What a wonderful sunny but cooler and drier day. It was a respite offered to us ahead of the mega-heat coming early this week. We expect highs of 33-36 C (91-97F) puls humidity to push it up and other 4-6 degrees Celsius in the 'feel like' temperatures. That will be our Monday and Tuesday with something hot but cooler arriving on Wednesday.
I had two surprise visitors today. On began with a phone call from a friend who I haven't seen for two months due to lockdown. She was making a rhubarb pie and wondered if I'd like some rhubarb. Now, I never turn down the offer of rhubarb. <smile> She brought me enough to make a great crisp for supper and into the week. With the oven on and the cool northerly breeze coming in the front door screen, I cooked all of supper in the oven, including enough for leftovers tomorrow. Those will be heated with microwave so no heat added to the house temperatures. As I was waiting for supper to cook, I noticed someone walking up my front porch. I said to the furry one, "Someone is on our porch." Again, we've been in lockdown for some time, so other than the letter carrier and the one delivery person, no one has been outside my door for weeks. Then I realized it was a colleague who had offered rhubarb from her garden to several of us in town. I wasn't sure when that would arrive, but here it was -- glorious rhubarb and enough to make the conserve spread my mom always made. The upshot is I now have enough for jam in the freezer since the weather won't accommodate making jam and processing in a boiling water bath. I will get to that on a cooler day, which forecasters suggest will occur by next week. The only downside is that cutting all that rhubarb created an abrasion on one knuckle that dragged across the cutting board as I chopped the stalks. Nothing major. It will be gone in a day or two. But I have rhubarb!
I feel honoured to have the bounty of someone else's garden in my kitchen. Soon, I will be sourcing produce from the local farmers' market. I used to have my own rhubarb until it was destroyed by persons unknown -- as long as they used all the stalks for food, I suppose I can live with that. So, I really do appreciate food shared by friends and colleagues. A song that addresses local food production is shared here tonight. This is a great down to earth version. Stay safe. Enjoy!
Homegrown -- Neil Young
No comments:
Post a Comment