making mayonnaise

We finished the United Way Hunger Action Week yesterday. We were never hungry. Instead, we feel humbled.

If you have not read the piece I posted about why we did this, please do. Mostly, I want you to read the comments. People, you amaze us every time. Your generosity in sharing your stories, your tips on how you eat well on a moderate budget, and your interest in each other's shopping habits enlivened our week. I have a feeling that everyone who read and wrote had lively conversations afterward. We did.

There are so many comments that inspired me. Truly, I could just put them all up as a separate post. But I'd like to share this one, from someone who calls herself Cyclist Kate:

"What's been wonderful for me to realize is that often, the less I spend on groceries (now, I'm not talking uber cheap, necessarily, but $60/week for myself), the more satisfied I am. I think it's because the food thing becomes simpler...I can enjoy those roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts, the black bean soup, the yogurt and homemade granola, and an apple with that precious slice of parmesan so much more if that's all I have. There's less stress, less wondering "what's for dinner." There's less waste. And it's all good, wholesome stuff that reconnects me to what's so great food whose aim is to deeply nourish instead of impress.

So yes, I've taken to frequently taking the calculator to the grocery store. Sometimes that means taking the parmesan out of my cart, but then I appreciate it so much more the next week. There's no deprivation. There's always something to eat. And for that, I'm grateful."

This is exactly how I felt (and continue to feel) after I had to go gluten-free. No deprivation. Instead, gratitude that I could eat what was available to me. Now, the same principle applies to spending money on that food.

Danny and I had the experience that Kate so eloquently described: calm. We knew we had enough food to last us for the five days, even if it wasn't the most exciting food we have ever eaten. In fact, there was calm in sitting down to a meal of tacos with brown rice cooked in chicken stock, slivered savoy cabbage, cheddar cheese, and home-pickled radishes. That was a nourishing meal. Knowing our ingredients in advance helped us to make that meal without any frantic energy. ("Hon, it's 4. What are we having for dinner tonight? We need to feed the Bean in an hour.") Those tacos satisfied us.

And to our amazement, we didn't run out of money. We spent $12 more than we did the first day, on more yogurt for the kid, a big clutch of vegetables from the farmstands, and a cup of coffee Danny picked up for himself when he was out with the Bean. We still have lots of brown rice, cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and other foods left over for this week.

We have been changed by this.

We have been spending too much money on food. We knew this before. However, we did not know, until after this week, that we would prefer having less food in the house, food that we use instead of letting it wilt and go to waste.

And so, this week, we might spend a bit more money on food than we did this past week, but not much. We're going to plan much better now. The refrigerator is clean, we have a list of everything in it, and we're ready to start thinking about the meals ahead of us.

Something that always kept us from planning out our week's meals (and thus the shopping) was the rigidity of knowing we would eat lasagna on Thursday. That doesn't work for us, when we feel such joy from making up dishes and sprinkling in new spices that surprise us. We just don't like moving lockstep through our meals.

Now that Danny is back to cooking in a restaurant, he's making up specials every night. He knows, every afternoon, that he has to create a fish special. Each night, it's something different. That structure creates freedom for him.

That's what clicked for me. Instead of planning our meals in advance, I'm going to create a different special every night of the week.
Sunday is roast chicken night (lots of leftover possibilities there).
Monday is pasta night (we love the homemade pasta recipe that will be in our book).
Tuesday is vegetarian night (and some of the other nights might not include meat either). Wednesday is pizza night.
Thursday will feature pork (you know, we have that other blog).
Friday is Mexican night (or maybe Thai. We haven't decided).
Saturday is seafood.

Knowing us, we'll never have the same dish twice. But if I know that every Wednesday I'm making a pizza from scratch, I will have all the basic ingredients already in the house. (I think this week it's going to be a roasted butternut squash, brussels sprouts, and sauteed leek pizza, since those are all in the farmstands right now, and perhaps some homemade creme fraiche). We'll save money and feel even more creative.

I'm excited.

Something that many of you wrote about (and we already believed in) is how much money a family can save by making foods from scratch. And how.

So, we'd like to share with you a video of Danny making mayonnaise from scratch. Once you start making this, you'll never go back.





This is Danny. He has a real restaurant burn on his hand, which he didn't cover because he's at home (be not afraid). We were distracted and went too fast the first time we filmed this, so the mayonnaise separated and we started again. That's why the food processor looks not washed. You'll see at one point that he's pouring a liquid in, thicker than oil — that's the separated mayonnaise he is incorporating back in (see recipe below). He drops an eggshell into the bowl.

It's real life.

And it's mayonnaise.

HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup canola oil
½ teaspoon each, kosher salt and cracked black pepper


Making the mayonnaise. Place the egg, egg yolk, mustard, and lemon juice in the food processor. (You can make mayonnaise by hand, but it is much easier and more fail-safe in the food processor. Trust me.) While the machine is running, slowly drizzle in the oil, until it is thick and creamy. Add salt and pepper.

Fixing your mistakes. If you add the oil too fast, the mayonnaise will separate, so go slowly, slowly, slowly. If it does separate, take the mixture out of the food processor, and start over. Put another egg and egg yolk into the food processor and blend them. Slowly, slowly add the separated mayonnaise. That should do the trick.

Makes 2 cups.