Fresh Sheet

Re-launch and official site

2011-01-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Hey there folks--
Google has shoved our old blog to the top of the search results, so while we sort that out, here are links to where you can find our current sites.

The main Edible Seattle magazine site is at www.edibleseattle.com.

And here's a direct link to our Fresh Sheet blog.

--Cheers from the Edible Seattle team--

Work Party on Earth Day

2009-04-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

Earth Day is fast approaching and we're in the midst of a big redesign of our primary website (which includes the calendar). There's a fun volunteer opportunity coming up, thanks to PCC Farmland Trust and Growing Things Farm. Check it out, get muddy on Earth Day and have some tasty snacks while you're at it. Here's their invite:

Join PCC Farmland Trust and Growing Things Farm for a day of constructing hoop houses and learning about sustainable agriculture. Bring your boots, a shovel, your work gloves and a willingness to help local farmer, Michaele Blakely, get ready for the season. Light refreshments will be provided. The weather this time of year can be unpredictable, so please make sure to bring work clothes, and rain gear, hats, etc. if needed.

Where: Growing Things Farm
27307 NE 100th
Carnation, WA
When: Sunday April 19th 10-3pm
Why: Because we love our farmers!

To sign up, please contact Melissa Campbell at melissa.campbell@pccsea.com or 206-547-9855 OR RSVP on the Farmland Trust Facebook Page.

Marra Farms

2009-03-25T14:45:00.001-07:00

Just found a video clip from January on the Seattle Channel. Can't figure out a way to embed the video here, but clicking this link should take you to a lovely 8-minute story about Marra Farms--its history, its programs, and its amazing coordinator, Sue McGann.

Yard Waste

2009-03-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

In a few more weeks, a great new change will take effect with yard waste collection in Seattle. We've been able to compost plant-based food scraps for about a year, but beginning March 30, we can add meats and dairy items to the same yard waste bin: bones, milk, cheese and shells. Not all homes and apartments are signed up with yard waste service, but even the largest container is less than $7/month. Across the three standard sizes of residential cans, yard waste disposal rates are about half the cost of garbage.

My 16-unit condo building has had reasonable success with composting food scraps; right now, I think less than half the building composts, but seven households diverting food from the standard waste bin is a great start. Education is the main issue with the other folks--but since the rules are less complicated than they used to be, hopefully everyone can improve. And if you live in a condo or apartment and don't currently use a yard waste bin or it's not big enough for everyone to use it, talk to your HOA board or landlords and get the building signed up. Imagine a whole building's worth of pizza boxes every month--and now imagine all of them getting turned into compost.

You can find all the information at the Seattle Public Utilities.

Facebook

2009-02-28T09:26:00.000-08:00

You can find our facebook page here. Link in with many of our magazine contributors and national Edible Community publications.

2009 Local Heroes

2009-02-24T10:55:00.000-08:00

The votes were collected online last fall, and were tallied in January. Congratulations to our 2009 Local Heroes:
Farmer/Farm: Skagit River Ranch
Chef/Restaurant: Maria Hines at Tilth
Food Artisan: Estrella Family Creamery
Beverage Artisan: Rockridge Orchards
Nonprofit: Cascade Harvest Coalition

You can read what we have to say about them right here.

The Buzz

2009-02-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

I recently watched River Cottage Spring and River Cottage Fall, and am totally delighted with two projects I saw on the series: guerilla gardening, and urban beekeeping. I wondered if such things were going on around Seattle.

The bees were the easy part: Yes, it's legal to keep bees in many cities around Puget Sound. I've enjoyed talking to representatives from the Puget Sound Beekeeper's Association when I've seen them at the Puyallup Spring Fair, but it never occurred to me to wonder whether it's possible to keep a hive in the middle of Capitol Hill. If my building's shared gardening space was a few feet bigger, the answer would be yes. Each city has its own rules, of course. Here's the PSBA website if you're interested. Not only does it seem satisfying as a hobby, but having healthy hives around will help keep neighborhood gardens and native plants in proper shape. (And I see the PSBA sells honey at a few places around town. I'm looking forward to trying it.)

Guerilla gardening is less specific, but the idea is simple: Grow something on otherwise unused land. A fully legal version of this exists in Seattle, in the form of "traffic calming devices", also known as roundabouts. Most of these are a concrete ring filled with dirt, and are officially maintained by neighborhood volunteers; in areas with a high number of renters, it can be hard to keep track of who said they'd do what--and of course, like all volunteer projects, results are unpredictable.

After a year of complaining about the overgrown mess that was my "traffic calming device", I took matters into my own hands and pruned trees, ripped up half of a euphorbia jungle, and planted several dozen mini daffodil bulbs, for some low-growing color. After hauling away a bag of trash and five giant yard waste bins, I got online and realized what I'd just done was not only legal, it was encouraged. You can register as a volunteer for one in your neighborhood.
There are basic common-sense rules about keeping good lines of sight, and the city is in favor of low-water-use plantings, but there are fairly simple ways to add some edibility to the roundabouts. Culinary lavender is an easy choice; so are nasturtiums and all sorts of thyme and rosemary. Fruit trees or smaller blueberry bushes could work, too, if you're willing to provide some extra water.

There are other ways to guerilla garden. I've seen a few fenced-in lots filled with wildflowers within walking distance, and I bet people have been lobbing seeds over the tops of the chain links. A piece from Crosscut gives a few suggestions on how you can make this happen in your neighborhood.

Starting in a few more weeks, I'm going to be posting photos of spots on my street that has turned the planting strip into an "urban bird sanctuary." Not only are the plants lovely, they feed birds all year long--purple and Cassin's finches, northern flickers, bushtits, nuthatches, and several kinds of sparrows and chickadees. The only real maintenance is in the winter--lots of pruning and leaf clean-up.

Our Tax Dollars at Work

2009-02-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

From today's Union of Concerned Scientist food newsletter:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) was originally designed to protect the environment by helping farmers pay for erosion control, nutrient management, and other conservation activities. When this program was founded, CAFOs were excluded from receiving EQIP funds, but in 2002 Congress made these funds available to industrial operations and raised the cap on payments. Since then, the program has helped prop up at least 1,000 industrial hog and dairy operations by offsetting some of their costs for massive manure disposal.

$35 million of tax dollars per year to support CAFOs (more typically known as feedlots; CAFO stands for "concentrated animal feeding operation"). I'm furious. The UCS links to three separate pdfs if you visit their new newsletter link. A CAFO is the opposite of a conservation activity, which the EQIP funds were intended to support.

Cooking up a Story: Preventing Food Waste

2009-01-26T11:15:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Cooking up a Story for another smart interview. The author of the Wasted Food blog shares simple ways to not waste food--as he says, think about it, don't just throw it in the trash can. Check it out.

Forests in Trouble

2009-01-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

As is frequently the case with news, the headline--"Global Warming Threatens Forests"--is alarming. It can be oddly reassuring when the actual event isn't as bad as the headline makes it sound. Sadly, the details here--coniferous forests in seven states and southwestern Canada are dying twice as fast as they used to, and not replacing their tree populations--are even more alarming than the headline.

The main problem appears to be in California, but that doesn't mean its not something to worry about here. When you plant your garden this year, seek out some native plants--including trees--for the spots in your yard where you're not growing vegetables. And if you're lucky enough to have a big conifer in your yard already, remember to appreciate it. Here in the Evergreen State (apologies to the other side of the mountains for that nickname), we take our trees for granted.

FFA Essay Contest

2009-01-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Since regular contributor Heidi Broadhead started writing about FFA and ag education (see the first part of the series online; the second part of the series is in the January/February issue; the final part will be out in March), I've had a couple of new ideas regarding the future of food.
The main one is pretty simple: Fixing what we eat right now is obviously important, but it's going to take concerted effort from multiple generations to make sure those changes stick around. This means we need to pay attention not just to city school lunch suppliers and family shopping habits, but we need to pay attention to the education of our future farmers. Around the country, we can look to FFA and 4-H programs to see what's happening curriculum-wise.
With that in mind, I was happy to see that the Rodale Institute is sponsoring an FFA essay contest on the subject “How Can Farming Restore Human and Ecological Health?”, and the deadline is February 15, 2009. I'm already looking forward to reading the winning essays.

Buy Olympia

2008-12-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

I love the Buy Olympia website, but right now I love it even more than usual, because of this shirt from JennyAnn Wheeler. (The site has lots of other lovely, funny things, and keeps your holiday bucks in local pockets.)

In particular, this shirt makes me think of all the amazing rock-n-roll moms I know--running bake sales and dessert auctions. A rolling pin has such a stern-yet-homey manner about it--they're the low-profile CEO of kitchen implements. You can buy the shirt right here.

Localize Your Holidays

2008-11-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

Buying local at Thanksgiving can be frustrating sometimes--turkey, for example, is vastly more expensive when it's been allowed to roam around the farm for several months than it is when raised in a factory and shipped up here. Other ingredients--root vegetables, especially--were cheaper (and vastly more delicious) to pick up at the farmers' markets. And in some cases, I buy products that are more expensive when grown locally (like butter, eggs and cream) but are so fantastically good I'm perfectly content to spend the extra money.

The standard appetizer is opening up the new jars of homemade pickles--we make them in late August with supplies picked up in Puyallup. This year, the new treat is courtesy of some friends who spend part of each summer in Estonia, where pickles are served with honey and smetana (we sub in sour cream). It sounds like a punchline in a joke about pregnant women and food cravings, but it's delicious. Every bit is creamy, sweet, spicy, and crunchy all at once.

Christmas is a bit trickier. On the easy side of things, farmers' markets have fantastic gift products all winter--honey, cider, herb vinegars, hard sausages, jam, wine, chocolates--and you can be sure the recipient doesn't already have six identical items on hand. While you're shopping, don't miss Golden Glen Creamery's egg nog. Brandy Jensen's recipe is so magical, you won't care it's probably got about 8,000 calories in a cup. The other treat is Wade Bennett's fresh apple cider from Rockridge Orchards. I buy the unspiced kind, and mull some myself, keeping about half to drink unflavored. The purity of the apple flavors make it just as good to cook with as to drink.

One way of making the holiday more locally focused is easy for folks in this neck of the woods: Buy a local Christmas tree. They're fresher, and lose fewer needles--and firs, pines and spruces all grow so well here it's impossible not to find the perfect tree. Going out to one of the farms usually gets extras like hot doughnuts, cider, hot chocolate and/or candy canes. This year, the University District is hosting its first tree farm: Three Trees Farm from Maple Valley. Most of their trees are Noble Firs, but you'll find a few Grand Firs, too. They'll be at the market on three Saturdays (the 6th, 13th, and 20th) in December.

Hannukah is even easier to make local--well, everything but the frying oil, anyway. Pick up great potatoes from Olsen Farms (or look for Ozettes from Full Circle), special honeys and jams from any number of vendors, perfect sauce apples from Jones Creek to go with potato pancakes, and excellent challah from Essential Bakery.

Good Times

2008-11-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

This week has a couple of events going on that are particularly close to my heart.

First up, on Friday, November 19th, there's a screening of a documentary called Red Gold--it just won a People's Choice award at the Banff Film Festival. The controversy it focuses on is a proposed pebble mine that fishermen around Bristol Bay believe will have a negative impact on wild salmon. The screening includes snacks from Kevin Davis and a silent auction of photos by Nick Hall, a brilliant photographer I had the pleasure of working with for our October issue. Even if you can't make this screening, keep an eye out for the documentary in the coming year.
Find more information at these websites:
Why Wild
Save Bristol Bay
Nick Hall Photography

The second event involves Miller's Community Center and Country Store. Miller's is in Carnation (where some of my favorite farms are located), and is owned by a friend of mine. Over the last year, she's been putting together an amazing shop, filled with a whole bunch of good things from local artisans (as well as imported goodies). The official grand opening of the shop is finally here, and--oh hurrah--includes hot cider and popcorn. Buying local product from a locally-owned store is the most satisfying way to get your holiday shopping done.

Miller's Community & Arts Center
Saturday, November 22, from 10am-3:00pm

Wild Foods Calendar

2008-11-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

We're not the sort of magazine that publishes gift guides, but if we were, the Wild Foods Recipe Calendar would be front and center. Created by Cristina Choi (co-founder of Foraged and Found Edibles) and Emily Rae Counts (a Portland-based artist), the calendar includes recipes and illustrations for our favorite mushrooms and assorted other wild things. The list includes black trumpets, truffles, nettles, fiddlehead ferns, morels, king boletes, berries, chanterelles, lobster mushrooms, matsutake, yellowfoot chanterelles, and hedgehog mushrooms.

You can pick up a copy ($18 for one, $16 each for two) at Foraged and Found Edible's farmers' market stalls (University District, Ballard, and West Seattle) or online through their Etsy store.

And on the subject of wild mushrooms: When I was at Farestart for lunch last week, I tried a pasta special, which was loaded with perfectly chewy-crisp pancetta and almost more chanterelles than I could eat (and I can eat a lot of chanterelles). As happens every time I pop into the Farestart restaurant, I was completely impressed by the food and service--and it was even the server's first day. The combination of good food, a lovely location and a brilliant cause (job and life skills training for the homeless) makes it a win-win-win.

Seattle, represent!

2008-10-31T13:20:00.001-07:00

I got my copy of America's Best Food Writing 2008 yesterday. I enjoy it every year (some years more than others), but 2008's is special: Two of Edible Seattle's regular contributors are included.

Bethany Jean Clement is the genius behind Icebox, a favorite of many of you, based on the email I recieve. Her piece "Pie Time" was written for the Stranger news weekly.
Jess Thomson, listed on our masthead as "recipe maven", is the source of the brilliant Cooking Fresh department. All those recipes you love--especially that salty, caper-filled potato salad from July? Those are hers. She also tests recipes we get from chefs, and takes gorgeous photos to boot. The piece she contributed to the book is "Waiterly Conduct" and it was originally written for her blog, Hogwash.

And as a surprisingly timely way to bring Bethany's pie and Jess's blog together: Jess recently blogged about my pie crust, which I had her test for our October issue. She has lovely things to say about it, and comes up with a brilliant addition to the tart apple pie in the issue: fresh cranberries.

According to Elliott Bay's website, they have copies of the book in stock now. Seeing our local talent on the same cover as Michael Pollan, John Thorne, Calvin Trillan and Alice Waters is tremendously gratifying. Congratulations to Bethany and Jess.

Embracing the Pumpkin

2008-10-21T13:48:00.001-07:00

When I first came to the United States at the ripe old age of 25, I had never eaten, let alone baked, a pumpkin pie. I knew almost nothing about the wondrous holiday of Thanksgiving, and I had never before seen pumpkins grown purely for decoration. I am a quick adapter however, and each holiday sees me baking at least two pumpkin pies, often more.

In Australia, we refer to all squash as pumpkin, and we eat them solely as a vegetable. Winter squash is pumpkin, we call zucchini...zucchini, and other squash by a host of other names, but not usually squash. We eat lots of different pumpkins; butternut, Japanese, Queensland blue, and regular ones, though never as large as the ones grown here. We never carve them, but sometimes we do roast the seeds. I have also never seen anyone use or sell them as a decoration - they are only food.

A Sunday roast would not be complete without some chunks of pumpkin thrown in the mix. Pumpkin soup is a very common dish, and a baby's first meal is often pureed pumpkin. My Mum used to make us a yummy, simple dish to encourage us to consume this healthy veggie. She called it "orange bluck", and I make it to this day. It is basically a mix of mashed potato and mashed pumpkin, swirled about together, dusted with a little salt and pepper. Sometimes she used to throw in other chunks of vegetables too like peas or green beans, or broccoli...but the basic ingredients were always the mashed potato and pumpkin.

At first I resisted this vegetable as dessert idea. I was uncomfortable with the idea of pumpkin pie. It felt like eating broccoli cookies or asparagus cake. I baked them because it was expected, not because I enjoyed eating them. But after a few years, my attitude began to soften and I found myself looking forward to that "morning after Thanksgiving" slice. I like it with a drizzle of unwhipped, unsweetened cream.

Seattle has an abundance of pumpkin patches, and the farmers' markets offer a great variety. Try some as a veggie, try some orange bluck and whip some into pie. They are such a great value vegetable, cheap and nutritious and versatile. Hooray for pumpkin!

Last cake missive

2008-10-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

At the risk of getting really trashy, I have one more no-bake cake that may stop the proliferation of grocery store cake monsters. I feel pretty confident that everyone knows how to make some version or another of rice crispy treats. Even in Australia we have our own version called “chocolate crackles” that involve rice crispies (or rice bubbles as we call them), Crisco and cocoa powder mixed with a ton of powdered sugar. They are not chewy like American rice crispy treats, more crackly--but boy are they good.

Anyway, if you know how to make rice crispies then you can make a very acceptable and fun cake. Mix them up as usual, but instead of pouring that sweet sticky mess into a pan….pour it into two cake tins (well-greased, of course). Press it down all nice and flat and let it set. Pop out the cakes, and join them together layer cake style with a frosting of your choice. Might I recommend one made of chocolate ganache (a simple mix of chocolate cut up into small pieces and heated cream).

You can then decorate your crispy cake with fruit loops, or candy, or dried fruit and nuts…get creative. You can even jam candles into it and have it look really legitimate.

If you want to be all fancy with your cake you can always use organic cereal and marshmallows. Now I can't vouch for how sustainable this cake is, but it is cheap and quick and beats all heck out of that loathsome Safeway special. Ok…no more about cakes for a while, I promise.

Maria Hines and Full Circle Farms

2008-10-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

There's a nice article, slideshow and recipe in the new issue of Green Cuisine, an online newsletter from the Union of Concerned Scientists (their monthly newsletters are great reading). Maria's restaurant Tilth was the restaurant we chose to feature in our very first issue; you can read the story right here.
Tilth recently created a vegan tasting menu, which you can find online at Maria's blog. While I'm a dedicated omnivore, I greatly appreciate a chef taking the time to do more than throw together a plate of grilled vegetables or the ubiquitous portabello "steak" option.

Another Homemade Celebration

2008-09-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

If baking is simply too stressful for you to contemplate, then I have a cake that is a big hit with my family that is super delicious and simple. It is the sandcastle cake.

Buy a couple sandcastle buckets, you can usually find them at a dollar store, or just one big one if you prefer. Choose your favorite ice cream or soy ice cream, and let it soften until it is able to be mashed. Glop it all into a big bowl, add in any yummy stuff you maybe fancy ( choc chips, granola, candy, etc) and then mash it up a bit with a big potato masher.

Next scoop it into the sand castle bucket. you can pre-line the bucket with plastic wrap if you like but it is not crucial. Pop it back into the freezer until it is nice and hard.

When you are ready to serve it (give yourself 15 minutes of prep time), take a big old plate, run the sandcastle bucket under hot water for a couple seconds, or rub the outside with a hot cloth, and let your ice cream slide out onto the plate. While it is still a little melted on the outside, coat it in sand colored cookie crumbs, (grahams work great). Add in a flag for the top that says "Happy Birthday", some chocolate shells and you have a really cute cake that is super simple and delicious.

This cake is great because you can really customize it to your liking, and it looks like you spent all day making it. If you want cake with it, you can mix in cake chunks, or top off the bucket with a slab of cake (so there's a layer of cake at the bottom when you unmold the frozen treat).

If you find that even this approach is too daunting, or you simply don't have the time to make anything, please don't be seduced by that grocery store cake. Go to your favorite local bakery and ask them if they can whip you up a little something. You'll most likely get a delicious cake, full of ingredients whose names you can pronounce.

It's a piece of cake

2008-09-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

It is birthday season at my house, and the inevitable agonising over what cake to have has begun. I have one rule with my kids. No store bought cakes...ever! This year I have attended more than 20 kids' parties, and without fail, regardless of how fancy the party, what socio-economic status the family, or how healthy the rest of the food is - when cake time comes, I am always disappointed. It seems that the QFC/Costco/Safeway/chain grocery store cake is a given. There it sits, always spray painted hideous colors, covered in frosting that is mainly composed of Crisco and hiding goodness knows what ingredients in it's tasteless, fluffy interior.

Thus I am making it my mission to banish that cake. My next couple entries will give very easy, fun suggestions for even those who find themselves extremely challenged in the kitchen. If all else fails, at least give me the $40 you were going to spend, and I'll bake the cake for you!

The easiest birthday treat that is always a hit is cupcakes. The best, most fool proof recipe I've found is the one from Magnolia Bakery (it works well as a two-layer, nine-inch cake too). Add to that some yummy frosting--chocolate or vanilla--and you are on your way to success.

Don't know how to decorate? Let the kids do it: Squish a candy on the top, use animal crackers, sprinkles, grated chocolate or even small toys. The web has a wealth of cupcake decorating ideas.

If the baking thing is too much, use a box mix..but make your own frosting. It tastes so much better. Anything but that chemical filled, overly sweet thing that is sold as "Birthday cake".

Stay tuned for a cake recipe that doesn't even need cooking.

Seattle Farmers' Markets

2008-09-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Other than wishing Seattle's farmers' markets were located in city parks instead of in parking lots, we think they're basically perfect. Yes, some of them have a few too many small dogs to trip over, and sometimes the lines can be difficult to navigate, but that's a small price to pay for such a fantastic system. There's now at least one market in the city five days a week. My personal favorite is the one I can walk to: Broadway. They all win high marks, though.

And I'm not the only one. In a special email from Chris Curtis at the Seattle Farmers Market Alliance, she announced that Travel & Leisure magazine just rated Seattle #1 out of 25 cities in the "farmers' and specialty food markets" category. I'm sure Pike Place Market tilts the rating, but so do all of them. So thanks, farmers, once again--and thanks to the terrific market managers and assistants, too, who are not always as visible as our favorite farmers, but who work their butts off. Their energy and enthusiasm is endless. And seriously, how often do you see retail managers who actually seem to be having fun at their jobs?

Looking for one of these top-rated markets? Find 'em here:

Cookie Mates

2008-09-14T19:03:00.000-07:00

A mutual friend sent a link to both Amy B and I this afternoon; we both bake enormous amounts of cookies, so this offer of baking cookies in lieu of paying New York rent seems feasible. Not that either of us plan to move to Manhattan anytime soon.

My only concern was coming up with names for the dog-shaped cookies that the person would consider cute; Amy is already plotting to sneak in lots of nutmeg. Both of us, it would seem, are capable of sneaking in undetected oats. Beware, oat-phobics!

All Hail Kale

2008-09-14T18:38:00.001-07:00

A small, green miracle has occurred in my garden. Not only are most of my plants alive, but I have grown kale. When I say “my garden”, what I am really referring to my very small urban plot of rather poor dirt. Add to that my brown thumb, and the presence of an edible vegetable is indeed a miracle.

The problem now is that I’ll have to eat it. I know that kale is the uber veggie and that if you eat only it, blueberries and salmon you’ll live to be one hundred, but I must admit I have not been a huge fan. I usually resort to chopping it up and adding it to curries, stir fries and soups--in other words, I resort to adding it to things where I won't really taste it. In desperation I have trolled the web and found quite a few good recipes. A great many of them feature white beans, which is apparently kale's BFF. I am also mulling over chopping it up, steaming it, and then freezing it like spinach.

I have come to the conclusion that I had better get over my indifference to kale and start to love it. It grows well here in the Northwest, it packs a nutritional punch, and it is very versatile (especially if you like white beans). It is also cheap, especially at this time of year, and comes in a huge number of varieties. It was also considered the perfect vegetable for a victory garden in WWII.

There are so many reasons to love it, I can already feel myself becoming a wee bit smitten.

What's in the box?

2008-09-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, my Mum hated making school lunches but she did it every day for three of us, and I never understood what all the fuss was about. Last week my oldest son started school. I now know what the fuss is about.

Early mornings, I struggle just to make coffee, and now all of a sudden I have to prepare a nutritious, portable, appealing meal to be consumed later in the day. Suddenly all those nasty miniature packages of cookies, tubes of yoghurt and leathery strips of so-called fruit make a lot of sense. How I wish I could just toss them into that lunch box, zip it up and be done. But I can’t. So I am struggling, and I have had a few epiphanies along the way.

You pay more for individual portions, and the excess packaging is terrible. Buy a couple of small, reusable containers, and you can divvy it up yourself; yoghurt, applesauce, crackers, raisins, you name it. Leftovers are fair game. Right now my son may hate me for that tuna salad I put in his lunch box but one day he’ll thank me. Fruit is very portable and easy. I even put in frozen blueberries and by noon they are just right for eating.

The other day my son told me that the boy next to him gets a pudding cup every day. “Wouldn’t that be great” he enthused. I replied with “Is he one of the kids who is always getting into trouble?” “Yeah” he said. “Hmmm, go figure” I shot back. Maybe one day, when he is slaving over his kid’s school lunches it will all become clear.

Till then, I pack on. Maybe this will help.

Everything is just peachy

2008-09-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have never eaten stone fruit as good as I have in the Northwest. Sure, we have peaches and plums and nectarines in Australia, but we are much better known for our tropical fare. This season I am in heaven. At the market, I can buy a half case of juicy goodness for only $18. I want to buy the full case, but what to do with it all? At present I am stumped, so I just force my family to eat as much as they can before it goes bad. “Honey, have you had your peach for the day? You really should eat one more before bed.”

I am not a fan of canned peaches, the homemade or the store-bought kind. Too many memories of fruit cocktail and the inevitable slippery peach ricocheting from your fork to an unknown location. I have contemplated freezing them. I am pretty sure they would lose some of the appeal, but might be good for pies or smoothies. I am not ready to start drying foods yet, so I guess I will just have to eat myself into a peachy stupor until the season is over. Any suggestions would be very welcome.

On another note, harking back to my very first blog entry, the Seattle Times had an interesting article where the writer reworked a recipe from one of those “money saving budget food” books and made it into a healthy meal. Go check it out.

Edible Seattle Local Heroes Awards

2008-09-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

It's time to vote in edibleSEATTLE's first annual Local Heroes awards.

Categories include farm/farmer, chef/restaurant, food artisan, beverage artisan, and non-profit organization. Voting deadline is January 12, 2009. Visit our main website's home at http://edibleseattle.net/ to participate.

Winners will be announced nationally in January 2009 at the Edible Communities publisher's dinner, then locally in our March issue.

Stay at Home Cook

2008-08-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

I recently read in the paper that Americans now eat one third of their meals out. This doesn’t mean a trusty homemade sandwich at their desk; it means a takeout or restaurant meal one third of the time. This astounded me, especially in light of the current economic downturn, and a seemingly growing trend to want to save money.

I still haven’t figured out why people don’t get it. If you want to eat well for less, rule number one is limit your meals eaten out. I come from a family that ate out maybe twice a year, so it has never been a problem for me to cook at home. Going out was seen as a very special event, one that required a party dress and glitter barrettes. I try to instill this same sense of excitement in my boys. I want them to view eating out as an event and a privilege. Mind you, eating out with a two year old is hardly that enticing.

I do understand the realities of a busy family, and the lure of a quick delicious meal. At my house, the go-to takeout meal is pho. At the risk of becoming a pho addict, I try to limit us to one binge every two weeks. I also occasionally have to pay a visit to the taco trucks. I justify this by telling myself I cannot possibly duplicate such deliciousness at home for the same low prices.
But, for nearly all our meals, we eat in. I figure that in the time it would take me to get take out, pick it up, and serve it out, I can whip up pretty much most of my staple dishes. The added bonus is that these are easily half the price, often much less. The secret to my being ready to cook at the drop of a hat is my well stocked pantry.

I had a boss once at a clothing store who said “you can’t sell from an empty wagon”, meaning of course that in order to move product you need to have product. I work from the “you can’t cook from an empty cupboard” theory. When my fridge is bulging then I must cook. I open the door and meals jump out at me, sometimes quite literally if I've recently restocked. Not only does my wallet benefit, but so does my family.

I can, I can!

2008-08-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you blog about procrastination, and people urge you on. I now have seven jars of pickles staring at me while I type this. They are not pretty pickles. I am not sure how they make the spears stand up like little pickle people in the store bought kind, but mine look more like a bunch of grey green slugs packed in a specimen jar. Thank heavens they taste good.

I started out with the simplest recipe in this book. It’s called Pick-a-Vegetable Dill Pickles; I can’t find the recipe directly online, but the book’s worth the price. I read it five times and then assembled my huge amount of canning equipment. With trembling hands I cut up the cucumbers, all seven pounds of them. I figured that once I cut them I HAD to can them. Along the way I learned a few things, perhaps rookie things, but a watershed to me.

I need a bigger kitchen with a lot more counter space. I am not saying it was impossible, but I sure wished I'd cleared off that stack of old recipe books and miscellaneous cooking equipment before I had started.

That huge black pot of water for the jars takes a heck of a long time to boil. As in all cooking, timing is everything and I wished I had known ahead to turn it on early in the piece. As it was I suffered a small bout of cannus interruptus.

The last minute purchase of long, thin plastic tongs (more like giant tweezers really) was invaluable.

Distractions can be fatal. Next time I need to set aside a big chunk of uninterrupted time, preferably without screaming children. Fortunately no one was scalded or pickled.

Have more than one timer on hand.

So now I have enough pickled cucumbers to see me through the winter. OK, I guess seven jars will only take me into November, but that is better than nothing. I can't say I've saved any money yet, as I had to fork out a bit for the initial set up, but if I can stick with this then I see a pay off coming very soon.

Plus I have the immense satisfaction of saying "pickle anyone? I canned them myself", and I was only a little bit scared.

Local Farms - Healthy Kids Update

2008-08-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

This morning in the Seattle PI, there was a story about the current status of the statewide efforts to get local produce into schools. The good news: Grant money is available for special purchases around the state, particularly where there's a high percentage of low-income kids. The bad news: A state hiring freeze has prevented two key positions from being filled, which were intended to act as the liason between small farms and specific schools.

From my own searches, it seems that right now, it's not easy to figure out a way of connecting the dots between a local farm and your kid's school lunch. Parents could start with their school's PTA, to learn about who's in charge of the purchasing and if there's specific grant money available at the school. Farmers can work from the opposite end, starting with the WSDA Small Farms and Direct Marketing Program. Both can start with the Washington state page at the national Farm to School website.

I think I can

2008-08-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

I currently have a very large black pot staring at me accusingly from the stove. A book on canning and preserving screams loudly at me from the table. At the farmers' market this weekend, I gingerly squeezed the pickling cucumbers, and yet I hesitated. I am a canning virgin.

I want to can. I want to so badly, and yet I am so filled with trepidation. Why? I bake, I cook, and I fear nothing else in the kitchen. I know that canning will take advantage of all that beautiful produce at the markets right now, and that my family will happily consume everything I make. I think my fear stems from reading too many ‘botulism’ articles online, and from childhood memories of exploding ginger beer in the night…but that is another post.

I have decided to enlist friends to help me. One should not can alone. I also found that local hardware stores are a treasure trove of canning supplies. The markets offer boxes of produce all ready to be stuffed in jars--you can even preorder bulk vegetables and fruits with some growers. Just talk to them about it next time you go. Those very confident canners can pick their own at a local farm.

Now I just need to let go of my fears and plunge in. I’ll keep you posted.

Cooking Up A Story: Commercial Composting

2008-08-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

We do love the folks at Cooking Up A Story. The simple documentaries they provide cover a single topic, and they do it well. This one's about why--and how--a restaurant recycles. As Seattle moves more towards composting, bag fees, no styrofoam food container and biodiesel delivery trucks, it can feel a bit overwhelming. But we always get used to the new idea, and the new idea becomes the status quo.

Late Summer Blues

2008-08-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

It is very hard to resist a flat of big, juicy blueberries. At the famers' market, the berries are in season and I feel compelled to have them. This past week, I bought two half flats for $26. At first I thought this was a little steep. Upon further consideration, I realized that it is a great deal.

In the store I would easily pay $4 for a clamshell of berries, and at least $5 for a bag of frozen, organic ones. I worked out that I probably paid $3.50 a clamshell, for berries that were most likely picked the day before. Now what to do with them all. My kids love blueberries, and I add them to so many things, including oatmeal, yoghurt, cereal, smoothies and not to forget, PIE!

The easiest way to keep them is to pour them single layer onto a cookie sheet, unwashed, and picked through to remove any bad berries (you know the ones, they look suspiciously un-tasty). Place the whole pan in the freezer, and leave them for a few hours. Once the berries are frozen, you can transfer them to Ziploc bags or freezer tubs. They won’t stick together and you can use them the same as you would fresh. There are step by step instructions here if you need more hand holding.

Now if only my freezer was bigger.

Bye Bye, Baby

2008-08-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

At the farmers' market this past month, they have been selling the most delicious baby carrots. Not the slimy little things snuggled uniformly in a plastic bag, I mean real baby carrots. That got me to thinking about those fake ones. They are a staple of busy Moms everywhere. What are they?

After reading several different sites, including this most informative one , I learned that baby carrots are the brain child of a guy in California who wanted a way to use his not-cute-enough-to-sell carrot crop leftovers.

He carved and chopped misshapen and damaged carrots into cute little orangey snacks that no kid could resist. In the resulting baby carrot craze, special new carrot varieties have been planted that grow thin and straight, to aid in the cutting process.
Many bloggers have weighed the pros and cons, though for me the cons were more persuasive. "Baby" carrots cost on average 30% more than untrimmed carrots, and I think they encourage our penchant for uniform, bland, overly-packaged snack foods.

I have decided that they no longer have a place in my kids' lunches-they’ll have to eat real carrots instead, even if they're slightly misshapen.

Introducing Amy

2008-08-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

Every time I open up the paper these days there is a story on how to save money, often aimed at families. I read them all because I have a family, and I sure like to save money. But recently I became somewhat irate. I was reading an article in a big, weekend magazine that is distributed across the US in Sunday papers.
It told about a family who was uber thrifty and dutifully recounted their penny saving measures. I was completely into it, urging them to spend even less…when I came upon the paragraph describing the meal that she cooked for them, less than five dollars to feed a family of six. What on earth could she be making? I was horrified to see that this dish involved a dollar's worth of meat, noodles, cheese, milk, diced tomatoes and a sauce. Was this a meal to be proud of? Is the only vegetable to be some tomatoes that were bought at mega discount from goodness knows where?
Now, I am not a food snob. In fact I have a half-eaten box of Twinkies on my kitchen counter right now (I did NOT buy them), and I have been known to embrace tubs of the old transfat-loaded Crisco. But I also believe it is my job as a parent to feed my kids as healthily as I possibly can. I gently force them to eat veggies, and I rarely let them eat fast food. Too often today I see people crowing on about organic this and whole grain that while they feed their kids mac and cheese for the umpteenth time that week. I am not down on mac and cheese, I just want people to teach their kids about the joys of food—how to eat responsibly, and sensibly. I want them to be calm about food.
Thus this column is born. I am no certified expert on these things, so you’ll have to forgive me when I stumble. However, having been raised by semi-hippies on a farm in Australia, I do know a healthy meal when I see one, and I do love to cook. Join me in my journey to feed my family of four in a way that is sustainable for both my wallet and the planet.

Our mistake

2008-07-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

In the July issue's story The Giving Gardener, we referred to the University of Washington Master Gardener Program. The program is, in fact, run by WSU Extension. This has been the case since 1972, which makes the error even more embarassing.

Our sincere apologies.

New Deal

2008-07-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

For those who have yet to subscribe to Edible Seattle, we have a new reason to make it happen: Of the $28 price tag, we'll donate $8 to your choice of Farestart (an amazing Seattle nonprofit that provides job training and life skills to the homeless), Puget Soundkeepers Alliance (responsible for organizing--among other things--a Lake Union clean up that got 2.1 tons of junk out of the area) and Lettuce Link (July's Local Hero Sue McGann runs Marra Farm, one of Lettuce Link's many amazing programs).

You can click this link to be taken directly to our online subscription page.

Good Food @ SIFF

2008-05-24T00:29:00.000-07:00

Matt Dworkin and Melissa Young have created a number of excellent, straightforward documentaries over the last decade, and we're thrilled about the subject of the newest one. Called Good Food, the stars are many of my favorite NW farmers. The film does an especially good job showing what the face of small farms and markets look like today. Shown in the film is all kinds of farming--wheat, dairy, pork, eggs, chickens, beef and a vast array of fruits and vegetables, including Alvarez Farm's incredible spread of peppers (and those awesome salty roasted peanut). Each one of the speakers had to say positive things about the move towards sustainability--that it's hard work, but it's worth it, from the soil up.
The film has two showing at SIFF. The opening night in on June 4th at the Egyptian Theater (a number of the farmers are coming to the after-party, as is Edible Seattle!
The second showing is on June 7th. Tickets for either show can be purchased online through the SIFF box office.

You can also check out the film's website at movingpicture.org or watch the trailor right here:

More Edible Plants

2008-05-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

If you missed Seattle Tilth's Edible Plant Sale at the beginning of the month--or if this weather led to a garden disaster--head over to the eastside and check out Tilth's new Issaquah partnership with the Pickering Barn.

Another sale of edible plants is scheduled for May 31st between 9am and 2pm--you get great plants and the money goes to support Tilth's rockin' efforts in the realm of organic gardening and food. The Pickering Barn is also the site of Issaquah's Farmers' Market, and Tilth is planting an organic demonstration garden on part of the grounds. There are a number of upcoming classes in the works for the new location; check Tilth's website for the complete schedule.

Puget Sound Farm Fresh Guide

2008-05-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

Every year, I end up having to get several copies of the Farm Fresh Guide. It's a resource I turn to when I'm trying to track down a particular food, but it's also one of my favorite places to find things to do in summer and fall. Visiting farms during county harvest festivals, getting out of the city to check out some new farm stores--even the ads are a great resource.

So I pick up a copy the first week it's out, and keep it in the living room to read through it. A friend drops by--maybe one I know doesn't frequent farmers' markets as often as I could wish--and admires it, and so I tell them to take it home. I pick up another, and put it in my laptop bag to read when I'm at a coffee shop. I end up in conversation about local food, and pass my second copy along to someone looking to join a CSA. So I pick up a third, swearing that this time, I'll actually keep it. But then the topic of county fairs comes up--I do love a good fair--and an aquaintance is interested to know that he doesn't have to wait until September to take his kids to a fair (the Puyallup is a bit later than most), so I pass along the guide yet again because of its fair listings.

This year (not that I really expect it to help me keep my paper copy), I'm trying something new: 2008 isn't the first time it's available online, but it's the first year I'm going to try referring friends and relations to the pdf. You can check it out by clicking here and then clicking the "farm guide" link in the middle of the page. You can also pick up your own copy throughout Puget Sound--I always grab mine from the market manager booth at my neighborhood farmers' market.

Jill on KUOW

2008-04-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

I was on KUOW's Sound Focus program on April 23rd; if you missed the show, you can listen to it via the station's online archives.

If you're looking for the three recipes I talked about on air (a locally-grown yogurt lassi, frozen yogurt and mushroom stroganoff with Appel Farms quark), you can check our new recipe page
right here.

Earth Day

2008-04-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

I won't plug my own list of basic good-for-the-world changes at the moment (it's too easy to get up on a soapbox) but I will say: Happy Day of Earth Things!
There are a lot of events going on all around Puget Sound; I'm sure this list won't be quite complete, but I tried to highlight the big 'uns. Most importantly, try to find one near you so there's not a gallon of gas expended.
Downtown Seattle.
University Place, Tacoma.
Throughout Snohomish County.
South Sound, including Olympia, Lacey and Ft. Lewis.

A Wooly Pigs Follow Up

2008-04-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

When I popped in at the West Seattle Farmers' Market on Sunday (and yes, it snowed briefly) and chatted for a while with Heath and Zuzana Putnam at Wooly Pigs. My intention was to hand off a copy of the first issue and scoot, but we had a few minutes to chat, and with Heath handing over tidbits of tasty Berkshire pork sausage every few minutes, it was hard to move on.

One of the most interesting things I learned is that the Herbfarm has purchased six young pigs that they'll finish themselves. I can't wait to taste what Chef Luce (quoted in Heidi Broadhead's April story about being somewhat embarrassed to be spreading pig fat on bread like it was butter) is going to come up with for these fat and sassy critters. I also can't help but think this is a bit of a thrown gauntlet to other local chefs: You might have an on-site herb garden and make your own sausage...but are you raising your own pigs?

And just so the oldsters don't feel ignored with the new attention-grabbing piglets on the block, here's a little shout-out to Basil and Borage, the Herbfarm's resident potbellied scrap-eatin' friends.

Cooking Up A Story: Michael Pollan Part Four

2008-04-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

We've got the last in the four-part interview with the author of Ominvore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Once again, he manages to address large-scale issues relating to food in a clear and easily understandable way.

KUOW Visits a Few Family Farms

2008-04-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Listen in on stories about local shellfish, wine and pasture-raised beef. (If nothing else, it might inspire thoughts of what sounds good for dinner tonight.)

Cooking Up A Story: Michael Pollan Part Three

2008-04-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

Check out Part Three of the four-part interview with Michael Pollan. The continuing discussion covers lots of the topics addressed in his latest book, In Defense of Food, with the now-famous subtitle "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Puyallup Spring Fair

2008-04-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

As a city-dwelling lover of state and county fairs, the Puyallup Spring Fair has always felt like my little secret. Everyone heads out to the big Semtember fair, sure, but the one coming up this week (April 17-20) is smaller and in some ways, more special.

A big part of it is livestock available for sale, and statewide FFA kids are on hand showing stock and talking about their experience in raising their animals and how much profit they hope to make when selling their steer or hogs. These kids are amazing--professional experts who just happen to name their stock after their favorite movie characters (Napoleon Dynamite was awfully popular last year). The science fair exhibits are often hilarious (my favorite from 07 was an older brother tying to develop a Pavlovian response in his little sister, by offering candy to her after ringing a bell. Apparently, it didn't work), and there are the standard rides, shows, exhibits and things to buy as the big fair--just on a smaller scale. It's also a gardener's paradise, with tons of display gardens, plants for sale and Master Gardeners around to answer questions.

I also appreciate the smaller crowds and the lower temperature. Sure it might be cold and rainy, but that just makes a piping-hot Krusty Pup be all the more appreciated.

Cooking Up A Story: Michael Pollan Part Two

2008-04-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

We've got Part Two of Cooking Up A Story's four-part interview with Deborah Kane and Michael Pollan. If you're looking for Part One, you can find it here.

Cooking Up A Story: Michael Pollan Part One

2008-04-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Check out the first of four 10-minute video interviews with Deborah Kane (from Eco-Trust) and Michael Pollan (author of, among other things, Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food). We'll be posting additional short documentaries from Cooking Up A Story, kicking off with this series of interviews.

Seattle Green Festival 2008

2008-04-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

April 12-13

Washington State Convention and Trade Center

This is our kind of event. Eat organic food, drink local beer and wine, meet with sustainable neighborhood groups and hear great speakers like Frances Moore-Lappe, Gary Paul Nabhan, Goldie Caughlan and Amy Goodman. There will be about 350 exhibits in all, including a kid's activity zone as well as as all sorts of organizations that encourage you to dream big while acting locally.