Forgive me father for I have sinned (I imagine the late James Beard to be looking down at me with disdain from his kitchen in the sky). It has been two weeks since my last post, and in that time I have twice eaten takeout pizza, and once I even had Taco Bell. But it has been very difficult to have home cooked meals now that I am working more nights at the restaurant. The powers that be have decided to expand the dining room, and add 50 more seats. So after the departure of the Hulk, they have brought on a second, more experienced chef to help run the kitchen. He and I have cooked together before, and as his sous chef I get to play more of a supporting role. Remember that episode of Battlestar Galactica (the newer series) when Colonel Tigh had to run the ship while Commander Adama was recovering from a gunshot wound? And remember the relief that he felt when he was able to return command to Adama? Well, color me Tigh. Now I get two full days off, but the other 5 nights are spent in the trenches, on the line, cooking with my crew until close. So when I get home late and starving, pizza and nachos sound like a really good midnight meal. The problem is that I always wake up in the morning feeling kind of crappy and regretting it.
Fast food and takeout are not cheap eats either, especially here in New York. So I am on a new mission: to take a little time on my days off to stock my larder with fresh homemade goods from which I can make quick, delicious, and healthy midnight meals during the rest of the week. Having already discovered how easy it is to make home-cured meats, I figured I would add home-canned goods to my routine.
