What I didn’t anticipate is the many systems of checks and balances on a food processor. If one part isn’t clicked in the exact right spot, the darn thing won’t turn on. It’s a frustrating puzzle figuring out which piece is gumming up the works.
Shredding cabbage is pretty straightforward, but you have to cut it into small enough pieces to fit in the top loading chute. By the time I’ve done all that, and figured out how to get the machine to start, I pretty much could have just shredded the cabbage by hand. Or driven to the store for the far more convenient bags of the pre-shredded stuff.
I added some shredded carrots, which I also shredded myself, and some shredded radishes, along with some parsley, and then finished it off with a dressing made primarily of vinegar, olive oil, agave – because I was out of honey, and dill and celery seed.
And then I surveyed the kitchen. The counter and floor were covered with the detritus of today’s project. After washing every single part of the food processor by hand, I also need to sweep the floor and take care of the counter. Once I had finished the clean-up, I tasted the end product - an enormous bowl of mediocre coleslaw. All told, I spent two hours on an often-overlooked side dish for a church supper that will likely be poorly attended because of today’s snow. Doh!