Updates

Bulk / Grains / Updates — No Comments
10
Feb 10

Milling party!

Thank GOD our mill came with this headbanded, smiling man. He really made grinding corn and spelt on a Saturday night more fun than I imagine my commoner ancestors had it.

Of course, that’s fellow localvore Ryan, and Kristi on the hand crank. The mill is actually my brother’s. Liam, 25, a former Marine and Iraq war veteran and current out-of-control new-agey yoga teacher, Earth chakra seeker, raw foodist type has apparently been grinding his own flour for years. Who knew? Which is just to say, get to know your siblings. Because who knows what’s changed since we were all kids together. And they might have a mill that you might happen to need.

Ryan is holding the mill because this Ebay special kind of shook itself off of the counter, where it was clamped. But it made our milling party of five really feel like a party. Because people were always switching off, and no one was ever left alone, grinding, grinding, while the sound of laughter and clinking glasses floated in from the other room.

Members of our party each brought a few quarts each of whatever they wanted milled. The spelt milled easily down with one pass through the mill, while the harder wheats (like the Hadley wheat) we choose to put through twice. And, miraculously, the dent corn was ground down no problem into something that looks like it will make a very hearty polenta or porridge.

Only twice did someone (me!) pull the hopper off the rest of the thing and send grain flying all over. Here, enjoy some dark scenes from a mid-winter grain milling dinner party:

Updates — 1 Comment
4
Feb 10

Localvore brunch @ Garden at the Cellar

On Sunday, Feb. 7 from 11:30 to 2:30 p.m., we’re helping the good folks at the Garden at the Cellar coordinate a localvore brunch. Please help us pack the place. Part of the proceeds will benefit us, Boston Localvores, so we can continue to provide free and low-cost events highlighting local growers and producers. They are not accepting reservations. Just show up and be fed!

FIRST COURSE ($10 each)

Wild Mushroom Frittata
Burrata cheese, thyme crème fraiche

Sunchoke Rostï
arctic char “lox,” mâche

Stone Ground Buckwheat Blinis
huckleberries, vanilla cream

Seasonal Vegetable Flatbread
Westfield Farms goat cheese, toasted pine nuts

Local Cod Chowder
thyme, Hadley parsnips

Scituate Lobster Bisque

MAIN COURSE ($15 each)

Iggy’s Sourdough Tartine
scrambled eggs, grilled pork belly

Stillman Farm’s Lamb Sausage
lentils, grilled pita, Greek yogurt

House Made Local Corned Beef Hash
slow poached chip-in farm eggs, grilled onion rings

Iggy’s brioche French Toast
spiced apples, house churned brown butter, Vermont maple syrup

Anson Mills Cornbread Pain Perdu
applewood bacon, maple-pecan sour cream

Steak and Eggs
Hardwick Beef, Béarnaise, rostï

CSA / Grains / Updates — 3 Comments
24
Jan 10

The grain CSA hath arrived

The grain CSA we bought from Pioneer Valley Heritage Grains has finally come in. We split our share down the middle. What follows is what is in a whole share, and what follows that are some scenes from the efforts to make some order of it all. Yes, those are pillowcases we are storing the grains in. They tell us that because these grains have not been industrially dehydrated, they need to breath otherwise they’ll mold.

Also, we’re in the market for an inexpensive (or free!) mill. Any type, really, but one of the Kitchenaid attachments would be great.

30lbs of wheat (spring and winter wheat)
10lbs of black beans
10lbs of oats
20lbs of corn
5lbs of barley
6lbs of rye
15lbs of spelt
4lbs of emmer

: Kristi, pajamas, big mess

: Rye berries

: Some various storage

: Emmer

: Dent Corn

: Black Beans

Bulk / CSA / Preserving+canning / Updates — No Comments
13
Dec 09

Brilliant greens

bags

At one of the recent Shared Harvest Winter CSA distributions, where we are dutiful checker-inners and box movers, Gretta had some extra goodies for sale. But these smart people came early and bought ALL the kale. Something like 80 bunches.

This couple were there on behalf of their coop, where they live with 13 other people who have localvore sympathies. They planned to take all this home and process and freeze it for the coop’s use this winter.

They shared with us their plan to blanch the greens, then squeeze them into balls, freeze the balls on cookie sheets, then store the balls of greens in bags. We do this kind of flash freezing with all kinds of things (berries, ice cubes of pesto), but it had not crossed our minds to store greens this way. Brilliant.

Updates — No Comments
10
Dec 09

Taking back what Big Food stole from us

If you are here you probably already know this narrative: How, about 50 years ago, a confluence of women’s lib, the rise of food factories and masterful marketing of “convenience” killed our kitchens. Or, anyway, our necessary and personal relationships with them.

You probably are familiar with this other narrative too: The one where people realize that when we traded our kitchen bondage for a box of Hot Pockets and a roll of cookie dough, we got the shit end of the deal: We’ve accelerated the destruction of the environment, our health, our family farms and our economy. And all that time saved not cooking went to working more, watching the Food Network and getting fat.

We like that second narrative. And for us it is sort of the fundamental objective of the local foods movement: To give people the tools to look at the greater context of fake food and reclaim the agency (also happy bowels, happy farmers, happy soil, happier animals, etc) that is implicit in eating Real Food.

This is why we are really pleased to celebrate this community cookbook, which originated on a Boston-based message board, and is a shining example of that kind of attitude. Cook Food Every Day contributors are local artists, musicians, writers and home cooks and the book features their own recipes and their artwork. And all the proceeds are going to the Greater Boston Food Bank. (Get one for a suggested donations of $15-20.)

Take a look at their site and see what’s in the book. Also, consider going to PA’s Lounge in Somerville next Wednesday to meet the people involved, get a copy, eat a little and have a drink or three.

Updates — 9 Comments
20
Nov 09

Bell & Evans: A tiny report

Once, before we were renegade local food activists, we were newspaper reporters (who fell in love and ran away together).

So it brings our newspaperin’ hearts much joy to call people up out of the blue and ask them questions. We now bring you this shallowly-reported piece on Bell & Evans chickens:

Bell & Evans is one of those producers who confuse otherwise-ethical shoppers. They say “free range,” and they now sell “organic free range” chickens and chicken parts. And when you’re in the store, and you’re looking at those versus completely unidentifiable chicken, of course you think you’ve made the best choice. But it’s like those misleading surveys where the question is something like, “Do you support the war in Iraq” and your options are A). YES B). Yes and C) 110%. You’re not really being given good options. Or options at all.

The life of a Bell & Evans chicken is one of luxury for an industrial chicken. But it’s still very much an industrial chicken and their marketing is still a gross misuse of the term “free range.” They live indoors, in gigantic climate controlled chicken houses (so not even wind and fresh air from windows), where the lights turn on an off at certain times and where water and food is mechanically distributed.

Their “organic” chickens are legally required to have access to the out of doors, but, of course, it’s really not much of a yard. The woman who took our call assured that “It’s not like they have to go out,” as though the idea of a chicken wandering around outside is digusting or undesirable somehow and revealed that they don’t, in fact, go out much at all. That’s a terrifying glimpse into the brainwashing that goes on in this world.

One of the big selling points of these birds is that they are “air chilled.” For those of you who don’t know what this means, it’s the alternative to water chilling slaughtered poultry. Some say it’s more sanitary to air chill them because these water baths chill so many birds. But the Bell & Evans people want you to know that water chilling is less ideal for consumers because the birds take on water weight, which we then pay for at the register. Instead, their birds are hung from hooks and cruise around a factory for TWO MILES in cold air. How bizarre is it that humans build two mile long indoor conveyor systems?

What this person was unable to answer off the top of her head was how many chickens live and die per day, or month, or every year. “It’s a lot.” She knew it was quite a number of them. But she took down our phone number and email address and promised to get back with that information. And never did.

We struggle sometimes with whether or not we should come down so hard on those who are “trying” or doing some stuff right. But the bottom line is that this just isn’t good enough. Psuedo humane factory farming is just factory farming. If you’re going to eat meat, spend the money, take the time and find the real stuff.

Holiday turkey / Updates — 3 Comments
5
Nov 09

Walmart selling turkey for 40 cents per lb.

This is in today’s Metro. You can buy a whole, 12 pound turkey for 40 cents per pound, or just under 5 bucks.

But wait! What’s more is that the store is “reducing prices” on canned vegetables, cranberry sauce, stuffing, dinner rolls, and a five pound bag of red potatoes PLUS a pumpkin cake in order to keep the cost of feeding eight people under $20.

The local turkeys we’ve sourced range in price from around $6/lb to $9.50/lb. So a 12 pound turkey at those rates (say, $8/lb) is more like $100. That’s a pretty massive discrepancy. Something is so wrong here.

Community / Events / Updates — No Comments
31
Oct 09

Attention Lexington peeps

You should go sign this petition. Doing so indicates that you support using the Busa Land as a community farm.

onions-trailers1-300x225 Busa farm was recently bought with Community Preservation Act funds and there is a limited list of uses. Many residents would like to see it turned into a community farm, run by a non-profit. Like Waltham Community Fields.

We’ve heard of others would like to see it turned into athletic fields. This is how we feel about athletic fields. Farm fields are athletic fields. But in addition to providing much needed physical activity and fresh air to kids, it teaches them some salient points about food, life, death, etc. And, as a extra, food comes out of this endeavor.

And if these were turned into athletic fields on which boys teams were cheered by skirted, ponytailed girls yet no girls teams were cheered by boys, skirted or otherwise, there is going to be some angry commentary coming from this blog.

Surely good things come from organized athletics. But there are surely other ways to get the same things. Whereas there is only one way to get local food. From local farms.

You can support this effort even more by attending a panel discussion on December 3 at 7:30 pm entitled “A Year in the Life of a Community Farm.” The event is free and will be held at Church of Our Redeemer, 6 Meriam Street, Lexington.

Updates — 7 Comments
26
Oct 09

Winter CSAs: It’s a buyer’s market

Sort of.

It seems like kind of a huge and extraordinary situation that we mindful eaters in the Boston area have found ourselves in. As all the color and life and fresh local veggies are siphoned from the world, a handful of regional farms have announced new ventures to keep us eating well through the winter. There are now four, at least by our count, ways to extend your CSAs until early spring 2010.

We’ve mentioned Shared Harvest CSA before: the multi-farm CSA that drops off once a month for three months or two, depending on which size you choose. We’ve also written about Enterprise Farm’s year-round operations.

But here’s the news: Red Fire Farm and Stillman’s are also offering shares. Some details:

Stillman’s: Three Saturday pickups, two in November, one in December. Cost: $150, limited to 100 members. Jamaica Plain pickup only.

Red Fire: Dropoffs every two weeks in January, February and March, all at the Metro Pedal Power headquarters in Union Square. (You can also pay a little extra and the bike peeps will deliver it straight to your place.) Cost: $240. Egg shares available too: $35 per dozen/each distribution.

We know for certain there are still a couple of slots available for Shared Harvest. We got our first load from that share over the weekend — 60 lbs of food. Plus we got a dozen eggs and some cheese from Fiore di Nonno. And Enterprise’s enrollment is seemingly infinite and open: You can sign up now or in the middle of February; whenever, and they’ll pro-rate your order.

Are we missing any other shares? Do tell us. We’re trying to build out a whole Winter CSA page.

Updates — 2 Comments
25
Oct 09

The ginger frontier

This is the lovely ginger that is for sale from Old Friends Farm every Friday at the Copley Square Farmer’s Market. They recommend freezing it and using it frozen (like, grate some into your curry and pop the gingersicle back in the freezer).

I’ve said it before, but you can make an entirely local kim chi now that this ginger is available. Get yourself some cabbage, bok choi, garlic, peppers and ginger, slice, dice, chop, salt it, crush it, pack it into jars and crush until it’s submerged in its own brine. Let sit out, covered, for 3-7 days, opening periodically to resubmerge the vegetables in the brine. Then pop it in the fridge. It will continue to ferment, albeit at a much slower rate. Eat when you get home from work to purge your soul and aid digestion.