My Sunday routine...

By far, Sundays are my favorite day of the week - for many reasons!

I'm up before the sun rises and enjoying my coffee at home... see I only get to enjoy my coffee at home 2x a week. The rest of the week... I'm sipping it while driving to work. And at that point, it's more of an act of survival than enjoyment... so I cherish my coffee-at-home mornings. But that's just the beginning...

Then I head to church, catch up with some friends and hug a few necks...

Then? The next few hours are all about food... need I say more?!

You can find me at the same grocery store at the same time every Sunday (and it's so much of a ritual that I run into the same couple every Sunday morning who are there at the same time as me - we ARE creatures of habit, apparently...)

Above is an example of this week's produce bounty... interestingly, the weekly bounty doesn't change much from week to week. Every now and then there will be something different in this mix... but this is what it usually looks like. Bell peppers, green onions, garlic, crimini mushrooms, avocadoes, yellow onions and cilantro. I bring them home, unwrap them from those nasty plastic bags and prep them for storage... wanna see what I do?


Green onions:

They don't usually need to be washed. I just wrap them up in a paper towel (to catch their moisture and keep them fresh). From here - they go right into the veggie drawer.

Cilantro:

Same thing as the green onions. I wrap the bunch in a paper towel to catch the moisture - which keeps the bunch fresh.

Crimini mushrooms:

Personal note: I prefer these to button mushrooms because they seem to have a bit more flavor when sauteed...yum!

Cleaning - Someone once told me that if you rinse mushrooms they soak up water and get rubbery when cooking. Instead, I wipe off the caps and sides of the mushroom with a SLIGHTLY damp cloth. This helps to remove the grit and dirt without allowing them to soak up water. Then I store them in a bowl lined with a paper towel (to soak up any additional moisture).

Storage - The mushrooms then get stored on a shelf in the refrigerator - not in the veggie drawer. Not sure if that's the "right" or "wrong" thing to do - not sure that I care either way.



What I do with other veggies:

Whole green pepper - store loose in the veggie drawer (most definitely NOT in the plastic produce bags). Once they are cut open and partially used, they get loosely wrapped and put back in the veggie drawer until I use the rest of it.

Celery/Carrots - in the bags they were sold in, in the veggie drawer.

Lettuce - wrapped in a paper towel, in the veggie drawer. I was the leaves once I get ready to use them.

Poblano peppers - these may be the only item that stay in their plastic bags once they get into my veggie drawer. Reason? I use them rather quickly... and I need that big to steam them in once I've roasted them over the flame.


At room temperature, but in a cool, dry place...
Avocadoes, yellow/red/white onions, garlic, shallots, potatoes, squash, etc...


And my citrus/fruit?
At room temperature, typically like this or on a platter as a kitchen table center piece.




Isn't this pretty... I love these colors...


The rest of the afternoon usually consists of assembling/making breakfasts and lunches for the work week... trying out a new recipe for dinner (or making a good "comfort food" dish, like Sundays at home used to be)... napping... watching football or baseball or whatever the season may be... being creative in the stamp room or reading or more napping...

I love Sundays! I'm sure you can understand why...



enjoy your time in the kitcen...