As I write this, there are very strong winds outside. One of the cats likes to be with me as much as possible but, since I keep my bedroom window open pretty much 365 days of the year (if only a crack in deepest, darkest February), he keeps on bounding from the bed, upset at the noise from various gusts of wind. He rushes around the corner to the snug and toasty room that is L.’s, before slinking back to be with me 10 minutes later. I appreciate his devotion, but am getting rather tired of constantly putting the area rugs back where they were before he skidded off of them on his way down the hall.
Open window or not, it is toasty inside and we are feeling rather virtuous. We have dressed our tree (slightly too flamboyantly), bought our presents, and planned our Christmas lunch menu already. I am – surprisingly for such a crank/Grinch – feeling relatively festive. Stay tuned, that probably won’t last...The tree smells delicious and I keep on turning off all the living room lights so that I can admire the tree lights and the twinkling glass ornaments better. Remind me of how much I like my tree on Boxing Day please, when out it goes to the building trash pile and I write a rant about pine needles and how I am finding them absolutely everywhere, hiding in the oddest places.
Though Christmas does feel as though it really is right around the corner, the weather doesn’t seem to know it. It has been unseasonably warm here in Manhattan and all of the poor plants are utterly confused. L. and I took a walk yesterday to see the last of the autumn leaves before the winds blew them away and all the cherry blossoms were in bloom, six months early, as were a couple of flowering plants that I usually admire around May.
They aren’t the only ones growing out of season. I got a note in my CSA box saying that they had been clearing out some fields and came across a whole bunch of baby broccoli (their season in New York is usually June to October). I snagged three tiny heads of them and will be delighted to eat them, but I can't help but wonder if flowers will bloom twice this year, and if out of season veggies will grow again during the appropriate season, or if they too are all having the kind of 2020 that we are having...
On a completely different topic, for those of you wondering about my still life photo above which is not food related, I have been missing travel and Japan and had to cancel our Christmas trip home to Tokyo, My sister and L. are very kind to me and, a few months ago, bought me my own little Kyoto street to admire from the safety of my own home. I thought I should share it with you this week instead of the contents of my CSA box.
This Week's CSA box contained:
Herbs: a bunch each of parsley, lavender, and rosemary, and a large amount of lemongrass
Greens: 2 bunches of collard greens, a bunch of Lacinato kale
Alliums: a thick leek, a head of garlic, 2 white onions, a large handful of shallots
Vegetables: a punnet of Brussels sprouts, a head of cauliflower (sigh), 7 turnips (sigh), 2 kohlrabi, the 3 tiny heads of broccoli mentioned above, 5 red beets, 3 carrots, 2 parsnips, 2 kinds of potato – some small Red Gold ones and a few Norland Red, 3 small sweet potatoes, and an enormous (insert expletive here) spaghetti squash
Fruit: a small bag of Fuji apples
Remainders: a head of celery (more sighs), and a Honeynut squash (...!)
So, with the addition of the above remainders and a head of lettuce (minus whatever I use for lunches and the Brussels sprouts which have already been turned into nibbles for drinks with my sister last night), these items will be transformed into:
Sunday “Pantry Roulette”; fridge, freezer, and pantry item dinner]
Broccoli with Brown Butter
Monday [Wildcard; a more complex or fiddly dish than usual to test my culinary skills]
Steamed Collard Greens
Carrot and Parsnip Purée
Tuesday [Pasta]
Kohlrabi Carpaccio Mimosa with Grain Mustard Vinaigrette
Wednesday [L.'s choice usually but friend from my Covid bubble to dinner]
Gougères
Green Salad Via Carota with Avocado 🔁
Poule au Pot (Poached Chicken and Vegetable Stew)
Gateau Invisible aux Pommes, White Miso Salted Caramel
Thursday [Fish]
Beet Salad with Fuji Apple Dressing
Crispy Skinned Rainbow Trout with Meyer Lemon
Cauliflower Steaks with Roasted Chickpea Sauce
Friday [Veggie-centric]
Green Salad
Sweet Potato Latkes with Pastrami Smoked Salmon
Saturday ["Picnic"; something that is easy to assemble and easy to eat in front of a movie]
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
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