Happy Eggster

I know, I know- I haven't been around… I've been hibernating.  That's what one does in the winter… and by the looks of it, I should still be sleeping away.  I can't believe it is April 20th and snowing!  Yes, the snow is beautiful... BUT IT DOESN'T BELONG HERE ANYMORE!

Oh well, I don't think anyone is listening. So, let's just forget about that for the moment.  In the mean time, in the spirit of spring, let's dye some Easter Eggs the old fashioned way. 
Natural dyes make for some lovely colors. Since there is so much talk about color additives causing more health concerns than we ever realized, I thought that it was time to experiment with food based colors.  I looked around on the internet and found a lot of suggestions for making colors, like purple from wine or grape juice and blue from blueberries.  My favorite, until i blew the egg up in the microwave while sitting in beet juice, is beet juice. But, based on the color of the inside of my microwave-the color is beautiful- it really can't be improved upon for magenta.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good example of the magenta...

Every color that I have here, is from a natural source.  (except for the luscious blue egg in the rear of the basket- I just had to have a beautiful blue-I am a photographer, first and foremost!)
I mashed about a cup of blueberries into a small glass with two tablespoons of vinegar and about 1/2 of a cup of water.  The blue is a nice dusty grey blue.  The uneven color and mottling on the egg is because of my leaving the blueberry pulp in the glass. Vinegar allows the color to set.  It will probably also flavor your egg if you leave the egg in the color long enough.

I was able to get a luscious yellow by using 2 Tablespoons of Turmeric in about 1 cup of water.  The yellow will deepen the longer you leave the egg in the solution.  Wow!  Really beautiful...

The  warm brown was the result of using coffee grounds in 1 cup of deeply brewed coffee... I love the mottling that occurred because of the grounds rubbing up against the shell of the egg.

Anyway, it's loads of fun to be creative with your dyes. 

In a Pickle, In the Jam!

Oh my... summer is here and the fresh food is rolling in.  First up on my plate is the strawberry.  The most luscious, delicate and reddest of fruits. Can you think of a better way to enjoy them than to pick them yourself?   Thankyou Urka Farm in Traverse City.

There are a million things that you can do with strawberries, and I like to eat them fresh, first and foremost.  But, when you've tired of strawberries on your cereal, your ice cream, your smoothies and your shortcakes, and you've picked 20 lbs. and you have 18 left over and you find yourself in "quite the pickle", the obvious solution is fresh, homemade strawberry jam, withOUT packaged pectin.  Having failed previously at my attempts to make a natural pectin jam, I decided to consult the books and the blogs again, to see if I could solve my problem.  I found a wonderful discussion about Strawberry Jam without boxed pectin from MothersKitchen.  I also found a simple remedy in a book about preserved foods called Preserved written by Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton.

So, I sat down on a rainy Saturday morning and came up with my own recipe.  I made the jam in the simplest way that I could.  I made a natural pectin from 5 chopped up granny smith apples combined with 1 large lemon also cut up into little pieces.  I boiled this concoction for about 15 minutes, until the fruit turned to mush. This was the technique noted in MothersKitchen.
In the mean time, i LIGHTLY boiled 16 cups of whole fruit strawberries with the juice of one large lemon.  In Preserved, the authors contend that the juice of the lemon extracts the pectin from the seeds of the strawberries. I boiled twice as many  strawberries with the juice of one lemon  for one hour (very light boil).
In the mean time, I pushed the apple and lemon pulp mixture through a sieve in order to have 2 cups of this mixture that would also serve as a pectin.  The strawberries slowly turned to mush and did not boil over into a foamy mess.
Then it was time to add the sugar.

  I try to limit my sugar intake, so even though both recipes recommended about twice as much sugar, I opted to use about half, or 7 full cups of sugar to the 16 cups of now boiled down strawberries.  I also added the apple mixture to the pot. In essence, I combined the recipe from Preserved with the recipe that I found on MothersKitchen. I boiled this new mixture for about 30 minutes, stirring constantly and slowly coaxing the mixture to rise up to 220 degrees, the magic number for the sugar to reach a setting point.  After testing my jam to see if it was ready by dropping a dollop onto a saucer, chilling it to see if I could coax a wrinkle, I was ready to jar up my jam.
Okay, I'm not an expert cook- but I managed to make some incredible jam.  Into the sterilized Ball jars they went. And my leftover pounds of berries will be gracing the insides of PB&J sandwiches and the tops of crusty pieces of toast for at least another year.

Bo Yummee!
                                                                                 

Which came first? the chicken or the CHICKEN FARMER!!!

Oh my gosh.  What fun!!  Raising chickens in the back yard.  So, what came first… the chicken farmer or the chicken??

most likely the backyard came first!!

:-)

Meet the Casey family, urban chicken farmers (along with other various callings!) from the inner city of Traverse City, Michigan.  They aren't your typical chicken farmers, since this is somewhat of an experiment for the young family who has taken to loving and naming the chickens such affectionate names as "Butter", "Sweetheart" and "Owlie".  But their flock (i mean progeny) is delightfully diverse, a very progressive notion for the contemporary urban farmer.  And don't be mistaken, these chickens are loved.  They have the best coop, the best compost and more freedom than "ButterBall" from Pilgrims Pride could ever imagine!  I don't think that these gals will ever end up on somebody's plate. I hope not.  They are individuals... with their own personalities... i mean chickenalities...

What's going on??? What does this all mean?

Welcome to 2010 and the new Michigan economy!  

Where else could you live on an urban farm inside the city limit???  

(answer; Detroit)

Maybe the Casey family is setting a new trend or maybe Traverse City is just a small step behind Detroit.  In any event, urban farms are springing up all over Michigan and the country. The notion to return to our roots and to live more sustainably entices us.  We're tempted to grow our own herbs, gather our own eggs and even if it is on a 50x100 foot city plot, we're reconnecting. Nature beckons us. She is our faithful friend.  

It is the way forward.

To love the chickens...

Happy Mother's Day 9 Bean Rows

Mother's Day is Sunday and I could wax poetic about my mom, my wonderful fan and most likely the only person who reads my blog regularly...  I'll salute her, in my own special way when I am with her this weekend.  But for now and on a broader scale, I am thinking about all of the farmers and gardeners and people that tend to bees and vineyards and orchards. I am thinking about all of the people that nurture and care for our Mother Earth.

 

  Last Sunday I spent the day planting cabbage and leeks, parsley and brussel sprouts for Nic and Jen Welty that own 9 Bean Rows Farm and CSA.  I belong to their CSA.  That means, I pay for my seasonal harvest up-front, helping to offset their investment costs and  in return once a week, I receive a bountiful box full of veggies, salad mix, eggs, a loaf of fresh bread, some fresh herbs and oftentimes, items that Nic has foraged from a nearby forest. I get the freshest produce possible, free of pesticides, herbicides and other nasty things that don't belong in my food. I know that Nic loves his farm and tends to the soil and earth the way that I would want a farmer to do; lovingly, sustainably. I know my farmer personally.  I trust him to feed me the most delicious, nutritious leafy things possible.  Work on their farm is entirely voluntary. I participate because I too love the earth, love to eat  and I love to experience the work  that farmers have to do to grow my food. And anyway, I am a closet farmer.  I have a few blueberry bushes, way too many strawberries and not enough of anything else. The original Japanese CSA-style farms are called in Japanese " teikei", which translates to "putting the farmer's face on food".  

   So Nic and Jen, and to all of the other people that tend to Mother Earth, I salute you this Mother's Day.  Thankyou for your hard work and your love of the land. I eat because you grow- what a wonderful partnership all of us have.

Here is my recipe for Tuscan Bread Salad that uses 5 items (croutons, ramps, oregano,parsley and fresh lettuces) from my weekly CSA share adapted from a recipe originally created by Robin Robertson who wrote Vegan Planet.

Croutons  (about 4-5 cups)

6-8 freshly picked Ramps, chopped coarsely

3 TBSP. red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. sugar or other sweetner

1 tsp. fresh oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup virgin olive oil

Fresh ground black pepper

1 lb. cherry tomatoes cut in half

1/2 cup vellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1/4 cup minced parsley leaves

a variety of fresh lettuces

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the ramps , vinegar, sugar, oregano, and salt and process until smooth.  With the processor or blender running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube, processing until blended.

Season with the black pepper.

2. In a large serving bowl, combine the bread cubes, tomatoes, bell pepper, olives and parsley.  Pour the vinagrette over the salad mixture and toss to combine.  Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to allow the flavors to develop before serving.

3. Toss with 6  cups of a variety of fresh lettuces.

Enjoy!

Superfood for Wanderers

This morning our conversation went something like this…

Him: Did you read the article about the "The Ten Best  Superfoods for Women" in your blah blah magazine?

Me: No. 

Him: You should read it.  They said that strawberries have just as many antioxidants as blueberries and white mushrooms are….

Me:  Of coarse. They are whole foods.  It doesn't matter what real food you are talking about-every real and whole food has valuable nutrients. How can there be 10 such  super foods?

Him:  hmmmm

I hate to get on my high horse.  And those of you that know me personally know I can't even get on my high horse because my horse is rather short- but, - I really don't think food value is a mystery.  What is a mystery is that we continue to discuss the "best foods to eat" and "superfoods" and "what's in now".  My philosophy has always been, as Michael Pollan has said, "If it comes from a plant, eat it.  If it is made IN a plant, avoid it."  

That's pretty simple.

I don't like to take vitamin supplements either.  I'm into food, what can i say. 

And  i've added foraging to my grocery experience.  It brings a new dimension to my walk in the woods. Now, when i walk, I peer at the ground and notice the succession and arrival of certain plants.  Everything has a name and a purpose in the fragile forest ecosystem.  In fact, it's hard for me to find a "weed".  First there were ramps, now the trillium and columbine and where are those morels?  It must be difficult to find a morel. I've been looking for a couple of days now, spending inordinate amounts of time peering under forest leaves and in general wandering. My wandering hasn't produced much, a few photos of this and that; mossy stream beds, red trilliums and blooming cherry trees.  My dog is happy though.  She sniffs and scatters about looking for something to chase while my nose leads me unpredictably through the woods.

Everything is slowly waking up. Emerging from it's earthly sleep. The big draw right now in northern Michigan, apart from the elusive morel, is the  snowy limbed cherry trees that blanket the hills in quiltlike patterns.  I love this season. It's a glorious time of the year. I'm waiting for the cherries and looking for morels, two of my favorite "superfoods". I don't need a blah blah magazine to tell me of the health benefits either. But, I can't eat those blooms, so where in heck are those morels?

Earth Day for Locavores

The chicken or earth day? Earth day or every day?  Every day or earth days?

For me and most locavores every day is earth day. Being someone who appreciates local food is also someone who loves the earth and her glorious bounty. I can think of no greater way to celebrate earth day than to adopt a more locally grown and fresher diet.

Here are 10 ideas for the Traverse City locavore to embrace for Earth Day. 

1. Eat an entire meal that you prepare from food grown no more than 100 miles from Traverse City.
2. Fast and bring awareness to yourself and your table that 33% of the world is well fed, 33% is under-fed and 33% of people in the world are starving.
3. Carpool.
4. Eat vegetarian for one day.  According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken and substituted vegetarian food every week, that would be the same carbon savings as taking 500,000 cars off the road for an entire year.
5.Purchase food from a farmers market.  Support your local farmer by making a purchase from her and add money into the local economy. Better yet, join a csa!
6. Plant an edible plant.
7. Walk or bike over to watch the earth day parade on Saturday.  The parade starts at Central Grade School on 7th street at 1pm.
8. Help clean up the beach in Traverse City on Saturday 9-5pm. Call 922-4910 for more information.
9. Share a meal with friends.
10.Walk or take a hike.
11. Eat a cage free egg.
11. Drink a local beer- (okay, this is going on and on ad nauseum, but you get the idea and you really can celebrate in so many locavorian earth-wise ways!).

You see, we know it's all about loving the earth, savoring the bounty, treading lightly, slowing down and having something left over for the next generation. In order for us to move forward on this planet  to a more sustainable life-style, we have to embrace some of the practices of yesterday. Fortunately for me, i see local food as a fresher and healthier choice for me, my community and the planet. I love fresh food, direct from the earth, grown in the soil that i walk on.   I really can't think of a better way to celebrate the earth than to be a locavore!

Ramp On!

The foraging season has begun.  First up is the wild leek. I've never foraged before and I eagerly looked forward to venturing into this new activity for acquiring my food.  As I  headed into the woods, I realized that I hadn't thought this gathering thing thoroughly through. I realized that though I brought the right size of spade, I hadn't considered some other things.  Like, what did it look like? (I know, goofy.) What is the environment that i would find it in?  As luck would have it, I found a ramp, but I couldn't find a wild leek! So, the trip was a bust!  I was hesitant to pick my first ramp. I decided that I wasn't prepared enough and I had better do a little homework before I started pulling things out of the ground.

 Imagine my surprise when i learned that ramps and wild leeks are the same thing. They grow  abundantly in our Michigan forests. Their soil habitat is sandy and moist and you most often find them on hillsides or very near a stream- typical northern michigan landscape.  They have broad, smooth, medium green leaves with a long stem attached to a scallion like root bulb.  The lower stem has  a deep purple or burgandy tint. And the easiest way for me to identify it,would be to smell and even taste it.  It tastes like a cross between an onion and a garlic.  It's pungent, spicy with a hint of  "nature".  I could certainly find that.
And I learned that wild leeks are high in vitamin C and A, and are full of beneficial minerals and their peppery flavor can replace an onion in just about any recipe.  The Indians in our region revered the ramp for it's healing properties and welcomed their arrival in the earliest of spring after a long, bland winter diet.

So, before I headed into the woods, i figured that i should  bring the right tools and abide by what i call an unwritten code of conduct for the ramp forager... 

1. Make sure to not be on private property or be certain to obtain permission from the owner before foraging. There are places where plants are protected and it is not legal to remove any specimens.

2. Don't leave a big mess and don't be a hog.  When collecting a rooting plant, always leave plenty of healthy specimens or better yet, leave at least half in the rootbound group.

3. Make the disturbance  hard to notice.  Replace moved around dirt and fill up any holes.  Use leaf litter to cover the area that  I disturbed. 

4. Use the appropriate tools to extract my leeks.  A small hand held spade or a dandelion weed can easily separate bulbs. 

Easy enough.  And off we went.

And here is an adaption of Julia Child's famous Leek and Potato soup. This recipe is simple and yummy.  Substitute 1/2 the amount of wild leeks for the leeks in this recipe and you will have a delicious and healthy winter spell-breaking winner!!

Julia Childs Famous Potato Leek Soup