Misfits and art materials

Misfits box was due today, so I built my strength before it arrived with the second bowl of Alfredo, and a hot Italian chicken sausage patty on top.  That was really good, particularly with the masses of garlic, always better on the second day.

 So I was ready.

And here's the unboxing.  Since I found there's no law against making cranberry sauce any time, not just Thanksgiving, I'm doing it again.  Maybe to go with oatmeal.  Maybe to act like jam, we'll see.

The stuff that looks like kale isn't.  I thought at first it was, then checked my order because I wouldn't order kale, not a big fan.  Turns out it's broccoli leaves, which I did order and forgot how big they are.  When you grow broccoli, you get these, but in the stores, it's long gone.  And they're great greens, much more tender than kale, but same brassica family.

People who've been horrified at the Twitter pictures of the supposed thirty pounds sterling boxes of food for covid homebound British children, arranged by the government, and containing enough to feed a snack to one teenager, presented as enough food for five children for a week, would point to this as more like the value they should have got. These are children who would qualify for free school lunches if school were open.

This is about $35 worth of fresh, organic produce plus oatmeal, the dollar and the pound being about equal these days. About five times as much food as in the children's boxes. And this is in the US, where the cost of living is supposedly higher than in Britain.

Somebody was making a ton of money off the backs of children there, until a couple of activists galvanized enough support to make the government back off and give back the cash vouchers people used to get before this bright idea.  Clearly friends of the gov. had the contract.  They were putting in, at best about $10 of food, most of it useless, and charging the thirty pounds.  School districts had switched to the food boxes, in good faith, parents had no say, and that's what happened. 

This all came to light this week in the UK while we were dealing with the insurrection.  One of the Tory ministers said well, they're just supposed to be lunch.  Five days, whole family of children. Literally not enough for one lunch.  Three apples.  One small can baked beans. Two bananas. Etc.   Dickensian.

Which reminds me that now, here in the US more than ever, there's hunger, and our food banks are overrun with requests and need.  We can help there.

I couldn't help thinking about this while I was unboxing.

And here's everyone in the pool.  You wash a lot of the farm off the produce when you wash it.  Grit, clean dirt. And that wonderful smell of fresh produce.

One of the produce items was a big bunch of spinach, and I was so tempted to divert it into the natural dyes section of the freezer, because spinach makes a wonderful green dye.  But I decided I really should eat it instead.

And  in the course of finding out about the broccoli leaves, which I had clean forgotten I'd ordered, though I used to use them back when I grew broccoli, I looked up a few recipes, and found one I liked, which involved ingredients present right here.

So, self, I thought, why not assemble a soup kit to save scrambling about looking for the moving parts later in the freezer?  One chopped carrot, one bunch scallions, etc.  So I did, separated them into their recycled bags, and froze them together, ready for when I make the soup, which will be soon.

And, after all the washing and tearing and chopping and slicing, this is the sum total of material to pop out back to feed the earth. Hardly any waste at all. The leaves look better here than they were, pretty rusty and outer.

These yellow onionskins did go into the dye section of the freezer, for next time I want to make yellow dye.

 

I was glad to sink down for a cup of tea after all this frenzied activity, which is in fact quite tiring and takes it out of you.  Especially when your knives so urgently need sharpening, I must do it, no matter how much I hate the sound of the sharpener, that you could bite through the produce faster.

Then here's tonight's viewing, from the people who made Downton Abbey.  Another costume drama to watch for the hats and horses and food and fashion.

So there's us just now.  Bella Donna is running fine now, and her owner is studying the ins and outs of the keyless ignition, which might have been the cause of the upset, not sure.  It's a mixed blessing.  It's not for the absent minded, that's for sure.