cook pot stories

I love winter squash. I love the determination of the shell, the clever slippery seeds, the surprising variety in its taste and texture. It is one of my favorite winter comfort foods. Late in autumn go to the farm stand. If you can’t get there, go to the supermarket, but be prepared to lie and tell everyone you went miles out of your way to find these lovely, eccentric squash. Pick out a few beauties. Butternut , with its smooth, sultry skin. Acorn , with its seductive ridges. Dumpling , small and endearing. There are so many to choose from. Don’t let your squash lust run away with you. And only buy a hubbard if you have a good, sharp ax. Cradle them like children in the back seat of your car. If you have a spare baby seat you may want to buckle the larger ones in. Bring them home. Store them in a cool, dry, dark place. They will wait for you. When you’re ready to cook one, try this. Pick your sharpest knife, for both safety and mercy. With as much s...

It's been awhile since I've written here, not because I've not been eating (ha!) but because I've not had anything that really inspired me. While on a recent trip to Vancouver BC I had some wonderful food - a great bowl of Chinese noodle soup, wonderful cod and salmon, so on and and so forth - but it didn't inspire me to write. I'm not sure why. Since coming home I've cooked a little of this and a little of that, all good, but not stunning. It's taken a cucumber to inspire me to write. I had leftover hot and sour soup for dinner. It was takeout from a local Chinese place , one I've written about before, so it was pretty good, but I found myself still munchie. I looked in the pantry and considered popcorn. I thought about heating other leftovers, maybe the chicken mushroom stew from last night. And then I remembered I had a cucumber in the crisper and all my prayers were answered. Or at least some of them, the prayers of the moment. Peeled, sliced (I ...

When I was in first grade we were asked to name our favorite foods and television shows. I unfashionably answered, "Liver and creamed spinach and NOVA ." (For those of you who may not know, NOVA is a science program on PBS.) It took years to live that down. I still like unfashionable food and television. Among my old favorites are beets. They seem to be having something of a resurgence now, but for a long time people would squinch up their faces at the thought of them and say, "Yuck." I love them. Their ruby stain on the cutting board, the earthy taste and smell. They speak to me of health and time and old ways of doing things. As a kid we'd eat cold bottled borscht with a swirl of sour cream and it was heaven. I'd let it stain my clothing on purpose, watching the color run. A few nights ago I roasted beets from our farm share. They were wonderful. Roasted beets. One version. Take a bunch of beets. Cut off the tops and save them for later. Scrub the bulbs, c...

Somedays I love arugula . Other days it just seems harsh and bitter. No metaphor here, move along, this is a food blog, that's all. Today is one of the days where it tastes as though it's biting me back, too tart for my tongue. Other days I love it, the rich, robust earthiness of it. Funny how one day to the next, taste can change. Too, I think the plant itself varies considerably in it's flavor. Maybe this batch grew in soil where it was mocked by nearby plants and some of the bitterness seeped into its leaves. Arugula is also known as rockette, maybe because the wrong bite can set your mouth in fire. According to various foodlore sources arugula kills intestinal parasites, so can cause violent reactions when eaten. If this blog entry breaks off suddenly you'll know what happened. I'm looking forward to another batch of arugula that I love, one that isn't at war with my taste buds. For now though I can at least simply enjoy the word - arugula . Say it. It feel...

Fine. I did it. I'm starting a food blog. I've been resisting writing about food in my other blog because that's supposed to be about writing, storytelling and life. But I keep wanting to. So here. I've given myself a place to write about eating, cooking, chopping, smelling, stirring, spices, etc etc. What finally launched me was that salad I made yesterday. We belong to a farm share , a way to get fresh, mostly organic veggies that are locally grown. It's a great idea, but means we end up with a lot of radishes (or other stuff) sometimes. It can be hard to use everything and I hate to see it rot. So I made this last night. Like most of my recipes, all amounts are approximate. Miscellaneous chopped salad Mix in a bowl: 1 kholrabi, peeled and julienned 4 salad turnips, peeled and julienned some tender bok choy stems (8? 9?) chopped 6 or 7 radishes, chopped a bunch of scallions, chopped I imagine you could also add: water chestnuts and other crunchy not-too-sweet veg...