Schenectady Food Swap, July

Tonight I went to the From Scratch Club food swap in Schenectady. I hardly ever go out that way, so it was fun to have a reason to go. I brought the mosaic frames I made on July 4th, vanilla extract, and quinoa and kidney bean veggie burgers. My friend Jessica showed up since she works out there, so that made it even more fun!

I always liked this Woody Allen quote, though I realize now I have all along been taking it to mean the opposite of what he meant. About winning awards: "I cannot abide by the judgment of other people, because if you accept it when they say you deserve an award, then you have to accept it when they say you don't.'' -- Woody Allen, shrugging off Sleeper's lack of Oscar nominations, 1974. People were crazy for my lavender lemonade, way crazier than I could have predicted. Sometimes they want things more than you expect, and sometimes less. People went crazy for the frames last time, so crazy they were asking for my non-existent crafting business card. This time I still have "You melt my heart like hot butter in a pan" on my wall, and I'm happy to still have it.

My point is just that you never know. You can bring a few different items, and you won't be able to predict which of your items people will like more than the others.The thing is if you think the food swap is a popularity contest or is about getting specific items, you are probably doing it wrong. I think it is really about community engagement, and sometimes learning about recipes you never thought of. There is a labor/time/expense trade going on there, but if you were really concerned with those things you would start a business. Being a homecook (or crafter, or soap maker) and having a way to share your skills seems mostly about making new friends and trying new foods. That all being said, check out the loot I scored.

That is: curry croutons, granola, berry sangria (with a painted bottle, way cool!), zucchini, cucumber, swiss chard, chives, and oregano.  All in all a great swap!