Forest Street Kitchen

I have to say that it is exceedingly difficult to write a post on a food blog during a time when I, personally, am unable to consume any food other than jello, Saltines and endless bottles of water.

I was sick on Tuesday, with one of those stomach viruses that is a “24 hour bug” if you are a child, but often proves to be more of a “72 hour bug” if you are not a child. I watched my actual child bounce back at the end of his 24 hours of languishing on the couch, and reasoned that I should do the same when my time was up. This was a grave miscalculation, and mistakes were made, including a bowl of Thai noodles. I am now back to where I found myself on Tuesday.

I am not the least bit nauseated. I can read magazines or books about food, and watch TV shows about food now; I just can’t eat any. The Revenge of the Thai Noodles is too fresh in my mind. This makes me very sad, and grumpy, and actually quite hungry. There is no one to make me Jello, and my husband bought me little plastic cups of Sugar-Free Jello that have (if this is possible) less than no flavor. They are entertaining to play with, in a mindless sort of way, but they are not food.

He claims that they do not sell such things in full-sugar form. It is ironic that this is the one time of my life when I could afford to eat 20 servings of jello with real, live sugar (its not like I’m getting calories from anywhere else), and I am stuck with my sugar-free, flavor-free cups of nothing.

As for the crackers, I do love a well-turned Saltine, and it is true that one only truly appreciates their simple perfection when forced to eat them without cheese, peanut butter, or tomato soup. (Hmmmmm… tomato soup….). They are crisp, flaky, salty, and pleasantly filling if they are the only food consumed in a 24 hour period. I hope that I will continue to appreciate their intrinsic value after I am back to eating food again, and keeping Saltines around mainly to perfect my soup.

I am whining, I am pathetic, and if you came here in search of a recipe or even a glimpse at my highly refined wit and legendary modesty, I apologize. I’ll be back, and you can bet I’ll be cooking and eating. For now, I will watch Lidia Bastianich cook something molto delicioso while I lie on the couch like Camille, hoping that someone will love me enough to find me some jello with some damned sugar in it. (Lime is my favorite).