Tag Archives: food

How Have You Changed in 2008?

Posted on by
9

Before you make resolutions (or projects as Sherry calls them), take a look back and see how you have changed this year.  It’s kind of fun!  This is a variation of the I Used to Think post.  Poiema’s perceptive comment:

I really do think that the small details of life show forth growth in a far greater way than we normally stop to realize. It feels good to mark something measurable on the growth chart.

We’ve made several changes in our diet this year. 

•  We eat oatmeal for breakfast almost every morning.  My husband recently said, “I can’t believe you converted me to oatmeal, and I honestly can’t believe how much I like it!”   Here’s the difference: we make individual servings in the microwave.  Easy cleanup, fast, and fabulous.  And cheap!  This has made a significant dent in our grocery budget.

1/2 cup oatmeal, cover with water (experiment with amount), microwave 2 minutes.  Add milk and sweetener.

Oatmeal supreme:  add a handful of frozen blueberries to the cooked oatmeal.

•  We stopped drinking soda pop. 

•  We started drinking raw milk and eating locally grown chickens.  These cost about twice what we were paying.

•  We switched to sucanat instead of sugar.  This also costs about twice what white sugar costs.

But, enough about food!  What other changes have we made? 

I joined Facebook, after my kids talked about it on a backpacking trip.  Facebook seems to be the medium many prefer for staying in touch.  It has extended my time on the computer (argh!) but has reconnected me with friends from the past. 

Reconnecting.  Several important people from past decades have resurfaced in our life.  Those reconnections underline ways we have changed (oh yeah, I used to think/like/agree with that; but I don’t anymore!) or ways our friends have changed in areas where we have not.  But it has been a blessing to pick up loose pieces of yarn and weave them back into the fabric of our lives.

So many changes are part of the daily or weekly cycles.  We now worship in a liturgical setting and recite the Apostle’s Creed every Lord’s Day.  I think the repetition of those words “I believe” has made me a more confident woman. 

Last night my husband and I had a disagreement (which we resolved, thankfully).  I realized, though, that the longer we have been married, the fewer quarrels we have.  We must of plowed through the dirt so many times that we are aware of, and compensate for, our differences.  Grace, all of grace.  

Of course, not all changes are positive.  I used to keep a tighter guard on my tongue.  I’ve caught myself gossiping too much lately.  Blech.  So we resolve to change.   

Nancy Wilson has written what I think is the best blog post of the year–simply stellar–about New Year’s here. If you are prone to depression this is REQUIRED READING. 

How have you changed lately? 

Pizza on the Cheap

Posted on by
18

During the “dark months” Saturday night is Pizza Night at our house.  I keep all the ingredients on hand (many in my freezer) so I don’t have to dash to the grocery store.  I despise dashing to the grocery store. 

It takes about 2 1/2 hours from start to finish, although in a crisis of forgetfulness, I’ve zipped pizza out under two hours.  We love the quality of the pizzas, there are endless combinations, and it has been an economical way to feed our family and have fun doing it!

I shop at Costco (~ Sam’s Club) and Grocery Outlet (~ Winco) for the ingredients. 

•  5 lb. bag of shredded Mozarella (~$10) 
•  3 lb. bag of shredded Parmesan (~$11)
•  Sliced pepperoni (5 lb bag? / Cost?)
•  5 liter Olive Oil (~$22) this is not extra virgin
•  28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes (when I find a sale for .99, I buy a dozen) 

I vacuum-pack the pepperoni in small portions and freeze them.  The cheese I store in the freezer and get out about an hour before I need it.  I break off what I need and put it back in the freezer.

You are looking at the prices and muttering…Pizza on the cheap?  Hold on!  This will make dozens of pizzas.  You could buy the ingredients in smaller portions, which I recommend if you are a beginner. (I recall the first time I bought whole wheat farina–a 25 pound bag–and served it to my guys. The words gruel, cruel, strangle, choke, and monstrous all got thrown around; my husband got all magisterial and forbid (!) whole wheat farina ever again appearing on our table, and I had 24.9 pounds left.)   

There is one other necessary purchase: a baking stone. You can spend $40 at a home party or you can buy one for $15 at a box store.  I bake bread, pizza, scones, focaccia, and hot pockets on my stone.  As you can see, it is well seasoned.  The stone will make the difference in the pizza crust.  You gotta have a baking stone.   

Cornmeal Crust (message me if you’d like recipe for basic crust or whole wheat crust)
Stir and let mixture stand until it foams.

2 cups warm water
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 scant Tablespoons yeast (or 2 envelopes)

Mix:

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cup yellow cornmeal or polenta
2 teaspoon salt

Add yeast mixture and

1/2 cup olive oil

to cornmeal mixture. 

Mix and knead the dough by hand, in food processor or electric mixer.
Let dough rise in well-oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap until doubled, 45 minutes – 1 1/2 hour.
(You can halve this recipe.  I like to utilize the hot oven and make enough for leftovers. This will make six smaller pizzas or 4 larger pizzas.)

Pizza Sauce

1- 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (you can use diced or use fresh tomatoes)
~ 1/4 c. olive oil  (go with less, it works)
oregano to taste
garlic (powder, minced, fresh chopped) optional
pesto (I just throw in a cube from the freezer) optional

Simmer 10-15 minutes (or longer).

Assembly 
It takes a bit of practice to get the pizza into the oven in one piece.  Roll out dough into a circle.  Transfer dough to flat (no lip) cookie sheet or a pizza peel (looks like a massive spanking paddle) or a flat cutting board or if you are desperate a plastic chopping sheet.  Critical: sprinkle your board generously with cornmeal.  This keeps the dough from sticking.  You will slide the pizza into the oven.  Another flat cookie sheet or plastic cutting sheet is good to persuade naughty pizzas onto the pathway of righteousness.  Another hint: start by making smallish pizzas.

Preheat oven and stone to 500°.  Add sauce and toppings according to taste.  My man likes more sauce and less cheese. Adding a sprinkling of Parmesan on top of the Mozzarella adds a little zip.  Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes.

Variations
Ranch dressing for the sauce on a chicken garlic pizza.
Just brush the crust with olive oil for a caramelized onion Gorgonzola pizza.
Chevre (goat’s cheese), sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted garlic
Black olive and red pepper
Smoked salmon and mushroom
Jackrabbit and pheasant (we live in the wild west)
Vegetable Extravaganza: onion, pepper, olive, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, herbs

The photo at the top is my son’s first attempt at making pizza.
Everything in this blog post was taught to me by my brother Dan. 
He bought my first pizza stone, gave me a pizza peel, and made many pizzas in my oven. Thanks, bro!

For Onion Lovers

Posted on by
9

Crockpot Caramelized Onions

On Saturday, I plan to write a Pizza on the Cheap post.  But I was desperate that this lovely little trick didn’t get buried in the middle of that.  It so deserves fanfare and balloons and those powerful searchlights car dealers used to wave through the atmosphere.

3-6 sweet onions (Vidalias, Walla Wallas)  you could use other onions, but the sweeter the better
1 stick of butter (not margarine…no, not marge) I used 1/2 stick
1 crockpot

Peel onions. I slice mine, but you can leave them whole if you have a lot of time.  I’ve read recipes that tell you to put the butter in the crockpot first and others that have you put the butter on top of the onions.  Either way will come out fine.

Best method: put crockpot on low and let the onions cook down for up to 48 hours (I’d leave them whole for that long) until they get the gorgeous golden brown color.

When you’ve forgotten to do it ahead:  Set the crockpot on high and go for it in 6 – 9 hours. 

What, you ask, will I do with all those onions?

Oh, my friend…..

There is caramelized onion and gorgonzola pizza.  There are sandwiches which are ever so better with C. Onions. A side for a roast.  A lovely addition to Chicken Feta.

It makes the house smell divine.  Or not.  If you don’t like onion smell, just put the crockpot in the garage or laundry room.

And, if I may confess, I love to eat them by themselves.  

Can You Cut Up A Chicken?

Posted on by
15

Another getting to know you post.

While I was in Maine our small town/small university hosted Joel Salatin as keynote speaker of the Oregon Rural Action Annual Convention.  Several friends went and I’m soaking up their reactions.  Katie, an honorary member of our family, typed up her notes and sent them to me. 

This bit grabbed me:

50 years ago, all the mothers knew how to cut up a chicken —
now 50% of them don’t know that chickens have BONES!

It took me back to an afternoon (I was probably 11 or 12) when my father patiently taught me how to cut up a chicken. Sharp knife and all.  I remember having to feel for the joints between the leg and body and the joints between the thigh and drumstick.  The hardest part to master, as I remember, was cutting down the middle to divide the back from the breast.  You had to honk down kind of hard to cut through the bone.

Sooooooo………..

Who knows how to cut up a chicken? (I have to admit, none of my children learned from me since we started eating boneless breasts.)  Note to myself: teach youngest son how to cut up a chicken.

How did you learn? 

Any stories out there?

Do tell!

     

One Fine Day

Posted on by
8

Waking up in Maine….
How could one day hold so much good?


Kathie’s (my SIL) old VW Bug from her college days


A walk on Mackworth Island


A pause to talk…


a stop at the local Farmer’s Market

A clam chowder lunch at:

~     ~     ~


Later…
friends had me up to their place for
a lobstah bake (that’s seaweed with it)


on top of the lobster pile up picked-that-day corn,
potatoes, onions, eggs,
and…


clams on top!

delightful family from my church who are also visiting their family in Maine


Ending the day with the “chimney” fire – a rotten log placed upright on the fire

Eating Locally

Posted on by
9

Chris, our oldest son, is the locavore in this picture.
The animal is an organic grass-fed, grass-finished, free-range bull elk
who lived his life about 15 miles from our house.

“Hoffer” harvested this huge animal with a bow and arrow,
a skill which requires great dollops of
strength, stealth, endurance and patience.

This evening, our garage will transform into a butcher shop.
Several hundred pounds of delicious elk roasts, filets, and burger.
Cut, wrapped, marked, frozen.
It’s a family tradition that occurs almost every year.

Butchering an elk and canning applesauce
are the closest I come to living the Little House lifestyle
I adored when I was a suburban girl reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

Oh, How I Love Onions

Posted on by
3

First night backpacking is always a winner: chunks of sautéd elk filet, marinated in garlic, wine, soy sauce, and lemon juice.  Pasta Alfredo, made the night before and heated up, a glass of wine and call it delicious. 

After that the menu gets very processed: cup of noodles, instant soup, instant hot chocolate, grilled hotdogs…sigh.  It is the kind of food which messes up the gastric system, which is all we will say about that delicate topic. 

On a night when each man made his own meal, Jesse and Rachel wrapped potatoes in foil, tucked it into the coals and started cutting an onion.  Kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, and green onion tops were added, wafting up intoxicating aromas. 

Look at that! 
Would you rather have that or Ramen noodles? 
I made myself a promise.
Never again will I go backpacking without bringing an onion along.


clean up the next day

The Omnivore’s Dilemma

Posted on by
7


Opening sentence: “What should we have for dinner?”

To call Michael Pollan’s book provocative is an impoverished way to communicate the swirling dervishes which dance around your brain while you listen to this piece.  Yes, it is provocative.  Provocative in the sense that it calls forth many thoughts.  

Pollan, a journalist, wonders if he could trace the food we eat back to its source.  He studies four meals: a McDonald’s take out (capable of eating with only one hand); a Whole Foods microwavable organic TV dinner (four words he never thought would be strung together) which represents industrial organic; a meal made from ingredients grown on Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farms, which touts itself as “beyond organic”;  and finally a meal consisting of meat he hunted, mushrooms he foraged, and vegetables and fruit grown nearby. 

In the opening chapters Pollan does a thorough job of explaining how we arrived to the point of massive farm subsidies and how corn is present in most of the fast foods sold.  Pollan also investigates Industrial Organic and visits Earthbound Farm, which supplies Costco with organic food.  In between the narrative of his travels, Pollan inserts background material and philosophical essays about the consequences individually and culturally of the food choices described.

When I got to the section about Joel Salatin and Polyface Farm (the famous disc 7) I bolted upright in my red Subaru. I’ve heard this before!  A few friends have been discussing this kind of farming for years: growing cattle, chickens, pigs, rabbits, turkeys, rotating pastures and using all the animal byproducts efficiently.  It all made sense and the Salatin family was portrayed as principled, winsome people.  

Most entertaining for this city-girl who married into a hunting and gathering family in rural Oregon was Pollan’s tale of  learning how to hunt and gather mushrooms so he could make a meal free of bar codes, totally from scratch.   He is honest about both the exhilaration he feels after successfully shooting a feral pig, and the remorse he encounters later (remorse is not a factor with my hunters).  He flirts with vegetarianism, debating the reasons why it is acceptable or non-acceptable to eat other animals.   Pollan’s day of hunting morel mushrooms took me back to the day in May when we scored morels like nobody’s business.  The picture he paints of putting a feast together singlehandedly is priceless: plans, schedules, interruptions, arrivals, and finally the food.  He pronounces this meal that he’s prepared and shared with his hunting and gathering mentors “the perfect meal.”  I hope you can relate to the satisfaction that comes from eating something you have had an active part in, i.e. a homegrown tomato.

Pollan doesn’t draw tight conclusions from his journey.  His worldview won’t let him go where I’d like to see him go.  However, he cannot avoid biblical motifs: the garden, the table, providence, feasting, communing, life from death, sacrificial giving. He writes about grace around the table, that the table is grace, but it is a truncated view of grace.  Nevertheless his skill is making complex issues comprehensible is profound.  He writes with clarity, honesty and beauty.

We would love to share a meal (elk backstrap, duck, bass or steelhead, sautéed veggies with basil, garden salad, homemade bread,  fresh raspberries and strawberry rhubarb pie) with Michael Pollan and his family.  Talk food, talk books, talk ideas.  We are on opposite sides of the spectrum on many issues.  But we enjoy exploring the differences, listening, understanding, exchanging.  I think it would be delightful.

This is a book to share, to discuss, to thrash over, to ponder, to wonder, to evaluate, to think over for a long time.