Last Box of the Summer Season

It's the last CSA of the season. We're still working our way through the turnips from last week, though I really am starting to like turnips, especially how I prepared them last night - roasted w/ CSA carrots and potatoes.

Our partner family this season got the last box of goodies:

Carrots
Broccoli
Mustard Greens
Shallots
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Napa Cabbage
Fresh Dill
Fresh Parsley
Tomato Puree

Sandhill was an excellent CSA choice for us this year. I will be looking for the invite to sign up again next season.

Music in the Mountains, Not to be Confused with Mountain Music

This is a band from my childhood, Pepper.

I remember a few jam sessions and them playing at parties or individually around a good fire.

I also remember that my dad silkscreened the t-shirts for the band for a while. Damn I wish I had some of those.

For a long time, I had a "Safe Simple Sunshine" graphic sweatshirt that my dad created. But that's long gone, worn to rags.

I think the only silkscreen I have from the time period is a sail for a boat that my dad crafted for me out of wood.

But I digress.

This photo, used with permission from Hoosier Outsider, was taken outside Rosa's in Nambe, New Mexico, in January of 1979.

Is Farm Work Too Hard for U.S. Workers?

Photo courtesy Hoosier Outsider.

Farmers are the hardest working people I know.

By far.

These men and women truly eat and breath agriculture from sun up, well past sun down. Vacations are non existent, even in the dead of winter, especially if there are animals on the property.

And those are just the owners. Farming - from cultivating the soil to harvest, from birth to slaughter - is backbreaking work. Just ask Stephen Colbert, who spent a single farcical day as a farmworker, then testified about the experience before Congress.

But seriously, talk to any farmer about day-to-day operations and it becomes clear that labor is a big issue.

So it was no surprise to me, even in this economy, to see this analysis by the Associated Press that found Americans shunning farm work, at least as the jobs are currently structured in this country.

"It's a question rekindled by the recession: Are immigrants taking jobs away from American citizens? In the heart of the nation's biggest farming state, the answer is a resounding no," the AP reports.

The wire service seemed to back up that statement with some California job data it could get its hands on to show that that even a farmer who pay as much as $10.25 an hour for workers to trim strawberry plants is having to rely on foreign workers.

The AP analysis showed that, from January to June, California farmers posted ads for 1,160 farmworker positions open to U.S. citizens and legal residents. But only 233 people in those categories applied after learning of the jobs through unemployment offices in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona.

One grower brought on 36. No one else hired any.

Even when U.S. workers are placed in the jobs, farmers tell the AP that many simply can't handle the grueling work.

Of course, there's probably some truth to complaints by the United Farm Workers of America that are critical of farmers who've become accustomed to a cheap, undocumented workforce. Raise wages and improve working conditions and legal workers would take the jobs, they maintain.

The Labor Department has been stingy with information with the AP, which was trying to get data on farmworker hiring and to evaluate the federal guest worker program. When it filed a Freedom of Information Act request, the Labor Department responded with an $11,000 copying bill.

I hope the AP gets the data and takes a much closer look at farmworker hiring. Everyone can agree that the farm labor system needs fixing.

Did I Say I Didn't Like Turnips? Maybe I Was a Bit Hasty

Fridge Full of Food

To my disappointment, in this week's CSA box, I was greeted by yet another bunch of turnips.

These were different from the purple and white variety I had two weeks before. This bunch was smaller, about the size of a big radish, and pure white.

Still, they were turnips. And as I've said before, I'm not a big fan. But given that my veggie drawer was now overflowing with turnips, so on Test Kitchen Sunday, I started to search in earnest for a recipe I could sink my teeth into.

Here's where Glenna Anderson and her blog Fridge Full of Food came in. Glenna apparently wasn't much of a turnip fan either, until she tried these Japanese turnips caramelized with onions and garlic.

These were really quite good and I could see myself adding this to a family meal.

When I was prepping the turnips, I had to cut off the lush greens. But I couldn't bring myself to throw them away.

Instead, I found this recipe for Sauteed Turnip Greens with Chile Flakes and Mustard. It was one of the only recipes I came across that didn't require bacon or salt pork.

This recipe is on the right track, but it wasn't a huge hit for me. The greens are really strong and even the red pepper flakes and a pretty strong Dijon mustard couldn't balance out the flavor. I can see why bacon or salt pork work with bitter turnip greens.

So long as I get edible greens in my CSA share, I'll be experimenting with different combinations.  Can't wait for the next box.

Why I Canceled My Chicago Tribune Subscription or Customer Service Is Dead

Photo by Quinn Dombrowski via Flickr.

On Saturday I did something that made me very sad. I canceled our Chicago Tribune subscription.

It was a decision, even in the midst of Saturday's unfortunate confrontation with a particularly nasty "customer service" rep, that was pretty hard to make.

We'd had this subscription since 1996, not long after Sim first moved to Chicago.

It followed us through moves from Rogers Park to Oak Park, to NW Indiana and back again to Illinois.

We kept up our print subscription even after we started getting the bulk of our news online. Sunday is still a big newspaper reading day in our house.

Yet, this is our last Sunday with the Trib landing on our front porch. I made the decision to cancel despite an enormous amount of respect I have for the Tribune's editorial operations. Even with cutbacks, the Trib is still an innovative operation doing some pretty impressive things online. More importantly, the paper continues to do valuable reporting on political corruption, food safety and environmental threats. 

But I had to personally draw the line at being treated like absolute garbage by the Trib's billing department, especially over such a small matter.

When I got the billing call on Saturday at about 8:05 a.m., I was pretty sure there'd been a snafu with our credit card, which we've been straightening out ever since we found out it'd been hacked by identity thieves. We'd managed to switch over most of our automatic bill pay from the card, but a few things - including our Trib subscription - slipped through the cracks.

So when I picked up the phone, I was startled at the level of hostility coming from the other end of the line. The billing rep asked to speak to my husband, when I said he wasn't there, the rep said he'd call back later. But I wanted to go ahead and get the matter straightened out, so I asked, "Is this a billing call?"

Oddly irritated, the rep said in the snottiest tone you can imagine, "Of course it's a billing call. Why else would we be calling at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning?"

Wow.

I responded that I was trying to find out how much we owed....and he hung up on me.

Wow.

When I called back to the billing department a couple minutes later, the next rep wasn't much better. He told me the reps are trained to hand up on people who are rude to them.

Again, wow.

At this point, I was pretty resolved that we'd be canceling. I still didn't know how much was past due. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and was shaking and angry at this point.

She, I have to say, was really nice and apologetic. But I was pretty sure I was done. I knew for sure when I found out how much we owed - $13.

Thirteen dollars past due on a credit card that was no longer valid. All we needed to do was update the number. A polite request - even a neutral request - would have been appreciated. And I would have been the one to apologize for prompting them to have to call to get this straightened out.

Instead, the Trib lost a print subscriber.

I'm constantly amazed at the low level of customer service I experience on a daily basis. Register clerks don't make eye contact or make me feel like I'm inconveniencing them with my purchases. I've lost count of how many times I've completed transactions with the cash register clerk engrossed in full-blown conversation with another clerk...or worse...the floor manager.

In this economy, I'd think customer service would be a priority. For me, a track record of good service will keep me coming back to a particular store or buying a brand product, even when that means I pay more.

I'll even put up with cranky cashiers or sales reps from time to time. But I have my limit and the Trib found it.

All He Wants Is a Softer Landing

Earth Day '09: The Children of Irving

My son fell down on the playground yesterday and skinned his knee pretty badly.

When he told me about the fall, the next thing out of his mouth was, "I can't wait until we have some green out there."

It took me a minute to understand what he was saying. Then I realized he was talking about replacing his school's 50-year-old blacktop with green space.

He's not looking to have less physical play at recess. He just wants a softer landing.

He's not alone. Even though it's discouraging to hear that parents have been pushing for green space at Irving for a decade, I'm hopeful that there is momentum now to get this project underway.

There are conceptual designs and money in the budget for an architect to budget the Irving Schoolyard Project in doable stages.

I don't know how much of this green space my children will see before they leave elementary school. But this is our neighborhood and one more place to play soccer or run around on a less abrasive surface sounds pretty good.

That's why I'm involved. But until last night, I don't think my son connected the dots about why I was helping to organize a bake sale at the Farmers Market on Oct. 9.

When I mentioned that hopefully the bake sale proceeds will bring a few more hundred dollars into the effort, a light bulb went on and his spirits lifted, knowing his family is doing something, even if it's just a small part of a pretty massive effort headed up by others.

We all know it's time for more eco-friendly landscape, friendlier atmosphere, usable play space, and yes, a softer landing.

Howdy. Here's How I Grilled Coho Salmon on a Cedar Plank

I just love this video. I've never met this fellow, but after I found him on the Interwebs (thanks Google), he helped me and Sim grill up some Coho salmon the other night.



Ages ago, I bought Sim some cedar planks for grilling fish. We'd never used them until, at my son's request, we got a Coho fillet and started looking for tasty ways to cook it.

I pretty much followed this Paddy's recipe - except, being a "purist" I mushed mushed up my ginger to slather on the fillet. I also used brown sugar instead of raw sugar. And instead of butter, used extra virgin olive oil.

OK, so it wasn't exactly like the recipe, but Paddy, aka RangeRider23, is my new inspiration.

We served the salmon with grilled romaine lettuce that we topped with a version of this Food Network recipe for blue cheese-bacon vinaigrette. (I used prosciutto.)

I think I want to try his blue agave steak or his frozen margaritas "guaranteed to take you to ritaville."

Loggers Not Welcome Here: This Is Our Tree

Our Trees. Photo by Hoosier Outsider.

My dad has been waxing nostalgic lately and this time is doing so while armed with photographic evidence.

I can't tell you how eager I've been for this day.

So I'm sure there will be some embarrassment (for me) in some of his Facebook posts and e-mails. He was pretty relentless with the camera. So much so that this daughter of a photographer turned out to be pretty camera shy.

But I appreciate his talent and creativity, always have.

It's a joy to see these images from my childhood. Many of them I've seen before, over the years from time to time in slide shows or on contact sheets. It's altogether something different though viewing these in social media.

Long forgotten identities and picture IDs are near instantly - or within hours - rediscovered.

This is particularly remarkable considering the circumstances in which we lived when many of these photographs were taken: in the remote mountains of New Mexico, with no electricity or running water.

There is surely a lot of backstory to this photo I've added here - more than even dad and I can remember. I do remember this photograph. I'm pretty sure I know who the boys are (and dad agreed). I'll confirm on Facebook at some point soon and update with any details I can discover.

As for the location. This is just at the edge of the property line where we lived. The boys are holding onto a tree that's likely on their side of the line, keeping it safe, God willing, from the logging company.

Photo used with permission of Hoosier Outsider. 

For Lunch Today, Tomorrow and Maybe the Next

This is take two of our experimentation with Anupy Singla's new book, The Indian Slow Cooker.

We had so much success with our first dish, we were eager to try something new.

Here's what I learned:

A. It's really important to have the right ingredients.

B. Sometimes it's OK to improvise.

C. This cookbook is excellent for helping pull together really large meals with multiple sides...especially if you have a couple crock pots to spare.

Indian food has always been pretty intimidating to me. So when I first heard that Anupy was writing this book, I knew it would be for me. It's already made cooking Indian food at home a part of our flavor rotation.

This weekend, I tried two new recipes from the book, the "simple" yellow lentils and the spicy cauliflower and potatoes.

Both were super easy to prepare and plop in the crock pot. But it was clear after about 5 hours with the lentils that I didn't have the correct split yellow lentils. They never broke down like I was expecting. So to get a smoother, creamy consistency, I just plunged in an immersion blender. Voila, creamy lentils.

The cauliflower was a little trickier. I was expecting, per the book's instructions, for these to be ready in three hours. But even after three-and-a-half hours, the spices hadn't combined like I was expecting. So I let them go a little longer and shifted our plans for an Indian feast to the next day.

Turns out a night in the fridge was just what these needed. By the time I reheated the next day, the flavors were just right...for us anyway.

I served these hearty veggie and legume dishes with basmati rice, garlic naan and some chicken chunks simmered in an off-the-shelf tikka masala sauce.

Really good. I also learned that Future Farmgirl is a big tikka masala fan. It's a start.

It's Pawpaw Harvest Time. How Will You Celebrate this American Original?

Pawpaw & seeds. Photo cdresz on Flickr.

Here's a local, edible fruit that I've not heard of in a long time: the pawpaw, aka, Hoosier banana or the poor man's banana.

A long time ago, I'd heard that these odd mango-looking fruits - the largest native to America - were edible. But until this week, I'd never considered them as an ingredient in a confection.

Thankfully, the creative forces behind 240Sweet, the artisnal marshmallow and candy company run by members of the iFarmer's extended family, are continuing to dream up new ways to make treats out of what they can find growing organically nearby.

Photo from Mid-Week Market in August.

I don't have many details yet and I haven't tried them (I'll be calling tomorrow to see if I can place an order), but the 240Sweet's Facebook page noted that the "September Puff of the Month" is Pawpaw Almond.

The pulp was made from organic pawpaw, picked by Brother Joachim, who picked them from an abbey patch in Kentucky, according to the status update.

OK. Clearly there's a story behind that line too.

If you're lucky enough to be going to the sold-out Chicago Gourmet, maybe you can get some answers since 240Sweet will be there, treats in hand.

Meanwhile...be on the lookout for pawpaws, which are being harvested this month and next. Find pawpaw recipes here at the Kentucky State University's site.

And if you're near Albany, Ohio, don't miss the Pawpaw Festival. Today's the last day.

Arugula Pasta, Pizza & Omelets. Enough Already

I'm not quite ready to say I'm now a fan of arugula, but I think I'm slowly acquiring a taste for it.

I know I like it in pesto form. There's only so much pasta tossed with pesto in a week though, so I've been dreaming up new ways to use up the tub I made earlier this week.

Last night I made arugula pesto pizzas for me and Sim. The crispier the crust the better with these. Of course, it's hard not to like anything topped with prosciutto. Before baking, I sprinkled the individual crusts with mozzarella and feta.

Then this morning, I tried about a teaspoon of the pesto in an omelet, which also included feta crumbles and crispy prosciutto. [I should mention that in addition to my veggie share, I've been trying to use up a large container of feta and a package of prosciutto that was getting close to its expiration date. Thanks Costco.]

I've probably reached my limits with the arugula pesto. There's enough left worth freezing for omelets or pasta on another day. So in the freezer bag it goes.

Sad to Say Goodbye to My Shade Elm

 

At first I thought that our big elm, one of a pair in our backyard, was just in need of some TLC.

We'd already pruned it back once, hoping the thinning would do the old girl some good. We'd still have plenty of shade and winter wind cover.

Then we were hit by that 80 mph wind storm in June. A few weeks later, our tree was noticeably weaker. I thought, hoped really, that there was just damage that could be taken care of with more trimming.

No such luck. When I asked the tree service guy about trimming, he laughed. "No. It's got Dutch Elm. It's dead."

So we set an appointment to put her to rest - ashes to ashes, sawdust to sawdust - on 9/15/10. And by the time the Huber tree service guys arrived, there was no doubt in my mind that the diagnosis was accurate. The twin elm in the alley is still lush and only starting to show its fall colors. The one marked for death was leafless and lifeless, except for the squirrels and spiders.

Still, she did not go quietly. Chainsaws, wood chippers and cursing workers (all in good humor) filled the neighborhood for nearly four hours.

From the pix, you can see that there was one tree climber in the tree to guide the ropes and saw the branches, one by one. Two to three others on the ground would carefully lower each cut branch down, saving our fence, garage and neighbor's garage. Then the pieces were cut down again and fed into the commercial chipper.

When it was all over, the fence row stump was pulverized and the crew did a thorough cleanup of the area, including sweeping off the top of my garage and repairing the fence.

I'll miss the shade of the elm.

But maybe next year I'll have a better tomato yield now that there's more sun beating down on our backyard.

Arugula Pesto? Don't Mind if I Do

Updated: Until a comment on my post about my CSA share - and the things I disliked in it - I had no idea that arugula could be made into pesto.

I'm getting pretty good at whipping things into some form of pesto - cilantro, basil and whatever other herbs I can toss in, plus cheese, nuts or no nuts, whatever I have in the pantry.

But I'd never even considered the pungent arugula, which I can barely stand, even mixed in with baby greens and drenched in my favorite dressing.

Still, after last year's season of CSA waste, I pledged to try my hardest not to trash much of anything from my share this year. That's been tough, especially because the half share we've been getting (a full share split with another family) is about twice as much as we got with our half share last year.

So when a commenter told me I could make pesto (something I love) out of arugula (something I don't), I was game.

Loosely following a Simply Recipes ingredients list, I stuffed about two cups of washed and rough chopped arugula into a food processor with walnuts, garlic, olive oil and a little salt.

It's not half bad, though still a little more arugulaish for my palette. That was until the next night when I tossed it with some pasta and a few crumbles of feta cheese.

Wow. What a meal. Adding the cheese was exactly what this pesto with a strong aftertaste needed to mellow out. I actually enjoyed the strong flavor of the green alongside the creamy feta.

Adding something sweet (like grapes or apples) or tossing in some tomatoes would have also been great. Think I might try that over the next few days.

Turnips Are Just Not My Thing, But I'm Still Trying

I'm hoping that I've just been cooking all wrong with turnips and that there is some recipe out there that will make these bitter root veggies into something I can enjoy.

That's because I got a beautiful bunch of them in our CSA box this week. And even though I really don't like turnips and because I got zero takers when I literally tried to give them away last night, I still need to find a way to use them before they go to waste.

I was happy to see a recipe for Carolina Turnip Greens. And I may try this recipe for Braised Turnips w/ Mustard Sauce. I'm thinking the mustard might compliment and mellow out the harsher part of the turnip flavor that has so far turned me off.

Here's what else I need to eat, process and/or store this week:

Arugula [another veggie that isn't on my A list.]
Purple-Top Turnips
Carrots [just loved these blanched and marinated w/ below garlic, shallots, plus olive oil and lemon juice.]
Romano Beans
Garlic
Shallots
Beefsteak Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes [these were great w/sea salt, olive oil and a sprinkling of basil.]
Juliet Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Fresh Sage

Dumpster Diving for a Bit of Comfort

It was just about bedtime, well past it actually, when we realized we were missing one important thing...the birthday girl's blankie.

It's a bedtime crutch that we probably should have shelved long ago. It's a rag of a thing, a torn and worn piece of old linen that used to dress my great grandmother's side table.

It became my daughter's blankie during a moment of desperation a few years ago when we realized her first rag-tag comfort blankie had been lost and tossed.

Tonight, it was the same story. We'd had someone helping us clean the house before my daughter's birthday party. The last I saw the blankie, it was on the couch. I knew what had happened...the blankie surely was in the trash.

After a long day, a houseful of guests and a lot of excitement, my little just-turned-7-year-old was beat and in need of whatever comfort she could get to settle herself down.

I shared my suspicions with Sim and started to turn the house upside down looking for it.

He cut to the chase and headed straight for the trash bins in the alley. A few minutes later, he was back, wadded up and Windex-drenched blankie in hand.

It's in the dryer now and will be tucked in Bella's bed in a few minutes. She's long been asleep. But she deserves to wake up with her trusty blankie by her side.

I'm sure at some point we need to get her to give up her comfort crutch. But I'm in no hurry.

You Only Turn 7 Once

Had a great time tonight celebrating Future Farmgirl's 7th b-day. We had a nice mix of crazy wild kids and their cool parents.

The highlight of the evening was sitting by the fire ring out back enjoying the company and sugaring up on the s'mores buffet...with every marshmallow & chocolate combo I could think of. From giant Campfire marshmallows to red, white & blue marshmallows and minis roasted and mashed with Hershey bars, York Peppermint Patties, Reese Peanut Butter Cups, Ghirardelli dark chocolate/raspberry and waffle chips. Delish.

For the main course, we did our best to offer up a kid-friendly spread that would also be satisfying for the adults.

And, while it wasn't perfect, I was pretty pleased with the results. By not perfect, I mean that it's clear that when you throw a party on a Friday night, two pitchers of Cava sangria isn't enough, even with a cooler full of Abita.

I was also worried we'd run out of lasagna (a favorite of Garfield & Future Farmgirl). That wasn't the problem, though I miscalculated and threw in a third tray of lasagna w/Italian sausage. But what was really in demand was the rainbow pasta lasagna with butternut squash sauce.

The kids ate up almost a full tray of cheesy lasagna (even though it was full of zucchini...sneaky, I know).

Because we picked up our CSA share yesterday, I had a whole lotta veggies. I sliced up some heirlooms and added a little olive oil, sea salt and basil from out back.

But my favorite were the carrots. I sliced them up thinking I'd serve them raw. No dice. They were too bitter. So I found this recipe for blanched, then marinated cold carrots. I just loved these and will definitely make them again.

Outdoor Kitchen You Won't Find in the Style Magazines

New Mexico mountain kitchen. Photo by Hoosier Outsider.

This is an outdoor kitchen straight out of my childhood.

And this photo just brings back a flood of memories of good food, good music and even better friends.

It's doubtful I was here for this picture. My visits to the New Mexico mountains, while regular, were largely just extended vacations, mostly in the summer during breaks from school.

But I was known to frequent these kitchens, indoor and out, all over our community. My husband makes fun of me, compares me to the Hobbits, who are accustomed to second breakfast.

In these kitchens, I'm sure I had my share of second, third and fourth breakfasts -- whether we were eating indoors or alfresco.

My last visit was even shorter. I was there with my husband, a toddler in tow and was about six months pregnant. Very little had changed, but my husband was blown away by the experience.

Here's one thing that he clearly remembers - the kitchen. That's where we invited ourselves in, having just stopped by, unannounced.

He swears that's where he had the best chocolate chip cookies he's ever tasted. Could be. Everything tastes better when you're eating in an outdoor kitchen.

Photo used with permission from Hoosier Outsider.

Slow Cooker's Loaded w/ Fixins for North Indian Red Beans & Rice

In the pot: Punjabi Curried Kidney Beans

This is one post I wish I could share the aroma of what's in my 5-quart slow cooker.

Piled high on top of dried kidney beans are onions, hot green chilies, CSA tomatoes and a sensual mixture of red chili, turmeric, garam masala, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, cumin seeds and ginger.

It's our first attempt making one of Anupy Singla's recipes from her just-published cookbook, "The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes."

We're making Punjabi Curried Kidney Beans, aka rajmah, which Anupy describes as "the quintessential comfort food," akin to red beans and rice.

All I know is that it was the first thing that got my husband excited. I was going to start with a smaller dish. But this baby will be set to cook for a full 11 hours, overnight, while we sleep.

He expects if all goes well that he'll want this for breakfast.

We'll see.

Update: This turned out fantastic. We were tempted to turn the cooker off about an hour or so early when the beans were nice and tender. But it's worth the extra time until the beans break down and the soup turns creamy. We didn't have yogurt and forgot to drop in fresh cilantro at the end. No matter. This was a hearty lunch that gave us plenty of energy to labor in the back yard today.

There's enough leftover for workday lunches and at least one other sit-down meal.

Balcony Berries Give My Morning a Fresh Start

It's a little out of strawberry season for most of the Midwest, except in our backyard.

My Future Farmboy's little hybrid-berry-plant-that-could is producing fruit like mad. We've been delighted with sweet, sun-ripened berries every few days.

We can thank this bounty to a strategic move. Literally, we moved the berry pot to the balcony, out of sight of the furry creatures - squirrels, raccoons and/or rabbits - who we learned are huge strawberry fans.

Plus, now I have some pretty greenery with white flowers and, on occasion, bursts of bright red, greeting me in the morning.

In the Veggie Box This Week

We're off veggie share duty this week. But our partners in produce got this from Sandhill:

• Cabbage
• Sweet Onions
• Beefsteak Tomatoes
• Yellow "Taxi" Tomatoes
• Assorted Heirloom Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Italian Parsley
• Tomatillos
• Red and/or Green Bok Choy
• Potatoes

I've managed to miss the bok choy this season, so I may have to track some down at the Farmers Market, so I can try it out. I've also never cooked with tomatillos, at least not without them being pre-processed.

Something about those paper-skinned orbs is intimidating. When I finally get over my fear, this may be the first thing I make: Roasted Tomatillo Chicken Chili.