{"id":34104,"date":"2026-09-07T09:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T09:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/?p=34104"},"modified":"2026-09-08T21:14:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T21:14:04","slug":"meanwhile-back-in-the-cabbage-patch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/meanwhile-back-in-the-cabbage-patch\/","title":{"rendered":"Meanwhile, Back in the Cabbage Patch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nMiles said I could start with the big panorama of one of the patches of cabbage that came up with the breakfast fritters. You need to remember we are changing seasons here at Socotra House. The Creative Section is huddled with Production, attempting to get the manuscript for my Cooking With Oil book through this surreal, all-encompassing season of holidays.<\/p>\n

With the Amazon airplane that slid off the runway in Miami, we were confronted with the awful immediacy of driving on a busy metro road and being sawn in half by a 32-year-old Boeing 767. Five were reported dead in the immediate response, with another five injured, three critically.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThe jet had seen passenger service with several airlines before being converted to freight service, so we will see what investigators determine from examination of the wreckage and interviews with the two pilots, who were reported among the injured.<\/p>\n

The matricide trial of Lindsay Clancy also deserves a mention as we lurch into some other chapter of how justice will be served. There could be another trial, of course, with a jury or before a judge. The immediate controversy is about Lindsay and her mental issues. Polling here at the Creative Section is that she should have been committed someplace safe and secure and never let out. Even that seems merciful, considering \u201crehabilitation\u201d seems a little optimistic in exchange for the next five or six quiet decades on the public dole.<\/p>\n

So, that is what led to the cabbage patch.<\/p>\n

In addition to adding to the MAHA portfolio in the Galley, I have found cabbage to be one of those useful agricultural miracles. It is inexpensive, durable, available through much of the year and capable of feeding a surprising number of people from a single head.<\/p>\n

The green balls also refuse to stay in one culinary lane. Green, red, Savoy and Napa cabbage can emerge as slaw, soup, kraut, goulash, fried cabbage, a companion to pork or sausage or\u2014as here\u2014tossed together with bacon and noodles for a remarkably substantial meal.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nThere is an agricultural story behind all that. Cabbage is a cool-weather crop, comfortable in spring and fall, easily stored and historically important precisely because it could survive after more delicate produce disappeared. Fermentation extended that usefulness still further and carried cabbage into the food traditions of Europe, Asia and eventually the American kitchen.<\/p>\n

At the Socotra Galley, however, we have discovered another property.<\/p>\n

Deirdre buys one head.<\/p>\n

We serve slaw, soup, kraut, goulash and bacon-and-noodles.<\/p>\n

There is still half a head in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n

Rocket says this violates several known laws of physics.<\/p>\n

I say it is agriculture!<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nNow, I gotta go if there is going to be a good side for whatever we are going to do on the grill under the bright blue skies of LABOR DAY!<\/p>\n

The memories of 9\/11\u2014and those we lost in the attack as they worked up near Vic\u2019s old office on the Pentagon\u2019s 4th deck\u2014are waiting at the end of the week. That remembrance, the first of the official Fall observances, is coming soon enough. Today, we plan to enjoy the day with something green.<\/p>\n

That could be a chapter in our next book, the one to follow Oil. I will still be cooking with oil, of course, but also using the air fryer and slow cookers to churn out tasty things for the dozen or so people who float through the Conference Room and Cube Farm at The Trillium.<\/p>\n

I think I will call it Cooking for a Crowd.<\/p>\n

And it will contain more material from The Cabbage Report!<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miles said I could start with the big panorama of one of the patches of cabbage that came up with the breakfast fritters. You need to remember we are changing seasons here at Socotra House. The Creative Section is huddled with Production, attempting to get the manuscript for my Cooking With Oil book through this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34104"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34110,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34104\/revisions\/34110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}