Rotten Times
October 1st, 2008 by Jonathan
It’s too bad there’s nothing going on in our country, lately. Talk about some slow news days!
Sarcasm aside, it seems like now more than ever is a time to be frugal with food. I’m renewing my commitment to get folks to repurpose their leftovers. In other words, find new uses for foods that might go to waste.
Scrap Soup is an admirable undertaking, but probably not the best way to win new converts. Ditto for using smashed cherry pits to make ice cream (seriously!).
Bread pudding, on the other hand, can be a nice gateway recipe for frugality.
It looks fancy. It doesn’t involve saving scraps, just old bread. And, most importantly, have you ever had bread pudding that wasn’t delicious?
Repurposing requires seeing value in what had previously been called “trash.” So shrimp shells can become shrimp broth. Old bread can make French toast, croutons, panzanella or bread pudding. And cherry pits are good for spitting contests an ice cream ingredient.
This week, few are saying that ‘life is like a bowl of cherries.’ To be sure, though, throwing away food is the pits.
Stumble it! | Posted in Household |
Jonathan,
I just wanted to tell you that your blog has become my favorite (I first found you via No Impact Man). Waste of any kind makes me crazy so I am thrilled to “know” someone who is working to chip away at wasteful attitudes and practices. Thank you for all you do.
D
I live in an old, decaying suburb of Philadelphia with many rowhouses. Through the years, as I’ve walked my dogs, I’ve “found” single, neglected, abandoned (invisible?)fruit and nut trees — one pear, one peach, one quince (I think), one lady apple, one crab apple, lots of walnut — hanging on in tiny, equally unappreciated gardens (”yards”) — and I imagine they were a gift years and years ago from one spouse, long dead, to another, also long gone. Nowadays I try to imagine how much value would return to those trees (yes, they’re still there) if suddenly the economy forced us into hunger and gleaning and food preserving at home.