By Caleb took his first crawl on Wednesday. Four proper crawl-steps before sitting back down and looking up with an expression that said, I have discovered something. CJ filmed it and sent it to me and to Destiny and to the Carters and I believe it circulated further than that because by Thursday three separate people had texted me about a baby crawling video, all of which were the same seven seconds of Caleb moving like a small confident person across the kitchen floor toward a pot on a low shelf that he had apparently been planning to reach for some time.
He reached for the pot. Of course he did. His first purposeful crawl was toward the kitchen and a pot. I told Shanice this was genetically predictable and she said she was prepared for a kitchen assistant who was significantly below counter height for several years and this was fine with her. CJ said he is going to have a baby gate on every kitchen entrance by next week. I said that seemed both reasonable and insufficient.
I called James this week and told him about Caleb. He asked how old and I said nine months next week. He said, Dorothy wants to see him. I said, then come. He said, maybe in the summer? I said yes, come in the summer, stay for a week, eat from the garden. He said, Dorothy has been talking about your tomato preserves since last year. I said, I'll have them ready. He said, she'll want to be in your kitchen. I said, my kitchen is the right place for someone who is well and wants to be in a kitchen. It always is. That is the truest thing I know about this kitchen: it is for people who are well enough to be there, and being there can help make you well enough if you aren't yet. The door is open. It has always been open.
With James and Dorothy’s summer visit on my mind all week, I found myself gravitating toward the kind of cooking that reminds me why I keep this kitchen open—the slow, steady, good-smelling kind that fills the house and says someone is here and someone is expected. This Winter Vegetable Medley is exactly that: nothing fancy, just honest vegetables from a garden treated with care, the sort of dish that belongs on a table where people are finally back together. I’ve been making some version of it for years, and every time I do, it feels like a quiet promise kept.
Winter Vegetable Medley
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
- 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 1 medium red onion, cut into wedges
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly oil it.
- Prep the vegetables. Peel and cut all vegetables into roughly equal 1-inch pieces so they cook evenly. Place carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, butternut squash, red onion, and garlic on the prepared baking sheet.
- Season and toss. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme, and smoked paprika. Toss well until every piece is evenly coated. Spread into a single layer, leaving space between pieces so they roast rather than steam.
- Roast until golden. Roast for 35—40 minutes, flipping the vegetables once halfway through, until they are tender at the center and caramelized at the edges. The garlic should be golden and soft.
- Finish and serve. Transfer to a serving dish and scatter fresh parsley over the top. Serve warm straight from the pan, or at room temperature—it holds beautifully either way.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 175 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 5g | Sodium: 310mg