Thyme After Time: Carefree and Hominy

Pineapple Hominy

It was the tiniest voice with the tiniest sound. It was small and muffled, almost indiscernible in the midst of the world.
"Find me!" it whispered.
At the oddest hours, the strangest times....during rain storms, driving down the road, especially during a long day at work...

"Find me."

and then

"Come on!"

"Let's Go!"

It sounded so familiar. What was this voice that never gave up, never left me alone?

It was from somewhere deep inside, so comforting, so playful.....so lovely.
The whispers turned to pictures, little movies, little scenes... They were me! How exciting! Me running, screaming...
There was this crazy little girl,me, jumping off a swing...then a garage...

....catching butterflies in a field...

..running...

..driving...

...singing..

....bike riding..

I remembered! I used to have fun! I used to be carefree! I saw pure joy! Bliss! That was the most amazing feeling!

Was?

Uh oh.

What happened?

I was still happy, wasn't I?

I was sure I was, but I couldn't go overboard, being an adult and all.

I did have responsibilities.

I scanned my inner psyche...up and down. Yes, I was happy. Joy came to visit every once in a while. Love and romance, they were here too, but two words.....

Carefree

Bliss

Were those just left to childhood? Do we have to leave them behind when we grow up? I didn't know any other adults I could label with blissful. Labeling someone carefree as an adult wasn't exactly a compliment.

But Bliss....

What if I ran through the list of my own personal bliss movies? If I could re-enact one, perhaps...just perhaps bliss was hiding somewhere near.

1. Jumping off a swing/garage....not feasible NEXT

2.Catching butterflies in a field....allergies, bugs, and an adult running through a field catching butterflies, no bliss there...NEXT

3.Running, as in up hills, down roads....I ran before I got married, to lose weight. It was okay but certainly not blissful. It gave me time to clear my mind, put me at peace and helped with my diet but bliss wasn't hiding there. NEXT

4. Driving..I had two more years to go on car payments. I'd rather drive with SAFE than BLISS.

5. Singing...Have you heard me sing? It may be funny and it may be very close to bliss but no cigar.

6. Bike Riding....hmmm bike riding? Interesting. It's been forever but why not?

So within the week we had bikes and the first day, ten miles later, I was nervous, unsteady, sore and crashed into a bridge. Did I mention sore? No bliss.

This was going to take some work.

Next time out, I was a little more steady but cars made me nervous. I was less sore than the first time but still wobbly. The wind in my hair felt nice. I still needed work, and confidence, the confidence that came with an almost effortless feeling....

The next time it had rained all day. It was getting late and I forced us to go out. It was the adult thing to do. We had to pay for the bikes, we might as well use them. I fell behind on our ride and for an instance I was alone...I felt the wind lift my hair and whisper in my ear, I felt myself glide, almost float, watched the birds fly, the leaves on the trees wave...

"Come on! Let's Go!" husband called from ahead...

Soon I was twelve again, racing to our destination, buying a couple of sandwiches, then on the way back.

It wasn't all a nicely groomed bike trail ....factories, businesses, broken asphalt, gravel, and missing sidewalks filled part of the ride.

Husband was on the road and I opted for the asphalt, parking lots and puddles...

Puddles?!?!

"AH!" I yelped.

Husband laughed.

Did I just do that on purpose?

Another...and another..

This was fun!

He shook his head.

Eventually we arrived home, myself, covered in mud, and smiling.

Bliss! I found you!

It took a little work to remove the layers that time took to hide you but you couldn't hide forever!
Now, the work was in removing the layers of mud.
Beneath all the mud I smiled. No. I beamed. I shined.
There was the bliss.
There was that carefree feeling that I thought was only reserved for childhood.
I had found it.
and I smiled.

Speaking of working to remove layers.....

With hominy, we won't have to worry about the work involved to remove the outer layer of the corn. That has been done for us already. It has been soaked in some type of alkaline so our bodies can more easily digest and accept the kernel of corn. It will still take a little time to prepare the hominy, but the hard work had been done for us. Now, we wait for the bliss...or dinner, whatever you would like to call it.

We begin by soaking it overnight in fresh water.

(My bike ride bliss was followed with a nice spa-like soak to clean and to re-hydrate, much like the hominy.)

Then, like you would a bean, the hominy must be cooked in liquid so it, too can re-hydrate and soften and puff up, filling with a puffy, happy bliss.

I fell in love with hominy the first time I tried it. It's slightly chewy and filled with the sweetness of corn. The chef used pineapple vinegar (house made) and lightly wilted spinach, topped with crumbled (again house made) Chicharrones. The pineapple and vinegar added to the freshness, giving it a wonderful little tang with little bites of the velvet spinach. The crunch and salty little pork rind nuggets rounded out and finished a complete blissful experience. I loved it so very much that I had to try to recreate it. I thought about making my own pineapple vinegar but gave up on the idea and used a combination of pineapple juice and apple cider vinegar to finish cooking the hominy with. It worked out perfectly. The taste was surprisingly close to the chef and it cost slightly less...okay, a lot less. (Plus I could eat seconds without stares!)

If meat products don't happen to be your bliss, find your favorite snack chip and crumble it on top....

Bugles! (our favorite road trip snack)

Fritos!

You now have a vegetarian option for a dish.

So, after all of this chatting and all of this bliss. I ask you to kindly excuse me. There's a few puddles left for me to find and I have an appetite that I working up....
To bliss!!!

Ingredients

16 oz Bag Dried Hominy

Water

1 cup Pineapple Juice

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

2 cups Fresh Spinach Leaves

1 small bag Chicharrones (Pork Rinds) *optional*
(to make this dish vegetarian, use crumbled corn chips instead of the chicharrones...Fritos BBQ would be a great option)

Salt and Pepper

Rinse off hominy, cover with water and soak overnight.

Drain the liquid from the hominy and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer and let cook about an hour. Keep an eye on the water, adding a little more as necessary to keep your hominy simmering.

The hominy will begin to expand and eventually, one by one the kernels will begin to explode. This should take about an hour or so.

When this happens, drain any excess liquid and add the pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Let simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until the liquid is almost gone. Taste the hominy for, adding a little salt and pepper. (If using pork rinds, they can be salty so go lightly on the salt at this point.)