Quote of the Day: Weston A Price
”The quality of our food determines in large part the quality of our lives. And the quality of what we eat is determined by every step that goes into production and processing – the feeding of the animals, care of the soil, preservation, storage and even cooking methods.”
Weston A. Price (Nutrition and Physical Degeneration)
Yesterday, I made a batch of butter using the spring grass milk I picked up from a local farm. This time of year it’s always amazing to note how yellow the cream starts to get. In the winter, you can see the cream line in the milk, but this time of year it’s like night and day. The milk is white and the cream is a vibrant yellow. This yellow cream makes the most beautifully yellow butter. You can see the nourishment as you’re rinsing it.
The cream is so yellow because the cows are eating the lush spring grass. Our farmer pastures her cows, they’re 100% grass fed. The results are easy to see and taste. While winter milk is still much tastier than store bought milk, spring milk is out of this world in creaminess and sweetness.
There’s nothing I love more than freshly made butter slathered on a piece of homemade sourdough bread. Life is certainly good this morning here at Chiot’s Run!
What delicious seasonal foods are you enjoying this week?
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Quote of the Day: Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd
Having time at one’s own command is perhaps the greatest luxury any human being can enjoy. Most people wait for it until the end of their working lives; too often, then, the special savor of it is brief or already lost entirely.
Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
I was thinking about this quote earlier this week as I took a few days of much needed vacation. In fact, it was so much of a vacation, I didn’t even check my e-mail for 2 entire days. This never happens, even when I’m traveling on vacation.
What did I do with my days of vacation? I spent time with a friend, we drove to a few lighthouses nearby and we took a day trip to to Acadia National Park.
After a very hectic and busy spring, a few days of time away were very nice. Too bad it couldn’t have been more, I opened my e-mail yesterday to find many pressing things that needed added to my to-do list for this coming week.
What would you do if you had time at your own command?
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Quote of the Day: Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd
Vegetables beckon and intrigue us in a way no fish or piece of meat every could.
The beauty of a single lettuce, its inner leaves tight and crisp, the outer ones opened up like those of a cottage garden rose; the glowing saffron flesh of a cracked pumpkin; the curling tendrils of a pea plant; a bunco hot long white-tipped radishes; a bag of assorted tomatoes in shades of soft scarlet, green and orange is something I like to take time over. And not only is it the look of them that is beguiling. The rough feel of a runner bean between the fingers, the childish pop of a pea pod, the inside of a fur lined lava bean case, the cool vellum like skin of a freshly dug potato are all reason to linger. And all of this even before we have turned the oven on.
Nigel Slater Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
This time of year I’m especially happy to start seeing the beauty evolve in the vegetable garden. It’s exciting to see the first pink tops of radishes forming in the dark earth.
The colors of all the brassicas are particularly intriguing, this year I’m enjoying the unfurling of ‘Purple Peacock’ Broccoli.
The ‘Scarlet Frills’ mustard is calling me to harvest it in order to add color to our spinach salads. And the Red Sales lettuce’s color is growing deeper with the intensity of the sun.
What vegetable are you enjoying visually at the moment?
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Wild Foods of Spring
On a mild day in spring it is pleasant to take a light basket on one’s arm and go for a long walk, garnering whatever the fields, woods and streams offer, the best foraging is probably close to home, around the flower and vegetable gardens, where many early-developing weeds are most abundant and tasty. The fattest finest dandelions will certainly be plentiful there, and violets, and possibly Saint Barbara’s weed. Chickweed will never be far from any recently cultivated ground, and if you have succeeded in keeping jewelweed out of the shadier parts of your garden, we would like to know your secret. But in the garden, other edibles plants will be available, all familiar nuisances, many worth gathering for food.
Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
I haven’t had much of a chance to get out foraging yet, but I did score some fiddlehead ferns at the farmers market last week. We enjoyed them sautéed for breakfast with poached eggs on top.
Dandelions have been making their way from the edges of the woodlot to our plates. I’ve been waiting for rain to start searching for mushrooms in earnest. Looks like this will be the perfect week for the that.
Wild violets also abound in the lawn, they always find their way into salads to add that special bit of beauty and a ton of vitamin C. There’s nothing quite like finding food that you didn’t have to take the time to cultivate!
Are you enjoying any foraged food at the moment?
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Quote of the Day: Thomas S. Cowan
America is a nation obsessed with finding personal happiness. But the person who sets out to find happiness rarely succeeds. He or she may achieve occasional and temporary satisfaction through financial success or a busy social life, but rarely true happiness. Happiness comes to those people who concentrate on the opposite – who do things for others, who set out to produce beautiful paintings or delicious meals, or who engage in projects that bring beneficial change to the world. Such people not only contribute to a better world as a result but also achieve unexpected happiness. These are the people who move through life with ease, in spite of obstacles and misfortune.
Thomas S Cowan, MD (The Fourfold Path to Healing)
I love this quote, so much of it rings true in my life. My happiest moments are when I’m cooking good food for those around me, when I’m cultivating beautiful things in the garden, when I’m doing things that I know bring change in the world. These actions bring happiness and hope to my life, I find much fulfillment in investing my time where I know it truly matters and makes a difference. (PS: the meal shown is braised duck legs from one of our muscovy ducks).
What things bring you true happiness?
