Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A Food Post

Last August I started a Livejournal accounting of food when both children went away to college leaving DH and myself as empty nesters. (I really don't like this phrase. Need to come up with something better.)

But it fell by the wayside for the most part after winter break.

I will probably resurrect it in September.

But meanwhile, I can write about food here.

As in how seldom I plan ahead anymore. Though there is food in the freezer, I am much more likely to go by the store and buy something fresh nearly every day. This is a strange phenomenon that I started back in 2002 when we moved to West Point and lived just up the hill from the commissary. My current home town has an abundance of grocery stores - 2 Giants, 2 Safeways, 1 Harris Teeter (plus one just outside of our limits), 1 Trader Joes, 1 Whole Foods, a new international foods store that replaced another Giant. Our official population count is somewhere around 60,000. Plus two Farmer's Markets in season.

And that's not counting what's more than 4 miles away. Like Wegman's and Bloom. Way too many choices. Not too mention the occasional trips to the commissaries, either at Ft Belvoir or Ft Myer. Right now it doesn't pay to drive an hour round trip to the commissary unless there is another reason for going and I'm combining errands.

Last night I tried making a potato salad from those little creamer potatoes. But DS shares my aversion to mayonnaise and I did with a vinaigrette. It was okay, but the dressing didn't cling to the potatoes. More successful was the accompaniment I made for the boneless pork chops that I cooked in the cast iron pan. I finely diced half an onion and sautee it in a small pan until it was just turning brown. Added one large nectarine cut into a large dice, salt and pepper, and then topped it with toasted sliced almonds. Basically a nectarine salsa?

Tonight will be crab stuffed chicken breast. That sounds like a good idea.

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