Meals and Memories

October 11, 2021

Hey farm friends!

The food inspiration is real right now! Our fridge is bursting with fall goodness: cauliflower, collards, kale, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots. I'm stuffing squash every day this week. We got a 20+ pound banana squash from SisterLand Farm and we're cutting it in half (if we can!) and stuffing it for dinner tomorrow. I'm just plopping it in the middle of the table, giving everyone a spoon and saying Dig In! I've been really excited about this idea since the moment I laid eyes on the squash at the farmers market.

I wonder about food and eating as experiences. I wonder how often people feel like they are taking part in an activity when they eat. Don't get me wrong, I've eaten plenty of meals mindlessly while in the car in between jobs, and I've eaten far too many cliff bars for breakfast to feel proud...but if even a portion of our meals were experiences, tied to memories, and simultaneously making new memories.

This week:

• pears
• apples
• carrots (new winter variety-so sweet)
• arugula
• leeks
• curly kale
• lacinato kale
• baby gold beets
• celery
• baby rainbow chard
• garlic ​

-There is no midweek market.

• You can order online for Friday or Saturday here​

-We'll be at the Farmers Market this Saturday from 10-2 at the Downtown Transit Center.

---

And here's some cozy inspired writing if you wish!

Andy and I are having our first fire tonight. We just came back from a walk with the dogs down the Spruce Railroad Trail. We stopped at Country Aire on the way home to pick up a few ingredients: mushrooms, dried cranberries, cheese curds, for dinner tomorrow. There's something about running errands in the dark that feels so winter. Life, every detail of it, carries on as the world spins, and we find ourselves suddenly doing mundane errands even in the darkness.

It's our first fire of the season and to say it feels ceremonial feels cliche and also so true. We layered paper, kindling, wood, as if it were liturgy. We've been saving up burnables by the woodstove all summer and it was like shuffling through a memory box. Birthday cards for Andy, and pamphlets from the package that our marriage license came in, wrapping paper from wedding gifts.

Ellie, my sweet little lamb of a dog, started jumping up into bed and onto the couch today. She's curled up next to me right now! We realized today, going into our third winter here, that she only does this when the weather starts to get cold. All summer long I fret that she must not love to cuddle anymore, but as soon as the weather begins to turn, up she jumps! I guess Ellie cuddles are just another marker of the seasons changing.

And of course there are candles burning and an Elysian pumkin ale (try it, it's amazing!). The last of the tomatoes went into tomato jam today and tomorrow I plan on making a pear custard a la Julia Child. Andy's sitting by the fire eating a bowl of squash chili. It's all so dang cozy. And coziness is a real antidote to the darkness.

​

All the best from our cozy, tiny, farm,

Melissa (and ellie)