This culinary blog is more like a break-from-culinary blog. I’ve been enjoying the last week of sleeping in past sunrise and leisurely making cappuccinos for myself to drink outside in my backyard. I was looking forward to cooking all sorts of things for my friends and family that I learned in school while home, but by some strange coincidence, the stove and oven broke the day before I got home. This left us to pull out our camp stove burner and cook over our outdoor grill, making our house feel like a cottage in the middle of Rockville. We made grilled vegetable and chicken kabobs one night, Puerto Rican rice and beans (my mom’s recipe!) the next night, and a spicy shrimp pasta night. The relaxation around everyone at home has also added to this laidback ambiance, as everyone has taken the week to slow down and recharge. My mom is a professional chef while my brother works in construction, so all of us use our bodies in our work, and weeks like this where we respect each other’s space to decompress are essential.

As I pack the car back up to leave for Vermont, I am adjusting my outlook and learning to travel with fewer material items but more openness to the new experiences ahead. I’m packing up just the essentials, like my favorite pots and pans and sweaters for the brisk New England springtime. I made sure to leave enough room to stuff my bike into the back of my car, too. It will be a great time to use my car as little as possible and enjoy all that the enormous farm offers as it warms up for the summer.