Putting By the Autumn's Harvest Makes it Possible to Bring Back Summer in the Dead of Winter - at Least on the Table.
There’s something slightly pernicious about making dolma in December or January. The zucchini, tomatoes and peppers that comprise the edible receptacles into which the spicy lamb and rice mixture is packed cost dearly in the winter months. Summer is the proper time for dolma. When the baby zucchinis grow so fast and furious that you can barely keep up with the bounty and friends rehearse excuses for not taking any more of the sleek green beauties the second you say hello; that is the proper time for dolma. When the tomatoes and peppers hang heavy on the vine, aching to be picked before they begin to pale; that is the proper time for dolma.
But it’s not even Christmas yet – and already the snow has come fast and thick. We’ve barely dug out from one snow storm, and the radio says that another Nor’easter is about to blow in. This time, they say, it looks more like it’s going to be a snow, sleet and freezing rain “event.” When did storms become events? Parties are events, great times with good friends are events. Life’s milestones are events. Another winter storm is, basically, just an excuse to stay home under the covers; to flip on the TV in the middle of the day…and pray the cable hasn’t gone out; to build a fire in the hearth , make a fresh pot of coffee and pull out that book you’ve been struggling to find the time to read. And, if you’ve planned well, to sneak that frozen bundle of zucchini and sweet, whole peppers out of the freezer, make a pot of dolma, and dream of summer.
