Pre-Departure Panic

Maybe you noticed in the last post that there seemed to be a lot of "cleaning out" going on; unearthing long forgotten ingredients from the back of the freezer and adding all sorts of vegetables to the nabe pot that might not usually make it in there. Very observant of you! With rugby finished and my tourist visa expiring in a few days, Keizo and I will be relocating to Arizona for a while, thus requiring us to eat like rabbits (i.e. lots and lots of fresh vegetables) in the days leading up to departure.

Hosting a going away party last Sunday hasn't made matters any easier. Most of the food served was from Costco, which made set up a breeze; however, even half a dozen rugby players are no match for Costco sized portions, meaning we had quite a few leftovers.

Exhibit A: The lettuce garnishing the antipasto tray. The tomatoes and meat slices were gone by the end of the night, but the olives and other greenery lingered on. Time for a salad!

A very large salad! The white bowl is the largest mixing bowl in the kitchen. It could easily hold a basketball, or in this case a head of lettuce, apples, red bell pepper, raisins and almond slices.

Exhibit B: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and cabbage (actually not from Costco) turned into a delicious creamy soup made with some of the leftover sour cream (definitely from Costco...and still lingering in the fridge.) I was extremely pleased with how the soup turned out, considering there was no recipe and all of the ingredients were already in the kitchen and needing be used up.

Exhibit C: The only new ingredient we bought was a baguette so we could make some garlic toast. This did use up some of the shredded cheese from the fridge though.

Exhibit D: The complete meal. The garlic toast disappeared of course, but there is one serving of soup and a few helpings of salad left to eat today. Speaking of which...it's getting to be lunch time!

I already have some ideas for things to make in Arizona. Stay tuned...