On salvation
Like a mommy at Talbots, I feel peachy keen satisfaction when traipsing through the aisles of a Salvation Army thrift store. Gems abound. The turnover is tremendously quick as well. People get rid of massive quantities of clothing. I reckon there is enough of it in the world right now to clothe many bodies for much time. So I save buying new for special occasions–like I do for meat eating.
Lot 3195
From dumpster to belly this week: fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, pizza dough, Ritz pretzel chips, eggplant, red and orange bell pepper, three types of squash, plum, nectarine, bananas, hot chilies, cucumber, corn, vine ripe tomatoes, watermelon, three types of mushroom.
I sauteed the three types of mushrooms with different stuff (chilies, onions, wine…) and rolled out the pizza dough (although there were so many packets I put most in the freezer), laid on top some spinach in red wine tomato sauce that I had made and frozen after a previous dive, then put on top various amounts mushrooms, then some grated quattro formaggio, olive oil and sea salt. Into the oven for 20 min or so, then sliced with my freegan pizza cutter. I also made gazpacho with the tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and flat bread from another dive. Then I roasted the squash and dunked them in peanut coconut sauce from the Thai grocery. After, I turned the potatoes and celery into potato salad. And lo and behold, with the addition of the juice and a box of Black Box, I had a picnic for for 6 in Central Park and dinner for 3 the following night.
Slow cooker fast friends
After fancying one for some time, I recently found myself the grateful recipient of a Crock Pot in the wake of a friend’s move out. Now I invite buddies to join, we make tasty dishes, sit down to a romantic dinner, and salute of our fortune of friendship.
Oh look! I spy freegan items: folding wooden table, place mats, bowls, glasses, wooden chair, piano bench, futon couch, television, DVD player, speakers, fan, chess board, potted plant, pillows, vase, Hot Tamales, assorted books, candles, candle holders. The film theory books are just about the only items I purchased, and even most of those were used. Every item has a previous owner who no longer had use for it, but for the moment, I do, and when I don’t, I’ll take it upon myself to find someone that does.
With that formula in mind, I gather plastic and denim gems such as these that I see peaking out from garbage bags. I bring them home, and after offering them around, tote what’s left to the Salvation Army for donation, which is like foster care for thingamabobs.
Honk if you love donuts
We gleaned these freshly-ish baked donuts, brioches, bagels, and pizzas from the swanky supermarket dumpster.
And then couldn’t help but lick the fingers after devouring the creamiest most scrumptious true custard sugar donuts.
Barbecue fixins and grass
My apologies for the absence in service, dear readers. I’ve been caught up for the last month doing the still photography for the film East Fifth Bliss. But getting back to matters at hand: some time in recent history I was having a barbecue, so I set out for some supplies. I unearthed lots of hamburger buns and kaiser rolls, mushrooms, scallions, an onion, cilantro, parsley, green beans, arugula, and dill that I used to make my mom’s famous marinated broccoli. I also found a candle, raisin bread, english muffins, and lots of little grow pots of grass for cats that I transferred into my window box. Now my 6th floor window opens up to a lawn, as it should.
Puppy pantry
Since (as I’ve disclosed with some sense of longing) I don’t currently share my life with a dog, I transplanted this trash-load of canine canned food and condiment from the sidewalk in Greenwich Village to the animal shelter in SoHo. And following suit, this doggie in the window is having a snooze because his belly is so full!
Ownership transferred, value reinstated, puppy well-sated.
For the dogs (and me)
Honey Bunches of Oats with Peaches! (a happy chance to give a new flavor a go), one package of naan, 5 huge cans of pear halves, 2 apples, 9 limes, 2 bananas, one jar of strawberry jam. As per usual, there was plenty more, but some was divvied up amongst my companions, and the remainder was, with a tear, left behind.
The most fun find of the evening though was bag containing 36 cans of dog food and 6 bottles of dog food condiment, each in fine shape, with more than a year left until expiration, and under no recall. A regrettable aspect of the current state of my existence however is that I have no dog. But if anybody could care less about the origin of tasty food, it would be a dog. So I nabbed the cans, and have little doubt that I’ll find an eager taker.
Breakfast / Lunch
Gardenless ≠ Compostless
My garden at the moment consists of a clump of chives at the edge of an otherwise vacant window box. But that’s no reason not to collect my food scraps! As I cook throughout the week, I toss my rinds, peels, egg shells, coffee grinds, and so on into a little trash can. When it’s about full, I hop on my bike and drop off the organic matter at the Union Square Greenmarket. The Lower East Side Ecology Center has a compost stand at the market that accepts everyone’s organic waste and turns it into nutrient-rich dirt that they use for their own garden, and also bag and sell at the farmer’s market as a way to support the center. I imagine many farmer’s markets around the country have similar programs, or if not, I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to find a farmer, gardener, or swine who would happily make use of your food scraps.
Fallen fruit
Determined to find a use for them, I collected a couple dozen lemons from
the lemon graveyard underneath my aunt’s Meyer lemon tree in Ojai.
I zested them all. And froze what I wouldn’t use that day.
I squeezed them all. I set aside a couple cups, then poured
the remainder into three empty ice cube trays and froze them.
Once frozen, I popped them out of the trays and into baggies.
I composted the rinds.
And then using the ample amounts of zest and juice I had set aside,
I made the most delicious Meyer lemon bars.
From fennel and brussels sprouts the scrumptious
This was another fortunate chance to try something new. I am much obliged, Mr. Trash. I’ve never cooked fennel before, and I don’t really like brussel sprouts, so I can’t remember a time I purchased them to cook on my own accord. This was my chance to make something agreeable! I also have a lot of dried spearmint that I’ve been waiting to find a savory use for. I chopped the fennel and coated it thinly in olive oil, then rubbed spearmint all round with a little brown sugar. I halved the brussel sprouts and chopped up some tomatoes and drizzled them all in olive oil, then dusted them with salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. Then I laid everything out on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Baked them at 400º or so until they were roasted brown and cooked through. The two preparations were a welcome blend of savory and sweet. I mashed the potatoes with a few healthy splashes of milk as always, but then sprinkled them with celery salt for something less usual, but as it turned out, still very very yum. Then I pan-cooked a fillet of Chimichurri salmon from Trader Joe’s–and that’s the only element of the meal that wasn’t from the trash.
Sweet potato pecan pie
I found myself with a can of sweet potato puree from one trash pile and a can of evaporated milk from another, neither of which I’ve ever really used before. I had a frozen pie crust also from the garbage some weeks prior, so as it turns out, a pie was in order. The pecans were leftover from a trip to Trader Joe’s when my mom was in town and I mixed them with melted brown sugar and butter for a crunchy caramelized topping. It’s lovely when various ingredients from different origins just come together peachy keen like that. Pantries are a great thing indeed.
Baby BBQ
I love my baby Weber. It was thrown out with the bathwater and I saved it. Happy baby, happy belly. And sunshine and rooftops.
Triangles of food and cushion
The other night while mucking about in a garbage bag, I unearthed some tasty elements from the all-important Fruits and Vegetables sector of the food pyramid: grapefruit, fennel, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, alfalfa sprouts, yellow potatoes, new potatoes, baking potatoes, tomatoes, limes, a banana, and a lemon.
The Thai triangle cushions upon which these fruits and veggies are arranged were also found curbside (some time back). It was a moderate struggle lugging such dense pillows down from the upper west side on the subway with my camera gear in tow, but the comfort they have brought my fanny (both in the living room and as my go-to rooftop furniture) has proven well worth the effort.
With that, today’s take-away is future benefit–a minute squishing my gut, a lifetime padding my butt.
