A Wednesday ...

(No, we're not talking about the recent Bollywood thriller.)

It was a Wednesday, a few weeks ago when I was asked by the First Lady of the household to drive over to River Market in Stillwater and pickup the first bounty of nature produced and packed exclusively in our name by our favorite CSA - Little Flower Farm.

Honestly enough I wasn't very excited by the idea -
(The following statement will give you a glimpse into the workings of my mind)
either they would send too little produce that won't suffice the week, or too much and it would spoil. To say nothing about how exactly we would go about planning our meals around it. Who would I talk to - about it - at the pickup site etc etc. Big Questions gnawing at my little mind.

Yet again, I am glad to be working under the tutelage of the head chef of our domestic kitchen, aka the benevolent Dictator of the household, who set about systematically proving me wrong, as soon as the prized box was delivered in her hands. I looked gingerly on (pun intended) as she sorted through, what looked like a scary, leafy green monster into lettuce, Swiss Chard and an assortment of aromatic herbs.
At the same time her other 2 hands had put a pan on the stove, drizzled some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), chopped garlic and started sauteeing it. By now her first set of two hands had chopped up the Swiss Chard into less intimidating pieces and was selecting the herbs to go with. Dizzied by the dexterity of so many hands flying around, I needed a drink and headed to the table - where I was served with a delectable concoction entitled - "swiss chard sauteed with garlic and parsley, served with pappardelle pasta, seasoned with lemon-pepper and garnished with parmesan cheese" by the head-chef herself. A title that contains the recipe as well.

Thanks to our CSA, a mundane midweek day has been transformed into a celebration of gastronomical delights - so much so that it has begun to rival the king of the week - Friday. And another unmentionable fact is that it is taking me - a carnivore of convictions - another step closer to total herbivorism. In this age of globalization, it is somewhat comforting to know that on at least few days - the food we eat was grown on a 2 acre farm 25.6 miles away from our kitchen. Call it our own way of going local.