A small portion of the edamame in my garden this year. I planted more than ever, but will reap the rewards this winter.
Back in the early spring, I planted edamame. A LOT of edamame, in fact — a pound of seeds, which took up 25% of the space in my garden and even then I still had to find other places to plant. I ended up putting extra seeds in every available nook and cranny, including around the blueberry bushes and in a flower bed.
The payoff on all that time spent on my hands and knees is all the beans I’ll be harvesting in the next few weeks. In fact, my family returned from a vacation last week and an hour after we pulled into the garage, I was out in the garden picking edamame pods for that night’s dinner.
Obviously, we won’t be able to eat all that edamame at once, so what I’ll be doing is blanching the pods with the beans still in them, then shelling the beans after they’ve cooled off a bit. I’ll freeze all the edamame and have lots of yummy beans this fall and winter. I’m cautiously estimating that I’ll put at least five pounds of shelled beans in the freezer. My family is delighted, because edamame is one of our favorite vegetables and something that my girls will actually snack on after school.
Yes, I could just buy frozen edamame at the grocery store (and I do) butI discovered last year that virtually all of the edamame in grocery stores was grown in China. Considering how many hundreds of acres of land in Virginia alone is given over to growing soybeans (the crops are used to replenish the soil in corn fields and the beans are given to livestock), I am appalled that grocery stores are importing food from thousands of miles away. In addition to having concerns about any food coming out of China — even those foods that are labeled organic — I don’t like the food miles associated with foods coming from the other side of the globe. That’s just not acceptable to me, which is why grow as much as I do.
In addition, edamame is also good for my garden. It adds nitrogen back to the soil and helps replenish nutrients depleted by heavy feeders like corn and tomatoes. I rotate where I plant everything, so in 2011, I’ll put edamame where the tomatoes were in 2010.
If you get a chance to grow edamame next year, I encourage you to plant some. It’s incredibly easy — you just stick the seeds in the ground in the spring and then walk away for two months. It requires absolutely no work at all and will add a lot to your dinners.
Photo credit: Yahoo Images
It’s hard to believe that the 4th of July is this weekend. Where did June go?
Continuing our theme of eating local foods for the holidays, here are my thoughts on a locally-sourced Independence Day cookout:
For the main dish, I personally am partial to burgers and will get the beef from Wolf Creek Farm when they’re at the farmers’ market this weekend. The buns will come from one of the local bakeries. For condiments, I still haven’t found local ketchup and mustard, so I’ll just get the organic versions from an organic grocery store.
For vegetarians, I love the idea of pasta from Mona Lisa Pasta or Pasta Valente tossed with a little olive oil, toasted walnuts, and chunks of grilled zucchini.
For veggies, wandering around the farmers’ market this time of year is so fun, as there is just so much available. In addition, my own garden is producing food like crazy. So my holiday cookout is going to include corn on the cob, zucchini, and lots of other veggies.
Since I just dug up Yukon Gold potatoes from my garden, I’ll make fries to go with the burgers. Home fries are super easy — just chop potatoes into wedges, toss with olive oil and salt, and bake at 400 degrees until done, about 40 minutes.
And of course, there are tomatoes. Ahhhh, glorious tomatoes. I’ve been waiting for months and now they’re here. For the burgers, I’ll just slice the tomatoes to layer in with the cheese and condiments. For the pasta, I’d probably keep things simple and make a side dish of chopped tomatoes, fresh mozzarella chunks, and fresh basil tossed together and then drizzled with a little olive oil.
Since there’s so much fruit available, I’ll definitely have some sort of fruit salad or even just plain fresh fruit, such as mixed berries or sliced peaches.
As for dessert, there are so many possibilities. Maybe I’ll make angel food cake and vanilla ice cream topped with berries. Or if I don’t feel like making dessert, I’ll get some festive cupcakes from Cappellino’s. Frank and Dotty are sure to have cupcakes decorated with wee flags, patriotic edible glitter, and more.
For drinks, I’ll serve Starr Hill beer, wines from one of the many local vineyards, and frozen blueberry lemonade for everyone to enjoy.
These are just my ideas, based on what my family likes and what I’m in the mood for. Luckily, this time of year, there’s just so much to choose from! What are your favorite things to eat on the 4th of July?
The author is not employed by any of the businesses mentioned.
Early lettuces in my garden last year. I like to plant a lot of lettuce in the fall, as it's so easy to grow.
Even though it’s hot as heck outside and you’re not yet sick to death of zucchini, if you want cool weather veggies, you need to start planning now, as most of your fall garden needs to be started in June and July. Plants like lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, endive, kale, spinach, carrots, beets, and chard are just some of the veggies you can grow without too much effort and, even better, there tend to be fewer pests around to wreak havoc on your edibles.
And, if you have a cold frame or use hoops with row covers, you should be able to continue growing some of your fall crops well past the first frost. One of my neighbors gardens in raised beds and she simply covers one of them with an old glass window and then harvests lettuce well past Thanksgiving and into December.
Even though I’m usually exhausted with gardening by the time fall rolls around, I really enjoy gardening in September and October because it’s just so much easier and less intense. I plant lettuces and greens and then enjoy them well past the first frost. Since my tomatoes are still growing well into October, I’ll enjoy some pretty amazing salads as the days turn cooler. Best of all, since apples will b e coming in, I’ll make a lot of salads that consist of lettuce, chopped apples, some toasted walnuts, and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. Delish.
What are some of your favorite fall veggies?
One thing that is a challenge for a lot of parents is getting their children to eat vegetables and try new foods and generally eat healthier. It’s the rare child that does not prefer Oreos over blueberries, so getting kids to make good choices can be a challenge.
Here in my house, the resident children are 9 and 11. One of the girls is a very picky eater and also has some food allergies. The other girl is less picky, but just enough so to make me sigh in frustration. All that said, the girls do try new foods regularly and are enthusiastic shoppers at the farmers’ market and cooks in our kitchen.
If you are looking for ways to get your children on board with eating healthier foods and cutting back on McCrap, as well as trying new things, here’s how we do it in our house.
- First of all, we talk to our children about food. We’ve explained that McCrap is loaded with chemicals and other surprise ingredients that they don’t want to eat. That doesn’t mean that my girls don’t still want fast food, but they understand that it’s a rare occurrence and not a regular thing. And now that they know what’s in those edible food-like products, they don’t really want them.
- We talk about what’s in processed foods in general and that we don’t want to eat, for example, food with high fructose corn syrup. Again, the girls aren’t deprived, but there’s not a lot out there that they really want. Twinkies are one example, so they get one a couple times a year.
- We mostly cook from scratch and that includes things like ice cream, cookies, and most other desserts. When I do buy prepackaged foods, it’s either because it’s something that I’m not inclined to make myself (e.g. crackers) or a special treat (Newman-O’s).
- We have a large garden and my children are part of my gardening team. Yes, I do most of the work out there, but I have the girls assist on occasion. Both of my girls help me plant and, later on in the season, they help with picking — whether it’s a bowl of English peas to go with dinner or larger-scale harvesting, such as the vast amounts of edamame we plant every year. (We love the stuff and eat it with dinner once or twice a week, as well as for snacks.)
- My girls often cook with me. This includes not only fixing meals, but also baking with their friends when they come over. Several weeks ago, both girls had a friend over for a sleepover — the 5th graders made ice cream while the 4th graders made brownies.
- Finally, whatever I make for dinner is what everyone eats, even if they don’t like it. I don’t run a diner, so there are no alternate meals for kids. I make sure that each meal includes things that everyone will like so that if they don’t like something else, they won’t starve. Everyone has at least two bites of every thing, but I don’t insist on clean plates.
Like I said before, one of my girls is a really picky eater and I recently had a lengthy conversation with our pediatrician about this, but she approved the methods we’re using and said for us to stay the course. The doctor also told my daughter to be more open-minded about food and to try new things with the idea that she might actually like them. And, the doctor encouraged us to branch out even more and try foods — particularly fruits and veggies — that are totally new to us all. With any luck, my daughter will outgrow all this soon enough and will be a more adventurous eater.
So those are my recommendations. What are some other ways you get your kids to eat better?
Hands down, basil is my favorite herb.
One of the great things about gardening is having an herb garden just a few steps from my back door. I have a dedicated area that is 4′ x 10′ where I grow all the standards — rosemary, oregano, thyme, chives, sage, and more.
What you don’t see on that list is basil. I actually grow a lot of basil, but where I grow it changes every year. I always plant basil with tomatoes — usually 6-8 basil plants intermingled with two dozen tomato plants, along with dozens of marigolds. This type of companion planting is important, as it is an organic way to cut down on pests in the garden. And the triumvirate of tomatoes, basil, and marigolds thrive when planted together.
Basil is incredibly easy to grow. You just stick it in the ground, water it occasionally, and harvest when you’re hungry.
The reason I plant so much basil is that I preserve most of it for the cold months. Oh sure, I could buy basil at the grocery store, but I think that dried basil is an inferior substitute and I flat-out refuse to spend $5 or more on a small bunch of fresh basil when I grow it myself with almost no effort. So every year I plant lots of basil and literally reap the benefits for three or four months.
How do I preserve basil? By making basil paste — here’s how:
- Cut back your basil plants. Don’t be afraid to be aggressive; they’ll rebound.
- Wash the leaves thoroughly and remove stems and any insect friends that came along for the ride.
- Put up to four cups of leaves in your food processor, along with a tablespoon or two of good quality olive oil.
- Pulse until the leaves are chopped to the consistency of pesto.
- Spoon into small containers or an ice cube tray and freeze.
- Once frozen, store the basil paste in heavy duty freezer container.
- When ready to use, defrost and add to your favorite dishes.
I use basil paste in tomato sauces, on pasta, to make pesto, in soups, and more. While it’s not as good as fresh basil in the summer, it’s a pretty good substitute.
It’s not too late to plant some basil for this summer. Just make sure to water it well the first few weeks so that it can get established.
And just think of the rewards! Right now, I’m hankering for a platter of fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and fresh mozzarella interspersed with leaves of basil and drizzled with olive oil. Mmmmm. Now that is good eating!
Photo credit: Amazon.com
I’ve mentioned here before that we here in my family are big fans of farmers’ markets. Even though we have a good-sized garden just steps from our back door, we still like to head downtown on our bikes every Saturday and see what our local farmers have for us that week. We invariably pick up lots of great foods — including fresh cheese, grass-fed beef, and plenty of veggies — to feast on for days.
While we usually buy our favorites, we also often come across new veggies that look interesting. Last summer, for example, we were fascinated by blue potatoes and bought them several weeks in a row. We then experimented with preparing them different ways and discovered that roasting them was great, but mashing them was bad, as the color leached out and they ended up looking gray and sickly.
But there have been some foods that we haven’t been quite sure what to do with or have wanted to try new ways of preparing some of our old favorites. Thus it was that I was excited to read about Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from American’s Farmers’ Markets by Deborah Madison. It’s a fascinating book — part history of farmers’ markets, part cookbook, and part coffee table book (the photos are gorgeous). This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to eat locally and seasonally, as the author has sections on the different vegetables and fruits you’ll find at the farmers’ market throughout the growing season and then gives you a plethora of ideas of how to eat all that bounty.
So if you’re a fan of farmers’ markets or just a fan of eating seasonally, I encourage to you get your own copy of Local Flavors and start cooking!
Photo credit: Yahoo Images
With berry season upon us, now is the perfect opportunity to preserve some of the bounty for the cold months. The easiest way to do this is by freezing.
Freezing is simple, simple, simple. Wash the berries and let them dry. Put them on a baking sheet and stick them in the freezer. Later on, transfer the fruit to freezer-safe containers. That’s it. Next winter, you’ll have fruit galore to bake muffins and pies and add to your oatmeal and more.
Now is also the time to preserve cherries. In Charlottesville, the pick-your-own places have cherries now (this is earlier than usual), but you should also be able to find cherries at the farmers’ market and other places. C’ville Market has local cherries in stock now too.
Freezing cherries is almost as easy as berries — the only difference is that you’ll need to remove the pits first. I worked through two pounds in about 30 minutes yesterday and will be doing more today.
Yes, this is a tiny bit of work — and yes cherries are a wee bit messy — but the pay-off will come several months from now on a chilly morning in October when I’ll make oatmeal and stir in cherries for a burst of flavor. Mmmmmmmm…
Another way my family eats cherries is this simple cake recipe, which has been in the family for almost 50 years:
Cherry Cake
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1 teas. baking powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/8 teas. salt
- 1/2 teas. flavoring (almond or vanilla extract)
- cherries (1-2 cups frozen or one can of comstock)
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
- Grease 8 x 8″ pan.
- Mix all ingredients except cherries and powdered sugar.
- Pour battered into pan.
- Add cherries on top.
- Bake 30-35 minutes.
- Sift powdered sugar (to taste) on top and serve warm.
Enjoy!
My younger daughter got a fresh, homemade popsicle at the farmers' market last weekend. Mmmm...
Now that June’s heat is upon us, my thoughts have turned toward cold frozen treats. I went to the grocery store recently and made the unpleasant discovery that a lot of the ice cream and popsicles available are loaded with high fructose corn syrup and other undesirable ingredients.
Luckily, I have an ice cream maker and I know how to use it. Last weekend, we dusted it off and got busy. Actually, one of my daughters and her friend made the ice cream while I supervised. (Too bad they didn’t also clean up afterward…) The ingredients for chocolate ice cream were wonderfully simple — cream, sugar, unsweetened chocolate, and a splash of vanilla. No HFCS or other unpronounceable chemical concoctions. Making ice cream is incredibly easy — mix up the ingredients, put them in the ice cream maker, and turn it on.
All ice cream makers come with recipes, but over the years we’ve learned that the best source for ice cream perfection is Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book.
Another thing my family likes to make is ice cream sandwiches. We layer homemade cookies or graham crackers with ice cream and create absolutely divine desserts. Some of our favorites are chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream on chocolate chip cookies, cookies and cream ice cream on chocolate graham crackers, and coffee ice cream on ginger snaps. (It sounds odd, but you have to try it.) My husband normally doesn’t eat sweets, but even he will dive into our homemade ice cream sandwiches.
As for popsicles, you can use store-bought molds or you can simply use small cups as your molds. This is a simple food project that doesn’t require a lot of fancy equipment. You can simply freeze juice and fruit in the cups or get more elaborate and try some of these yummy recipes. The important thing is that YOU can control the ingredients and don’t have to worry about the aforementioned chemical cocktails. My younger daughter had a homemade strawberry popsicle at the farmer’s market last weekend and one thing that made it really stand out (besides the incredibly fresh ingredients) was chocolate shavings in the popsicle. Yum. We’ll definitely try that at home this summer.
So this summer, don’t automatically buy ice cream and popsicles when you’re at the store — try doing it yourself at home. It’s easy and the results are worth the little bit of extra effort.
We're growing Russian Banana Fingerling potatoes in a grow bag and are looking forward to harvesting them later this summer.
Remember a couple of weeks ago when my confidence in my gardening plans was shaken? Well, it was completely renewed this weekend.
Our peas have come in and we’ve been gorging on the tiny green orbs for a couple of weeks. Yesterday I pulled out the vines, as they were starting to die back from the heat. I sat in a chair in the shade and sorted out all the remaining pods, which should be enough for at least two more dinners, although the snacking I did while I worked might have set us back a little.
My family has always liked peas and we tend to eat a lot of frozen peas during the winter, but having them fresh is just so much better. My daughters and I have been eating them raw from the garden, but for dinner I’ve been cooking them for a few minutes, then dressing them with a smidge of butter and salt. Yum.
THIS is why I garden.
So now that we’re finished with the spring veggies, I’m impatiently pacing around, waiting for tomatoes, cucumbers, edamame, beans, potatoes, and more to come in. If I thought it would help, I’d get a cheerleader’s megaphone and shout words of encouragement at my plants.
As for fruit, we still have strawberries, as I planted everbearers this spring and they got biz-ay as soon as they hit the ground. My blueberry bushes are covered in unripe berries, which I expect to start eating in a few weeks. I planted two grape vines this year and they’re both growing well, but I’m not counting on getting anything from them during this first year.
My herb garden is producing too, so I’ve been able to add lots of fresh herbs to our meals. I planted garlic there last fall and expect to harvest that in a few weeks.
There’s also the farmers’ market, which provided us with a wonderful bounty this past weekend. We picked up early zucchini, which I’ve thus far simply roasted with a little olive oil and salt. We got loads of berries, as well as some late carrots and broccoli. Sunday’s dinner was burgers from beef we got from a local farm, as well as lots of veggies, including plenty of peas. Last night’s dinner was local chicken that we barbecued and, of course, more peas and other yummy local veggies. Dessert was homemade French Vanilla ice cream. Delish!
Local foods. Seasonal foods. Homemade foods. Really, do meals get any better than this?
Photo credit: Yahoo Images
One thing that has been a hurdle for me as a cook over the years has been facing some of my fears in the kitchen.
I didn’t really learn to cook until I was 30 and a new stay-at-home mother. Before that, my husband and I cooked together after work, but he did most of the work and I was his assistant.
Once my daughter was born, however, and I was home all day, it was time for me to learn how to cook. Back then, I stuck to recipes and didn’t venture too far off track. And there were a lot of things I didn’t try because I was afraid — the recipe was too complicated or time consuming or I simply didn’t know how to handle some aspect of the preparations
For example, I bought already-roasted chickens for years (as in, almost a decade) before I got brave enough to do it myself. Now, I roast chickens once or twice a month and it’s one of the easiest things I make.
After that success — and this was less than two years ago — I started getting braver in the kitchen.
In another example, for years I remembered my great-grandmother’s meatballs wistfully, wishing that someone would make them for me. Why didn’t I make them myself? Because I thought they were too hard. I tried to fake it by buying frozen meatballs, but we all know that they don’t even come close. Finally a few weeks ago — YES, just that recently — I gave it a try. It was SO easy. In fact, earlier this week, I mixed up the meat and other ingredients and made the meatballs with one hand while my other hand was busy holding the phone to my ear.
Now I’m looking around and trying to figure out what’s next. What other food fear do I have that I need to face? Nothing comes readily to mind, unless I want to delve into Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but the fact is that I’m not all that interested in cooking organs or dissecting a lobster.
But I’m curious: Is it just me or do some of you have food fears that you’ve faced or that you want to face?
