A Fete for Food

How To Build A Raised Garden Bed For Under $100

2012-06-01T17:12:00.002-04:00

In the midst of wedding planning and a few crazed bridezilla-eque moments, I managed to take some time to get my hands into the dirt. Or, the cow manure compost pile.

One day a few weeks ago, I took a couple hours to volunteer with Growing Places Garden Project (GPGP) and installed a raised bed community garden at a senior housing site in Gardner. Growing Places Garden Project works locally and installs manageable-sized raised beds for families that qualify for their program. The beds are installed by volunteers and then each family works with a GPGP mentor throughout the growing season.

After engaging in this experience, I decided it was time to install one of my own. I have now gone over two years without my own garden plot and it was time to get back to growing some of my own food. I love the concept of the community garden (heck, I started one in Leominster in 2006) but for me I need something closer to home. Well, nothing's closer than the back yard.

So I scoured the internet for designs and ideas for building this little plot, and here's what I came up with. Here's what you'll need to build your own.

3 untreated pine 2"x8'x6", one cut into equal 4" lengths (have the hardware store rep do it)
8 - L-shaped mounting brackets (come in packs of 4, each with 4 screw holes)
an electric screwdriver
some cardboard boxes

Once I assembled the frame on the driveway, I hauled it up to the south side of our house. The south side usually receives the best and most direct sunlight. From here, I started breaking down boxes that some of the bridal shower gifts came in and put them to really good use. Weed barrier.

Even Crate & Barrel recommended it!

Once the frame and cardboard were right where we wanted them, we started filling it in with soil. Now, there are many opinions on the types of soil one should use in a garden. But since this was a project ascribing to the square foot gardening theory, I decided to go with their recipe: 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 vermiculite.

10 bags of mixed compost (a mixture of cow manure, lobster and mushroom)
1 bag of peat moss
1 bag of vermiculite

After some muscled stirring of the mixture, I had a fluffy layer of rich dark soil that looked like potting soil. Seemed right to me!

During this process, I also felt compelled to install my newly acquired rain barrel. See it there on the left? Once the soil had been adequately mixed, I roped off 1' squares using roofing tacks and twine according to the square foot gardening method.

Once thoroughly watered, I dug my plants into my 32 mini plots.

I love tomatoes, so I have about 13 different varieties of tomatoes in 16 of the 32 plots. The others have herbs, peppers, cucumbers, peas, and edible flowers. I also tucked in some mixed greens seeds and hope to have continuous crops of lettuce throughout the summer.

Here you'll see some herbs: dill, sage, lavender, basil.

The total cost of the whole project (minus the plants) was about $100. If you had some of these materials lying around it could be much cheaper. It took me about 5-6 hours from start to finish, including more than one trip to the hardware store and nursery. But that's my own fault.

Lessons learned:

I'm relatively new to the concept of raised bed and square foot gardening, so this project is about trial and error. Suggestions welcome.
Splurge a little bit on the soil components. The soil is where the plants draw up their nutrients from, so it's best to have rich, nutritious soil. Hopefully I made the right soil choices!
The rain barrel is going to be a huge asset. We had heavy rain showers earlier this week and the barrel has enough in it for about two weeks of watering!
I have been keeping an eye on the amount of sun the particular area we placed the bed in gets. In hindsight I probably should have moved it closer to our front yard as there is less afternoon shade.

Future steps:

Tomatoes need stakes, and fast!
I'll be putting up frames for the vining cucumbers and peas so they can grow vertically.
I've thought about putting up piping and netting to keep unwanted critters away.

Question of the Day: Are you a gardener? Have any good tips?

Wedding Post: A Beautiful Bridal Shower and an Unlikely Shower Gift

2012-05-26T12:22:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, my family and friends hosted a bridal shower for me at Fruitlands Museum. It was a warm, sunny day and we had the pleasure of enjoying each other's company and the wonderful view.

The "planning committee" orchestrated every detail with thought and care, right down to the local mini-cupcakes from Honeybee Bakery in Princeton and DIY honey pots as favors.

By far the funniest gift that someone bought (off the registry!) was a rain barrel! I've wanted one of these forever and since I plan to have a little garden this year (blog post to follow!) I felt it was necessary.

Yup. Just me and my rain barrel.

Question of the Day: What sort of funny/weird/unique bridal gifts have you seen at showers?

Rodents Have to Eat, Too

2012-05-24T07:28:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd show you some photos I took from my kitchen window recently. We filled the bird feeders and mistakenly put the containers on the wrong hooks. Well, this little guy found he could reach the delicious one with ease.

Question of the Day: What would your captions be for these three photos?

Wedding Post: Engagement Photo Shoot

2012-05-22T07:12:00.000-04:00

A few weekends ago Tim and I met up with Shane of Shane's Wedding Photography for our engagement shoot. We were excited to have the opportunity to work with the photographer and get comfortable with his style before the big day.

Can I just say (and I can vouch for Tim, too) that Shane is a cool guy. First off, his photography is beautiful. He maintains the utmost professionalism while still being fun, casual and keeping it low stress. I was impressed that in another life, he was a professional skateboarder and his father was a stuntman. What a background!

We started our little session down in York on Wiggly Bridge, the smallest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. It is really quite adorable and in a way brings in a wisp of memory of my days in San Francisco.

Shane's Wedding Photography

It may be the world's smallest suspension bridge, but it was above the water and the wind was blowing and so my hair was a-flying. I managed through it but decided on an up-do at our next stop.

We headed to Stageneck Inn for some quintessential Maine ocean shots. We started getting silly here. The light was perfect for photos that day and we couldn't have been happier.

Shane's Wedding Photography

The day wouldn't have been complete without some on-site shots at Clay Hill Farm.

Shane's Wedding Photography

We are extremely grateful for Shane and the fantastic work he did, and we're thrilled to be working with him for our wedding! Thanks Shane!

Disclaimer: I was not paid or even asked to review this service, but did receive the engagement session complimentary as part of the Green Wedding Giveaway Grand Prize.

Wedding Post: Tux Fitting at Event Central in Portsmouth

2012-05-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

(This is a guest post by Tim)

It’s prom season. If you are a 16 year-old girl, there may not be a more exciting time in your life. I however, am not, and really couldn’t care less about hot pink and highlighter yellow dresses with straps and lace. I am a 30 year-old guy who just wanted to get fitted for my tux with my groomsmen and then go golfing. I was rather concerned when I clicked on one of their two links when looking up the phone number to make our appointment at Madeleine’s Event Central. The first website was www.madprom.com. Clicking on the link, I was somewhat worried at first glance that my DeLorean had gone up to 88 miles an hour without my knowing and that I had mysteriously gone back in time and now needed a prom date before finally realizing and remembering that my name is Tim and not Marty (that was a Back to the Future joke for all of you under the age of 25).

Eventually remembering how old I was, and that I needed a tux because I’m getting married on July 8^th, and not going to the Prom, I clicked on the other link http://www.madeleineseventcentral.com. This was much more my style (and age) and what I had expected. After calling my groomsmen and Madeleine’s, our appointment was made for last Saturday, April 21^st. This just happens to be the busiest Prom dress buying weekend of the entire year and I will say that there was some lingering fear of being overrun by hundreds or thousands of overexcited teenage females, desperate to buy the last Tropicana orange colored dress in stock. Luckily, Jay of Madeleine’s Tuxedo in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, quickly alleviated all of my fears and made our experience as quick and painless as possible. Even with all the pre-prom excitement going on around us.

In all seriousness, Jay was extremely professional and helpful and answered any questions we had; whether it was about the type of tuxedo we should choose, euro tie or bow tie, or about the black and white shoes that I picked out (which are the sweetest tux shoes ever, just so you know), Jay was more than happy to help and put us on the right path so I didn’t make us look like a bunch of meatheads (thankfully, for Jessica’s sake as the camouflage tux was tempting). Madeleine’s also practices green dry cleaning and tries to schedule group drop offs and pick-ups whenever they can, which makes them even cooler if that was even possible.

All in all, we had an excellent experience at Madeleine’s and would highly recommend them for wedding tuxes (or any 16 or 17 year-old girl looking to get a prom dress!)

Question of the Day: Are you a wedding suit or wedding tux person?

Wedding Post: Cake Tasting at Hippie Chick Bakery

2012-05-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

Mind you, before we entered the Green Wedding Giveaway contest, Tim and I had not been engaged for very long, so we hadn’t had the chance to do anything wedding-related including cake tasting, engagement photos, dress shopping or, for that matter, wedding shoe shopping.

Cake tasting was definitely on our must-do list, and we were thrilled when we found out that we’d be working with Amy from Hippie Chick Bakery. Amy’s values of a business owner aligned with what we were hoping for as customers. Everything is prepared from scratch and her ingredients are local and organic when possible. In addition, Amy says, “We try to accomplish this through charitable giving and being a green business – using green energy when possible and using carbon offsets when we can’t, composting waste, sourcing local ingredients, to recycling, and much more!” She is also well-known for her egg-free, vegan and gluten-free masterpieces. As a Registered Dietitian who knows first-hand from client experiences, this is a wonderful and special service to offer those with special dietary needs.

One of the most valuable things that Tim and I are grateful for in this journey is that much of the legwork has been done for us: that is, finding vendors who have the same set of values that we do when it comes to having a green wedding. This was the part of wedding planning that I was looking forward to the least, but now we don’t have to!

Onto the cake tasting. I’ll admit it; I’d take ice cream over cake any day. But, the cakes and frosting fillings that we tried jetsetted cake to the top of my “Favorite Dessert List” very quickly.

After much deliberation, we finally decided on the following cake flavors to try:

vanilla
marble
fudgy chocolate
red velvet
lemon poppyseed

And the fillings:

vanilla
milk chocolate
chocolate mint
raspberry
mocha

We gobbled up each sugary morsel, hemming and hawing about which was our favorite. In the end, we decided on two flavors on alternating layers of the cake.

Question of the Day: Any guesses as to which two flavors we chose? Of the options listed above, which would YOU have chosen?

Springtime, St. Louis and Salad

2012-05-11T20:35:00.000-04:00

Last week I traveled to St. Louis for work. Much of the days were spent indoors but we did have the pleasure of dining at Salt (delicious ricotta gnocchi!), yoga under the arch and a a fun walk around town to see the sports stadiums... and a public display of love!

When I returned home, I was greeted by these beautiful tulips!

Spring is definitely in bloom around here. Our local farmers market began this week, too. I was able to snag a dozen cut tulips, a half dozen duck eggs and some spicy cress for salad.

And you can't escape without a recipe. This week I made Bob's Red Mill wheat berries into a delicious spring salad adapted from Wheat Berries and White Bean Salad. Wheat berries take some time to cook. I used a 3:1 ratio of wheat berries to water and cooked for 1 hour before adding them to the recipe.

Wheat berries and Chick Pea Spring Salad

4 cups cooked wheat berries
2, 15-oz cans low-sodium chick peas
1 cup chopped sugar snap peas
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

For the vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp honey mustard
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix the vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients and whisking well. Add the salad ingredients together and pour vinaigrette in. Mix well. Let chill overnight for best flavor.

Over the next couple weeks, I plan to do some wedding update posts. We have been very busy meeting with vendors and planning our upcoming wedding! Can't wait to share! Here's a sneak peak...

Shane's Wedding Photography

Question of the Day: What has been occupying your time lately?

Black Bean Chocolate Cupcakes

2012-04-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Before you roll your eyes at me because I have fiddled with the perfection that is chocolate cake, hear me out.

You can't taste the beans.

I've seen enough eye-rolling and "psshh-ing" when I recommend that people eat more beans. Beans are economical, full of fiber and nutrients and are versatile in meals. These cupcakes are one way to get in your bean quota and transition to including more beans in your life. Seriously, how can you turn down a chocolate cupcake?

I brought these to Easter dinner and no one seemed to mind that there were beans in them. Or that they were vegan. Whether or not I disclosed that right from the beginning is another story, but now the secret is out.

Black Bean Chocolate Cupcakes
(adapted from a Cooking Matters recipe called Chocolate Cake)
Makes 12 cupcakes

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 cup cold water

non-stick cooking spray

1 15-oz can black beans, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, mash beans well (or for complete disappearance, pulse in a food processor.) In another bowl, mix oil, vinegar, water and bean mixture. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until just combined (DO NOT overmix). Coat muffin tin with cooking spray and fill cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

I added a sprinkle of sea salt and a small chunk of dark chocolate to these as soon as they came out of the oven for a bit of sweet and salty contrast. We might be eating these for breakfast in addition to dessert.

Coffee Coffee Coffee

2012-04-17T08:35:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks of before we found out we won the Green Wedding Giveaway, I received a Twitter message from our friends at Dean's Beans wishing us the best of luck. After we won the wedding giveaway, they were kind enough to send us a congratulatory gift in the mail: two pounds of "Wedding Variety" coffee!

I continue to be amazed by the power of social media and the local connections that can be made by engaging with folks on Twitter and Facebook.

Here are some other posts in which I've mentioned Dean's Beans and the crazy good work they do and amazing coffee they roast:

What Would Jesus Brew

A Feat to Feed Farmers

As a result, I am happy to say that Dean's Beans will be the official wedding coffee!

Welcome Back

2012-04-04T22:17:00.001-04:00

Apparently planning a wedding in three months (and television appearances!) are a full-time job. That is, in addition to my full-time job. But no matter what, I always return to this space. It may take a few weeks, but I have returned. This blog slump happens to me every February/March. The frequency of posts and my desire to write certainly waxes and wanes over the course of a year. But it's all part of the writing process.

So, I thought I'd share a general overview of the last three weeks.

Even before finding out Tim and I won the green wedding giveaway, we had planned to take restorative trip to Maine. We stayed in Kennebunkport, and at this time of year it was so quiet and peaceful. We stayed at the Captain Jefferds Inn and indulged in the fancy brunch including blueberry pancakes, a giant popover and strikingly strong coffee.

Fully caffeinated, we strolled oceanside. It was a beautiful day.

Later that week, Tim and I were on television! It was the local Portland Fox station, but still. We're practically celebrities. I'll gladly give you my autograph. You'll be the first to ask!

This is me doing my official holding-an-imaginary-microphone reporter pose. I quickly realized afterward that no real news anchors hold microphones. I guess I still have a thing or two to learn about showbiz.

In addition to television, I am slowing chiseling away at my wedding to-do list. Unfortunately I haven't been doing much cooking. Lately my full-time job has kept me busy during the early evenings preparing food, leaving me with little appetite or time when I arrive home.

However, I did have the opportunity to attend the Boston University food seminar by Maria Speck. She recently wrote Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. I was able to snap some photos from the event: food tastes and a signed cookbook!

Other than that, I've been dreaming of our upcoming wedding and scheming up our honeymoon (Paris and Ireland!) In more local news, I've been considering installing one raised bed this weekend. Too ambitious? Perhaps. I'm just really hankering for getting my hands dirty. Maybe some potted plants will do.

And the winner is...

2012-03-16T22:09:00.000-04:00

Today's the Day We Find Out!

2012-03-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, I'm not pregnant. Although it seems that lots of food bloggers are lately! And I think I probably just gave my mother a heart attack. Sorry, mom!

Today is the day we find out if we've won the Green Wedding Giveaway!

As a recap, Tim and I entered a contest to be eligible to win an all-expenses paid wedding ceremony and reception at Clay Hill Farm in York, Maine. We were selected as finalists and we ~~begged~~ asked everyone we knew to view the finalists' submissions and hopefully submit their vote! If you voted in the contest, today is your LAST DAY to let Tim and I know: if you CLICK HERE and leave a comment saying that you voted, we'll enter you in to win a chance to attend/CRASH our green wedding and get a CSA share for 2012! If you voted and didn't comment on that blog post, we won't know you voted and we can't enter you in the contest we're running. So do it now. Nothing to lose!

Here's our entry submission, in case you haven't seen it and are requiring a certain dose of cheesiness this morning:

We also submitted two follow-up videos for the contest:

The bottom line is that it has been a pleasure to have made it this far in the contest. We are of course hoping we win, but if we don't, we know how to be graceful losers as well. (Let's hope at least. Tim is a competitive you-know-what. Just kidding.)

Depending on how the evening goes, I'm hoping to be tweeting from the event. Follow me at @EatItTweetIt for updates!

Fingers crossed friends!

A Granola Kind of Girl

2012-03-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

I've definitely been called 'granola' before. Usually it's when I change the subject of friendly conversation to my latest forays in tofu-making (can't wait to share that post with you later in the week) or the way that I turn the water off when I brush my teeth. I think I was also called 'granola' once after deciding to WWOOF in 2009. And there was also that time I forgot to put on deodorant (but that was a whole other issue entirely...)

But what's so bad about granola?

I love it's honesty, it's simplicity and the way it makes my morning grapefruit and yogurt breakfast a little sweeter.

La Tartine Gourmande's Nutty Maple and Vanilla Granola (featured in La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life cookbook) with mango, pomegranate, plain Greek yogurt

Cook's Illustrated Almond Granola (featured in March 2012) with a breakfast smoothie (bananas, spinach, blueberries, peach puree, milk, almond butter)

Question of the Day: Do you have a favorite granola recipe? Please share!

Homemade Black Bean Burgers

2012-03-10T21:28:00.001-05:00

For some reason, I have had black bean burgers on the brain lately. I find that store bought burgers just don't have the flavor, zest and spice I'm looking for (not to mention they're expensive) so I began a quest to find a burger recipe that would produce a hearty patty that held up on a bun. Most times when I've attempted veggie burgers, they wilt and fall apart either on their way to the plate (read: all over the floor/counter/table) or taste dry and forgettable.

I pulled from two recipes to create this mother of a burger. This thing emanates flavor and spice and holds up to being frozen as individual patties and even reheated in a toaster oven without crumbling into pieces. It's been black bean burger heaven over here since I made them.

Cornmeal-crusted Black Bean Burger
(recipe adapted from Eating Well's Bean Burgers and Eat, Live, Run's Spicy Bean Burgers
makes approximately 12 "1/4 lb"-sized patties

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
pinch of cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cup cooked quinoa

5 cups cooked black beans (cooked from dry, but can use canned, low-sodium as well)

3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
6 tablespoons cornmeal, plus 1 cup for coating burgers
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

In a large saute pan, put one tablespoon of oil and saute onions and garlic for 3-5 minutes until onions are translucent. Add paprika and cumin and saute until spices coat onion/garlic mix. Add black beans to the pan and mash beans until a smooth paste forms. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 4 minutes. Add quinoa, cilantro, corn, 3 Tbsp cornmeal, salt and pepper. Form the mixture into a patty, rolling it on a cutting board covered with cornmeal. The mixture will be soft; remove from the board and place on a sheet pan and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and place 3 patties to fry on each side 2-4 minutes. Repeat by adding another tablespoon and 3 more patties until all have been crisped. Place all cooked patties back on a sheet tray to freeze and the repackage in a bag for easy and convenient bean burgers any time!

Question of the Day: What's your favorite burger? Cheeseburger? Bean burger? Veggie burger? Young House Love's Burger?

Pancake Fare

2012-02-26T21:04:00.003-05:00

There is something deliciously indulgent about pancakes. First off, they are that top-heavy dose of carbohydrates and sweetness that accompany traditional American breakfasts. Second, early Saturday or Sunday mornings end up being those quiet reflective moments in the week when the sun streams through my kitchen window and I have the time to enjoy while slowly mixing the pancake batter and scooping it out onto a hot sizzling griddle pan.

This pancake recipe is adapted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life. I didn't quite follow it exactly: I swapped some flours for others, omitted the poppy seeds and added thin slices of ripened banana. So the final product is not something the author intended, but it was still very tasty, especially with the ghostly wisps of melted butter and a heavy-handed drizzle of maple syrup.

And I'm loving blood oranges lately. Their slightly bitter, surprisingly mellow sweetness has me smitten.

I just finished Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, food writer and owner of Prune in New York. One excerpt of the book really resonated and I appreciated her putting into words this visceral feeling that has manifested from my struggle to enjoy the process of cooking but to also not constantly feel obligated or a chore to feed. For lack of giving the story away (and I won't, because this is an entertaining read) she's having this struggle while in the kitchen of her in-law's family's home in Puglia, Italy. "I want to do the cooking. It is what grounds me, gives me pleasure, and is the best way for me to communicate with the Italian-speaking family and to make a contribution. But it can also make me feel like the hired help." Do you ever feel the push and pull between culinary passion vs. the monotonous chore that it can be?

Question of the Day: What's your favorite breakfast food?

PS - Tim and I are STILL in the running as GRAND FINALISTS in the Green Wedding Giveaway Contest and we could use your votes! Please vote for Jess and Tim at www.greenweddinggiveaway.com!

I Don't Usually Bake, But When I Do, I prefer...

2012-02-19T18:22:00.000-05:00

I returned from the grocery store this afternoon only to have been bit by the baking bug. You know that one? The one that makes you reach for the flour, sugar and stand mixer while listening to your favorite pandora station.

The quote from The Most Interesting Man in the World kept running through my head while I was baking. See, I don't bake that often. I've resided to the fact that when I do bake, I absolutely have to follow the recipe. There's been too many batches of doctored chocolate chip cookies that tasted like chalk, cakes that fell apart as they were taken out of the oven for lack of an essential ingredient, and brownies that could pass for hockey pucks. So when I do bake, I prefer using recipes that I know will work and need to follow exactly.

Enter this cookbook. For Valentine's Day I received Beatrice Peltre's new cookbook entitled "La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life."

(source)

I've been following her blog for years now and couldn't wait to see her cookbook. What I love is the unusual ingredients that appear in her traditional French dishes. And her food photography is absolutely inspiring. Of course, the two recipes I chose to bake today are not really traditional French dishes at all. In fact, they are probably the least traditional of all in the book (cookies? cranberry cake? What's wrong with me. Seriously, I get a cookbook written by a French woman and make the first cookie recipe I find. Ack.)

Moving on. Today's adventure was the first time I made an upside down cake. It was also the first time I have baked with flour other than wheat. Her recipes focus on using a variety of flours. Today I used millet flour, brown rice flour, and almond meal. You can imagine that my lack of baking success has always led me away from the upside down cake. Anything that requires the baker to invert the dish is fraught with disaster in my house. So I followed the recipe exactly (minus the saffron, which I did not have on hand and they do not sell at my local grocer). I'm so proud of it's upside down-ness.

Riding the upside down cake train, I tried the chocolate tahini cookies next. I never would have thought to put tahini in my cookies, but it works! These are delicious. I almost followed the recipe exactly, except for the addition of chopped golden raisins and toasted pecans. Delightful.

I'm excited to try some of the soups, tartines, the watercress and orange salad, and the buttermilk-lemon-quinoa pancakes!

I would highly recommend this cookbook; not only for the recipes, but also for the story it tells and the striking photography done by Beatrice herself.

10 Easy Green Ideas Everyone Can Do

2012-02-12T15:07:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't heard, Tim and I were selected as the Grand Finalists in the Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway Contest (VOTE for us HERE)!

The Clay Hill Farm contest rules indicated that we had to submit an essay describing our shade of green. If you watch our video, you'll quickly understand that our shade of green has to do with food + community. Let me disclose that we are not 100% green in any way. I'm not even sure what that would look like (perhaps very Thoreau-esque) but that there are shades and tones of being environmentally responsible. We attempt to do our part every day, but we know there is always more we can do.

We made a video of the 10 ways that we try to be environmentally responsible each day.

10 Ways We Incorporate Green (from video)

1. Turn off the water while you brush teeth. Can save 4-5 gallons per brushing session!
2. Wash clothes in cold water and save $249 in electrical costs each year.
3. Let clothes air-dry instead of using the dryer.
4. Drink tap water in reusable bottles and make your own seltzer.
5. Exercise outside!
6. Change your bill preferences to receive paperless statements.
7. Take the Meatless Monday challenge!
8. Use an e-reader. Here's an interesting infographic about whether e-readers or paper books are more eco-conscious.
9. We run our errands on foot.
10. Use a programmable thermostat and set it to go down during the night and when no one's home.

Question of the Day: What's one thing you do already that's environmentally responsible?

The Split Pea Soup Mistake

2012-02-09T07:43:00.000-05:00

The fact that it has been fair and mild and dry in New England warrants jumping for joy. I cannot remember a winter like this before. The pessimist in all of us yankees in the Northeast is saying that we'll get walloped in March. So be it. For now I'm enjoying morning jogs without the peril of icy sidewalks and not having to shovel the stairs.

But it hasn't been balmy by any means, and my yearning for a warm, hearty, rib-sticking soup still exists. I haven't eaten a tomato in months, and fresh and light green salads exist only in memory.

So here comes Elizabeth's mom's recipe for split pea soup. I really couldn't recall if I'd ever eaten split pea soup before. I made the mistake of assuming that split pea soup was one of those things that everyone loved to hate, until I was telling a couple friends and family members that I made it and each of them said they loved split pea soup and could I save them some.

This recipe for split pea soup is so easy and makes enough for you, your family, your entire block of neighbors and all of the coworkers in your building. The only changes I made were to omit the parsnips (didn't have any), add kale (big surprise here), and add diced leftover turkey bacon. This no longer makes it vegan but it did add a nice dimension of flavor.

Split pea soup is one of those foods that is misunderstood. Ugly on the outside but inside, has a heart-warming and belly-filling effect.

Question of the Day: Do you like split pea soup?

Also, please vote for Jess & Tim in the Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway! www.greenweddinggiveaway.com. If you leave a comment on this post by clicking here, you'll be entered in a drawing to crash our wedding and win a CSA share for 2012!

Green Wedding Giveaway: Feb 5 Update

2012-02-05T15:32:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! We wanted to share where we're at with the contest. Enjoy!

VOTE JESS & TIM at www.greenweddinggiveaway.com and let us know that you did by following this link and leaving a comment so we can let you come crash our wedding: GIVEAWAY: #CRASHOURGREENWEDDING

Thanks!

GIVEAWAY: #CRASH OUR GREEN WEDDING

2012-02-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

Okay people. This is big.

And when I say big, I mean I've-never-hoped-to-win-something-so-much-in-my-life BIG. We are Grand Finalists in the 2012 Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway!

But let's review first: Tim and I were engaged last November and have started planning our wedding. As we researched wedding venues, florists, invitations, gowns, locations, dates, color schemes, attire and on and on, what we came the conclusion of quickly were two things: 1) weddings are expensive and 2) weddings are wasteful.

After receiving the Everything Green Wedding Book for Christmas, we realized that we needed to take steps to be as eco-conscious with this wedding as possible. The other roadblock that we kept running into was the issue of sub-par wedding food choices. Conjured to mind is a plate of anemic chicken smothered in a brown mystery sauce aside some wilted green beans the shape of sad faces and a scoop of gummy potatoes that taste like the inside of a steam table. No wonder people drink wildly at weddings.

For us, we decided that our priority for this wedding would be the food. When you are tied to a budget with a magic number that, when exceeded, will send your credit score plummeting, we decided that we had to make concessions on some of the wedding to-do list items. But food was one we could not see suffer.

Slightly deflated as the idea of my childhood image of my wedding slowly fading to black, I decided to do some research on the web. Was there any place that offered green weddings? How about free weddings? Any place that made nature and food and community the priority to their couples? Any way I could save some dough on this big ol' shindig?

And then I found it.

The Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway

A wedding on a wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary? A farm with a restaurant that took local food seriously? Within driving distance to Maine? FREE?!?

This contest invites couples to submit an entry that showcases their shade of green: "stories of real people making a difference in the world and an every day commitment to the Earth and to each other."

Clay Hill Farm is giving away an all-inclusive summer Maine wedding to two lucky people. Everything from ceremony, reception, photography, videography, florals, cake, accommodations, transportation, formalwear, music, invitations, hair and makeup and more. But best of all? The staff at Clay Hill Farm will work with the grand prize winner to design a menu that works just for them. I'm envisioning an all-Maine local menu featuring summer's peak harvest, sustainable fish, local beef (and tofu!)... really endless possibilities.

We're really hoping those two lucky people are us. Can you guess what our shade of green was?

Kale green! Tim coined that hue of green, and I kind of like it. We do eat a lot of kale, so the color was appropriate.

We've submitted our video for the world to see. Yes, it's cheesy and we hold a bouquet of kale at the end like fools, but we hope our message of our commitment to each other and the Earth is clear.

In order for us to have any chance of winning, we are asking for your votes from now until mid-March.

So here it goes: The #CRASH OUR GREEN WEDDING GIVEAWAY

There are two ways to vote:

Visit www.greenweddinggiveaway.com and vote for Jess & Tim's video.
You can vote through a mobile app! Download the Cardagin app for your smartphone and vote away!

And as a thanks for your time and vote, we have a special giveaway we'd like to share with you.

If Tim and I end up winning the 2012 Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway Grand Prize (read green wedding giveaway contest rules here), we'd like to offer anyone who votes for us two things to thank you with:

An invitation for you and a guest to attend our wedding. Yep, that's right. You'll be CRASHING OUR WEDDING.
A one-year subscription to a CSA farm share of your choosing (up to $350, but you choose which farmer and where). We'd like to give one lucky winner a jumpstart on the 2012 growing and eating season of local food, and encourage a green shade of eating in someone else's life!

Here's how to enter for your chance to be eligible for this blog contest. And it all hinges on the fact that we win, so vote early and vote often!

Go to www.greenweddinggiveaway.com and vote for Jess & Tim's video. Leave a comment on this post with "I VOTED!" and your FIRST AND LAST name so we know who to talk to when you win. We'd also love you to share one thing that you do that shows your commitment to the Earth, but totally optional if you're the shy type.
For an EXTRA ENTRY, tweet out "Vote for Jess & Tim in @ClayHillFarm's #green #wedding #giveaway www.greenweddinggiveaway.com #crashourgreenwedding. Leave a comment on this post with "I TWEETED!" and your name and twitter handle.
For a THIRD EXTRA ENTRY, share on your Facebook page "Vote for Jess & Tim in Clay Hill Farm's Green Wedding Giveaway! They'll let one winner crash their wedding!". Leave a comment on this post with "I FACEBOOKED IT!" and your name.

This opportunity allows us to truly have the wedding of our dreams, and we thank all of you who are helping us realize our dream!

Love, Jess and Tim

DISCLAIMER: This prize of 1) an invitation to crash our wedding and 2) a CSA subscription that we'll give out if we win the 2012 Clay Hill Farm Green Wedding Giveaway Grand Prize is in no way affiliated with Clay Hill Farm or the Green Wedding Giveaway. Tim and I decided we wanted to nudge you with a little of our shade of green. This prize package is solely our idea and is not being sponsored or endorsed by Clay Hill Farm. We are paying for it and are doing so as our contribution to encourage a greener shade of eating in someone else's life.

CRASH OUR GREEN WEDDING GIVEAWAY CONTEST RULES: No purchase necessary, and while we encourage you to vote on www.greenweddinggiveaway.com it is not required (and we wouldn't know anyway). The blog contest is intended for one winner only and s/he will receive an invitation to our wedding for him/her and one guest if we win the Grand Prize for a wedding on July 8, 2012. Travel and any other expenses are not included. The winner will also receive a 2012 CSA farm share of the winner's choice, up to $350.00, paid for by the hosts of this blog contest. Winner must inform the hosts of this contest within 30 days of being notified with the name of the farm, location and contact information. After 30 days the offer is null and void. The contest will close March 3, 2012 at 11:59pm EST. Once Clay Hill Farm announces the winner (presumably March 4), the blog contest hosts will choose a winner via random number generator within 7 days of the Clay Hill Farm Grand Prize announcement and will be posted on this blog. The winner will have 5 days to respond to contest host confirming their name and providing full name, email address, and mailing address. All entries must be identifiable and able to confirm, i.e. including first and last name, link to your blogger profile, inclusion of email address, etc. Spam comments will be deleted. If after 5 days the winner has not contacted the blog contest hosts the prizes will be forfeited and another winner will be chosen. The blog contest host is not responsible for contacting the winner. S/he must check on this blog on or around the date of March 4-11 for contest results. This contest is contingent upon Jessica Maillet and Timothy Caouette winning the Grand Prize 2012 Green Wedding Giveaway from Clay Hill Farm.

A Few of My Favorite Things, Winter Edition

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

1. Mason Jars - Apparently I have been come to be known as the girl who has an affinity to mason jars. I store food in them, use them as vases and even use them as drinking glasses when the rest are in the dishwasher. My mother thinks I'm crazy. I argue that they are quite the versatile item and better for food storage than plastic (no leakage of food or dirty chemicals.) And then I discovered Corner Grille in Worcester, where they sell their homemade lemonade and iced tea in mason jars. A match made in heaven.

2. Homemade wool mittens - It's amazing how warm these mittens are. I bought them this fall at the Red Apple Farm's winter festival. I haven't taken them off since.

3. Best Food Writing of 2011 - I'm enjoying reading (and in some cases, rereading) the most poignant stories of 2011, edited by Holly Hughes.

4. Rupert the Elephant Planter - Yes, I have named him.

5. Green smoothies - I know the green smoothie has become a cliche in the food blog world, but there's not reason to knock it. I put baby spinach, frozen cubes of peach puree, milk, peanut butter, and sometimes a little orange juice in mine (blueberries, yogurt, soymilk are occasionally added). It's full of nutrients and is quite filling. Don't knock it 'til you try it.

6. Microfiber hair towels and wide-toothed combs - This may be a strange one, but I've turned a corner in embracing my curly hair. Did you know there's a whole world out there for girls with curly hair? There are special curly hair cuts that you can get, special chemical-free products that enhance the curl, and specific ways to treat your curls so they look your best. The two ways I've recently ascribed to are 1) drying your hair with a microfiber towel. Apparently it helps to reduce frizz and dryness. It seems to be working. 2) Combing wet hair with a wide-toothed comb. It allows the curls to curl up in their own way. Brushes discourage the curls from bunching in their natural form. It appears my curls have taken on a life of their own.

Question of the Day: What are you favorite things as of late?

Texas n' Tacos

2012-01-21T12:03:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I boarded a plane to Texas to visit Elizabeth. It was my first time to the Lone Star state (besides the occasional trip through Dallas to switch planes.)

Getaways always revolve around food. Though who am I kidding? I breathe, sleep and work food 24/7, so a vacation to a new state with new food culture meant some serious exploring and eating.

Elizabeth currently lives in Houston, and we certainly did our share of exploring the food scene for the less than 24 hours we spent in this city. When I arrived, she took me straight to Monica Pope's t'afia. I was impressed with their commitment to "eat where your food lives." I was shocked that when we arrived at 6 pm the place was quiet and we sat right down. Their drink menu offered quite a few unique combinations of flavors including their signature ratafia, a fortified wine infused with seasonal produce. My only criticism is that I would have liked to have seen more featured fresh vegetarian and veggie-filled menu items and limiting the focus on the meats.

The next morning Elizabeth and I headed to the Houston Farmers Market. After a 4 mile jog, fresh citrus, homemade breakfast of eggs, greens and grits and the biggest cinnamon roll from Sinfull Bakery was just what I had in mind.

We then trekked off to Austin, mecca of the food truck movement. When we arrived, our first priority was to get a taco from Torchy's Tacos.

Famed for their unique and delicious tacos, they certainly lived up to their name. After much deliberation, I went with the brush fire taco, a combination of jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, sour cream, cilantro and... diablo sauce. The sauce lived up to its flaming name, for sure. I made frequent trips to the water cooler during the eating of this taco.

The food truck scene here is amazing. From tacos to cupcakes, Thai to BBQ, this city of cobbled-together mobile food purveyors had it all. Next to many of the "food courts" (i.e. a parking lot in which they all congregate) were art and craft courts too. We found these especially unique items at one from the Plaid Pigeon.

This was the little guy I packed in my carry-on and kidnapped from his balmy habitat to the Northeast (he's not loving the snow...).

We also enjoyed brunch before heading back to Houston at the Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, the local caffeine dealer. The caffeinated beverages and brunch were delicious.

Other Austin fun:

Moonshine Lemonade at Lustre Pearl

Local graffiti

Austin transportation

Last night I was reminiscing about that delicious Torchy's Taco. So, with what I had in the refrigerator, I tried to recreate the best I could.

Here's what each taco consisted of:

1 corn tortilla, sprayed with cooking spray an toasted for 5 minutes, until bubbly
1/3 cup leftover BBQ chicken
2 Tbsp mashed avocado with a squirt of lemon juice
1 Tbsp plain yogurt
A liberal dose of sriracha sauce

It was the perfect dose of Texas.

Question of the Day: Have you been to Texas?

Ringing in 2012

2012-01-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope your celebration of the new year enthralled you as much as it did I.

I started 2012 off with a bang; Tim and I celebrated our engagement with a brunch celebration. The permeating theme was "enjoying the local flavors." Thus, we celebrated with local wines, sparkling ciders and a beautiful array of foods grown, processed and prepared locally. We got a helping hand from Haute Cuisine Couture who assembled, cooked and served the food.

Since this was a brunch following the morning after the biggest party night of the year, we knew we had to have some strong, delicious coffee. Our guests started off with a steaming cup of Dean's Beans Moka Java.

There were also libations including Still River Winery's Apple Ice Wine and mimosas. For those not imbibing, Carlson Orchards McIntosh Sparkling Cider was the refreshing option.

And then came the food.

Old Mill pecan rolls.

Platters of fresh fruits, cheeses and meats.

Entree items included freshly made turkey meatballs in marinara from Bob's Turkey Farm and apple butternut squash soup shooters.

Breakfast casserole made with Country Hen eggs and Maple Heights Farm breakfast sausage.

But the piece de resistance was really the cheeseboard. This feature had been weeks in the making. I first went out to find a piece of slate large enough to hold all of the cheese. For less than $10, I bought a piece of square slate, cleaned, painted, sealed, and put non-slip holders on it for a perfect holder for these local cheeses.

We ate some of my favorites:

Smith's Country Cheese smoked gouda
Smith's Country Cheese sharp cheddar
Robinson Farm "Barndance"
Westfield Farm chocolate capri (the clear favorite of all)
Westfield Farm farmers' cheese
Westfield Farm herb and garlic
Westfield Farm blue
Westfield Farm cranberry orange

And for dessert, mini cupcakes from Honey Bee Baking Company in Princeton.

But the best part was the company.

As guests headed home to enjoy their New Years Day, they took home party favors: half-pound bags of freshly-ground Dean's Beans coffee, stamped with our initials and the date.

Happy New Year!

(courtesy of Mark Girouard)

I'd like to thank Heidi of Haute Cuisine Couture for an excellent orchestration of food. Mark Girouard, a local photographer, also attended the party. If you're local and looking for a personal chef or a photographer with a collection of beautiful photos, I suggest Heidi and Mark! Feel free to contact me for more information.

Question of the Day: What do you see for yourself in 2012?

Disclaimer: I was not paid to promote Haute Cuisine Couture or Mark Girouard.

Back for Lunch & Cat Humor

2011-12-22T14:42:00.001-05:00

I'm back, two days in a row, for lunch! This is a miracle of sorts. Actually, my winter holiday starts today, and so I have the rest of the year off.

That joke never gets old.

This isn't a promise to share what I eat every day for lunch; so let's just take it slow here.

I'm impressed with those food bloggers who can post their meals and some humorous and enjoyable commentary alongside on a daily basis. Even more props to those who post three times each day. I can barely remember to shower every day (that one's for you Tim), never mind take photos of my food and write something witty.

But back to today. This morning ended up being glorious. I walked to the post office first (I have an addiction to checking my PO Box. Too bad that addiction didn't also translate into blog posting... or showering. There you are again, Tim) to get some business done, and then headed out for a jog.

I think I've reached a new level of boring in my life. Not the post office, or the jog (although those could both qualify) but as I was jogging, I passed all of these well-decorated houses with the most beautiful doors. Festive red doors with huge fresh green wreathes. Old doors on houses from the 1850s decorated with red winter berry wreathes. Doors upon doors. I pondered doing a photo montage of "Doors of Westminster" and then realized that I have plummeted to a new level of mind numb.

Sorry to bore you with the doors.

After this stimulating run, I came home to this delicious lunch. Talk about excitement.

FSTG corn chips, homemade fish chowder and a satsuma orange

The fish chowder materialized after my deep guilt for my hoarder's freezer. Scary. Don't judge. It was time to purge the frost-bitten packages wedged behind the ice trays.

Most of it is packed with peaches and homemade chicken stock, but I was lucky enough to find some frozen cod and corn, and from that came this delicious fish chowder. It started out being this Eating Well recipe for creamy fish chowder and ended up something else. I didn't add bacon but used some butter and olive oil to cook the onions and garlic. I had no clam juice: substituted vegetable broth instead. I added a ton of frozen corn. The result was a thin-brothed soup. I'm not sure everyone enjoys this type of chowder, but I know I do. The gummy consistency of many clam chowders don't appeal to me.

So if you are sleeping at this point because this post was so boring (in which case you wouldn't be reading this) or if you, in some tangled and distorted way do not believe I embody the likes of a bore, please watch this video. Then you'll agree. Yes, I take iPhone videos of my cat trying to get a Christmas bow off his head.

Any Given Day

2011-12-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

If I'm home working during the noon hour, lunch is usually a tuna sandwich, peanut "noodles" or some combination of refrigerator ingredients strung together for a balanced plate.

Today was no different. But today featured an old friend. Tempeh.

If you haven't quite made it to the tofu stage, tempeh might be a good first step. It's a bit more texturized than tofu and soaks up the flavor of whatever it is sauteed in (Trader Joe's island soyaki sauce). I learned that in order for it to taste best, you must steam it for a few minutes before sauteing. This removes any bitter taste.

Paired with a slice of The Black Sheep deli whole wheat bread and kale and it's time for lunch!

Question of the Day: Have you ever tried tempeh?