Savoring the Snow

As I sit and write this post, I am looking out at a gently blanketed landscape and the snow flakes are dancing like butterflies.  Today has a meloncholic feel to it, the forests always go quiet when it snows and so do the roads as we, like the animals, huddle down.  Maybe we are not as far removed from primal instincts as we think.

I also feel a particular appreciation for the snow today as this might be one of the last gentle dustings we get this year, and then no more until next year when we hope and pray our Christmas will be a white one!  What lies around the corner is long days starting with early mornings, farmers have already been planning the growing season and taking stock of their 'to do' lists, taking trips out to the green house or the barn with a combination of anticipation for how much needs to be accomplished and excitment to get underway. 

Knowing Spring is on our door step and she brings all her craziness and energy with her, I think today is the perfect day to putter around inside and wear your slippers or just your socks all day and appreciate one of the last quiet days we will have this year.  And, as promised, in celebration of the snowy day, I have included a recipe for some cookies.  A sweet friend, Ashley, baked these last week (using organic ingredients) to share and they were DELICIOUS!  It is Martha Stewart's recipe, Ashley added cranberries and I loved them so much I ate more than my share and didn't regret a thing!  They are absolutely worth a quick trip to the store for any ingredients you don't have!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Coarse salt
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely grated zucchini
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat 1 stick butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
2. Beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix in zucchini, oats, and walnuts. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
3. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
4. Beat together remaining 1/2 stick butter, the cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread 1 heaping tablespoon filling onto the flat side of 1 cookie, and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.

Dark Knight Moon

I have a confession to make - it is about a newly . . . revealed . . . fettish.  Its the radishes. I can't help myself and may need the help of family and friends in the form of an intervention.  They are organic and beautiful.  They grow underground, and you can smell the earth, they are demure to look at and all pepper and spice to taste.  I am so enamored with all the different radishes you get, and so when this one appeared on our farmers harvest list for South Shore Organics this week, I just had to have some.  I had to. 

I am of course, talking about the winter root - Black Radish.  They are Spanish in origin, and are bigger than the little red ones we are used to seeing, and talk about sexy!  Dark velvety skins hiding pale white flesh - these are the vampires of the underground: one bite and you're hooked!  Here you go - this is my take on a photo for the cover of a Twilight themed radish novel:

Last month I wrote about a radishing princess with a beautiful heart and the mattador who won her love with his beautiful heart, well, the Chiogga matador that beet all other admirers to gain her affection better watch out!  A new man arrived in town this week and he is ruthless, hungry and dangerous! 

Oh the drama, promise of romance, intrigue and suspense - what will happen next?  Will the radishing princess fall for the dark knights charms?  Is it any wonder I am infatuated?

Food Guilt!

No, not 'loosen-the-top-button-I-ate-too-much' guilt,  I am talking about something else entirely!  I am talking about Responsible Grocery Shopping - read this:

"Do you take home the certified organic, cage-free dozen from California, or the non-organic but vegetarian-fed eggs from the family farm nearby?  Do you spring for the Omega-3 eggs at a dollar more a dozen, or wait for your next trip to the Feed & Seed, where you can by 9-year-old Nathan's mismatched rainbow of uncleaned eggs packed into re-used cartons?  Not to mention large or extra large, Grade A or Grade AA.  Is the notion that brown eggs are healthier real, or is the difference from their white counterparts only shell deep?

So here's my question: does a quick trip to buy eggs turn into a "nerve-wracking test of your personal belief system"? 

When I first read this passage from 'Organic, Local and Everything Else' written by Zoe Bradbury I honestly felt she was inside my head, writing from my very own experiences.  I have these debates with myself all - the - time, and not only standing in front of the array of choices at the egg fridge but at the fish counter (is it farmed or wild caught?  loaded with mercury?  from local waters or far off seas? how much energy was consumed in capturing, processing and transporting?), looking for a steak (organic from the other side of the US, or local? pasture raised or grass fed or grass finished - and what's the difference? what about antibiotics?  hormones?  how many cows are in this one packet of ground beef?)  and then there is chicken, milk, produce, bread, cooking oil . . . sometimes I think I might spontaneously combust from all the friction caused by the to and fro of the constant debate as I wrestle with . . . myself!

Who knew grocery shopping would become an anxiety laden two-hour event as we try to make socially and environmentally conscientious choices?  All the while food corporations are working harder than ever to convince us that what they put in front of us is exactly what we want - even when it's not!  Product messaging cleverly targets our desire to make good choices, for instance, I picked up a bottle of milk the other day that was labelled 'no added hormones' and thought I had made a good decision.  It was only as I was standing in the check out line mulling over my bounty that I realized they just guaranteed no hormones were added to the milk, but they never said they didn't give them to the cows!  I had been duped and I was so ANNOYED! 

After more and more of these experiences I am thankful to have my fresh produce and egg dilemma resolved, and it makes me happy to be able to extend the peace of mind to others through South Shore Organics, and I feel collectively we will address meat, fish, cheese, bread and butter dilemma's too in time to come.  In the meantime, just make the best choice you can using the following guidelines:

• first choice: local, sustainable, conscientious, humane, organic
• second choice: from further afield and certified organic
• third choice: from further afield and sustainable practices
• everything else

And then quiet that relentless voice in your head, you have made the best choice you can -  besides, the last thing we need is people bursting into flames throughout the store! 

BLISS = crushed strawberries + pancakes + maple syrup + kids

So this morning we decided a pajama breakfast party with pancakes was in order - its been a tough week!  I don't know how many people can even make pancakes without pancake mix anymore, but I turned to my trusty cookbook (thanks Granny) for this recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sifted flour (I like King Arthur's organic)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar (cane only if you please)
2 eggs (thank you White Gate Gardens)
1 cup sour milk (I didn't have any, so I used un-soured milk and added a tsp of lemon juice)
1 tbsp melted butter

Method:
Sift dry ingredients together
Beat eggs, add sour milk and butter together
Add milk mixture to dry ingredients gradually, beating until smooth
Drop from spoon into heated greased pan, brown both sides

For the top, I cut some strawberries in half and then crushed them in a bowl using a heavy plastic cup. We spooned the strawberries onto our pancakes and laced them with maple syrup. 

We are still licking our fingers, bad manners I know, and I guess its time to get dressed but it has been the perfect start to this day and my to-do list can wait just a little while longer - it's not going anywhere and you know what?  Neither am I . . .

Don't Play With Your Food!

I had a candid conversation with another working mom the other day about meal times and menu choices and children.  I have one child, who will eat anything you put in front of her, except mushrooms.  And if she hasn't seen it before, she eats first and asks questions later.  She gobbles down soups, stews, anything roasted, and even prefers vegetables to fruit, which is unusual I think.  Then I have a boy who has a hundred questions before he will even pierce the suspicious item with a fork, doesn't like anything of color and usually responds with 'do I HAVE to?’   

Of course, he has a hard life because he seldom gets his pick of menu choices, and 'so-and-so' from school is so lucky because he gets DINOSAUR chicken and SMILEY face potatoes!  This gives me pause to consider the correlation between food and entertainment - which have gone hand in hand for centuries, after all what is a feast without a court jester?  Dancing?  Live Music?  Even to this day, many other cultures seem to manage this combination beautifully, they embrace the day with a slow breakfast and lunch is a laid back affair in which bread is broken and conversations are the table centerpiece.  Good quality, fresh food, well made or simply and casually combined is appreciated - even expected. 

Most families I know barely have time to defrost something let alone actually make it from scratch, and a languid lunch with some wine and conversation is about as foreign to us as France.  So what are we doing wrong?  Our lives are busy, mine is too as a working mom, and although I have blamed 'the world we live in' or 'this day and age' with a frustrated sigh, it doesn't end there.  Food corporations have taken advantage by playing on our time constraints with campaigns around making meals fun AND quick.  Enter dinosaur chicken.  So it comes to pass that with each trip to the grocery store, we have given up ground in 'savoring supper' while walking down the path to convenient and well-marketed.   The paradox here is that at the end of the day, we don't have more time on our hands, we are still discontent, and the food we eat is no longer all that good for us (made with profit as a goal, not nutrition).

Perhaps it's time that we as a nation stop being lured by 'fun and quick' - being entertained by food is a grossly inadequate placebo for a culture of casual, simple meals and appreciation for the taste of freshness and quality. 

Let's find away to kick 'fun food' out the door, and bring food pleasure back instead!