Organic Heaven...

Have you ever had such an off day that you literally have to look down before leaving your house to make sure you remembered to put on pants? Yeah, yesterday was that day.

Maybe it was lack of sleep or feeling a cold coming on or eating way too much garlic but from the moment I woke up topless (I guess I remove clothing in my sleep now?) I knew that Wednesday was going to kick my ass.

Blow number one came at the Dunkies drive through at 8:45 in the morning. “Sorry Meees, chai macheeene es brokeeen. Want sometheeeng else?” No, a medium vanilla chai was absolutely necessary. Luckily I live in New England where there’s a Dunkin Donuts positioned conveniently every five minutes from the last. Barely late for work with chai in hand, an older woman with glasses the size of hubcaps stops me at the door for an endless chat. Almost daily our office building gets confused for the eye doctor next door by the elderly. Understandable really. I mean they’re going to the eye doctor for a reason.

So now ten minutes late with a cold chai I sit down to an inbox full of emails, a blinking message light and a toppling pile of job jackets. We’re a week away from ad close for five magazines and for those of you out there that don’t know the publishing industry, just envision this week as the seventh circle of hell- only instead of boiling blood and blasphemers it’s contingent clients and screaming sales reps.

By the time the sun sets and the streetlights flicker on outside my cubicle window, I’m utterly exhausted. If it weren’t for the “office birthday cupcakes” I probably would have crashed hours ago. I run to my car through the frigid night air and practically burst into tears as I watch my publisher hop into her Beemer and peel off to the airport for a week long vacation in St. Barts. Sometimes I hate Connecticut.

I decide that the only thing that could possibly cheer me up is a shopping spree at the fancy organic market in Westport. This market is so beautiful it almost makes me more beautiful- literally. I think it’s the lighting or something.

Anyway, I walk in and am immediately greeted by an aroma of hot apple cider that I follow to a rustic old table with a carafe and sample cups. I’m instantly warmed and forget entirely about my off day- like an apple lobotomy.

I sniff my way through barrels of coffee beans, I drool over tubs of candy, I fondle drums of seeds and nuts until finally I notice rich WASPy women with bodies by Winsor Pilates start staring at the crazy lady on her fourth cider sample roaming the aisles without a shopping cart.

OK, let’s get busy! In the dead of winter, who wouldn’t want to be reminded of fresh spring vegetables or grilling out on warm summer nights? GDL’s Grilled Vegetables it is! I load up on bell peppers, squash, mushrooms and asparagus. My rainbow of veggies are carefully placed in a crisp, sturdy paper bag and I leave my organic heaven on cloud nine.

The vegetables are oiled and seasoned and then grilled to perfection. GDL recommends using the leftovers on sandwiches or in salads, which is just what I did for lunch today. With snow piling up outside my window, grilled colorful vegetables were the perfect dish to remind me that there will be good weather, good workdays and good food to come.