Hunger

Emptiness

~ Bri Sperry-Renfrew ~ 9 Comments

I ate it before breakfast – one square square, intense and dark. The cherry did tango with the chocolate. Then they disappeared from the darkened dance floor, gliding under the palatine uvula disco ball. No glimmers or sparkles or flashy flashes traced their exit. Only the crinkly, castrated foily sheath lies beside me on the sheet.

An empty brown bottle stands under the lamp on my bedside table, sentry of the solitude. In the dark that was not chocolate, it offered me hard cider from an angry orchard. Personification. Just a stupid knocked-up word, but I am filled with its pregnancy. Angry orchards and castrated sheaths, puffed up pillows and barren blankets. The fertile fog of futility fills the frigid room. Life spirals down the tubes, but only the proverbial ones.

I eat and drink alone in bed and find amusing ways to uncover this naked truth. That is all I am revealing. There is not more.

Hungarian Hodge Podge Helper

~ Bri Sperry-Renfrew ~ 6 Comments

Perhaps it’s fitting that a hodgepodge of H words has had my little imagination hog-tied for today’s H entry in the blog challenge.

I’m sure that by now it’s quite apparent I’m only a faux foodie, so it won’t come as a shock if I confess that Hamburger Helper was the first idea that lassoed me.  Aside from the appealing alliteration (yes, it’s a sickness with me) I don’t shy away from the place it’s had in the life of my family.  I know; I know…even as I type this, a zillion healthy food bloggers are ready to unleash their hounds upon me.  I appreciate that.  I also appreciate the convenient and budget-friendly solution that the product provides.   If you’ve never been in one of those situations, I’m happy for you.  Many people are, however, as I was reminded a few months back when I helped put together food boxes for Kitchen on the Street, a faith-based, non-profit organization that is fighting hunger in my state and others.  Just as I’m thankful that my family can afford to eat a little healthier these days, I’m thankful for the hope that these groups are providing – Hamburger Helper and all.

If my Hamburger Helper days represent days of tight budgets and hectic schedules, the Hungarian restaurant, Novak’s in Albany, Oregon represents a hopeful adventurous time of discovering new places and new foods and the people who lovingly labor over them.  This was one of the gems my husband discovered when a job relocation took us to the Pacific Northwest.   The schnitzel, pearl noodles, and red cabbage (and everything else I ever ate from their menu) are heavenly, but this place is great for two other hot H words – hospitality and history.  If you never make it to Novak’s, I hope you have something comparable closeby.  Everybody needs a hearty helping of hospitality and history every now and then.