Quote of the Day: Alice Waters
“The things most worth wanting are not available everywhere all the time.”
We’ve just passed the solstice and the days are getting longer. The solstice also officially kicks off winter, the lean months. When you try to eat locally and seasonally, this time of year can get to be a little long; especially when you’re used to eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Lately, I’ve been craving something green. For now, that spot in my diet is filled with sauerkraut, cabbage, rutabagas, turnips, carrots and potatoes.
Of course I could go to the local supermarket and get lettuce and any other green thing I wanted, but that kind of defeats the purpose. If I did, I probably wouldn’t enjoy them as much when I was harvesting them fresh from my garden.
What fruit or vegetable are you missing that’s out of season?
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Quote of the Day: Duane Elgin
“Our life experience is based more on our individual level of awareness than on any particular external experience. Our enjoyment of life is profoundly enhanced by the knowledge that we don’t need much in order to be happy. By consciously adopting a simple lifestyle, we give ourselves the opportunity the be satisfied and happy, whether or not we strike it rich or not.”
Mother Earth News, in article about Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin
Yesterday, as I baked and cleaned in preparation for Christmas and I thought about what I really love. Cooking is one of those things. I was planning on having a really nice dinner for just Mr Chiots and I, but then we decided to invite our neighbor who’s a widower. Since his daughter lives in London and the rest of his family lived in the Midwest, we figured he might enjoy some company on Christmas. Then my parents decided to come for a few days and now it looks like we’ll have a full house on Christmas day. It’s a good thing since I got a 10lb standing rib roast at the farmer’s market.
There’s nothing I love more than spending the day in the kitchen making a wonderful meal, then sitting down with friends and family to enjoy it. Cooking is really one of the simple pleasures in my life and one of my favorite things about the holiday season! Whether I’m cooking an expensive rib roast or simply making soup from a few bones, I’m happy in my kitchen!
What are some of the simple pleasures you enjoy during the holidays?
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Quote of the Day: Gandalf
“Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay… small acts of kindness and love.”
Gandalf the Gray in The Hobbit
When Mr Chiots and I were at this movie on Friday, this line immediately struck me and I knew it would be my quote for today. I have certainly found this to be the case in my life. Small deeds of ordinary people really help make the world a much better place. There have been countless small experiences that make my day almost every day. This is one of the benefits of working for a small non-profit.
It can be something simple as having coffee with your neighbor, turning in a lost item, paying for someone’s lunch, spending time with someone, listening, planting a seed, buying from a local farmer, or just smiling at someone on the street. I think, far too often in our drama focuses society, we think it has to be big boisterous visible acts that make a difference, but in reality it’s all the little things that get noticed and remembered.
What small acts of kindness or love have made the most difference to you?
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Quote of the Day: Robyn Griggs Lawrence
Preparing food is an ideal way to hone your creative flair and bring sense of beauty into your home. You have to do it every day, anyway – and if you stop to recognize the simple majesty of the objects you bring home in grocery bags, making dinner will be a lot more fun.
Next time you unload the groceries, particularly the produce, do so mindfully. Notice the fine white hairs protecting the carrot’s flesh, the squeaky wax binding the cheese wedge, the chunky shapes or fine straight bands of different pastas. How can you make the most of crisp spring greens, plump August tomatoes, golden fall pumpkins? You can toss them, mash them, and spice them up for consumption, of course, and you can also use them to add seasonal grace to the dining room table.
Robyn Griggs Lawrence (The Wabi-Sabi House: The Japanese Art of Imperfect Beauty)
There’s nothing I love more than heading to the farmers market each week to see what each vendor will have. Fresh sheep’s milk yogurt, honey, cheese, carrots, kale, cabbage, apples and a few other goodies made it into my bags on Friday. To me, it’s all about relishing the fact that time moves forward, seasons change, the sun rises and sets, and food changes as this happens.
Meals shouldn’t be just about eating, they should be about appreciating the distinct flavors of the seasons. The more food I grow in my garden and the more wild foods I learn to gather, the more I appreciate each thing at the height of it’s flavor. The longer I eat seasonally the less I want to eat things that aren’t fresh and at the peak of ripeness. Asparagus picked a few minutes before eating is so much better than some I’ve pulled from the freezer in late November. Not only is the flavor not as good, but it seems wrong to eat it when the skies are gray and the earth is settling in for it’s long winter’s nap. This time of year apples fit the bill better than asparagus.
This doesn’t mean we have to learn to cook new things each season, often we can learn to make one dish and adapt it for different flavors. Crepes are one of those versatile dishes that everyone should learn to make. They’re quick and easy to make and you can stuff them with anything sweet or savory. In June you’ll find them on our plate stuffed with strawberries, in late winter, with kale, eggs, bacon and cheese. You can even use different types of grains to make them even more flavorful!
Yesterday morning we enjoyed homemade crepes of freshly ground wheat flour, eggs from our chickens, milk from a local farm and local butter. Instead of adding water to the recipe I used apple cider since it was in season and my crepes were going to be stuffed with cooked apples. For the filling, I combined apples, more cider, butter, molasses, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. Each crepe was smeared with some sheep’s milk yogurt then stuffed with the apple filling, and chopped crispy walnuts. A little drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkling of cinnamon topped it off perfectly. The perfect brunch on a saturday in December!
What would you choose as your favorite crepe filling combo?
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Quote of the Day: Ellen Ecker Ogden
A kitchen garden may just be a fancy name for a vegetable garden located near a kitchen door, filled with tender greens, aromatic herbs, and select fruits that are harvested on a daily basis. Yet it can also be a way of life. A successful kitchen garden engages all of the senses through a rich tapestry of colors, fragrance, and ultimately flavors. When you cultivate a kitchen garden, you actively engage with your source of food and integrate with your natural surroundings in a way that far surpasses the experience of purchasing food at the market. Growing your own food is truly the next logical step beyond “local”.
Ellen Ecker Ogden from The Complete Kitchen Garden
My first seed catalog arrived in the mail last week, it was from High Mowing Seeds. Each year, I choose a new garden company to order seeds from, I want to try them all. As I was flipping through the catalog I was dreaming of my 2013 edible garden.
The coming years are full of possibility, I have more space and can finally grow some of the things I’ve dreamed of growing for so long but haven’t had space to grow. I really love how edible gardening connect you with your food. It also gives you a deep appreciation for the food that you do get from elsewhere. After you’ve grown your own food, you know exactly how much work goes into it.
Have you received your first seed catalog yet?
