Brussel Sprouts (and other January doings)

In general, experience has proven that veggies taste best (and are cheapest) when you eat them during the season in which they are supposed to grow. This mentality works well for someone like me, who can get a bit obsessive about one thing (right now? Lord of the Rings, black bean tacos, and Mat Kearney) before suddenly wanting nothing to do with it for a while because I am so bored. I do well with seasons--remember how in love with fall I was a few months ago? Now nothing sounds better than spring.

When it comes to food, I feel perfectly comfortable gorging on one meal over and over while the star veggie is in season (spring = asparagus frittata and ginger chicken with snow peas, summer = chicken with haricot verts and feta-crusted tomatoes, fall = butternut squash pasta as often as Jason will let me make it) because by the time boredom sets in it's already time to move on. You notice, of course, what's missing from that otherwise steller menu. January, of course. Seriously, what grows in January?!? I'm not much of a veggie aficionado (I eat them, but I don't love them), and by the end of January I have seriously done about as much damage to sweet potatoes and squash as I can possibly stand.

So Friday night we tried out brussel sprouts for the first time in our adult lives. Jason and I both gave them a hard, skeptical look as they sat on our plates, looking for all the world like the bitter, mushy greens we knew brussel sprouts to be. Except that they weren't. They were quite tasty (in a green, vegetable sort of way, so don't get too excited). Per Bon Appetit's feature on them last month, I sauteed them in butter and then simmered them in chicken stock with herbs. You should have seen the surprise on Jason's face when he tasted them. He even ate my leftovers (let's be honest, even at 30 it's rare when I finish off all the vegetables on my plate). I think we're growing up.

Speaking of greens, kale is next on the list. Anyone have thoughts on kale? Like it? Have a way to fix it that doesn't leave salad haters (me) running? I'm mulling over the idea of joining a CSA this year, which is a bit daunting for someone who prefers ANY type of fruit over ANY type of vegetable, since I know at some point in the year we will be buried in leafy greens.

Hard to believe, but we're actually doing more than eating our veggies (but you get the drift that none if it is too exciting). Our past few weeks have been filled with:

Traveling: I love going to Idaho, but I have to confess that it'd be nice if the trips were a little more spread out--we were back in VA for two weeks after Christmas before I loaded up my carry on and flew back for the annual work tour of Idaho's Second Congressional District. It's a pretty long four days (though two dinners at the Sandpiper made it a little easier to swallow, and I do love staying in hotels). The silver lining came on Thursday night, when I headed up to McCall with my parents (are we noticing a trend here?) for the annual Bunn family weekend in the snow. While I missed having any time in Meridian, we had a blast up at the cabin--Jason was the only thing missing! It was really too cold at Christmas to do much outside, but the weather was warmer this time, so we went cross country skiing. So, so fun.

Waltzing: In an effort to make my 30th birthday as classy and grown-up an occasion as possible, Jason gave me a private ballroom dancing lesson. Between a busy schedule and a broken ankle, we only got around to doing it on Thursday night. I had a wonderful time--I think dancing is like floating. Jason...well, let's just say that Jason was a good sport.

Bussing: Jason has been getting re-acquainted with the bus and metro schedules in the morning since he started his new parking space-less job after New Year's. We're back to a "normal" schedule in the morning, where he is up before me...and I confess to loving it a little too much. It's been interesting to see how his Hill experience has impacted him so far. I miss having him around.

Organizing: Ah, organizing things. The sense of faux-control that an organized closet/pantry/bedroom gives me is exhilarating. Take, for instance, my new 4-week menu. Or the alphabetized DVD collection. Or the plan to tackle one room every weekend until our house is immaculate. This weekend's project was reorganizing the pantry and cleaning out the freezer. Somehow we ended up picking up the Spare Oom and spending an unplanned three hours organizing our disastrous office without giving more than lip service to the pantry or freezer. Oh, well, next week. The label maker has been busy.