An
interview with Deborah by her Fairy Godmother,
after
six months of a food buying moratorium and pantry emptying experience
FG
Now that you are nearing the homestretch of your Food BuyingMoratorium, how has your life
changed?
D
I have gone from daily emptying
food contents
from
glass jars and freezer bags, to filling them
with home-grown fresh
veggies and gallons of strawberries for
the upcoming year.
FG
You must have found some
interesting dregs when dredging the recesses of your deep freeze?
D
Yes, the
most delicious excavation was just enough lemon dessert hummus to
take on a kayaking picnic to the
lake yesterday. Most
unusual was a
baggie of six homemade
ghee
candles made from cotton
balls, leftover from my
friend Nan’s memorial service four years ago. You never know when I
may need them, and they remind me of Nan, whose Vermont
garden was the “first one
you saw driving into town, so the rows had to be straight.”
FG
Any epiphanies over the last six months of
your experiment?
D
Home-ground tangerine rind is delicious, as is rice pudding with
tamarind, apricot and cardamom.
FG
What lessons
have you learned?
D
Twenty-five pounds of garlic is way too much for one person to use up
in a year!
I have enough high potency
powder from two years ago to
even sprinkle
on oatmeal, should
I choose.
FG
Any regrets?
D
Instead of rushing out to buy a pound of cardamom on December 31st
to ensure
“cardamom security”, I
might have stocked up on chocolate bars to get me through the six
months. Fewer frozen Asian greens and
more broccoli would have
provided variety. I
would have saved time if
I’d foraged more instead of spending weeks gardening.
Dehydrating
produce instead of freezing it
takes up less room and costs nothing to store.
FG
What’s been most challenging throughout your moratorium?
D
Not getting through the
gallon of spicy homemade
kimchi (some of those Asian greens that
grew so prolifically last summer, having
escaped the ravaging paws of
Grandpa Groundhog, which I
then fermented to save.)
Here, try some. I still have the gallon. Maybe it will help
fuel your flight home.
FG
What will you do with all that leftover frozen pesto I
saw you bag up and return to your almost empty freezer?
D
Hmmm. There is a lot. Top a
pizza, toss
it with pasta, or
finger paint with
my grandkiddles all sound
good to me.
FG
What wisdom have you gleaned from this personal
challenge you set for yourself on December 31st?
D
I have very good friends
and family who ate
my home made concoctions, no
matter what ingredients, tastes and combinations. They
were curious, supportive, and
generous in gifting me treats
when I ran out of certain
supplies.
I have never been offered so much coconut milk and chocolate in all
my years!
FG
When I wave my magic wand
to help you restock your pantry, what’s at the top of your shopping
list?
D
Fresh tropical fruits- pineapple, mangoes and almond milk for summer
smoothies. To heck with
eating local.
My
six month experiment is over,
so I can indulge.
FG
Poof! Pesto Presto Chango!
You’ve got it!
