Consumer reviews disease

I am my mother’s child. I inhale coffee. I talk on the phone for hours. I love the outdoors. Chocolate is my best friend. And I inherited the consumer reviews disease. Never heard of it? It is an illness that makes you research EVERY SINGLE THING before you buy, and the onslaught of the Internet in the 21^st Century is not healthy for people with the disease. The Internet becomes an enabler to read blogs, forums, and product reviews until you are an expert car radios, weed eaters, coffee grinders, refrigerators, the mid-size sedan, Jack Russell Terriers, and shampoo. 

4th of July Tartlettes

I remember being a little girl and going to the library with Mom to look at the Consumer Reports magazine. I thought it was the most boring way to spend the afternoon, so I would go find the Ramona and Beezus books or the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. Almanzo, you still take my breath away. Anyway, ask Mom about defective appliances from the 1992-1996 era, and she could probably tell you which brands were on the watch-out-this-is-going-to-break-asap-list. She thinks Snapper lawn mowers are the bomb. They are, because the one she still owns has been around since 1989 and is still kicking. 

I vowed not to become a researcher and buy what I want when I want. IT TOOK ME OVER 3 MONTHS TO BUY A FOOD PROCESSOR. I had to tell someone. Whew. It is good to get some things out there. My sister avoided the disease, but I was not spared. I just ordered a new coffee grinder that came in with 4.5 stars and has been said to change lives, so I feel fairly confident about it. 

Today’s recipe is not a “thinking” thing (Right Brain, Left Brain…you remember the song), because with so much in life requiring excess brain capacity, every day recipes should not be one of them. And this one even uses the food processor that I spend months and months agonizing over.  Some processors were reviewed as LOUD MONSTERS or had stupid little feet that stuck to the counter or sounded like a fat bull frog or smoked up when the poor woman in Nebraska tried to chop some onions. All she wanted to do was chop onions. I am sorry Nebraska woman; I feel your pain. How is a girl to make up her mind when bombarded with that kind of negative information! 

Do you ever think about what you would say to the stranger in the elevator if you got stuck? I take the stairs, because I also inherited undiagnosed claustrophobia, but I want to apologize in advance to that poor person in the elevator if it ever happened! The topics I could cover while trapped in an elevator are vast because of years of research. I once wrote a statistics paper about t-tests in a fibromyalgia case study. And there was the paper comparing the Lady of Shallot to the Yellow Wallpaper. I know more about genetically engineered ingredients (AVOID THEM) than I ever wanted to, and I recently saw Mutual Funds for Dummies lying in the shared book basket in the women’s locker room at the gym. I did not read it, and when I looked the next day it was gone, so someone in the area is “researching” stocks, bonds, Roth IRAs, annuities, annuities due, calls, puts, and reinvesting dividends. Oh well. 

We all need go-to recipes for those days when you don't have much thinking left. Hummus has always been my go-to food. I can thank Mom for my love of healthy food too :) This 4^th of July, I hope you celebrate our wonderful country with your family and friends. Share this hummus with them, make tons of it, and don’t spend too much time researching the best recipes for the weekend. Because sometimes the best recipe is sharing time with those you love. 

·         1 cup cooked chickpeas

·         2 heaping tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

·         2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

·         ¼ cup onion

·         6 cloves fresh garlic, smashed with knife blade

·         Juice of 1 lemon

·         Salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, and dried basil to your taste

Combine everything in food processor. If it is too thick, add about 1-2 tablespoons water or a little more olive oil. Taste when you are adding the spices—go with the flow and make it too your taste. Serve with warm pita bread.

Love, 

Sara

Homemade pita bread

Hummus :)

Fellow Researchers