C.T.’s Cooking Again!

C.T. breads lots of eggplant for freezing, assembly line style.

C.T. is one of those folks who just loves to feed people. This has worked in our relationship because I don’t care if I never cook again, but I do love to eat great food.

As we’ve moved a lot, C.T.’s happiness has been somewhat measured by the relative cooking-friendliness of the available kitchen. For example, he was very challenged by my hotplates and toaster oven in Hina Hanta, my cabin at Heathcote. So when we moved into Serenity, our RV, he was thrilled to be “cookin’ with gas” on a four burner propane stove. He actually loved the galley in the RV.

Most recently, he had been living in a group house in San Francisco, working at a job there to prepare the way for our move. For four months he had a nice kitchen but did very little real cooking because his housemates didn’t share meals. With me back in Maryland, he had no one to nurture with cooking.

Leeloo keeps her human blocked in, working at the counter.

Now we’re under the same roof again and have a great kitchen for his projects. We’re also going to lots of potlucks and other functions where C.T. gets asked to provide food. Add in our recent housewarming party, and C.T.’s having a blast!

There are some dishes in regular rotation, and some experiments. Old favorites include C.T.’s Guatemalan refried beans, the always satisfying cream of broccoli soup from our Heathcote days (it’s vegan, with a cashew/potato base), white bean and chard lasagna, eggplant parmesan, and garlic kale.

C.T. has also taken over cooking batches of our homemade pet food, and he serves our dog and cat their meals. So they pay attention to his every movement in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, they get under foot quite a lot, micromanaging him. I think he enjoys every moment of it!

Tuatha watches Papa's every motion and keeps him on task.

Will we find ourselves in Community again? Food was a great community builder in our lives at Heathcote. We shared food and cooking responsibilities, but also the rhythms of life, as we came together to share stories of our days and continue ongoing dialogs.

For now, C.T.’s cooking for our little household. He might hook up with other opportunities to feed people. Folks in town are organizing a pay-as-you-can cafe. And C.T.’s  gearing up to organize local Food Not Bombs activists to create a food redistribution network. I can imagine some of that food will find its way into C.T.’s bulk pots.

As we learn what’s fresh and local in our new bioregion, meetings, emails and discussions continue. Guacamole, anyone?