Given that the house renovation left us cash-poor, Kim looked into options for stretching our money and found out that a local food pantry will give weekly food items to anyone over 60, no questions asked. Some weeks are better than others; a month or two ago, we got some frozen 7-11 breakfast sandwiches, which we were not brave enough to try, and another time we got a sealed bag of Beyond sausage bits that, upon later inspection, was over a month past its expiration date.  Today's haul was three pounds of pinto beans (we're in the Rancho Gordo Bean Club and already have more amazing beans than we can handle), one pound of white rice, and six pounds of brown rice (plus a half-gallon of cow milk, some fruit, and some bread).

Unpacking proceeds apace. We'd like to host Thanksgiving so we probably need to hustle over the next three weeks.

turns out papadum really does puff up nice and crisp with a little oil after fifty seconds in the microwave

Marguerite is married to my mother-in-law's cousin.  She is even more delightful in person than this 35yo recipes writeup in the NYT describes.  We hope to see her and Gary soon.

It's Rancho Gordo time!

In the background: dehydrated sweet potatoes and collards.

Yesterday was our 25th date-iversary.

Also, for the first time, i made cheese as part of a work social event.