Black, White Or Somewhere In Between?

Poor gray! It has been given such a bad rap. It connotes gloom, sadness and negativity...a dreary, gray day or the "gray area". Yet, I love the peacefulness of gray days and I think gray is my favorite of all the "non-colors". Not as harsh and heavy as black, not as light and airy as white, but with more substance and character. Gray is quiet. Gray is calm. I am not. I need gray. I crave gray. I used to be a very black and white person. I think all youth goes through that black and white period. I see my younger self in my teenager now. And as I've aged, I realize that sometimes gray is OK. It doesn't mean non-committal or middle of the road. For me it means different ways of seeing something or someone. There are many shades of gray. 

           Gray can be sharp and cool, like silver or steel or pewter. 

               Or warm and soft, like taupe, smoke or mushroom.

I thought about my mom's Mushroom Spread for a long time and knew it would be a tough one to present. Mostly because it's grayish and people don't, as a rule, like to eat gray food. But it's really delicious and super easy. Entertaining season is upon us and this is an easy addition to a hors d'oeuvres buffet. 

Mushroom Spread

8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened

8 oz. mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons of butter

1 sprig* of fresh thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute mushrooms in butter until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic and thyme and cook another minute or two.
3. Cool a few minutes and then blend mushrooms and cream cheese together in food processor.
4. Season with kosher salt and pepper.
5. Serve with water crackers

*What's sprig? It's a pretty subjective term. I use that word "sprig" a lot, but who knows how much a sprig is? It's sort of like a "dash", a "pinch" or a "dab". Here's a picture of what I think a sprig is. 

The whole pic is a sprig...the foreground leaves have been removed.  I guess that 's pretty obvious?

I never bother to chop thyme. Have you seen how tiny the leaves are? To remove the leaves, I gently run two fingers up the stem, against the "grain". 

Just because I like trivia...Gray is the American spelling. Grey is the British spelling.