treats

Yesterday, the pictured beauties came into my possession. The smaller, a jar of wild Maine blueberry jam, was a gift from my mom who was stocking up on her favorite Stonewall Kitchen mustard and added one of my favorites to her order. The larger was a gift to myself: a salad spinner. I confess that I have long been a critic of salad spinners and those who own/use them; it's just seemed so silly to me to have this contraption taking up space in one's kitchen or pantry 95 percent of the time, when it's not being used to . . . dry leafy vegetables? How lazy are we here in America?

I have reformed, and I now know why I was such a harsh critic of said culinary convenience item. I couldn't understand why drying greens was such a big deal, because I was a BSB (Bagged Salad Buyer) and I never had to dry my greens. I just snipped open the plastic package and dumped the contents into my bowl. Bang, boom, dunzo. But the combination of my recession-induced hyper-thriftiness and my growing interest in buying the freshest, most healthful foods available to me has steered me away from the bagged salads and straight to bag-free (and, when affordable, organic) lettuces, spinach, kale and other leafy veggies. Of course, this abandonment of my BSB status has given way to my being a FSGW (Frustrated Salad Greens Washer), and in recent weeks I have spent what feels like an eternity letting lettuces air-dry after washing. When truly pressed for time, or about to gnaw off my own hand, I've tried to speed up the process by rolling them up in a kitchen towel and squeezing, which has the effect of smooshing, bruising and/or tearing the leaves while still failing to rid their surfaces of excess water.

And don't you even get me started on fresh herbs! Don't get me wrong, I love me some basil on my pasta, some cilantro in my salsa, some parsley . . . right outta my hand (don't judge!), but I have such a hard time accepting that in order to enjoy them, I have to remember to wash them multiple hours ahead of time and leaving them sprawled out over the kitchen counters to dry. We don't have enough counter space for such an arrangement while still trying to use the kitchen for, you know, cooking.

Well, I've had enough. I don't want to be a FSGW. I don't want to be a EoSS (Eater of Soggy Salads), either. And I certainly want fresh herbs to continue to be a presence on my plate. So now I am a PSSO (Proud Salad Spinner Owner). And a bona fide dork, for inventing all these preposterous, unpronounceable acronyms.

I'm having salad for lunch today. And maybe tomorrow. And maybe every day after that, too.