Mmmm...it does go well with the freezer burn.

I promised to talk about my marinara, which was inspired by a show I saw where this dude made some marinara. What a wonderful modern day inspirado, detached food inspiration from cooking shows; just enough to get people to eat other foods than their daily burnt toast and JIF peanut butter.

So here's my crib sheet. I find that lately I am writing down little plans for my food, because some are too complicated for me to throw together, yet I don't need to measure much and I know the order of cooking before hand.

The plan was to start a simmering tomato base with canned diced tomatoes. You can soup this up to your own specs. I added turkey broth made from turkey parts, maybe two or three cups, and a splash of balsalmic. Salt and Pepper of course.

Then I sauteed up some garlic and onions in a healthy amount of oil, maybe a 1/4 cup. When they were tasty and fragrant, I added some capers and red chile flakes. This was what made the smell take off, and you can let this cook for just a couple minutes before throwing it in with your tomatoes.

To this I added the secret ingredient, fresh herbs frozen last summer that I discovered in the freezer. There was basil and rosemary. Be careful with the rosemary, it can be a bit strong. And then when I found the sauce had a tinge of bitterness, I put in some honey. Test it and alter as needed, but this was simple and damn good on those freezer-burned raviolis the other night.

The Domestic Male eats leftovers

The life of the Domestic Male is hard. Considering that I live in my parents attic and I'm 29 years old, you would think my daily routine consisted of bong rips and world of warcraft, but in reality it's a lot of hard work. I sit here and craft business documents, update websites, network with administration officials, and workout (or sulk because I skipped my workout!). Going into the details that brought me to this predicament is T.M.I., but it's enough to know that because of my situation, I have created this blog.

I find that my parents are collectors. Collectors of antiques, exotic species of rice, and $7 jars of honey. They have enough stemware to serve a party of 80, and they hardly drink! Still, it's the food accumulation that I find fascinating. My father gets compelled by fits of solidarity for small town grocers and comes home with the strangest things. My mother is an herb growing machine, the benefits of which are my huge increased consumption of pesto in the past two years. YUM! She has to throw it out, and I daydream of fried sage leaves. A perfect mix for me to live here, because the house comes equipped with everything an inspired cook needs, with just enough to push me to be creative since everything is so random. It was with this mood that I created a great breakfast today. Simple, sort of healthy, and so satisfying.

The basic parts: amazing locally roasted Brazilian and Costa Rican coffee from Roasters in Hiawatha, some broiled butter toast, and a homemade marinara with a couple poached eggs thrown in.

My next post will detail my thought on the sauce, but this was a breakfast of champions. And I'll throw in my advocacy for un-toaster toast here for free. We used to have this practice at the house for toasting bagels under the broiler with margarine. It leaves the bagel soft and chewy, and crisps up the top to a golden brown. (Unless you walk away during that crucial minute when the bagel is perfect, and you end up with a black charred thing that you might have to eat anyway because you're in a hurry to go wrestle somebody.) Anyway, it's the best toast, and it's how I did it today, with good bread, and I watched it like a hawk. So eat more poached eggs, be kind to your toast, and be a snob about your brew. Texas Toast has it's place, but not this morning.