What a way to start the culinary year!! At Food -n- Flix we are being hosted by The Law Student’s Cookbook and we’re watching Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I love a year that starts by traveling to 3 different countries with 3 different cuisines!!
Gilbert shares her story of love, love lost, self lost, retreat, self discovery, and renewed love with us as she travels to Italy, where she works on healing her physical self…eating nurturing foods, cultivating nurturing relationships, and restoring her own identity amid endless plates of pasta, pizza and gallons of Italian wine. Gilbert’s journey to India gave us a glimpse of a different life and cultural style, where young women are married off by their families, and prayer and meditation are the tools of self restoration and the journey to spiritual awareness and peace. Finally, Gilbert returns to Bali, where, on a previous trip during her “previous” life, she met a “seer” who predicted she would return to Bali, live with him and teach him English, and find love. Gilbert certainly does find love, in the form of a handsome man who runs her off the road, and later helps her home after a night of frivolity and tequila… I loved the story so much, I ended up reading the book during the month as well. *contented sigh*
I pondered over a load of recipes and thoughts to represent this movie, and in the end, I came down to my own major comfort food from Italy… Pasta e Fagioli… Pasta with beans. This soup is like a warm hug for me. It was cold…rainy…dark…yet this soup warmed us up and made us comfortable. With warm bread added for good measure, this was a feast…and I shared it with my beloved…my best friend for the past 30 years…my hubby, Bruce. We have done a lot of eating, praying and loving during that time…I wish for Ms. Gilbert the kind of peace I have in my heart!
Can't Believe We Ate... 