Sustainability -

by gansie

Top 9 Foods Found Only at SoCal Farmers’ Markets (and Not in DC)

While I didn’t catch a glimpse of an avocado orchard, or even an avocado tree, I did find a farmers market, Local Harvest at Marine Stadium, on my last day in Long Beach, California. The first stall displayed all fruits and vegetables that I easily find at my neighborhood far mar: zucchini and onions and peaches.

Jujube

But then I looked to my left and saw jujubes. The vendor had a sign proclaiming unattainable health benefits (cancer prevention, Zen-filled life). I bought a half pound. Frankly, though, jujubes may grant me 109 years on earth, but they still taste like blah. Total blah. At first I thought they were dried chilies but then I thought, hey, a sickly sweet candy is named after the dried fruit so it must be sweet. ERRRR. <buzzer sounds> It tastes like absolutely nothing.

Lime

What a radical notion. Citrus fruit is not only in white cartons marked with styles of “some pulp,” but apparently grow on trees. In California.

Dragon Fruit

Total alien fruit. Was this the punk rock cousin of an artichoke with its round shape and spiky leaves? No. It’s a beautiful fuchsia-fleshed fruit. The color, however, is more exciting than the taste.

Almond

There are some edibles out there that I have zero concept of how they grow. Nuts are one of them. Fresh almonds from the farmers market are particularly nutty and do have more flavor than their encased-in-bulk-bins selves.

by gansie

Continued: I’m Not Eating Ice Cream Every 15 Minutes

When I first started working virtually I was nervous I would eat ice cream all day, which you can read about in my post aptly titled, “How Not to Eat Ice Cream Every 15 Minutes.” I got some wonderful suggestions, such as Summer‘s guidance to eat away from my desk and to drink coffee, a natural appetite suppressant. (I’m looking at you, red-headed Olsen with the Starbucks taped to your palm like you’re playing Edward 40Hands.)

So I usually drink tea or coffee in the morning, as I’m not a normal breakfast eater. And actually, the binge eating hasn’t been so bad, especially with the abundance of fresh fruit this time of year. Although there have been some ups and downs in this whole work from home thing, I’m actually loving it.

My favorite part—besides no commuting, no dressing, no showering—is cooking lunch. I look forward to it all morning, if not the second I’ve finished dinner the night before.

by gansie

Top Chef Exit Interview: Episode 4

There were a lot of things to get mad about on this week’s Top Chef: team elimination, Padma’s and Tom’s babies not participating in the challenge and that oven labeling issue.

At least those were my gripes. Here’s what the axed chef’testants have to say.

in TV 2 comments

by Roo de Loo

Texas Tuesdays, Part III: Farm to Stomach

photos: Matthew Wexler

Roo de Loo’s final installment on the Austin food scene...

After several days of indulging on barbecue, breakfast tacos and margaritas, I thought I’d take a brief respite and check out Austin’s burgeoning urban farm scene before hitting the town for one final culinary rodeo.

My first stop was Springdale Farm, located just a few miles from downtown Austin. Created by landscape horticulturist Glenn Foore and his wife, Paula, the couple’s farm is just under 5 acres of land surrounded by modest homes and more than a few cars that have seen better days. There was a torrential downpour the afternoon I visited, but Glenn and Paula welcomed me with open arms and umbrellas as they stood under a leaky muslin farm stand. We chatted a bit about sustainability and the locavore scene. Glenn’s eagerness to further engage the community is apparent through Springdale’s participation in urban farm tours, on-site dinners and their own Community Supported Agriculture program.

Next stop was Boggy Creek Farm—the vision of Larry Butler and Carol Ann Sayle, who have been growing commercially since 1991. They are USDA-certified organic, which doesn’t come easy. Carol, with a wide toothy grin and sunspots from long days in the field, reminded me of a modern-day Aunt Eller, proclaiming, “We’re all about the soil, but we don’t know everything!” She enthusiastically bantered about the challenges of the small farmer as I wandered the grounds, stumbling across fresh strawberries, spring onions and some plucky chickens who found their way under my feet.

Although I hadn’t done anything more than chat up some locals and sneak a mouthful of red leaf lettuce right from the ground, I was craving a coffee break as if I had been harvesting all morning. I dashed off to nearby Progress Coffee, a hip coffeehouse located in a converted warehouse on Austin’s near east side. Progress Coffee is “fair trade, organic, shade-grown and custom-roasted by hand in small batches.” It’s so peaced-out, I think may have seen the Dali Lama at the barista making my double latté.

in Drinks / Food Travel 1 comments

by gansie

An Alternative to the Butter Treatment

This past Saturday was my first day working at the Mt. Pleasant Far Mar. Yes. Far Mar. I think that’s what the folks in Oakland, CA call the farmers market and the Mt. P owner is from there so that’s how it goes. I love a good abbreviation so I’m all for it.

I have a feeling this season I’m going to be trying out a bunch new vegetables. Or at least vegetable that I don’t normally buy.

My friend Violette, a French girl, is a natural fan of radishes. She slices them and serves them with salty butter. While I cannot deny the simple goodness of this treat, I’d love to find more ways to enjoy this spicy vegetable. And not just in salads. Help me find creative alternatives.

Can you spin radishes into a sauce?
Use as a vehicle for a dip?
Serve under eggs?

Suggestions welcome.

in Veggie 7 comments

by gansie

Lessons From Rotted Okra

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions anymore. Well, only kinds to start smoking. But I would like to make two resolutions for the upcoming farmers market season. The picture above perfectly exemplifies my two points.

1. Experiment
I’ve only tried okra from other people’s cooking and I had mixed feelings on the vegetable. (This was a good memory.) I bought some at the far mar but I was so nervous with what to do with it that I let it go bad. I need to be brave this season and

2. Not Waste
There was really no reason for this lovely, furry green rod to rot in my fridge. Part of the problem is my lack of courage in dealing with the finicky okra, but the other is I will buy too much. Everything looks so gorgeous at the market and I want to buy it all. I need to come prepared with a plan and not just buy all of the beautiful produce I can carry.

in Personal / Veggie 6 comments

by gansie

Why Organic May or May Not Be the Answer

While my dad likes to cook, he likes to make things easy on himself. For instance, he’ll take one night and make it a total marathon in the kitchen so he doesn’t have to cook every night the rest for of the week. Totally normal. I get that. I do it too. Everyone does. It makes sense.

But then there’s the pre-chopped, double vacuum sealed, organic garlic from China.

Organic is good, right? We want to ingest food that has not been grown with chemicals. It’s the right thing. It’s better for our body. It’s better for our planet. And usually we can buy this type of food from a local source. But then there’s the organic from half way around the world.

My dad is starting to climb that local food hill and is well into Omnivore’s Dilemma, but still cares more about not having to peel garlic cloves. So he buys garlic cloves that have been peeled, packed in a plastic wrap in groups of four, then packaged in a larger plastic bag. A lot of plastic. A lot of waste. But it’s still organic. Yet it’s been shipped from China. But it’s still organic.

What the fuck are we supposed to do?

in Trends 6 comments