Bringing things to life

Spring is unfolding everywhere. Summer is on the way and the weather is warming up (more often that it is cooling off!) Yippee!

Tomorrow the Havre de Grace Farmer's Market opens from 9am-12pm on Pennington Avenue. It is not as big as the Bel Air market but still a great place to go! Check it out.

Also, I drove by Harman's Farm on Rt 22 in Churchville and saw that it's sign was hung out, "OPEN."

So, there are LOTS of options for getting fresh food locally. I love food! From now until January we will be rolling in produce and all I have to say is, "Bring it on!"

Blog Misc

I have fixed the issue with comments. Now, anyone can comment even if they are not specifically following the blog. I'd love to hear your thoughts and get a dialogue going.

Roast Chicken

On Saturday evening we roasted the chicken that we brought home from Rumbleway. Big J and I agreed that it was very juicy and flavorful. We have leftovers that need to be frozen from that meal and just this morning I used the carcass and a handful of veggies to make stock. It is already frozen and waiting for the next soup night. Having your own stock on hand is a great money saver and ensures that they base of your soups is not too salty or riddled with MSG. This is what I did:

Place chicken parts (bones, skin, etc) in a pot and cover with cold water.
Toss in a chopped onion, carrot, celery and parsley. I had spring onion tops and celery tops frozen from the fall. I didn't have carrot this time so I added a bit of frozen cabbage from the fall as well.
Add 1/4 t of pepper and 1/2 t salt
Cover, bring to a boil, remove lid and simmer uncovered for 4 hours.
The amount of water will be reduced by about half. You will need to turn the temp down if the pot starts to boil and add water if it gets too low.
After 4 hours, remove from heat, let cool and strain into freezer containers.
I got about 4 c. You dilute as necessary for whatever recipes you are cooking up.

I also picked up the book Dishing Up Maryland: 150 Recipes from the Alleghenies to the Chesapeake Bay. It features many of the farms that I frequent and lots of great recipes organized by season. Also included are stories about local farms, farmers and restaurants. A great addition to your cookbook library if you are looking for something new.

Menu Planning

Here's what's on the menu for this week:

Monday: Spanish Tortilla (eggs) and a mesclun salad
Tuesday: Black bean burgers, roast asparagus
Wednesday: Homemade Pizza with very veggie sauce, cheese, fresh sausage
Thursday: Curried Goat (need to find a recipe)
Friday: Spaghetti with meat sauce
Saturday: Chicken...TBA
Sunday: Probably Leftovers

Supersize Me

So, I am a bit behind the times. I heard about the movie Super Size Me when it came out and even listened to radio commentary about the documentary at the time. This morning, we watched the movie. Little J wanted to watch the movie about McD's. We decided it wouldn't harm anything if he saw it.

Had you shown me this film a year ago, I may have been surprised by some of the information. But now, several months into this journey in food that I have embarked upon with movies, books, tv shows and field trips; I found that the documentary simply supported all of the information I have been gathering elsewhere. It is worth the watch if you think that eating fast food with any regularity is at all ok. My opinion though is that the fast food industry is not responsible for whether or not we eat their unhealthy food. I do not agree with the oppressive marketing tactics, the pervasiveness of the brands or the abundance of locations. But the biggest problem I have with fast food (and other highly processed foods) is that they are truly not safe for human consumption: parts of the animal that were never meant to be eaten, washing meat in ammonia, adding chemicals not found in nature to make the food look, smell and feel like edible stuff. I have a problem with this because most people would not question that something being sold at a restaurant under the name 'food' is actually edible. We assume that food is food. We were outraged at the Chinese putting melamine in their food and pet food products but honestly we are not doing any better.

Strangely, in all the thinking that I have been doing about food lately I do not believe that the government should play a huge role in changing what is going on. Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, basically says that the changes that need to be made will come about by people making informed choices. I agree. However, there are a handful of places where I believe government intervention is necessary, they are as follows:

1. We should not subsidize cheap crops: we are enabling the large factory farm corporations to control our food supply and enslave the few farmers we have left.

2. Certain food additives (that are not actually food!) should be illegal: chemical washes, ammonia, antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and petroleum fertilizers are a few. Maybe this would stop the factory farms, they just could not work without these additives.

It is strange to me that other industrialized, highly educated, advanced societies that are like the United States in so many other ways, are actually more advanced than us with regard to the two items above. Why is the United States so behind? What is it going to take to change?

Chicken and a Spring Share

Today and every other Friday after 3pm, Rumbleway Farm will have chickens available. They are fresh on the weekend and frozen in between pick up days. Rumbleway Farm is a grass farm and certified organic. If you are looking for sustainable agriculture, this is it. Visiting the farm is a lot of fun as the animals are just wondering around. There is a farm store that is open year 'round. Check it out!

Yesterday, we picked up our first early spring share with Brad's Produce. In it we got eggs, flowers, asparagus, spinach, radishes, spring onions and mesclun. I put the asparagus, radishes and spring onions to use in this Asparagus & Radish Salad from Eating Well. I thought the taste was fresh and light. My husband thought it tasted like grass. To each his own! EatingWell.com has lots of great seasonal recipes. Just type the ingredient in the search box that you are trying to use and viola! There is also a bi-monthly magazine that you can subscribe to (we do!)

Blog Misc

If you are just starting to follow this blog here is a little info. There is a link on the blog page that allows you to subscribe by email. You will receive blog posts once daily between 7-9am. If you want to add comments be sure to click the link to 'follow this blog' and you will be able to comment on the posts you read. If you reply to the blog emails that are sent, your comments will not be posted. Be sure to come directly to the blog page to post your comments.

Cheers!

A good day in my world of food

Today I picked up the bookThe Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food from the library. I have had it on reserve for a while now and have just been waiting anxiously for it to arrive. Now all I want to do is dig right in and devour all it has to offer! Food books have become a bit of an obsession. I am empowering myself with information. In every book, I have found something. Some thought to latch on to that just makes this whole process of knowing more about the food that I eat more real.

"You and I don't get to sprawl across the sofa masticating pork rinds and watching American Idol unless someone else is growing the food.
As long as the corporations keep their end of the bargain, it's a pretty sweet deal, presuming one overlooks the pallid, depleted nature of the foodstuffs they're providing. But it's becoming increasingly obvious that they won't be able to hold up their end of the bargain forever or, if recent events are any indication, even for much longer. This leaves us facing a rather daunting truth: The fact is that we need to rethink our entire food-supply chain for reasons of economic security, health security, and even social security. We need to reinvent how we grow and distribute food; we need to re-scale and decentralize." - Ben Hewitt, The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food

I am on page 23 now and will keep you posted as I go along. Another book on my shelf right now is Alice Waters and Chez Panisse but I have not had the opportunity to jump into that one yet.

Dinner tonight? Ziti noodles with tomato sauce from Brad's Produce, homemade meatballs with meat from Sunny Hill Farm, a garden salad with bibb lettuce from the Bel Air Farmer's market. Oh and I made another batch of granola bars. Dig in!

Hamburgers in Paradise

Last night's dinner was the quintessential hamburger. I was looking for a simple burger recipe and I found it here Basic Grilled Burgers The recipe calls for ground beef, salt and pepper. The instructions for cooking them are simple and create absolutely delicious burgers. I topped mine with mayo, ketchup and mustard. The beef was from Sunny Hill Farm (pastured) and shined through. Along with the burgers we had over fries cut into sticks (like "real" french fries) tossed with olive oil and salt and roasted in the oven for 10-15 min on 400. Carrot sticks, cole slaw or salad would be a great side vegetable to this easy, done in twenty minutes meal.

For those of you bargain shoppers out there, Weis (in Havre de Grace) currently has Stonyfield Farm Organic individual yogurt cups 10 for $6. Might not be local but it is second best at a great price.

Asparagus Soup

I love pureed vegetable soups. My kids tend to eat them more readily than chunkier counterparts and they can be made with just about any vegetable in any season. We had asparagus soup last night, blueberry muffins and local cheese. The biggest fan was E, she had not yet tried asparagus but gobbled up the biggest bowl of all the children.

Here is recipe I used from gourmet magazine:

cream of asparagus soup (creme d'asperges) Gourmet | March 2001

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 50 min

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients
2 lb green asparagus
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 to 6 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
preparation
Cut tips from 12 asparagus

1 1/2 inches from top and halve tips lengthwise if thick. Reserve for garnish.

Cut stalks and all remaining asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces.

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add 5 cups broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

While soup simmers, saute reserved asparagus tips until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes.

Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth, transferring to a bowl (use caution when blending hot liquids), and return to pan. Stir in crème fraîche, then add more broth to thin soup to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil and whisk in remaining tablespoon butter.

Add lemon juice and garnish with asparagus tips.

Cooks' note:
• Soup keeps, covered and chilled, 2 days. If making ahead, add last tablespoon butter and lemon juice after reheating.

Spinach Frittata and Potato Salad

I love when I can pull together a mostly local, seasonal meal and tonight was the night. There were a few ingredients that did not come from Harford County but they were the exception. Tonight we had Spinach Frittata and Potato Salad. The Spinach Frittata recipe came from simplyrecipes.com. Even though the kids didn't devour every last bite, they also did not turn their noses up at it. The eggs were from Andy's Eggs (purchased at Broom's Bloom), milk from Brooms Bloom and the peas from Brads last year and frozen.

In addition I whipped up the spring potato salad recipe that is found in the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life [ANIMAL VEGETABLE MIRACLE] and also online at animalvegetablemiracle.com. It included potatoes and peas from Brad's Produce and mint from my own garden. The flavors in both were fresh and the meal was simple and satisfying. Another night of hunger avoided thanks to good food and the time and resources necessary to put it on the table. Amen!

Bread

I made my way over to Brad's Produce today. It was opening day and I ran over there just so that I could see what they had and to pick up asparagus and potatoes. I lucked out, Brad's also carries a wide assortment of canned goods, many of which are their own produce. I picked up a jar of tomato sauce to have on hand. I am scheduled to receive Brad's early spring CSA that starts next Thursday. It is the first time they are doing one and I am excited to be in on the early bounty.

But, the main topic I wanted to talk about tonight is bread. Fresh, homemade bread. There really is nothing in the world that compares to bread right out of the oven. It fills the whole house with homey smells that make you feel warm and secure. My husband and I can plow through a loaf in an evening. Sometimes we adorn it with butter, jellies or peanut butter. Sometimes we just eat it. Either way, it is adsolutely, heal your soul delicious. The next day, it is still good but...

Right before M was born I got in the habit of making bread on Sundays. I would make two loaves that we would have for the week. I got out of the habit when my stove went up but then revived the habit at intervals since then. Bread does not take long to make if you count only the work invested. However, it does take time to sit, rise and bake. I usually start in the morning on a day that I know I am not going anywhere for a few hours. Sundays work great and even when I don't get the whole process done before church, Big J can take the finished loaves out when they are brown and crusty.

I am not bread expert but I did find a neat website that describes bread making and has video clips to follow. I make loaves for sandwiches and toast, pizza dough, rolls and pepperoni rolls. There are a number of books out there or you can search the web for just the right recipe. The trick with bread is that you have to know the signs: when is it done rising? how does does elastic, smooth dough feel? what is the "hollow" sound that bakers describe when they knock on a finished loaf? Learning these things is all in the doing. You can start with a bread machine or you can complete the whole process start to finish by hand.

The recipe below is the recipe that I use from AllRecipes.com. I have made MANY variations. Read the reviews (posted on the link above) and pick and choose which changes make sense to you. Here are some of mine: half the honey and/or use sugar; use 4 c. of bread flour and 1 c. of wheat in the first step; add 1/4 c. wheat gluten and 1/4 c. sunflower seeds at step 2; substitute some of the wheat flour with oat, rye or other types of flour; use mostly bread flour. Some of my loaves came out too crumbly when I added too much oat flour and other times my bread did not rise quickly in the cold house. Bread is not an exact science kind of food. You will certainly enjoy eating the mistakes though!



* 3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
* 1/3 cup honey
* 5 cups bread flour
* 3 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1 tablespoon salt
* 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
* 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

Appreciation

As I scrape the remains of another meal into the compost bin, I have a greater appreciation and reverence for the food that I make myself. There is a stronger desire to savor the flavors and make it last longer than items I purchase pre-made or from the restaurant. Even if making the food costs a fraction of the price to buy store bought, I somehow find myself valuing the home made version more possibly because of the time investment, possibly because of the connection that I now have with that food.

I am particularly attached to the bread that I bake on Sundays. In is not difficult to make and the time investment for three loaves is about 30 minutes of work time plus babysitting (rising and baking). I often find myself thinking that I will keep some bread on hand to share with neighbors and friends in need but I just have such a hard time parting with it.

In spite of my stinginess, I think that slowing down to appreciate the food is a valuable exercise. Too often, I see food being devoured as though it will always be bountiful. But now, I cringe at the wasted food on my children's plates. Aside from the affront to my own cooking ability that I need to just plain get over; I can better see the value and cost of what is wasted in money, time, the life of an animal and the love imbued being thrown out.

Spring bounty

The Bel Air Farmer's Market on Saturday was a success and I was able to come home with lettuce, green onions, cookies, potatoes and asparagus. Yum! I cooked some of the potatoes and the asparagus last night with steak on the grill. An easy local meal. I sauteed the asparagus in olive oil and garlic for a quick, simple way to serve the stalks. I will whip up cream of asparagus soup later in the week. I don't know if you can preserve asparagus by freezing or canning but the thought of squishy asparagus is not appetizing so I will just enjoy it while it is here.

Brad's Produce opens this week (April 14) with the following hours:
Daily Hours:
Mon - Sat 8am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Sunny Hill is already open 10-6 and the Farmer's Market will be going again on Saturday.

It's Time

Tomorrow, the Bel Air Farmer's Market opens for the season. You can find out more at this website BelAirFarmersMarket.com. So check it out! We'll be there perusing the chickens, plants and whatever fresh fruits and veggies we can find (asparagus, anyone?).

We stopped in to Wilson's Farm Market today and picked up ice cream from Keyes Creamery and a handful of fresh baked cookies. Yum!

Yesterday's meal great for the spring season and a staple in our house. Broccoli, Sausage and Shells I purchased the sausage from Broom's Bloom and the remaining ingredients I had on hand. I served the sausage dish with TVP (Texturized Vegetable Protein) instead of sausage for my sister, who is vegetarian. Along with the main course, I also served a spinach salad with mango (not local), chopped pecans, fresh homemade mozzarella (Thanks, Dad!) and homemade poppy seed dressing. It was truly gourmet! Typically, I use spinach, pecans and strawberries in the salad but I was feeling creative and used what I had on hand.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Where to get your grub

Spring is well upon us now and with all the warm weather we have been having the blossoms are out, plants are sprouting through the earth and fresh food is just around the corner. But, where are you supposed to find it? I can tell you about several farms local to Harford County, Maryland but if you are looking for something closer to your neck of the woods there are several websites to check out. The first place I look for farm information is localharvest.org. On this website you can search nationwide for farms in your area by the specific things you are looking for. The drawback is that not every farm is listed. This is the problem with all of the sites, none are comprehensive. If you are in Maryland you can also try MarylandsBest.net and in Harford County HarfordFarms.com. One more website to check out for additional information, links, recipes, etc is BelAirFarmersMarket.com.

There are other ways to find the local source for your foods. Just driving down the road you may catch a farm stand or sign. Try doing a Google search for local foods in your area. Check out your state and county department of agriculture. Talk to friends and see where they shop. Even Facebook has listings for local farming groups. Post your finds here and share what you have found. I have a list on the right hand side of this page for my favorite farms.

Carrot Soup

Tonight's dinner would have been perfect on a cold fall evening when the sun set early in the day and the air was damp. But I chose to serve it on the hottest day of the year, so far, revving up my oven in the near 90 temp and forcing us into the cool of the basement to eat. I chose carrot soup and corn bread with cheese and orange slices. What's that you say? Not a local, seasonal meal! You are correct. The carrots were organic but from California. I just desired this meal. It will be the last time I serve carrot soup until carrots are in season again. The upside is that tonight was another clean plate dinner with little J finishing his portion and asking for more cornbread, M eating at least some of the meal and gobbling up the oranges and E devouring the soup, signing "more" after some of the bites.

The cornbread is a staple in our house and the recipe comes from Fanny Farm. The edition I have of this cookbook is from 1940. Thankfully my edition is new enough to have oven temperatures. This is my 'go to' cookbook for all basic food recipes. Here is the cornbread recipe with my own modifications:

Mix 3/4 c. corn meal, 1/2 c. white flour, 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, 1/3 c. sugar, 1 T baking powder, 3/4 t salt. In a separate bowl beat with a wisk: 1 c. milk, 1 egg, 2 T fat (oil, butter, etc). Pour liquid into flour mixture and mix. Bake in shallow buttered pan (I use 8x8 glass dish) in a hot oven (425) for 20 min.

As for the soup, I found that recipe here on Easy-French-Food.com It is simple and delicious although the season really dictates that asparagus soup would be more appropriate. I will make that soon, I am sure and post the recipe as well.

Meatballs

My kids are picky eaters. I never thought bc (before children) that I would succumb to meatballs, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pb&j on a daily basis. But, here I am five years into the parenting thing and my children eat pb&j almost daily. There were bags of meatballs and chicken nuggets from the big box store in the freezer until recently. The battle for what to feed the children is constant. On one hand, I want my kids to clean their plates. On the other hand, I want them to eat what I put on the table. Tonight was a blessing, I made sloppy joes and carrot sticks and to my great surprise little J ate it with a smile on his face. He always surprises me.

The bags of meatballs and chicken nuggets are gone. I would like to feed the wee ones what they want and crave but I don't want to feed them a lot of salt, spare meat parts, factory farmed animals and preservatives. The solution that I have is making my own. I can get pastured beef and poultry and the reminder of the ingredients is a short list. Tonight, I made two pounds of meatballs. The recipe was a simple one that I found online here All Recipes Meatballs. I replaced the turkey with the beef that I had in the freezer. I added minced onion. I didn't have Italian seasoned breadcrumbs but I did have bread crumbs so I just threw in a bit of spices and called it a day. They are done and cooling on the stove now. I will freeze them tonight and have them ready to pull out for lunch whenever they are called for.

As for the big what to feed the kids dilemma our family has solved it this way. Breakfast is a big meal that the kids tend to love with oatmeal, eggs, cereal and bacon being top on the list. Lunch is whatever the kids want, within reason. Dinner is whatever I am serving and we all eat the same. The kids actually do eat vegetables, maybe not as many as some children, but they do it them. It is a good feeling.

Thoughts

The foods that are widely available today provide the calories that may sustain us but these foods do not nourish us. I am finding that I am approaching food with an near religious devotion. There are so many philosophical, ethical, evironmental and other issues to consider before we even get to the taste and texture departments. I am reminded of the biblical concept that we are God's stewards of the earth. I need to look up this passage but I am sure to my bones that being a good steward does not involve excess and convenience to the detriment of those around us or our own bodies.

In the garden, my spinach, mesclun and onions are all sprouting. I hope that they continue!

Sunny Hill Farm is now open 10-6pm and is taking orders for 1/4 and 1/2 sides of beef. Brad's Produce opens April 14. Bring on the food!

Fresh

I was searching for what specific topic to post on tonight and it arrived in my facebook message box. The topic is, Fresh, a documentary on food. As you may know already there are several documentaries on food already exposing the ugly underbelly that seems to run our food systems these days. I have not actually watched this documentary, yet. However, there is a trailer on the website and what I took away from that brief screening was that Fresh is a hopeful movie about change. It seems to take up where Food, Inc left off and provide information about changes that are taking place and what we individually can do. If I can find 100 people here locally that would like to see this movie, we can set up a screening. Anyone interested?

Speaking of fresh, I have the gardening bug. Little J and I spent 5 minutes this afternoon putting spinach, mesclun and peas in the pots we have on the back porch. I also picked up purple basil and nasturtium seeds while I was out shopping. I know now that my best growing spots still only get part sun but I am hopeful. I'll move the pots around to find the best growing conditions. How about you? Can you plant $1 worth of seeds tomorrow?

Since this is a blog about cooking, it would not be right to miss and opportunity to share a few recipes. I mentioned beans in a recent post. I cook beans by the pound. It is a healthy and inexpensive way to have beans ready when you need them. In the morning, I soak the beans. This is an easy process you place the rinsed beans in a big pot with enough water to cover them by a couple of inches. Bring them to a boil for 2 minutes then turn off and let sit for several hours. When you are ready to cook them you drain them, place them in a pressure cooker (you could have used this for soaking, too) and cover with enough water to cover. Bring to pressure and cook according to your pressure cooker book usually 1-9 minutes depending on the beans. If I need the beans for a recipe that day I will separate that amount off and then freeze the rest in 2 c. batches. The pressure cooker I use is Presto 6-Quart Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker although you could also cook the beans the traditional way that takes many hours. I freeze many foods using a FoodSaver V2040 Vacuum-Packaging System that I received as a wedding present. The vacuum sealer keeps the foods fresher for much longer than just using zip lock bags.