Verjus

good morning,

yesterday I woke early to no real local food in the house, so, hungrily, but sadly for my conscience, went to Breugger's bagels with maggie Delphine while it was still dark for a peanut butter sandwich. It did taste so good with my dog close at my side out in the chilly air.

At the wonderful Shaker Square market,my favorite farmer, Monica, convinced me to buy a box of her tomato seconds by telling me how she'd made tomato soup. She sauteed onions in butter, and added chopped tomatoes. After cooking them until soft, she put them through a food mill (or a sieve), returned them to the heat. cooked for a while, then added cream. "A taste of heaven," she said. So, in the evening, I made some tomato soup (though I used skim milk and chopped some parsley from the bottom of my back door steps). Nice and hot, it tasted lovely.

In the middle of the day, I had stopped by Ripe! at the Botannical Garden. A friend was in front of the Slow Food booth, so I stopped to talk. I met Carrie, who, as it so happened, is the woman who mentioned the use of unripe grapes as a lemon substitute. Seems it is a relatively well known thing....it's bottled and usually made in Europe. My friend Leslie buys it at the Miles market. She finds it right by the vinegar.

I wandered around in the good aroma of food cooking, talking with some folks. The woman in the Olive and the Grape booth had heard of verjus. She said that it would probably be difficult to become certified to make it, as she has to go through a process of being certified for each food she creates. She did say that local wineries are certified to make wine and wine products, so they would be the best bet to make a local verjus. She gave me the name of some of the more progressive wineries .

This all felt good to me. And I think I'll look into it, with happiness.

But first, next month, out to the Miles market.

happy grey day.

juice from unripe grapes!

Yesterday, on the radio, I heard a woman involved here with local food talking about a restaurant she worked in in, I think it was, Seattle. The chef, while turning out delicious french food, only used local food. Instead of lemons, he used the juice from unripe grapes. Wow. How this has stuck in my head.

Saturday at the Shaker Square market I ran into Hank Haberman. Hank cooked during Kathleen and my permaculture course. He's a lovely person, and a very wise cook. I was telling him about this challenge, remembering that he makes breads from local grains. He said he made a sourdough starter from plums (somehow) which he was using instead of yeast. Because of the starter, he has to make 4 loaves a wek. I'm hoping to catch up with him, and enjoy 1 of the loaves.

I was telling him what a surprise it is to miss peanut butter so much. He has his own grinder. He's thinking about where the closest place to get peanuts is. At the wonderful little store I go to in Chesterland, there are peanuts from Virginia. Pretty close, he thought. So, yesterday I bought some, and will happily trade the peanuts for the bread.

You know, it might be fun to have him come talk to a group at some point.

I did bake some pears in a crisp made with honey....a much gentler taste.

This morning, as I was walking Maggie delphine, an old recipe for oatcakes came to me. Just looked it up. Oats bended into oat 'flour', water and salt..(and baking soda, but the recipe said you can leave it out..changes the texture, but..) The cakes are wonderful, I remember, with butter and jam. I'm going to try them later today, and will send along the recipe if they're edible.

happy day

Trip to Whole Foods Market In Beachwood

I was out in Beachwood so I decided to stop at Whole Foods Market on Chagrin. I don't get out there much so I was 1/2 way through the store when I figured out that they mark local foods with "local" signs. For produce, I got eggplant, patty pan squash (never had it before), green beans and a hungarian hot pepper (for more chili). Snack items marked "local" that I got were Don Sabrosa black bean and corn natural gourmet salsa (label indicates that it is distributed by Don Sabrosa, LLC in Cincinnati, OH http://www.donsabrosa.com/) and Tangos Multigrain Tortilla Chips (mfg by Shearer's Foods, Inc. in Brewster, OH).

Such a beautiful day

Hi,

Yesterday I ate oatmeal with maple syrup and milk for breakfast, then, later in the day, corn on the cob with salt and olive oil, and broccoli with oil and garlic and a dried hot pepper. Toward evening, I was looking for something more for my stomach, and the ripening pears in a bowl on the table began calling. So I baked them with whole wheat flour, organic sugar and butter (usually I use nutmeg). How wonderful the rich treat tasted. How lovely are warm cooked pears.

Today, my dog and I went out into the country. The field where we park was full of old clover and chicory, new small white asters, then all the monarch butterflies. On the way home we stopped at Eddy's, and I bought a big sweet yellow watermelon, new hard pears, and apple cider.

I did allow some Humphrey's popcorn. And I'm thoughtful; next time I will experiment with cooking the pears with honey.

I'm exploring being a little hungry some of the time.

Happy beautiful days.

Trip to Nature's Bin

This afternoon I went to Nature's Bin and got the following OHIO PROUD items:
Corn
Gala Apples
Peaches
Black Plum Tomatoes
Red Skin Potatoes
Stutzman Farm Items in Bulk:
Spelt Berries (this will be the first time trying these)
Cornmeal (I predict some corn muffins heading our way)
Spelt Flour
I almost bought Humphrey Popcorn but I don't have a hot air popper.

Family Dinner Feast

Yesterday for family dinner, we had 1/2 roasted chicken, stuffing, roasted red skin potatoes & ya ya carrots, sesame honey tofu, and lettuce & tomato salad.

For the stuffing:
1 loaf homemade whole wheat bread cubed
5 small chicken eggs
fresh rosemary & chives
1 onion, & 2 cloves garlic

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. In a bowl, mix the bread, eggs, rosemary and chives then add the onion and garlic. Place in a baking dish and cook 1/2 hour-45 min in 350 degree oven. I also cooked some of the stuffing along side the chicken (which I had already roasted the night before).

Even the non-challenge dinner guests enjoyed the food and didn't realize that our dinner was mostly local food :).
The only thing really missing was gravy. There weren't really enough drippings from 1/2 a chicken to make gravy.

I miss the golden light today

hello,

I just had a lunch of swiss chard, boiled potatoes with the dill I found with Kathleen, and a fried egg. It tasted good and fine. Earlier I'd gone to a big Giant Eagle for kitty litter. It was sort of an experience, aisles and aisles of food that was not for me. The woman behind me in line had maybe eight boxes of frozen food, and as many yogurts in their little plastic cups. Amid the cornucopia of packaged food there was a small stand with a sign saying Regional Produce. But the produce looked suspiciously perfect and shiny, like all else in the stands.

Maybe it's just me.

For breakfast this morning I had a pancake from a pancake mix I found at the Shaker Square Market. Spelt flour, buckwheat flour, corn flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. It was very good pancake mix, but I'm very thoughtful about the baking powder and soda (felt like i was cheating a little). I do want to look into their origins.

On Tuesday mornings my dog and I drive out to Chesterland for a training class. It's good for us both. We park next to a wonderful field alive with late summer wildflowers, crickets and swooping birds. On a whim on the way home I followed the signs for fresh peaches and vegetables, and found a place that sold alot of local things. I bought maple syrup, a lovely yellow watermelon, some hard pears, and some eggs. I could see the chickens running around next door. So, that made me happy. There were big peanuts from Virginia, and some delicious looking cheddar popcorn that I'll remember for another time.

I guess I'm feeling gently purer, but wanting not to judge the woman behind me at Giant Eagle with all the frozen food. Just thoughtful about her and all of the Giant Eagles of our lives.

I'm missing oranges most of all, lemons and limes, soy sauce and cinnamon. But I'm good. Wishing you all the same. maren