Slow Transitions

(Inspired by the appearance of chives in April, and the merits of food saved year round)

Dinner tonight was risotto.
It included
arborio rice, of course, from Italy;
chicken broth, made from the carcass of a chicken who once graced our yard;
mushrooms and sausages from local farmers;
dehydrated tomatoes from our harvest last summer;
spaghetti squash strands and green beans, frozen from two years past,
a leek from a small local farmer,
and chives,
fresh picked today.

Before slow food,
risotto was what you ate on a fancy night.
Store bought vegetables and meats paired with
perhaps broth in a can
shortened the prep, and
made a meal that was yummy but lacking.
Slow food changes the equation.

No fancy night, here.
We had leftover broth,
broth we didn't want to freeze and forget about,
broth that only would last in the refrigerator
five to seven days.
Broth is the result of a chicken
cut up and cooked into 1-3 meals before the carcass
goes into water and becomes,
meals four and five.
If there's a whole chicken in your diet every 10 days,
risotto will be more frequent.

Garlic harvested in July.
Squash picked and preserved in August.
Beans harvested in September.
Tomatoes dehydrated in October.
Chives fresh as of today.
Call it risotto of the year's seasons,
summer unwilling to yield to fall,
fall holding its own through winter,
winter not ready to recede into spring,
and the new season.