Giving It Away

We have a lot, especially this time of year, when there are literally (literal literally, not figurative literally) piles of tomatoes and cucumbers in the kitchen waiting for us to preserve them, plus lots of other fruits and veggies. 

That kind of bounty allows us to eat really well. To wit, yesterday's lunch:

That's a ploughman's plate of strawberries, crackers, mustard, cheddar, blue cheese, pickled beets, sweet gherkins, and a curry sour spear. 

And then dinner:

Cucumber and tomato salad dressed with pickled beets and onions, sage-roasted potatoes (first of the fall harvest! freshly dug yesterday!), and Swedish meatballs with gravy.

Yum, yum, yum.

Because we have so much, we are now in a position to give a bunch away. We love giving baskets to friends who appreciate produce, and bartering tomatillos for sausage buns at the Buttermilk Bakery yesterday was awesome. But we were psyched today to make up a couple grocery bags of produce to donate to the new food pantry sponsored by Congregation Ahavas Achim, Newburyport's synagogue:

Generous friends might recognize the plastic containers they donated to our failed squirrel-abatement program. Since Fletch seems to be doing such a good job on his own, we were able to put the containers to good use to package up cherry tomatoes, okra, and green beans for the food pantry. We also brought along a couple cantaloupe, an eggplant, cucumbers, and zucchini. 

It's hard for many food pantries to accept fresh food donations, even though there is a definite need for healthy fruits and vegetables for people who can't afford them right now. Storage is a big issue. Since CAA's food pantry is a once-a-month endeavor, and it happens to be on a Sunday afternoon, we can bring our extras to them just an hour or so before they'll be picked up by the people who need them. It works out perfectly for us, and hopefully this new and important project is a success for Newburyport. If you're local, consider checking out the food pantry contact information to see how you can donate to the cause.