treat yourself to a half-pint

Currently available (and quickly selling out) at a couple of Seattle’s Farmers’ markets – Half Pint is a small, owner-operated homemade ice cream company based out of Seattle, Washington. Their ice creams are made fresh weekly and with organic dairy and eggs and local ingredients when possible. – Check Cle’s website for updated on flavors of the week, and times/locations.

Where better than Seattle to get coffee ice cream? is all I’m sayin. But don’t just my word for it (as a family member back on the other coast), Here’s another seattle based food bloggers 2 cents.

 

on the back 9

…and back to booze. Specifically the wine century challenge. I just updated the list, we’ve broken the 50% barrier! Had some Prosecco and Chenin Blanc this weekend, before and with sunday dinner. Both were good, liked the latter better.

Double checking the tally, I see I never bothered to count Chardonnay – we’ve certainly had plenty of that, should have been the first tick mark on the list, or the free space in the middle of the bingo card.

Finally opened a couple bottles that have been sitting around since Christmastime. We had the Petit Verdot, which was good (and good with the Bavarian Beer cheese from Trader Joes). The Rueda (verdejo) was much better with salmon (as advertised) than on its own.

I anticipate the next 25 will take longer than the first 50, and the rest, longer still. – Hopefully not a J curve ;(

Even though I’m getting pretty lax with this blog, I wonder if I should change the name or intent of it. While my little one still loves spending time in the kitchen with me, as well as in her play kitchen. I find I’m spending plenty of time at the grown-ups table.

 

ignorance = bliss. sweet delicious bliss

I’ve made a habit lately of putting some smoked salmon on a bagel in the morning, certainly not a new idea, but something that never occurred to me before (mmm, breakfast sushi!).

Another habit I’ve been consciously adopting this year, is buying as local as possible (natural, organic and seasonally too). I know food miles are the latest food “thing”, and with the current gas prices, it’s not likely to change soon. Rather than be strict to any set (or arbitrary) circle drawn around our house, I’m comparing addresses, and just going as local as possible – If outside New England isn’t an option. Besides, living smack dab in the middle of New England gets me pretty close to 100 miles or so anyhow. New York apples will trump Washington or Chile,… you get the idea. It’s a start….

Yesterday I popped into my parents local supermarket, and was pleased to see them touting produce from the farm literally right down the road, rather than across the equator. Someone’s paying attention! I also saw they had Wild Atlantic Salmon! – well Maine is sure closer to home than the Pacific Northwest.

One taste this morning and I knew I had a winner. Minimally processed, locally, with only natural ingredients. No preservatives. Great flavor, texture. I couldn’t wait to get home to get some more.

But lo – apparently Atlantic Salmon is an endangered species, and (righly so) is illegal to fish. – having been over fished. The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers us seafood watch – info on which species that are doing ok population wise, and which ones are threatened or endangered. It’s enough to give one pause, and wonder why stores and restaurants are able to sell them.

well, the company I’d so recently become a huge fan of has an extensive web site, with links to enough places to show us what they’re doing, where they’re doing it, and what the state of salmon in the wild really is. They seem to be operating on the up and up, so now I’m left wondering if Wild can be defined bureaucratically as farmed, if they are selling me fish from the other side of the Atlantic that isn’t endangered (and ultimately has no fewer miles under it’s fins) or am I missing something obvious?

To sum up impressions I’ve been given; (google them for yourself for further info, or if you think I’m mistaken)

• Re: Salmon (and virtually all animal products), Wild (free range) is better (healthier) than farmed.
• Organic/All natural products are better for you, as well as the planet/environment
• Fewer food miles = fresher food, less time from field to table, less gas (and carbon emissions)
• Endangered animals (while they might be tasty) are illegal to hunt, sell and eat.

Oh the road to hell is surely paved with good intentions… but now that I’ve done a little reading on my latest on the go breakfast, I can’t tell if I’m doing ok, or if I’m one of the customers knowingly cue up for a bit of Komodo Dragon in The Freshman!

But when the information is conflicting… What’s one to do? ARGHHHH!

It’s important to shop and by locally. Keeps the money in the community (or region). Keeps the mom and pop business thriving. Keeps us able to make a choice, rather than accept whatever the big boxes offer up. It’s similarly important to know where your food comes from. There’s a reason chef’s choose fresh, seasonal, all natural and organic ingredients. They grow their own food, or develop relationships with farmers and see how the food is grown and raised, and it makes a difference in quality and flavor. I don’t want a tomato that can survive a 2,000 mile trip without bruising, I want one who’s flavor makes me take pause.

Well, it would seem that I, in my haste (and surprise) at the grocery store, saw the various packages of Wild, Pacific, Atlantic, Nova, Coho and Sockeye salmon, and While I took home an All-natural Atlantic Salmon, it never claimed to be wild… So no confusion about rule breakers, or what I should and shouldn’t be buying… Now the issue is to decide which is more important, or less evil – food miles, or free range-ness.

Is farmed bad? I’m made to think it is, but what do I know? Information and arguments abound (and might conflict) However, the state of Alaska amended their constitution to actually outlaw Salmon farming.

Ok, so I can’t have my Atlantic Salmon “wild”, at least not today, maybe someday… but until then I’ve read that of the commercially availble Pacific varieties, Sockeye or Chinook are closest in taste and texture. – That would explain my lukewarm reception of the less fatty Coho.

Shouldn’t I be congratulating myself for driving past the Dunkin Donutses (of which there are literally dozens between home and my wifes office, 22 miles away) and making my own breakfast with real food, stuff without multiple kinds of sugar in it, and virtually nothing found in nature? I shouldn’t be tormenting myself with the individual and global consequences of what I put on my plate. Not if I’m eating and living healthier than I have been, right?

Wasn’t it so much easier when Mom did the grocery shopping, and we didn’t need to care about all the politics and ramifications of what we put on our plates? Oh, sweet bliss of ignorance… how we have outgrown thee.

 

Dark n’Stormy variations – Top 5

#1 Dark n’Stormy - Barritt’s Ginger Beer and Black Seal Rum.

If the fates should look unfavorably upon you, and you run out of Barritt’s Ginger Beer skip the advice of the bartenders on your Bermuda cruise, and instead of opting for Root Beer, Go instead for Coke or Pepsi (not diet) and have yourself a:
#2 Rum and Coke/Cuba Libre or a slightly weaker (but still quite intoxicating Black Seal and Coke (2 oz Rum, 6 Oz coke (instead of 4 oz in the former)

if you only have diet coke on hand, reach instead for the:

#3 Root Beer – Not exactly the recommended substitute, but a tasty drink in it’s own right. An all natural version would be great – Jones makes one with Sugar Cane! not HFCS
#4 A Ginger Gale (the Ginger Ale version of the classic made with Ginger Beer – not remotely the same drink, but otherwise made exactly the same way. Some variety here, whether you use one of the supermarket staples, or a spicier or smaller more “handcrafted” offering from the likes of Vernors, Blenheim, Reeds, Blue Sky or Boylan.

#5 If you only have diet soda (and I’ve become a diet soda drinker lately), drink it (the diet soda) straight, over ice or even with lime, but don’t add the rum. please. ;P

future tests (or things to do until I finally break down and crack open my last can of Barritt’s) Mountain Dew and a variety of flavors from “back home” Polar Beverage Company – Orange Dry, and others.

 

Don’t eat anything that doesn’t rot

Acclaimed author and journalist Michael Pollan argues that what most Americans are consuming today is not food but “edible food-like substances.” His previous book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, was named one of 2006’s ten best books by the New York Times and the Washington Post. His latest book is called In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.

http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/76987/?page=entire

 

Not your Mom’s Meatloaf

I’d earmarked this meatloaf roll I’d seen on the Phantom Gourmet a few weeks back, and intended to test it sometime before next Christmas (as it looked, and sounded) good enough to serve then – I mean, c’mon Bacon wrapped meat – not a tough sell, even with spinach inside.

Their recipe, courtesy of McIntosh College, called for 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 Ground pork. Previously on Good Eats I recalled Alton Brown suggesting a 1/3 mix of Beef, pork and Lamb… but still being somewhat vegetarian, I knew I’d still stick with turkey regardless, but when I saw the sign for fresh ground dark meat turkey, I knew this was what I needed.

It went together pretty easily, even considering I altered it somewhat by making my own breadcrumbs (have you looked at the ridiculously long ingredients list on a package of breadcrumbs?), sauteeing down some baby spinach and harvesting my own herbs from the hydroponic herb garden I got for Christmas. (Ok, that still doesn’t really sound like extra work – I still only got one bowl, cutting board and knife dirty in the process of prep).

Looks good, smells like bacon wrapped goodness (yes that was turkey too), and even though I’d overcooked it by at least 10 degrees, It was moist, juicy and delicious.

 

Locavore nation

One delicious, local, all natural answer for stocking my freezer:  

 

I’ve been aggregated!

and that seems to be a good thing.

 

back to black

New year, new resolutions. This one isn’t about losing weight or getting in shape, but that will be a natural side benefit.

Fad diets? Nope. Excercizing more? I intend to, but that’s another story.

I’ve been into organics and natural foods for several years, now I’m learning more about eating local and slow food. Putting it all together has shed some intersting light on what’s hidden in the typical American diet. Sugars that we are mindlessly consuming, or are totally unaware are present. It’s just no wonder the state of unhealthfulness were in!

Learning more about food miles has me eager to eat locally, more healthfully as a favor to the planet (and my family). Rather than adopt a seemingly extreme 100 mile diet or some other arbitrary number, I’m going to attempt to have all my foods grown or processed within New England (being that I live, pretty much smack dab in the middle, that works well. – and isn’t all that far off from 100 miles come to think of it…) Luckily this leaves me open to surf and turf. Too bad for the seafood lover in Denver.

I’ve already started gardening indoors, planning what’s going outside, and looking for local sources of raw ingredients – and the occasional processed food stuffs. King Arthur Flour in VT for example, will suffice as a local processor of wheat (grown in the heartland) while I search for local wheat berries to grind myself. (I already bake my own bread anyway). The hopeful outcome will be reducing the food miles on my plate, the amount of packaging destined for landfill (if not recyclable) and thereby the amount of gas and oil consumed in bringing my food to the table. Saving me money, and doing the planet a world of good.

Part of looking locally, naturally has us favoring the garden, and I do plan on growing much of my own vegetables, as well as visiting my local farmers and farmers markets. NH apples trump Washington, and for the occasional product I need… the closer to home the better. New York wines instead of Chilean ones. (but let’s not worry about beverages just yet.)

Another part of the equation is naturally weeding out all those empty calories in the supermarket that we don’t really need – and have long since lost the metabolism to process. (Where does one find real Cheez?)

I’ve recently become aware (I love food blogs and podcasts – citizen journalism – power to the people!) of the movie King Corn – a documentary about 3 guys growing an acre of corn just to see where our food comes from and what happens to it. They had no idea where the project would take them.

I haven’t seen the film yet, just heard about it. (Thanks Don!) And now understand that corn is in almost everything we (the typical american) eats. Even the well rounded “college diet” of burgers, pizza and donuts is highly corn based. No diversity there – and LOTS of hidden sugar. Even those low-carb meals are full of sugar – given that most of the livestock in this country is fed corn – and not the delicious corn on the cob we eat mind you. Basically a nutritionally devoid foodstuff that is making our animals fat and unhealthy. Not good eats. (Vegans rejoice!)

Anyhow, taking a more local look at what I stock the shelves with, reading ingredient labels and only eating corn on purpose will take a TON of sugar out of my diet. Less sugar, less empty calories. Fewer calories in, fewer to burn or store as fat. Easy beans.

This week I started by adjusting my coffee habit. (Yes, coffee isn’t local, neither is Tea. I said lets not look at beverages just yet

Step one, ditch the artificial creamer. It was a must when I was vegan, but I’ve lost the taste for milk in coffee. I know this isn’t the best thing to have, and once thought it was my only vice, my only source of empty calories. I like black coffee just fine, but I like my mochas too.

Anyhow here’s some simple math with coffee – information courtesy of Starbuck.com nutritional information page.

16 oz (Grande) Peppermint Mocha (yummy!) 400 Calories, 49 grams of sugar. (I’d usually get a Large for 80 calories more, 62 grams of sugar)

In the summer I’d enjoy a Java Chip Frappucino 490 calories (down from 600 without whipped cream) but these have 75 grams of sugar.

Today I ordered (and enjoyed) a large (16 oz) cup of coffee – 5 calories (black) 16 more calories with sugar. hmm 21 calories vs 480. How many minutes on the treadmill to walk that off?

Given that I was likely to have between 1 and 3 of these a week…. I’m looking at cutting excess (and typically mindless) 1,100 calories a week. Another benefit… it’s way cheaper.

 

food for thought

Are the scientists who just announced that cloned meat is safe for human consumption the same ones who keep changing their minds about which foods are bad for us?

Avoid salt. No, wait, avoid fat. No – make that sugar. Carbs…

Let the government allow food producers to get away (with misleading the public) without labeling which meats are cloned. I’ll continue to follow the organic, local, slow-food model thank you very much. And those who label that they DON’T use GMO’s, cloning, etc….