lately, in my kitchen...

lately, i've been cooking a whole lot from my pantry and freezer. i haven't written about food in a while, and while i don't have a recipe to share, i thought i'd share some of what i've been cooking.

a couple of weeks ago, i cooked up a few cups of my october beans that i grew last year. topped with fresh chopped sage and simmered in vegetable broth, these were delicious alongside some roasted potatoes and sauteed broccoli.

this weekend, i made whole wheat chocolate chip cookies for a friend who was having a crappy week. i used my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe, but used 100% whole wheat flour. they were pretty damn tasty if i do say so myself, and i have to say that secretly delivering a treat to someone's doorstep is always a good idea. it will make their day and yours.

on sunday evening i defrosted a small jar of sweet potato puree that i had put up back in november to make stephanie's sweet potato biscuits. dinner was taking a while and i was trying to do too many things at once (per usual) and i almost scrapped that part of the meal. i am so glad i didn't because they are like candy. seriously, i cannot stop eating them. i replaced the butter with frozen margarine and used nondairy milk. this was served alongside the winter greens soup from fields of greens in which i used some frozen kale from august. i also used frozen corn stock in the soup.

saturday afternoon we had our first planning meeting for my community garden. i defrosted a bag of halved apricots for two loaves of chocolate chip apricot bread (one loaf went straight back into the freezer).

and last night, i topped off our pasta dinner with a half pint of frozen pesto that i put up back in september.

i cannot tell you how gratifying it is to create a delicious meal straight from my freezer or pantry. it's especially exciting when that thing i grabbed out of the freezer originally came from my garden (in the case of the pesto]. every summer and fall when i'm crazed and busy putting up food into the pantry and freezer a small [very small, because let's be honest, i love preserving food!] part of me wonders what the hell i'm doing. on the cold grey days of february and march, i know what i'm doing. and why i'm doing it. and i love it.

ps. i'm posting over at tend again. i'm getting excited for this gardening season and i wrote a little post about my goals for this year.