Garden to Table. Hand to Mouth.

I’ve been inspired recently by cookbooks, collections of essays, and YouTube videos that serenely demonstrate a farm-to-table, or garden-to-table lifestyle. I’m talking about the media that seems to show people wandering out into the garden or field, coming into the kitchen with lovely produce, and that’s dinner. I love it. I’d love to live it!

I’ve been gardening in my backyard with varying degrees of success for years. Even when I lived in an apartment with no yard of my own, I accumulated a collection of pots filled with dirt that at least produced fresh herbs. I come from a family of hardcore vegetable gardeners, and I just cannot escape my genetically imposed compulsion to give plants, be they be fruits, vegetables, or flowers, a good home.

This year, I’m finding myself rediscovering what it means to have enough time to manage and appreciate my outdoor spaces, and, while things may not be perfect, they are reasonably productive so far. I’m getting more and more comfortable with the possibility of saying, “Let’s go see what’s in the garden,” as a means of figuring out what’s for dinner.

 

I had quite a nice crop of radishes that also produced prodigious greens that went into a batch of a pesto like this one, and a bowl of soupy noodles like this one. The lettuces are still coming, although I’m trying to eat them before they bolt. Needless to say, we are having a bowl of salad once or twice a day, and sandwiches are getting an extra punch of green crunch. Cilantro is easy to grow, and my first planting is flowering, but I harvested more than enough to make chunky salsas like this one and garnish bowls of soup beans.

 

Up-and-comers include the peas I feel like I planted so long ago, and are finally almost ready to pick. I don’t know if I’ll have enough of them at once to make this pea and mint salad, or to add to a risotto like this one, but no matter. I’m happy to eat them straight out of the pod on my way in from the garden. I’ve also got what is fast becoming a boatload of kale – Lacinato and Red Russian varieties. I better get creative about kale in a hurry!

 

The squash plants are growing, and I’m collecting zucchini recipes like I do every year. I still love most of the recipes in this list, though, so the research is easy. Tomatoes are the hardest to wait for, and, aside from winter squash, they are the most patient with themselves. I keep an eye on them nonetheless, torturing myself with thoughts of ripe tomatoes.

Of course, there are even more seasonal wonders outside my own garden. My local farmers market and stores that focus on seasonal produce are just getting into the summer swing. Berries and stone fruits are the stars right now, and some of those berries featured well in this galette last week. The little local strawberries I found, however, did not join the blueberries and rhubarb I put in the pie. After a very wet end of winter, we had an achingly dry time the rest of the spring, so the berries were small and maybe a bit homely. Their flavors were so concentrated by the dearth of water, however, that they may have been the sweetest strawberries I’ve ever had. They were so delicious, so surprisingly overabundant with flavor that I declared them too good for the rustic mixed-up pie. We ate them all hand to mouth, one by one, with no regrets.

Planting seeds. A pot of Soup Beans. Brownie sundaes.

 

 

Ready. Set. Go!

If only there was someone, like the guy with the starter pistol at the 100 meter dash, who always knew when the start should be, who was always willing to tell us, and was always right. Of course, Starter Pistol Guy only needs to concern himself with the clearly defined end of the previous race and the clearing of the track (someone else’s problem) before confidently and sharply defining the next beginning. Whether everyone showed up means nothing to him. And he doesn’t have to live with the results of the race.

I’ve wanted to reboot this site for some time, mostly with complicated re-branding, new focus, new ideas. I left my food service management job in December, when the overwhelming hostility made me realize that the stress and overtime were totally not worth it. I now have a data-centric position in a large company, and room to breathe, both at work and at home. I have the time.

It’s a marvelous feeling, this having some free time, and I was going to reinvent myself with it. The problem was that I wasn’t sure where to begin, and without some kind of Starter Pistol Guy, I didn’t know when either. I was finished with one race, and so the next could start. When I thought about it, though, I didn’t want to run a race anymore. Besides, starter pistols are loud and startling and make me anxious. I’m much more comfortable with a quiet revelation, a subtle shift, the sun coming from behind a cloud. Since uncertainty is inevitable anyway, I’m much more comfortable with planting seeds than with pushing off with all my might from a starting block.

I still love to read books, study cookbooks, watch movies and series, tinker with some crafts, and garden, so I will always write at least a little about those things. This site will still be mostly about food, though. I just love it too much. The way I eat and the way I cook have changed since I began writing here, even since the last time I posted. It will be fun to see how that plays out in words and pictures. I’m still silly and love a pun. I still can’t seem to keep my kitchen, or the rest of my house, very clean. I still cook for Harry and myself nearly every day. I still love to talk (and write) about what I ate today, what I plan to eat tomorrow, what would be great to eat some day, and how to make it all. I cook and I bake. I eat and I enjoy.

So, there’s a pot of Soup Beans with brown rice for supper, and shredded cheese and chopped green onions to go on top of it. This is, of course, the ultimate comfort food, warm and savory, a little spicy, cheesy, nourishing, and ready for leftovers and repurposing. This is still one of our favorite meals for all its simplicity and no-nonsense-ness. It’s good to eat, and that is all that matters.

And for dessert, there’s a brownie sundae. The remains of a pan of brownies (I brought the rest to share at work) are the starting point. A perfect square, or a crumbled rubble, your choice, is terrific topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and a squirt of Reddi Whip (or whipped heavy cream if you’d rather be fancy). I refuse to participate in a calorie-counting diet culture when such joy can be had.

There are seeds sprouting in the back yard. Radishes and arugula, peas and cilantro. They will inspire me when they are ready to eat. Or not. The inescapable nature of planting seeds is that the results remain to be seen.

 

 

Coming soon:  A chocolate sauce recipe. Rhubarb! Spring weather (I hope!). Maybe something green.