I woke up this morning to a great article on yahoo...

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/125/seven-foods-chefs-avoid-right-now.html

Seven Foods to Avoid Right Now

And the article was written with March in mind. What it basically encourages the reader to do it think about what food could be grown right now, and what fresh vegetables and fruit are offered in the grocery stores. Since the south's growing season is just starting, and here in the north, it is still a distant thought, most of what is in the stores is coming from South America or over seas.

Why is that bad? The biggest problem is that these foods have very little flavor by the time they reach our grocery shelves. And, although the article didn't mention this, with reduced flavor naturally come reduced nutrition.

So what is a cook to do? Plan ahead. At the end of summer, when foods are at their peek and there is an abundance, you need to think about storing these foods for winter. I can a lot of foods: beans, corn, tomatoes, tomato sauce, peaches, pears, etc. I also freeze many fruits, especially blueberries. In fact, I just opened a jar of peaches and, no kidding, it tasted like summer. Far better than even canned peaches in the store.

And the bonus is, that I know what chemicals/ingredients were used, if any, on all of this produce. Which is a lot more than I can say for the produce in the grocery store.

Seeds

Seed Catalogs are something that I never knew existed BF (before the farm). I remember reading a gardening forum, for I knew now that I lived on a farm I needed a garden, about how people were already receiving their seed catalogs. Did I mention it was early January? Being the novice I was, I couldn't understand why in the world anyone would want to think about planting a garden in January, here in Indiana (zone 5).

So, I took the plunge and did what the forum readers suggested, go to these various web pages and sign up for a free catalog. What the heck, free is always good, right?

In the following years I was on every plant and seed catalog mailing list and was receiving catalogs as early as mid-December. And now, I understand the wonder and excitement of receiving such catalogs. I'm sitting here now with no less that 30 different catalogs to review. It is mid-February, and it is actually a little late for me to be placing my orders, as many people will start their seed indoor by now. I am by no means an accomplished gardener, so I don't have the same pressure!

My general goal is this: (remember, I'm zone 5)
Start tomatoes seed indoors by March 15th (to be planted in garden by May 15, our avg. last frost date.)
Start broccoli and cabbage seeds indoors by April 15th.

In the garden:
By mid April, start lettuce, spinach, onions, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and peas, as soon as the garden can be worked.

By end of May, have rest of garden planted, including, zucchini, pie pumpkins, butternut squash, and all the seeds started indoors.

My garden is fairly small and manageable, and each year I have grand ideas for it's expansion. Last year, I received some ever bearing strawberry plants. I was not able to create a bed for them, but I did plant them in pots and even now, mid-February, there are green leaves poking through the snow. I am hopeful that they will transplant well and I might get a fairly decent harvest even this year.

If you've never had the pleasure of receiving seed catalogs, you are missing out on a wonderful way to warm and brighten these long days of winter. Consider visiting some of my favorite companies below and sign up - after all, it is free and you only have to sign up for a couple....the rest will come!

Johnny's Seeds: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Seed Savers: http://www.seedsavers.org/
Gardens alive! http://www.gardensalive.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1266244077
Vessey Seeds: http://www.veseys.com/us/en/?veseys=l45vfk5r7ar8pqu4hnatjsb6f1
Indiana Berry: https://indianaberry.com/
Henry Fields: http://henryfields.com/Default.asp?bhcd2=1266244163
Michigan Bulb: http://michiganbulb.com/Default.asp?

Happy Planting!

Whole Wheat Pizzas

One of my goals this year is to replace some of our favorite meals with a healthier alternative - lower calories, higher fiber, remove or reduce white flour and white sugar.


My first task was to make Monday night pizza night something I could look forward to and enjoy. I have an abundance of wheat berries that a friend has given me and my sister graciously ground for me in her electric grinder. It has been stored in the freezer for a couple of months now, and I figured it was time to get it out and start using it.

I found this recipe for a "no rise" whole wheat pizza dough:

1 c warm water
2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 wheat germ (extra fiber...I like that!)
1 T honey
1 t salt
2 1/4 t yeast (or, one packet)
3 t wheat gutten (this was not in the original recipe, but I add this to the dough)

Since I need this to be easy, I dump this all into the bread machine and set it to the dough setting. Now, the recipe said it was a no rise dough, however, since I am using the bread machine, I do let it rise for about 20 minutes and it is easier, more elastic to work with.

Once the dough in done, I divide it into four individual pizzas. This recipe will make (2) 12" thin crust pizzas or one deep dish pizza, but since everyone in our house likes different things on their pizza, we opt for personal pizzas.

Here you can see that each pizza is pretty loaded (except for Grace, who only likes cheese) AND...each pizza is only 500 calories! Not bad...in fact, they are actually very good.

UPDATE: I opened a jar of the coleslaw yesterday and it was fantastic! It was still crunchy and had a taste similar to bread and butter pickles (only with cabbage, of course.)

I think I'll try some on my hamburger tonight.....

Winter Canning

Many will think that canning is only done in the summer and fall, but for me, it is a year-round adventure.

One item I can regularly are beans, specifically pinto beans for our Mexican feasts. Canning beans is really quite easy, and they taste much better that the refried beans from the store. I also can red beans for chili, and northern beans for ham and beans.

Today, I was anxious to try a recipe that I had found at the Creative Canning Blogspot. It was for coleslaw. (http://creativecanning.blogspot.com/2009/01/coleslaw.html)
I've tried freezing coleslaw in the past, but found it was not only too sweet, but a little too soggy. This recipe also uses a sugar syrup, but suggests to rinse off the syrup, and then adding your favorite mayonnaise based dressing, BRILLIANT! Since cabbage was one sale this week for New Year's, I decided to try it. I'm going to let it sit a week or so before opening up a jar to see if it really does stay crisp.

Oh Fudge!

My first first real job, with taxes taken out and everything, was at Marla's Bakery. What a wonderful place to work. I not only got to work the counter and wash dishes, but I also got to help make a variety of treats sold at the bakery.

They were many good and delicious things for sale at the bakery - danish, coffeecakes, cookies, but Marla's was famous the New York cheesecakes. My only regret now was that I didn't pay enough attention to how things were made or write down any of the recipes. Oh, I did pick up a few tips, like lining the cake pans with parchment paper to insure the come out clean. Also, use dental floss (not mint flavor!) to cut the cheesecakes cleanly. After spending an entire day rolling truffles, I can do that in my sleep.

Marla's is closed now, and has been for many years. However, Chef Marla still works locally and a few years ago, an article was written about her in the local paper. I really enjoyed reading about her and remembering my days at the bakery. In that article, she shared a few recipes, including her fudge recipe. This was a stroke of good fortune as I am fudge-making deficient. In the past, my fudge always turned out too soft. This, to me, is a easy, fail-safe recipe that works every time. It also freezes well, which is good since this make enough for an army!

Marla's Fudge
4 1/2 c sugar
1 can (14.5oz) evaporated milk
18 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1 c butter
3 T vanilla

Put chocolate chips, butter and vanilla in large bowl and set aside. Butter a 9x13 pan.

Combine sugar and milk in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil steadily for 6-8 minutes (or until it reaches a temperature of 238-240 deg.), stirring constantly.
Pour sugar mixture over chocolate/butter/vanilla mixture in bowl, and beat with mixer at high speed until all butter in incorporated. Pour into pan and refrigerate.

It may take 4-6 hours to set up.

Chef Pik Prepares Pumpkin for Freezing

This is the first of a series of videos shot with our special guest cat, Chef Pik.
I hope you enjoy!