Wednesday, May 18, 2011

My Love of Salt

I think my favorite food is salt. I'm just not sure that salt qualifies as a food! I'll probably die a salt-related death someday, but as Scarlett O'Hara says, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

My mom has always grown this fabulous garden. It was full of the famous Hooper tomatoes!! I love picking a nice ripe one, warmed by the sun and ready to eat. I love to eat homegrown tomatoes. I have to have my salt shaker in hand to be ready to lightly (or heavily!) salt each and every juicy bite. Mmmmm. That is a little bit of heaven! My parents also have these great apple trees that grow awesome green apples. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about the sour, yummy goodness of those apples. When we sit around the backyard eating apples right off the tree, every person needs their own salt shaker because once again, each bite must be salted. We also had rhubarb plants. Rhubarb is so sour that it is pretty much inedible without loads of salt. But with salt....mmmmm....rhubarb is so yummy. My dad used to get frustrated because we'd leave all the salt shakers outside when we were done snacking from the garden. We were always losing the shakers. So one day my mom went out and bought like ten salt shakers and we've never had a problem since. There is always one ready to go in the cupboard. (And you might find one laying in the grass under the apple tree!)



I love to salt my vegetables, my soups and stews, my Panzanella (my favorite recipe ever!), the chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant, and occasionally I'll just dip my finger in the salt! My mother-in-law introduced me to Costco's Sea Salt. I LOVE it. Greg asked me how it could taste any better, after all--it's still just salt. I don't know why I think it is better...maybe because I can grind out more? Maybe because it is bigger chunks, so MORE salt? I don't know. One time we went to this really swanky restaurant in Las Vegas. We had a gift certificate, but still the steaks were like fifty dollars apiece! But let me tell you about the salt. They brought out this little rectangular tray with three different types of salt on it. The waiter very professionally described the salts for us, telling us their origins and their best uses. They were different colors. One was a Hawaiian black rock salt, for example. One was kind of a pinkish hue. But, WOW! I loved the salts at that restaurant. Who knew that salt could be so good? Who knew there was more to life than Morton's Iodized Salt?





A little while after Greg's grandmother passed away, we went to visit my in-laws in California. My mother-in-law laid out a few of the grandmother's possessions and let us each choose a few things to keep for our own. One brief glance over the trays, the silver platters, the gravy pourers, the silver dinnerware, and I knew EXACTLY what I wanted first dibbs on: her salt shaker! It is big; it pours a lot of salt out of the top; and it has a handle for keeping one's hand on at all times (which makes salting every bite more ergonomically pleasing).
Isn't it cute? I love my salt shaker. I will cherish that possesion for as long as I can. And just like anything that is near and dear to me, I will keep it close--like right next to my plate, and NO! I won't pass the salt. :)




(Maybe tomorrow....)



May your day be full of flavor!



Love, Rindi

3 comments:

Becca Jane said...

Hi, I'm a friend of Millie's. But YES, I love salt too!!!!! I will probably die of a salt-related death right along with you! Have you tried salt on your watermelon and cantelope? If not, you MUST try it this summer!!

Tami said...

Wow Rindi, my mouth was watering the whole post! The salt is what makes tomatoes my favorite food. And I too LOVE green apples and rhubarb with salt. What a fun post for me to read. I'm sure I will die a salt related death too. In fact, with my pregnancy I have had swollen ankles/feet and the doctor said to avoid food high on sodium and I thought "ya right!" because it is a staple in my diet. Anyway, fun post today!

Em Russ said...

Oh Rindi... as soon as I saw the title on your post I pictured you sitting with one of those generic white salt shakers chomping on rhubarb. Then I read the post and just kept missing you! Also, I think you should share this recipe for panzawhatever. I don't even know what it is!!!

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