todays stop on the tour of grief...and the inaugural recipe

After being awake for a few hours today I suddenly thought, huh! I haven't thought about Mom once yet today. I almost began to panic (if you'll recall the grief I alluded to experiencing yesterday) but I almost suddenly realized that I was wrong.

The thing is, I hadn't experienced any of the sudden, overwhelming, excruciating memories of my mother that has the power to contort my body, mind, my spirit and leave me huddled on the floor curled into myself and trying to ward off the emotional blow.

Instead, my mother had actually been in my thoughts all day, at every step. I looked back over the morning and realized that everything chore I completed, every e-mail checked, every conversation had was accompanied by the presence of my mother's spirit in my mind in the calming, peaceful way in which she accompanied me through me life.

I have to say, I think I'm okay with that.

On to cooking. While I have returned to that activity with a vengeance, I'm not totally back to form and as such completely forgot to photograph my efforts.

Forgive me.

Without further ado I give you:
Pasta with Eggs, Onion and Sage

1/2 medium red onion diced coarsely
2 large garlic cloves minced
7 or 8 large leaves of sage torn finely
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1 pound long pasta (spaghetti, linguine, etc.)
7 large eggs
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a mix of romano, parmesan and manchego)

Set your pasta water to boil.

Heat a large (12") saute pan with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and your pepper flakes.

When the oil is heated add your minced garlic, chopped onion and sage leaves.

Season with salt and pepper.

Saute this mixture for a couple of minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Take the pan off the heat.

When your pasta is done strain it off but reserve the cooking water.

Return your saute pan to a medium-low heat and add your eggs.

Watch this mixture carefully and stir it up until the whites of the eggs are JUST beginning to whiten (you don't want this to turn into scrambled eggs or an omelette! It's more like a carbonara sauce)

Put your pasta in a large serving bowl and pour the egg mixture over top.

Add your grated cheese.

Mix everything together.

Season with pepper.
Add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen the mixture and make it creamy and sauce-like.