while you’re at it

While contemplating this year’s seed catalogs, consider ordering an extra seed packet to grow for your local food bank. Lettuce Link recommends choosing a productive crop that can be harvested in batches, which makes things simpler for you in the garden, easier for food banks to distribute, and better menu planning for meals-on-wheels programs. I like low maintenance greens such as chard, kale, collards, and pac choi, all of which produce several harvests of beautiful, tasty leaves throughout the year. Veteran food bank gardeners at my pea patch have also had good luck with brassicas like cauliflower and broccoli.

Thanks for sharing your harvest with those who aren’t as fortunate.

p-patch renewals due this week

This Thursday, January 28 is the deadline for Seattle gardeners to renew their P-patch plots for 2010. Questions, call 206.684.0264. And while you’re at it, consider making a contribution to the P-patch Trust, which does great stuff like provide tools for the p-patches, support food bank programs, and pay plot fees for p-patch gardeners who need assistance.

when a tree falls

Last week our southerly neighbor cut down their sprawling blue spruce tree. It’s always sad to watch a big tree go down, and this one was an institution, its stump fifty rings across. The upshot is there’s lots more sunshine coming into our backyard now. In all the time we’ve lived here the only things that thrived in the shade of that old spruce were greens like chard and lettuces. So when I saw the piles of sawn logs across the way, my thoughts went immediately to the seed catalogs, and all the new things we might grow this year.

A tree dies, and new life rises in its place. A happy thought for the new year.

first frost

We had our first real frost last night, this one arriving considerably later in the season than usual. But it’s been so rainy and cool for so many weeks now that the remains of the summer garden have largely succumbed to rot, and frost made everything feel almost clean again — almost. Of course there’s still plenty to do, like scatter decaying autumn leaves across the garden beds, and shelter the lettuces, or get them picked.

On the patio an old Brandywine tomato plant had gone brown and soft in spots, so today while the baby napped I dashed outside, hacked down the abandoned plant, and quickly turned it under the soil, wondering just how many tomato sprouts might rise there in spring.

time out

As you’ve probably guessed from my radio silence, the Biscuit is out of the oven — and now on to her third week of life. Needless to say, I’m not writing a whole lot right now, and I’m not gardening or cooking very much either.

Instead, we’re being nourished by all of our amazing friends and relatives, who keep showing up with delicious things to eat — fresh corn and tomato salads, roasted chicken, cheesy pastas and polentas, bean soups, a gallon of chowder. Or who drop off fresh, end-of-season produce that’s just been picked at the pea patch.

I’ve fed plenty of people in my time, but nothing like this. It’s truly humbling.

As for this blog, I’ll continue posting my kitchen and garden adventures from time to time, and I’ll certainly still follow the food blogs I like so much. Expect not to hear from me quite as regularly, though, at least for a while.

But know that the local adventures are keeping on, off-line. The Biscuit and I made it to the Broadway farmers market last weekend, where the last of the corn and nectarines were on the tables, and we’re planning to keep going so long as the farmers keep coming. The pea patch plot has been put to bed, thanks to my good friend Alice, who cleared out the tomatoes and cucumbers and eggplants, and sprinkled the soil with cover crop seed. A quarter side of beef arrives from Sweet Grass Farm this weekend, and the lettuces, chard, and celery root are more or less established in the backyard winter garden. Pears, squash, basil, and green beans have gone into deep freeze for cold weather eating.

It’s our version of going to the mattresses. But I hope you’ll check back periodically, to keep up on Stephen’s food adventures in Alaska, and because at some point we’ll come up for air.

on the money

During by last couple of visits to the South Anchorage Farmers Market I found myself looking a little more closely at the numbers. I’ve always been willing to pay more for local (chorus: it’s healthier, tastes better, uses less energy, preserves farmland) but the prices weren’t that different, and in some cases were better, than those at my local box store.

Here’s a comparison for some of my recent purchases:
Artichokes: $2.50 at the market vs. $3 at Palmer Fred Meyer
Onions (yellow): $.75/ea (market) and .99/lb, or about $.50/ea (FM).
Broccoli: $1 a crown (market), $.79/lb at FM, or about $1/crown (FM)
Corn: $1/ear (end of season price), $.79/ear (FM).
Cauliflower: $2/ea (market), $2.29/ea (organic, FM)

I’m curious: do you see similar pricing Outside?

come out, little farmer!

So said my friend Molly, from the pea patch, after my due date came and went with no sign that the little person was ready to splash down.

It’s been a strange transition for me. I’ve been off work for weeks, ever since my last two shifts induced regular contractions. I checked dozens of tasks off the to-do list and ruled out big new projects that may never get finished. There was the cooking frenzy, which should keep us fed for a while. I put up pear butter, plum jam, and dried some Italian prunes. Still no baby. So then what?

Everybody’s got an opinion about what to do right now. Read lots of books and see a bunch of movies, some said, so we did. Go out and eat great meals, others suggested, and so we have. Most memorable of all was a nearly perfect dinner at Tilth Restaurant, and not even the contractions that came with the ricotta dumplings put a dent in the evening. Parenthetically, Tilth was the first restaurant where I wasn’t looked at askance when I asked if the cheese was pasteurized. Much appreciated, and we’ll be back for date night.

And everybody’s got an opinion about how to bring on labor. One friend suggested gardening, which she credits for inducing three deliveries. Others resorted to distance walking or yoga and acupressure, plus a roll in the hay.

Then there are the foods that supposedly induce labor. The most popular advice involves eggplant parmigiana, though a search yields little more than a story about dish served at a restaurant in Cobb County, Georgia, which is backed by guarantee. Some claim it’s the basil and oregano and not the eggplant itself that does the trick. Others suggest spicy foods. Now spicy is something we can do — thankfully no third trimester heartburn here — and to boot, we’ve had ripe cayenne peppers since late July.

Recipe Redux: Spicy Noodles with Chicken and Green Beans

¼ lb rice stick noodles, or more if desired / ¼ lb green beans / one dozen cherry tomatoes / 1 tbls fish sauce / 2 tsp sugar / 2 tbls fresh lime juice / 1 tsp chili paste, or to taste / ¼ tsp salt / 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces / 1 shallot, minced / 1 cayenne pepper, minced, or to taste / 1 stalk scallions, minced

Pour boiling water over noodles and soak for 10 minutes to soften. Rinse in a couple changes of water and drain. Meanwhile, cut green beans into bite-sized pieces and halve tomatoes. Thoroughly mix together fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, chili paste, salt, and ¼ cup water.

Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl in vegetable oil. When hot, saute green beans until just cooked, about 4 minutes, then reserve. Bring skillet back to medium-high heat, using more oil if needed, and add chicken, shallot, and pepper. Cook, stirring, until chicken is lightly browned. Add noodles and fish sauce mixture. Stir constantly, so sauce coats noodles as they cook. If needed, use 1-2 tbls water to keep noodles from sticking to pan. When noodles are tender, 3-5 minutes, mix in tomatoes and scallions and serve. Feeds 2.

ideas for grilling corn?

I picked up some of the last of the local corn from the South Anchorage Farmers Market yesterday for a barbeque but didn’t take the time to research best grilling practices before heading out. Party consensus was to half-shuck the ears, remove the silk then re-cover the ears before cooking.

The final result was OK but does anyone know a better way?

feathering the nest

Ah, nesting. For some it involves setting up the crib and painting the nursery. Sewing cute baby quilts. Scrubbing the house down and making way for all the gear that comes with modern babies.

Over here, it’s been a cooking frenzy instead.

But who can help it? There’s so much that’s good and plentiful in the garden right now. I made quarts of our favorite Bolognese sauce, using orange paste tomatoes plus handfuls of fresh oregano, thyme, parsley, and basil. Pints of bread and butter pickles for eating with burgers. A lovely green sauce from ripe tomatillos, for enchiladas and similar fare. I cured a big slab of pork belly guanciale, which will make its way into pastas, soups, and stews all winter long.

And because they make me so happy, I assembled and froze multiple batches of my grandmother’s wonton, using pot sticker filling. These we’ll drop into steaming broth and eat with chopped greens and minced scallions for easy cool weather nourishment.

I even peeled, cored, and froze pears for use as baby food down the road. It feels like storing acorns for winter.

Surely we’d be fine without any of it. We’ve been ready for weeks for this new creature to arrive, so the bustle in the kitchen feels more like a diversion, something to distract me from thoughts of just how dramatically life is about to change. One thing that I’m guessing will stay the same: we’ll like having tasty local and homegrown food in the weeks and months to come.

Recipe: Bolognese Meat Sauce

I’ve made this sauce for countless friends in the throes of new parenthood.

1 large onion, minced / 2 carrots, minced / 2 stalks celery, minced / 2 lbs ground beef and/or pork / 1 cup milk / pinch of nutmeg / 1 cup white wine / 6 cups skinless paste tomatoes / a generous quantity fresh parsley, oregano, thyme, and basil, minced / salt & pepper

Warm a heavy pot over medium heat. Swirl in 1 tbls vegetable oil and add onion, carrots, and celery, cooking over medium heat until softened, about 8 minutes. Add ground meat, ¼ tsp salt, a few grindings of pepper, and cook until browned. Add milk and nutmeg and cook until liquid is essentially gone. Add wine and cook until liquid is essentially gone. Add tomatoes and herbs, bring to a slow boil, then turn down heat and cook over low for 3 hours or until flavors melt together richly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over spaghetti noodles, garnished with Parmesan cheese and fresh minced parsley if desired. Freezes great. Adapted from Marcella Hazan. Feeds 8-10.

pear butter

Here’s my new favorite way to preserve pears, which are low in pectin and thus not great for jam. Long cooking reduces the fruit to a buttery consistency, and the spices impart nice seasonal flavor to what’s otherwise a subtle (bland) fruit. Above, pear butter on pear-ginger muffins.

Recipe: Pear Butter

3 lbs ripe pears / 2 cups light brown sugar, approx. / 2 cinnamon sticks / 2 slices ginger, ½-inch each / ¼ tsp ground cloves / ¼ tsp ground allspice

Peel, core and chop pears. Cook in a large saucepan 20 minutes so, until soft. Add 3 tbls water if needed to keep pears from scorching. When pears are soft, measure their volume and add half the volume in sugar. Add spices and cook over low heat until very thick, 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.

When pear butter is thick, remove cinnamon and ginger. If canning, ladle the butter into small self-sealing jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Adapted from Linda Ziedrich. Makes about 2 pints.