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!"
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, April 26, 2010
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
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
Sunday, April 25, 2010
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?
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?
Friday, April 23, 2010
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!)
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!)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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!
Cheers!
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