Sometimes, it all comes down to having a kitchen that inspires you to cook. Unfortunately, an inspiring kitchen wasn’t in the cards for me this year in the apartment where I do most of my cooking. However, it’s a completely different story at my parents' apartment, where I just spent a week. In my day-to-day life from September through December and again from mid-January through May, my main motivation to cook comes from the ingredients I get at the farmer’s market. But at my parents’, it’s all about what I can cook with: the gadgets, the sharp knives, the All-Clad pots and pans, the beautiful serving dishes, and the condiments galore. Their fridge is a dream too — it can effortlessly house a hunk of manchego or a bounty of fresh produce, unlike my limited space on 110th.

My top-shelf fridge situation is far from ideal, but likely well known to anyone who has been a roommate. Anything placed in the center section of the shelf will freeze, forcing me to carefully confine my items to the left or right sides. What little I do store isn’t exactly inspiring: a quarter stick of butter, miso, soy sauce, some old kimchi that fell victim to the center of the shelf, froze, thawed, and still sits there waiting to be turned into sundubu jjigae, trusty eggs, and a jar of really spicy marinated olives – the olives often serve as a desperate snack while I’m cooking dinner, just enough to tide me over for 30 minutes or so. 

I officially went back home on Wednesday and got right into dinner-making-mode. I made my parents something adjacent to what I seem to be eating a lot of this semester…I tossed the carrots, turnips, the turnip greens, and an onion with generous salt and olive oil and roasted everything at 450° until the veg was caramelized and perfectly tender. I cooked some basmati rice (my favorite rice variety) with two cinnamon sticks and a bay leaf. I toasted some chopped Marcona almonds in butter and let the butter brown a bit and chopped up dill and cilantro and mixed the nuts and herbs in with the rice once it was ready and fluffed. And then I dressed some greens with a super mild vinaigrette made with apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, grainy mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. I threw some chives over the vegetables and we ate! Music played, I think it was raining outside? Or at least it was frigidly cold, and we sat and enjoyed each other’s company. 

Other creations made from my duffel of farmer’s market treats and also just cooked at my parents included: a pretty crazy yummy Red Kabocha soup with dashi and cumin, a stuffing loaf, chicken stock, mashed potatoes, gravy, “leftover” sandwiches, and a full breakfast (I don’t want to specify Irish or English because I have both kinds of friends and I don’t know the difference – between the breakfast plates, of course.). 

So this past week made me feel like a child-bull in a candy store that doubles as a china shop. I went home on Tuesday for a dinner and with me brought a duffel filled with the following: Atlas carrots, turnips, and the most delicious / beautiful mixed greens from Lani’s Farm, a pullman from Shewolf, frozen chicken bones and a stalk of celery from Flor de Mayo and the grocery store respectively, 6 Snapdragon apples (my favorite apple variety), a day loaf (also from Shewolf), and a half of an old baguette that could’ve been a weapon in Clue… 

wait…. sorry…. will you just look at this photo one more time…?  It’s too beautiful not to…