Hi John,
Friday afternoon I was curled up in your office, just starting the next book for bookclub, when you answered a phone call from my dad. Everything’s fine. But they were on the road home from visiting my sister and realized that the weather for the weekend wasn’t conducive for travel. With three hours notice, we managed to prepare for our for guests since we moved–slightly organize the moving chaos, wash the towels, and make dinner.
We’ve done minimal hosting these past two years. Occasional picnics with friends. Two visits from my sister, once where we had my cousin come over for dinner the day after he moved to town. Sometimes taking a dish over to a friends’ house. I think that’s it.
So it was reassuring to realize that we could still cook for more people (than just us). We had turnip fried rice, butternut and bean soup (using the volunbeans!), shaved cabbage salad with a lemon-garlic dressing, baked oatmeal, and wood ear mushroom congee. Successful hosting! Without intentionally stocking up for the visit! Or running to the grocery store! (To be fair, we have been able to keep a stocked fridge and pantry. And, while I’m trying to stockpile fewer dry goods than I was at this point of 2020, we still try to keep food on hand so that we could quarantine for two weeks.)
In This Week’s Box
- Broccoli
- Cilantro
- Flat Leaf Spinach
- Jerusalem Artichokes
- Orange Carrots
- Purple Topped Turnips
- White Scallions
Still in the Fridge
- Cup of cooked volunbeans
- Cranberries
- Broccoli
- Mushrooms
- Celery
- Greens: Green Cabbage
- Carrots
- Parsnip
- Black radishes, Red radishes, Breakfast radishes
- Turnips
- Potatoes: Sweet
- Onions
- Jerusalem Artichokes
Open Preserves
- Preserved eggplant
- Dill pickle juice
- Lacto-fermented green cherry tomatoes
- Lacto-fermented blueberry jalapeno hot sauce
- Lacto-fermented habanda jalapeno hot sauce
- Pickled red onion
- Pickled banana peppers with oregano, basil, and black pepper
- Plain pickled banana peppers
- Pickled fennel stems with orange
- Spicy pickled fennel stems
- Radish kimchi
- Sunchoke relish
- Green tomato chutney
- Freedom berry jam
- Cranberry orange marmalade-ish
- Probably still more uninventoried
Meals for now (and maybe later)
- I think the spinach is destined for salad. And probably side salads. I’m so excited for salad greens!
- We should also work on the cabbage. More shaved salads are possible. But so is stir-fry.
- Turnips are piling up. Risotto? More fried rice? Try a turnip soup? Root vegetable lasagna? Roasted and popped on a tortilla with refried beans topped with some cilantro? In a bean dip? Many possibilities. We won’t have them all, but we can probably do two or three. Just use them!
- Make more sunchoke burgers!
- For a day with a springier feel (they’re coming!), roasted broccoli with feta and toasted nuts
- The scallions may get used to finish stir-fries and soups. If not, I’m looking forward to eating the triple threat onion galette again.
Love,
Sarah
Planning Inside The Box 