Ready or not: prepping the larder for winter

This six-shelf orchard rack holds a super ton of potatoes, onions, squash and such at basement temperatures.

This was the last weekend for the Midtown farmers market, so it was stock-up time. Two big bags of meat from the Hilltop Pastures people, our requisite lamb for New Year's Day from the lamb lady, and all the fresh produce we could stuff in bags from Pflaum Farms and other favorites. It's hard to say goodbye until next spring, especially since that means there's something nasty going to happen in the meantime.

Luckily, this weekend's weather belied the calendar, and we got in some all important riding time so I didn't spend all the time in the kitchen. And when the inevitable does happen, at least my freezer is filled with vats of comforting soups, summer tomatoes preserved in silky sauces and little jars of pesto to evoke summer memories when that's all summer is reduced to. And well, the wine helps.

This is my version of winter whites, stashed in our inelegant below-the-stairs cellar.