Good morning. Winter’s not giving up, not where I stay, but the mornings are coming earlier, and that is the green tip of a daffodil I see emerging from the dirt out by the driveway fence. There are reasons to be cheerful. Even for those who read the news with dread, who listen to Michael Barbaro with their hearts in their throats, there is some reason for hope. In a couple of months, we’ll have asparagus, fava beans, baby lettuces, ramps, fiddleheads and pea greens, the bounty of early spring. We’re moving forward. It will get better.

But not yet. Not until we’ve eaten the last giant celery root, the final bag of potatoes, the end of the carrots, all the cabbages, this vat of simmering German kale. So this time of year I like very much this recipe for creamy braised white beans (above), which calls for canned chickpeas in addition to the white beans. It’s extremely winter-friendly, and would make a fine dinner tonight on its own, though I’d probably add a roast chicken to the meal because it’s Sunday and I’d like to use the bones for stock. Stock always comes in handy.

I’d like to make some gumbo today as well, for Mardi Gras on Tuesday. Gumbo tastes better a few days after it’s made. So maybe this chili gumbo I learned from Jeremy Chauvin, a Louisiana firefighter who won a prize for America’s Best Firehouse Chili back in 2017? It’s outstanding, though you may prefer our recipe for seafood gumbo, or for the duck and Andouille gumbo served at Upperline in New Orleans. We’ve got a lot of recipes for gumbo.

For dinner on Monday, I cannot get enough of David Tanis’s recipe for vegetarian mapo tofu. Especially because it’s light eating and while I don’t usually think this way, Tuesday night ought to be filled with Sazeracs and that gumbo and king cake for dessert. (Here are many more recipes for a Mardi Gras celebration if you don’t want to follow my lead.)