I never thought about having spaghetti on a Sunday night before, because to me, Sunday equals crock pot.
Do you know how many fabulous things you can make in a crock pot?
Answer: Eleventy billion.
But after a comment at church today, I really wanted spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce.
So I chopped up some garlic,
And them some celery and some carrots,
I diced up an onion,
And then I threw in a smidge of jalapeno for kick.
I blanched a pound of tomatoes, then crushed them into my sauce.
It was delightfully messy, and I had tomato juice dripping down my elbows.
Then it was time for seasonings.
A little salt,
Some oregano,
And definitely we need some pepper.
I opened the warehouse sized pepper,
And tipped the jar to sprinkle it in.
Except that I had accidentally opened the “spoon” side and not the “sprinkle” size.
And I would say about three quarters of a cup of pepper,
Went straight into the sauce.
Instead of scooping out the mounds of unwanted seasoning,
I threw the pot in the sink and turned on the disposal as sauce splashed on to the counters and walls.
I didn’t want to save it, I didn’t want to try and fix the sauce.
I wanted it perfectly perfect, without any effort on my part,
And when that didn’t happen,
I was mad.
And now as I sit here typing,
With two burns on the tops of my fingers,
I know I am supposed to make an analogy about life and spaghetti sauce.
And how a good life (sauce) is made with the bits and pieces (ingredients) you have.
And even though you don’t always have the things you want (like ginger. I had no ginger. Or basil!)
You always have what you need. (tomatoes. I had lots of tomatoes)
And that though your efforts may not turn out like you planned, (too peppery)
And you thought that what you were doing was right on track (I should have checked the lid!),
That’s no excuse to give up (or toss the sauce down the drain)
You can’t focus on the bad things (pepper)
And you have to work hard with what you have,
And appreciate the life (sauce) that you’ve made.
Yes, if I talked about all those things,
It would be a rather delicious analogy.
But I keep thinking about the pepper.
Resolution for the New Year: Appreciate.
day two: be our guest.
