Sustainability -

by gansie

Celebrate What You Want To See More Of

I’m not a big fan of email quote signatures. I don’t mind when people use e-signatures for their work email. And I don’t mind when people include their email/phone/website. But quotes? I kinda feel like I’m back in 8th grade trying to memorize the lyrics to Water Runs Dry.

ES friend jakesg forwarded me an email with a link to his friends’ video. The video is for their sustainability class. How cool – sustainability class. The video’s a bit DIY with missing audio around the 2 minute mark that last for 45 seconds. But go with it.

Because as Jake’s friend’s email quote says: Celebrate what you want to see more of.

Maybe email quotes aren’t so bad.

in Trends 0 comments

by gansie

One Last Warm Breeze

Editors Note: My neighbor Kashou Bennett who blogs at The Straight Torquer has been bragging about his garden for months. As we wrap up our outdoor activities, Kash gives us one more remembrance of warmer days.

The leaves are turning, the wind is getting chillier, and I have finally retired my garden.

I had harvested most of the vegetables a few weeks ago, but my basil plants this year just kept on kicking. It was a small garden, not difficult to keep weeded and tended to, just a tidy patch of tilled earth in the front yard of my house in Columbia Heights, Washington DC.

The reason I kept those last hardy basil plants around as long as I could was that the little group of plants represents more to me than just a place from which I can get a bit of food. My garden was a public statement — and when I say public, I mean front yard public — of organic living and self-sufficiency that I was inspired to undertake by Michelle Obama’s organic garden in the backyard of the White House.

Sure, I could have avoided some sidewalk casualties had I protected my pepper plants in pots on the back porch. Several times I rescued the fragile flora from incoming threats of various nature. From inebriated friends staggering through the yard and just not realizing what they were standing in (hey man, watch out!), to the daily assaults coming from the games of the kids who live on my block.

by tvff

Happy National Scrapple Day!

I think it’s hilarious that today is “National” Scrapple Day, considering: (1) you can only get the stuff in a relatively small portion of the country and (2) in places where it is available, a solid 85% of the people won’t touch the stuff. But maybe what this horrendously under-appreciated delight needs is a day of observance to boost its reputation.

For those of you who don’t live in the mid-Atlantic states, I suppose that scrapple deserves a little explanation. Essentially, it’s a meat product made using pig offal. After the butchers have taken the “desirable” cuts off the pig, the rest gets boiled, the meat is minced and grain (cornmeal, usually) and spices are added to thicken the mixture into a loaf.

Once it gets to your kitchen or diner, it’s either pan- or deep-fried and what you get is a wonderful slice that is crunchy on the outside, smooth and creamy on the inside. There is a rich, meaty flavor here that you’re never going to get from a lifeless cut of meat like a quick-fry pork chop. Do yourself a favor and stop in a diner during your next trip through South Jersey or Eastern Pennsylvania.

I understand that scrapple can be scary. Shit, just the word is creepy. There’s the vaguely Germanic sound and the unfortunate inclusion of “scrap” and/or “crap.” But what really gets me is when I tell someone how much I enjoy it and they come back with: “But don’t you know what’s in that?!?” Yes, I do, which makes me like it even more. Here’s why…

in Breakfast / Holiday / Pig / Rants & Raves 16 comments

by gansie

The Desire’s Even Stronger a Day Later

If we were really on top of this shit, we would have posted this yesterday. Or the day before. But with the Phillies (winning) in the World Series, there’s been some other pressing matters. So while I would have gladly watched my savior’s documentary last night, I was instead enjoying Chase’s home runs.

But because of the availability of re-runs, we can all learn about our earthly cravings in Michael Pollan’s PBS documentary, Botany of Desire.

I’ve read Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, but I haven’t gotten around to Botany (which is on my list after Michael Ruhlman’s The Making of a Chef. I’m in the middle of United States of Arugula but I think I’m gonna bail on finishing it.)

Anyway, PBS has a great little track-by-zipcode feature so you can find out exactly when you should Tivo it. And if you skipped the World Series and Top Chef to watch some Pollan goodness, let me know what you think.

in TV 1 comments

by gansie

10 Things I Learned From One Day as an Assistant Manager of Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market

Sitting on my couch, drinking a stout with my friend Gee and watching the Phils losing game, I saw an email come in from the director of the Mt. Pleasant Farmers’ Market. Rebbie’s usual assistant couldn’t make it and she asked if I would be interested in helping her out on Saturday. I replied immediately with a YES.

Those of you living in The DMV will know about the relentless rain in the past few days. But as I emailed a few neighborhood friends to visit me, I wrote that never was I so excited to be out in the rainy cold for five hours on a weekend morning.

I mostly stood by a table that said “market manager” and when I was asked questions I would have to hope that the actual manager would be close by. I also took charge of the credit card machine: shoppers can swipe their debit cards and receive tokens in exchange. So besides learning how to work that gadget, I picked up a few other things from being on the other side of the market.

10 Things I Learned From One Day as an Assistant Manager of Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market

1. Access. Farmers markets, of course, provide sustainably grown produce and artisanally crafted breads and cheeses to the community. But who is that community? Markets are finding ways to accept government food assistant programs to make sure that everyone can enjoy thoughtfully grown fruits and vegetables. I learned that one kind of program only allows for purchases of fruits and vegetables and not breads, cheeses or flowers. I agree with Belmont, who worked for a vendor this market season, on this one: “never underestimate a well placed bunch of flowers to lift the spirits.”

2. Gold Lamé Tights. Many shoppers remember to bring cash so in the large gaps of time between the debit card-token exchange, Rebbie, Patrick (see #3) and I dished about market fashions. Yes, someone pulled it together to wear gold lamé tights before noon.

3. Bike Repair. Farmers markets offer more than just food. Mt.P holds a free bike clinic and showcases local musicians. In the most crappy of weather that was Saturday not many people brought by their bikes, which left more time to chat about food and the point of slouchy boots.

4. Honeycrisps. This type of apple is so trendy right now. I don’t usually favor one brand over another, but 80P started requesting this one by name. While waiting for the bathroom key (see # 5) I asked the orchardist why honeycrips were so popular. Apparently there cell structure is different than most apples and they have 4 times the amount of pectin. If I understood this correctly, pectin makes the apple crunchy. Therefore honeycrisps are hella crunchy. Don’t even think about baking with them.

5. Bathroom Key. The bathroom key is the hottest item at the market.

in Lists / Personal / Trends 7 comments

by gansie

Market Style: Pimping the Plastic

Nope, as far as I know credit cards still aren’t accepted at the farmers market (pictured here: Dupont Circle). But an even sexier plastic is encouraged: tupperware.

This week I was stumbling around, trying to select the perfect 2-inch okra, while balancing another 10 okra (what’s the plural of okra?) in my not very large hands. It was an ugly scene. Forget about grabbing that golden tomato across the next aisle—no way that could survive in the makeshift basket between my wrist and elbow. And then I saw genius.

A woman grabbed a bunch of green beans and dropped them in her tupperware. She then dropped another handful in AND grabbed that last-of-the-season, golden tomato. My mouth dropped.

Instantly I grabbed my iPhone and asked if I could photograph her plastic. She backed away from the scale, but the foxy market attendant faux-humbly asked if I wanted him to slide in for the picture.

This saves plastic bags, lets the farmers keep their cardboard cartons (ie, for berries) and keeps smashable fruit from surrendering to the heavier contents of the rest of the market purchases. I know I always forget about the grape tomatoes in the bottom of my tote; there’s always a few that burst from the pressure of the heavier peaches on top.

Forget those spotted on-the-go, street-style fashion columns, here’s market style.

in Trends 4 comments

by Russell Warnick

An Outstanding Dinner in the City…Er, Field

A quiet Sunday in late August on a nondescript corner of Manhattan’s Alphabet City. The corner is walled by the branches of a decades-old willow tree and an array of urban flowers, and a sign sitting on the sidewalk reads “Farm Dinner.” A hundred-odd people have gathered for a dinner experience that has traversed the country and rests at this location for only two nights. The location is La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden, the chef is Josh Eden of Shorty’s 32 and the host is Jim Denevan, founder of Outstanding in the Field.

Denevan and his Outstanding in the Field team travel the country in a bright red bus offering a roving five-course dinner with a simple concept: source your ingredients locally (including the wine), find a chef who is celebrated regionally, then invite all of your closest friends. OK, so the last part I ad libbed. The elaborate event was more like a wedding where everyone was giddily excited but no one knew each other. Fortunately, no one was seated at the kiddies table. After a glass of wine or two, it wasn’t a problem — we were all old friends catching up over a great meal. I was fortunate enough to be seated across from the photographer of the OITF website and cookbook, who was a host of knowledge on the food, which made my experience ever more fascinating.

More on the OITF menu, and some drool-y food shots, after the jump.

in Personal / Photos 0 comments