On Cardamom and Cast Iron

Beautiful birds, and a relocation

2013-05-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

This Memorial Day weekend is our last in Virginia, at least for a while. I've written, of course, about our upcoming relocation at least once or twice. Yet, it never feels like the time has arrived to actually move. Again. It happens every couple of years with my husband's work, but we have been here a year or so longer than expected. Finally, it's time to go. The movers will come in a few days; all our belongings will be headed west to California.

Our move is bittersweet. The kids are old enough to be leaving good friends behind. The last play dates with each friend has been difficult, especially for our six-year-old. And yet, heading west again has been something I've looked forward to since we moved to Virginia. Don't get me wrong--there are many wonderful things about living where we do. But three and a half years later it still just don't feel like home to me. And so our drive west next week is something I look forward to with a happy heart. It's not Washington, but it's closer. The Pacific Ocean. The mountains. Cooler weather. A slightly less harried pace. (And, I hate to say it--fewer bugs.) I hope the children fall in love with the western states, but they don't know California; they don't even really remember living in Washington.

It will be an adventure.

We are currently cooking through the remnants of our depleted pantry cupboard. My mason jars are washed and on the shelves, ready for our pack out date. My cookware has been pared down to almost nothing--just a pot, skillet, small cutting board, knife, and spatula. My lonely bottle of olive oil is nearly empty. I'm not cooking much this week other than roasted chicken and some fish. A plain pot of rice here and there. Lots of raw fruits and vegetables to hold us over until we start driving. And, plenty of coffee.

I will not be posting much about food or anything else until we arrive in California, but I hope to upload some snapshots of our trip along the way. We'll be passing through the painted desert, and hopefully up the Pacific Coast Highway--in my humble opinion, two of the most beautiful stretches of road in the country. (Of course there are many, but the desert is incredibly dramatic.)

I hope you all have a wonderful and contemplative Memorial Day. For those who have lost loved ones in war, I wish you a weekend full of joyful memories.

More from the cookbook club

2013-03-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

Here are more good eats from the From Scratch Club cookbook reading adventure over at Goodreads. (Links to the club are in my previous post.)We've just finished up the quinoa week and are on to oats (and farro, for the non-gluten-free folks).

Pure muesli: I modified this based on the dried fruit and seeds I had on hand. This is delicious soaked in coconut milk kefir overnight. (For those of you concerned about phytic acid in oats, add a bit of kasha or sprouted buckwheat groats to the mix. The phytase will help neutralize the phytates.) This is vegan and gluten free, provided you use gluten-free oats.

Vanilla quinoa porridge: I made this one with dates instead of dried cranberries. (Again, I went with what I had.) This works well with soaked/sprouted quinoa if you like preparing it that way. This recipe is also vegan.

Fluffy buckwheat pancakes: Okay, I worked ahead a little on this one. But seriously, folks--fluffiest pancakes ever, all because of a whipped egg white. This is also really easy to make with traditionally-prepared buckwheat if you're into that. Sprout the buckwheat, dry it, then grind into flour yourself. Or, modify the recipe and soak the buckwheat and rice flour in yogurt overnight before mixing in the egg in the morning. (Ms. Krissoff offers an easy sub to make this vegan if you desire to make it that way. I prepared this without dairy, but with egg.)

Cooking the books with From Scratch Club

2013-02-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been part of a book club? How about a cookbook club? I realize I'm posting this a little late, but you still have plenty of time to join in with the From Scratch Club folks over at Goodreads. We're cooking from Whole Grains for a New Generation, by Liana Krissoff (author of my absolute favorite book on preserving, Canning for a New Generation). If you get a chance, join us! Here are the photos of what I've made so far. (I have made more, but I keep forgetting my camera and/or it's nighttime when I remember. As evidenced here.)

Brown-rice and quick-pickled fennel onigiri

Blueberry-cornbread muffins, made with gluten-free flour (zero added sugar)

Chickpea flour crepes with quinoa and melted peppers (goat cheese excluded)

Valentine's foods to celebrate love

2013-02-12T12:21:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is so cliché, yes? It's not my favorite holiday by any stretch of the imagination, but it is nice to have a day set aside to honor the loves of our lives, whether they be our romantic loves or not. We call it "Love Day" here because I like including non-romantic loves. (That, and it makes more sense to my kids who aren't so much up on cherubs intervening in erstwhile lovers' affairs.)

This Valentine's Day is a special one for me. It marks ten years since my husband proposed. I'd just flown down to Maryland for the long President's Day weekend. The Mister and I settled in and he got down on one knee... completely surprising me, despite our having talked of marriage for months. (I thought he'd wait a few more.) We were twenty then. I am reminded of many things we shared that weekend, not the least of which was the last major blizzard to run its way up the East Coast to New England. It dumped two feet of snow on Annapolis and another two plus in Boston (the place to which I was ostensibly returning a few days later). Instead of spending a chilly (but dry) weekend wandering through what is still one of our favorite towns, we spent that day trying to find any restaurant that was open. There was one--Acme--with open doors, and we had tomato soup.

Of course I spent several stressful days trying to get back to Boston after my flight was canceledd and the airport closed. I eventually got a ticket on the train and made it to South Station just as the blizzard met me. It was... a trip I don't want to repeat. Ever. But I'd happily spend that weekend over again.

This year we live two hours from where we spent that--and many other--college weekends. We have been married for almost eight years and have two wonderful kids. Our Valentine's Day will not be quite so romantic this year. No dinner out, no traipsing through two feet of snow in a charming old town. But it's still Love Day, and a nice round anniversary, so we'll be celebrating. Here, at home. With our children. Mostly likely with a toy dinosaur joining us at the table. And so, we will make it special.

Special can be as simple as a bowl of tomato soup on a snowy day, or as elaborate as filet mignon and lobster tail with a fancy dessert. Our Valentine's Day will be somewhere in between. I am going to make the macarons from Aran Goyoaga's book, Small Plates and Sweet Treats. They take time and love to make. (But, they are not difficult.) Beyond that I'm stepping back and my husband says we'll have a stress-free meal of fancy cheese, pâté, crudités, and fruit. (Um, well, the fruits and vegetables were my idea.) Most likely that meal will be on a big picnic blanket in the middle of our living room. While I love cooking for my family, sometimes it's just nice to relax. That is my husband's gift to me this Thursday, and honestly just being with him and my kids is enough. (But any man who will offer to bring his wife fancy cheese and meat is a winner.)

What are you having on Valentine's Day? Is special a bowl of soup? A fancy meal out? Buttered popcorn? (Don't judge. Sometimes popcorn is just the thing.)

Links, 6 February 2013

2013-02-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend I'm running a race for the first time in ten years or so. I know, I said that last year around this time. (And then I ripped up my ankle and was in a boot for almost two months.) This time around I'm being a little more careful; knock on wood I'll be good to go on Sunday morning. I cheated the injury monster once, though. Last weekend I was out for my Saturday run and stopped paying attention to the [icy] sidewalk. I did a nice face plant on the pavement, which thankfully did not actually involve my face. My knees are scraped up and my mittens in shreds, but I otherwise made out with a bruised ego.

Running is my "me" time. Staying at home with the kids I don't get a lot of it, to be honest. I just finished reading Born to Run this last week; while I think ultra-running requires a special kind of crazy I can see how the simultaneous camaraderie of being with others of your "tribe" and the solitude of being in the woods would be appealing. (I still think running until you are almost guaranteed to vomit on your shoes is nuts. And this coming from someone who has done a marathon.)

This week I've got a few links for you. Sadly, no recipes yet. I'm in the midst of a couple of projects that require my full attention and don't make for a lot of time for creativity in the kitchen.

Have you ever made your own coconut milk? I know there are plenty of recipes floating around out there for 'milk' from dried coconut, but this one gives you the freshest coconut milk you'll ever taste outside southeast Asia. If you're tired of seeking out BPA-free cans and avoiding guar gum (which I don't personally worry about), have at it. All you need is coconut, water, and a blender.

We finally tried out flax "focaccia" last week. I've seen people link to the recipe, with very good reviews. While we're not low-carb, I tend to keep baked goods on the less refined side of things. This recipe is mostly flax and eggs. I use olive oil and honey for the oil and sweetener. (Bonus: It's nut-free.)

Speaking of nut-free, Stacy and Matt over at Paleo Parents have a great substitute for almond flour in grain-free baked goods: sunflower flour! As an extra bonus, sunflower seeds are quite a bit less expensive than almonds or other nuts and are easily found at your local grocery store.

Finally, a great website for all you history and food nerds out there: The Food Timeline chronicles food history from just about the beginning until now, with articles on just about anything you could possibly wonder about. Medieval foods? Prohibition-era cuisine? When your favorite dish came into fashion? It's there. Enjoy!

Just a teeny little pseudo-grain

2013-01-25T18:14:00.000-08:00

The above title is what happens when you have kids and PBS. Someday, someday, my brain will work properly again. In the meantime, please forgive me for the Sesame Street reference.

Moving on! Just before Christmas I was contacted by the publisher of Quinoa Revolution, who asked if I'd be willing to take a look at the new release. In the interest of full disclosure, I did receive a copy courtesy of the nice folks at Pintail Books.* I have finally had time to work my way through a few of the recipes and feel comfortable giving my opinion to you.

For those of you who peruse the cookbook section for the photos and design, you'll not be disappointed in Quinoa Revolution. The colors are gorgeous and the photos appealing. There is so much excellent food photography out there, really, but these do not disappoint. The book's layout lends itself well to note-taking as well, with margins that are plenty large. (I find this important, as I'm a bit of a scribbler.)

The recipes are, I think, innovative. It would be easy to slip into quinoa-as-gimmick territory when writing a book about a single ingredient. The authors, Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming, avoid gimmickry by creating dishes such as individual quinoa meatloaves. The meatloaves were my favorite of the recipes I tried, despite being a little nervous that the quinoa would feel too much like a filler. Ultimately the flavor and texture were lovely, and all I needed to accompany them in a meal was a nice green salad. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good pic of the meatloaves before they were gone. To be completely honest, the only photo I got of the recipes I tried was of the Indian-infused quinoa. (It was delicious, by the way. We served it with some lamb curry.)

I also made a couple of baked goods that turned out nicely--the cherry lavender cake and the chai chocolate chip muffins. I heartily recommend both the muffins and cake on texture and taste. Actually, the dish I most wish I'd have remembered to photograph was the cherry cake. It presents well, and would be perfect for a casual dinner with friends--perhaps served with a little vanilla ice cream and a cup of Early Grey. (Even my husband, who is generally not a fan of quinoa flour, enjoyed them.) All of the baked treats are relatively low sugar and could easily be modified to include no refined sugar at all.

The writing in Quinoa Revolution is helpful. As I've written before, I feel more strongly about writing than I do about photographs. I have a hard time enjoying a cookbook if it doesn't have useful information and technique. Not to worry. Green's and Hemming's book has a wealth of information about preparing quinoa, different types of the pseudo-grain, and even techniques for sprouting. (Yes, there are several recipes for sprouted quinoa in the book.)

I would caution gluten-free readers that not all of the recipes are wheat free. That said, I modified a couple of recipes quite easily to make them gluten-free. And to be fair, the vast majority of the recipes in Quinoa Revolution are gluten-free to begin with. (In fact, I plan on making some of the soups and stews over the next few months of chilly weather.) All in all, Quinoa Revolutionis a lovely book. If you eat quinoa regularly and are running out of ideas--instead, eating it in place of rice--I do encourage you to take a look at this publication. If you're on the fence but curious about quinoa, this book is a good place to start.

*Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this cookbook. All opinions are my own and candid. I do not and will not take compensation in exchange for favorable reviews.

My Christmas present

2013-01-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

Did I mention already that my other half got me a lovely, brand-spanking-new carbon steel paella pan for Christmas? And this book on skill-based endurance training. Call me one happy lady. This weekend I made an inaugural batch of paella to break in the pan. Although any stovetop pan over twelve inches is a little cumbersome in our small apartment kitchen, the paella was a success. (No pizza delivery here.)

I would like to add that apartment ranges are never big enough for anything I want to make. And the burners, being cheap, are terrible. I've burnt out I think three or four now that we've been here a few years. It's not the poor range's fault, though. I really do cook more than your average apartment dweller, I think. Some day I'll have the oven/range combo of my dreams. Or separate ones. Or... Well, I'll have to be independently wealthy before my dream kitchen happens. That, or I'll sleep on a college-quality IKEA futon mattress forever. One or the other, really. My husband will regret ever encouraging my cooking habit. (I hope not. He's pretty well fed, and he cooks dinner at least once a week himself.)

But the pan. It's the perfect size for four people as a main dish, or more as part of a spread. I used chicken, homemade stock, and assorted vegetables this time. I believe next I'll actually use the oven to cook the paella (horrors!) just because I won't have to rotate it over two elements that way. And I'll use Spanish chorizo and shellfish. Oh- and you get lovely crusty paella bits at the bottom of the pan. My favorite.

What sort of paella would you make? Mixed? Vegetable only? Seafood? The possibilities are endless!

Ready, set, unplug!

2013-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Ostensibly this is a food blog. I know this. But in order to cook, review books, and otherwise function as a normal adult human being sometimes something has to give. Turns out my kids have to function, too, and plopping them in front of an episode of even Wild Kratts in order for me to make dinner on Tuesday night turns into more television, and more, and suddenly that blasted machine is on far more than I ever wanted.

So this weekend begins a television fast in my home. The goal is one week right now. I want longer; my darling husband is sweating the NFL playoffs. Which, incidentally, I don't care about at all. Our intention is to drop cable when we move to California. We'd do it now, but it's actually included in our rent so whether we want to pay for it or not doesn't really matter. In California we plan on using Netflix exclusively, and probably not streaming. So there. (My husband doesn't know that he'll like not having the television on yet. But it'll happen.)

Last year in March we went 30 days without television. It was both frustrating and fantastic. No more eating dinner while watching a movie. No more noise. Much more music in the form of CDs and Pandora. More playing, better sleep. More, ahem, adult time. Better relationships. And then we turned the television back on with the intention of watching just a show here and there. And now we have a line-up for any particular evening (Tuesday: NCIS and NCIS:LA, Thursday: Big Bang Theory and Elementary). I kind of hate it. But I'm going to miss Thursdays. I won't lie to you.

Will you join me? It's just one week. Seven days. 168 hours. And by no television I don't mean watch a show on your laptop. That doesn't count. By all means, watch television nonstop when the week is over. The easiest way to remove temptation is to find a place to store your t.v. We unplugged it last time, and moved it to the closet. Unfortunately living in an apartment there's not a ton of space to store a random hunk of technology. This time, we're covering it. In the photo I've used a tablecloth. You can use a lightweight quilt or unused drapery. (Just for the love of all things safe, unplug it first.)

What say you--are you in?

Links for your reading pleasure, 3 January 2013

2013-01-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about titling this post "food news you can use," but I'm sure that someone else has co-opted that tagline. {Sigh.} Put that under another list: "Things I wish I thought of first." Besides, not all these links are food-related.

It's January third, 2013. I spent all of New Year's Day hanging out and eating baked goods I've been trying out, which is probably not the best way to start the year healthfully. Tasty, though, I will admit. (I was back to eating my usual eggs with avocado yesterday morning.) And I tried to remember to write twenty-thirteen instead of twenty-twelve, which I will forget regularly until at least April.

While we're on the subject of the calendar change-over, our local NPR station put up a post about food trends from 2012 and predictions about what's coming in 2013. I do not agree with the points of every article linked to there (links within a link!), but most are certainly worth reading.

In the current political climate, it's worth remembering that it could be a lot worse. Your favorite morning beverage could be deemed a national security risk like it was in Turkey centuries ago. This article from early 2012 is especially interesting to me as someone interested in food and history. I, for one, am thankful that coffee is not illegal here, or I might have a serious problem.

One of my intentions in 2013 is to make more charcuterie, but not just from pork. Liver pate is incredibly nutrient-dense, and actually quite inexpensive to make at home. I found a tutorial with reviews of some of the most popular recipes for chicken liver pate via the Guardian. Lots of good information there.

If one of your goals for the new year is to reduce your household waste, Martha Stewart has you covered. I saw this how-to for reviving old sweaters in Martha Stewart Living months ago (maybe last winter), and only just rediscovered it. I don't know about you, but I have sweaters with raggedy edges and some snags that could use a little TLC. (Throwing away an otherwise good sweater is out of the question; donating a ragged sweater isn't optimal either.)

Getting more into sewing, I've been eyeing interesting home-improvement projects along with my wishlist of handmade clothing. How about this television cozy (also from Martha Stewart's website)? I think this is a fantastic idea, and a great way to make the television "out of sight, out of mind."

And finally, a fun way to cut down on paper waste: DIY cloth napkins. I actually found some gorgeous fabrics the other day that would be perfect for napkins. I made five a couple of nights ago, and have a few more pinned and ready to sew this evening. I love cloth napkins, but the store-bought variety never have quite enough personality for me. Bonus points if you sew some and then embroider a monogram or a pretty songbird on the corner. (This is also great for homemade gifts.)

Cranberry baked oatmeal to begin 2013

2013-01-01T07:43:00.000-08:00

Do you ever end up with an unexpected windfall of food? When we were up in New England for Christmas my mother-in-law foisted several large bags of oats onto us after she accidentally ordered a case on Amazon rather than a bag. So now I have about six pounds of gluten-free oats in my pantry. Lucky me, because just before the holidays I tried out a new recipe for baked oatmeal. You know, I never really understood baked oatmeal until this year. I mean, it's oatmeal. You can make it into granola or do something simple like cook it with a little butter on the stove-top. Traditional porridge is actually fine by me. But then I saw a recipe for baked oatmeal with roasted pears over at Not Without Salt. I tried it on a whim one weekend morning; all my previous suspicions about fancying up oatmeal vanished. That recipe is really good.

I've now made baked oatmeal four times since the beginning of December; I imagine most of those bags of oats will be used up making more. I have not been using the above-mentioned recipe these past couple of times, though I keep the general ratio of wet to dry ingredients the same. What's life without a little variety, after all? This New Year's morning I've got a simple recipe for cranberry baked oatmeal for you, based loosely on the one from Not Without Salt. It's good for a lazy morning, and has a pleasant tartness from the cranberries to wake you up and ring in the New Year.

Cranberry baked oatmeal, based loosely on this recipe (serves 6)
gluten- and dairy-free

2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 14-oz can full-fat coconut milk (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 large egg
1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan with coconut oil. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Pour into the prepared pan. In the same bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk until well-combined. Carefully pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture, making sure it's well-distributed. Evenly scatter the cranberries over the surface of the oats. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with additional coconut milk or yogurt if desired.

10 tips for gluten-free holiday baking

2012-12-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm sure many of you familiar with this blog have, by now, found favorite cookie and sweets recipes for the holidays. It's taken me a while, of course, to get the hang of gluten-free baking. I've finally got a few bread recipes I love. I can whip out cookies with any flour from nearly any recipe I find. Cakes? Easy. But how? Here are a few tips for getting started with gluten-free holiday baking:

Bake by weight. All-purpose flour is about 140 grams per cup (volume measure). Does the recipe you want to try use a different gluten flour? Need to substitute tapioca starch for potato starch because you forgot to look in your pantry prior to baking? (That, sadly, happens to me all the time.) King Arthur Flour's master weight chart is the best resource I've found for converting recipes and getting started.
Use trusted recipes from before you were gluten-free. I'm serious here. Use the above tip to convert the new recipes to weight measure. Does your family love the Toll-House chocolate chip cookies? Are you a Betty Crocker baker? Take heart--your cookies will be fine. Just don't try to convert from gluten-egg-dairy to gluten-free/vegan in one jump. That, my friend, won't work quite as well. (Although converting an already-vegan recipe to gluten-free should work fine. It's making too many changes at once that will ruin your day.)
Chill your cookie dough. I've had some trouble with spreading when I bake gluten-free cookies. Chilling the dough will help a lot. Give it a good hour. Plan ahead. Most dough can be frozen as well.
If you need to use something other than butter, try coconut oil--but not in equal measure. Coconut oil and olive oil are 100% fat. So is ghee. Butter is about 80% fat, which means that 20% is milk solids. If you're going to substitute an oil for butter, use about 75% the amount called for. For instance, for a recipe that calls for a stick of butter (4 oz/113g or 8 Tbsp), use 3 oz coconut oil, or 6 Tablespoons. If you don't do that, you'll end up with a pile of grease instead of lovely cookies or cake.
If you want to use something other than cane sugar, try honey or maple syrup. I don't generally sweat the sugar when I bake for the holidays, but if you'd rather use honey see #1. The volume will be less than sugar, but as long as you use weight measure your baked goods will turn out fine.
If you want to use Coconut or almond flour, you cannot under any circumstances substitute one for the other. Almond Flour absorbs very little moisture; coconut flour sops up far more liquid than seems possible. You also should not substitute them for other gluten-free flours. An exception to this would be almond and other tree nut flours, which can be subbed up to about 25% of grain/pseudo-grain flours with success.
Can't use gums? Don't want to? Try grinding a teaspoon or two of chia seed to help bind the flours. You shouldn't need this for cakes, but if you have a cookie that turns out a little too crumbly you may wish to try.
If you're converting a recipe from gluten, consider the following ratio by weight: 60% whole grain flour (amaranth, sorghum, quinoa, teff, brown rice, buckwheat, etc.), 40% starch (potato, arrowroot, tapioca). Regular everyday recipes work well with 75-80% whole grain flours, but holiday baking is usually a little more delicate and, well, special. You'll get a finer texture using a slightly higher amount of starch.
If baking a holiday yeasted bread--find a good enriched dough recipe. Flavor as you like. (Rinse, repeat.) I use two recipes: the gluten-free brioche in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (Hertzberg/François), and the [gluten-free] brioche recipe in Aran Goyoaga's Small Plates and Sweet Treats. When I had to stop baking with gluten, all I wanted to do was make my favorite recipe for cardamom bread (a braided loaf my mom taught me how to make and I modified). And her orange rolls that she made for Christmas. While neither of these recipes is going to give you exactly what you're used to, the former is perfect for cinnamon rolls with experimentation; the latter is a wonderfully-textured loaf that works well with experimentation and different flavor additions. (Goyoaga offers three variations in her book to start you off.)
Relax. No, seriously. If you decide that it's too stressful to bake holiday goodies your first year gluten-free (or second, or third), do not feel guilty that you're not baking. Pick a different treat instead, if you like. Maybe these homemade marshmallows. Or some eggnog (eggy or vegan, your choice). Add a half teaspoon of cinnamon to your pot of coffee and a grate or two of nutmeg. Or just buy some candy canes, swirl them in hot chocolate, and call it a day. (I won't tell.)

Happy holidays

2012-12-20T16:03:00.001-08:00

Well, I missed posting about Hanukkah. I hope all of you who celebrate had a peaceful and joyous week with your loved ones. And here we are, less than a week before Christmas. I have to admit--I'm not ready. Well, that's not quite right. I am ready, but for the religious holiday and not the commercial one. I find that increasingly I'm torn between that ever-present wish to have a magical Christmas morning with presents and hot cocoa and a quiet, relatively solemn Christmas Eve with a trip to midnight mass and a bowl of comforting vegetable soup.

Whether you celebrate a religious or secular holiday (or another winter holiday altogether), I think most of us can agree that the focus on "more more more!" and "buy buy buy!" gets tiresome. The events of the last week, perhaps, have highlighted how unimportant all the commercialism is. I've tried to avoid mass media over the past week, but it's hard to escape the omnipresent grief. My heart struggles to get into the Christmas mood, as all this happens. Rampant commercialism coupled with grief and the worries many feel about the possible fiscal cliff make for a stressful time.

And yet, it's Christmas. I've finally found a radio station playing holiday music other than Mariah Carey and Bing Crosby (who, don't get me wrong, are great for certain moods). Listening to choirs and trumpets and performances of the Nutcracker have lightened my mood a bit, while still allowing contemplation. I took my six-year-old to her first Nutcracker this past Saturday. Seeing the sparkle in her eyes as she watched the sugarplum fairies and the Coffee Prince and the bon bons jump and twirl around the stage was magical. Attending the Sunday school Christmas program is always an... experience. (The Rug Rat had a speaking part this year.) I finally feel ready. Except for the presents. I haven't wrapped them yet. Whoops.

Every family has its own holiday traditions. Ours are relatively simple, and many probably would seem silly to you. If I say them out loud they sometimes seem silly to me as well, but here we are. When I was little, my mom would make these amazing sticky orange rolls on Christmas. We'd eat them with cardamom-scented coffee (even the kids) while we opened presents. At my grandma's house on Christmas afternoon my papa would read the Christmas story before we opened gifts. (That one is pretty standard, I think.) I always, always looked forward to that first box of child-sized satsumas after Thanksgiving. We'd eat them until we couldn't buy them anymore, which was sometime around New Year's.

But now, with kids? We make our own traditions. We've listened to the VeggieTales Christmas CDs about a hundred times now--since Thanksgiving, that is. My kids think Junior's rendition of "While By My Sheep" is beyond hilarious. We watch the Muppets Christmas Carol. This year I'm reading the book to the kids, something I hope to make a yearly tradition. I bake like a fiend (and try not to eat all the cookies myself). And I still look forward to buying the first box of fragrant satsumas. (Sorry, folks, clementines aren't nearly as good. Take my word for it.) And starting two years ago, we've tried to do small acts of kindness to pay it forward. Nothing big, but they don't have to be. Doing good just feels good.

Not all our memories will be happy, but we can always find happiness if we spend time with our loved ones. Give hugs. Listen. Rest with the hope that the coming year will bring something better. I wish all of you the most peaceful and joyful of holidays.

Heartbroken

2012-12-14T18:44:00.000-08:00

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers - so many caring people in this world." - Fred Rogers

Spain

2012-12-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

Several months ago I mentioned that we'd be heading out into the world on our first real vacation since... wait for it... our honeymoon. (It's been a while.) We left on Halloween evening and flew to Málaga via Paris for two weeks' break from the daily grind. Should I mention that finding an apartment for a home-base is a good idea? Especially if you have kids, staying somewhere other than a traditional hotel is probably the best thing you can do.

We cooked a lot, saving our meals out for treats or our side excursions to nearby cities. I would like to mention, too, that you'll be fine eating in Spain gluten-free provided you're very clear about needs and are willing to cook a little. Packaged food from the local supermarket--Mercadona in our case--was clearly marked gluten-free. Raw ingredients weren't expensive. From extra-virgin olive oil to ham to various Spanish cheeses--a family's worth of excellent, semi-local food was less expensive by far than in the states. I was sort of sad to see a ton of imported produce considering that there were farms all up and down the coast (and inland), but we did have some from the general area.

The weather wasn't exactly conducive to laying out on the beach, but that's just as well. We're not beach people to begin with, but there's so much to see in Andalucía that it would be a shame to spend our two weeks sitting in sand. I took over two hundred photos of the trip. I am not sharing most of them both for space and because I would like to keep most of the photos of my family to ourselves. I think, though, that you can get a little taste of our vacation with these.

This is a view of Málaga from the Gibralfaro castle (el castillo de Gibralfaro). It's a beautiful Moorish fortress. Entrance for the family was about 5€ I think, but the attendant mentioned that it was free some Sunday afternoons. Well worth the fee and getting lost driving through the city to find. Not that we got lost and ended up in the industrial center or anything.

Up at the top of that particular hill, I think, was a little café at which we got a glass of wine and a tortilla. Of course it was touristy--the café was at the castle--but it was a welcome break from the climbing for the kids. Notable about lunch was not the food itself, but that the kids discovered zuma de piña (pineapple juice). That became a fairly regular treat at meals out.

This is just one of many photos I took at the Alhambra gardens in Granada. We drove up there one day to spend specifically at the Alhambra. We were lucky to have gone during the off season when the lines were reasonable. This is one bonus of going during November when the weather is less-than-perfect.

This is a view of Granada from the gardens at the Alhambra. Despite the gray weather, it was overwhelmingly beautiful. Granada is a place at which I would love to spend an entire vacation. One notable thing about Granada, in case you weren't aware: It was the last city to be conquered by Ferdinand and Isabel, in 1492. The town over, Santa Fe, was the place at which the king and queen signed a rather notable agreement with one Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Columbus) in 1491--the winter before they took Granada.

In a time where most of European architecture was drab and purely functional, the Moors were still paying attention to beauty. The colors and detail are truly amazing.

This is, of course, one of the most famous places in the Nasrid palaces--the fountain of the twelve lions. According to a display off to the side of this courtyard, there has been a lot of restoration work done lately on this fountain.

We were able to see some women doing restoration work inside the Nasrid palaces. I can't imagine the work that goes into keeping the Alhambra (and other historic cultural sites) in good shape.

We passed by this town on the way back to Torrox from Granada. It is typical of the white towns along the coast. Note the fortress (alcazaba) at the top of the hill.

This is Torrox pueblo, up in the hills above the Mediterranean. Our apartment was down on the coast (Torrox Costa), which is populated mostly by ex-pats from Germany, Norway, and the UK. The pueblo is where most of the locals live. It's a beautiful little town, and a good representation of the white Moorish villages along the coast of Andalucía.

This is another picture from Torrox, outside the church.

I got this photograph of Nerja from the N-340 (the main coastal road) on one of the clear days. There's an old beacon on the edge of the cliff to the left. There is a large network of these beacons along the coast that were used by both the Moors and Christians.

Perhaps my favorite two days of the trip were the ones we spent in Sevilla. This is one of the doors at the cathedral. It is difficult to quite get a sense of the cathedral's scale without going yourself. If the kids had been older, we could have spent several hours getting lost in the cathedral grounds. As it was, we spent well over an hour there.

One of the highlights of our cathedral visit was the tower climb. You walk up a ramp of about 35 turns (plus or minus one) to the bells. Along the way you get fabulous views of the city. Those trees at the tower's base are all oranges. Orange trees line Sevilla's streets. (Don't pick the fruit, though--they belong to the government.)

As in many European cities, Sevilla had its fair share of feral cats. This one was prowling outside the university. It was a little ticked that I frightened the pigeon it was stalking. Speaking of the university, did you know that it used to be a cigar factory? And that it's the setting for Bizet's Carmen?

The second day we were in Sevilla we shelled out for a carriage ride, mostly for the kids. The previous day they walked a total of about five miles through the city and back; we promised this after a morning of more walking. While our first day in Sevilla was quite rainy and then generally gray and cold, the next morning was brilliantly sunny.

While I don't relish the idea of bull-fighting, I'm not sure our visit to Sevilla would have been complete without a tour of the bull ring--the second oldest in Spain. When we arrived a couple was getting wedding photographs taken. What a beautiful setting, and so dramatic.

What would a trip be without sampling street food? While on the coast there were stands of grilled sardines, Sevilla had carts of fire-roasted chestnuts every couple of blocks. We probably ate near our body weights in chestnuts while we were there. For 3€ a paper cone full, we kept our bellies full. We had the sooty hands to prove it.

We had beautiful weather (about 70-75 F and sunny) our last two days in Spain. We spent most of that time on the beach or in Nerja getting tapas--a nice end to the vacation. I didn't get a full on photo of a sunset, so this will have to do. We all fell in love with Spain while we were there. I cannot wait to go back, and would probably live in Sevilla if I could. For now, though, we're here and enjoying a quiet December before the Christmas craziness begins in earnest. (I'm sure it has already for many people, but we tend to do Christmas low-key and are happier for it.)

Happy holidays to you and yours!

Slow-cooked lamb neck with red wine and thyme

2012-08-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I’ve been reading some articles and books about the food system--about cost, availability, sustainability, and the ethics of eating. After a while I started becoming completely disheartened by the state of, well, everything. It’s not fair that there are hungry children. It’s shameful that there are food deserts--places in which there are literally no resources for finding fresh foods. Here in America, one of the wealthiest nations on earth, there are people starving. And yet, we argue about the “one true way” of eating. Should we be vegan? Paleo? Should we eat a few processed foods here and there for treats, or should we shun anything that comes in a box? Should we eat soy? Avoid it? Is gluten bad for everyone? How much sugar is okay?

This frankly exhausts me. There are so many problems with our food system; we should all try to take action to fix it. Whether you decide the thing you should do is become an activist against factory farming, donate regularly to a food pantry, embrace the local food scene, or simply create a market for the outside edge of the grocery store... it all helps. If you feel strongly about not eating meat? By all means, don’t eat it. We could debate what the “best” thing to do is all day, and find statistics of some sort to support our own confirmation bias. Ultimately, we just need to do something.

I choose to support local farmers who raise animals for meat in a humane and sustainable manner. I also choose to eat the less desirable (but no less tasty) parts of the animal because I believe in reducing waste. This is one way I believe I can help both my family’s health and local farmers who operate on razor thin profit margins. And I can teach people how to use those cheaper, unknown cuts to create delicious and nourishing food. That, I can do.

Lamb is generally expensive; as such, we do not eat a lot of [lamb]. What we do eat tends to be the less expensive cuts, such as offal and simple ground meat. My favorite lamb cuts, though? Whole muscle cuts that bridge the gap between ground meat or offal and the glorious leg or rack of lamb that shows up on many Easter tables. Lamb shank and lamb neck are both great examples of these cuts. Granted, there are bones and connective tissue involved--but guess what? There are nutrients in those things! When you slow-cook the meat, some of those nutrients mix with the meat to provide added nourishment, the same way nutrients leach out of bones when you make stock.

This is a very basic recipe for lamb neck, cooked in a slow-cooker on low all day with wine and aromatics. The yield on this is modest despite the amount of meat called for, since there is some bone and connective tissue involved. It should, however, give you leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. Serve with roasted sweet potatoes and sauteed kale, or maybe some winter squash.

Slow-cooked lamb neck with red wine and thyme

1 lamb neck roast, about 2 lbs (1 kg)-- Don’t bother trimming excess fat, since it’ll melt down into the cooking liquid.
unrefined sea salt-- about a tablespoon
handful raisins, about ⅓ cup
2 sprigs thyme
½ bottle dry red wine
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
4 cloves

{salt and pepper to taste}

Rub the roast with salt. Brown in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the roast and place in the slowcooker with the raisins, thyme, peppercorns, and cloves. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping any browned bits with a sturdy spatula. Pour the liquid into the slow-cooker over the lamb. Cook on low all day. About 10 minutes before you’re ready to eat, shred the meat with two forks, remove any bones, and put the meat back into the pot to allow the flavors to marry just a bit more. Re-season with additional salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with a few of the raisins and a spoonful of cooking liquid.

Homeschooling, and fall reading list

2012-08-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Another month gone. I am less than a month away from turning 30, and time is flying a lot more quickly than I'd like to admit. I've been reflecting a little on the changes in my life within the last ten years. I posted on another site several days ago that I'm frankly thrilled to have more laugh lines than frown [lines], and that I wear my graying hair with pride. Yes. I have plenty of gray hair, thank you, even now. In fact, I stopped dyeing my hair about four months ago when I decided to grow out my punkish home-cut pixie. No word on how long this trend will last, but for now I'm loving it. I will admit, though, that I wish my husband had more silver hair than me; he does not. (Sigh. Cultural norms, right?)

Our first year of homeschooling our eldest daughter went well. So well, in fact, that I've pretty much locked myself into teaching her for the foreseeable future. I cannot take full credit for this, of course. She is an intelligent and industrious little girl; once she gets an "aha" moment she immerses herself in whatever subject she's interested in. We're moving steadily toward classical education a la Susan Wise Bauer's The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Third Edition) with Singapore Math being our curriculum for mathematics. Only a few weeks into first grade, we've covered a couple of major points in human history without any major problems even though we're taking our time.

The Rugrat (our first-grader) has re-inspired me to read for the fun of it. That's actually one of the reasons I haven't been around here much. I am finding that being immersed in a book is more rewarding for me than sitting at a computer typing. I enjoy writing and creating, but there's something so comforting and creative and just plain glorious about sitting down with a book and a cup of tea, just immersing oneself in another world--if just for a few hours. I've fallen into the trap many times of reading too much nonfiction without breaking it up with a good novel or book of poetry, much like I've found myself researching things like anthropology on the internet and in library journals without allowing for enjoying myself. Don't get me wrong--I love reading about science and mathematics and food politics and cooking. But, in the end, a really good book for me is something like Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, which weaves such a beautiful and horrifying story that when I read it I had to never open the book at night or I'd sleep with the light on. As a 25-year-old adult. Or The Master and Margarita, one of my favorite novels of all time. (Please read the translation I've linked to if you aren't proficient in Russian. I've read a couple of translations and the others are terrible.) The music jokes and description of Pilate... Every word of that story made it into my very soul. Of course with these examples I suppose it's no wonder I majored in Russian, huh? Okay, so a western novel--Louis de Bernière's Birds Without Wings. Have you read it? No? I'll give you a pass--I didn't until last year and can't believe I'd never even heard of it before. It's beautiful and tragic and altogether worth losing yourself in.

Speaking of reading, it seems like the majority of my posts now have to do with book lists and reviews. Sure, most of them are about cooking and food--but I set out writing this blog about food in the first place. Why I haven't written recipes lately is another story entirely, and one for another post. Books, though, are one of my passions and I enjoy sharing my reading lists with you in hopes that you, too, will find some beauty in the written word. So. What have I been reading lately, and what is in my queue for the fall?

Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives: How Evolution Has Shaped Women's Health by Wendy Trevathan -- I picked up this book via Melissa McEwen's reading list on her blog. It's an excellent treatment of the female body and life cycle and well worth your time if you're interested in science and also women's health.
The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table by Tracie McMillan -- McMillan goes undercover to investigate exactly how our food gets from farm to table, including health and ethical concerns.
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie-- for the Russophile in me
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall -- Pretty self-explanatory, really. I've been completely fascinated by human adaptation to endurance versus power sport. I grew up in endurance athletics and am moving back that way out of personal preference (and an aversion to the gym). Slowly, because of that pesky ankle thing, but I've heard great things about the book and will update when I finish it.
Los mejores poemas de amor by Pablo Neruda -- I've read Neruda before, in college Spanish and in English translation both. I am not generally a poetry person, but I really enjoy Neruda. And I need to practice my Spanish (though arguably poetry is not the best way to do this before traveling).
The Paris Wife: A Novel by Paula McLain -- I honestly know nothing about this book, and picked it up at the library on a whim. {Shrug}
Why Some Like It Hot: Food, Genes, and Cultural Diversity by Gary Paul Nabhan -- Another book I saw mentioned around the internet, this one is about what the title suggests. I have not yet read it, but it's on the shelf waiting for me.

What are you reading this fall? Any suggestions for excellent fiction? Nonfiction? Books appropriate to the 3rd or 4th grade reading level (for the kiddo)?

Economy and grace indeed

2012-07-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I read Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal, a book about which I learned from Christina over at the From Scratch Club. (If you're not familiar with FSC, I'd like to take a moment and recommend you head over to check it out here. It's a group of women in the Albany/Saratoga Springs area of New York state that focuses on local and sustainable food.) I put Adler's book on my reading list, thinking that I'd finally get around to reading it sometime during the summer. I ended up bumping [the book] to the front of the list because of the rave reviews I kept reading around the internet. Truth be told? I'm not sure why I didn't go read it immediately. It is fabulous and inspiring and I think every home cook should read it--especially those just starting out on a cooking journey who feel overwhelmed by it all.

When I first opened Adler's book I was expecting something... different from what I found. I was expecting a cookbook of frugal recipes, maybe. A how-to on home cooking from scratch. Sure, there's a little of the first. Well, sort of. An Everlasting Mealis more along the lines of a how-to, but it's so much more than that. It's one of the most poetically-written books about cooking that I've ever read. It's not full of food photography--food porn to some. That is not what the book is about. It's about taking something and transforming it into something else, many times over. It's about making a simple pot of beans (from dried) or pan of roasted carrots and transforming those transformations into other things entirely. Leftovers are glorified, and Adler's prose is inspirational to say the least.

You do not need to be a cook to read An Everlasting Meal. I could have started the book not knowing what to do with dried beans or a raw chicken from the farm. I could have had no clue what to do with carrots or onions or garlic or olive oil. In that sense it is a cookbook. Adler describes techniques you need to know and gently coaxes you towards that pot of beans. She also tells you why you want to do it. And you will--want to do it, that is.

This is easily one of my favorite books about food, even now that I've been pouring over the River Cottage series that I mentioned in my previous post. Adler's book is long enough to satiate your hunger for words, but short enough so as not to be overwhelming. Please go read [her] book. And maybe give a copy to a loved one who wants to cook but doesn't know where to start.

Current food-related reading list

2012-07-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

The cicadas are here. It's an almost unbearably-loud hum in the evenings. You know, the first few months I lived in cicada country I thought there was a hum somewhere in the power lines. Boy, was I wrong. When I first saw one of those suckers I realized a couple of things: First, I'm very happy to let them live in the trees. (I don't have to see them that way.) Second, well... If that infernal humming is the worst that those things can do to me, so be it. Let them hum. Now, almost a decade later, I welcome the sound. It's comforting, really. True, I prefer the quieter chirp of crickets and the glow of lightning bugs... but I'm okay with the cicadas. So long as there's not another plague while I live here.

I regret that I still haven't written the reviews I promised last time I posted my current reading list. Life has gotten in the way, and I've been trying to focus on keeping up with non-internet-related activities rather than writing several long summaries of the books I have on my shelf. That being said, I would like to highlight a few books I have found worthwhile in the hopes that you'll at least request them at your local library! Here goes:

Extra Virginity (Tom Mueller): This is a fantastic expose of apparently wide-spread fraud in the international olive oil industry. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and though I have been aware of the extra virgin olive oil scandals for quite some time I only just got to this book over the past six months. I highly recommend. (Moral of the story: If you buy cheap oil, you're probably getting what you pay for. Spend as much as you can afford, and on well-reputed labels. Mueller's blog has a growing database of olive oils that have checked out.)

The River Cottage cookbooks (Hugh Fearnley-Whitingstall): I purchased The River Cottage Meat Book a couple of months ago, and I must say: It is a fantastic resource if you're into local, sustainable meats. There is so much information regarding buying, storing, and preparing pastured meats (and game!) in this book that you'd be hard-pressed not to find at least half the information relevant to you, even if you don't want to make the offal recipes. (Please do, though. Eating nose-to-tail gets you both the most nutrients and reduces waste.) I got the book for about $25 on Amazon, off of the $40 retail price. I have got to tell you--I'd have paid retail. It's that good. I also checked out The River Cottage Cookbook at our library, and the series' family-friendly cookbook. They're all well over 400 pages of instruction, tips, techniques, and flavors. I want to find a copy of the fish book, as I'm not incredibly confident in my fish-cooking skills.

The Les Halles Cookbook (Anthony Bourdain): Yeah okay, so this one is decidedly not family friendly. If you want to keep this within arm's reach of your children, please reconsider. Bourdain, as always, drops a number of f-bombs. I'm not bothered by this, really, and generally enjoy Bourdain's writing style. It's refreshing to have such a conversational book full of truly useful information and recipes. I generally love French cooking (not haute cuisine--the peasant stuff), so this was right up my alley as far as interests go. I suggest you check it out, unless you're offended by strong language. While I'm at it--have you read Kitchen Confidential? No? Do it.

The Food of Spain (Claudia Roden): NERD ALERT! Seriously my dear readers-- If you enjoy history and food politics as much as I do, and like eating Spanish cuisine (or even if you prefer one of these things to the others), you must read this book. I don't care if you ever make a single recipe from Roden's book; there's just so much interesting information in there to digest. Roden delves deeply into the history of Spanish cuisine, from the Romans to the Celts to the Moors, Jews, and then the Inquisition. Her recipes look superb, and from those I've tried personally I can say with confidence you won't be disappointed. She writes about Spanish regional cooking, traditional beverages, and more. This one, like the River Cottage books, is extremely long and well-worth your time. There are also gorgeous photographs of the Spanish countryside and architecture.

I've got a couple more I'm going through right now. If I remember I'll give a quick run-down before I have to return the books to the library. In the meantime, my five-year-old has figured out that she can blow through chapter books. (I'm a proud mama; please indulge my little bragging session!) She's about halfway through Charlotte's Web and has finished about five books in the last week. If you've got any suggestions for long-ish chapter books that are emotionally-appropriate for an almost-six-year-old, please let me know. We've got the Clementine and Ramona books on our list for the summer, but I have a feeling I'll be needing more.

What's on your reading list this summer--food-related or otherwise? I'd love to know!

Fireworks (or, an eggplant blossom)

2012-06-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Beans, charcuterie, and other assorted miscellany.

2012-05-24T09:37:00.003-07:00

You know, I've been trying to write up the rest of my experience at the butchery class to no avail. It's not that I do not want to write about it--I do. I just want to do it (the class, the instructors, the hog) justice, and I haven't been focused enough lately to do any of that. So here we are.

And don't get me started on blogging about the food I've been cooking. We've been eating well, sure, but really nothing we've eaten has been particularly exciting. Actually, that's not true. But I haven't taken photographs for a number of reasons, and I haven't worked out by thoughts into recipes. (Oops.)

So here's the thing: I've been cooking, and making jams, and gardening, and... curing meat. Yes, I finally got a copy of Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie and am slowly making my way through it. One of the things that really made me excited about making charcuterie myself was the idea that I could control the ingredients. I can cure bacon with or without nitrites. I can use sugar.. or not. I can use bourbon (YES!) and coffee, or garlic and bay, or... just plain salt. And I can control from which farm I buy the pork (beef, lamb, duck). I haven't been excited about much in the kitchen for quite a while, and I'll get into that in some future post. But this? It's fun.

In other news I've read a number of the books I talked about in my last book post. I read Weston A Price's tome Nutrition and Physical Degeneration and got a lot of good out of it. It's actually something I recommend you read whether you're inclined toward a carnivorous or herbivorous diet, though I'm not sure that if you're vegan you'll agree with everything in there. Essentially it's about nutrient density, the [serious] problems that arise from eating a processed food diet, and how to fix the wrongs. This, of course, is the short version. What I took from it? Eat an unprocessed diet with some (note: some, not necessarily a LOT of) animal products. Avoid white flour, refined sugars, too many canned goods, and industrial vegetable/seed oils. Sound familiar? I was mostly surprised with the talk of vegetable oils, since for a long time I thought canola was fine. I started avoiding it about 18 months ago for the most part, and I'm glad now that I did. But anyhow, Price goes into detail about numerous traditional diets around the world, and not all of them are meat-heavy. All are nutrient dense, but the macros and specifics vary quite a bit. It's a fascinating read whether you like the current WAPF thing or not. I highly recommend it, and wish I had the energy to write a full review of the book.

Actually, I've since moved back from "paleo" (which is a flawed word anyway) toward a traditional/ancestral diet. I've reintroduced some soaked/fermented beans and gluten-free grains and pseudo-grains--mainly rice and buckwheat, but a little organic corn as well. I eat more beans than grains, though, and feel loads better for it. Grains, I feel, are problematic for some reason. At any rate, it's a load off my shoulders knowing my body has healed enough to eat some of my favorite foods again, at least in moderation. Just eat real food, right? Who cares what you call it?

Now that I've written a lot about very little, I'll leave you with the promise that I will, at some point, finish the series about my experience at the butchery workshop. I'll maybe get into writing about the charcuterie I'm making right now. (My wonderful husband purchased a wine fridge for me as an anniversary gift... not for wine, but for dry-curing meat.) So far I've made bacon, salt cod, and have guanciale, duck prosciutto, and bresaola going right now.

Thanks for sticking with me in my on-again/off-again blogging. I've got a lot of great ideas, and maybe sometime this summer I'll have the energy and motivation to write daily again. Right now I'm recovering (still) from a really bad ankle sprain five weeks ago. I'm still in a boot for two more weeks and then will be slowly doing rehab to [hopefully] prevent it from happening again. My main motivation right now is to get into a pool, at least, and work off some of this pent-up frustration. It's amazing what reduced mobility does to your outlook. (It's not good.) I'll admit: I've been making a lot of strawberry jam and some pickles. More on that later.

What have you all been up to? Any fun cooking projects going this summer?

Pig, from farm to table. Literally. Part 1

2012-04-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

Bacon. Ribs. Chops. Carolina barbecue. Carnitas. Chorizo. Any way you look at it, meat from the humble pig is delicious. I mean let’s face it--there’s a reason people say bacon is the gateway meat. Even as a veg*n, I was enamored with the smoky taste of bacon. If you look closely, there are a plethora of veg*n recipes for “bacon” made from eggplant, coconut, and tempeh. Not to knock those recipes--I like them. But they don’t hold a candle to the real thing. And yet, as any good former veg*n would tell you--there’s a real dark side to pork.

The way pigs are treated in factory farming operations (CAFOs, if you like acronyms like I do) is horrific. Gestation crates prevent sows from standing up and turning around. Pigs have their tails clipped to prevent bites from other, stressed animals. (They say it’s to keep the pigs comfortable, but that “comfort” level is only needed because the animals don’t have enough room to be pigs.) There is nothing natural about commercial pork. And, as such, I refuse to buy it.

I used to believe that the best way to stop factory farming was to abstain from meat altogether. I still feel that given the choice between CAFO meat (poultry, pork, beef, etc.) and none at all I’d choose to be veg*n again, despite the fact that my family can consume neither soy in quantity or gluten. But now I believe that supporting local farmers’ efforts to reclaim pastured, humane animal products is both better for health, the environment, and the movement toward meat the way it should be. That is, from pastured animals and farmers who care. Luckily, northern Virginia is a fantastic place to find farmers who believe in this type of product. In letting their animals live as animals should. In being responsible.

But as I began to eat animal products again I still held ethical reservations. I did believe that it was morally okay to eat meat. Humans are omnivores, and should eat a little of everything. But I also believed that if I were going to eat meat again, I needed to be prepared, should the need arise, to kill for myself an animal to eat. It’s not something I take lightly. I do not like unnecessary violence, and find it abhorrent. (This is one reason I detest CAFOs with such passion. Animal abuse on the way to slaughter is unacceptable, even if said animal is going to die anyway.) But, I cannot be a hypocrite. If I cannot stomach the idea of slaughter so that I can eat, I have no business whatsoever eating meat--regardless of the type of farm from which I purchase said meat.

Several weeks ago I received a notice of classes to be offered at a local farm via our CSA farmer, Rob Moutoux. The classes to be offered included home dairy (yogurt, cheese, kefir, etc.), which Rob would be teaching, and also mushroom cultivation among other topics. But the one that caught my eye was a class on pig butchery. As in, upon arrival in the morning there would be a hog out back, and by afternoon said hog would be pate and well on its way to bacon. As much as the thought of attending a slaughter turned my stomach, I knew I had to sign up. I needed to know I could be there and watch the process from start to finish, participating when appropriate. My husband, Jarrod, signed up with me; we found a babysitter for the day; and we prepared for a long day of, well, everything.

To be continued...

Living on through creativity

2012-02-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for the well-wishes sent over the past couple of weeks since my Papa passed. I was able to spend some time with my family in Seattle while my in-laws (who are in the running for the "world's best in-laws" award) watched the kids. I'm not sure what to say, really--what do you say about visiting family for a memorial service? I'd like to share a little of who my Papa was, and how he lives on through his art.

Papa painted. A lot. His college studies were in studio art. And while he went into business for his career, art was always his love. I remember going up to visit my grandparents in north Seattle and sitting in the guest bedroom looking at his paintings, drawings, and general artistic musings. He had loads of books and little models. I even, on occasion, got to learn from him and dip my paintbrush into his vast collection of watercolors.

When my grandparents moved out of their large house and into a smaller one near Lake Washington my grandmother banished his creating out to a small garage/shed/annex in the back of the house. It became his studio. Eventually my family and his friends convinced him to start selling some of his paintings, but he painted more for the joy of art. I'm lucky enough to have five of his original creations hanging in my home. I wanted to share a couple of them with you. (I'm sure he wouldn't mind.)

I regrettably didn't get the creative genes my grandfather had--at least when it comes to painting. (My youngest sister got that talent, and I proudly display one of her photographs on my wall.) But I do have the memory of being creative with my Papa, and I have a little piece of his soul hanging in my living space. I only wish he were here to create more.

Brief interlude

2012-01-19T16:53:00.000-08:00

It seems no matter what I do I end up taking breaks from blogging here unexpectedly. I had every intention of posting a book review this week, but life got in the way. You see, my Papa passed away this past weekend. It was not unexpected, and I was able to see him one more time at Christmas, but it's still difficult. Papa was one of the men I respected most in my life, and it's hard to have to let go. Even harder still is it for my grandmother and aunts. So I will be absent while I visit my family. I've got a planned post or two for now or when I get back, but simply put family is far more important than blogging. (Of course, I know you all understand.) Have a lovely weekend, and go give your loved ones a hug.

January 2012 reading list

2012-01-11T16:04:00.000-08:00

My cooking has been dismally boring this past month. Sweet potatoes until we burst, local meat, greens, carrots, onions, and very little else save those little treats like cauliflower and organic blueberries and bananas from the store. I'm a little done with winter, folks, so instead of exercising my culinary prowess I've been reading about food and nutrition, with a little food politics thrown in for good measure,. Here's my January reading list in case you want to follow along:

Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat
by Melissa Joulwan: This is a classic paleo (Whole30-style) cookbook with plenty of intriguing international flavors and tons of time-saving tips. I'm still working my way through the book and will review soon.

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
by Weston A Price: I'm finally getting around to reading this classic. I avoided it for a [really] long time because of my laziness, but I read enough referencing this book that I felt I should dive into it for myself.

Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life
by Nora Gedgaudas: Gedgaudas writes about nutrition and its link to mental health, among other things. I'm excited to get through this one.

Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Larry Estabrook: I've been meaning to get all the way through this book for ages.

Cocoa-toasted cauliflower from "Well Fed"

2012-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

You guys! This stuff is... amazing. And bonus? It's not only in "Well Fed," but also here for free.