Thursday Poem, In Memory of the Great Cabbage Massacre

I've been hanging on to this poem for many months, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to talk about cabbage.  Cabbage, your time has come. 



Kraut cabbage is in - basketball sized cabbage.  I put the apple there for scale. 

Mondo cabbage.

Funny story, Dale's first week at the fruit market he was told to slice some cabbage in half - sometimes people would rather buy half of a cabbage.  Usually the fruit market will have one or two halves sitting at the display.

Somehow in his excitement and eagerness to do well at his new job, he misinterpreted "some" to mean "all" and cut every single cabbage at the market that day in half, very fast.  So fast that no one noticed until it was too late.

(Don't tell him I told you that, OK?)

So it's only fitting that I dedicate this poem to Dale, because it reminds me of that fateful day now known as the Great Cabbage Massacre.

Cabbage

She was about to chop the head
In half,
But I made her reconsider
By telling her:
"Cabbage symbolizes mysterious love."

Or so said one Charles Fourier,
Who said many other strange and wonderful things,
So that people called him mad behind his back,

Wherupon I kissed the back of her neck
Ever so gently,

Whereupon she cut the cabbage in two
With a single stroke of her knife.

-Charles Simic, US Poet Laureate 2008

Don't Bring Cabbage to Work

I wish my camera (watch me blame this on the camera) could have got a clear picture of our cabbage from the other night. Do me a favor. Go get a purple cabbage, slice it in half, and marvel at the sweet little white swirls inside.

Just don't, whatever you do, shred that cabbage, make a delicious slaw , and then bring the leftovers to eat at work the next day. Why? Well, don't expect anyone to sit next to you at lunch time.

Catching the Produce Bug

My fruit market blog excitement spurred a large produce purchase on Saturday from Top Foods. Top is where we like to buy our produce when the fruit market isn't open, and they were having a great sale! $1.84 for two perfectly delicious looking eggplant? Bagged spinach @ $0.75 each? Awesome! I tend to forget buying produce during the winter months since I'm not used to going in the grocery store produce section. Our winter menu has been full of heavy things- cheese, eggs, meat, potatoes. Time to start thinking SPRING and FRESH!!!

Cabbage was on the menu last night. Cabbage slaw tacos, actually. Or as Susan at Farmgirl Fare dubbed them, Mexican Jumping Bean Slaw with High Kickin' Creamy Tomato Dressing! These turned out amazingly good. Even the kids ate them. You don't even miss the meat - I made ours without the chicken.

The best part about the recipe was the rainbow of color. Purple and green cabbage, orange carrots, red bell pepper, green onion, black beans and yellow corn. A beautiful sight to behold, and a reminder of why cooking with fresh produce not only fills your tummy, but your entire soul with joy.