thoughtful consumption

I was so excited to go to the beach last week. But of course there’s a lot to do before you go. So I cooked and froze a bunch of produce and shelled pecans (2 shelled pounds worth!). By the end of the day, I had burns from the oven, lacerations from pecan shells on my hands,  and a scratched eye from more pecan shell shrapnel. “Saltwater will fix that.” That’s what we kept saying as we limped our way to Daytona.

And it worked, more or less. Or at least we had a great time.

We got a little condo with a kitchen, but I didn’t do any serious cooking. My guys aren’t really into seafood. So I didn’t cook any fresh-caught seafood. We went out a few times, though, and I had some really tasty shrimp.

I made easy food: tacos, stuffed baked potatoes, spaghetti, and sandwiches. Last year I learned my lesson about buying produce at the store. It really is different.

Last year, I went to the Daytona Beach Publix and saw all this produce I recognized and had come to love. So I bought some zucchini not even considering that it might taste different from what I was getting at home.

Same recipe, but the results were bland and kind of mushy. Blech. The guys liked it, but they’re better vegetable eaters than I am. I was really disappointed. And honestly, I wasn’t prejudging it. I was confused at first as why it wasn’t good. Not until the next day did I realize the only difference was the zucchini. So I ended up with the results of a semi-blind taste test that was a nice reminder of why I love my CSA. I wouldn’t be eating all these vegetables if they didn’t taste so good.

So this time at Publix I just bought tomatoes, onion, and a head of romaine for our vegetables. Lots of salad and nobody was disappointed.

When we got back Monday night, I made some vegetable soup with some of the stuff in the freezer to catch us up on our veggies.

For the farmers

It occurred to me that farmers don’t get to go to the beach. So for all you farmers out there…

The water was 72 degrees. That’s cold. It may not sound cold, but, when your chest deep in it waiting for a decent wave, it’s cold. Darn cold. And the sand gets everywhere.  And there were jellyfish, and the water tasted foul out of the tap.