Well, some things are still wonky, but we’re getting there. More changes to come over the next few days as I figure out how to play with this new template. And something seems to have happened to my photos — working with support to figure that problem out. But let me know what you think in the comments.
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So, I’ve been casting around for an alternative to tuna, now that the Genova tuna in oil that I liked has disappeared from my local grocery stores. There’s nothing but tuna in water which I think tastes like drek, and well, the whole tuna thing is problematic, as per this FAQ over at the estimable Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch site. Plus, my sweetheart doesn’t really like fish, which means I didn’t buy salmon from my friends in town who run a commercial fishing operation in the summer (I can’t eat that much by myself), and although I’m inching toward…
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I know I’ve blogged a million times about no-knead bread, but this one was so beautiful I just had to post a photo. I started with about a cup and a half of leftover mashed potatoes. Then I added 3 cups of flour, a 1/2 teaspoon of yeast (I’m at the bottom of the jar and it’s not very lively anymore), a tablespoon of salt, and mixed it until the mashed potatoes were all incorporated. Then I added 1.5 cups sourdough starter and 1 cup of warm water. It was a little wet, so I added half a cup of…
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We’ve been cleaning out the freezers to make room for some incoming elk and lamb, and we found several packages of “soup bones.” They were far too meaty for the dogs, so I made a batch of stock. First I roasted them all off in a hot oven with three or four onions cut in half, and half a dozen carrots until everything was nicely carmelized. I was thrilled to discover the tail in the treasure trove as well (when it’s wrapped in butcher paper, it’s sometimes a surprise when you unwrap it). After everything browned up, I put it…
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Your Tuesday round up of interesting bits and pieces I’ve been finding online: Why Big Ag Won’t Feed the World – The Atlantic Food Channel Why are libertarian right wingers defending a dysfunctional, state-engineered food system? | Grist Destroying Sustainability along with Inventory (This one really stings. Not only did my publisher “pulp” the paperback copies of Place Last Seen when it went out of print, they screwed up my order and damaged the copies so badly that they never even sent them. I have one copy of my own paperback. Sigh.) Saving Michigan With a New Green Industrial Revolution…
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We were lucky enough to be the recipients of several large roasts that came from a tiny herd of cattle that one of Chuck’s friends raises. Last year, we had a roast beef from one of their steers, and it was the best piece of meat I think I’ve ever eaten. There really is something about meat that hasn’t seen the inside of a feedlot. So, yesterday, being grey and rainy and full of football and all, I cooked a five pound chuck roast. While it was searing the house filled up with this amazing beefy smell. I don’t think…
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Seems we’re all still reacting to the Flanagan piece slamming school gardens. Here’s a piece from Civil Eats that quotes Booker T. Washington on the value of physical work. The contempt shown by so much of the middle and upper-middle classes for people who work with their hands is, I’m convinced, partly responsible for the devastating loss of manufacturing jobs here in America. When you believe that work is only something other people do, and when you believe that those others, because they work with their hands and bodies must necessarily be inferior to you in your nice clean office,…
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Hmm. I don’t think being green is the problem here — seems like these couples have bigger issues. Another dumb lifestyle article from the NY Times. When Trying to Preserve the Planet Strains the Relationship – NYTimes.com As awareness of environmental concerns has grown, therapists say they are seeing a rise in bickering between couples and family members over the extent to which they should change their lives to save the planet.
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While in some ways I hate to give Caitlin Flanagan any more web traffic for her flameball of an article about school gardens, the response has been very heartening. Here’s a link roundup: Red Herrings Are Not Dinner Food, or why Caitlin Flanagan is WRONG about school gardens | Oakland Local Mag writer: Alice Waters and school gardens are evil An Edible Schoolyard in Durham: How Kids Grow (Video) Samuel Fromartz: Atlantic’s Caitlin Flanagan Blames Arugula for California’s Failing Schools Chef Kurt Michael Friese’s response was probably my favorite, in part because I find the contempt for manual labor among…
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Here’s an interesting article about buying meat in bulk, including practical tips for those of you who might be interested but don’t know where to start. The Seminal » Food Sunday: I’ll take half a cow and ten chickens please. We’re lucky here in Montana — not only is it pretty easy to find a rancher who will sell you part of an animal, we’re one of the few states that still has small local slaughterhouses. Big Ag has managed to kill them in most other states — I have a friend in Colorado who would raise cattle for her…