One adventure leads to another.
Early this fall Kenny and I zig-zagged our way through the streets surrounding University of Texas in hunt of a Renaissance Market. A clean modern restaurant with a large patio caught my eye.
“Austin’s Best Green Salsa,” the sign outside boasted. I promptly forgot the name and exact location of the restaurant, but the green salsa I knew I must try.
Remember the eight pounds of oranges I didn’t want to eat?
When I was fourteen I often babysat a sweet little boy in Alabama. (Um yeah…I just did the math and he’s driving now!) One Christmas his mom had stacks of orange slices drying on all the countertops in their kitchen. She was making potpourri.
I thought of her and decided to give it a try.
I sliced the oranges in quarter-inch thick round slices and laid them out flat on a cookie sheet. Then I set the oven to 200 degrees and baked them overnight and well into the morning, turning them occasionally.
I threw in a few grapefruit slices too just for fun. (I know…I know…I live on the edge.)
Aren’t they pretty?
Four hundred pieces of cinnamon sticks are en route to me now. I’ll mix the two together with a sprinkle of whole cloves for a nice potpourri to simmer through the holidays.
The oranges were out in my kitchen today when a sweet fourteen year old girl arrived to babysit my little boy this afternoon.
Funny how life makes one big circle.
I saw a sale on oranges the beginning of November. “Fifty cents a pound!” the sign teased me. The only problem? I had to commit to the fourteen pound bag.
A few weeks later I noticed Kenny was turning into an orange. He was doing his best to work his way through the massive bag hogging prime real estate in the third shelf of our fridge. I tried one and decided I didn’t like them. Difficult to peel, quite seedy and a little bland on flavor – these were not oranges for eating.
I think I just turned into a pumpkin. The clock did strike 12 but only 12 noon, not midnight!
Do you buy pumpkins in the fall to decorate your house? I do. One small one every year. I just feel sad to spend my money on a perfectly good pumpkin I’ll throw away in a few months.
I’ve considered fake pumpkins so I can keep them from year to year, but they’re fake. They look fake and I have to find a year-round home for them in my garage. Not gonna happen.
So as promised – I’m telling you how I’m learning to waste not, want not. This year I decided to put my pumpkin to good use.
One recent gorgeous fall afternoon, Kenny and I kayaked Town Lake to Barton Creek. We pulled in close to the banks to look at ten turtles on a log.
“You renting that boat?” a stranger called out to us from the nearby fishing boat.
“Yep,” we called back.
“You married?” he asked.
“Yep,” we replied.
“Well, I have a little marriage advice for you,” he stated.
“What’s that?” we asked.
“Don’t get a canoe for two,” he advised.
Curious, we asked, “Why’s that?”
“You wanna have peace in your marriage? Here’s the secret: get two canoes. That’s what I’d do.”
Then he paused for emphasis.
“But, what do I know?” he continued. “I never had peace in my marriage.”
Money is on my mind. With the recent gloom-and-doom headlines, it’s hard to escape thoughts of money.
I find it ironic that “Going Green” is the current trend when people’s pockets are less green than they’ve ever been in my lifetime. Interestingly enough an economic downturn and the essence of going green work well together.
Since moving to Austin, I’ve been affected by the green movement. It’s hard to escape it here, so I’ve been learning about it. I’m not sure I’ll make a complete switch to organic foods and green cleaning products, because I’ll be limited by the amount of green in my wallet. However, I find myself embracing the heart of the movement: waste not, want not. Who knew our grandmas were green?
I could tell you how I recycle and compost and use re-usable grocery bags. I could shock my mother and mention that I’ve put the plastic butter containers to a second use when the butter is gone. However, I think many people are telling you these green tricks.
If you’ve trekked with me long, you know this: one thing is always on my mind. Food! I’ve been inspired by stories of old Southern and country cooks. Many dishes we take for granted in the South were birthed out of sheer survival in poor times past.
Want to “waste not, want not” in your kitchen? Well, come back ya hear? We’ll be chatting about this theme from time-to-time in weeks to come.
Oops. A lost Banff post. Here you go:
We heard about the Grizzly House from a local. It’s a funky fondue restaurant from the 60’s. We were promised the opportunity to cook elk and caribou on a hot rock.
Kenny was really excited about the chance to be a cave man and cook exotic raw meat on a hot rock, so we knew we would visit The Grizzly House. This place was so much fun!
One word. Yum!
Get it at Hoovers in Austin.
Don’t walk. Run!
I didn’t watch the ever-important University of Texas win against Texas A&M after all. Why? I don’t have satellite or cable TV, a minor detail in a game only showed on ESPN.
P.S. Here’s the weekend summary for the other football states I’ve called home – Alabama whomped Auburn and Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State.
P.S.S. Kenny’s wondering if I’m the same girl he married.
P.S.S.S. Apparently people do change after all.
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