Picture quiz
Just a quick question for you today, since I’m busy packing for my London trip, which begins tomorrow. 
What are these things?
Do you hoard?
I definitely hoard. I always have, especially with food. It’s not a habit I learned from anyone else, it’s just me. I like to save the best for last. After I went trick-or-treating as a kid, my candy lasted until January, if not longer. I inventoried it and then hid it away, wanting to draw out the enjoyment, saving my favorite pieces for a rainy day. The downside to this logic, of course, is that some things ended up going stale before I ate them and I had to throw them away. Bummer.
Now, as an adult with a kitchen full of stuff, I am still doing this. Sometimes it’s with candy. J has learned that I do, most of the time, have a candy stash of sorts, and if he asks I’ll go dig around in my closet and find a chocolate bar or bag of Fisherman’s Friend that even I had forgotten about. But it’s not only candy. I have a bunch of food items in the cupboard, obtained as gifts or while traveling, that I feel are special, unique, hard-to-get, and I want to save them for a particular moment, when we can really enjoy them. But you know what? If I keep on thinking this way, those special items will meet the same fate as my Halloween candy– past its expiration date in the trash. I’m trying to embrace the idea that there’s no day like the present to enjoy these treats, to have a little something different. Among this stash of “special” foods, we have sauce mixes, reindeer pâté, cloudberry sauce, hazelnut creme, and Jell-O.
A glimpse at some of the stash.
I have officially decided that during the month of December we will make an effort to eat our way through some of hoard. I want to enjoy the items before it’s too late, and also take the opportunity to think about our trips or wherever we happened to get each item from. And after that there will be more trips and more guests, and the stash will be replenished, but I promise that in the future, those “special” things will always be used, never left to waste away in the back of our cabinets.
I got nothing
Edit: I wrote this quickly last night, hit publish, and happily closed my computer for the rest of the night. Except… I guess I didn’t hit publish. It wasn’t published yesterday. So I’ve screwed up NaBloPoMo again, in the exact same way I did last year. At least I’m consistent? But I’ll do my best to wipe away my frustrated perfectionist tears and follow through until the end of the month, even though it won’t count anymore.
I hate to say this, but… I got nothing for you today. Two-thirds of the month of November has passed and posting every day has definitely taken its toll. Today I took some time to write in my sadly neglected (paper) journal, and I think it drained my writing energy for the day. And I couldn’t even find a pretty picture to post! So for today, you get my apologies. Have a great Saturday!
Cookie and travel news
Have you ever visited Serious Eats? It’s a group food blog with fun food news and stories, recipes, experiments, and discussion boards. It’s constantly updated and always entertaining. On my visit there today, I saw that they have started conducting a “Chocolate Chip Cookie Championships” . They’re trying some of the best cookies from different parts of the city, narrowing it down to finalists, and then eventually one will be named the Champion Cookie. Their competition is, unfortunately, based in New York, so I can only admire their delicious photos, read their reviews and dream about being part of their taste-testing team. I enjoy reading about other people taking chocolate chip cookies as seriously as I do (and these people are absolutely serious about their food– hence the name of the site).
And wait! Maybe all of these cookies aren’t so far away after all! In their preliminary round for Midtown cookies, the hands-down winner was from Pret a Manger. It looks divine. Pret a Manger happens to be a British chain… and guess who’s going to London next week?? Yes, that’s right, I’m heading to London again to meet up with a dear friend over the long Thanksgiving weekend (of course, I don’t actually get a Thanksgiving weekend, I just asked for a few days off). I’ll be making every effort to not break my blogging streak and to report on all the great food I’m sure to experience there– including that fine, fine-looking cookie!
Ribollita recipe
Here’s the more formally written recipe for the ribollita I made yesterday. Even if you think a cabbage soup with beans and soggy bread sounds weird, I encourage you to give it a try. It might surprise you.
Ribollita
My own recipe, adapted a long time ago from this recipe
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 glass warm water
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, finely chopped (optional)
- about 1/2 a medium cabbage, thick white parts removed, cut into strips
- a few handfuls fresh or frozen spinach or other dark leafy green (if fresh, cut into strips)
- 2 potatoes, thinly sliced into half moons
- salt
- pepper
- 2 cans white (cannellini) beans
- 1 loaf crusty white bread (preferably stale), cut into cubes
1. Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft, 5-7 minutes.
2. When they’re soft, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste diluted in a glass of warm water. Add the finely chopped carrot, sliced potato, and celery (if using). Allow to cook for about 5 minutes, then add sliced cabbage (and fresh greens). Season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook over medium-low heat.
3. Take one can of white beans and mash the contents (including the liquid) with a fork. If using frozen spinach, thaw it in the microwave and drain off some of the liquid. It’s not necessary to squeeze it out thoroughly. Add the mashed beans and thawed spinach to the pot about 30 minutes after the cabbage, then continue to cook for another 30 minutes.
4. If the bread being used is not dry or stale, spread it on a baking sheet and place it in a low-temperature oven for about 10 minutes.
5. Check the potatoes and cabbage for doneness. Add in the second can of beans, drained. The vegetables may need to cook for another 10 minutes or so.
6. When vegetables are well done, add the bread cubes to the pot, keeping it over low heat. Stir to incorporate and add more water if necessary. Allow the soup to sit for about five minutes, then remove from heat and serve. Drizzle olive oil and/or sprinkle grated cheese (such as Parmiggiano-Reggiano) over individual servings, if desired.
