No really. I can pickle that.

Back in July, after having bought a few jars of hot pickled dilly beans from my CSA... or maybe six... I tried to return the jars to Randy, my farmer friend. Only to find that, due to FDA regulations, neither he nor his neighbors who can could reuse the jars once sold. I carried them jangling back to my kitchen, and proceeded to reuse/recycle with abandon.

In the peak of the summer heat, I would brew herbal teas, put them in jars, and line the back of the fridge with them. They were cold, travel-friendly, and less expensive and less sugary than buying juices. A $4 box with 20 bags of peppermint tea goes a long way.

I also experimented with pickling, especially with the onslaught of cucumbers, both regular and mini-sized. And Persian.  I found that they would keep for several weeks, and the jars, once washed once or twice, would be ready for another batch. As I started to get comfortable with standard pickle fare, I also began to branch out.  Now that it's full-on fall, the Napa cabbage is in and I've made a Southeast Asian pickled cabbage - something like Cambodian kimchi. It can be easy to overdo it on the fish sauce, and it gets spicier the longer you store it, but the cabbage does marvels to kick up a regular stirfry or steamed rice dish.

Or, you can just eat it straight out of the jar.

Well, this is a little awkward....

I find myself coming back to this blog after a two-year hiatus.  In some senses, it's clear that I'm cooking differently, more exploratory (a regular paycheck helps), and with more reflection on what I am able to store in a fridge I share with two flatmates. But other things remain the same - I still love to roast things, I still tend vegetarian (although not entirely), and I still have to be careful not to buy far more than I can reasonably expect myself to eat.

Over those months, I've missed blogging about some great meals - a Thai-flavored pan-roasted whole branzino, lamb-and-bacon meatballs in red wine tomato sauce, sweet potato hummus - and some new discoveries -  Swiss chard and lacinato (Tuscan) kale, pomegranates, and the miracle combination of salt, sugar, vinegar, and ?????. Or for Portlandia lovers: "I can pickle that!"

                        

I've also realized that to be self-sustaining, I will have to use this blog to talk about more than my love of food. Which is not diminished, but rather put into context of a busy work life, a quiet home life, and a whole lot of yoga. To whomever is out there in the inter-ether, I thank you in advance for your patience (and more importantly, humor) as I post travel plans, dharma talk, soapbox rants, and of course, recipes.
Thus, without further ado....