Everyday Life for Four Seasons

A rainy day, just what my garden needed. Another full day for us. September sure is busy this year, isn't it? Art class, home school friends, granola in the oven, bread rising on the counter, reading lessons, playing "Laura and Mary", volunteer work at the computer, meetings with the town and then the church. Tomato soup with sandwiches for dinner, coffee drinks throughout the day. A good day, I think.

Things I love today:

My favorite breakfast: homemade yogurt sweetened with my own jam and local honey from Rick at the farmers market, homemade granola stirred in and Starbucks vanilla flavored coffee (light and sweet please).

My list of things to cook. I'm adding homemade graham crackers and wheat crackers to that list.

Winter squash, which is making an appearance around here now.

Long trips to the library that end way after I thought they would.

Being patient because I want to be, and knowing it.

How do you like my new format? I updated the template. It's certainly different, isn't it?

I took these photos at Kilpatrick Family Farm last week while we were out for a farm tour. It was rainy and chilly but lovely. The farm is beautiful and so is Michael's family. It's located a bit north of my home and I noticed that the fall colors are moving in quickly. It won't be long before every single leaf is on the ground.

Plums

Farm visits

Food swap

Cool weather

Yellow leaves

Hot tea

Soup for dinner

Patience in parenting

Bald eagle sightings

Lots of volunteer work

Baking bread

Canning tomatoes

Waiting for loose teeth to wiggle

Art classes

I'm dreaming of the herb farm I want to have someday. I've wanted one for years. Today as I was harvesting thyme, rosemary and sage bunches from the garden I heard a voice deep down inside that said, "You should be harvesting many more herbs than this, for the benefit of many. This is your dream. Don't forget about it." I see beds of herbs with walking paths; light shade; places to sit and mediate, to watch the butterflies, to remember about all that is good in the world.

Where will you be on Thursday evening? With me at Spoon & Whisk learning how to preserve food with Kate Payne? I hope so! Kate is the author of The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking: Decorating, Dining, and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency–on a Budget! and keeps a great blog too. She's back in our neck of the woods! From the From Scratch Club site:

On September 15th at 7pm at Spoon & Whisk in Clifton Park, we are presenting ”An Intimate Evening with Kate Payne”. Join Cheryl & Judy of Spoon & Whisk and the FSC ladies and Kate Payne for an evening of food demonstrations, food chit chat, food swaps and of course, a book signing. Kate will be executing various demos (more pickling and fermenting) and maybe, just maybe, a “ricotta” demostration too! In addition, for the swap-curious, we will be holding a mini-swap. Interested participants can bring in one homemade item to swap for another. It will give you a teeny glimpse into the food swap events. There will also be books available for purchase and Kate as graciously offered to sign them! It will be a casual event to chat, learn, explore and swap food!

We hope you’ll join us at either event to meet Kate, chat food and celebrate things that happen at home!

Details: September 15th, 7pm, Spoon & Whisk, 1675 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY.

You don’t have to RSVP for these events, just show up and enjoy.
See you there!

Today is a new day. I realize that I'm taking you all on my journey back to serenity. I'm going one step at a time, the only way I know how. It's time to throw myself into some busy-ness that feeds my heart and soul.

Here's what I'm up to:

Planning meals around the food in my garden and kitchen
I've got purslane growing in the garden that I would love to use. Have you tried it? It grows in gardens as a "weed" and is anything but that. Many other cultures eat purslane and once you find out about the nutrient values, you'll see why. Purslane contains more omega-3 fatty acids (the good stuff!) than any other leafy vegetable. It also contains a boatload of Vitamins A, B and C. I've added it to tomato salads a few times this summer, and I'm ready for a new recipe. I'm thinking a vegetarian version of this recipe for Turkish purslane and lentil stew would taste delicious.

I've got some red potatoes to use and I'm looking for a new recipe. I prefer to eat them roasted, but every time I put them in the oven they stick to the pan. What am I doing wrong? I'm wondering if I should try this recipe tonight and see if I have better results.


Taking part in NOFA-NY's NY Locavore Challenge

Now this is something to get excited about!

I love challenges. They encourage me to step back and take a look at what I'm doing, then see where I can make some positive changes to bring me one step closer to where I want to be. I already am committed to eating locally, but it's always helpful to do an assessment of what that means and how I am doing. One of the best parts is that From Scratch Club is the Blog Sponsor, so you can look forward to lots of informational and timely updates from all of the locavore FSC contributors. Here's the beef, straight from NOFA-NY's website:

The NY Locavore Challenge is a month-long campaign is aimed at engaging consumers across the state in eating local organic foods. The goal for this campaign is to educate consumers about how to make healthy and ethical food choices, cook with in-season, local organic foods, while supporting local sustainable farms and food businesses.

Our 2011 goal is to involve 5,000 people in this year’s challenge, and bring the concepts of local, organic and sustainable more into the forefront of the general public’s minds. This year’s program is versatile, fun and FREE! Participants have the option of signing up for either a Bite-Sized, a Meal-Sized or a Feast-Sized challenge, and within these challenge scopes choose from a variety of different mini-challenges or events to participate in.

Choose 1 from each of the lists below to count towards the Bite-Sized Challenge
Choose 2 from the below list to count towards the Meal-Sized Challenge
Choose 3 from the below list to count towards the Feast-Sized Challenge

Have you signed up? What will you choose from the list?

Tomatoes: now you see 'em, now you don't...


Denison Farm was under water during and after Irene. No CSA share this week because there is too much to clean up and not enough to harvest. I went today to pick up some tomatoes and see Justine. It's very sad.


Before and After (last year and today):




These creek stones in the next photos are supposed to be in the creek, which was behind me in this photo. They're not supposed to be mingling with the broccoli across the dirt road.


Michael's land and crops have suffered too. Our food supply just tightened up considerably. My feeling of security and safety is compromised. As with everything, things will be okay... right? I'll share with you the letter I sent to Justine expressing my thoughts about why I am a CSA member.

“You were talking last week about asking what CSA means to the members. I think it’s a great time to ask that question. It’s easy to answer it when times are good and plentiful and secure. What about now, when we may not see very much of anything in our weekly share? What does CSA mean then? Why do we do this? Why do I support you & eating locally?

I could go to Price Chopper and buy my peppers and tomatoes but I don’t and even if all of yours are gone for the season – which I am sure they aren’t - I won’t. I’ll go without. I’ve gotten nice and fat eating all of your good food and this may be the season I lose that weight (!). I know that next year things will be new again and the growing season will start up with great promise, and I support you because I have faith in the natural process and the growing season. I trust you and Brian and all of your crew to learn what you can about growing and use that knowledge to be good stewards to the plants. I trust you to hold on to a piece of Mother Nature that is being stolen away by developers. I expect you to live the life you want to live, just as I want to live the life I want to live, and I want to support you in doing so. I do this because I believe that even when times are bad, it won’t kill me, it won’t make me a worse person, and I won’t suffer more than I need to.

I invest in you because I am investing in my food system (which is always better than conventional agriculture even when floods take over), I am investing in our local land, and I’m investing in you, and with all of this, I’m investing in our future. So that is why I do it.”

Watch the news video:

Hey there, today you'll find me posting over at From Scratch Club, sharing my recipe for Summer Rolls with Cucumber Dipping Sauce. Go forage through your garden, check out your local farm stand, or visit the market to pick up the fresh ingredients for this delicious dish. Enjoy!

'A' has taken to designing "fabric" using plain white paper and pencils or markers. She sells it in her fabric store to anyone who will stop by. Some of her designs are full pictures with scenery, and some are prints and patterns.

She decided to do all of this because, you know, back in Laura's and Mary's day, someone would have printed the fabric and sold it in a store. And she's just like them.

Blueberry season is here, my favorite time of year. My mother was here for the weekend and we picked almost 10 pounds at a local farm. Today I'll be making the blueberry-basil jam I tried last year for the first time.

This is also the time of year when I start feeling swamped with produce, so I set down a few rules to follow as I plan out meals.

Jillian's Rules for Summer Meal Planning

* Basil makes great pesto. Make a lot of it, then freeze it. Use pesto as a main ingredient in summer dishes no more than once a week, preferably less. Save it for the winter, when that fresh taste is not only welcomed, but greatly needed. Use fresh summer basil to accent the other flavors in a dish.

* There are so many types of produce available in the summer. Make tried and true favorites a few nights a week, and experiment with new recipes the rest of the time.

* Don't let vegetables go to waste. Turn extra veggies into veggie burgers or pizza toppings, or cook, puree and freeze them for use in muffins or sauces in the winter. (I like to do this with summer squash and beets)

* Experiment with new salad recipes.

Now onto meal planning for the week. I've got:

Beets
Beet Greens
Turnips
Lettuce
Pac Choi
Red Potatoes
Swiss Chard
Kohlrabi
Garlic Scapes
Cucumbers
Purslane

Recipes I'll try:

A Middle Eastern menu, including Liz's Garlic Scape Tzatsiki, pita bread, Israeli couscous, chickpeas and purslane.

Sarah's White Pizza, using turnips and swiss chard or beet greens, with a Pac Choi salad on the side.

Frittata with swiss chard and red potatoes.

Interested in hearing more about the Egg Challenge Muffin Recipe? Head over to From Scratch Club and read my post.

:: The beach at my father's home. We spent the weekend playing in the waves before our trip to Children's Hospital Boston. ::

Our food allergy family had a big day today! We woke up bright and early and took 'A' to Children's Hospital in Boston for a baked egg challenge. We hoped she would pass it, but prepared ourselves for failure, and are so pleased to say that she passed with flying colors.

What's a baked egg challenge and why would you do it? Here's a quick and simple explanation. People who are allergic to eggs are allergic to some of the egg proteins. When eggs are baked at 350 degrees F or higher for 30 minutes, all but one of the allergenic proteins are denatured. They change form and no longer cause an allergic reaction. The one protein that is not denatured is called the ovomucoid. Not everyone who is allergic to eggs is allergic to the ovomucoid, and they can eat baked goods that contain eggs. Research has shown that if people who are allergic to eggs can eat muffins or cakes with baked egg, and eat these foods on a regular basis, they will outgrow their egg allergy sooner rather than later.

'A's bloodwork shows that she is only slightly allergic to the ovomucoid. Her doctor at Children's Hospital wanted her to come in for a baked egg challenge. "Sure!" we said enthusiastically. After all, her chances of passing it were decent, and if she did pass, the future would be positive. The egg challenge sounded like a good idea.

It was a good idea until the date neared and reality sank in. Doing the challenge could show us that 'A' is able to tolerate baked eggs and it would give us the most concrete hope we've had yet that she'll outgrow her allergy. On the other hand if she failed it, we would leave there with another defeat under our belts, with further proof that visits to the allergist resulted in bad news. It wouldn't be a crushing blow, but it would have a negative emotional effect. We're looking for hope at this point.

Here is what happened. We arrived by 8 am. 'A' was weighed, her temperature and blood pressure taken, and she was then examined by her nurse, Janet. Janet was great. 'A' and I were both a little nervous. As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep it all bottled up. I knew 'A' was nervous because she became a little beligerent with the nurse who took her vital signs and ignored Janet when they first met. She was not going to let Janet know that she was there to eat a muffin or two! Janet told me that her strategy is to take a light-hearted approach to the whole experience so as not to alarm the children. I liked that. She did a very good job of relaxing us.

Janet looked at 'A's skin to see how sensitive she is and make note of any existing hives. Then came the muffin! She first ate a quarter of one muffin. She was hungry because I hadn't let her eat breakfast, and ate the quarter of a muffin in a bite and a half. Janet checked her out right away. No breathing issues, no hives around her mouth or on her belly and arms, no tingles on her tongue or stomach aches. After 15 minutes, 'A' ate a half of a muffin. Again Janet checked her out and she had absolutely no reaction. 30 minutes later, the last portion of muffin was served: a muffin and a quarter. If you're counting, this makes two whole muffins all together. She started out hungry, ended up with a full belly, and had no reaction throughout the whole session. Amazing. Just amazing!

What now? We were sent home with the remainder of the batch of muffins. She is to eat one and a quarter a day for the next three days. If she has no reaction during this time, she's free (and encouraged) to eat any baked good I make on a regular basis. Again, eggs have to be baked for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Wow! Cakes and cupcakes made with eggs have such a different texture and crumb when they're baked with eggs - it's better, as far as I'm concerned. I'm so excited for 'A'. Next year, when she undergoes annual skin and RAST testing, we'll see if her numbers have improved, and determine if she's ready for a different type of egg challenge at that point.

It's been a big day, a wonderfully big day!