redbuds

Quarent-eating

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I’ve been having a great time with all this quarantine cooking.

Over the last few years there’s been too much hustling around between managing and maintaining several Airbnb’s, teaching Pilates four days a week, working at Tate’s office, and leaving town every.single.weekend, I’ve gradually lost my zeal for kitchen time

The last month has, of course, halted much of the hustle and given me time to luxuriate in kitchen time and food creation, not to mention keeps me out of the grocery store thus reducing risk of virus exposure and saving money.

There was a yard salad of danelion greens, chickweek, redbuds, violets, plus kale and arugula salad.

Topped with a dressing of Holy Basil vinaigrette (I grew the Holy Basil, also known as Tulsi, last summer and had the vinegar infusing in the fridge since then).

Some expired yeast and soon to-be-expired flour yielded rolls that didn’t rise, but were tasty and still good to slop up the soup.

(pre-baking)

And pizza dough, that was grilled and topped simply in the ‘margarita’ style, with homegrown sweet basil to literally top it off!

The best of operation ‘use up the random/outdated/dust collecting pantry items’ were definitely the macaroons that I made during Passover.

The coconut, vanilla beans, cardamon, rose petals, and cocoa powder have all been kicking around since the heydays of this blog, back when I used to post recipes often! I might have to bring back recipe posting, these were so good, they will definitely be repeated!

I’d love to hear the best and/or the most obscure things you’ve eaten if you too are quaren-cleaning out the fridge/pantry/cupboards!

Super Local

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I’m a lifelong lazy environmentalist.

I learned the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) at an early age and my family brought canvas bags to the grocery store even before “paper or plastic” was in the vernacular.   In those days the cashier would just look at us like we were nuts and proceed to plastic-bag our goods anyway.

Overtime I’ve made lots of small changes to reduce my impact, like making my own laundry soap, switching to a natural deodorant, switching to ‘green’ companies, making my own kombucha, yogurt, and cooking beans from scratch, holding clothes exchanges, growing a garden, and bike commuting.   I enjoy all of these things (except the laundry soap, after a few batches I went back to the store-bought stuff) and they often save me some money along the way.  That’s where the lazy part comes in, I stick with changes that suit me, ones that enrich my life from many angles, including the reduced environmental impact.

Forget the paper or plastic quandary, the latest question many environmentalists, lazy or otherwise, ask themselves is “how far did my food travel?”.

 

Looks like I need to do some weeding, eh?

Right into the salad bowl!

Foraging is the act of searching for food, any food, but is often used in the context of seeking and picking wild food.

The above salad contains violet flowers and leaves, redbud flowers, and dandelion greens, all of which grow wild in my yard, along with some wintered-over arugula and kale from my raised beds.

Doesn’t get much more local.

The large and lovely redbud tree in my front yard.

The blossoms are a little bit sour with a nice “pop” when you bite them.

I’ve only eaten them raw but think they could be fun and gorgeous baked into a dessert like my coconut flour lemon muffins.

One of the fun things about foraging for wild food is that the seasons are fleeting.  The redbud blossoms are already drying up and giving way to lush leaves and soon the dandelions will be too tough and bitter to enjoy eating.

If you are interested in foraging for wild food it’s important to pay attention to a few things,

  • make sure the area your picking is free from heavy pesticide spray and/or, in the case of low-growing plants, animal poop
  • if the land is public than certainly respect any laws surrounding picking and always leave some for the other foragers and the health of the plant
  • know what you’re picking!!!
  • pick what you like to eat, it’s way more satisfying that way

The lazy (and thrifty!) environmentalist in me loves walking out in my yard and picking beautiful, nutritious produce.

Do you forage?

Happy Earth Day!