Leda’s Urban Homestead

This week the contemporary version of Petrouchka I just choreographed premiered at Adelphi University. I am very pleased with how it turned out, but also feel like I’ve stepped out of a two-month long tunnel of intense focus (a tunnel playing a nonstop Stravinsky soundtrack!). There’s one more serving of soup left in the fridge for me to reheat after tonight’s show–soup having been my solution for the late night easy dinners a theater schedule requires. Tonight’s is going to be the last of the potato-leek.

I’m moving on to the next cycle of my year in other ways, too. Next week is the last distribution of weekly CSA shares in my neighborhood. The foraging and gardening season is drawing to a close as nighttime temps drop into the thirties. Soon I’ll be eating mainly food from my pantry augmented by trips to the farmers’ markets. I did sign up for the monthly CSA winter share, but that by itself wouldn’t be enough to live on.

I’ve stocked up on dried, frozen, home-canned, and fermented foods and expect to be eating well this winter. I’d survive a locavorian NYC winter even if I wasn’t into food preservation, but the menus would be monotonous (hello potatoes, apples, and cabbage). With food preservation, I can count on variety until the first fresh ingredients of spring.

Here’s a plug for a few upcoming events:

On Saturday Nov. 14th 10:30 a.m. I’ll be teaching a class on Greening Your Workspace (or Home) for Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Yes, those indoor plants really can clear pollutants from the air you’re breathing!

On Sunday Nov. 15 4 p.m. I’ll be doing a talk and book signing as part of a Dances Patrelle event at the Barnes & Noble in Manhattan on 86th and Lex.

On Thursday Dec. 3rd 7:30 p.m. I’ll be doing a book signing as part of Green Edge NYC’s holiday party.

And shows of Petrouchka continue through this Sunday Nov. 8th.

Hope to see you at one of these! And I wish you warm nights and plenty of comfort food in this late fall season.

Copyright

Botany, Ballet, & Dinner from Scratch: A Memoir with Recipes by Leda Meredith