Worth a Thousand Words

Taste the Rainbow

Grape Tomatoes- Hedmarks Maple Ridge
Yellow zucchini, cucumbers, green peppers-Brousseau Farms, Crystal Falls
Blueberries- Pleasant View Orchards
Purple Beans- Wilson Creek Gardens
Strawberry- my garden

Exchange Student

Some unexpected purchases at this week's market. My game plan for the last week of August was to focus on more produce, less meats and get a few yummy loaves of bread from Pleasant View Orchards. When I purchased a loaf of Italian herb bread from Hillcrest Catering, I was also given a dozen dinner rolls at a discount. Since most of my baking endeavors have come out less than ideal I was more than grateful to take his extra castoffs. Finally, after three weeks of substituting unleavened whole grain for buns and toast, I now have a dozen chewy hamburger and sandwich buns! Fried eggs sandwiches,  here I come!
Wilson Creek Gardens was running a special on beans so I got 3 pounds of purple beans.  I wasn't able to buy Ashley's whole wheat flour this week and after a moment of panic -no crepes!- I decided to ration what I have left for white sauce for all those beans. Slagle's was offering 5/$1  jalepeno peppers so looks like I will be making salsa this week.
While I decided to forego bread at Pleasant View, I did pick up some granola and a pint of blueberries as an alternative to egg breakfasts. A T-bone for hubby, broccoli for me and I was set...all I needed now was lettuce for all the salads I'd be eating.
Alas, nobody was selling lettuce at the market. Again, minor panic. What do you eat on salad if there is no lettuce? Another opportunity for me to reach outside my comfort zone and try something new, something exotic, something like ...bok choy! I figured if I didnt try it this week, I may never so I will give it a try.
I also picked up potatoes to go with my new cookbook from Greenway Books in Iron Mountain. Again, where was this book three weeks ago?

Really, the biggest discovery came this week when my boss handed me this month's Dickinson Conservation District Newsletter featuring an article about The U.P. Food Exchange . This organization supports local food activities throughout the Upper Peninsula via three regional food hubs. The mission of the Central U.P. Food Hub ( the counties in Central upper peninsula, my radius) "seeks to build and maintain a healthy, sustainable, local food system...that is accessible to EVERYONE via advocacy and lasting policy change." 

WOO HOO! Why hadn't I heard of this before? The website includes a directory of local farmers and foods, an online market, upcoming events and  links to co-ops, forums, and

 - my favorite- farm tours!

I could spend hours on this website. I had no idea there was a Food Exchange and am blown away over the volumes of information provided here. I wonder if Wisconsin has a similar organization.
One trip I hope to make before summer is out is to the Marquette Food Co-Op. 
        Doesn't this look enticing? Couldn't every one of us benefit from a place like this downtown?

Crepe Expectations

I had no idea that a crepe was just nothing more than a fancy pancake.

If pancakes were people, crepes would be supermodels: thin, beautiful, and endlessly photographed.
Once I discovered how easily a crepe could substitute for a tortilla, a gyro or an ice cream cone, I swiftly set out to concoct these little devils in my own kitchen. As usual, I reached for Ashley's 100% whole wheat flour.

This is what I was hoping for:

.... this is what I got

....Nailed it!!

A few minor adjustments later...(notice the switch to Teflon)

 

and I had something relatively edible.....


                                                    and finally, presentable....

The recipe I followed was to yield 18 crepes.
Only five survived.
This is served with chocolate Debackers ice cream and Wilson Creek Gardens strawberry jam.
I also came up with a local substitute for my favorite PB&J sandwiches- crepes with jam and Hedmark's maple cream.

While mine can't compare to those air-brushed beauties on Pinterest, I think I will be making a few more of these crepes before the month is out.

Okey Gnocchi

Italian gnocchi has a special place in my heart. Those little heavenly dumplings that pass for pasta but are really potato and flour in disguise. I have to admit I don't remember having them until I moved to Wisconsin and dined at one of several Italian "supper clubs" in our area. Swimming in sauce, smothered in cheese. I fell in love immediately. You know its gotta be good when it makes cinematic history....

That's right. In The Godfather III,  ill-fated lovers Mary and Vincent, Michael Corleone's daughter and nephew, find their passion for each other is kindled while----you guessed it---- making gnocchi.
Next to the spaghetti-sharing scene in Lady and the Tramp , this is the most Oscar-worthy use of pasta in a supporting role.

I thought I'd be going without pasta for the month of August until some reconnaissance at Super One Foods unearthed an entire line of Dina Mia's Kitchen pasta dinners. Checking out the website I discovered that the pasta is actually handmade in their kitchens in Iron River, MI. Magnifico!

Tonight, the gnocchi with sauce and meatballs (just buttered gnocchi for me) was a hit with the kids. Even Alex,  who pleaded with me last night "no please! no noikees for me!", asked for seconds.
Naturally I've tried to make homemade gnocchi in my own kitchen- I mean, Andy Garcia makes it look so easy. But the mushy dumplings just floated to the top of the water like harpooned arctic seals begging be put out of their misery. I think this is one dish I will leave to the experts. Delizioso!

Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon, or not at all.
                                                                                                              -Harriet Van Horne

Here We Come a Waffle-ing

After half-heartedly weeding my pitiful garden and failing to make my whole wheat bread dough rise in the oven, I flung myself on the couch in despair. Dramatically I lamented to Hubby " I can't grow anything. And I can't bake bread!" It continues to boggle my mind how these two relatively basic tasks which humankind has been able to perform for centuries can be so utterly complicated for me. 

So again with the utmost humility I extend my gratitude to the farmers, vendors and artisans whose products I consume, and I beg you to adopt me into your encampment if the zombie apocalypse  does ever happen. 

Here's the booty from Saturday's market.

Notice something missing? That's right, a loaf of bread. I was feeling overconfident. Won't happen again.

 
 I picked up some new goodies this time; maple cream and maple syrup from Hedmarks Maple Ridge in Florence, WI. Maple cream has the consistency of peanut butter with a maple butter texture and since I love peanut butter on pancakes, this makes a wonderful substitute. Its also the perfect topping for Eggo waffles when you have to eat breakfast in the car but don't want to drip sticky syrup everywhere. Butter it on your waffle, fold the waffle taco-style and steer the wheel with your free hand. Yum.
 Another treat-bacon from Wilson Creek Gardens. Perfect for today's outdoor summer dinner of BLTs. Or chop it in a salad with Crazy Joe's cucumber salsa and tomatoes from Slagle Family Farms.
Naturally I had to round out all this fresh, delicious produce with Debacker's Blue Moon ice cream for the kiddos.

Menu items:
Sunday brunch -Swedish-style (meaning, I fudged the recipe) pancakes with Ashley's whole wheat bread and maple cream.
 Lunch- fried egg sandwich with my non-leavened whole wheat  bread
Dinner- Wilson Creek beef burger patties and grilled potatoes, zucchini and green pepper from Brousseau Farm, Crystal Falls.
Today:
Scrambled eggs with Crazy Joe's cucumber salsa
Leftover grilled vegetables with whole wheat biscuit.
Zucchini bread with applesauce
BLTs on whole wheat bread with green salad.

Live and Let Liver

Thanks to Kara at Millan's Custom Butchering I had my first taste of liver and onions. This dish is the Detroit Lions of the meat family; folks either rave about how they absolutely love it or endlessly rant about how bad it stinks. Having never cooked it before I was probably overly cautious in browning it- Betty Crocker says leave a little pink in the middle- but the thin slices browned up quickly and smelled very good. It tasted like biting into a pencil eraser. What an odd texture, I've never tasted anything like it. At the Millan's suggestion, I sizzled up another slice,this time dredged in Ashley's whole wheat flour pork chop style. A bit of an improvement. Finally I sauteed some onions, Menominee garlic, squash and green pepper from Brousseau's Farm and let the liver soak in the flavor. I wrapped it all up to try again for the next day's lunch. Hunger, after all, is the best seasoning. 

It's Friday and I've about run out of ingredients so I'm looking forward as always to the Iron Mountain Farmer's Market tomorrow. Its been two weeks now and I feel like I'm actually tasting food. I can tell the difference between the delectable strawberry jam Wilson Creek Garden's makes and the Smucker's that's been on the grocery shelf for awhile. I no longer substitute Pam or Crisco in a can when Jilbert's butter is just as fast and better tasting, and there's no empty spray can to try to recycle. I like knowing my eggs came from this: 

Slagle's Family Farm

rather than this:

Dante's Inferno

I couldn't help thinking, as Hubby dug into his KFC dinner and I fried up some farm fresh eggs, how much I don't miss eating out of cardboard bucket. Nature already provides us with the most savory, satisfying meals we could want, void of preservatives and dyes and high fructose corn syrup. Fresh, local and perfectly naked.

Food Fight

After dinner of Wilson Creek Garden's chicken breast and steamed green beans last night I went to work again at the stove top. The Baby rearranged my cabinets while the Boy had "arts and crafts" (which basically entails mixing every paint in his crayola set the same shade of baby-poop brown and glueing himself to the kitchen table) while Mom simultaneously perfected the white sauce for the crock pot roast while boiling the applesauce down to a watery slop. Instead of the usual water/apples/sugar/cinnamon I nixed the cinnamon and sugar and substituted Jasper's pure maple syrup and didn't adjust for the added liquid when figuring in my water. Without the cinnamon aroma wafting through the kitchen to tell me when it was close to done, I let it all overcook and by the time it went into the blender, it was all over but the crying. The Boy did try it and Baby gobbled it up as usual so it wasn't a complete loss.
I did score some local booty yesterday at work; Kara brought me some pork liver to try from Millan's Custom Butchering and I bought some Menominee-grown garlic from a veteran- not those itty bitty cloves they sell at the supermarket, but seven giant bulbs with stalks attached and held together with bailing twine. Finally, the onions and butter have a companion.
After the cooking was done, the applesauce cooling and the glue scrubbed off the children, I decided to wield veto power over the nightly "Wild Kratts " cartoons, commandeered the remote and
 watched Chris Taylor's documentary  "Food Fight " about the history of our nation's food supply and the role government, agribusiness and local farmers have had on it. The documentary highlights the rising popularity of organic farmers markets in providing produce directly to restaurateurs and gourmet chefs, and specifically, the success of California-based Chez Panisse restaurant and its founder, Alice Waters. 
Some key points of the documentary:

1. The commercial food industry's goal is to turn a profit- not to meet our nutritional needs.

2.The value of food as defined by the food industry is how well  it ships, not how well  it tastes.

3. Farm bill subsidies favor a select few agribusiness giants; leaving little opportunity for small farmers.

4. Farmers markets have succeeded on their own merits without government lobbying or funding. 

 I highly recommend this documentary, which is available instantly on Netflix. The music, the history, the commentary and the food make it an easy, enjoyable film.

For a Laugh

Tonight the Hubby and I shared some beef stew made from Wilson Creek Garden's beef roast, Brousseau Farm potatos and Vallei Farms corn. Running short on time tonight so I'm going to share this post I read a couple months ago from author and farmer Forrest Pritchard: Please follow the link to the author's website-photos are his as well. I was reminded of this article after talking to a local farmer this past Saturday about what goes into getting the food to the market. This post cracked me up, hopefully you get a laugh as well- Chad, this one's for you.

4 Questions You Should Never Ask at a Farmer's Market

 By Forrest Pritchard on April 10, 2013

I’ve spent over 1,000 Saturdays and Sundays selling at farmers markets, and even after all this time I still love to answer questions. Farmers markets are one of the few places where customers can directly connect with their food, meeting face-to-face with the people who grew it. Questions are expected at market, and even encouraged. From livestock breeds to production practices, organic certification to chemical usage, I’ve been asked just about every food-related question under the sun.
Though most farmers will happily answer all inquiries, there are a handful of questions that make even the friendliest farmers want to choke a carrot. If you don’t want your farmer to turn three shades of beet red, here’s the reasoning behind 4 questions every customer should avoid.
1) Was this picked fresh this morning?
So what’s wrong with this question… you just want to know if it’s fresh, right? That’s totally understandable. But let’s take a moment to think about how a farm really works.
Imagine market has just opened, and it’s 8 a.m. For the last hour and a half, the farmer has been setting up his booth. Before that, he drove two hours to get to market. Sometime earlier he brushed his teeth, made a pot of coffee, and—with any luck at all—put on his pants. At what point this morning would he have had time to pick 20 bushels of tomatoes, 100 pints of blueberries, or gather 50 dozen eggs?
Truckloads of fresh food don’t magically load themselves in fifteen minutes. It takes many hands many hours to pick basketfuls of green beans or apples. This doesn’t even count moving the harvest from the field to the packing shed, or loading it onto the truck itself.

Eggs are laid fresh each morning (see the sunshine in the background?), but these hens are still asleep by the time I roll out for market in the morning.

So when should the harvesting happen… at 2 a.m.? I’m picturing a bleary-eyed farmer with a headlamp, picking corn with one hand and drinking coffee with the other. As Rachel Bynum of Waterpenny Vegetable Farm explained to me, most market produce is picked a day or so before (depending on the fruit or vegetable), then loaded onto the truck in the cool of the evening before market day.
If you want it any fresher than that, you’re probably going have to grow it yourself. In the meantime, let those farmers get a good night’s sleep! Which leads me to my next question…
2) What time do you get up?
This one’s a classic, something I’ve been asked hundreds of times. Farmers are famous for being early risers, so it’s understandable if people are curious about a specific hour. So why add this question to my list? Because—as I’ve learned from years of experience—there’s never a satisfactory answer.
For instance, if I say, “Oh, about 6 o’clock,” the questioner’s face turns thoughtful for a moment. “That seems kind of late, doesn’t it? I mean, I get up at 5:45 myself.” If I say “A little before 3,” their eyes go suddenly wide. “Why do you have to get up so early? To milk the cows or something?”

Yes, that’s my Kermit the Frog pillow.

One day, I realized there’s only one correct answer for this question: 4:30 on the dot. Not too late, and not too early. Not too lazy, and not too crazy. 4:30 a.m. is the Goldilocks of responses.
So in case you were wondering, all farmers—everywhere—get up at precisely 4:30 (although I sometimes hit the snooze button on my rooster). Any more questions?
3) I know you’re not open yet, but I’m in a hurry… could you sell me something before the bell?
Hello, Starbucks? Sorry to call so early, but your door is locked and I really need a latte. Could you open up early just for me? I’m in such a rush, and it’ll only take a second!
Where else in the world could someone get away with this question? Despite how it might appear at first glance, it takes farmers a long time to set up their booth each morning. Trucks must be unloaded, tents erected and produce arranged. If farmers opened early for even one person (and I’m talking to you, Latte Lady), they’d never be ready for the opening bell of market. Which is a perfect segue to my last question…
4) Since it’s the end of market, can I get a special deal on what you’ve got left?
This one’s a little trickier. I once asked my friend John Hyde, a baker for 25 years, what he thought about discounting leftovers at the end of market. His face lost all expression as he gave me this advice: “Forrest, that path leads to madness.”

Farmer Rachel told me she picks squash one, two or even three days in advance, and staggers the different pickings across the course of a market. Looks fresh to me!

He elaborated. “If we gave discounts at the end, then people would simply wait till the last ten minutes of market to shop. And what about the loyal customers who paid the normal price? They’d be insulted to learn they got charged more for showing up on time. It’s always better to donate it to a food bank than to discount things at the closing bell.”
Markets must never become Priceline.com or GroupOn, where last-minute deals and discounts are the norm. In order to stay in business year after year, farmers must get the price they ask for. Discounting at the end of market might seem harmless and even logical, but it’s an unsustainable practice for the farmers themselves.

Farmers markets are a place where customers should expect to have all of their food questions answered. But just like anyone else, we farmers get a little grouchy from time to time (it’s probably because we get up at 4:30). So bring your shopping list, your cloth bag and your farming questions, but leave these four at home. You’ll be a ‘market insider,’ and your local producer will love you for it.

B Double E Double Are You In

 

Check out this week's booty. Some new treats this week, beef roast from Wilson Creek; fresh blueberries from Pleasant View Orchards, brats and tomatoes from Slagle's, squash and peppers from Brousseau Farm in Crystal Falls, MI. With no kids in tow this week, I had time to peruse each booth and talk to the farmers and merchants. Love that! On a whim I picked up foccacia bread from Hillcrest Catering (only because it's right next to the white bread recipe in my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook and it looks delicious and way beyond my skill level) figuring I'd find some use for it. Sure enough, it was perfect paired with Aurora, WI- based Matu's Antipasto I had picked up this week at Econo Foods in Iron Mountain. For anyone who hasn't had antipasto ( I'd never heard of it until I moved up here and tasted my mother-in-law's recipe) the closest thing I can compare it to is an Italian-based salsa. It's usually served on crackers or baguettes as an appetizer, and the foccacia bread held it nicely without getting soggy. 

Treated the kiddos to Saturday brunch of Swedish pancakes made from Ashley's Whole wheat flour, and served with Jasper's pure maples syrup. Just heavenly!

Oh yeah,that is a bottle of beer in the photo. That's right-local hooch!  Sorry if I sound overly excited at this discovery, but hey, it has been 10 days. So at nine a.m. Saturday morning I'm meticulously examining the aisles at Riverside Liquors in Spread Eagle, WI. I was surprised what I found at Riverside Liquors in Spread Eagle and just how many micro-brews there are in Wisconsin and even in the U.P. ( I guess that's what everyone is making instead of cheese.) This line is called Black Husky and it hails from Pembine, WI. They produce an entire line of different types of ales, stouts, and honey wheats and from the bottom of my heart, I apologize I have no idea what any of those are. I picked up the pale ale only because the Sproose Joose sounded too ambitious an undertaking for this Bud Light girl. Despite the unfamiliar taste, I emptied two glasses with dinner. Hubby and our dinner guests made do with the blackberry moonshine they got for me thinking it was local ( Madison, NC- so close.) Our Saturday dinner fare: the last of the Wilson Creek beef patties with  grilled zucchini, red potatoes, beans and sweet onions.

Today was bread day. Another attempt to make hamburger buns from scratch.

Here's what I had in mind.

 
Here's what I got.

Nailed it.

Potatoes "Dora Dora"

Let's get back to the menu over the last couple days. Eggs are still my staple for breakfast and for those last minute meals when Hubby forgets to turn on the crock pot. I haven't done a taste comparison between farm eggs and white eggs, but as for size, when compared to Wilson Creek Garden's  farm fresh eggs... 

'nuff said.

I'm hoping to find some new egg recipes, maybe a quiche or strata or something but since I am really only working out of one or two cookbooks now my options are limited. It's not as easy as I thought to find recipes that don't include a few convenience food ingredients like frozen vegetables, Velveeta or mashed potato flakes. And I get it- women nowadays are busy with jobs, kids, obligations etc. In the short time we had together, I don't remember ever cooking in the kitchen with my mom. After she was gone dinners were comprised of frozen fish sticks, canned green beans and Banquet chicken. Perhaps that is why I absolutely love being in my kitchen with a 4 year old at the table shucking corn and a toddler at my feet emptying out my Tupperware drawer. The kiddos make the most mundane hohousehold tasks so much more fun, and we spend more time together making messes in the kitchen than anywhere else in the house.

Since my potato repertoire has somewhat advanced from crumbly potato pancakes (damn you Giada, and your perfect potato pancakes!) to homemade hash browns (the Boy thinks the grater is so cool) and roasted baby reds I have been feeling ambitious to try a new recipe.

 Potatoes Floradora , a recipe which was first published in 1936 and calls for mostly fresh, whole ingredients. The Boy, my aspiring sous chef, was quite intrigued with this recipe."Yes, make that! Make Potato Dora Dora!"

I've also found that Ashley's 100% all natural whole grain bread makes for a thick white sauce that I was able to substitute for cream soup over steamed green beans. This weekend we'll tackle the hamburger buns. 
Today's menu:
Fried eggs from Slagle's  with white bread toast from Pleasant View orchards
Greens with hard boiled eggs, Crazy Joe's Salsa and the last of the zucchini bread.
Wilson Creek Garden's beef patties on the grill with Mean Jean's orange-poppy seed mustard and fresh corn from Vallei Farms. 
Looking forward to the market tomorrow!

 


 

A State of the Plate Address

Seven days in and ten shout outs to local vendors within a hundred miles. I invite you to follow the web links, check out their web pages and decide for yourself if their products meet your standard definition of healthy and wholesome; something worthy of your plate, your palate and your wallet.

Why is it when finances gets tight, our nutrition is the first expense on the chopping block? Of all industrialized nations, Americans spend the least of their income on food and the most on health care. In 2012, Michigan ranked #5 most obese state in the union. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. If we increase our spending on one factor, could we reduce our spending on the other?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 16.7 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life. Yet even in little Spread Eagle WI I can get fresh vegetables, protein and dairy and I've hardly traveled more than 15 miles to get it. So what is keeping good food from hungry hands? Is it municipalities that chose to support profitable fast-food outlets over fresh markets? Is it school lunch programs getting whacked at the state level? Could state and local food assistance programs be revamped to include and encourage fresh local options? Is it a  mindset that small, sustainable farms are a relic of the past and  genetically modified mono-crops are the amber waves of our future?

Is it the fear that the problem is too big to solve that renders us paralyzed to even try?

Two weeks ago I heard the newscast about 22 school children in India, ages 5-12,  who became fatally ill after eating tainted school lunches. In this region of India, starvation is so rampant, that the school lunch program was, for many children, the only hot meal they would get that day. It broke my heart, it made me angry, it made me feel powerless.

That's how this blog came to be.

Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.- Margaret Meade

Who Moved My Cheese?

Milk...it's here.
 Ice cream...we got it!
 Cheese head...you betcha!
 Cheese?
 
I cant believe I haven't found any cheese within a hundred miles!
Today's recon mission took me over to Econo Foods on the hunt for local cheeses. No luck, but I did find Jilbert's brand buttermilk, two brands of Michigan grown blueberries...
 and this fresh corn from Vallei Farms in Coleman, WI! 

I love displays like this. I know what it is, and where it's from.
 
Unlike this deceptive advertising:

Ooh Wisconsin Select.... could it be local???

Chicago?! Are ya kidding me?

Desperately searching the internet, I came upon a cheese lead. According to Eat Wisconsin Cheese, the closest cheese factory to me is 50 miles away in Eagle River. Road trip! 

Monday night, the Boy kept me company while I prepared honey-mustard chicken thighs with Mean Jean's mustard and Thomas Lakia's raw honey from Felch,MI. My four year old pulled every cooking utensil out of the drawer, lined them all up like little culinary Rockettes on the counter and learned each one's name and purpose.
Mama what is this?
              -that's called a "ladle".
Mama what is this?
              -thats a pastry cutter. It's for baking pies.
Ooh, what's this?
             -that's a garlic press.
What do you have that for?
             -um...because... Giada has one. I don't really know...
              what  it does..

 I wonder if Mario Batali started out like this.

Crazy Fresh

So what if its 63 degrees the first week in August. I have Crazy Joe's Spicy Fresh Salsa to heat things up! A local gem  in the grocery store, Crazy Joe's hails from L'anse, MI and is available at Super One Foods in spicy and a cucumber salsa variety. The perfect topping for my scrambled eggs and the key ingredient of last night's "taco" salad dinner. Paired with Greg's jalapeño salsa, and we're feelin' hot hot hot!

I'm on the lookout for more local products in the area grocery stores. It's somewhat disheartening to see all the fresh apples are stamped "Product of Chile" or "Product of New Zealand". I never considered apples to be an exotic fruit- how much further can you get from our little neck of the woods than New Zealand?


Tell me about your favorite local finds!


Monday's menu- leftovers!

The Mad Scientist

I don't know about you but I am loving this cool August weather. I get to turn my oven on! Yesterday I attempted whole wheat biscuits with Ashley's all natural stone ground flour. If you haven't gotten it by now, I am by no means a talented cook, nor do I know what ingredients are supposed to do what beyond "soda spreads, powder puffs". But I love to experiment. My Boy gets a kick out of his mom rubbing her hands together like the mad scientist over a mixing bowl saying "let's see what this will taste like mooohaaahaahaa!"

 
Yesterday's biscuits were not a total loss, even though in an attempt to solve the hamburger bun dilemna I smashed them flat before baking, so the result was a cookie shaped grainy mix. It was baked all the way through, so in my opinion, it's edible. I've found when I really screw up a recipe I usually have something else lying around the pantry to rescue it from an epic fail. Turns out those grainy biscuits are the perfect complement to the Wilson Creek Garden's apple pie jam that I found too sweet for my regular toast. I also discovered Jilbert's butter will work just as good as shortening in greasing a baking sheet.
I also had a cracked egg (thanks to the Boy) to use up so I fried it over some Swiss chard which ended up smelling like burnt popcorn but after 4 days I was eager for a fried egg to dip some bread into. I am throwing Swiss chard or kale onto everything I cook with the hope that I find a recipe I love. I will get back to you on that....
Yesterday's menu:
Breakfast: scrambled eggs (no pepper jelly anywhere! I'm stocking up next time)
Lunch: experiments, see above
Dinner : now this was a treat! Burgers and T bone steaks from Wilson Creek Gardens, grilled baby reds from Slagle's with green onions and fresh green beans and more of that great white bread from Pleasant View Orchards. I treated the family and our dinner guest to a dessert homemade of no bake cheese cake. None for me, but my dessert was narrating where all this food came from and soaking up all the compliments for a great meal served.

Nom Nom Nom! Baby girl loves her bitesized T -bone steak.

Our Daily Bread

 I guess I've never given bread its due respect. I normally opt for the low carb stuff, regardless of taste. Hubby can get by with the 69 cent loaves of white, and we spring for whole grain for the Boy. It's only job is to hold the adhesive (mayo, mustard, jam) to the ham, right? 
Toast. Hamburger buns. Peanut butter jelly time.
I've come to discover that without bread, new meals must be invented. Bread- or the lack thereof- has the power to force sane people onto insanely icy roads in the dead of winter (a power triad shared equally with milk and diapers).
In some countries- and, at certain points in history- in our country,  people spend hours in line waiting for bread.

 

Going without it, even for a couple days, and having it again makes it so much easier to appreciate. 

I couldn't wait to get to the farmers' market and sink my teeth into a raspberry turnover from Pleasant View Orchards and pick up some fresh bread. They carry such a variety but I opted for plain white, figuring it would go further with all my meals than a sweet bread. This bread is exquisite! I've read about but never actually tasted a "chewy" bread. No butter required. This is what all other white bread aspires to be.

But, since man cannot live by bread alone, I also picked up some of Ashley's 100% natural stone ground whole wheat flour, with the intension to spend all day learning how to bake hamburger buns. That is, until I searched the depths of my cabinet to unearth three  packets of Red Star active dry yeast stamped best used by October 2010. Looks like its biscuits with our burgers tonight.

Menu for Aug 3:

Breakfast -the incredible, edible egg

Lunch- The Great White Bread, and zucchini bread from Wilson Creek Gardens , salad with green onions and hard-boiled eggs and a bear snack stick from Millan's.

Dinner- Sausage, Potato and Green Bean skillet

Saturday at the Market

 Another busy day at the market! Made a point to get a couple new things to try: kale and Swiss chard. Bessie raves about the market's Swiss chard,  and if its good enough for Bessie, that's good enough for me!

(That's Maple Root Beer in the bottle, made in Milwaukee but the Boy tried it for the first time today and loves it!)

Wholesome fast food?

I heard something on the radio yesterday that caught me by suprise- a local fast food chain was airing a new ad that described its menu as "quality, wholesome fast food" made with "fresh ingredients". Can fast food really call itself "wholesome?" What is the definition of "fresh"? Who are they trying to kid? Or are we fooling ourselves? When it comes down to it, fast food joints are making money hand over fist and the current trend of "greening" up the menu with a few token vegetables trucked in from hundreds of miles away is enough to land a few more converts who otherwise would avoid the gut burgers and fries.
I don't hate fast food- but call it what it is.

Another story aired on the radio news about the recent cyclospora parasite illness spread through pre-packaged salad mix. It understandably took days to determine the source of the food, who had distributed it and where it had been served. From CNN August 2nd, the process was described thus:

"This is labor intensive and painstaking work, requiring the collection, review and analysis of hundreds and at times thousands of invoices and shipping documents," the FDA said. © 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Finally they tracked to source to a farming operation in Mexico, with a direct link to restaurants in Nebraska and Iowa. Which made me wonder- why is lettuce being trucked from Mexico into the heartland anyway? They don't grow lettuce in Iowa? I wonder what Olive Garden or Red Lobster have to say to their customers? More importantly, I wonder what the customers have to say to these chains?

Please check out this wonderful documentary Ingredients: Who's Your Farmer about local food and its place in restaurants. The full documentary is available on Netflix.

Yesterdays Menu:

Breakfast and Lunch- eggs to rescue again. Used up the last of the Wilson Creek pepper jelly. Salad is remarkably crisp for being a week old- I will get a link to that farm today. More bear treats (Millan's doesn't offer wild game in their retail meat case but can process your game for individual consumption), berries and jam and fresh green beans from a co worker's garden. The Hubby grilled up beef patties from Wilson Creek served with Mean Jean's Orange Poppyseed mustard. The sad remains of a potato pancake recipe I attempted last night and Debacker's chocolate ice cream for dessert. 

Now off to the market!

Hungry As a Bear

As with most successful undertakings, preparation is key. It's also the most overlooked step, and I am no exception. Since the farmers' market is not til Saturday, I have two days -six meals and snacks- to fill with the local foods that happen to already be in my fridge. Panic!  Upset stomach, wild kids and a lost Nuk derailed my Wednesday night plans to cook some potatoes in advance. At a quick glance the eggs, jams, hamburger patties and bowl of blueberries seemed plenty to get me through until it came down to pack Thursday's lunch and I thought " there's nothing to eat!"

Luckily, my good friend Kara of Millan's Custom Butchering in Armstrong Creek surprised me with
 bear /beef snack sticks to kick off my new food regimen. That's right, bear. I hadn't counted on bear as an option but due to the urgent needs of my stomach, if it's local- it's in. 

So yesterday's menu went like this:
Breakfast- fresh farm eggs scrambled in butter ( nix the Pam for this endeavor), with pepper jelly from Wilson Creek Gardens and a big glass of Jilbert's milk.
Lunch- Despite the onslaught of morning-meeting donut exposure, I made it through with more eggs, this time hard-boiled over fresh lettuce and more pepper jelly. (I love this stuff.) Bear snack sticks with cheese. Blueberries and raspberries from my yard mixed with some raspberry jelly from Wilson Creek to sweeten things up and a non-conforming emergency apple before heading home. I had suffered a lingering headache all day which I chalk up to sudden caffeine withdrawal.
Dinner- The Hubby had already browned ground beef for tacos for himself and the kids and my Wilson Creek beef patties had not defrosted so it was more eggs, scrambled with pepper jelly and Jalapeno salsa (thank you Greg!) for dinner. Aside from the headache (instantly remedied with Tylenol at home) I survived my first day without gut-wrenching hunger pangs. I'm starting to realize cravings and longings do not constitute hunger, and therefore, do not need to be fed. 

Cooking separate dinners is one of the downsides of this experiment. The Hubby and the kids are exempt from the project and due to our work schedules, supper time is the only time we have together during the day as a family. Not that I could coerce my four year old to trade in his Easy Mac for lamb chops anyway, at least not right away, I want him to know where his food comes from and what it takes to bring it to his plate. My daughter on the other hand will eat anything and everything in front of her, ground up or finger foods,  a big smile on her sticky face,  stopping between bites to say her two favorites sounds "mmmm" and "yeah!". She definitely has her mama's appetite. That makes it all the more important to start her off with the most nutritious food available. 

Locally Grown

There is corn growing in the employee garden at the VA Hospital. Corn! My own sad little garden,  which I spent the cold, long winter planning, researching and dreaming about has barely a rambling pole bean to show for all my trouble.  Across the pavilion stands another planter with mouth-watering raspberries which seem to have ripened overnight and effortlessly with the June rain. Which just reinforces my belief that Midwesterners generally, and Yoopers especially, have some magical  ability to coax plants to flourish in the unlikeliest climate and the shortest possible growing season. For a transplant like me, it is a skill I will most likely devote a lifetime trying to acquire.

God forbid some natural disaster or internal breakdown of national services made it necessary for me to sustain my family from the fruits of my garden- I'm certain we'd starve. In the couple years I have maintained my own garden I've yielded a couple small victories- green beans out my ears one season, grape tomatoes the next- to which I credit not my own skill but dumb luck, good weather and prayer. I am shocked that anything grows at all, and when it actually produces something that resembles an edible plant - elated! Even if I don't know exactly what I've grown ( imagine my surprise when my beautiful pumpkin plants yielded cucumbers) or how to maintain it ("weeding" two-thirds of my strawberry box before remembering I'd planted  perennials ) nevertheless, I try and try again every year hoping next time I'll have a bounty worth boasting about.

And so it is with great humility and wonder, I pack up the kids most Saturday mornings, our empty egg cartons in hand, and drive from Spread Eagle, WI across the Michigan border to the Iron Mountain farmers' market. 
We've been attending the market for a few years now and have gotten to know some of the merchants and watched their tents grow season after season. What started out as a small group vendors,  dedicated and shivering in the June cold behind BK Enterprises selling potted herbs and syrups off the beds of pickups has grown into a bustling micro-economy downtown on A street. Since my daughter has outgrown the 
Snugly - which enabled me to simultaneously make cash exchanges while holding my 4 year old by the shirt collar- our visits are less frequent as they once were. When I return after missing a week it seems the market has doubled in size and the produce as well. After gathering my few jams, meat and a cookie for my son I head off to the local supermarket for the rest of the shopping.  

Now, I aabsolutely love the people who work at my local grocery store. The store is clean, people are friendly and helpful and a joy to be around. It's the food I have problems with.  Despite every imaginable option for dining, shopping at the store feels like an ongoing compromise of values. Unlike the market, I can't ask the Dole or Tyson or Johnsonville "what's in that?" All I have to go off is product labeling and whatever morsel of latest media coverage I can remember. Which brand just had the recall? Do I get the organic raspberries from Brazil or the chemical laden domestic ones? Do I opt for the  organic spinach in the monstrous plastic packaging or this sad little waterlogged mushy thing in the produce aisle? This meat says all-natural but is it really worth the price? And how is it that three different local vendors sell eggs at the market, but every grocery store trucks them in from Iowa?

Two Saturday's ago I saw a little girl selling stone ground flour and I thought "Wow, you almost wouldn't have to shop anywhere else for food!" Nah. That would never work. Maybe in New York or California with their blocks long farmers' markets and 8 month growing season. But like a seed, the idea began to grow as I  as I mentally checked off a list of what is available locally. Meat- beef, chicken, lamb- not that I've ever had lamb but its available. Dairy- I live within 80 miles of two dairies. Flour-well,that's got to cover alot. Potatoes, tomatoes, veggiesberrieswhythereareberriesinmybackyardandapplesandthismightjustactuallywork!

So the time has come to see how this will work. For the  month of August I am eating only what has been produced locally within a 100 mile radius of Spread Eagle. No coffee. No bananas. And-gulp- Hershey, Pennsylvania is not within a hundred miles. What's within a hundred miles? Good people who take pride in producing good food to share with more good people. It doesn't matter if I can't grow corn, because my neighbor can. Local food relies on the community, just as the community relies on the local farmers. 
So here we go!