Seasonality and Multiplicity

We’re still in the throes of blackberry season here and our raspberry canes have coughed up a few berries. Evidently they didn’t appreciate being stored in the garage for months before being planted. That is definitely a downside to the online or catalogue nurseries that send your goods ‘just in time’ for planting. The canes arrived when we were preparing Thanksgiving dinner for the masses and then finishing crafts to ship for Christmas. I learned from that to go buy what I wanted to plant when I had time to plant it.

I just googled ‘seasonal food’ and found the Wikipedia entry which is handy as it lists items by season rather than month, more useful for the southern hemisphere, though I suspect they have their own websites on the subject. I always find it useful to check the weblinks that Wikipedia have used for more information (in a more colourful, less puritan presentation). This led me to BBC’s Good Food.

Surely I’ve been here before? Perhaps not.  I'm certain I would have remembered Beetroot Brownies!  These red veg  are so good for you I’m determined to work them into our diets, even if I have to do the chocolate route. Or what about 'salmon with beetroot and vodka crème fraiche'?

We’ve just discovered crème fraiche, sort of a cross between cream and creamed cheese. I didn’t fall all over it, but Bill decided he preferred it on his fruit salad desserts over the usual sweetened yoghurts. Not sure I’m prepared to buy a bottle of vodka for this recipe, though I’ve been meaning to try making homemade vanilla. Then again, besides a simple vodka and coke, apparently there are many other uses for the stuff, but nothing that justifies the price, mind.

I’ve discovered that Bill is a person who likes change. I know, because he told me this in passing the other day. Thinking about how many times I’ve seen him change his job, his glasses and his cars, this should have been obvious to me. He also is quite open to my cooking experiments, thankfully. So, when I brought home crème fraiche, he was happy to try it. Only, I’m thinking I should learn other uses for it if we’re going to stock it regularly.

Do you buy food items for a single purpose, or do you think of food like clothing – ‘don’t buy it unless it goes with three other things you already have’?