when all the elements come together

Sometimes everything comes together perfectly to make food taste especially good.  A lot of factors come into play, in addition to the actual cooking process.  Sure, the freshness of the ingredients, and the skill of the cook, are important, but what about the current barometric pressure, the phase of the moon, the way the stars are aligned?  A lot has to do with the current state of your body: when you last ate, how well you slept the night before, what hormones are running around; not to mention your mental state, or what you might be drinking with the meal, and who with.  So, on these delightful occasions, when all the elements come together, food tastes monumental.  These things don't effect you?  Oh, they do, and more than you might think.

Speaking of tasting good, here's a simple recipe for chicken stew I've been making every week since October.  Toss a package of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 6 large) into a 9 x 13 baking dish.  Add whatever veggies you have on hand, chopped large.  (I usually use cabbage, carrots, leeks, several cloves of garlic), a few cups of white wine, sage, thyme, (fresh herbs are always better) salt, and freshly ground pepper.  Bake low, about 275 for several hours, until cooked down, tender and golden.  You're gonna love this, regardless of the elements.

"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," 

and then he had to stop and think. 

Because although eating honey was a very good thing to do, 

there was a moment just before you began to eat it 

which was better than when you were, 

but he didn't know what it was called.” 

― A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

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