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This is my all-time favorite sandwich. Well, until I’m in the mood for a reuben, or a monte cristo, or a banana-and-mayonnaise, a muffaletta… you get the idea. Seriously, though, it doesn’t get much better than this. I call it a “Cadopita,” and it was inspired by a sandwich I used to eat ad nauseum back when I was just out of high school and on my own for the first time in Memphis, TN. Our local health food store was called Squash Blossom, and it was a tiny nook in a strip of town called Overton Square. It had a particular aroma about the place that I’ve never found duplicated in the mega-mart natural foods stores we find today — not that I’m not thrilled to have places like Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Ellwood Thompson — and I miss it terribly.

At any rate, there came a day when Squash Blossom did something risky and wonderful; they put in a food bar. It was just a little deli counter, and I was so thrilled. I would walk the four blocks or so from my very first solo apartment, a tiny two-room deal stuck onto the back of a very vintage, very Memphis-style house, and order up a tall glass of freshly extracted carrot juice (to this day one of my all-time favorite beverages) and a “Squash Blossom Special;” a whole wheat pita pocket stuffed full of avocado, shredded goat cheese and carrots, and alfalfa sprouts, all held together with a little plain yogurt.

I still crave these yummy little pockets today, and although I’ve changed the recipe a bit over the years, it still takes me back to that distant time, when I was young and full of my own new-found sense of freedom. And every time I eat one, now, I smile to think that somehow, after all that time, I’m still as idealistic, joyful, and free… if a tad bit wiser. At least I think so…

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Tonight I made empanada-type thingies. They aren’t very authentic, but they were yummy!

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I call this magic for a couple of reasons. One, there’s not a whole lot that’s more “homey” and grounding that a good meatloaf. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t over-fed on meatloaf growing up (in fact, I can’t remember my mother *ever* making meatloaf!) but I love it, and so does my family. A meal of luscious meatloaf, creamy whipped potatoes, buttery green beans, and sweet yeast rolls seems to fire up that root chakra energy and make me feel connected to the earth.

Secondly, when you make ‘em like I do, your fridge gets “magically” cleaned out!

This particular batch was a little unique, and I’m sorry to say that pics of the finished product didn’t come out (I’m still getting the hang of this food photography thing!) To three pounds of ground chuck I added (all finely chopped; about 1/4 cup each) mushrooms, sweet Vidalia onions, blanched yellow bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, flat-leaf parsley, bread crumbs (from homemade Italian herb bread,) and grated Asiago cheese. Just a little water helped it hold together nicely; no eggs were harmed in the making of this meatloaf. I baked it on a roasting rack, uncovered, at 350�F for around 35 minutes, and it turned out to have a lovely crust outside and was so moist inside that I didn’t bother with a sauce at all.

Not yo’ mama’s meatloaf… but a nice change, I think.

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I’ve had a craving for pita bread for a few days, so I asked Cat to bring me home some avocados & alfalfa sprouts (my filling of choice) this morning, and made honey-whole wheat pitas. YUM! I also made up some chicken salad with the leftover roast chicken from last night, for while the avocados are ripening up in a bag for a day or so.

These are far easier to make than you might think. First, the ingredient list:

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These were made using a variation on Alton Brown’s recipe.

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My friend Toni brought me over about a bushel of green tomatoes the other day. Most of them I sliced up, froze separately, then bagged up for future deliciosity, but today I made about five maters’ worth of mouth-watering yumminess. As I bopped around the kitchen doing the happy-mouth-dance, bemoaning the fact that there was nobody in the house to share (and appreciate) them with me, my daughter decided to give them a try.

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