Starting to Think that X-raying Candy Bags Is Still a Good Idea

Well maybe not that extreme. But I'm checking my kids' candy more closely this year, not just for unsafe treats, but unfortunately also to screen for religiosity.

This was the first year that my son has had enough interest in trick-or-treating to want to venture beyond our own block, where thanks to block parties and the slow walk to school each morning, I am pretty familiar with my neighbors.

We ended up a couple blocks over, picking up one of his buddies along the way. Somewhere in that two-block area, we ended up with three things I won't forget:

• A full bag of marshmallows, apparently from a house whose occupant works for a candy company. (Super cool).

• A ziplock back of candy and two Chick.com tracts. (Yikes. I suppose if we're going to knock we risk getting a sermon or at least a cartoon version of a sermon). Note the link takes you to Chick Publications' guide for how to take advantage of Halloween in order to witness to hundreds of "unsaved children."
• And, maybe my favorite, candy corn covered with a piece of plastic wrap and tape. (Not exactly what I'd consider safe to eat).

I'm wondering who else got the tracts and what your reaction is.

I've also tried to remember any bizarre things I picked up from trick-or-treating as a kid. I just can't remember anything too strange. I do recall that my mother immediately trashed anything that wasn't wrapped, especially things like candy apples. She'd also can anything that was loosely wrapped.

If you have any weird or cool treats stories to share, please do.

Update: Here's more reaction about the anti-Islam tract that was distributed. "Halloween Blues" over at the blog Health at My Size. 

Winning Isn't Everything. It's How You Play the Game

I heard myself say that to my son this weekend, at the end of a losing season, and I meant it.

He and his teammates are an inspiration. I've never experienced a group of kids who cared so much, tried so hard and just never gave up.

They remind me that it's much more fun to go to work each day when I'm in it to "win," always looking for ways to improve myself, my work product and the work lives of the people around me. Falling victim to a negative mentality is demoralizing and self-defeating.

It'd have been so easy for the kids this year to have given in to their losing streak, lose heart and just go through the motions. Not these boys.

They played to win even when they were being outmatched and completely overpowered.  And I was proud of their coach for helping keep them focused on the game in front of them and helping them stay competitive until the last whistle.

Needless to say, it was an emotional let down when they lost their playoff game today, a hard fought 2-1. My eyes welled up when I learned the biggest competitors were in tears in their team huddle after the game.

I wondered why it took so long for them to make it across the field for their snacks. But isn't that the way it always is with the best competitors? They put their heart into a game and coming down from that to face a loss is painful.

I expect every one of these boys - who blossomed individually and as a team as the season progressed - to continue playing next year.

I was proud to be on the sidelines every Saturday this season - rain or shine.  And I'm a better person because of them.

Slow Food Movement: Get Ready for More Politics and Less Food Porn

A report yesterday from Time magazine talks about the biannual international Terra Madre, where some 5,000 farmers, activists, chefs and foodies gathered for networking, education and, as Time put it, "cheerleading."

I've followed Carlo Petrini's official Slow Food movement with curiosity over the years and been fascinated and encouraged by its growing influence and shift from just eating well to bigger
aspirations.

Time reports that at this year's gathering Petrini, announced plans to sponsor some 1,000 gardens in Africa and called for "more politics in food journalism and less food porn."

But Time noted there were skeptics in the crowd too. Focusing on the Slow Food USA group, the largest delegation at the event, the report quoted a critic who noted the delegation lacked in representatives from food labor and Hispanic workers.

I expect those voices will be there as the Slow Food movement continues its shift into the politics of agriculture and getting good quality, healthy food onto the plates of the underprivileged around the world.

Apple Picking too Hard for U.S. Workers?

The nation's unemployment rate is at 9% and jobs are scarce. But one area where jobs are plenty and wages are actually going up is agriculture.

Yet, I keep seeing stories about how farmers can't seem to fill their labor needs with legal U.S. workers.

NPR has this story today "Farm Work: Americans Steer Clear of Apple Harvest" about Washington state farmers who say hiring Americans is a fantasy.

One farmer, Bob Brody, told NPR that in the last decade he's only had one American ask for an apple picking job and that would-be worker wanted too much money.

But NPR wonders if jobless Americans will reconsider now that ag wages are on the rise. A fast picker can apparently make $120 a day.

No Bad Hair Days for this Mountain Tomboy

When I first saw this photo, a memory flashed through my mind. I was in New Mexico, had just arrived from California to spend the summer with my dad.

I had long, fine brown hair that my parents would pull into braids to keep under control. These braids didn't last the summer. I don't remember my dad cutting them off. But I did see them later, after the summer. He'd mailed them to my mother. Yikes. Not exactly the daughter update she was expecting.

Anyway, it was probably the shortest I'd had my hair since birth and have never had it that short since. But it was likely worth taking any flak my dad got so he didn't have to put up with brushing out the tangles in the dry mountains where hot showers and baths were luxuries. My daughter's hair is a similar texture and we battle it out with a brush every morning.

I wasn't the only kid to make this annual summer trek to the mountains to visit a parent. I have memories of many of these itinerant children - some memories more vivid than others. I knew the girl in this photo on the left, though she was older so I don't remember us playing together much. This is her dad's hogan where we were escaping the mountain sun.

We're still working to ID the child on the right. It took a while for me to be certain the "mean girl" in the middle was me. I don't recall wearing many dresses or having purses. But my dad swears I was in a dress and clutched a purse as often as I could get hold of either.

Quick, Look Up the Ingredients List! We're Having What Guy Fieri Just Made

Guy Fieri

I turned on the Food Network this afternoon while I scarfed down my lunch. And in about 20 minutes - catching the tail end of Guy's Big Bite and the beginning of Paula Deen's Sweet Sensations - I had a plan for supper and for a meal one other night this week.

Fieri turned us on to a great recipe for what he called goulash. It's nothing like my grandmother's goulash. But it was fantastic and had just the right amount of heat.

His recipe - Guid's Goulash for Zlotowitz - called for four pounds of meat. That's way too much for us, so I halved the recipe. Turned out fantastic. This was truly last minute, so I didn't attempt the grilled polenta that he whipped up. Instead I opted for rotini.

We'll make Paula's recipe - Maple-Glazed Pork Chops - sometime this week. I had everything on hand for this already except the chops.

Cannot wait to try this. We'll even serve it with sweet potatoes, maybe not her version, but for sure one the kids will eat.

I know they'd eat the cupcakes they made on that episode. The TV dinner cupcakes are super cute. [There's no photo on the show's recipe page, but you can see them in the book, Hello Cupcake, and from others who've made them, like Erica at Favorite Family Recipes.

UPDATE: The pork chops were so so. The syrup was just too sweet, even though I really like the idea of a sweet and savory combo. We usually do that with pork by adding a little brown sugar to the spice rub. Even my sweet-toothed daughter didn't like the syrup on her chops. 

Sugar Substitute for Pancakes this Morning

At some point, after my orange-colored banana pancakes were all made and ready for decorating, I realized I'd left out a key ingredient: sugar.

They cooked up beautifully without two tablespoons of the sweet stuff.

And clearly, no extra sugar was needed after the kids finished them with candy corn, whipped cream and M&Ms.

I'm thinking I'll need to boost the nutritional value of their lunch today.

Latest in the Crock Pot: Chicken Vindaloo ala 'The Indian Slow Cooker'

Besides making paneer from scratch, the most intimidating parts of Anupy Singla's recently published book, "The Indian Slow Cooker," is the chapter on meats.

That's because most of these recipes don't involve simply dumping ingredients in a particular order into a crock pot.

Instead, there's a fair amount of prep time included. But the result, at least with my first attempt, is well worth the effort.

I had an early day Thursday so when I got home I opened up the book to the recipe for chicken vindaloo. I'd already purchased all the ingredients over the weekend and time was running out on that chicken.

Here's what I learned:

• Eight large onions thinly sliced takes up a much larger pan than I initially expected. 
• I will need to go to the gym before I'll have the muscle power to grind pepper corns, mustard seed and rock salt into a powder. Instead, I dug up an old coffee grinder, cleaned it out and, voila, powder. 
• Even using the smallest amount of peppers can generate a lot of heat...more than my kids could stand. They loved the aroma of what was in the pot, but I'll have to try some of these recipes sans peppers if I really want them to get a taste for Indian food.
• Boneless chicken breast may be the more healthy meat alternative, but after six hours in a crock pot, even infused with so much flavor, it was dry and unappealing. I may try this again with boneless thighs.
• The full recipe makes a ton! Too much for me and Sim. But this week, that turned out to be a good thing.

Last night, I walked over to my neighbor's house with a tub of our leftover vindaloo and basmati rice. Along with some leftovers she heated up, we were able to cobble together a nice meal for ourselves and our husbands.

The kids had mac and cheese.

Next time, I may halve the recipe in a smaller crock pot and eliminate the hot peppers to see if I can get the kids to enjoy these flavors as much as we do. 

Chillin, Making Applebutter

Look how at ease my great great grandparents look here making applebutter.

Making applebutter. Wells County, Ind.

When my Dad shared this photo, he noted that the photo was taken in Wells County, Ind. The pic is of my grandmother's grandparents.

"These families had been in America for generations but unlikely that they spoke English," Dad observes.

Photo used with permission from Hoosier Outsider.

Here's a Tea Party Movement I Can Get Behind

I blame credit her My Little Pony Spring Tea Party book for encouraging my Future Farmgirl to hold tea parties, with me (real tea) and with one of her best buds (hot chocolate w/a liberal helping of mini marshmallows).

I've actually had a lot of fun with these little gatherings: setting the trays and trusting her with the Wedgewood (and, eventually, my grandmother's fine china tea cup collection).

I have to admit this is one of the delights of having a little girl.

She's mostly been a tomboy and shuns girly pursuits. But, on occasion, she's sugar and spice, all the way through.

Get Fresh Detroit Is Serving Up Fresh Produce to Urban Dwellers

Check out Get Fresh Detroit, a new start-up founded by two University of Michigan students who are trying to get fresh veggies to corner stores and liquor stores in urban communities where many local residents grocery shop.

In this video, Noam Kimelman talks about deciding whether to "chase money your whole life or chase something meaningful."

Harvest Soup After the Bell

After all our work this summer tending to the Irving garden, I was disappointed I had to miss the stone soup that a local mom/chef whipped up to serve the children today.

Even though I couldn't be there in person, I was delighted to see this post over at Tales of the Elsmo Four, where Mel shared photos from the soup and blogged about the challenge of "pushing vegetarian vegetable soup to nearly 300 cupcake loving elementary school kids."

Ha ha. A challenge indeed.

I'm so glad to hear that the kids literally ate it up, enjoying the fruits of their labor with planting and harvesting.

Mel and her partner chef made the stock from veggies from the garden, and finished off the soup with squash, beans, broccoli and carrots from the harvest.

Mel, do let me know if there are any leftovers! And, btw, does that soup tureen have wheels?

Bake Sale Postmortem

Whew. There's a lot more to a bake sale than whipping up a batch of cookies.

Our best salesman of the day.

I just managed my first bake sale on Saturday and even though there were times I was overwhelmed and exhausted, I would do it all over again.

I'd do it again for the cause -- my kids and so many others could really use a real playground at their school. (A school in 2010 without grass? How 1950s.)

And I'd do it again to work with so many great people. The 30-plus bakers were truly talented. Several were not only masters in the kitchen, they were creative with their packaging for display:

Pumpkin swirl brownies tied with twine and round metal-edged tags, piled high in a large basket. Gluten-free cookies and breads dolled up with blue and white polka dot ribbon. And dozens of monster chocolate chip cookies, individually wrapped and tied with ribbon, then marked with a big red $1 bullseye sticker in the center.

I made chocolate brownies in ghost-shaped tins and made eyes out of M&Ms and mouths out of candy corn. But my packaging skills, I have learned, are sorely lacking. Thankfully another mom printed out cute Irving Schoolyard Project labels, otherwise my cookies would have looked even more sad by comparison to the ones dressed in stickers, sprinkles and ribbon.

And after seeing how the Women's Guild managed their display, with tiered pie racks and cupcake stands, I know exactly what I'd do differently next time. They were the other bake sale at the market Saturday and they had an absolutely top notch presentation, complete with table clothes and volunteers with matching t-shirts. 

We were all blessed with an unseasonably warm and sunny day, but an oddly sluggish start to the market (even the farmers noticed - some blamed the holiday weekend).

Customer finding herself in the Schoolyard Project photo.

Thankfully, we had an Irving 4th grader at the table during our slow period to not only draw every grandmother to the table, but to hit home the reason we were there. He talked, from personal, painful experience, about the need for softer landings on the playground.

His 2nd grader sister was just as sales savvy, at some points, asking mostly choosy children, "Can I have your money now?"

I wasn't sure we'd keep up sales after their shift ended. But things picked up for us and the farmers around 11, just when the market usually starts to slow down. At that point, I was sure we would sell out before the market closed at 1.

We came pretty close. We didn't start to discount until about 12:30 when we were down to just a couple dozen items.

At the very end, all we had left were a few slices of cake and broken cookies. Our best customers were Irving families, alumni, neighbors and even the former school nurse...who could easily testify as to the need for a better, safer play space for our kids.

We ended up raising about $950 for the Schoolyard Project. That was a little shy of my unofficial goal.

At least I have a number to beat next time. And were now $950 closer to some softer landings at Irving.

Soybean Harvest and Horse Heaven

We haven't made it down to The Farm nearly enough this year, so I'm especially grateful for occasional photo updates from Hoosier Outsider.

The below photo is of the soybean harvest. With this snapshot comes some family farm history that I'd never heard before.

Dad says that for decades, our farm's largest field down by the mighty Mississinewa was the source of the best hay to be found.

Farmers nicknamed it "Horse Heaven." I've only seen photos and slides of the property back when my grandfather - a gentleman farmer - raised sheep when he wasn't running his pharmacy.

Those sheep kept the whole landscape finely manicured. Would love to get my hands on some of those pix.

Ghosts in FarmVille App Frustrate Facebook Users

I continue to marvel at the success of FarmVille, the virtual farming game played by millions of Facebook users.

[It's so big that even McDonald's is getting into the game, literally. USA Today has a story about the company partnering with FarmVille's creators to offer prizes and incentives as part of a real life marketing pitch in virtual reality.]

But I digress...

The latest report from of all places, the New York Daily News, is that FarmVille developers goofed by releasing a seasonal upgrade that included a haunted house that, well, mysteriously vanishes.

FarmVille promises a quick fix...after their developers get a good night of sleep.

Consumer Groups Protest $180K Grant for Pro-Pesticide Campaign

The Associated Press is reporting on a controversy surrounding a $180,000 Department of Food and Agriculture grant awarded to a California-based group that critics say is advocating against organic agriculture.

Environmental and consumer groups are protesting the federally-funded Specialty Crops Block Grant awarded to the Alliance for Food and Family Farming, which is working on a "public education campaign to correct misconceptions that some produce items contain excessive amounts of pesticide residues."

The articles I found didn't outline many of the complaints, but here's a snippet from the protest letter and a link to the full thing:

"The award of this grant strikes a blow to California’s expanding organic produce industry and places the department in opposition to the public’s interest in reducing pesticide exposure. This action also represents a fundamental failure to implement a fair and balanced grant selection process," a coalition of environmental and consumer groups wrote to state ag officials.

Signatories of the letter include representatives from the Environmental Working Group, National Resources Defense Council, Parents for a Safer Environment, and a host of other environmental, farming and consumer organizations.

What Was I Thinking?

It's t-minus three cooking days to Saturday's bake sale at the Farmers Market to benefit the Irving Schoolyard Project.

I have more than 30 volunteers lined up to bake everything from sprinkle topped cookies to Swedish cake and pumpkin bread.

There are so many little details to consider, but it's all starting to come together. At least that's what I tell myself so I can sleep each night.

I only hope we have enough goodies for the six hours we're scheduled to be at the market.

Backyard Nature: Wasp Larva at War with Tomato Hornworm

I caught a glimpse of this interesting little creature when the kids and I headed out the door this morning.

Dad identified him as tomato hornworm with braconid wasp larvae hanging from his back. Once I found out they were wasps, I was tempted to kill the larva. But dad convinced me that the wasps will keep my tomato patch hornworm free.

I just won't tell Future Farmgirl, who was stung multiple times this summer by wasps at The Farm.

I've since learned that the wasps lay their eggs so that the larvae will incubate inside the hornworm, eventually destroying the tomato plant destroyer.

Impressive, yet disturbing, strategy. Yet another reason I am a Virtual Farmgirl.