Giving Thanks

It might be a little bit early for a post about Thanksgiving, but I had a Thanksgiving-themed pot luck last night, so I'm in the mood. One of the things that I love about Thanksgiving is that it brings people together around food. Sharing a meal helps us bond with the others at the table. Eating relaxes us, it breaks down barriers, and it establishes important social norms. My favorite part, though, is the food.

Since I started patronizing farmers markets a few years ago I have begun to appreciate the food at Thanksgiving even more. Because I know many of my farmers, I feel even more thankful for the food on the table. These farmers spend every day putting their heart and soul into growing food for our tables. They are proud of what they do, and they love sharing it with us. This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to get as much of your meal from local sources as possible. Below are 2 lists, 1 of produce that is available around this time of year (with some recipe suggestions!) and another of resources to find local food in your area. Give thanks, eat food, and enjoy the fall colors!

Fall Produce*

• Beets (Beet Hummus)
• Carrots (Roasted Root Vegetables, my recipe)
• Turnips (See link above)
• Rutabagas (See link above)
• Potatoes (See link above)
• Sweet potatoes (Sweet Potato Biscuits, my recipe, coming soon!)
• Squash: acorn, butternut, spaghetti, pumpkin, etc (West Indian Pumpkin Soup)
• Mushrooms (Mushroom Gravy, my recipe)
• Kale
• Swiss Chard
• Spinach
• Greens: mustard, beet, collards, turnip, etc (Balsamic Greens, my recipe)
• Apples
• Persimmons
• Figs
• Pomegranates

*These depend on your area, check your local farmers market for exact availabilities.

Find a Farmers Market

• Local Harvest: A great resource of farmers markets by area. Also has information about getting turkeys.
• USDA Farmers Market Search
• Triangle Farmers Markets: A Google map of farmers markets in the Triangle area
• The Davidson Farmers Market*: A young, thriving market that will always hold a special place in my heart

*Full disclosure: I used to be on the Board of Directors of the Davidson Farmers Market. I included the specific link because I have readers in the Davidson area.

Balsamic Greens

This is one of my favorite ways to serve greens, and it is a great recipe for those new to cooking with greens. I usually use collard greens, but you can use any variety (mustard or beet greens, kale, swiss chard, etc).

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans
1 lb collards or other greens
1-2 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 c raisins or dried cranberries
Salt & Pepper, to taste

1. Remove stems and cores of greens and coarsely chop.
2. Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
4. Add nuts and let cook for 2 minutes
5. Stir in greens, lower heat to medium, and cover. Cook until greens are wilted.
6. Stir in balsamic vinegar and raisins/cranberries. Taste and add salt and/or pepper, as desired.
7. Serve immediately.

Roasted Vegetables

It's that time of year again! The weather is getting chilly, leaves are changing, and root vegetables abound. Here is a recipe I use to celebrate the season.

Ingredients
2 pounds root vegetables*
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Optional: 1 pound other veggies**
2 T olive oil
2-4 T fresh herbs***
Salt & Pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Prepare root vegetables accordingly. Most will need to be washed, peeled, and cut into cubes. Do your best to cut them into similarly sized pieces so they cook evenly.
3. Prepare other vegetables, if necessary. Snap ends off green beans, cut larger mushrooms in half, and halve brussels sprouts. Okra is best roasted whole.
4. Combine root vegetables, other vegetables, onion, and garlic on a large rimmed baking sheet or in a roasting pan.
5. Toss vegetables with oil, herbs, salt, and pepper.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring once, until root vegetables are fork-tender.

*Root vegetables include carrots, turnips, rutabagas, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. Use any combination that you like. If you've never worked with one of those vegetables, this is a great way to try them out!

**"Other veggies" that I have used include green beans, okra, mushrooms, or brussels sprouts.

***I like sage, rosemary, and marjoram, but oregano, thyme, chives, and tarragon are also wonderful in this dish. As in other recipes, you can use any combination of herbs that you like or have on hand. If using dried, use closer to 2 T than 4T.

Mushroom Gravy

This is my go-to gravy recipe for any occasion. It makes a flavorful, savory sauce that is great on stuffing, tofu, potatoes, chicken, turkey, and more!

Ingredients

1/4-1/3 pound mushrooms*

3 T butter, divided

2 T flour

1 c vegetable broth/stock

2 T fresh herbs**

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in frying pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Slice mushrooms as thinly as possible. If you want a smooth gravy you can mince them. Add mushrooms to pan and cook until quite tender. 
3. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter. 
4. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour until just combined. 
5. Add the vegetable broth and whisk until smooth. 
6. Stir in herbs. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until thickened. 
7. As it thickens, stir occasionally, taste, and adjust spices accordingly. DO NOT add salt unless you have tasted it and truly feel it needs it. Typically vegetable stock is salty enough.
8. Serve warm.
9. Optional: Put the gravy in the blender and pulse for a few seconds to make it smooth. I usually need to add 1/4-1/2 cup of extra stock to thin it when I do this.

*A note on mushrooms. You can certainly use white button mushrooms, but to me they're a little plain-Jane. I like shiitakes or criminis (baby portobellos) for this recipe, but any type of mushroom will work.

**I typically use a combination of sage, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram, but you can use whatever you have on hand. It works well to use the same spices in the gravy as you're using in other recipes being served. Fresh is always preferred to dried. If you do use dried, start with 1 Tablespoon and add more to taste.

5 Essential Kitchen Items

Check out this great article from one of my favorite blogs, Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest.

5 Indispensable Entertaining Items Built to Last

I may be biased, given that I do, in fact, have all of those items, but I think that is a great list. You can truly do a lot with each of those items. If you are new to entertaining or new to having your own kitchen, knowing what to buy can be a daunting task. Kitchen equipment can add up quickly, so you need to be selective about what you spend your money on.

My advice is to seek out as many of these five items as you can afford. Go for top quality. You might spend more, but in the end these pieces will last for your lifetime. When you're 80 years old and teaching your grandchildren to cook with the cast iron pan you've been using for 60 years, you will not regret these purchases. And don't forget about the holidays coming up! Parents love buying their young adult children practical gifts, especially if you make them a fabulous meal with your gifts.

The only comment I would add to the article is to point out that you should not only look for high quality, but also seek out multi-taskers. Le Creuset and other cast iron is great because it can be used on the stove top or in the oven. So that cast iron skillet can make your favorite stir fry or sauteed vegetable dish, and baked goods like corn bread and cakes. My salad bowl is also oven-safe (it's Pyrex), so I can serve cold dishes in it, but also stick it in the oven to warm up a side dish or bake a cobbler.

Thanks, Apartment Therapy, for such a great list!

Social Marketing

Many of my peers are surprised to find out that I have a blog. They want to know why I have one, what I write about, and who reads it. For those who are curious, this is it.

Why?

There are a lot of reasons, from having fun to improving my writing. Mainly though, I want to control the information about me that people can readily access on the Internet. With a unique name like mine, a Google search for my name returns pages of results that are, in fact, about me. Showing up on Google is great, until something pops up that you don't like. What can you do about that? Not much. But as ecotoxicologists are fond of saying, dilution is the solution to pollution. If there is information out there about me that I don't want people to see, it's on the 6th or 7th page of results because of the web presence I'm developing.

What do you write about?

Whatever strikes my fancy, really. My broad area of interest is sustainability, and I try to keep topics related to personal sustainable living practices, sustainable food, and energy. The last is my professional interest, which I have just added to my list of blogging topics. Potential employers will Google me. They will find my blog. When they get there, I want them to see that I am actively engaged in the conversation about energy. That is just one more thing that might set me apart from other applicants.

Who reads it?

At the moment, my blog is in its infancy. Sometimes I don't think anyone reads it. I have a little analytical program set up to track visitor-ship, and it tells me more and more people are looking at my blog. This is good, but I've got a ways to go before I can truly call myself a "blogger".

Want more information?

Always thought about starting a blog but don't know how?
A friend of mine happens to be an expert at this. Not just a friend, but a former work study student that worked for me. Yeah, that's right, she's younger than me and I'm referring to her as an "expert". Basically, she saw the job she wanted, set out on a grand social marketing journey, got the job, and blogged all along the way. In the process she has developed quite the following, and a business. Check her out:

http://marianlibrarian.com/

Why Raising Chickens Isn't Crazy

If you've been reading this blog lately, you've read a lot about how my roommates and I have decided to raise chickens. So far it's mostly been the "how" of this equation, and I figure it's about time for the "why".

The girls in the run section of their chicken tractor, 8 weeks of age.

First let me say that my roommates (C & R) and I are pretty conscious eaters. We are all vegetarians, and we buy as much of our food at the farmers market as we can, especially eggs. The three of us have already been sold on the health and environmental benefits of eggs from sustainable farms in our area. That made raising chickens kind of a no-brainer for us, so we just went ahead and did it.

However, as was the case with me becoming a vegetarian, we have since learned about many other benefits to raising chickens in your backyard. They actually are good for your yard (when your dog doesn't turn the area around the coop into a muddy racetrack). With the chicken tractor, which gets moved every week, the waste is spread around the yard relatively evenly, so it acts as a fertilizer. Also, the chickens peck and scratch the yard, which promotes grass growth. Given our recent dry spell, our yard could use a little help. Additionally, chickens eat bugs like ticks and spiders (but not so many as to disturb the overall system).

Another slightly less quantitative benefit is the sheer joy I get out of having them around. Their chirps are delightful, and there is something mesmerizing about watching them peck and scratch at the ground. It is becoming habit to have my breakfast on the back deck, watching the chickens. I never expected to get so much out of my new feathered friends!