a confessional of sorts
filed under:
Announcing
It’s shameful, I admit. Being a self-labeled foodie and not having enough time to pick up my own groceries, nevermind buying locally grown ones. I talk the talk, but do I walk the walk? I definitely do not, and thus feel a bit a hypocrite preaching about the importance of being a conscious consumer, while I load up my digital grocery basket with edibles for the week, before I hit "Submit Order".
And what would my life be like if, in fact, FreshDirect ceased to exist? I fear the contents of my kitchen would dwindle and I would be sad and hungry.
Oh sure, I could order take-out, but I rarely do. And it’s not even the money thing, but this increasing need to know exactly what ingredients go into my food. It’s not that I’m watching my weight – it’s more that I know that when I cook, I use whole ingredients, whole foods, things I can pronounce and not some kind of a chemical compound averaging eight syllables, involving prefixes likes “mono-” or suffixes like “-ate”, and certainly never using that staple of processed American food – the high fructose corn syrup.
So what’s a girl working in finance to do? While not ideal, FreshDirect is a lifesaver for me and KS. We try to get non-perishables and liquids from FD, making effort to supplement our fresh produce with fruits and veggies from a local store – which sometimes means locally grown produce and sometimes does not. Alas!
And so while this little exercise was making its way around the foodie blogosphere, I was tempted to try my hand at it as well. I was totally tempted to cheat though. I wanted to go to the market and the butcher and stuff my fridge up to the gills with the natural, the local, the humane, the organic. But I am far too honest, and frankly far too busy at work, to attempt anything of the sort, so what you see is what you get.
I won't take you through everything in my fridge - that would be booooooring - and sleep inducing at best. Instead, you should just click on the pictures, that will take you to Flickr where there are countless notes on practically every item. Regrettably, we have far too little chocolate in our house, something I'm not very proud of.
I'll tell you this much, however. We are a household that likes its hot sauces, mustards, and surprisingly enough Gatorade. Oh, and we also have a lot of wine. The Gatorade I can explain - we like it after a run or a workout. It hydrates better than water and when I'm not feeling well, it's my go-to drink. However plebeian that sounds, it's true.
I also feel incomplete and lacking, when we run out of lime pickle. I keep saying I'm going to make some, but I simply don't have the time to go and pick up my Indian spices. So Patak's it is for the time being. And having Russian snacks in the fridge is always a good thing. Last night, we dug into the cod liver - and before you make a grossed out face, just give me a chance to explain - while not something you can eat a lot of, a few bites of this served over steaming, hot potatoes boiled in salted water, is pure heaven. And requires minimal cooking time, when you have a late evening conference call half-way across the globe. Which happens every Wednesday, people, so Wednesday cooking is OUT.
What would I change about our fridge? Well, I'd have more locally grown, seasonal produce. I'd have spices typically found in Indian, Vietnamese and Thai kitchens - because those are the flavors I crave the most. I'd have more fresh herbs, but KS and I are sort of working on it. And I would definitely, without a doubt, have an entire shelf devoted solely to chocolate. Artisanal. Dark. Sinfully delicious.
Wow! I just saw you put me on your blogroll. Thank you so much!
And you should feel good that you cook at all. The only reason I can get out to do shopping myself is that I work from home most days. Before my stay at home job I did nothing in the way of cooking except on very good days or the weekends.
Have you tried Michel Cluizel's 85% chocolate? It's so delicious, but about 4 dollars for a 1.05 oz bar. Jim and I love it so much we buy in bulk to cut the costs--and then eat a bar everyday!
I am very impressed! Your fridge looks well stocked and organized. It took me two weeks once I got tagged with a fridge meme to actually throw open the doors! Great blog, I'll be back!
Hey, I saw you on the short list for the Accidental Hedonist guest blogger gig. Good luck!
Hi Robin, I'll definitely try that chocolate - the 85% sounds amazing, no matter the cost!
Deborah - thanks, I wish I had more time to get to know the local farming community and have more "whole" ingredients in the fridge.
Kristen - thank you so much for the good wishes! :) It's nice to make the short list!