09 Apr Share Your Story: Kathy Watson
The pandemic is driving me back to my cooking roots, where I made so many things from scratch. All these foods … from hand-made breads to preserved fruit … taste better and cost less. And frankly, I am worried that the food supply will not necessarily be there for us in the next two months, at least not for everything.
The urge to make it myself really hit home to me when I visited Rosauers two days ago, and bought the last quart of yogurt on their shelves. The last quart. “Why am I doing this?” I thought. I know how to make this stuff! And so I bought some whole organic milk (almost the last one) and came home and started some yogurt.
In the last week, I’ve made a quart of preserved lemons, two loaves of whole wheat bread, and a batch of hamburger buns … yes, those ones we served at Nora’s. I bought a half pig from Tree Bird Farm in early March, and I’ve made sausage, and have three pounds of pork belly (seen in the picture in the glass pan) curing for bacon … a savory one with bay leaves and black pepper, and a sweet one with maple sugar.
All this kitchen industry has another benefit: it keeps my mind off the crisis, and it gives me something extra to give to my neighbors. I am just very careful to wash my hands fully before handling the finished product. I can knead the raw bread dough bare-handed, but when it comes out of the oven, I’m careful that I’ve just washed my hands, or I’m wearing gloves, before I package it and give it away. The possibility of transmission to food such as baked goods is very, very low. But these are my neighbors and friends, and I don’t want to take any chances.
— Kathy Watson
