Disaster Relief

It’s been six weeks since the EF-1 tornado ripped through our property and took out 90% of our conifers and half our deciduous trees. Four full days of a seven man team with skid steers, chain saws, a 22 inch chipper, stump grinder and other noise making machines and we still aren’t done. One more day to go, but we have a break. We need to stabilize the soil and clean up the debris.

We found the barbed wire fencing from the 1890s farm. Our home sits on an old pasture, next to a century old farmhouse. Our neighbors live there. Our property was a pasture, horses in it for decades. The tree line is gone now and the posts and fencing were uncovered, under those annoying poison ivy vines that wound around the trees and bushes.

For a few days, the deer enjoyed the tasty leaves now in reach.

We just cope. Every day another task. Three cars into Chandler for auto body work. Next week Absolute Landscaping comes in to try and clean up clay, wood chips and the accumulated trash found under the tree line. Cutting Edge did all the tree work. They were awesome. We still have to replace the chimney cap, repair the roof, repair the deck, inspect the radio tower,and work toward the landscaping necessary to repair the groves lost.

Me, I turn to cooking comfort foods when I need to decompress. It is my favorite time for fresh vegetables. I did get some gardening done. I hope to get tomatoes soon. Meanwhile, I have made those things I love.

Loaded potato salad. With fresh green beans and baby red potatoes from our CSA. Fresh dill from my garden. Whole grain mustard.

One giant zucchini fritter. I was too lazy to make little ones. This was an adaptation of Smitten Kitchen’s fritter with sweet red pepper in it.

I also turned to Ottolenghi for a new recipe. Kale, asparagus, edamame.

With a killer topping. Pepitas and sunflower seeds baked with a maple syrup glaze.

This recipe came from Simple, the latest Ottolenghi cookbook. I have all of his books on my iPad and use them often. Cooking keeps me sane while working through the recovery from the tornado.

My husband? Is back on the radio once we got all the trees off his guy wires and the small tower up and running. That’s his outlet.

We will get back to normal someday. But right now, we just are lucky being retired, we can dedicate the time to “disaster relief”.