I often see surveys asking about the most important invention in the kitchen or asking for one’s favorite appliance. I don’t know if we could maintain our kitchen without a slow cooker. For time-saving, tantalizing smells while cooking, preparation of large batches for freezing, and use of inexpensive ingredients … I am grateful for this workhorse. Some of our best recipes come out of this crock.
I am grateful for the watchers, the inspectors. At least at the Minnesota State Fair, the food inspection is rigorous (if not so much the animals in the barns–I think we all learned something there). In this article, we are educated about the kinds of citations food booths get and why. In fact, we even learn that cordless drills are being used creatively at two booths … but that isn’t allowed. Food safety inspection is paramount throughout the land!
Have you tried Imperfect Produce? It’s a company that specializes in distributing and delivering the “ugly” fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste. So far, our deliveries have been beautiful. The prices are less than we pay in the store, we get to choose what we want, and we select how often we want a delivery. We most often choose organic but we love the variety. Our most recent box (with no plastic packaging) brought pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, pecans (such a deal!), olives, limes, celery, artichokes, apples. Yum! I’m grateful for the mission and methods of this company … and the innovation of people who are doing their best to help the earth.
I spent a good deal of my life avoiding all vegetables except for carrots, corn, and green beans … what I would eat when I was five. Steve brought broccoli into our marriage. Now, we strive to eat vegetables at every meal. We do our best to increase our vegetable vocabulary. It’s intentional … and it’s delicious. Pan-roasted Brussels sprouts for breakfast this morning. I am grateful for vegetables in their wide diversity of color, taste, and nutrition. What’s your favorite vegetable?
It is so much fun to share your birthday with a good friend, one whose birthday is the day after yours. Getting together to celebrate that our lives are still ongoing leaves me feeling effervescent! And honoring all that we’ve added to life’s weaving through the years? That fills me with gratitude. (I especially love when said friend knows me well enough to bring a gift of olives, my favorite food!)
Last night, for Sunday supper, a dear friend brought me a thank you gift … which thrilled me. Will this Ball Blue Book finally give me the courage to do some canning, overcoming my fear of killing those I love with tainted food? I want to make sauce, the way my grandmother did. Stay tuned. And see those lovely “Happy Clips”? There are beautiful golden words painted on them: “Thankful,” “Grateful,” and “Blessed.” I am. Truly blessed.
I have been unable to taste or smell anything for almost two weeks. Nothing. No glimmer. This is a result of a cold … and I hope I regain those senses. For anyone who is without them, you have my profound sympathy. I have been able to observe many aspects about eating for which I haven’t spent enough time being grateful. Instead, texture has become important. I don’t have much appetite. But food memory! My brain is doing its best to provide memories of taste and smell … it’s like standing on the other side of a window watching someone eat. Fascinating.
Quick! Don’t think. What’s your favorite food? What’s the first thing that popped into your brain? My answer is easy. I am addicted to olives. I can think of no more perfect food. And they are plentiful in their variety. I give my gratitude to all of the olive farmers throughout the world. You make me happy.
I’ve written before that my grandmother was a wonderful cook. One of her specialties was peach pie. She left us without a recipe. When I asked her to write it down, she was reluctant. I don’t know why. I would watch her make it, using pinches and handfuls to measure. She used tapioca to thicken the sauce, nutmeg, and she cut fresh peaches. I’ve hunted for a recipe that is similar. I have been unable to replicate her pie. Do you have a beloved food that you’ve been hunting elusively? I’m grateful to people who write down their recipes for posterity.
I need all the inspiration I can get to pursue our commitment to cooking our food from scratch and eating at home. Now it’s becoming something of a mission for me to encourage other people to do the same … but I recognize the need to be very subtle about this. Someone who is not subtle at all, but provides me with tremendous encouragement, is Trisha Yearwood with her show Southern Kitchen. She is ebullient, loves cooking, shares her efforts with humor, friendship, family, and love. For me, those elements have become the reasons for preparing good food. Through her show, I have discovered that southern recipes involve LOTS of sugar, so we adjust. I suppose sweet tea should have been my first clue. I am grateful to Trisha Yearwood for sharing her camaraderie and her love for cooking. [below: Trisha Yearwood and her sister Beth Bernard]
