Aubergines

Here I am enjoying my morning coffee, or should I say midday coffee. Maybe once every couple of months one of my daily dalliances with food involves me with a catastrophic stomach upset on the toilet for an hour emerging five pounds lighter. I am one of those people who has a lot of allergies: lactose-intolerant (an ex-roomate of mine affectionately called me a 'lactard'), gluten-intolerant, allergic to wheat, yeast, bananas, pets (not food, but still something I love very much). Also I can't seem to tolerate a lot of raw vegetables like cucumber, carrots, and apples, and popcorn hates me too. Yikes right. Well, I've learned to live with it and on a day to day basis, I do alright, avoiding those things-especially wheat or any wheat products-that tear apart my insides. I'm convinced I have IBS and potentially celiacs, but I'm 'undiagnosed'. Anyways, today I must tread carefully with what I ingest so that my poor little allergic stomach can heal.
I tried my fried, breaded eggplant dish this morning and it was alright ya know. Still not as good as my dad's; I've got to watch him make it again to figure out what I'm missing. The first time I threw it together myself was a few weeks ago, returning home from the farmers' market with some delicious eggplant, tomatoes, basil, and garlic obtained from trades. I just threw it altogether with olive oil in a pan and it was fucking un-be-liev-able tomatoey oily garlic-y eggplant goodness. Since then, I haven't been able to replicate that perfection. I'm convinced it was the tomatoes and the oil, all the juices from the former and the slippery-ness from the latter co-mingled and it was awesome. Plus I didn't use actually dip said eggplant in egg base and panko bread crumbs and parmesan cheese mixture before hand like I did this morning and other times since that first success. Huh. Thanks blog. I think I just had an epiphany. Maybe like Julie Powell, with her bad luck with anything jellied or aspic-d, I have bad luck with anything breaded in egg base. Anyways, we're going to have dinner at a friend's place tonight; it's always nice to eat something someone else has cooked just for you. I'm looking forward to it. What's next on the menu? Something with shrimp, sole, or crab meat. I wonder if I could handle a seafood chowder?