THE MEATRIX

For those who have had an interest in family farms, here's a fun movie.

THE MEATRIX

The Pine Barrens

And a happy belated birthday to Michele. To celebrate her *ahem* years on this planet, friends joined her in a camping trip at Wharton State Forest, down in the Pine Barrens of Jersey.

I also found out that a friend from grammer school is moving back to Jersey, so in honor of her eventual arrival, I am stealing her tradition of a happy list. So here are happy things from the weekend:

Getting to use our big ass tent again
Watching Erin try to get gum off her fingers
Learning the story of Patti's one and only arrest
Napping in a hammock
Getting only a few mosquito bites
Swimming in a tea colored lake
Ca-Caw
Eating food over a campfire, cause it always tastes better than at home
Turning aquantainces into friends, and spending great times with good people.

Eat Local Challenge....

My mouth, my tongue, and my heart remind me what my mind too often forgets.

This quote is from Coming Home to Eat by Gary Paul Nahban. It’s the story of a man, who spends one year trying to eat only foods grown, fished, or gathered within two hundred miles of his home. I came across this book in a little independent bookstore in a small town in New Hampshire a few summers ago. I read it in a week and realized that although I had been a proponent of organics for many years, I had never really thought about my “foodshed” or politics of food.

I was enthralled by the story of finding cactus fruits, and local tortillas. Many exotic, at least to me here in the northeast, foods were described that opened my eyes to the plethora of what world creates. And while I don’t think I’m quite ready to completely sustain on what my two hands can cultivate (especially in a small apartment), the concept of eating locally has stayed with me.

The recently I stumbled across the Locavores website. They are launching an “Eat Local Challenge”. This August, a group of concerned culinary adventurers invite others in an effort to eat only foods grown or harvested within a 100 mile radius of San Francisco for an entire month. While not in San Francisco, other foodies have taken up the challenge, including a few fellow Jerseyans.

So I’m in. I have yet to define my rules as far as what I can’t live without, but can’t get locally, nor do I know details on how I will be held accountable, but I’m a willing and eager participant.

So until I set my own rules, here are a few general guidelines I like to live by when it comes to my food.

If not ORGANIC or LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Family farm. When faced with Kraft or Cabot cheeses, Cabot, a dairy co-op in Vermont, is the better choice. Supporting family farms helps to keep food processing decisions out of the hands of corporate conglomeration.

If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business. Basics like coffee and bread make buying local difficult. Try a local coffee shop or bakery to keep your food dollar close to home.

If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Terroir, which means 'taste of the Earth'. Purchase foods famous for the region they are grown in and support the agriculture that produces your favorite non-local foods such as Brie cheese from Brie, France or parmesan cheese from Parma, Italy.

Waste Not...or Waste Lot

It's hot. We all know that. And humid. And we've had lots of rain in spurts over the past few days. So what I want to know is why the gas station by my house had 3 sprinklers on to water the 15 square foot patch of grass and bushes at the curb. Ever hear of the word "conservation".

Sigh...that made me angry this morning.

g

Peanut Butter

I can remember as a child helping my dad in the garden, and for the first time learning about “organic”. He was talking about how he wanted to put a border into the garden and I suggested using wood. “It’s treated with arsenic, and I don’t want that to leach into my tomato plants” he said (or so I paraphrase 20 years later). It intrigued me and ever since then I’ve followed news in the food and organic industry. I consider myself to be mostly up to speed, and often ahead of the mainstream on my knowledge of the “new” things to look out for (like the recent worldwide ban of trans fats). But today my world was shaken just a bit more.

Peanut Butter. The ubiquitous spread that graces the plate of every child. The wonderful creamy spread that goes so well with chocolate. The crunchy spread that is as delicious on crackers as it is with apples. There are days where I get a hankerin’ for PB&J and a glass of orange juice (we can get into that another day, I know it’s a strange combo). And Legends deli introduced me to PB with honey and raisins. So, while I don’t eat great quantities of peanut butter, I have made sure that I buy “natural” brands – no added sugars, no trans fats, and yes I occasionally have “ground my own” at local health food stores.

Today, a friend pointed out that peanuts contain a nasty toxin. So of course, I had to drop everything and search for information.

Peanuts can harbor a carcinogenic mold that contains aflatoxin. This goes for conventional and organic peanuts. In fact, peanut farmers have a disproportionately high rate of cancer. This mold grows on peanuts, pecans, pistachios, grains, soybeans, spices, walnuts and it can even grow on milk in warm humid soils. Aflatoxin is known to cause liver cancer. A recent study found the highest levels of this toxin in health food store ground fresh peanut butters!

What! So you mean to say that all the time I thought I was doing something good, I was putting more toxins in my body. How disappointing. It’s things like this that make me wonder – tomorrow are they going to find out there is a micro-organism in lettuce that makes ones hair fall out. And yes, I know that that is what science does. It proves and disproves things, and what was benign one day can be deadly the next. But it still makes me sad.

I realize I may be blowing this out of proportion. After all Dr. Weil says it’s ok. And as long as I buy my peanut butter from companies in dry climates, there is a lower risk of this mold growing. So Arrowhead Mills PB it is.

Photo Friday - Candid

Jack in the Bushes, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.

Another submission for the weekly photo "contest". Little Jack hiding in the iris'. He's such a cutie - how could you not give in to him for whatever he wants.

Whose a Tart?

I've been hankering to spend more time in the kitchen lately - specifically to try my hand at baking - and more specifically looking at tarts.

With the holiday weekend, and the requisite bbq happening, I cracked open my cookbooks and began searching for the perfect tart to try my hand at. First was the big "savory/sweet" decision, but knowing peaches are a bit better than tomatos in early July I opted for the sweet. And my fear of dough prompted me to search for easy crusts.

While my original craving was for a custard filling, the Peach Sunflower Tart in my Fresh Tastes from the Garden State cookbook was irrisistible.

Gingersnap crust, almond whipped cream filling with peaches & blackberries topping the whole thing off.

Without any baking it was a cinch to prepare and extremely yummy, making the "deconstructing" almost as quick.

Drawbacks were only when slicing, my crust crumbled so the beauty of tart waned, but otherwise I consider my first foray into tarts a success.

Peach Sunflower Tart Corner, originally uploaded by gfiorillo.