Bumps in the transition from one cook to many cooks

When there was just one person in the home procuring, managing, and cooking all of the food, staying on top of all of the supplies was fairly straightforward. I knew what I had prepared, what was leftover, and what needed using up. Now, we have multiple cooks in the house, but still one person doing the procuring and managing of supplies. It's not readily known by the rest of the crew what we have in abundance or what needs using ASAP. Asking me what they can use is a regular occurrence. Not that this is bad, but it does put me in the position of saying, "don't use that" or "I'm saving that." Those kinds of statements make me sound like an ogre, when in fact all I'm really doing is trying to manage our stock until the next month rolls around, so that we can all enjoy the foods in the house.

My solution has been to create a weekly list of what we have in abundance and should be used. It's a simple list, kept on the refrigerator. I preface the list with a statement reflecting that the first items in each category are ones that should be used first. I also indicate that not everything is in ready-to-use condition, and may need harvesting. This week, in produce we have apples that need using, and in protein sources, we have lots of eggs. I've also included items that are saved for specific recipes, so those won't be used indiscriminately. Hopefully, this makes me seem less like an ogre about food.

My list focuses on produce and protein sources, as those are the items most frequently asked about. The produce is significant because we have items that won't keep terribly long. And the protein is asked about because it is not self-evident. Meat/eggs may be stored in the freezer, the fridge, or even pantry (canned meat). To complicate matters more, we have 3 freezers, 2 refrigerators, and multiple cabinets in the kitchen, along with 2 pantries. Everyone seems to figure out the grains and dairy products on their own. The bonus to making this list is the act of reading the list, by the cook on duty, stimulates thoughts on what to make. Since sometimes food is just food, reading a list that says we need to use eggs, zucchini, and apples may make a cook whose feeling less-than-inspired to simply scramble some eggs, steam zucchini, chop apples, and serve with bread. Just food, but it gets the job done.

We're seeing the financial benefit, as well, and wasting less fresh produce, which is super important right now as the garden is in high production. Just thought I'd share what is working for us.

Taking a vacation when there is not enough time or money for a full-fledged one

This past year has been busy and expensive, leaving little time or money to get away. So, how do we do a summer vacation under those circumstances? We take a one-day vacation. We choose a nearby tourist location, about 1 hour away from us. Then we get up with the birds and drive to that destination, staying as long as we feel like it. By the time we leave to come home, we often do feel like we've been on a vacation.

Because we don't have a hotel or even a campground stay, and our vacation is just one long day, we can afford a few luxuries which we would otherwise forgo. For example, we bring coffee, milk, and fresh fruit with us, but make our first stop of the day at a local bakery or donut shop, where everyone makes their selection. Then, we take our breakfast to a public park, preferably one with a nice view. The day before our mini-trip, we make a stop at the grocery store to buy snacks. I may spend as much as $15 on snacks for one day. But that cost is less than what we'd spend for one stop at a restaurant for snacks for all of us, let alone multiple stops. We also pack a picnic cooler full of lunch items, ice water, and juice, then find a nice park in which to picnic. In the late afternoon, when we're hot and tired, we stop in an ice cream shop for a cone, each. As a result of keeping our costs so low, we also treat ourselves to a souvenir or two, or splurge on admission tickets to some sort of entertainment, or a nice dinner out.

Why am I telling you all of this? This is the week that we're taking our one-day vacation. We've been planning this all summer, and now the time has arrived. Yep, I'm pretty excited to go away for a day.

We're going to a small tourist town by the name of Poulsbo. It's a 30-minute ferry ride, plus 30 minutes or so in driving from our house. It's on a bay, has a large public park on the waterfront, second-hand shops, tourist-type shops, art galleries, an aquarium, an historical museum, a church tower with bells ringing every hour, a Scandinavian bakery, lots of restaurants, a walking trail along the water's edge of the bay, and sometimes live entertainment outdoors.

If you had to choose one spot, about an hour-drive away from where you live, with lots to do to fill one day, where would you go?