fresh.

Snow day soup and sandwich

2010-02-25T09:48:00.000-08:00

I'll admit that I haven't been terribly inspired in the kitchen lately. I blame this mostly on the weather. Winter is never my favorite season, but this year has been particularly brutal with all of the snow, and as we speak another slushy foot is burying Philadelphia. Justin and I have spent much of 2010 inside, but instead of holing up in the kitchen with new recipes I'd rather hibernate, stopping only to eat something hot and comforting and generally loaded with carbs.

Today is no exception. After some work and a work out this morning, all I could think about for lunch was my favorite snow day snack growing up; grilled cheese with tomato soup. When the craving hit me, my first thought was that I didn't have any tomato soup. But wait a minute... I did have a can of tomatoes, garlic, onion and spices. That's enough for a simple tomato soup, right? About thirty minutes later I was dunking my grilled cheese into homemade tomato soup.

{ The dynamic duo. On the sammy I added sauteed spinach for some daily green and Dijon mustard for a little kick }

And that folks, is what I call a good snow day.

What is wrong with this picture?

2010-02-23T16:59:00.000-08:00

{ Photo courtesy of the LA Times Daily Travel & Deal Blog }

Through the magic of internet technology, I was video chatting with a good friend yesterday who lives in New Zealand. We were talking about apples. It's not time for apples right now, at least not where I live, but maybe we were doing some wishful thinking. Because we live on opposite sides of the world from one another, the apples we find in our respective grocery stores are, understandably, from opposite sides of the world as well. In one grocery store, the apples are proudly stamped products of the USA, while in the other many of the stickers read "product of New Zealand". Seems reasonable, right? Well here's the rub; it's the apples I see in Pennsylvania groceries that are sporting New Zealand passports, while many of the ones she finds are from the USA.

I hate to ask the obvious here but, what is wrong with this picture?

na na na naan

2010-01-28T18:00:00.001-08:00

On the heels of Wednesday's rather intense conversation, I thought we could all use a light-hearted break before the weekend. And I'll tell you one thing, I find it far easier to be light-hearted when there is a stack of warm flat-bread at home. Before two weeks ago I had never, I repeat never, made any sort of flatbread. But recently I've been possessed by the stuff, experimenting with pizza dough, tortillas, and a particular favorite that I came to talk to you about today; naan.

{ naan rising }

While I'm admittedly no expert on Indian cuisine, I do love the stuff. Good Indian food is so packed with flavor that after a meal of it I find it almost impossible to leave the table unsatisfied. And the naan... Oh, the naan. This chewy flatbread served straight from the oven and drizzled with ghee is perfect on its own or as a vehicle for mopping up remaining sauce from a dish... That is if you were silly enough to leave any sauce on the dish in the first place. This end-of-meal ritual is an important one for me; my grandmother didn't name me the "Clean Plate Queen" for nothing.

Recently we've added a couple of fairly simple Indian dishes to our rotation, one of the favorites being Chana Masala. I can't eat it without wanting naan, and until recently I was picking up a store bought version which was, well, meh. We stuck with it because I was doubtful that we could do better at home without the hellishly hot clay oven the flatbread is traditionally baked in. But when the pizza stone came into our lives, I changed my mind. So last week I did some research and came up with a recipe for at-home naan baking. The process was painless; just mix, knead, rise, roll and slap, and the results really were delicious.

{ please enjoy naan responsibly }

True, our maiden effort did not compete with naan from our favorite Indian restaurants, and probably won't. But what I'm discovering is that even rookie efforts at making some of my former grocery staples usually taste better than their store bought counterparts... This coming from a still-struggling cook.

Also true is that with my, ahem, flexible schedule, I'm able to work this kind of baking project into my day in a way that I couldn't when I was away from the apartment for at least ten hours every day. Still, if making naan at home is something that you're interested in, it is definitely easy enough to do when you have even a bit of extra time. It stays good for a day or so, though it's best fresh so in the future I think I'll make a larger recipe and freeze at least half of it for later. Which would be even better because then I could just take it out of the freezer, let it defrost and pop it in the oven.

I found the recipe in the Chicago Tribune via Serious Eats, apparently this one stood up to the competition. The only change I made was to substitute the non-fat Greek Yogurt I had in the fridge for plain yogurt. If it had a negative impact we didn't know it, but next time I will probably try plain just to see if it makes a difference.

The rise of naan: How to bake the Indian flatbread at home - Chicago Tribune Archives

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Citizens United Indeed

2010-01-22T11:48:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Supreme Court blocked a ban to restrict political spending by corporations, unions and special interest groups. The case was Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and when the ruling was announced my first thought was of one thing: Monsanto.

{ "Researchers at Monsanto's Breeding Research Center in Stonington, Ill., are working on new soybean products." Photo courtesy of the New York Times }

Earlier this month, Forbes magazine named biotech-giant Monsanto company of the year, crediting "the vast numbers of farmers who prefer its seeds to competing products" along with the company's $44 billion market value, for the magazine's top award. Dismissing years of serious environmental and health questions regarding the company's products, as well as anti-trust concerns that have brought both a suit from competitor DuPont and an impending Department of Justice hearing on seed competition, the article paints Monsanto the victim, albeit the very, very rich victim, of a pesky and hard-to-please public.

Conspicuously absent from the article is any mention of one gaping hole in big-ag logic; the logic that drives what Forbes writers, Robert Langreth and Matthew Herper, call Monsanto's efforts to "make humanity better fed." Indeed, millions of people worldwide are hungry and the challenge of feeding us all grows with our population, expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. Companies like Monsanto suggest that their seed technology in combination with the chemical herbicides that they produce will increase agricultural production and solve the problem of world hunger. But here's the rub. We do not need to increase agricultural production to feed the hungry. In 2008, we grew enough food worldwide to feed 11 billion people. Enough food to feed 11 billion, for a population of less than 7 billion. Our problem of feeding the hungry is not a matter of increased production.

Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA, summed it up well in his piece last week for the Atlantic Food Channel, "Hunger is not a global production problem. It is a global justice problem. [...] There may be profit to be made in exporting our high-tech, input-reliant, greenhouse-gas-emitting agricultural systems to the developing world. But let us not pretend it will solve global hunger or address climate change."*

Pretending is exactly what big-ag companies like Monsanto have done. Because there are massive profits to be made by selling biotechnology (Monsanto raked in a tidy $2.1 billion net revenue for 2009) the environmental damage and health problems attributed to our current food and agriculture systems are ignored or dismissed as nagging from a petulant public.

And so we arrive at a crucial conflict of interests. The gargantuan profits of ag-giants like Monsanto versus the sustainability of our food systems, the health of our planet and the health of the people who live on it. (Incidentally, Forbes seems to at least have it right on this point. Their article is titled, "The Planet versus Monsanto") Like it or not, all of these interests are affected daily by our government. They determine the subsidies that support large American monocrops, and the trade policies that influence the global import and export of food products. Their agencies decide what is safe for us to eat, and what isn't. Until last week, restrictions were in place to limit corporate spending on political TV ads in an effort to protect us from these conflicts of interest. But when the Supreme Court lifted the cap on corporate funding for campaign advertising, that semblance of protection was laid to waste. Though we’ve yet to see the extent to which this monumental decision will effect our political system as a whole, a door has certainly been opened and I, for one, am not excited about seeing what’s on the other side.

I’ve spent the last several days searching for a loop hole, a reason to be cautiously optimistic that this change won’t seriously damage the rights of us as individual citizens in favor of the singular, now even louder, voice of a company like Monsanto. The court’s decision effectively makes me or you David versus Monsanto’s Goliath in communicating our positions to our legislators. You or I get one vote and as many heated letters to our lawmakers as we like, and Monsanto gets a $44 billion direct line into the hot-seat. If I disagree with Monsanto, I am welcomed to incorporate myself and accumulate a few billions dollars to combat their position. The odds are ugly, but the reason for optimism is the fact that huge numbers of thought leaders are crying foul, and we've yet to hear the end on this issue.

*Viertel also does a nice job of explaining the findings of a recent report on global agriculture at a crossroads, put together by the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Program. Their conclusions, along with Viertel's perspective on where we go from here, suggest a promising way forward.

Pizza, pizza

2010-01-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

Success! We have been making pizza at home for years, but a thin crispy crust had always eluded us... Until last night. With the help of our new pizza stone we did it; delicious chewy crust, with a definite outer crunch.

However, there are still kinks to work out on our quest for at-home pizza perfection. Using a pre-heated stone means assembling the dough, sauce and cheese trifecta on a separate surface before transferring the pie to the hot stone and putting it in the oven. Trust me, this sounds easier than it actually is for a first-timer. Ideally you would make the pizza on a peel, the long-handled wooden spatula that pizza shops use to easily slide pies in and out of the oven. Pies practically dance off those things... Not so with the peel-substitute we used. Despite a heavy coat of flour and cornmeal, our stubborn pie had no interest in gliding off our baking sheet onto the stone. Creative problem-solvers that we are, we had no choice but to pick our 'za up hope for the best. The resulting pizza brought to mind Dalí's clocks, though I must say that it was no less delicious and crisp.

{ If the above pizza appears to be rather ugly, that's only because it was }

The verdict? While there is room for improvement on our prep-to-oven transfer, we are decidedly in love with our pizza stone.

(wo)man with a plan

2010-01-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

Thankfully, my week of detox is over. I may or may not have celebrated with a half-pound of fresh mozzarella this weekend, but that's neither here nor there... We'll worry about that when it comes time for detox 2011.

In the meantime I'm refocusing on weekly meal plans in an effort to get back on track with cooking and eating at home. And after several months of commuting craziness, I'm excited to be back in the kitchen on a more regular basis. Both my wallet and I feel happier and healthier eating more home-cooked meals, and I've been especially inspired recently by a couple of culinary Christmas gifts: two beautiful new cookbooks and a pizza stone.

Needless to say, there was no shortage of ideas when it came time to make our meal plan for this week, though there were some hurdles. A jam-packed lineup of Justin's work and classes means that we won't be eating week-night dinners together through the spring. This also means that the leftovers of whatever I eat on a given night will become Justin's dinner the next, so the meal needs to hold up. There are loop-holes of course; if I make something that won't last as leftovers or that Justin doesn't like, I can always make something else for him. If that sounds like a pain, that's because it is... So we avoid that option when possible. There is also the option to make dinner for both of us in the morning. But, to borrow a line from my cousin, we'll file that under "things that are not going to happen".

The bottom line is that creating our weekly meal plan feels sort of like a game of Tetris; everything has to fit just right. When I'm in a good mood it's a fun challenge. When I'm not, we eat peanut butter and jelly until inspiration strikes. Luckily, this was a good week and we came up with this dinner lineup:

Monday
Marinated tofu and shiitake mushroom stir-fry with roasted broccoli
*also make granola for breakfasts

Tuesday
Make Fennel Potato Leek soup (one of Justin's favorites) before dinner date with a friend (yay!)

Wednesday
Griggstown Farm Chicken Apple Sausages + quinoa with roasted onion, kale and sweet potatoes

Thursday
Whole wheat pasta with pesto (from cubes I froze earlier in the season) + arugula salad

Friday
Chana Masala + homemade naan (I love naan and I'm excited to try making it at home!)

Saturday
Inaugural homemade pizza on our new stone!

Sunday
Market TBD

It's certainly not a groundbreaking collection of menus, but it's nice to have a week of healthy meals that we both like to look forward to. When we do our food shopping on Sunday we'll start the game all over again, and with a little luck we'll have another PB&J-free week... Though that certainly wouldn't be the worst fate.

In like a lion.

2010-01-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

Winter is here. The seasonal transition feels especially monumental this year, bringing with it a new decade; one that will hopefully be less fraught than the last. There are reasons to be optimistic on this front, particularly in the world of food politics. I'm looking forward to talking about some of those reasons here as the year unfolds.

At Fresh, the arrival of the new year means a renewed energy to report on food issues, follow the progress of sustainable food activism and, of course, to share stories about what we're putting on the table. I think 2010 is going to be an exciting year for this blog and I hope that you'll all stay tuned. As you may have noticed, winter also means a new look for Fresh; my favorite of our seasonal layouts. It's the fourth in our series, but this art was actually the original inspiration for the other seasons. If the orange hues seem more fitting for summer than winter I can say that, as someone who loathes cold weather, juicy citrus is one of the best things about this season. Not to mention that the bright colors are a pick-me-up that many of us can use this time of year.

{ Photo courtesy of the New York Times }

For me personally, this winter also means a transition as I finish my fall internship in New York with Slow Food USA and look forward to new challenges and opportunities for 2010. In light of this change, I decided to push something of a personal reset button this week. After months of seriously celebrating New York food and the holidays, I'm detoxing for a few days. Though I don't subscribe to any diet plan that entails surviving on spicy lemonade, I am cutting out dairy, gluten, sugar, alcohol and caffeine. You may be wondering how I will motivate myself to get out of bed in the morning without bread, chocolate and cheese to lure me and I won't lie; it isn't easy. But I'm getting through it by enjoying (or trying to enjoy) lots of raw whole foods, like the Lancaster Farm Fresh Lacinato Kale the the grocery near me has been carrying recently, along with buckets of carrot and ginger dressing (recipe below).

That said, the rest of the week will be quiet here but we'll be back with new posts on Monday. Thanks for your patience all, we hope to see you then.

--

Carrot Ginger Dressing
Adapted from Gourmet

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 medium to small shallot, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons water

Combine the carrot, shallot and ginger in a food processor until finely chopped and well combined. Add the rice vinegar and sesame oil and combine. While the food processor is going, drizzle the grapeseed oil and water in a steady stream until well blended. Serve on top of salad, fish, chicken or with raw sliced veggies.

Good food for kids

2009-11-27T11:46:00.001-08:00

Odds are, we've all eaten pretty well this week. Between the pumpkin and pecan pies, roasted turkey and vegetables and all manner of potatoes, you are, like me, very full by now. With that in mind, I'm definitely ready to turn the focus from holiday overindulgence to healthy moderation. And not only for myself.

{ Picture courtesy of Slow Food USA }

Last week in the Slow Food USA office, we took a moment to write a letter to our congressmen and women about the Child Nutrition Act which is up for reauthorization, likely in early 2010. Most of us support increasing the funding provided to each child by one dollar a day, so that the kids who rely on these meals have a chance at a healthy lunch and avoid the health problems that could affect them later.

Check out the photos of us letter writing here, or the Slow Food USA Time for Lunch campaign here. And if you're interested in writing your own letter to congress, check congress.org to find the contact information for you local lawmakers.

Blooper reel: A tale of two cheesecakes

2009-11-26T09:39:00.001-08:00

The biggest food holiday of the year just wouldn't be that without a least one culinary blooper. In our kitchen the turkey is still to be roasted and the gravy to be made, but my mom and I discovered our mishap last night around midnight. Weeks ago, we had decided to have pumpkin cheesecake for dessert this Thanksgiving. Neither of us had made a cheesecake before, but her good friend had a recipe and we felt up to the task.

We decided that I would take the helm on the project, but at my parents' house since my mom's kitchen is better equipped. But when travel plans changed at the last minute, signals got crossed about who was responsible for the cheesecake. Maybe you see where this is going... Justin and I arrived at my parents house last night, bearing sweet potato casserole, veggies for roasting and a vat of pumpkin pie cheesecake filling. My plan was to run inside, whip up a crust, pour the filling in and take a nap before pulling the finished dessert out of the oven and stashing it in the fridge overnight. Instead, as I carried the liquid cream cheese mixture inside my mom spotted it and said, "Oh, wait. Did you make a cheesecake? I thought I was making the cheesecake." Sure enough, a finished pumpkin-spice cheesecake sat chilling in the fridge. The second is ready to pull from the oven as we speak.

{ Roast turkey with black-truffle butter and white-wine Gravy, courtesy of Gourmet.com }

There are five* of us having Thanksgiving dinner this year at the Boggs' homestead, but we are determined that no cheesecake shall go untouched. That said, if you're in the mood for some dessert leftovers today, feel free to stop by our house.

*We are short one Boggs family member today; my youngest sister is down south swabbing the decks, slushing the mast and whatever else it is you do when you work on a sailboat. It's an understatement to say that she is sorely missed. Wish you were here P.B.

One is silver and the other gold

2009-11-25T05:54:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been torn. When it comes to Thanksgiving, there are certain dishes that I love for their steadfastness. No matter the circumstances, these dishes are there, comforting me, year after year: my mom's celery-scented dressing, sweet potato casserole topped with toasted marshmallows, cranberry "sauce" straight from the can and, my husband's favorite, pineapple bake. Normally, I wouldn't look twice at these items on a menu, neither would I crave them unless it was the fourth Thursday in November. But when it comes to the feast to end all feasts, it wouldn't seem like a holiday without them.

On the other hand, my palette has evolved over the years and I'm often tempted by the new, glittery Thanksgiving recipes on the pages of my favorite food magazines or blogs: cranberry relish with orange and ginger, cornbread stuffing with fennel and bell peppers or sweet potatoes with coconut milk and fiery Thai spice paste. I spend weeks plowing through these twists on the traditional sides, dreaming up an ideal meal.

{ Cranberry Quince Sauce Courtesy of Epicurious.com }

But I can't have it all. Our recent Thanksgiving celebrations have been limited to immediate family, so making a variety of sides that would include both the traditional and the modern versions of my favorite dishes would invariably result in eating turkey-day leftovers until Easter. Now normally, I'm not one to knock a leftover, I often think they're the best part of any meal, but I have to draw a line somewhere, and that line generally falls somewhere around the time I put up my Christmas tree.

So friends, I'm stuck. Stay with my comfort foods and avoid the angry mob who might come after me if I replaced our sweet potato casserole with a spicy cousin, or blaze a bold new trail of Thanksgiving eating? What do you do to balance the old and the new?

A very good idea

2009-11-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

Findlay Market in Cincinnati, Ohio is the oldest continuously operating market in the state, and it's also one of the most forward-thinking. Last year, facing a shrinking Ohio farming population and a growing demand for local produce in urban farm markets, Findlay Market manager Cynthia Brown and colleagues came up with a solution. They applied for a USDA grant and created the "Cultivating Healthy Entrepreneurs and Farmers" (CHEF) program; with the goal of turning vacant community lots into working urban farms, and in turn providing business opportunities for members of the local Latino immigrant population.

In July 2009, Philadelphia journalist Daniel Denvir produced a story on the CHEF program for NPR's Latino USA. It's a compelling story, and I recommend a quick listen below.

The CHEF approach is both innovative, inclusive and, to my mind, an excellent example of a creative solution that addresses a range of issues facing our communities and food systems. And there is better news. Though Denvir's story ran just last week, in the time since he produced it CHEF has received a $219,000 USDA grant to expand the program, and in August four more Cincinnati lots were donated for use as urban farms. So while in 2009 CHEF employed four farmers on two plots of land, the new grant will allow them to double their impact in 2010; training and equipping up to ten growers on six plots of land.

As I've mentioned here before, it can be overwhelming to consider all of the challenges facing our food system and the people whose lives are intimately connected to producing the food we all eat. Programs like CHEF are a reminder that solutions do exist, and that it's up to us to put them in place.

* A thank you to Emma Kirwan of Millstone Farm in Connecticut, for sending this story our way!

A nice glass of wine with a pancake.

2009-11-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Last week I had trouble sleeping. I tried relaxing with tea and a book, but eventually the only thing that lulled me to sleep was watching a marathon streak of 'Scrubs' episodes. After powering through the entire season seven in a just few very late nights, one episode stands out in my memory. It's Turk and Carla's anniversary, and Turk is obsessed with having breakfast for dinner, brinner, to celebrate. The storyline reminded me of a too-long-dormant love for eating pancakes and eggs after dark. Making a good brinner at home, especially when it's cold and rainy outside, is one of the most comforting activities I know.

So when we were elbow deep in laundry late yesterday afternoon and Justin suggested an early brinner, I was immediately game. Not long after, I had slices of french toast on the stove while Justin scrambled eggs and fried bacon. We ate on the floor and watched the Eagles beat the Bears.

Turk's defense of breakfast for dinner sums it up for me, "I just don't see what's wrong with having a nice glass of wine with a pancake." Though my own brinner involved a nice glass of orange juice to help ward off an oncoming cold, I can definitely relate to the sentiment... It's kind of hard to beat brinner.

* In honor of sweet potatoes and turkeys everywhere, there will be new posts on Fresh every day this week.

Preserving traditions: The Food of a Younger Land

2009-11-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

* Piece was first posted on the Slow Food USA blog

I am constantly curious about what other people are eating. After friends return from traveling, I want to hear about their favorite meal of the trip. If I call my mom at dinnertime, I want to know what she’s cooking. When I ran into a good friend shortly after she crossed the finish-line of the New York Marathon, I couldn’t resist asking for details on her pre-race meal, even as she stood doubled-over nursing a cramp. My friends and co-workers know that any mention of an interesting meal could illicit a number of follow-up questions from my end. I just can’t help myself… When it comes to food, I have a curious mind.

So when I came across Mark Kurlansky’s The Food of a Younger Land, based on the food traditions of the America my grandmothers grew up in, I felt I was the perfect audience. The collection of essays aims to be a portrait of American eating before our highways, chain restaurants and industrial farming made many of our dining habits homogeneous. And while I would disagree with Kurlansky’s perspective that our food traditions have all but disappeared, I won’t dispute the point that regional food is now something to be sought out; often buried under generic strip malls filled with Panera Bread, Chili’s and Chipotle. The many traditions that make up American eating have unquestionably evolved, and The Food of a Younger Land is an interesting reflection on where we’ve been.

Following his earlier food explorations, Salt and Cod, Kurlansky’s newest came together by chance. While doing research on another book, he stumbled across hundreds of unpublished essays by the Federal Writer’s Project (FWP), a depression-era employment agency created by the Works Progress Administration. The essays were meant to be published as a collective guide to regional American food; America Eats. But just as writers were sending in finished (or unfinished) pieces in December 1941, bombs rained on Pearl Harbor and the country went to war. Funding for the FWP dried up and the project dissolved before the America Eats essays could be edited or published.

As it turns out, this was at least one fortunate side effect of the war. Of the thousands employed by the FWP, a relative handful were legitimate writers and many of the essays that make up The Food of a Younger Land are drier than a high school history text-book. Other contributions are simply long lists of regional foods (though admittedly, I did appreciate the compilation of 1930’s diner kitchen lingo and will be looking for the next opportunity to use the line, “Burn one with axle grease Joe, I’ve got a blimp here waiting for a bellywash and an order of nervous pudding”). There are certainly a few good pieces of writing in the mix, like the husky recollection of cattle ranchers sharing Oklahoma Prairie Oysters and conversation around a fire; but for the most part Kurlansky’s introductions break up the monotony adding needed interest to the book.

More importantly, the essays hold more interest and benefit for the reader today, in hindsight, than they would have at the time they were written. Looking back on the way we ate two generations ago is a reminder of how far our everyday eating habits have strayed from the regional and seasonal. Without question, traditional food preparations still exist. My visits to the North Shore of Boston always include a least one bowl of signature chowder, and a recent visit to Brooklyn’s Di Fara Pizza reminded me of the care and attention some people still devote to preserving their own food traditions. But Kurlansky reminds that in the not too distant past regional eating was the standard, not the exception. And without a conscious effort to maintain regional American food cultures, they could end up a thing of the past.

Empire State of Mind

2009-11-13T07:07:00.000-08:00

I’ve been absent, but I can explain. I’ve been having an affair… With New York. I never would have guessed those words would come out of my mouth. Growing up an hour outside the city, trips into the Big Apple were required each time our relatives came to visit. I loved the time with my Southern kin, but I loathed those obligatory holiday treks into the heart of Manhattan. It meant clumsy train rides, more laps around the island on the Circle Line “cruise ship” than I care to remember, crowded elevators to the tops of the tallest buildings, shuffling around a freezing Rockefeller Center and, one time, losing my baby sister for about five minutes at the Empire State Building. She ended up being fine, but I was not. I was terrified of the city. To this day the smell of midtown, a mix of roasted street nuts and sewer pipes, makes me cringe.

But my time in the Big City this fall has opened up an entirely different New York, one that I only knew existed a few years ago when friends started migrating to neighborhoods in the Village and Brooklyn. There are many, many things to talk about when it comes to exploring the city from the vantage point of lower Manhattan; the food alone is enough to keep us all occupied for months. Which, incidentally, is exactly what has happened to me.

I have been fully consumed with consuming as much of the New York food experience as I can, and I’ve been doing it all on a shoe-string budget. Luckily, it turns out that a shoe-string is all you need for a little taste of everything. I’ve tried spicy falafel sandwiches and pumpkin gelato in the West Village, chocolate chip cookies and baguettes from favorite Brooklyn bakeries, ripe pears from the Greenmarket and cheese from Murrays', and the most memorable pizza I’ve ever eaten at Di Fara (that alone, is the subject for another post). This weekend, Justin is coming up and I could not be more excited to explore the city with him while tasting more of what the city has to offer.

{ Di Fara; where the magic happens. Photo courtesy of the New York Times }

The good news is that Fresh will back with new posts next week, hopefully followed soon after by my old dress size. Enjoy the weekend everyone, and if you have a favorite NYC food spot to share we would love to hear about it here.

Happy Monday

2009-10-19T07:02:00.001-07:00

I like the sound of this.

Tonight!

2009-10-07T05:19:00.000-07:00

Join us for a community screening of FRESH, the movie

Wednesday evening, October 7th

Screening at 7pm, Questions & Discussion at 8:15pm

at Burlap and Bean

The Shops at Springton Pointe

204 South Newtown Street Rd.

Newtown Square, PA

$2 dollar screening donation suggested

Hope to see some of you there!

Spilled milk

2009-10-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

Remember our conversation about the dropping prices of dairy and the effects on our small and organic farms? Well American dairy operations aren't the only ones taking a hit from the drop in prices. According to a New York Times article Monday, protesters gathered outside of the European Union headquarters in Brussels during an emergency meeting of the agriculture ministers. They spilled milk on the streets, threw eggs and brought tractors out to block traffic; all of behalf of dairy farmers, some who are now getting paid less than 75% the cost of production.

The issue is nothing if not complicated. Subsidies and government aid could help the farmers in the short run, but this might only prolong the problem, leaving us with a ineffective system that looks like our model for corn production. For certain, a decision needs to be made quickly regarding a plan going forward, so that the dairy industry can start effectively planning for the future. In the meantime, the Brussels police force may want to invest in some goggles.

{ Photo courtesy of the New York Times: "A farmer sprayed milk on policemen during a protest against falling milk prices outside the E.U.’s headquarters in Brussels, where agricultural ministers discussed its policies at an emergency meeting." }

Welcome, fall.

2009-10-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

We're running just a few days behind on welcoming autumn with new seasonal artwork, but welcome nonetheless. Maybe it's just me, but I'm having a hard time keeping up with the seasons this year; they seem to be speeding by. That said, I will miss summer's abundance of berries, tomatoes, cukes and basil, though fall is definitely my favorite season for food. I am a sucker for all things roasted, and would be content eating sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and brussels sprouts with brown rice every day until spring arrives. The cool weather also inspires me to turn on my oven more often, and so I tend to be more creative in the kitchen once fall kicks in.

This fall, because our crazy schedule seldom allows for dinner at home together, Justin and I have been making up for lost time with celebratory Sunday night dinners. Last night was celeriac root soup, poached eggs over sauteed greens and, wait for it, roasted sweet potatoes with rice. Our ancient plumbing failed us halfway through the prep when the kitchen sink clogged, and nearly derailed our dinner plans. There was talk of calling in a pizza but my sweet (potato) tooth prevailed, and I returned to the kitchen despite the dirty, dish-stocked swimming pool in our sink. By the time we were scraping up the last bites of baked apples, vanilla frozen yogurt and caramel sauce that was our dessert, I had almost forgotten the disaster in the kitchen... Almost. A credit to the comfort of fall feasts.

{ View from a speeding car in Shenandoah National Park }

Tonight I'll be picking up a CSA share of sweet potatoes, broccoli rabe, arugula and apples, and then returning home to figure out how to eat it all in the busy week ahead. I guess there is always next Sunday...

Movie. Coffee. Conversation.

2009-09-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

On the heels of yesterday's post, I am excited to announce the details of our first Fresh event:

Join us for a community screening and discussion of

Wednesday evening, October 7th
Screening at 7:00pm, Discussion at 8:15pm
at Burlap and Bean
The Shops at Springton Pointe
204 South Newtown Street Rd
Newtown Square, PA
$2 screening donation suggested

*I should take a moment to say that the title of the movie, FRESH, is not related to this blog other than a common interest in food and good taste in names (wink, wink).

For those of you who haven't yet heard of FRESH; it's an inspiring documentary about the visionaries who are making positive changes in our food systems. I caught a screening of it over the summer, and immediately appreciated the film's focus on innovative solutions in the face of challenges. As I have mentioned here, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the complexity of the issues facing our food system, but I left FRESH feeling like there is a way out, and that there is much that each of us can do to make a difference for our own health and the health of our environment... Not to mention for better access to delicious food! After the screening next Wednesday, we'll be opening up the floor to questions and discussion about the film with local organic farmer Rick Fonda of Skunk Hollow Farm and Greener Partners.

As for the location, it's a no-brainer. When I began making plans, it made perfect sense to approach the crew at Burlap and Bean about hosting the film there. Given their own dedication to good food, they were immediately on board and excited.

So if you're interesting in spending an evening with a good movie, good coffee and good conversation, we would love to see you there. And you won't go home empty-handed, take home resources on local and sustainable food will be provided after the movie. Hope to see you soon!

For more information, click here or here.

Small coffee, large cookie.

2009-09-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about Burlap and Bean Coffee in Newtown Square, it was as the new music venue that was getting buzz in our area. Justin was the one to tell me about it and he, being a musician, could not wait to book a show there. At the time, we were most excited about the location (good music venues are rare in suburban Philadelphia) and the fact that the coffee house is a BYO. But the more we learned about Burlap and Bean, the more we liked.

In the run-up to Justin’s first show at B&B, he commented several times on the kindness of the booker, Tara Endicott. As a young musician booking shows, it’s not unusual to work with, ahem, creeps. But Tara and her business partners, Brent, Ben and Christi, are not only welcoming to the musicians they host, they actually go as far as to feed them before a show. And when I say musicians, I don’t mean Britney Spears. An extremely talented line-up of local and national acts comes through Burlap and Bean, and most of them don’t have extensive riders. In other words, the owners don’t feed the bands because they have to; they do it to support their community. To wit, Tara told me that in Burlap and Bean’s early days she would spend hours before a show making huge dishes of baked ziti and green salad for the band. Over time, a gourmet pizza from down the block has replaced the homemade ziti, but no one seems to be complaining… More than one band has told me that they prefer to play at Burlap and Bean over any other local venue.

This tangible feeling of community at Burlap and Bean has everything to do with the café’s owners. Brothers Brent and Ben Endicott, along with their wives Tara and Christi Endicott, opened Burlap and Bean in November 2006. Tara describes the family partnership as a four-legged chair; without one of them, the rest wouldn’t work. And as Brent puts it, “You’re not opening a coffee shop to get rich.” Instead, he explains that the rewards have more to do with being able to facilitate artists and community connections.

So what does all of this have to do with sustainability or local food? The short answer is that Burlap and Bean’s sense of community responsibility extends beyond music to the food and drink they serve. The coffee served at B&B is 100% Fair Trade Certified and organic, and made from beans roasted in house. Though the rest were quick to get on board, it was Ben who championed the exclusive use of Fair Trade and organic beans early on. By partnering with Transfair, Burlap and Bean ensures that the farmers who produce their coffee are paid a fair price for their labor and harvest. And by extension, Burlap and Bean customers are supporting these same farmers.

Many of the accompanying snacks, salads, sandwiches and baked goods are sourced from local producers. One of my favorite summer lunches this year included a House Mediterranean salad and an oatmeal cookie, both from B&B. The cookie was big enough for a meal itself, and maybe the best I've had.

It's no surprise that Burlap’s coffee beans have been picked up by several Whole Foods locations in greater Philadelphia, the Coffee Club and Selene Whole Foods Coop in Media to name a few. Most recently, B&B became the exclusive supplier of coffee to the White Dog Café in University City, and soon to be in Wayne. Founded in 1983 by community activist Judy Wicks, the White Dog is celebrated in Philadelphia for its support of local food and social activism. That they chose to carry Burlap and Bean speaks to the micro-roasters’ success. Or in Tara’s words, “[Getting picked up by White Dog] was like winning the Oscar for local small business. We feel so honored.”

For more information on Burlap and Bean, visit their site. Or better yet, bring a book and stop in for a coffee. I hear they have an excellent espresso roast...

And stay tuned tomorrow for an exciting Fresh event announcement!

{ Photos courtesy of Burlap and Bean and Jeff Wojtaszek Photography }

Note to self.

2009-09-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

The next time that I have the brilliant idea to bake a decadent and nearly flourless chocolate cake on a random Sunday afternoon, and "put all but two slices of it in the freezer to savor over time," I should probably just get real.

I know that you can't see much in the photo, but what you can see is that the cake clearly did not make it to the freezer. And, to be honest, I may have had another teensy sliver while uploading the photo. Ouch.

To do this fall: develop a single serving version of this recipe...

An update and an apple tart.

2009-09-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well hello. I've been away over the last week, and spotty internet access has thwarted plans for a couple of new Fresh posts. Mostly, I've been wanting to share an update about my whereabouts, and the exciting work that I'm going to be doing this fall.

The where is New York... Brooklyn to be exact. I've spent most of the last two weeks there, or on a bus between there and Phila. The what is an internship with Slow Food USA. While the 'internship' part may not sound ideal (as many of you know, I was on the hunt for a full time job) I have wanted to work for Slow Food USA (SFUSA) for so long that in some ways I feel like I've landed my dream job. I mean this. Last week, after going over a list of projects that I would be working on I had to stop myself from jumping up and down and clapping in my chair (not only would it have been embarrassing; logistically it just wouldn't have worked).

If you're not already familiar with SFUSA, I would definitely recommend a trip over to their website to get an idea of the scope of their work. If that sounds like a hassle, here is a quick overview: Slow Food is a food advocacy organization, whose international branch was founded in Italy in the late 80's. As the name hints, it was in part a response to a global increase in the presence of fast food, the idea being to recognize the importance of our food cultures and traditions, while acknowledging the connection between plate and planet. Because Slow Food is a member-based organization, chapters started forming all over the US until 2000, when Slow Food USA officially came into being. Now, the USA focus is grassroots advocacy for food that is good for us, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet.

The SFUSA mission takes its shape in various projects, campaigns and events, a great example being the Time for Lunch campaign that I mentioned the week before last. The campaign has been a very successful thus far, and I feel lucky to be there during this exciting and action-packed period of time. All of that to say, I'm looking at this internship like you might look at going back to school, as a learning opportunity. Thanks for bearing with me as I adjust to the new schedule, I'm looking forward to sharing the experience here once I get used to blogging from the Bolt bus.

And on an unrelated note, I baked my first tart yesterday. Early this weekend the weather seemed to say fall, and an apple tart seemed like the perfect Sunday dessert. Unfortunately, the temperature here cranked up near 80 yesterday, but that hardly damaged our enjoyment of baked apples on a sweet vanilla crust last night (a scoop of ice cream off-set the heat). I would consider this recipe a starter tart, perfect for those of you who, like me, aren't enthused by the idea of making a traditional tart crust. This version could not be easier, and I don't even own a food processor.

Time for Lunch.

2009-09-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

Labor Day, wow. Is summer already on the way out? I am particularly reluctant to let go of it this year, but luckily that is not dampening my excitement for a relaxing Labor Day weekend in the mountains. No phone, no TV, no internet. I'm already breathing a sigh of relief.

That said, coming back to the hustle and bustle will be made slightly easier by an event I am very excited about on Monday: an pot-luck "Eat-In" as part of Slow Food USA's Time for Lunch Campaign and National Day of Action. Across the country, people will be getting together for a community meal in the hope that, if enough people get involved, congress will take note as they approach the renewal of a bill that determines funding for school lunches. In other words, it's kind of like signing your name to a petition by hanging out with new friends and eating good food... Clearly, sounds like a good plan to me.

Now I know many of us enjoyed our high school lunches of french fries and soft serve, myself probably most of all, but for many kids who don't go home to my mom's cookin', a school lunch is potentially the only chance for a healthy meal each day. It's also an opportunity to make healthy eating patterns for life. President of Slow Food USA, Josh Viertel, explains it well here.

If you're interested click here for more information on an Eat-In near you, or to host one yourself (it's not too late!). And if you can't make it to an Eat-In, you can still get involved by signing the Time for Lunch Petition here.

Have a wonderful and safe weekend all!

A Homemade Life

2009-08-12T09:26:00.001-07:00

On the heels of Wednesday's post about Delancey, I thought today would be a good time to talk about Molly's book, A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table.

When my copy of this book arrived in the mail, I plowed through it in just a couple of days. Though it is one part cookbook, each essay is accompanied by a recipe or two, at first I was most absorbed by the stories and hardly noticed the recipe details. Having read many Orangette posts, I had gathered the basic framework of Molly's background. But, as often happens in conversation, (and what is a blog if not an extended conversation, albeit often one-way?) the Orangette version of the story jumps around depending on the events of any given day. So I loved the book for allowing me to sit down and read the stories start to finish... Or from start to time of publication, I should say.

Now I pick up the book frequently to reference a recipe and, like any that I've used from Orangette or the Cooking Life column in Bon Appétit, they are simple, seasonal and comforting. But whether I'm checking the ingredients for Sliced Spring Salad with Avocado and Feta or looking for instructions on making Chana Masala, I always find myself re-reading the accompanying story... They're a bit addictive that way.

I won't say too much else about the essays themselves because, to be honest, the descriptions that come to mind are a bit too sentimental for print. I will say that there is something magnetic about Molly's writing, and that I would absolutely recommend this book. For those of you headed to the beach soon*, you could read it there. Or in your kitchen while waiting for your potatoes to roast, or on your couch when it's cold outside, or wherever. What matters is that you read it. That, and turning to pg. 312 to bake The Winning Hearts and Minds Cake as quickly as you can.

Seattle on my mind.

2009-08-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

It's a fairly quiet day in my neighborhood, but when I woke up this morning I couldn't help thinking about what I imagine is a considerably less quiet day in a neighborhood across the continent. Today at 5pm West Coast time, a favorite food writer of mine, Molly Wizenberg, and her husband, Brandon Pettit, are officially opening the doors to their restaurant, Delancey.

{ Screen shot of Delancey website }

The restaurant will be a pizza place, an apparent nod to Brandon's deep love for New York style pies. But according to Molly's blog, Orangette, the menu will be a mix of both his and her cooking styles. I'm guessing this will mean plenty of Molly's fresh salads and beautifully rustic desserts to complement Brandon's pizzas and pickles.

Now I don't want to be biased, but Molly, with Brandon at her side, has been guiding and inspiring my cooking since the moment I discovered her blog over two years ago. The woman has yet to lead me astray on a single recipe. So it's hard to imagine the restaurant NOT being fantastic... And the kind of comfortable place where you want to spend time with friends. All of that said, I wish there was some way to be in Ballard around 5pm this evening. For any of you in the Seattle area, I'm sure you have already made plans for pizza at Delancey at the first opportunity.

But though I can't eat there tonight, I can bring a couple of Delancey recipes to my own table. Since stumbling across this post a couple of summer's ago, I have made very few special meals that didn't include one of Molly's recipes. Tonight is no exception. We're celebrating a family birthday, and on the menu will be her caramelized cauliflower with salsa verde (though I'm going to try it with this version, as opposed to the one in her book) and, in an effort to use up the bounty of slicing and cherry tomatoes that we got in our CSA share this week, a tomato corn salad with shallot dressing that was on an earlier soft opening menu at Delancey.

Molly's writing has played a huge role in building my confidence in the kitchen, and I owe both her and Brandon a huge thank you for opening up so many new culinary doors for me. Wishing them the best as they open their own new doors tonight...