Diary of a Food Hoarder

As I wailed in pain after the brick of frozen meat fell out of the freezer onto my toes, Michael mumbled something about me being a food hoarder.  The proof of this statement was directly in front of me.  Sour cherries, frozen flat in a ziplock bag waiting to become a pie - from 2012!  Flat stacks of frozen peaches from the Presbyterian church annual peach sale.  Flat packages of frozen pulled pork, green chili verde, bags of nuts, packages of slices cheeses, rounds of elk burger, some packages of frozen lasagna.

Like any addiction, recognizing one is addicted is the first step to curing the illness.  I pulled out the cherries and made jam, incorporating some hibiscus flowers.  It turned out delicious. 

There is a certain pride in having full cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer.  I recall the time in my life when money was as scarce as the food in the empty cupboards.  Like a person who lived through the depression, I take pride and relief to see there is food, plenty of food.  Food to eat, food to entertain, and food to save for when food is needed! 

There are several tools which have been extremely helpful in my food hoarding obsession.  I was using a sealer similar to this one last night Seal o Meal , and pondered how this little creation has changed and improved my freezer hoarding.  Inspired from Alden, Seth's amazing and creative wife, during our summer pack trip, I knew as soon as I unsealed the breakfast burritos from their airless heavy plastic packages that I had to have the unit that made all this happen. 

More batches of fermented vegetables are coming out of the kitchen.  Happily, I have found some folks who really like and understand the bacterial benefits of fermented vegies.  Soon, there will be more kraut around here than I can give away!  Mike says our house smells like an old shoe.  This is a real hazard of making your own fermented vegetables!!  You really should sign up for Holly's email newsletter Start here to find out more! and help her with the quest to get 50K people making fermented vegetables!  Her recipes are spot-on and easy to follow.  I've made three recipes with success!  No more $13 pint purchases of kraut for me!!  And, I created my very own label! I love Publisher!!

This summer found me buying a beautiful (extravagant) copper pan for jam making.  Actually, Mike got it for me for Christmas - I think he knows that.....!! This Beautiful Thing is not only practical, it is a piece of art, hanging on the wall, waiting for the next batch of fruit to simmer up inside its shining walls. 

The best batch was the apricot jam.  Sweet and tart all at the same time, the jam was thick with pulp and just the right consistency.  I found a great book to help me along the way of jam making, Blue Chair Jam .  I read something about this gal buying 2000 pounds of fruit weekly in the summer.  Whoooa, that's obsessive!!  Mike and I went to the winter's farmer's market yesterday and found jam at $6/cup.  I guess at that price, you could do well to make a bunch of jam.  Honey was $18/quart.  There was a lot of honey around.  I bought $4 worth of fresh butter crunch lettuce from Vertical Harvest which I am always happy to spend a bit-too-much for the things they produce (check them out, what they do is pretty darn cool).  Also bought a half pound of fresh shitake mushrooms, a dozen delicious green chili chicken tamales Great Tamales (brought home and frozen up for later - HOARDER I AM!!), and the non-pasteurized ice cream from Shumway Farms .  This stuff is truly amazing.  Look for this at Michael's big birthday bash September 1!!  At $7 a PINT, they've got something going!! 

Dinner last night - pistachio encrusted sea bass cooked in a parchment bag, fresh butter crunch salad, and a taste of amazing ice cream.  Working on a batch of bacon-ends split pea soup to take to work tomorrow and for dinner, spaghetti and meatballs (the meatballs were found in the very back of the freezer last week!).