On Fridge Things
And how we decide what to cook.
Hello and welcome to the Tuesday post for all subscribers! On Friday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles, which is a great recipe to make if you’re looking to use up a half-consumed can of pumpkin. Thematic, I know! Next Tuesday, everyone will get a highly controversial opinion on chocolate chips. You’ve been warned.
Quick note before we get into things: I was recently a guest on The Recipe of the Day Podcast, where host Christine and I talked about trends in cookbooks and restaurants, how we develop recipes, and lots more. Check it out if you want a peek into my sometimes spicy food opinions!
I’ve written about this before, in my love note to zucchini pickles: there are, at any given time, probably six to eight items that have established semi-permanent residency in my refrigerator. There are just some items that I don’t reach for as often as I thought I might when I purchased them: three different types of hot sauces, a minimum of two varieties of pickles, mustards, jellies, and for some reason of late, radishes. There are some that I bought specifically for a recipe I needed to make for a client and haven’t touched since. And there are some that just need a lot of love and attention to turn into something exciting, so they await that day for longer than is recommended. (Cabbage is always worth it though!)
Once upon a time, I reveled in buying as many things as I could at the grocery store. I cooked intricate, complicated dinners every night, sometimes using recipes from others and sometimes testing my own. Ingredients languished in the back of the pantry or fridge, slowly becoming food waste. My grocery budget skyrocketed out of control. We were throwing away food faster than I could make it. A reckoning took place.
Over the last few years, my meal strategy has shifted. Starting during the course of the pandemic, when I couldn’t go to the grocery store and browse shelves, I took to grazing over my own pantry and refrigerator sections for forgotten items to cook with. Improvisation ruled the day. As my food blogging waned, I felt freed from the recipes that had begun to trap me into cooking routines. If you read my post on my feelings on “Taste and adjust” as a recipe instruction, you probably know where I’m going with this.
Recently, I was talking to a friend who’s an educator by profession and happens to be just as food-obsessed as I am. We both have friends (who we love!) who aren’t confident in the kitchen. They’re at a loss when they’ve used the two tablespoons of tomato paste that the recipe calls for—what are they going to do with the rest of it? What about the scallions they bought to garnish a dish for a date night? Do those have more life?
We both wished that we could be there, in that moment, to whisper suggestions into that friend’s ear. That we could put together some resource that those friends could turn to for advice. But given the wild variety of ingredients and products that are available, as well as the thousands upon thousands of variables introduced by what staples people keep in their homes, that quickly becomes a daunting task.
My question for you today is: what are the six to eight items in your fridge right now that you don’t know how to use? That have been there maybe a little bit too long? Reply to this note and let me know or leave a comment below. We’re curious if there will be themes in these lists, and, if so, what strategies you have to deal with these tricky foods.
If you’re someone who’s searching for strategies to use sooner rather than later, be sure to check out
‘s Food Processing, wherein she lists “riffs” for foods in what I think is a brilliant way to tackle this tricky project. I also love ‘s What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking for suggestions on how to make the most of the groceries you buy for a week.Thanks for reading and engaging with these questions. See you Friday for pumpkin snickerdoodles!