When you have reached a decision...

There is a wonderful feeling when you know you are going to be eating a delicious meal. When you have something specific to look forward to...
Whether that is knowing you have a tin of sardines in olive oil and a crust of sourdough bread awaiting you, or a friend who invites you to her house for a BBQ mentions she is grilling chicken. An idea is planted. A seed of something to imagine, allowing the anticipation to build in your taste buds until the moment it passes your lips.

This afternoon after a long day of cooking for little ones and after the doing of the seemingly endless dishes that occur from such creating, i had a moment of clarity. The muse whispered to me about a perfect meal for a late summer evening... something cool and creamy, crisp and clean, and something for which we had all the ingredients on hand. This is the MOMENT that i spend a lot of time wishing for and dreaming of: a meal to look forward to. The minutes spent envisioning it, planning it, preparing it, and enjoying it.

Tonight's creation began with rice noodles cooked for several minutes in boiling water until barely cooked through. i then drained the noodles out, as many as i could catch, and poured some frozen shelled edamame into the still hot water to cook. While they cooked, i poured half a can of coconut milk over the noodles and mixed it gently. my daughter drizzled some honey over them and i sprinkled some salt and a squirt of lime. i then peeled and sliced cucumbers into two inch spears and cut an avocado into bite size pieces and scooped them out of their shell. These each went into their own bowl, aside chopped basil we picked from the garden. Another bowl was filled with the cooked edamame and wedges of lime. i peeled garlic cloves and broke off a chunk of ginger root and set these on the table with a micro zester. Dinner was served.

The kids enjoyed the build your own aspect of the dinner, my husband enjoyed that it was a somewhat substantial meal he could eat some of having recently had two wisdom teeth pulled and i, enjoyed the delicious clarity of it all.