...to an empty fridge.
While this may not be entirely true, there is something really great about having an empty (or almost empty) fridge when I get home. It helps me to get my life restarted here, assessing what I have, planning for what I'll need for the coming week. In this case, I am doing extra cooking ahead of time, as I count on being out of the house from 8am to 10pm this week (and wanting to save some cash dollars).
When I arrived back home last night, there was some salvageable kale, along with the last, nearly-sprouted red potatoes. Braised together in a wok with some garlic, onion, and bouillon plus a cube of pesto I saved from the summer, and topped with the crumbles of goat cheese from the corner of its Tupperware, it made a great and simple dinner to counteract airport food. (So good, in fact, I ate it all before taking a photo).
While I did go to the grocery store to pick up some juice, yogurts, and other things for lunch-packing, I was pretty proud to have made such a successful effort at re-starting my fridge. You can find the recipes for the winter squash risotto and bacon-gruyere quiche on the recipe page.
But I also think that the practice of cleaning the refrigerator out and cooking for myself again is a helpful way to segue back into my normal routine. Yoga, cooking, music and guitar, time alone - all these are things that I don't have when, or haven't yet adapted for, traveling. So despite the shocking rapidity of intercontinental travel, the small gaps or lags (jet- and otherwise) really benefit from taking a bit of time to push a reset button and appreciate where I've been and, at the same time, where I've come back.
I think fall is also a time when I feel particularly home-y, and having missed it in the U.S. last year while overseas, I find that I am reacting with more enjoyment of the colors, the weather, the sweaters... and of course the produce!
While this may not be entirely true, there is something really great about having an empty (or almost empty) fridge when I get home. It helps me to get my life restarted here, assessing what I have, planning for what I'll need for the coming week. In this case, I am doing extra cooking ahead of time, as I count on being out of the house from 8am to 10pm this week (and wanting to save some cash dollars).
When I arrived back home last night, there was some salvageable kale, along with the last, nearly-sprouted red potatoes. Braised together in a wok with some garlic, onion, and bouillon plus a cube of pesto I saved from the summer, and topped with the crumbles of goat cheese from the corner of its Tupperware, it made a great and simple dinner to counteract airport food. (So good, in fact, I ate it all before taking a photo).
What I also had left over for today were a couple of eggs (nearly gone), some sage and butternut squash from my escapades a couple of weeks ago, and an acorn squash begging to be eaten. And of course, I couldn't help having brought back a hefty block of gruyere from Geneva, although the chanterelles had to stay.
While I did go to the grocery store to pick up some juice, yogurts, and other things for lunch-packing, I was pretty proud to have made such a successful effort at re-starting my fridge. You can find the recipes for the winter squash risotto and bacon-gruyere quiche on the recipe page.
But I also think that the practice of cleaning the refrigerator out and cooking for myself again is a helpful way to segue back into my normal routine. Yoga, cooking, music and guitar, time alone - all these are things that I don't have when, or haven't yet adapted for, traveling. So despite the shocking rapidity of intercontinental travel, the small gaps or lags (jet- and otherwise) really benefit from taking a bit of time to push a reset button and appreciate where I've been and, at the same time, where I've come back.
I think fall is also a time when I feel particularly home-y, and having missed it in the U.S. last year while overseas, I find that I am reacting with more enjoyment of the colors, the weather, the sweaters... and of course the produce!
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