While old Mother Hubbard is not there her cupboards get really bare — A post by Molly

It has been a long time since I’ve seen groceries in these parts. The sandwich bread’s been gone so long, the bread basket up and walked away and now no one can find it.

To be fair, the main grocery runner in my house, my Mom, has been in Florida for nearly a week.

My Dad’s taken the positive route, saying we should “purge” all the stuff in the freezer we never use. If he wanted me to feel positive about it, I think he could’ve used a better word than purge. Luckily, I’ve gotten really good at using whatever is left in the fridge… except the turnips, which no one makes eye contact with anymore.Eventually, we’re hoping they’ll just take the hint and leave.

My freezer has been a considerable asset in the last week, as have the colander and faucet. Best of all, my freezer has an uncanny knack for having things I didn’t even know were in  there. While this isn’t as comforting when you stumble across a freezer-burned Tupperware container of soup, which might actually be soup… or pasta sauce, it’s nice when two vacuum sealed salmon filets appear right next to the ice tray (with the expiration date printed neatly on their packaging).

After a nice long bath under the faucet, the filets were ready to be cooked. I grabbed some polenta, which sat alone on its shelf, and brought some water to a boil. With the help of some feta cheese and kale (who have been hearty allies during this grocery store hiatus), I scraped together a gourmet meal. All in all, I think I’ve been rocking this purge… but the turnips still haven’t vacated the fridge.