Forgotten Grapefruit and the Role of Food in My Life

Can one live simply and be "foodie"?  When the rest of life spins out of control, food remains my lone creative outlet.  It often seems to be my only achievement of the day.  If nothing else, I cooked a meal (or two) for my family I tell myself.  My children sense my positive attitude and seek to join in the process.  I try to include them, though occasionally I reserve the pleasure of cooking or baking all to myself.

Another woman I know was christened "Mac Gyver in the kitchen" by her husband.  I would put myself in that category as well, since I take delight in salvaging food and creating a novel dish. Today I finally broke out the months-old grapefruit from the recesses of the fruit drawer. Since I was never going to eat all of it for breakfast, I decided the fruit should go into a salad for dinner.  The result?  The salad needed some shrimp, avocado or chicken added to balance out the fruit's sharpness.  I tried all three versions and found shrimp was the most perfect addition of the three.  Before adding the final components that made it "just right," I snapped this photo.  

In case you are wondering, the final additions of chicken and shrimp were leftovers from the fridge.  I don't have the time to make a special effort for recipes--I work with whatever ingredients I have on hand, which is what we Mac Gyvers thrive in doing.  

So I suppose that performing photo shoots of food and describing it in depth qualifies me as a foodie.  And yet it is an identity that I hesitate to fully embrace.  Life should revolve around people, not food, right?