ICHIGO ICHIE
The moment we are experiencing now will never happen again. The art of making the most of every moment.-a Japanese philosophy

I have been touring the world by motorcycle. A Taiwanese friend I had met on a previous motorcycle trip I had taken in Morocco, had invited another rider and myself to join him on a private motorcycle ride he was arranging in Japan the next summer. We were the only 3 English speaking members of that ride so we hung out a lot together.

What happens when things don’t go as planned? What do you do? Do you give up?

I am speaking of recipes here. Do you give a different version a try? Have you ever had a recipe that you tried and it flopped? OY!!! I sure have.

A lot of recipes are just as much about the ingredients as they are about technique. I have often taken a recipe for something and tried it, didn’t like the end result but still liked the idea, or loved it when I had it somewhere else.

One food that I continue to search for the ultimate recipe for is meatloaf, lowly meatloaf.

I have been sorting thru all my accumulated stuff including recipes and hit upon a pile of old recipe clippings from magazines. One recipe clipping jumped out at me-“Smoke, Sauce, and Friends…”from Better Homes and Gardens July 2006.-“One man’s recipe for the perfect Fourth of July BBQ party.”

Remember the story of stone soup? A hungry traveler on his trek sees and picks up a nice round stone and puts it in his pocket.  “You never know when such a thing will come in handy.” He comes across a village and thinks he can get a meal there. No one has enough food but each has a little something but not enough to share with the traveler. He starts to leave the village, puts his hand in his pocket and feels the stone.  He gets a bright idea. He goes to the center of town and yells I have a magic stone and I can cook and make soup to share with everyone.

I boldly stepped into my garage recently to retrieve a box of old magazines and recipes that I have hung on to for 40+ years. Stepping into my garage is like stepping into a dense, dark jungle of STUFF! It is time, and now I have the time, to sort it and get rid of it.

It is amazing how much one can accumulate over those 40 years.

Sounds a bit morbid, I know.