Cozy at Home

Another blustery day visits us. Secretly I couldn’t be happier. Yesterday I functioned as a merchant ship:

She is like the merchants’ ships;
She bringeth her food from afar.
Proverbs 31:14

Well . . . maybe driving in to town and making my market rounds doesn’t exactly classify as going afar, but nonetheless I buzzed from merchant to merchant resupplying my larder: 12 pounds of ground bison for the freezer, a case of those yummy sprouted corn tortillas . . . oh make that 4 cases, and so it goes. I shop in bulk whenever possible. Of late I cannot seem to secure large bags (50 lbs) of organic pinto beans. Has the oft predicted food shortages begun? Or have others recently discovered the joy of pressure cooking as I have and can’t seem to get enough of those delicious fresh Mexican beans? Despite the reasons, I have had my feathers a bit ruffled at the outstanding order for pintos. But . . . I simply reach into the pantry for another sort of bean and begin experimenting on it. Having a well-stocked pantry really makes life easier on the cook.

I love to cook -- as if you didn’t already know that -- and not just opening cans and dumping, but really adding and tasting and inventing and conjuring something wonderful to feast upon. I read cookbooks voraciously and follow some to a tee . . . at first, but then my artiste persona takes over and the ingredients begin to shift. Some of my most delicious creations came from a bit of this and some of that from the fridge with a little something new added. Last night we dined on a scrumptious salmon pasta salad. I used a previous dinner’s salmon remains (two nice fillets from fish that my local butcher received via air from Oregon that day, filleted before my eyes, and then wrapped up for me to go – wow, that’s fresh!) that I grilled topped with tapenade. Into the penne pasta (our family favorite) went the flaked salmon (yes, I nibbled), cherry tomatoes, and fresh asparagus (broiled in balsamic and olive oil). I bathed it all in a basic French vinaigrette (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic, Dijon mustard, coarse salt and freshly ground pepper) and finished off with a generous crumbling of feta cheese. Bread and assorted fresh veggies joined the table setting as we sat and enjoyed our time and meal together. Broken chocolate pieces (rich and dark, some spiced) provided the perfect nibble of dessert. Even after a day away running errands I offered a healthy, delicious, and simple meal for supper.

Today I relish the thought of having NOWHERE to go! I love to “keep” my house. Today my agenda fills with making bread, cleaning out the mudroom to make room for the new pantry: simple shelving, chic curtains (to hide the lower storage area full of ugly white buckets of yummy grains and beans), and lots of mismatched containers of my stores to sit upon the shelves alongside cans and jars of stored-up-for-a-future-meal comestibles . I bid adieu (GLADLY) to the muddy boots and mismatched flip-flops that flip and flop right out into the pathway to the door. The mudroom is officially moving to an alcove in the garage. Big kids can stand and pull on boots . . . no benches needed. Each doorway has a pile of shoes . . . it just happens around here, but I have taken steps to tidy the jumble. (We’ll see how long it lasts.)



Aaaaaahhhhh . . . it feels so good to ramble and babble away with a teapot at hand and the beautiful piano melodies of a young Edvard Grieg filling the air (Mountain Dances played by Rune Alver) as the fireplace radiates and the dishwasher hums. Home feels so good and cozy on this chilly day in the waning April month.

Well, my teapot has emptied as has my bread basket, so I must be up and about the business of bread making. Today I shall try out my new baguette pans and continue my quest for that elusive “crusty” crust with a whole wheat bread. Maybe today will be the day . . .