Delicious, homemade food. (Well, the second picture is from Bamboo Garden, the incredible vegetarian Chinese restaurant near Seattle Center. Butterfly-shaped carrot slices!) I’m not the greatest chef, but taking time to cook and eat simple meals helps me connect with myself and those I love. This is on-the-spot meditation: stirring broth over the stove, warming my bones in a patch of sunlight, chatting, laughing, relaxing at the kitchen table while vegetables steam to tender-crisp, filling my plate to heaping and savoring each succulent bite.

I stopped by Conway Studios in Madrona to say hello to Ginny and her assistant Lynne. I met Ginny at a mutual friend’s house, in the middle of a snowstorm. We stuffed ourselves with coq au vin and then Ginny taught us some poker, as she’s a master player with her own group that meets regularly. I, however, had fallen into a food coma from eating too many noodles (it was a delicious if unconventional recipe) and was barely conscious through the whole thing.

Ginny and Lynne showed me around the place and let me snap some photos while they prepared for an upcoming show. Eric Clapton’s live CD was on the stereo. The room was warm, relaxed. Ginny was happily prattling and cussing and then invited me back for tea, next time, when she wasn’t in the middle of everything. How could I refuse?

Wonderful writing break this weekend at the Teapot Vegetarian House (the Bachelor Pot is to die for), followed by steamed milk at nearby Victrola. Independent, local businesses are extremely vulnerable during these rough economic times. Supporting them keeps cash flowing through the community. Even if we don’t spend as much as we have in the past, continuing to buy local products and services helps all of us. I can’t think of a more delicious way to save the economy.

Gridlock, how I loathe thee. I’ve never scarfed a burger and fries so fast in my life. Dick’s is an old mainstay in Seattle, and although I only partake a handful of times a year, this was one of the days for it.