Our new national dish

OH MY GOD. I logged on all ready to explain about my lovely day and the nice food I made, and someone on the radio is talking about putting earthworms into a quiche in place of bacon. Umm... I know it's bad economic times, but are we really already at the Great Depression-esque eat-whatever-scurries (or slithers)-by point of the recession yet?

I also happen to have a very serious worm thing. I didn't think it was that bad until I read our new science curriculum and realized that we were going to have to keep worms in the classroom and do experiments and activities with them. Can you imagine? My coworkers said, "You just keep them in a jar with soil," and I was like, uh... jars are clear. That is a problem. Can't anyone else see that?

It leaked to my students that I hate worms, and they came in from recess the other day, which was rainy, saying, "We touched you FAVORITE animal today on the playground!" Of course I made them wash their wormy hands, but they definitely brought in the combined smells of a rainy day - wet leaves, rain, grass, mud, and worms.

What I was PLANNING to write about is that I haven't had a day like today in a long time, where I just wake up at my leisure, hang around in bed for awhile, make a big pot of coffee, and start a cooking project that will take a little while, because I don't really have anywhere to be. Isn't that nice? The past week was long and hard, due to conferences and a psychologically broken student. I had been wanting to try Heidi Swanson's cornmeal crunch recipe, but every evening was filled and there was never an hour to spare. Still, I could imagine exactly how it would taste and what it would be like to eat. And, oh my god. I was right. It is amazing. I want it to be available everywhere I go. Made with parchment paper instead of butter and flour on the baking dish, it is gluten free. I also left out the cheese, but I think it would be really good with it, too. I kind of want it to be our new national dish. It fits, right? It's inexpensive and wholesome, which is what people need. It's got that comfort food warmth and texture. You could top it with lots of different things, or dunk it, as she suggests. It seems like a perfect recession food. FAR superior to earthworms.