You Can Take the Girl Out of the Country, But...

       

In this morning's basket

Even though I don't live in the country (as opposed to the city) or even in the country of my birth, I guess there's enough of the country in me to appreciate the rhythms of food harvest and preservation. There is something about the sight of all that produce at the market that awakens memories of my early days as a country girl, harvesting vegetables from the garden for canning.  There is something eminently satisfying about shelling peas and snapping beans--almost every trip to the market yields a small saucepan of green beans, cooked and cooled for salads.  The peaches have been especially good this year, enough so that I have actually bought extra and frozen them for winter cobblers. 

A not-overloaded basket this morning

     It's nice to know that I don't have to "put up" summer's vegetable bounty in order to eat during the winter.  The French food supply may be seasonal, but there is always something fresh to be had.  I can find beans or potatoes or squash every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and if I need only two zucchini, I buy only two zucchini--like I did today. (A recent gift of a huge can of Old Bay seasoning is prompting me to make fake crab cakes...using zucchini. ) It's nice to know, though, that I have the skill to preserve food should I ever need to.  And I saw potimarons--little pumpkins--for sale today.  That means fall harvest is on the radar. 

In the freezer for January cobbler

     I did succumb, however, to the peaches.  I sliced and froze several quart-sized bags.  I don't have a big freezer, and I don't have to provide for a big family, so several bags will do just fine to give me a taste of sunshine in the dark days of January.  

This makes me smile and smile