Summer in the City

All across Boston, the farmer's markets have officially opened! What this means for me is good, cheap, organic produce throughout the summer months. And now that I have a car, I can pretty much hit any farmer's market in the city. So if I need some greens, or an heirloom tomato, or a radish, I can stop at multiple locations during the week. Now, I tend to frequent the Davis Square market because it is one of the best I've found, but it only happens once a week and I need produce more often than that (it goes bad so fast!).

Anyway, go to your local farmer's market whenever you can. In the first place, when you do you are supporting the farmers who actually grow your vegetables, not a series of middlemen and distributors. Second, more often than not, the farmers at the market are treating their animals and vegetables with great care and respect. By extension, the veg. they produce are better for the environment. Third, the food is tasty. Really tasty. And one of the reasons why it is is because you're going to be eating varietals and species of vegetable that aren't ever available in the grocery store. Those varietals (think heirloom tomatoes) often have intense and concentrated flavors you've never experienced before. So, you aren't just  supporting a farmer, you are supporting biodiversity as a whole. 

 

Farmer's markets aside, you are probably wondering, gentle reader, where I've been since February. Well, I had final papers, and a production of Mary Zimmerman's Arabian Nights, and conference paper submissions, and...well, you get the idea. I was busy. But that doesn't mean I wasn't eating. Because I was. I was eating a lot. 

What was I eating? Well, I've been having some amazing adventures with pico de gallo (the fresh stuff, not the shit you get at most "Mexican" restaurants),  experimenting with macaroni and cheese (and failing miserably), creating powerfully hot chili (successfully), and discovering new delicacies (where has giardiniera been all my life?). I've also been drinking of course-- wines from Virginia and North Carolina, Gin and Tonics as the weather became hospitable, and Mojitos (with Cruzan Rum, and fresh mint of course). Beer is, of course, my usual staple, and I've been trying the plethora of summer seasonals out there (Harpoon has a good one this year) as well. Sigh. Well that's what you've missed out on for now.

 I'll try, as usual to keep posting throughout the summer as time permits. 

I bid you peace. 

Down the Rabbit Hole...

Now that I have access to better food more of the time, I've been cooking a lot more than I did last semester. This has been great for me, but the bigger problem now is storage. Last night, I had pasta with sundried tomato pesto and kale that I sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and a little red wine. This was delicious, but I haven't finished off the roasted vegetables from last week, so I've got seriously limited space. In some ways, you'd think this would give me the motivation to finish more of my leftovers more quickly - but who wants to eat the same thing every night? So, I think it might be time to invest in some serious tupperware, and maybe even some corning ware - really anything I can use to freeze food for later. Right now, the lightweight Glad-ware just isn't cutting it. First of all, it is all too small. Secondly, it just doesn't keep out the freezer-burn over long term storage. 


Until recently, I lacked a car where I could get to important places to buy things like, say, tupperware. Now I have one, and I plan on heading to Target the first chance I get and buying all the things that, for some reason, I could never bring myself to purchase online. Additionally, I realized while chopping garlic last night that my knives are getting quite dull. I have a nice 10 inch Wusthof chef's knife that is my pride and joy, and the other day I detected a nick in it. That's just unacceptable. I've heard tell that there's a store around here where they will sharpen your knives for a small fee, and I plan on availing myself of this soon. When I do, I'll post the name of it on here, because there is nothing more annoying (or dangerous) to have in your kitchen than a dull knife. 


Oh, so many things are now accessible to me that are nowhere near bus or T stations! Besides that, my car is perfect for a city like Boston - a small, blue Toyota Scion Xa that looks a little like a smart car if it was all grown up. It has four doors and a nice hatchback. It was love at first sight. Only I have to rename him now. My last car was named Toulouse (after the little Parisian painter Toulouse-Lautrec), but surely this car has a totally different personality. We'll have to see how he feels after driving him a few weeks (he's definitely a 'he' though). Tomorrow, I need to convert my license to MA (goodbye NC, I guess you've finally got to go...) and confirm my status as a New Englander. This will feel a little weird, especially because I spent years claiming that I would never transfer my license, and also that I never wanted the hassles of having a car here. So it goes. 


Thinking about change again, I remember that last semester I kept saying I didn't have time to cook. A friend of mine (you know who you are) said to me at one point that you have time for what you want to have time for. That is totally true. People make time for the familiar and the habitual because they don't want to do anything new. Because the adjustment always seems harder than it really is. Turns out, I was no different. Forcing myself to break out the cutting board, the knives, and the pans in the evening...is my time. I can just concentrate on making something delicious and drink a glass of wine. After that, I can get down to business. But that time is my time, and damn it, no amount of reading, or e-mail, or whatever, is going to take that away from me. 


I bid you peace. 

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things..."

Usually, I would come to the end of a semester break and feel guilty about the amount of work I've done (not enough) or feeling drained from doing too much (school work, travel, socializing, family-time). This time, I feel pretty content. I worked but also played, traveled appreciably, but also stayed at home. And, most importantly, I started cooking again. All in all, a well-inaugurated New Year. 


One of the best things I've done so far is to join Boston Organics. What this means is that I no longer have to spend a ton on produce for the week or go to the grocery store anywhere near as often. Basically, this is a CSA-type endeavor. The only difference is that they deliver the food right to your door instead of you having to go and get it yourself, which is a smart and convenient upgrade. So far, I love it. In my box this week I got kale, oranges, apples, potatoes, garlic, beets, turnips, and etc. I made a beet, carrot, rice, and bean soup this week. It was delicious, and I had tons of leftovers to freeze for later. In fact, I may thaw some of that soup because it is bitterly cold tonight, and I expect to be going out later to Foundry on Elm with some friends for a last hurrah before the semester begins in earnest on Thursday. 


Speaking of which, I need to get going. I'll have more later, but before I go I do want to tell you that I've installed a new gadget to the right of the page under the "About" section that will link you directly to my Yelp reviews. This way, when I mention a place that I have already reviewed on Yelp, I don't have to replicate the review on the blog, and it is easy for you, my gentle readers, to check out the information on any of the places I mention (even if I haven't reviewed them myself). So, go ahead, click on it! 


I bid you peace.