Why HELLO, beautiful food above my head! Yesterday I went to Jean-Talon and carried ALL OF THAT back in my back pack and my panniers! Looking at the photo I have a hard time believing it! There are ten pounds of carrots in that bag, as well as eight pounds of apples beside it. We came in at under $30 again, which is my goal when I go to the market.
Something that I haven't addressed much here, since I've been in this liminal state since June, has been my cooking. I didn't do a lot of cooking this summer because my meals were provided. I did do some baking, however...
Like the delish cake that my sister and I collaborated on to celebrate her birthday:
Um, can you tell I am excited and experiencing a sugar rush in these photos? Chocolate banana cake with a chocolate ganache. To. Die. For.
Anway. Although we have been fortunate in that we have always had access to great, fresh produce (coops, CSA programs, and farm shares while in Oberlin), we didn't have much choice in what we food we had in the house. Those of you who have participated in farm shares or CSA programs know what I'm talking about when I say that there were periods when we had cabbage at every meal because our monthly share was about four different cabbages, potatoes, and apples. Now that we have year-round (just found out they are year round and I am SO EXCITED) markets with butchers and dairy farmers (and imported foods...), I have just been wandering around the market for hours, trying to determine what food to buy.
I have always had a hard time grocery shopping. I LOVE it, but I get overwhelmed. Ours is not a budget that has room for a lot of wasted food or super fancy frills (but what "fun money" we do have is usually spent on fun foods and small batch alcohols), so we have always tried to make sure that nothing goes to waste in our kitchen. That was tough sometimes on a CSA share, where we had no control, but now is the time for me to step up my game. I end up staring at the food, trying to determine the best deals, trying to think on the spot what I could (and realistically would) make with a certain vegetable. Yesterday I came home from the market, with all that food, and Ben said "What's the plan for dinner?" I looked at the fridge and realized that we had a full fridge but I had no plans for what to do with all of that food. I know, there are tons of things I can do with it, but I still try to be inventive and make meals interesting and fun. Cooking is both a relaxing and creative outlet for me, and I love to try new things just to see if I can get something to work.
I've been using this time where I have no obligations to try out some really fun things with my cooking. Unfortunately I have a terrible habit of forgetting to take pictures - so I really need to remember that. Recent creations have included countless trays of apple crisp, tomato/mozz paninis (so many tomatoes!!!) and loads of pizza, as always. I also made a seriously tasty tomato basil soup, which lasted us for a whole week for lunch, and these fancy schmancy eggplant/mozz/roasted red pepper sandwiches. BUT, because I don't have plans in mind, or I often find inspiration, then realize I don't have the things I need, I sometimes feel stressed out about cooking, which, like running, is something I think I shouldn't feel in association.
So I'm going to be trying out something different. I'm going to be flipping through my cookbooks and foodblogs to find inspiration for up to 10 dishes, taking careful note of what ingredients I'll need if I don't already have it. Then I will shop accordingly. I'm going to start this for the next shopping trip, so in about 10ish days, and I will update when I've done so. In the mean time, I'm off to figure out what to DO with all of this food!
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