Category Archives: Essays

April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day # 15

It’s Friday!   A special treat each week is going out to a great little Asian restaurant that features Thai, Japanese and Chinese cuisine. It’s become my favorite place. And so for this day’s poetry form I am sharing the Epulaeryu with you. It’s an obscure little form developed by one Joseph Spence, Sr. inspired by the memorable foods he experienced on his Mediterranean and Far East travels. There is literally a poem and poetry form for everything it seems!

Here’s are the details of a proper Epulaeryu:
-First and foremost it is all about delicious food!
-7 lines with 33 syllable
-The syllable scheme is: 7/5/7/5/5/3/1
-It may or may not rhyme
-Each line contains one thought describing the featured course with the last 1 syllable word expressing the writer’s feelings about the dish. To add drama, an exclamation point is always called for at the end.

I dedicate this one to all my foodie friends! 🙂

my-drunken-noodles-ivillage_380

This photo is from Pinterest

Drunken Noodling

Pepper infused, savory
veggies lightly tossed
drunken noodles sweating steam
aromatic pot
culinary treat
slippery
hot!

kat ~ 15 April 2016


Wafflestompers – Friday’s Word of the Day Haiku

wafflestomper

Happy Friday!

Well…here’s a word for you…WAFFLESTOMPERS! Today’s dictionary.com word of the day hails to us from 1970’s Americana.

This late middle-aging flower child of the 70’s must admit, I have never heard this word before. It could be that I spent most of the 70’s barefooted; tripping through fields of daisy’s chasing butterflies…or it may be my insane fear of heights! Either way, it is no wonder I never had a need for a pair of wafflestompers!

But given that it is today’s word of the day…and a very high-in-syllable word at that…I shall do my best, despite my obvious inexperience, to render the wafflestomper its proper homage in a contrived haiku. Three lines, syllables 5-7-5…anything but profound with a touch of thesaurus mischief!  Have a great weekend folks!

Wafflestomping

Intrepid trekkers
don high-top wafflestompers
To reach a climax.

kat ~ 15 April 2016


Echoes of my Neighborhood

So…I don’t get out much! I know, I know, I admit I work too much. When I finally did manage an outing this past weekend we had a mini blizzard! So I am afraid the lovely downtown farmer’s market photos I had planned didn’t happen. In fact, the farmers barely showed up! There were a few brave souls but even fewer customers.

Not to worry, in my attempt to escape the elements I happened upon a new shop of metaphysical trinkets and curiosities! And I found a new inside toy! A sand photo box! I can watch these for hours, and have, since I brought it home!

So, I am moving it inside this week, into a dreamy corner of my nest to “listen” to floating drifts of sand, streams of tan and brown with a flash of gold. They have quite a lot to say! Have a wonderful Thursday!

ZenScapes 

  
  
  
  
If you would like to visit other neighborhoods, visit my friend Jacqueline at a cooking pot and twisted tales by clicking HERE!


April Poetry Month – A Poem a Day #14

Today I’m giving the Luc Bat a go. This poetry form is Vietnamese in origin and means “six-eight.” In fact, the poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables. This poem is interesting in its rhyme scheme that renews at the end of every eight-syllable line and rhymes on the sixth syllable of both lines.

Here’s a diagram of how the first few lines of luc bat poems should rhyme:
xxxxxA
xxxxxAxB
xxxxxB
xxxxxBxC
xxxxxC
xxxxxCxD
xxxxxD
xxxxxDxE

I managed a few luc bats. The rhyme sequence is a bit tricky B but once I got the hang of it I wanted to keep going! Hope you will give this one a try! 😊

creeper 1

Sleep Interrupted

Here at the cusp of dawn
as dark of night moves on, I sigh
half asleep, buying time
Hit the snooze, close my eyes, distressed,
Toss and turn, try to rest
And then the sun, that pest, peeks through
The day awaits anew
There’s nothing left to do but rise.

No Regrets

It’s too late to regret
a deed once done and yet we try
“A do-over!” we cry,
as if we could deny our part
It cuts us to the heart
Releasing is an art, you know
the only way to grow
choose to learn, let it go, move on.

kat ~ 14 April 2016

 


Veggie Bin Stir Fry Shrimp

It’s been a while since I puttered around in the kitchen. I do my best creating on the fly and on a deadline. The deadline in question tonight is beating the expiration date on fresh veggies in my ‘frig along with some pre-cooked shrimp I picked up just for the occasion. (But you could substitute chicken or thin slices of beef for the shrimp if you like.)

So…after assessing my veggie bin, there were a few things I couldn’t save…the cucumbers and a package of Roma tomatoes. But I was in luck! I had just enough variety to make a colorful, sweet, savory treat.

(Note: before you begin, prepare 2 servings of rice – however you like to cook it. Me? I like to nuke it so it’s ready when I’m done with the stir fry.)

The Ingredients

(Depending on what you have in your veggie bin, you could also add things like Asparagus, Broccoli, Cabbage, Green Beans, Snow Peas…you get the idea!)

1-1/2 cups of Grape Tomatoes – sliced in 3’s
1 cup of Spring Onions – sliced
4 Celery Stalks – chopped
1 dozen Sweet Snack Peppers
2 TBS EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 TBS Granulated Garlic
Salt & Pepper

 Toss all this into a skillet and stir fry until the veggies are tender.      

Add 2 cups of pre-cooked frozen Shrimp to the skillet

 
… and about a TBS each of Sweet Chili Sauce and Sriracha Sauce…because EVERYTHING is better with a little Sriracha!!!   Give the whole thing a good stir to blend, cover and simmer on low until the shrimp is defrosted and heated through.   

And that’s all there is to it! Serve over a bed of cooked rice. Yummy! 😊