20 days of my 30s...

Just to right-size expectations at the outset: I can't be a good writer every day. To paraphrase Anne Lamott...it matters more to sit down and do the writing.

Today's poem is one that has resonated for a lot of women over the years -- after so long being told no, the idea that maybe God has a broader vision for us than the circumscribed life offered to us just feels...right. 

God Says Yes To Me

Kaylin Haught

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic

and she said yes

I asked her if it was okay to be short

and she said it sure is

I asked her if I could wear nail polish

or not wear nail polish

and she said honey

she calls me that sometimes

she said you can do just exactly

what you want to 

Thanks God I said

And is it even okay if I don’t paragraph

my letters

Sweetcakes God said

who knows where she picked that up

what I’m telling you is

Yes Yes Yes

I have to admit that all the things mentioned in this poem are a part of my life: melodramatic? check. short? check. sometimes with nail polish and sometimes without? check. don't paragraph!??!?!? check.

But I'm also going to apply this poem to something it was never intended for. And which is, at least on the surface, far more frivolous:

I was in my 30s when I learned (from my fabulous aunt) that YOU CAN MAKE RISOTTO IN A PRESSURE COOKER. And it takes 7 minutes. Seven minutes!!!! No stirring! Just beautiful delicious creamy happiness, less than ten minutes after you put the lid on. 

And even better than that (and this is where the misapplication of the poem comes in), you can literally put anything in a risotto. Whatever is in your fridge or pantry will probably make a delicious risotto. I have made pizza risotto, enchilada risotto, last-things-in-the-fridge-before-vacation risotto... 

And sure, purists might claim it isn't really risotto. Maybe they think it's a casserole or a one pot rice dish. But you know what? I asked God if it was okay to make enchilada risotto and God said Yes Yes Yes! Why wouldn't you want something delicious like that?

Sure, the vast majority of the time I end up with mushroom, or sometimes mushroom and leek...sometimes I add greens, or broccoli. But other times I go wild with "toppings" that probably no Italian would ever stir in...and honestly, they don't know what they're missing. 

This lesson from my aunt is probably the most life changing thing, on a practical level. Because now I eat risotto every week, instead of just when I go to a restaurant. And I can turn anything in the kitchen into dinner in 10 minutes. So that's a pretty great thing to carry forward into the rest of my life!

this week I had a carrot and half a head of broccoli languishing a bit....
into the risotto they went.
I added some fresh tomatoes on top to up my 5-a-day quotient, lol.
I made and ate this, and cleaned up, and made a cup of tea to relax a bit,
in the 55 minutes I had between Zoom meetings yesterday.