Coopcopia

Every Wednesday I spend the first 6 hours of my day at my co-op job. Then I come home with a box full of beautiful produce and start dreaming up all the wonderful things I will make with the bounty. Not pictured are the Portobellos that I sauteed with spinach and topped with mozzarella, parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil for dinner.

Some of my earliest memories are of co-ops; Glut and Beautiful Day, in Maryland, to be exact. It was the early 70s and my mom even started her very own produce co-op with some other women she knew. As a kid I sometimes found the co-op funky; all the bulk food came out of barrels (sometimes complete with weevils), the cheese was bulk cut and sometimes moldy and there was just a smell, a very special co-op smell that existed nowhere else. That smell means home to me now. When I first walked into the building of my previous co-op home the smell took me back to my childhood! The funny thing is my parents were not even remotely considered hippies food was just very important to my mother and she certainly passed that on to me.

My new co-op is very different from the last, but there is still a real sense of community and generosity of knowledge about all kinds of things; community resources, gardening, cooking, health....If I need to know something about anything chances are someone there has the answer or at least the map to more information. I'm going to be taking on some more hours there coordinating and organizing volunteers starting next week. I talked to my mom on the phone tonight and she told me that she never hears me happier than when I am cooking, baking or talking about food. I think she is right.

Something else that makes me happy is my new wheel and its bobbin capacity. This is my first spun up skein all 309 yards of it! The wool itself is nothing special I didn't want to practice on a new wheel with luxe wool, but I am very happy with how it turned out.

Now I'm awaiting 5 pounds of Merino superwash from my friend Halyna's farm in NY.

My Knitpicks package arrived today with the yarn for this:

Veronik Avery's Prairie Tunic from Interweave Knits Spring 2006

My friend E. will be 40 in June and I promised her this for her birthday. I just may have to make another for myself. Veronik Avery is probably my very favorite knitwear designer.