I enjoyed a virtual visit with my friend Kara today. It was a nice break between my cooking and food-preparation tasks.
Our kale plants are getting ready to bolt, so we harvested some. My job is to strip the leaves from the stems, wash them, and blanch them. Tomorrow Joe will chop them up the way he likes, and then they’ll head to the freezer.
When Joe tore out the cucumber plants, he discovered a few more cucumbers hidden under the leaves. I turned them into cucumber juice and froze it into ice cubes. My hope is that someday those cubes will become cucumber margaritas for guests.
Potato salad was also on today’s list, which meant plenty of chopping—olives, hard-boiled eggs, pickles, celery, and onions.
Google AI tells me it’s nearly time to harvest our sweet potatoes. In Minnesota, that usually means mid-to-late September, before the first frost. Signs include yellowing leaves or soil bulging with tubers. Only a few leaves have yellowed so far, and I’m guessing we still have a couple of weeks before frost.
I also tried to take a mini-vacation from political podcasts today. Instead, I enjoyed listening to Marissa Rothkopf and Joyce Vance talk about Marissa’s new book, The Secret Life of Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you love collecting recipes, I’d recommend following Marissa on Substack—she shares generously and for free.
Days like today remind me how satisfying the mix of small things can be—chatting with a friend, tending the garden, and listening to a good conversation. It’s a simple rhythm, but one I’m grateful for.
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