/2 T honey, agave or maple syrup

• 5 T olive oil

• dash of sriracha (optional)

• squeeze of lime (optional) 

Instructions: Measure curry paste (or miso) into a small jar. Add the soy sauce and whisk/mash with a fork until well blended (this is especially important if using miso). Add the rest of the ingredients, put the lid on and shake it up until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

---

If you’re curious about how else you might use red curry paste, here are two other recipes you could try. I haven’t made either, but I added some notes on what I’d do differently after glancing at these:  

Veg option: Rich Red Curry with Roasted Vegetables from Minimalist Baker - her recipes are solid (and healthy and delicious). From glancing at this - I’d say you don’t need curry powder on the veggies, I’d just roast them plain with oil, salt and pepper. Curry powder is a very strong flavor and there are so many different kinds, so I think I’d rather let the red curry paste flavor shine through here. I also prefer full fat coconut milk so I’d use that over light. I’d make sure to cut the sweet potato in small chunks so it cooks through in that short roasting time (I have a pet-peeve against undercooked sweet potatoes). This would be a great use of the immersion blender too!

Meat option: 20-minute Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup from Kenji at Serious Eats - another highly trusted source - Kenji is THE MAN, and I actually met him a few weeks ago!! I love this cooking method of simmering chicken in soup and then chopping it after it’s cooked - I do it all the time in other recipes. This lends flavor to the broth AND produces super tender, melt in your mouth chicken. I would use chicken thighs over breasts (thighs are more forgiving - if you overcook them, they remain moist; and in my opinion, thighs are also more flavorful). I would cut the hot chicken on a plate with a knife and fork versus using my hands like he suggests. Lastly - I’d sub zucchini noodles and would simply add them to the pot to cook for the last 5-10 mins.

Hmm… I think I’ll have to try these recipes myself - reading them got me excited! If you make any or all of the above, please report back! Happy cooking!

Resourcefulness to Preserve my Reggiano (Parmigiano-Reggiano, that is) →

A friend told me recently that I “see new uses for things that most people don’t.” What a compliment! I used to consider this to be a weird trait that meant I really should have lived during the Great Depression, but, reframed by my friend, I enjoying thinking of it as a secret super power. I see things others don’t! Sounds almost spidey-like ;)

This weekend I went on a retreat-day at a stunning winery in Sonoma where they served some fancy packaged snacks - things I don’t usually buy but am always super excited to try! We snacked on some vegan “Sour Cream and Chive Zucchini Chips.” (They were good, not great, in case you were wondering.) Fresh vegetable “chips” like this - think kale chips if you’ve ever seen those before - often come with a desiccant packet (see photo below), which usually contains silica and is often labeled as such. You may have seen these little packets come in other purchases such as a new purse, wallet, or luggage. A desiccant is a drying agent. The packets absorb moisture and prevent the growth of mold. In the case of vegetable chips this is especially important because any moisture will cause the chips to become chewy instead of crispy - and trust me, chewy, dried kale is NOT tasty.

my bag of parmigiano reggiano with an accumulation of silica packets keeping it mold free!

desiccant packet (usually filled with silica) - it absorbs moisture and prevents mold growth

empty bag of fancy zucchini chips + rescued desiccant packet

These little packets inspire mild annoyance when you accidentally grab one instead of your next chip, but wait! What if, instead, you saw this packet as a FREE GIFT with which to keep a favorite splurge food FRESHER for LONGER! Use your resourcefulness spidey-sense!

The splurge food I’m talking about, which I almost always have in my fridge, is Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s commonly known as parmesan cheese, but I’m talking about the REAL stuff here: aged 18-24 months, usually around $20/lb, which comes from only the “official area” in Italy. According to the Parmigiano-Reggiano website, to be classified as Parmigiano-Reggiano, “both the production of milk and its transformation into cheese take place in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna (to the west of the Reno River) and Mantua (to the east of the Po River).” Very specific, as you can see.  

I always have some in my fridge, and though it does last pretty long, all cheeses get moldy eventually. Until now!! To reduce the chances + speed of mold growth, I repurpose desiccant/silica packets to keep my Parmigiano mold-free. From my experience, it works pretty well! 

If you want to get yourself a desiccant packet, first look for one that may already be in your house. Vitamins and supplements sometimes contain them. Otherwise, I know kale chips almost always have them. I wish I could think of another, less-hippie-crunchy food than kale chips that would have a desiccant packet, but alas - I have lived in California too long!

A few additional thoughts on Parmigiano: It’s best when grated with a microplane* (one of my favorite kitchen tools), as this produces tiny wisps of gratings that gently pile on top of each other like a light, cheesy pillow. Parmigiano makes your laziest, simplest meals decadent and delicious - scrambled eggs, greens, simple salads, anything that needs a little “dressed up” - the perfect-combination-of-salt-and-fat Parmigiano will do the trick!

I have some fun facts about my family and Parmigiano, but I’m already over my word limit so I’ll save those for another post! Happy cheese-eating and mold-preventing!

Note: I only use desiccant packets that have come in food. I don’t use the ones that come in luggage or leather goods for preserving my cheese. It seems safest to go with only the ones that were already approved to touch food. Also - as it usually says clearly on the packet - THE PACKET IS NOT FOR EATING, just in case that isn’t clear!

*I finally created Amazon affiliate links! If you buy a microplane using this link, I will get a very small commission. I will only ever link to products I love and use regularly. The microplane is one of my most beloved kitchen tools; this is the lowest price I can find online and this is also the exact one I own. I use it almost daily for zesting, grating ginger and garlic, dry/hard spices, and of course - Parmigiano! More links and a full products page coming soon!