Views of the farm

Grammy's persimmon tree - this incredible fruit wasn't quite ripe, but when it is ripe it can be dried, eaten fresh, or used in baking. They remind me of orange lanterns.

Our visits to Andrew's family in Sebastopol inevitably involve local eating. While these are not food pictures (for once), I thought I'd share some of the sights from our Thanksgiving visit. This is a magical place where we find peace and relaxation...and where Andrew has some of his happiest childhood memories. We spent our days eating, lounging, walking through the farm, visiting the ocean, and having good conversation.

Being on east coast time meant I got to see the beautiful sunrise melt frost on the orchard below.

Topsy and Turvy are growing up - is it my imagination, or is Topsy smiling for the photographer?
The apple orchard in the afternoon light.

Local Thanksgiving

Sebastopol Quince

Autumn has almost passed, and we celebrated a lovely Thanksgiving with Geri and Dick in California. Our menu featured many local ingredients and local flavors, and we were so happy to be together.

Menu
Willie Bird, Free-Range Turkey - Sonoma County
Apple Salad - Sonoma County (and the orchard at home!)
Mashed Potatoes - Sonoma County
Millet-quinoa bread stuffing - maybe not so local,
but oh-so tasy and homemade.
Quince Crisp - Sebastopol fruit

Geri making Bassett gravy - giblets and all. It is rich and delicious.

Our Willie Bird turkey. This turkey was raised free-range in Sonoma County by a family that's been working in the area since the 1940s.

A play on Waldorf salad, this family favorite "Apple Salad"
features apples from the Bassett orchards below Geri's house and
celery from Green String Farm.

The Crowning Glory - Quince Crisp. We made this from quince Geri found in the green space on Gold Ridge Road, New England maple syrup, and an almond biscuit crust. It was spectacular, especially served with whipped cream from a local dairy. We adapted the recipe from the November 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Autumn Adventures

Audrey (and Peanut!), Andrew, and Catherine picking pumpkins in Montgomery County.

Fall is absolutely, no contest, my favorite time of year. Christmas carols, spring flowers, and a summer swim cannot compete with the crispy leaves underfoot and the lovely cool nights. While I am not in New England to experience the true essence of fall, DC's sunny weather and changing leaves have inspired me to think about my autumn food adventures. As my previous post indicated, I have wavered from my local food commitment at the moment, but I still found time to go apple and pumpkin picking this year (and to eat apple cider donuts, of course).

Apple picking with Anne in Massachusetts.

With all the apples coming from our WFCF apple share and Andrew living on his own, I found 7 full bags of apples waiting for me during my last visit home. These were a wide selection of popular and heirloom varieties, and I simply combined them all to make luscious apple sauce. Because of my food strainer, I am able to quarter the apples, add a small amount of water, sprinkle in some cinnamon, and let them boil 'til soft. Because these apples had been sitting in the fridge for some time, they were full of natural sugars (reminiscent of honey, in my opinion) and I made enough to freeze for the whole winter. We can eat this on its own, with homemade cookies, or even blend it with roasted squash to make our favorite soup.

Wait, what?

Confessions

Photo courtesy of http://www.thehappyrock.com

Well, here we are, 6 weeks after I moved to DC and started my post-doc. Many of you have asked me how the local eating is going, and I must confess: it's not going. While Andrew is whipping up batches of "kitchen sink" soup from fresh farm vegetables and roasting succulent Massachusetts meats, I am indulging in boxed macaroni and cheese, bubbly water with lemon slices, and vegetables from goodness-knows-where. These sinful purchases can be explained by my long work hours...and my desire to indulge myself! I must admit that I feel very little guilt and it's pretty nice to wander in to the grocery store in downtown Bethesda and buy whatever I want to. However, in all honesty, my food is less nutritious and certainly doesn't taste as good as it used to...so, maybe once the dust settles on this fabulous job of mine, I'll return to the patterns of old. For now, though, I'm going to savor those lemon slices and maybe even try a banana or two.

Freezer and Kitchen Sink (Soup)

We finally broke down and bought a chest freezer.  With the meat share coming every month and Catherine in DC, some of the quantities have been overwhelming and the small freezer on top of the refrigerators has not been sufficient.  My family has a long tradition of large chest freezers full to the brim (see Mother and Grandmother), so I was initially reluctant to follow suit.  However, Catherine convinced me that we could just get a small one that would fit in our kitchen and that it would alleviate the avalanches cascading from our other freezer due to the delicate balancing act of over-packing.

We bought the freezer at Sears (with the help of Tim Jones), which was super easy (and on sale) and just rolled in next to the refrigerator (yes, it has wheels) and plugged it in!  It's about 5 cu. feet, which seems like plenty of space for now (however, I am worried that my genes are programmed for bigger and better models). I immediately transferred MANY things from our other freezer including the muffins of pesto (pesto frozen in muffin tins) that we recently made from the last basil of the year from our farm.

New freezer all set up (basket and all)!

With Catherine in DC and our visits being less frequent over the last month, I have been having trouble getting through all of the veggies from Waltham Fields.  Some keep for a long time, but others need to be eaten immediately.  Last weekend after Susan, Tim and I went to the farm, I decided it was time to use some veggies.  I saved the squash for Catherine (not my favorite) and decided to make a soup I called Kitchen Sink Soup.  Basically, my plan was to use everything that needed to be used up (sans the cabbage, which I made a delicious coleslaw using mustard - yum-MEE).

Some of the veggies to be used for Kitchen Sink Soup

So I started with some leeks, and onions, got them nice and cooked and then added our home made chicken stock and a little water.  I then added a bunch of potatoes, an onion, a ton of carrots, a couple heads of cauliflower, some kale, some diced hot peppers, black and white pepper and salt.  I let it simmer for several hours and voila!  Only thing left to do was use the hand blender to get it all silky smooth.  It's thick, a little spicy, and delicious (think potato-leek soup taken up a notch) - and made with everything but the kitchen sink!

Kitchen Sink Soup all ready to go into the new freezer - after I had a bowl of course.

Living in Bethesda, Maryland

The new roomies: Catherine and Audrey exploring the
Bethesda Farmers Markets.

As I begin my new adventure in Washington, D.C., I have been reflecting on what it means for me to "eat locally". Does this mean I care about how far my food has traveled, whether it's organic, or whether I know the source of this food? After stepping away from our routine in Somerville, Massachusetts and trying to stock my pantry here in Bethesda, Maryland, I have realized that I care most about my food's origins. My produce may or may not be certified organic, depending on a farm's abilities to pay for this certification; the food I buy may or may not come from within a certain distance from my home; however, I do care that I understand where and how this food was produced. If I know by whom, then all the better!

The biggest sweet potatoes I have ever seen - at the Bethesda Farmers Market!

For instance, as I embark on a traditional 9-to-5 job and spend many weekends commuting between Boston and D.C., I realize that I will have dramatically less time to spend in the kitchen. So, on my first trip to Trader Joe's here in Bethesda, I just bought what I wanted: boxed soup, sliced bread, jarred tomato sauce, and (yippeee!) lemons. I found myself questioning each of these purchases in the context of our commitment to local food, but not in the face of convenience. Then it came to the question of origins: should I spend $10 to buy a small log of goat cheese at the farmer's market here in Bethesda, or continue to support the Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery that makes the goat cheese I can get at Trader Joe's? (Being more frugal, I'll be going with the Vermont goat cheese I can get at Trader Joe's, but it's also a cheese I know I love and want to support.)

The Bethesda Central Farmers Market - I like the contrast between this new and fast-growing city's buildings and the quaint tents and slow pace of the farmers market.

To my great joy, Bethesda has 3 weekly farmers markets near the Metro stop (the Bethesda Central Farmers Market and the Bethesda Farmers Market), and Andrew has been willing to bring me meat and veggies from our CSA shares - if he's going to fly anyway, why not make it worth our tummies' while? Thanks to my new roommate, Audrey, I have started reading Flavor magazine, which addresses sustainable eating in the Capital "foodshed," and provides much interesting information about the very popular local movement here in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland. For now, I'm taking it slowly, but am enjoying exploring all the exciting food options! This weekend I managed West Virginia scrambled eggs and Appalachian cheese for lunch...

Going away party

Susan's flatbreads - warm, chewy, and delicious.

This local eater recently moved to Washington, D.C. to start a post-doctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian. This is a truly thrilling job to have, but it means that I have to leave my husband, family, and comfortable life in Somerville to make a pretty dramatic change. Before I left on this adventure, we had a family going away dinner, and local ingredients were the centerpiece! Susan whipped up a batch of her amazing flatbreads using our home-ground wheat, which we ate with grilled Chestnut Farm steak, Andrew's Waltham Fields salsas, and Tim's homegrown tomatoes. Ole!

The meal's flavors: tomatillo, husk cherry, hot pepper,
and tomato warm from the garden.

To make her flatbreads, Susan makes a pita bread recipe and eliminates the
second rise. Instead, she forms them into flatbreads and cooks them on a hot
griddle until they puff. These aren't traditional pita breads (they don't have a
pocket), but they make an amazing tortilla substitute and dinner treat. The
home-ground wheat gave them a fantastic flavor.

Winter Farmers Market - in Somerville!

The Davis Square Farmers Market

We subscribe to the Somerville Journal, which keeps us up-to-date on all our local news. This week, the paper's front cover featured an article on the success of farmers markets here in Somerville and the push to create a winter market! The author writes, "[t]here is incredible interest in Somerville for local food...[f]armers say that it's the most profitable market they participate in." Given the love for our Davis and Union Square markets, it looks like the Center for Arts at the Armory may be the home of a newly formed winter market and there are several farms already interested in participating. This is wonderful news for people who frequent the Davis Market (more than 2000 people per week!) because the Armory is just up Highland Avenue outside the square. Now, those of you from California or other warm climes may wonder why this is a big deal, and I invite you to visit here in January! Fresh food is hard to come by. Sure, our grocery stores provide us with produce from around the world, but we are hungry for foods that we can source and those that are in season.

Happy Somervillians buy fresh produce at the market.

The best part of this article was the quote from Mimi Graney, who said that "[b]efore the June opening day [of the Union Square Farmers Market], people are literally shaking with anticipation, they're so excited." I hope Somerville can keep this feelin' all year round!

Winter Preparations

As the summer begins to wind down, we are overrun with tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, and fruit. I find this time of year so comforting because I know that my freezer and pantry will be full when the darkness of winter sets in. While I am not able to fill the freezer as full as I would like (we are still debating the potential merits of a small chest freezer in the West household), I have started an annual routine that means we will have some tastes of summer in January. To date, I have made pasta sauce, oven-dried tomatoes, pesto, ratatouille, pickles, and frozen fruits.

Dill pickles from Waltham Fields cukes.

Makings of pesto - I blend Waltham Fields basil with olive oil to freeze.
I can add the garlic, salt, and other ingredients fresh when I use the pesto.

Freezing pesto in a muffin tin makes the perfect serving size.
I pop these out and keep them in Ziploc bags.

Making Susan's marinara sauce with Waltham Fields garlic, onion, basil, and tomatoes.

We got 7 pounds of tomatoes one week! Some went in to sauce, the others
I skinned and froze whole...or enjoyed juicy from the vine.

WHEAT WHEAT WHEAT!

Baker Andrew is *still* on hiatus, unfortunately, but I have tried to lure him back into the kitchen by buying Massachusetts-grown wheat! (And maybe when temperatures drop below 90, we will be willing to turn on the oven...) The girls at Boston Localvores recently volunteered to drive to White Oak Farm in Belchertown, Massachusetts to pick up shares of organically-grown grains. On a crazy whim, I ordered 25 pounds of unground wheat, and immediately had buyer's remorse! During the weeks before the wheat arrived, I had time to research storage, grinding, and baking with this stuff, and ordered a small hand grinder from a shop in Utah. By some divine coincidence, the wheat and the grinder arrived within days of each other, and Susan and I set to caring for our wheat immediately. The first task was to store it properly: it needs to be kept cool and dry so it won't mold or sprout, so we bought large glass jars with seals and tucked it in the pantry.

Next, it needs to be ground, so we tried out the grinder - it's a bit of an arm workout, but produced several fluffy cups of flour in mere minutes!

Now, it needs to be eaten...Susan and Tim have already made homemade pita bread on the grill, and I will attempt my no-knead recipe today. Hopefully the smell and bliss of homemade bread will help quell my fears about keeping all this grain!

Chestnut Farms Meat Share

I am not a vegetarian, have never been one, and never intend to give up meat. However, after watching Food, Inc. and driving through Fresno, California where I saw meat lots with my own eyes, I have been torn about how to work healthy meat in to our diet. We have been buying meat at Whole Foods and cringing at the price, but happy that our Cambridge store sells New England-sourced beef - but what about chickens and pork? We were never really sure where they came from or how they were raised. The solution came through our vegetable CSA, Waltham Fields Community Farm, which is the drop-off site for the Chestnut Farms meat CSA. After seeing happy customers walk away with a cooler of meat each month, we were intrigued and put our names on the wait-list. We are now, happily, off the wait list and are eating meat guilt-free! Chestnut Fields is a family farm in western Massachusetts, and they raise pasture-fed pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, and lambs without hormones or antibiotics. They share pictures of the farm and invite us to visit, and keep us updated about farm activities through their website and newsletter. As Andrew said when he ate his first bite of Chestnut Farms' chicken: "BAM!" It is succulent, flavorful, and lovingly raised. What more could we ask for?

Chestnut Farms chicken tacos with farm-fresh corn, homemade
tomatillo salsa, and Cabot cheese. Perfection!

Susan and I enjoyed some of the chicken breast this week, which I rubbed lightly with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roasted in the oven. I always use a thermometer to judge my meat's done-ness now, which works really well for me. After these cooled, I shredded them for the tacos and filled steamed corn tortillas with the shredded chicken, corn cut from the cob, shredded Cabot cheddar cheese, and our homemade tomatillo salsa. You can see how we make this in an earlier post, but it's simple: I fill a dry cast-iron skillet with cut tomatillos, husk cherries, jalapenos, and garlic cloves and put these on the stove-top until everything has a bit of a blackened crust. Then I blend them with a bit of salt for a very flavorful salsa.

Susan enjoying our Mexican meal!

Quahogs!

Freshly gathered quahogs.

Talk about local. I am completely amazed by my mother: she now has a shellfishing license and digs for quahogs! This word is pronounced "co-hog" and it's a hard-shell clam that is found in the coastal Northeast. With her license, Mom can gather 10 quarts of these shellfish, which she stuffs and serves with yummy butter dipping sauce. The method for collecting quahogs, as I understand it, is to check the shellfishing warden's report on the health of the shellfish and the ocean waters, then to head out with your gathering equipment. You tie a 10-quart basket around your waist and it floats by your side as you wade through the water, scraping at the bottom of the ocean with a special rake. Mom says it's quite an arm work-out and I am dying to see her in action - her next goal is scallop gathering! These are my favorite seafood, so I am eager to taste the results.

Wonder where I get my enthusiasm for food?
Mom and Uncle Bob with the results of their shellfishing!

Toronto

This weekend we visited the city of Toronto to celebrate Robyn and Matt's wedding. We had a wonderful time seeing friends from California, exploring the city, and enjoying the friendly Canadian people. We discovered the lovely St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto, mere blocks from our hotel. This is a wonderful public market, much like those in Seattle, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, where local cheeses, breads, meats, and other specialties are available. These are among my favorite places to visit in other cities, and we are very hopeful that Boston will have one soon...there has been talk of this for some time, and the Globe reports that donors have pledged millions to make this happen!

Catherine enjoying fresh-baked bread in the St. Lawrence Market.

While Andrew was involved in wedding preparations, Catherine explored the city on her own. After a visit to see China's terracotta warriors at the Royal Ontario Museum, I took a hike into Chinatown. It's not the biggest Chinatown I've seen, but it was one of the busiest places I've been! I was pushed down the sidewalk in a tide of people while I examined the produce in the many groceries. While the produce was likely not local, I was happy to experience the sights and smells of traditional Chinese cooking.

Views of Chinatown.

Squeezing sugarcane to make a drink.

Eating on the King Salmon

Patrick with his catch!

I have just returned from a month of doing archaeology with the Alutiiq Museum on the King Salmon River in Alaska. Could you eat locally on the King Salmon River, you ask? There is a reason this river got its name: the runs of king (or Chinook) that pass through here on their way to spawn each year. While the runs were small, dig director Patrick Saltonstall was able to catch some for several meals as a fresh alternative to the camp food we normally enjoyed. Patrick cooked the filets on our Coleman stove with Old Bay Seasoning, which made for a delicious treat. Trust me, this ain't your grocery store salmon.

Enjoying king salmon on the King Salmon!

The people who lived on this site more than 1000 years ago probably fished for salmon, captured migrating birds and caribou, and also made use of local plant life. Thanks to Discovering Wild Plants, we were able to identify many usable plants on our landscape. While we were a bit early to eat the abundant cloud berries, we did nibble on fireweed shoots, beach lovage, and watermelon berry leaves, and enjoyed the strong scent of Labrador tea as we walked through the muskeg around camp. I was too afraid to make it into tea after I found out the potential side effects, but it is also quite popular for throwing on the steamy rocks in the banya.

Collecting Labrador tea. It smells like pine and rosemary.

Dr. West in action. Note the "summer" outfit.

Kodiak, Alaska is an amazing place to take advantage of local food sources, but most of these come through subsistence activities: hunting deer, elk, and goat, gathering berries, fishing for halibut and salmon, and storing these foods for the winter. Betty Odell supplied our camp with homemade salmonberry jelly and her very own smoked salmon, which were produced by the berries and fish she and her family harvest on the island. Patrick keeps a lovely garden that flourishes in the short growing season, since local veggies are impossible to buy in the grocery store, and he is a skilled and committed hunter. Enjoying Kodiak elk roast and halibut filets in our Massachusetts kitchen brings a whole new dimension to our local eating pledge!

The beautiful chocolate lily - named for its color, not its taste.
The root can be boiled and ground into a paste or flour, I believe.

Bordeaux Part Quatre: Steak Frites!

Need I write anything about the famous steak frites? Sean and Marisa took us to L'Entrecote in downtown Bordeaux, which is a restaurant that serves one thing: steak frites. The only thing required of the patron is to choose red or rose wine and how the meat should be cooked (a point, saignant, bleu, etc.). When the steak arrives, it appears on a warming stand smothered in butter and herb sauce and accompanied by an enormous pile of perfect French frites. These frites are not too big and not too small, taste like fresh potatoes, and are fried to an even golden crisp that stands up to the richness of the meat and the buttery sauce. Oh la la!

The warming tray with our portions of steak swimming in butter sauce. Hopefully the red wine balanced out this cholesterol fest...

Owen is a wonderful dinner companion! You can see du pain clutched in his fist.