Time of Year

It's that late winter time of year when what's in the freezer can be the most refreshing food available. Although the jars of tomatoes canned last August are long gone, my freezer contains fresh-frozen sweet corn cut from organically grown ears; garden-grown tomatoes and basil; flash-frozen (on a baking pan, to keep pieces separate) green squash in chunks; bags of a gorgeous mix of chard and kale, just barely simmered before being frozen. And there's a bag with smaller containers holding raspberries, strawberries and cherries that my family gathered in during the high summer months of 2011. Gorgeous ingredients for that indoor time of year when outdoors, grey and white gradually begin to yield to green, and we hear the call of springtime birds - and worry that spring is coming too soon. Time is always hastening forward. Savor your fruits and vegs! (Further digging in the freezer unearthed tubs of basil pesto, tomatillo-green tomato salsa, and wild apple-pear sauce.)