Hello all…

A reminder that our next Food Group is next week ~ hope you can make it!

Monday, November 9, 2009, 7-8:30pm
At Bethany’s Home -- email bethany(at)frenchprairie(dot)com for the address

No book discussion this time. Instead, we’ll be swapping IDEAS for: simple/sweet/handmade/inexpensive/interesting/food-related/all-of-the (or)none-of-the-above Christmas gifts and RECIPES for: simple/fairly quick/nutritious meals (you know – those “Everyone’s blood sugar is low…dinner should have been ready an hour ago…what can we make without going out to eat and spending too much or starting an hour-long-dinner project?” meals).

If you can bring a few copies of instructions/recipes for people, great! If not, you can just bring one copy and leave it here and I’ll post it online for the group.

As always, feel free to bring a friend, bring something to eat, bring a story about your food-life, or just bring yourself and enjoy the good company and good conversation...

Food Group Update

It’s been a full twelve months since the formation of Sustainable Food For Thought and the beginning of our Food Group meetings. This journey together through books and topics of discussion related to wholesome food and a nourishing lifestyle has been a fun, encouraging
opportunity to connect with friends, new and old, and celebrate the beauty of delicious life.

Thank you to each of you who have participated in one way or another, through meetings, through book suggestions and discussions, through the blog, and through swapping resources and stories.

After Monday’s meeting, we will be taking a hiatus from our (semi-) regular get-togethers. Lisa (our gracious hostess for many months), Andrea (healthy living extraordinaire) and Emily (Sustainable Food For Thought co-founder) will all be welcoming sweet little lives into the world over the next several months, and in light of babies + holiday season + conclusion of a full year of meeting together, we’ve decided to continue the conversation on the blog and through the Google Group.

If there is interest after the new year, we may see about re-starting meetings, perhaps on a seasonal basis (one per quarter?). Of course, if you would like friends to join you for other opportunities in the meantime, feel free to post details and invite the group to join in.

Much love and good food…
Bethany & Emily

"Eating with the fullest pleasure - pleasure, that is, that does not depend on ignorance - is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience our dependence and our gratitude, for we are living in a mystery, from creatures we did not make and powers we cannot comprehend."
~ Wendell Berry

Summer's long since over...

Yet I'm still barely out from underneath the looming responsibility of harvest preservation. Putting up food took much time this late summer/autumn...but it was worth it!~ What a kick to have row after row of cheery jars up in my cupboards, and to have a freezer stocked with easy access weeknight meal ingredients...

My post-workday, late-night canning efforts weren't quite picture perfect. I still don't have the keeping-the-kitchen-tidy-while-you-go nailed. Ted came home from his once a week evening shift to find the kitchen absolutely trashed...and me standing there at 11pm, beaming over my little pints of applesauce. (And once, not-so-beaming over a few jars of gooseberry jam that came out a little...questionable. But, how else do you learn?)

Batch after batch (...after batch) of roasted pasta sauce have passed through my little oven over the course of the past handful of weeks. A late tomato season kept me going clear through October! I finally sealed and labeled the last few portions and put them in the freezer. Maybe you'd enjoy a little peek into the process?

I'm sorry to say, I didn't quite get to my truly green tomatoes in time. Despite my best efforts at digging up interesting sounding chutney recipes and sauces, the production efforts didn't quite materialize and instead I had to compost rotten tomatoes and clean up a few mold patches in the bowls. (True confessions from a real-life kitchen.)

However, on the more successful side, motivated by my new stock of SE Asian spices and seasonal ingredients fresh from my CSA (parsnips), my inlaws (delicious pears), and my little brother Jesse's garden (plenty and plenty of squash), I've gone www-stumbling and come upon a few recent pleasures: Curried Pear & Parsnip Soup and Curry Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpeas. The roasted squash in particular was delectable ~ complimented very nicely by the cilantro lemon yogurt sauce. I whipped both recipes up with ingredients I already had around the house (in fact, I supplemented a few carrots for parsnips since I didn't have quite enough on hand.)

I really am so grateful for how many learning opportunities came my way this past year, and for the encouragement and conversation from friends with experience and inspiration to share.

I"ll leave you today with a post by Lindsay Edmonds: Baby Steps to Nutritious Eating: 12 Steps to a Real Food Diet. Follow your kitchen curiosities, and follow your senses to a delicious tomorrow...

~Bethany

My youngest brother, Jesse, and his bounty from the garden.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

Hi Everyone! A friend asked me for my pumpkin pancake recipe and since I typed it up for her I decided to just post it on here too in case anyone was interested!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 T Sugar
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 Eggs
1 3/4 c. Milk
1/2 c. Cooked and Mashed Pumpkin


*Sift dry ingredients in separate bowl.
*Whisk eggs and milk, stir in pumpkin.
*Pour wet over dry, stir just until blended.

(This makes about 12 medium sized pancakes)

Spice Night

Thanks to the Spice Merchant's Daughter, the intimidation of exotic herbs and spices turned quickly into inspiration for a culinary adventure...and eventually became an evening of literally rubbing elbows with five other daring cooks in my tiny kitchen as we sought to make our own SE Asian spice blends, rubs, and pastes from scratch.

I grew up with minimal working knowledge of spices and herbs. Rosemary and basil had a home in my childhood garden...but I rarely did more than crush the leaves between my fingers and smell. The standard repertoire in the kitchen included Nature's Seasoning, Montreal Steak Seasoning, and Pumpkin Pie Spice. Oh, and cinnamon. For applesauce and cinnamon toast.

Naturally, as an adult I didn't want to waste money purchasing an array of goods for my spice rack without knowing what they were meant for and how I would use them, so the past three years of home cooking have seen me purchase little sample amounts of spices, on occasion, as a particular recipe would require. Otherwise, sea salt and freshly ground pepper did the trick.

When The Spice Merchant's Daughter caught my ear a few different times (I think I first heard it mentioned on NPR...), I added it to my mental library list. This summer, it eventually made it into the queue and finally into my eager hands. Part autobiography, part cookbook, the author tells of her childhood in Malaysia and her mother's work of processing and selling exotic spices. As an adult, daughter Christina Arokiasamy eventually moved to the US and now teaches others how to make use of the flavors of her childhood. Her description of the spice pantry and list of do-it-yourself blends inspired me. And with that extra kick of motivation, my friend, Jane, and I decided we wanted to tackle this culinary escapade together.

We arranged for four other friends to join the two of us, chose a date, and then I set out with a massive grocery list. Three days worth of shopping trips included visits to Limbo, H-Mart, and Fubon and a whirlwind continuation of my education in shopping for world foods. (My mistake to ask the kind clerk at H-Mart if they carried Macadamia nuts. "No, no, no...not Asian, Hawaiian. Don't carry that here.")



Palm sugar, cardamom pods, curry leaves, and galangal...I'm thrilled now to not be so intimidated by the new (to me, at least) ingredients!

Whole cinnamon sticks, star anise, and dried chilies. Turmuric, nutmeg, paprika, dried lemon peel, cloves, lemongrass. Thyme, cumin, garlic salt, dried parsley. Coriander, black pepper, home-ground chili powder. Garlic.



And...shallots. Lots, and lots of shallots. (P.S. A thousand thanks to Linda and Emily for helping slice and peel all 55!) Note to self: install industrial strength ventilation fan next time you plan on dealing with massive amounts of shallots, garlic, peppers, and chilies in one tiny little second story kitchen. My lips were stinging from the heat of the chilies just floating through the air!




Before the crew arrived, I made the Green Seafood blend since it was the simplest and we had decided to use it for our communal meal.








When Spice Night rolled around and everyone made it up my narrow stairway with their bags and boxes of mortars and pestles, food processors, old coffee grinder, and potluck dishes, we shared a meal together to sample a few of the flavors we'd eventually be taking back to our respective pantries.

Jane's delicious salmon took a quick bath in olive oil and had a nice massage with a few generous scoops of the Seafood Rub...and came out of the oven as tasty as ever. Complemented by Mary's salad, Molly's autumn apple crisp, and Emily's cider, the meal gave us sustenance for several hours of recipe multiplication and kitchen labor.


After our full evening of grinding, toasting, chopping, blending, and eye-watering, we each had our portions of the following recipes:

Quick Curry Powder ~ to be used in just about anything

Merchant's Garam Masala ~ added to curries, stews, stocks, and "to build layers of flavors" for chicken, pork, and lamb marinades

Green Seafood Rub ~ used with olive oil and spread over fish...

Thai Massaman Curry Paste ~ for beef, lamb, poultry, or stir-fried veggies

Chicken Spice Paste ~ for basting chicken when baking or grilling, using as a stir-fry base, or for blending with coconut milk and using in curries

Chopping curry leaves for the Quick Curry Powder

Many, many cooks in the kitchen...

Smashing cinnamon sticks and simmering palm sugar

Three mortars and pestles going at once!

The Garam Masala cools...
(Nothing like the scent of warm cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon!)
Dry ingredients for the Thai Massaman Curry Paste
Garlic, shallots, and galangal galore.

Thankfully, the food processor held up!Galangal again.

Macadamia nuts, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots and chilies...

Combined with lemongrass, palm sugar syrup, salt
and water for Chicken Spice PasteLeft to Right: Thai Massaman Curry Paste, Green Seafood Rub (in the ziplock), Merchant's Garam Masala, and Quick Curry Powder

And with that, a successful Spice Night for all!

Many, many thanks to my partners in crime:
Jane, Linda, Molly, Mary, and Emily.
And to my sweet husband, Ted, for cleaning the kitchen beforehand!

~Bethany

This is Hormel...

This is why I like to buy local meat...

http://www.archive.org/details/this_is_hormel

Skip to minute 4:30 :)

October Food Group ~ 10/5/2009

Wholesome food + heartfelt discussion!

After a busy summer, we're looking forward to reconvening our Food Group meetings. Please come enjoy a relaxing evening with fellow foodies interested in feeding our families well, stewarding resources, swapping stories, and enjoying each other's company...

When: Monday, October 5th, 7pm-8:30pm
Where: Lisa's Home (email sustainablefoodforthought@gmail.com for the address)
Topics for discussion: sprouting grains, seasonal autumn recipes...and a review of our summertime stories!

Since this is our first chance to get together in a while, it would be fun to hear about some of your summertime experiences/food finds/reading materials. If inspiration strikes, please bring a book (or two? if you're so inclined...) that you've recently found enjoyable/informative. Or bring a little how-to demonstration (been making yogurt? trying a hand at baking bread? experimenting with recipes for preserving the garden's bounty?). Or share about a local farm(er's market) find...

As always, feel free to bring a friend, bring something to eat, bring a story about your food-life, or just bring yourself and enjoy the good company and good conversation...

~Bethany & Emily

Grass Fed Beef for sale!!

Hi Everyone,

One of Paul's professors raises grass-fed beef as a hobby and is looking to sell some! Here is the email I recieved about his grass-fed beef:

"The beef is virtually organic (but not certified as such): it is all pasture and hay fed (year around), with some grain in the hardest winter months. There are no hormones or other sinister additives. I use no herbicides or artificial fertilizer on the pastures. The present beef (Hereford) available is half of a beef weighing 487 pounds (it was a big cow!) hanging weight. I’m selling at $2.45 per pound (which is about .14 below retail) and is the total cost per pound (I pay for wrapping). The meat will be custom cut in about 10-14 days, according to the customers’ orders. The half may be split in two; or someone could choose the front quarter and someone else the rear quarter. The other half is already sold. The end result of trimming off fat will bring down the total weight of meat taken home. I estimate the space needed will be a little less than 3 cu feet per quarter (or half of the half).
I’ll be slaughtering another beef in about 6-8 weeks; it will weigh about 600 pounds hanging wt., with a half being about 300 pounds. Let me know if there are any who are interested. I usually deliver to the customer; the cutting and wrapping is done at Shy Ann Meats in Oregon City."

If you are interested in purchasing a half or quarter of these cows please email me at sustainablefoodforthought@gmail.com. First come first served, priority will be given to Food Group members! For those of you who don't know, hanging weight includes the fat and some bone, so the actual price per pound will average out higher than $2.45 per pound. Usually 75% of the hanging weight is the actual meat. This is a great price considering the butchering, cutting, and wrapping is included! If you have questions, I'd be happy to talk with you.

~Emily