ground control to freezer tom
helloooo from the other siiiiiide
It’s official. We’ve got stuff. A lot of it.
We are now on the other side of the great, big, grand, where-does-it-all-fit, practically improbable pre-winter supply run.
The one where we may or may not go to another grocery store for months, and if we do, one must snowmobile (cough / snowmachine, as the Alaskans say / cough) an hour around bison, elk, deer and who & what knows what else while en route to the car first.
I would begin to tell y’all just what we stocked up on in Bozeman, MT - where we spent the night at trendy boutique hotel and had a great dinner at a rad Korean spot, and just before that, in Cody, WY - the home of Buffalo Bill (and birthplace of Jackson Pollock!), where we had some Thai food that was honestly nothing to write home about – besides being vegetarian-friendly Thai in the rodeo capital of the world, which is cool - but where to begin?
How to process what it all was, where it all went, and what’s in store is…a lot.
What I do know is that one day, we’ll turn to the freezer, of which there are needfully two, and the time will come for professionally frozen broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, mixed veg, mango, strawberries, spinach and peas. Make that peas, galore.
Toot toot to the progress, and all of the less industrially-processed goods that also await: those ridiculously-yet-fabulously transported Alaskan berries, countless sliced bananas, jalapeños, Thai chiles, lime leaves, persimmons, tomatoes, pesto, pistou, romesco, tortillas, tempeh, tofu, butter sticks, veggie sausages, bulk nooch, stock, and insert-whatever-else !
I had a list. Well, I always have a list.
Once a planner, always a planner.
There was certainly a huge list leading up to this.
And here’s another list of frozen dinner “ideas” and “notions” in progress…
What would you add?
Status update?!
So, how do I describe shopping for this even-more-remote cabin-in-the-woods scenario?
This mission that feels akin to heading to Antarctica? A deep sea vessel? Off-the-road-system in Alaska? Winter down in Yellowstone.
Well, I’m mentally prepared, and getting ready to jump into the pool. Er, freezer.
What a stint. What life. What time to read and reflect. Cook and ponder.
The hyphens and lists say enough – and that’s not even talking about the still-fresh produce (again, in more than one fridge right now!), the hearty stuff, the assortment of winter squash, the remaining avocados, my seemingly endless Alaskan jam archives, everything I’m definitely not showing you on top of the kitchen cabinets (!!), more pantry goods and some bonus ingredients for bookmarked recipes we want to try for the holidaze ahead.
I’ve got cookbooks.
I’ve got supplies.
The interesting part, to say the least, will be how it all meshes as the fresh stuff dwindles and we enter the f-r-o-z-en zone.
There’s a healthy dose of my own culinary curiosity about the challenge ahead, paired with the reality of what all that time with frozen peas will actually look like. T, B, D.
T, B, Pea.
Fortunately, we remain “before the storm”.
The big snow holds, for now.
One thing’s for sure: at some point soon, there will be two multi-component dishes we’ve both seriously enjoyed from a particular NYC eatery’s namesake cookbook I have in my trusty collection (and in that set above) - Superiority Burgers and Superiority “Hippy” Wraps. Mhmm.
I’ve got the time, and again, we’ve got the stuff.
Ditto for some protein-riffic treats from Fake Meat, starting with the striped seitan bacon, because I can never resist, and the turkey and nugz, no doubt.
Shopping from the pantry & getting cozy with delicious plates of nostalgia = sounds good to me <3
What restaurant dish would YOU choose to recreate at home when you couldn’t visit?
References + Relevant Links:
10 Ways to Turn Frozen Broccoli into Dinner, the kitchn
Finally, you can make a Superiority Burger at home, The Washington Post May 21, 2018 {this article includes the burger recipe, which can be found in the titular cookbook by Brooks Headley}
Superiority Burger has the Courage of its Quirks, The New York Times June 27, 2023
Whistle Pig Korean in Bozeman, MT {fun fact: whistle pigs = marmots, which was new to me, even after witnessing them in Alaska ~ }
See y’all on the other side of the kale!
Your life is so exciting! I can barely feed myself most days and am stunned / impressed / just wowed by the thought and prep that has to go into wintering like this. Thanks for the reminder (in a good way) that I am still very much a pansy despite living in Anchorage - can't wait to follow along
Peas peas peas. Frozen peas are at least very versatile. I love adding peas to anything random.
I am in awe. My fatigue/executive dysfuntion makes my brain so scrambled these days that sometimes I can't even plan out what I might eat for dinner for a few days, let alone for however long this snowed in period shall be! I look forward to all your inventive creations.