Growing up on a small farm in the hills of Pennsylvania, I have been fortunate enough to have access to hormone-free and humanely raised meat. Having a freezer full of almost unlimited amounts lamb, chicken, beef, pork, goose, and duck was something I took for granted until I went to college and started to cook for myself. I appreciated the delicious food my mom cooked while I was growing up but I never took the time to learn her cooking tricks. No matter how much seasoning I put on my store-bought chicken and out-of-season asparagus I paid way too much for, I couldn’t replicate her flavors. Even after researching recipes and hours in the kitchen, every meal was a disappointment - flavorless and bland. I started to get discouraged in my cooking ability and ate a lot more peanut butter toast. I began to think about why my mom’s food was so much better. Was cooking food that actually tasted good a mom super power? To answer this question, I did what any smart 21 year old college student would do, I called my mom.
My mom’s simple answer, "fresh ingredients." Fresher ingredients would mean more flavor and less work for the cook. I used to roll my eyes when my mom always bought seasonal fruits and vegetables and preserved them. The grocery store had strawberries in January so why she depriving me of them? But now that I was doing my own cooking and my plate was used to a high standard, I decided to take her advice to start cooking with more seasonal produce.
The result was almost immediate. Not only did my dinner taste better, but my grocery store bill was lower. Seasonal items are often cheaper. Why is pumpkin spice everything everywhere in the fall? Because as a culture we have come to shamelessly adore Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte. But also, because there is a plethora of pumpkins, which makes making pumpkin Cheerios, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin beer a lot cheaper for food and beverage companies.
Seasonal foods are not only easy on your wallet and taste better, they can also give you an extra boost nutritional when you most need it most. Cabbage is a vegetable my mom frequently cooks with during the cold winter months. It makes hearty meals and is packed with vitamin C, which boosts your immune system. Our cabbage is a root cellar vegetable, stored at the peak of flavor. We use it fresh in salads, as replacement for out of season lettuce
I’d like to state here that I am not a trained dietitian or cook, but I do like to eat tasty food. My research has shown that eating lots of different foods is beneficial to overall health. I also understand that cooking with ingredients in unexpected ways can be challenging. I’m sure many of you read “cabbage” and thought, “Ew, gross!”. But certain foods change in flavor depending on how they are prepared, for example cooked verses raw. If you don’t like the taste of something when it’s cooked, perhaps you could play with the seasonings or try it uncooked. But cooking with the seasons can help you become a more adventurous and creative eater and when your favorite fruit or vegetable is in season, you savor it all the more! I hope this website helps open you up to new foods and perhaps increases your appreciation for high quality food and the people who grow it.
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