Ingredients

I've heard that good things come in small packages. Good things can also, however, come in eight boxes and a large blue bag.

I happily spent the better part of an hour on Sunday, unpacking boxes and figuring how best to stow the contents away in my fridge. As a matter of fact, things stowed much more easily than I was expecting; I've recently moved into an apartment with a kitchen actually deserving of the name, and there's approximately ten thousand more cubic feet available in this fridge than in any of my previous ones. There's even room left over, which will come in handy over the course of the week, as Shiv and I prep and store. To give you an idea of what we're talking about here:

Note the Wall O' Dairy to the left, as well as one of its colonies, the Isle of Paper-Wrapped Cheese. Not pictured here is the gratifying, and exceptionally fragrant, pile of produce and fresh herbs off to the right. There really is nothing as viscerally satisfying as a deep waft of sage leaves.

Over the next few days, Shiv and I are going to post our progress (and our recipes!), and take plenty of pictures. The menu runs the gamut of family-traditional to fancy-and-fun: think green bean casserole (with the french-fried onions on top, of course), and Coach-Farm-Triple-Cream-Goat-Cheese-stuffed-figs, wrapped in prosciutto and drizzled with honey and aged balsamic. Some we're inventing on the fly: Mint Julep Pie, anyone? Others are standards to which we've added our own twists: a splash of bourbon to the cranberry sauce? Absolutely. Homemade dulce de leche in that bread pudding? Yes please. Extra-sharp cheddar in those stuffed mushrooms? You bet!

Shiv has already whipped up the dulce, and some fantastic marshmallows. Tonight, I begin my prep in earnest -- the herb butter is what kicks it off. Hold on to your hats!

(oh, and p.s.: Next time I'll remember to clean the lens on my camera phone. Hah.)