A veggie anniversary…

You know, one of the joys of being a housewife is the unpredictability that comes with day-to-day life.  Today was certainly one of those very unplanned, very out of the ordinary days.  Today is my 14th wedding anniversary!  That’s right.  Fourteen years ago I said, “I do,” got into a little powder blue LeBaron and rode to my brand new apartment (which I’d never laid eyes on) with my sweet hubby.   We stopped half-way through the three hour trip and had dinner at Fazoli’s with the best man.  Then the next morning we got up and headed to a comic convention where I got a Frazetta puzzle and Sailor Moon movie.  Ah, to be young again… 

Anyhoo, I’m telling you this a.) because I absolutely love being married to my husband and it’s an excuse to shout it across the internet and b.) because this was not your typical anniversary day.  You’re probably thinking we took the day and traipsed off to the City Museum or Art Hill and had dinner on the Landing.  But we didn’t.  We had dinner at home.  Chicken Pot Pie, home-style  of course.   I’ll get to that later.  For now, here’s how I did spend my anniversary day.

This morning the kiddos and I picked up the produce we ordered from our local coop called Community Helpings Coop.  It was a great week for produce!  I got there early to help set everything up and the coordinator, Jill, man this gal is on it!  Everything is so well organized that the produce on the truck was unloaded and the 53 baskets (plus extra orders!) were filled in a half hour’s time!  Wanna see what I got? 

I know, right?  A basket (that big blue bag there plus the stuff in the little green bag) costs $23.  The rest is extra stuff I ordered for $26 and the 2 cases of strawberries I got for $12.  Here’s a peek at what all these numbers turn into.

Strawberries were 75 cents a pound this week!  I got 16 lbs. for making strawberry jam.  Oh yeah!

These strawberries are perfect! Big, red & juicy!

 

 

 

Three bunches of celery (It was two but I traded my eggplant with someone. Not a big eggplant fan.)

12 ct. bi-color local corn, cauliflower, 3 1bs. new red potatoes, 3 lbs. creamer potatoes, 10 lbs. jumbo carrots, 5 lbs. onions, 5lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes

 

 

 

 

Here we have 5 green peppers, 4 ct. tomatoes, 1 head of green leaf lettuce, 4 lbs. Valencia oranges, 3 ct. nectarines, 3 lbs. Gala apples, watermelon, bananas, huge cantelope, black grapes (at least 2 lbs.), 10 ct. lemons & limes and gummi bears for my sweet littles who sat patiently in the truck watching Harry Potter while I loaded produce. 

Oh my goodness, this is so much good food!  Some of the produce is from local farms, which I absolutely love.  Supporting our local economy is so important!  When things can’t be gotten locally, Jill will get the best deal she can from elsewhere.  The prices are unbeatable and the quality is top notch.  If you’re in the St. Louis area and you’d like to see about joining a local coop, you can visit  the Community Helpings Coop website to find out more.  Most likely there’s a pick-up locale somewhere close by. 

With all this yummy fresh food in the house, I should be able to manage a couple recipe posts this week, eh?  About that chicken pot pie, you can bet I used fresh carrots, celery and onions in it.  Wanna know the secret to a delicious pot pie?  Shhh, don’t tell anyone I told you… sage.  Throw a dash of sage into the mixture and your pot pie will taste better than any other pot pie out there.  I’m pretty sure it makes people melt into a pool of nostalgia all because of it’s association with Thanksgiving foods.   Thanksgiving + chicken pot pie = comfort food on a whole ‘nother level!   

So today didn’t end up being a super fancy and romantic anniversary date, but it was still loads of fun.  The kids and I grocery shopped all day and my hubby came home an hour or two early from work.  We enjoyed a home-cooked meal as a family and even had a little chocolate cake.  Oh, and the kids were sweet enough to give us a wonderful anniversary surprise – a sheet draped coffee table adorned with two candles, two apples, two morsels of cheese bread, two glasses of water and stuffed animal for each of us.  It was precious.

Yep, It’s been a great 14 years.

– knittingprose