in which i decide to take up cooking

my plan -
choose a cuisine - thai, or mexican, or indian
get a book or course
learn the vocabulary, utensils, ingredients
work through it and become proficient
that was my plan
alas
systems, discipline, linear progressions -
a wrestling match i seldom win

here's how it goes so far:
PEARS
our pear tree did its thing
many small misshapen pears.
the internet to the rescue!
aha - i DO have vinegar, raisens, sugar, garlic, chiles, spices
voila - i taste no trace of the pears in it
but the resulting chutney is a WOW!

EGGS
our fridge is full of certified organic
eggs from a neighbor's free range chickens
(read that as deeelicious eggs!).
search of index of cookbooks
aha - i DO have large cast iron skillet
+ potatoes onions oven = yumm frittata
serve with juicy orange tomatoes from another neighbor
and kale from our kale patch!

CABBAGE
a neighbor brings us cabbages
i search the pantry - 7 kinds of dried beans!
i search the internet - SOUP
amazing soup of beans cabbage and best of all -
anything else! clean out the fridge.
in goes the left over garlic-mashed-potatoes kale
peas carrots zucchini, onion tomatoes i forget what else.
we eat it for days - it gets better and better!
some goes to a sick friend - she gets better!

MORE CABBAGE
in Sun Magazine (highly recommended) -an interview
with Sandor Katz who is wild about fermentation!
a fermentation madman! his enthusiasm is contagious!
i shred up the rest of the cabbage, mash it and cover in brine.
it sits in the pantry in a jar
like some science experiment,
weighted down with a waterfilled baggie.
i'm watch it closely to see what will happen!

MAYBE NEXT WEEK
use up all those apples - yum
apple crisp - my favorite.