Borscht.

Did I mention that our family of four children and two happily married, hard working Americans grew up on a farm where we grew, harvested, froze, and canned all our own vegetables? We also had two deep freezes to hold all the chicken, beef, and sometimes rabbit we raised and then slaughtered. Ah, warm pin feather memories.

One fall we had a particularly large crop of vegetables, so we took them in to town and sold them at a small farmers market. There were some larger than life beets, and one of the town characters (think more Northern Exposure, less Gilmore Girls) bought them and told us he would be making borscht.

I know sometimes I remember things incorrectly from a child's point of view, but I believe this is what started my mom's ritual of making at least one pot of borscht every winter. So when I saw a pile of beets at Tony's Finer Foods, I scooped up potatoes, carrots, an onion, and a pound of discretely labeled "stew meat" and brought them home.



After adding some garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaves and simmering for an hour, Tim and friend Kaye gave a rave review for my first pot of borscht for the season. I'll be eating it for the next eight meals. ALSO...we found the best deal at our grocery store for a delicious meal at home...GUESS HOW MUCH A WHOLE CHICKEN COSTS A TONY'S FINER FOODS. Go on, guess, you're never going to get it.












$2.18! I know. I'll be roasting a chicken with stuffed with cilantro, oranges and lemons tomorrow. Yum.