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Changes afoot.
By Kristen | June 5, 2007
Last week, I was in the middle of writing my final analysis of the Eat Local Challenge when I heard the key turn in the door. It was midday on Wednesday. Before my husband even got all the way in the door, I knew what was up: his magazine folded.
After a minute or two of hyperventilating panic, I realized we’ll actually be okay. Belts will be tightened and pennies will be pinched, but we’ll make it. As a result, things may get a little… boring around here, as I scale back the amount we spend on groceries and eating out.
To keep things interesting, I’m thinking of starting a Cat and Girl-style Donation Derby, except I’d post an entry with photos about it instead. Unlike Cat and Girl, I think I’m open to suggestions of what to buy with the donations, provided they’re not crazy.
Anyway, that’s the state of Maison Gezellig. I’m about to hit the grocery store with my new food budget in mind — I’m sure there’ll more about this later.
Meanwhile, here’s the aforementioned final analysis of ELC I was writing last week:
Well, I finished up my Eat Local Challenge this Sunday and then gave myself a couple days to think it over.
My thoughts:
There’s no way I could have managed to do this during the original week in April. Even during mid-May, there were very few vegetables and even fewer fruits.
There were apples and rhubarb, at $1 and $4 a pound, respectively. (And really, once you add the ton of sugar you need to make rhubarb edible, how good could it be for you at that point?) I heard there were strawberries to be had, but I never saw any.
Vegetables fared slightly better with some leafy greens, asparagus, the last of the season’s ramps (not that I knew what to do with those), and some greenhouse tomatoes. The greens were good and fairly inexpensive but how much stinky pee can one person endure over the course of a week? Also: no onions and no garlic. That kinda sucked.
Everything took more time than I expected it to. Like I said earlier, getting from my house to the Union Square Greenmarket is at least a 45-minute trip, each way. Then, when I got home, I’d have to really puzzle over what the hell could I make with what I had on hand. At least a couple of times, I just threw foods together and hoped they’d work out.
Goddamn, cheese is expensive. I should have taken a photo of the wee piece of $5 cheese I bought. It was about the size of a pack of cards; I kid you not. And it wasn’t even all that! It was cheddar, and it was good, but $20/lb good? Not so much.
Turkey thighs are awesome. Seriously. At $2.20/lb, they were by far the best bargain and really tasty besides. Turkey thighs adobo? Fantastic.
I fared much better financially than I thought I would. This may have been partly due to the amount of food I used from my own pantry, but I think even if I hadn’t relied so much on it, I still would have made it. I came in around $86 for local food, leaving me with $35 left over — much more than I expected.
I felt a lot more resentful and deprived than I thought I would, too. I think that’s pretty evident in the posts I wrote over the course of the week. Also, I really didn’t enjoy trying to explain to a four-year-old why we weren’t buying bananas this week.
Topics: Eat Local Challenge, Life in Maison Gezellig |
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June 5th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Oof, that’s some crappy news. Hope something good turns up for him soon.
And a week without garlic? No wonder you were crabby, thats just wrong.
June 5th, 2007 at 11:34 am
No garlic. It was inhumane.
I’m resisting the urge to tack on clauses like “yet” or “for now” at the end of every sentence, but between freelancing and unemployment, we’re okay… for now.
June 5th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Damn it! That just stinks.
Also, this week Shannon said something to the effect of “Maybe we should move to New York” (he suggests new places we should move to every once in a while even though we have no real intentions of moving anywhere) and I got to say “We can’t move to New York because they have no produce there”.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Sorry to hear about the job news. Let us know if we can do anything.
As for the Eat Local challenge - thank you for your honest appraisal of how things went. Resentful and deprived. Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
I’m surprised you did so well $-wise. I think I too often fall in to the trap of buying a huge cache of produce which then goes to waste. Sounds like that would have been hard to do since there wasn’t much produce to be had.
June 5th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
p.s. I voted for Harry Potter (over there —> in the sidebar), but I also want to register my vote for heirloom tomatoes. mmmmmmm
June 5th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I’m so sorry about your husband’s job.
Thanks for the tip on the turkey thighs. Did you get them at the Union Sq Market?
June 5th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Nooooooo! I’m so sorry to hear this.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Goddamn, that was a lot of comments during one trip to the grocery store.
Natasha: Yeah, it sucks, although it’s not entirely unexpected; new magazine, aimed at a small market. We’re still rockin’ the resume you put together, so I feel pretty good about things.
Andrea: You know the turkey guy who always has sausage samples? I got the thighs from him. The sausage is good, too.
Alyce: It was like any other diet, I think — all I wanted were things I couldn’t have — but otherwise, it’s not too especially different than what I get every week, save the meat and cheese. I think I just really hate being told what to eat. [Also, tomatoes just barely won out over HP7 for me.]
Kate: Pssh! I think *I* am an acceptable trade for less local produce.
June 5th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Jeez, I’m so sorry about your husband’s job. I still have unemployment-related nightmares.
Here’s a link to my market: http://www.redmondsaturdaymarket.homestead.com/
It doesn’t really get good until late-June…but at least there is always garlic for sale.
June 5th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Thanks, Sarah. Like I said, it sucks, but we’re okay for now.
I think the “best garlic in the universe” guy should be back at the Greenmarket soon. That shit is gooooood.
June 5th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
There were tons of strawberries yesterday. Plus sugar peas/snap peas ( I can’t tell the difference).
June 5th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Good luck, Kristen. I know you guys will weather this just fine. We’ve been there, done that, more than a few times. What counts is you’re there for each other–that makes all the difference.
June 6th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
The job news sucks. Sending positive employment vibes.
June 7th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Hey, something quite similar happened to us twenty years ago; we started freelancing (editing), and are still at it, and not doing too poorly either. Don’t worry (though that sounds pretty dim at this point, I’m sure).
June 7th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Terry and Kirsten: Thanks to you both.
Tut-tut: I’m somewhat hoping the same happens for us. I know my husband and I would both prefer freelancing over a 9-to-5 job, but we’re both such obsessive worriers (especially with regard to money), that I suspect we could go broke buying ulcer medications.
June 8th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Hi Kristen,
First time posting on your site, but I just wanted to say I was sorry to hear about the job… That’s not so cool.
Maybe not the most productive use of time, but perhaps your hubby would get a kick out of this site, which got me through various bouts of unemployment:
http://www.oddtodd.com
Anyways, I love the site, love the honesty, and love how you write!
All the best,
S