Here's the Best Thing Our Account Executive Made This Weekend

We get asked all the time: What do you cook at home? Here's some inspiration from one of our account executives, Jane Poretsky:

As I was walking home from my first shift at the Food52 Holiday Market last night, I mentally envisioned what I was going to cook. My Sunday nights usually involve a #notrecipe, a glass of red wine, and the angelic voice of Etta James. In the wintertime, all I need to be happy is a cup of hot liquid: spiced cider, chicken soup, beef stew… I don’t discriminate.

My aunt Irina had brought me a fantastic bag of dried porcinis, which make a great anchor for a hearty soup along with some leeks and ground beef. I waltzed into the grocery store with a plan: Shiitakes, leeks, celery, and bright carrots all found their way into my grocery cart, and then sage, bay leaves, and Italian parsley joined the party (have I mentioned I love green things?). Okay, perhaps some vegan chocolate ice cream fell into the cart as well. It’s practically health food. 

The key to my apartment always gets jammed, and sometimes opening the door takes a herculean amount of effort. I think that was where my last drops of energy were exerted, left there on my welcome mat. I dropped the groceries, shimmied out of my work clothes, and turned on all the lights. I rested my body on the marshmallow cloud of my comforter for a just moment—

And without further ado, I present to you the delicious, robust, red wine-laced stew I made.

Just kidding, that’s a plate of crudité. It’s what happens during the holi-daze. Slinking out of bed at half-past 8 P.M., I thought about plan B. And for me, that’s always a plate of odds and ends for dipping and dunking. Pictured above, the classic: spicy hummus, olives, carrots, celery, pita, caraway crackers. (The only thing on the plate I actually “made” was the cannellini bean salad, dressed with extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, and pecorino Romano cheese.)

First photo by James Ransom, second photo by Jane Poretsky

What's your plan B dinner? Tell us in the comments.