It was on this day in, ahem, 1981, that I finally forced the cute guy from Record Service to talk to me at a post-Mabel’s after hours party in Urbana.
The picture above is the oldest picture of the two of us together that I can find although it was around two years later. My beautiful boy.
It’s been a rough couple of days, well, couple of weeks actually, for Ernie. He’s been sick since his last treatment in St. Louis, on December 22. However, today he got up and felt good enough to make himself some ramen before I got up. It’s normally one of of his comfort foods but he hasn’t had it in eons. We’ll see how the day goes, but that’s definitely a good sign.
Last night I made a very simple dinner. I was getting tired of rice so we went with some gluten free gnocchi. I threw the gnocchi in some boiling water. I took it out and put it into a bowl. I had slivered some spinach so I put that on top. I put a little bit of drizzle of olive oil on but I didn’t want to use too much oil for Ernie. Then I realized that I’d forgotten about the pasta water so I put a couple of ladlefuls of it over the spinach and gnocchi. I grabbed some tongs and tossed it together and thought, “damn it…I used too much pasta water.” However then I decided, the hell with it, I had created Gnocchi and Spinach Soup. I added some grated parmesan. Again, not too much. I probably used about 1/4 cup of roughly grated cheese for the whole dish. I put it into bowls and added some black pepper to mine. I meant to add more spinach to mine but I forgot.
Honest to God, it was so good that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was simple with such clean flavors. I know the word ‘clean’ can have lots of connotations in regards to food but it’s the word that comes to mind. The flavors were just so clear and direct despite being quiet and comforting. The pasta water and parmesan made a savory, slightly salty broth—a little bit nutty from the parmesan with the mineral tang of the spinach. I can’t decide whether it’s a keeper or I’ll never to manage to make it so perfectly again.
As much as I hate the current reason for limited ingredients, I do kinda like cooking that way, it can force you to be creative or at the very least, force you to focus on your ingredients. It’s the same reason I always enjoy cooking in a motel or vacation spot.
I had the leftovers for breakfast and although it was still delicious, the broth had all been soaked by the gnocchi.
Tomorrow: bloodwork and scan for Ernie. Thursday we see Vasireddy, get scan results and he gets his Keytruda infusion. Cross your fingers people, cross your fingers.
Glad Ernie is feeling better today. We had some quick-sauteed spinach this week, and I swear it was the best thing I’ve eaten in ages. More please.