Southern Dinner

This past Christmas, I gave Matt a book of coupons for dinners I planned to make him throughout the course of this year. Actually, I gave it to him the year before last, but then had to give it to him again after producing only one of the meals the book included (red beans & rice).

I've now also made black beans & rice, as well as the aforementioned red beans & rice several more times. Last Saturday night I made jambalaya. (Matt has a particular fondness for Southern food as he has taken many business trips to the South). I gave half of the jambalaya to my friend Cathy. She's in the midst of preparing for her daughter's wedding, so cooking dinner on Saturday just wasn't happening. So being how there were no jambalaya leftovers at our house, I decided to make it again tonight. Of course Matt was pleased. So was Isaac. He ate seconds.Elizabeth made cornbread (another of Matt's favorites) and I sauteed some fresh swiss chard and spinach with bacon, onion and garlic for a side dish. My brother-in-law's house is the drop off point for one of the local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs. When someone forgets to pick up their box of fresh produce for the week, he gets to keep it (in addition to his own family's box). So we've worked up a deal--his extra box for a couple dozen of our fresh chicken eggs. Lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, asparagus and spring onions were in this week's box. We're upping our veggie intake and they're enjoying delicious scrambled eggs. Feels kinda old fashioned like, this bartering thing. I kinda like it.