Strawberry Picking and MORE Vegetables

I was giddy today. I ran to Broom's Bloom Dairy and Brad's Produce to pick up sausage, butter and vegetables for tonight's dinner. What did I find? Tomatoes! From Brad's! Wahoo! And they had broccoli, too. It was a jack pot. I also bought potatoes, spring onions, asparagus, spinach and lettuce. The share I had with Brad's for early spring ended two weeks ago and the share I have with Sunny Hill will start next week so we were in NEED of some fresh food.

Now, on to the strawberries. I took the children and my sister and we made our way to Harman's on Rt 22 for strawberry picking yesterday. There was a bit of a break in the on and off rain that we've been having and I was hoping the strawberries had gotten enough sun to be ready. There were a lot of rotten ones and the flavor wasn't quite as sweet as usual but we came home with about 14 pounds of berries anyway and it only took about an hour. I am planning to pick again on Thursday at Sunny Hill.

Aside from little M eating her bucket full on the drive home we did manage to bring home enough berries for 2 batches of freezer jam, 1 pie and two cookie sheets full to freeze. Aside from the pie, the jam and frozen berries took about an hour to prepare. I make freezer jam following the recipe in the box of lower sugar pectin. It does not use artificial sweeteners but does use less sugar than regular jams and jellies. Freezer jam requires no special equipment and is quick to make. Be sure to follow the instructions VERY carefully. This is not the time to be creative.

Freezing the berries is also an easy way to preserve them. Wash, hull and drain any water off of the berries. I lined two cookie sheets with parchment paper then arranged the berries in a single layer on the sheets. Freeze for 24 hours and put into freezer bags or vacuum bags.

Other fun things to make: strawberry short cake, homemade Jello with strawberry chunks, strawberry oatmeal, strawberry spinach salad with poppy seed dressing, strawberry yogurt, strawberry ice cream, the list goes on and on. Or, just eat them 'til you pop!

Palak Paneer

I decided to try making Palak Paneer to use up all that cheese. Palak Paneer is an Indian dish made with Spinach and Cheese. I love spinach recipes. The more I eat spinach, the more I love it. The dishes are always so rich and homey. I found the recipe for Palak Paneer on the blog TooManyChefs.net and the dish was absolutely delicious. The only one in the house who didn't readily eat it was little J. Baby E is getting all sorts of wonderful foods to try and loving all of them. I know it is unlikely but I do hope she continues to eat and try new things as she grows.

Due to the weather, we have not gone strawberry picking yet and a busy schedule is going to keep me from going this weekend but I do hope to get out soon while the crop is still good and pick a bunch. I'll have to post the recipe for my mother's strawberry pie. Nothing beats it even if we do disagree over the pastry crust recipe :-)

Paneer

Today I made cheese. I read about making cheese in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.) and that was the first time that the thought crossed my mind that making cheese was a doable thing and not a magical process that happens somewhere beyond the grocery store shelves.

In the beginning of April, after reading the same book above, my dad made paneer and then mozarella. I was jealous and inspired. Cheese was food that I wanted to check off my list of things I had tried to make at least once. Now, with Dad paving the way (and finding the recipe!) I had the motivation I needed.

Paneer is a simple Indian cheese. In fact the whole process took me just over an hour and most of that time was in heating the milk and then letting it drain. The flavor of this cheese comes from the food that it is added to although you could add your own spices. I added salt this time. We had the cheese fresh over spinach and strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing and a side of corn muffins. It is easy to find recipes for paneer but basically what I did was

1 - bring one gallon of fresh milk (whole, organic from Brooms Bloom) to 185 F and held it there for 10 min stirring occasionally.
2 - add 1/4-1/2 c. white vinegar to curdle the milk (it will separate into whey and white curds)
3 - Added 1 t salt (more or less to taste)
4 - poured the curdled milk into a cheese bag set over a strainer and let set for 1 hour

That's it! I have a lot of cheese from that one gallon. Next time I will make a smaller batch. Baby E loves it and we will have to make an Indian dish or two to use it up.

Pick Your Own Strawberries

Strawberries are a fun and easy pick your own fruit. This year I am planning to take the kids and pick at least twice. I am planning to make several batches of freezer jam and then just freeze a bunch more to have for the winter. Around here, the cost is $1.40-1.50 a lb. The pick your own website below has great locations, recipes and information. Be sure to check it out! Also, bring your own container. A flat box works best so that you do not crush the berries.

You can find information about pick your own food at this website PickYourOwn.org but if you live in Harford County here are some great local choices. Be sure to call ahead for times and weather info the day you go.

Sunny Hill Farm (Maybe CSA Members Only)
410-382-0856
Starting next week
$1.50

Lohrs Orchard
410-836-2783
Monday(May 17) 6pm-8:30pm - call ahead for additional times
$1.40

Brads Produce
410-734-Grow
8am-6pm daily
$1.50

Harman's Farm
(410) 734-7400
10am-5:45pm daily
$1.40 lb

Mother's Day Tea

Every year for the past 4 years I have provided a Mother's Day Tea for myself and the other local moms in my family. It started as a way to honor my mother, grandmother and sister but this year I wanted to add to the day all that I have been learning about food over the past several months. So, with that in mind I set out to create a local, seasonal menu to share. There were a handful of exceptions to my rule but for the most part the meal was a success from a sustainability standpoint. Here is what I served:

An assortment of teas with lemon slices, cream and demerara sugar
Finger sandwiches on wheat bread - chicken salad, egg salad, cucumber mint and peanut butter and jelly (for the kids!)
Apricot Sage Scones with butter & clotted cream
Cream of Spinach Soup (from the book Dishing Up Maryland: 150 Recipes from the Alleghenies to the Chesapeake Bay)
Lemon Squares (Made by Mom, yum!)
Rhubarb Bread
Fruit and Vegetable Tray - strawberries, asparagus, radishes, carrots, banana and celery

It was not a day for eating lightly but the food was rich and delicious. If you want any of the recipes, just ask.

I love the days leading up to the tea when I gather the ingredients and bake, bake, bake. It is so rewarding to plan and prepare this meal; to bring all the flavors together in such a tasty way. I love going out to my garden to cut the fresh herbs for the scones, soup and sandwiches. It is a great opportunity to celebrate fresh foods and to slow down and enjoy the process of each step including slowing down to eat and enjoy.

A day in the life of a local food junkie

This morning I got up, added water to the pot of chicken parts from the chicken we ate the night before, a handful of veggies (spring onions, carrot, cabbage, celery) and a bit of seasoning and started the pot boiling to make stock. The kids had boxed cereal for breakfast. It is one habit I seem unable to change. I had oatmeal, still not local but a bit less processed. I also boiled a few eggs and put my husband's lunch together. The time was 6:45 am when Big J walked out the door and I sat down to eat my own food. Buying locally and eating less processed foods is a what we do. I make bits of food in the in between moments. The stock finished before lunch and it is sitting in the fridge waiting to be decanted into containers for the freezer. We visit farms, plant seeds outside, go for walks and try to avoid the tv.

Just before ten, after E had her morning nap and the rest of us were dressed, we headed out to return books to the library and stop at Brad's Produce for our weekly share. Driving up I was thrilled to see the sign that strawberries had arrived on the spring time scene. The children were excited, too, and keeping their hands out of the strawberry baskets while I procured rhubarb and more spinach was nearly impossible. We dug into the bright, sweet berries on the drive back home stopping to share a few with a neighbor and spread the word that, 'Strawberries are here!' In the next 1-2 weeks they will be available at Brad's Produce for pick your own.

I am planning this year to pick enough to freeze some whole and make several batches of strawberry freezer jam. I guess it is time to install those pantry cabinets so we have room for the jars and other supplies as well as the food once it is preserved. I also plan to make at least one strawberry pie, the way my mom makes it with a glaze, not cooked; strawberry short cake and a big batch of strawberry ice cream. It is so fun to revel in food and to just enjoy the taste, texture and abundance that each season brings.

We ate lunch outside after swinging and looking for frogs in the backyard and then I was finally able finish the book, The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food. I can't say it was my favorite book. The author, Ben Hewitt, had some interesting points to make. The descriptions of the main players in the town of Hardwick were endearing but I found the text to be redundant. I was looking for a, 'how to create a local food system' and what I got was a bit less. The article Building a Healthy Food System in Rural America in the July/August issue of Eating Well Magazine offered about the same amount of information in a fraction text. It is worth reading.

Now on to other tasks of the day which I hope will include a stop up to Sunny Hill farm for dill and a few other plants and eggs.

Meals for the Week

Meals for the Week:
Monday: Steak on the grill, sauted asparagus, brown rice
Tuesday: TexMex Egg Casserole, wilted spinach with toasted sunflower seeds, fresh bread
Wednesday: Roast Chicken
Thursday: Italian Sausage with asparagus and onions over noodles
Friday: Spinach Salad, cheese and muffins
Saturday: Baked flounder, potato oven fries, green beans (from frozen)
Sunday: Mother's Day Tea

This will be the third week of our early spring CSA with Brad's produce, we are stopping up to Sunny Hill later in the week to pick up flowers, eggs and cheese and over to Broom's Bloom for milk. Looks like another trip to Millers Natural Market in Bird in Hand, Pennsylvania is in order too. Cooking seasonally is getting easier the more that I do it. I am jotting down the items that I have been buying from the store that I could be having at home: sphaghetti sauce, frozen vegatables, etc. This year I hope to preserve a lot more of what we eat. We will be installing cabinets in the basement soon to hold jars and other pantry items soon. I can see a benefit in grocery store shopping in that you do not need to find the space in your own home to put up all this food.