Pantry porn

I love turkey.  I also love a bargain.  So when I saw our local grocery store had chopped up all their expensive free-range turkeys into less expensive pieces to try and get rid of them after the holidays I had to snap up a whole pile.  Wings will be perfect slow roasted in a sticky sauce and scarfed in front of the TV.  Drumsticks will make great stock or I'm kind of tempted to try making big roasted "Caveman Pops" like Pioneer Woman.  Usually the drumsticks can be tough (even more so on the free-range birds who are actually allowed to use their legs!) but I think brining them will solve that problem. But with the thighs I made this amazing and comforting soup with dumplings that cooked so fast it is even great for a weeknight meal. 

You might think the title of this post refers to overdoing it on cocktails on New Years Eve (and you'd be partly right) but no I am referring to my almost pathological tendency to over do it when it comes to food for my guests.  I think my single greatest fear on earth is not having enough food.  I've been known at the last minute to throw an extra chicken in the oven or whip up some extra side dishes.  In fact the night before my family arrived for Hillman Christmas I was reviewing our menu and decided to whip up a butternut squash soup just in case.  

Back in the summer/early fall while I was unemployed and looking for work I made a ton of preserves.  In anticipation of things being tight this Christmas I made an extra 24 jars of fig jam, 12 jars of crab apple jelly and 12 big jars of spicy dill pickles that I could give for gifts come the holiday season.  Luckily I am now gainfully employed but really aren't handmade gifts better anyway?  Plus preserves also make wonderful hostess gifts.  

Don't worry faithful readers - we're alive!  Life has just seemed to get in the way of posting of late.  Between work and other commitments I've been developing a deep and meaningful relationship with our pizza delivery man.  Seriously.  He's become such a regular fixture round here that our dogs don't even bark at his knock on the door anymore and have started to wag their tails and greet him like a friend!  This weekend I decided this had to change.  We cleaned, shopped, cooked healthy meals for the week and then even went a bit further and bought a Christmas tree and decorated up the house!  I know right?  Will wonders never cease?

It's been a while since I blogged. Life got away from me for a bit, but I've managed to wrangle it back into beautiful submission (please don't misconstrue that as oppressive language). I've had cause in the last months to do some serious reflecting on just how tentative our food systems and social safety net really are. Any real safety net in our lives comes from the community we build around ourselves. And then, of course, what about those without the capacity to engage in that level of community building?

Or this post could alternatively be titled "Shana's 15 Minutes".  Several months ago I was approached by a friend of a friend who was putting together a little internet chat show about food.  Ever the fame whore I jumped on the opportunity.  I'm not going to lie - fantasies of being the next internet sensation did cross my mind.  Maybe I'd follow in Rachel, Nate or Dr. Oz's footsteps and be discovered by Oprah...

It's getting colder.  There has even been some nips of frost in the mornings when I'm out on my beagle walks.  So these days I'm busy putting the gardens to bed, cleaning up the yard and preparing for winter.  This weekend I need to empty our rain barrel (so it doesn't freeze and crack this winter), reattach our downspout, rip out the rest of the annuals and collect a bunch of seeds from my purple pole beans.