Today’s MOZEN: Stirring The Pot

When I make my world famous (well, in my mind anyway) tomato sauce, I only use the freshest ingredients. Most of them, including the fresh tomatoes in season, I also grow in my own garden. Besides the tomatoes, I add olive oil, garlic (lots of garlic), oregano, thyme, basil, sage, parsley. rosemary, a little sugar and a touch of red wine.

Once I get them in the pot, I begin to cook it under a very low flame. The key is to let the ingredients meld together, each adding their unique flavors over the course of time. It also helps to eliminate extra water so that the sauce thickens enough for me to have a spoon stand alone in it. This can take several hours.

However, even though you can let it simmer for long periods of time, it is also important to stir the pot frequently. This prevents the sauce from burning at the bottom of the pot AND by blending the ingredients you insure that the flavor of each is adequately mixed and combined to create the true, unique flavor of the sauce.

Of course, STIRRING THE POT can also be used as a metaphor to describe what I try to accomplish with my writing and Social Media posts.

I often write things of a controversial nature. Some might even see them as outrageous. However, I do so not merely for shock value. That might be the initial impression, but there is much more beneath the surface.

First, I believe in total honesty. I feel that it’s the only way to communicate. Sometimes, this may make others uncomfortable but rarely me. I’m sure that I’ve lost friends over it. But, I’ve probably made a few from it, too.

Second, thoughts and opinions are like ingredients of the mind; there are many different kinds and every one has its own flavor. Taken individually, each has a unique characteristic. However, when combined, the sauce takes on a totally new personality.

Just like my sauce, the only way to achieve this new mixture is to stir the pot — regularly.

So, that’s what I do.

When I cook my sauce, the results have been far more appetizing than not. It may taste a little like others but in truth it is uniquely my own.

The same can be said of my writing.

I toss a lot of ingredients into the post hoping to achieve a final result of a concoction of opinions, each unique when tasted separately, but when blended, form a mixture that’s most palatable.

Now, as strange as it seems to me, not everyone likes tomato sauce. I have a friend who loves tomatoes but hates their conversion to sauce. And, so it is with ideas — some will be glad to taste my Word Sauce while others will simply spit it out. Well, so be it — no food is universally liked. I get it. But, like any other chef, I will continue to cook by stirring the pot — because that’s what I do.

BUON APPETITO!