Weather: 61 degrees
What I’m listening to: The Journey, FM Radio
“Why can’t you fly now, mother?”
“Because I am grown up, dearest. When people grow up they forget the way.”
-J.M. Barie, Peter Pan
This summer as thousands of dandelions turn into seedy, feathery keepers of wishes, I’ve been pondering what it means to wish, to hope, to dream. I remember how easy it was as a child to pick a dandelion, make an outrageous – possibly courageous – wish and then, dash off to the next dandelion and do it all over again. My kids do this and I see the flicker of a secret wish in their eyes – the optimism, the naiveté, the pure, unadulterated sense of hope.
Where has mine gone, I wonder?
I don’t know the answer, perhaps because there are so many answers that only layered one upon the other do they shape the reason.
Is it because dreaming requires change?
Is it because hope demands risk?
Is it perhaps because my hopes and dreams became all wrapped up in my children long ago and I don’t know how to make wishes for myself any longer?
Or is it that I feel so very underserving of good things because wanting those things feels selfish and self-serving and wrong?
Is it because life is hard and wishing feels like an exercise in futility?
It’s all of these and so very much more. Because I am grown up, I am forgetting the way.
But, I still believe in dreams coming true, in hopes exceeded, in wishes fulfilled. I am willing to dream big for others, hope courageously for others, tell others that they are absolutely worth it. I just simply need to learn to do it for myself again, to give myself permission to make wishes and blow all my cares and objections away like dandelion seeds on the wind.
Here’s to giving flight to our dreams.
* * *
Bacon, brown sugar, rosemary, bleu cheese and a cast iron skillet may be the very best things to ever happen to a peach. Ever. I ate two of these over salad greens drizzled with balsamic and another two straight out of the pan. I could eat these any meal of the day all summer long and be one very happy girl.
Cast Iron Roasted Peaches with Bacon, Bleu Cheese & Rosemary
Sugared peaches roasted in a cast iron skillet with bacon, bleu cheese, and rosemary. A beautiful summer appetizer, side dish, or salad. Adapted from [How Sweet It Is|http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/08/sugar-roasted-peaches/], originally from Pittsburg Post Gazette.
Yields: 8 peach halves, 4 servings
- 4 slices bacon
- 4 peaches, sliced in half, pits discarded
- coarse salt and black pepper
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
- ½ cup bleu cheese, crumbled
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a cast iron skillet, over medium to medium high heat, cook the bacon until browned and crisp. Transfer the bacon to paper towels to drain and cool. Pour off most of the bacon drippings, reserving 1 tablespoon in the bottom of the pan. Return the pan to the heat.
Season each peach half with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each peach generously with brown sugar. Place the peaches cut side down into the hot skillet with the bacon grease. Add the sprigs of rosemary to the pan. Turn off the heat and transfer the skillet to the preheated oven. Roast the peaches for 5 minutes, turn the peaches over, and roast another 5 minutes, or until browned, fragrant and softened, but not mushy.
When peaches come out of the oven, crumble the bacon and sprinkle it evenly over the peaches, followed by a sprinkle of bleu cheese. Some of the rosemary can also be finely chopped and sprinkled on top, if you like, otherwise you can discard it. Serve a la carte as an appetizer or side dish or serve over salad greens with a drizzle of good balsamic.
