Illinois Harvest Dinner 2017

Wow.

Hey, blog world...it's been a while.

A lot has happened, and maybe some day I'll get into all that, but today is not that day. Because last week, I attended an amazing event, and I have to share all about it!

Somehow, in the vast sea of karma that I ride in life, I have been blessed with the opportunity to get to know people in many areas of the food industry, and in particular, farmers. One of those people that I am so thankful to have gotten to know better, Mary Faber, a dairy and grain farmer in central Illinois, invited me to attend the Illinois Harvest Dinner last week. The Illinois Harvest Dinner is a fantastic event that brings together crop and animal farmers, food industry workers, people in the health industry, educators, government officials, and consumers and invites them to have an open and free-flowing discussion about, well, whatever the night brings up.

CSA Share - Spring Week 1 and Quick Stir Fry

I can't properly put into words how excited I get when it's time for our CSA to start again.  We're lucky to be able to get CSA shares from spring until fall, but there's still a long 5 months that we go without it.  Well, not exactly without it, because I have a lot in my freezer to stretch it out.

But by the time spring comes around, resources are running low, and my family is usually pretty desperate for vegetables that taste like true vegetables.  This week was the first week of our spring CSA with Green Earth Institute, and after the long, cold winter we had, I couldn't have been more ready for it!

Here's what we got: a HUGE bag of lettuce, Harukei turnips, pea shoots, beet greens, potted oregano (we could choose either oregano or thyme, and as much as I love thyme, I already had a bunch of it planted), and a ton of bok choy.

Rhubarb Cake with Cornmeal

I don't consider myself much a a baker, but that doesn't mean that I can't bake.  I just prefer simple recipes, and most of the things I like to bake are very straightforward and rustic.  In my mind, bakers are the ones who make complicated confections that are meticulously decorated...not that that's true, but in my headspace, that's what I think of when I think "baker".

This rhubarb cake is a perfect representation of my kind of baking.  It uses rhubarb right from my backyard.  It takes only a short time (with a little prep) to throw together.  It might not be the prettiest cake on the block to look at, but you will melt into a satisfied puddle of goo after tasting it.  It's a very moist cake, but the cornmeal gives makes it more interesting for your mouth, and the pops of tempered rhubarb tartness...wow.

Making Mozz

I tend to have big ideas and then slack on some of the follow through.  I also tend to be a little spoiled by my husband, and if I mention (or, say, e-mail a link to) something I'm interested in, he will often buy that thing (within reason) for me for the next appropriate holiday.  Enter the cheese making kits.

Last year, right around Mother's Day, I saw that Williams-Sonoma had DIY cheese kits available.  And my inner food geek went a little nuts.  I started dropping hints, like, "Wow, with all the tomatoes and basil that we have in the garden, wouldn't it be nice to have fresh, homemade mozzarella to make caprese?", and "Grilled pizza is the bomb.  The only way it could be better is if we had some fresh, homemade mozzarella to top it with!".  You know, subtle.

Savory Simmered Beef Ribs

I buy cows.  Well, parts of cows.  Halves, quarters...  It's a good way to go to get high quality beef for an affordable (in the long run) price.  I've always meant to do a post about buying the cow, and I swear, I'm going to get there, but not today.  But it relates to today's post because when you buy a half or a quarter cow, you might get some cuts that you aren't as familiar with, and the best value is to use all the parts.  So, with that in mind, beef ribs.

My vegan friend posted something on Facebook the other day that said something like, "So, you say you are humane because you use the entire animal?  You know who else does that?  The animal."  I get it.  But if you're reading this post after seeing the title, you probably aren't vegan.  And if you are a meat-eater, it really is responsible to not let parts go to waste.  So, on with the recipe:

Berries Are Red, Berries Are Blue...

Summer is just awesome, food-wise, here in the Midwest.

Once June hits, we know we're usually in for a stream of local fruits and veggies for the next 3 or four months.  From June's strawberry festivals to October's pumpkin patch adventures, it's all delicious.  And mid-July marks one of my favorites: blueberry season!

I've been going blueberry picking as long as I can remember, and started dragging my husband to the fields even before we were married.  (He should have known back then what he was getting into!)  Time went on, and one by one, we started taking the kids too.  Last year was a rough year for fruit crops, and the farm we usually go to was hit hard and had very little harvest, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we discovered a patch with certified organic berries not too much more of a drive than then patch we usually went to.

The Best Things You Probably Aren't Eating Yet: Garlic Scapes

Behold the garlic scape.  Small yet mighty, beautiful but with a bite, simple in look but intense in flavor.  Garlic scapes and I were introduced through my CSA the first year we joined it, and I fell in love at first taste.

Homesteading in the Suburbs - A Guest Blog

I am fortunate to be blessed with very talented friends with a wide variety of life experience in many different areas.  One of my friends is passionate about the homesteading arts, and I really admire her persistence, her knowledge, and her skills.  I'm becoming more and more obsessed lately with making the most of our yard, planting edibles and incorporating them into the landscaping, and I often turn to this friend for her opinions and advice.  Urban and suburban chicken coops are becoming kind of a hot topic around here lately, and I know this friend has plenty to say about it, so I asked her to write a guest blog about homesteading in the suburbs, especially raising chickens.  I hope that it will inspire you like she inspires me!

Homesteading in the Suburbs

If you are fortunate enough to own a home in the suburbs, you have a plot of land. Some get acres, some get a fraction of a single acre.  Most are fully covered in sod.  Sod or grass requires mowing. Some homeowners, like myself, choose to edge, spread fertilizer, and treat for weeds to make it look nice.  All of us are given a great opportunity: a plot of land.  A plot of land used to mean opportunity.  Now, to the average homeowner, it means (yard) work.

Shroom For More

Would you believe me if I told you I had a hot veggie side that you can throw together in 5 minutes?  with only 3 ingredients?  Because I do.

Even better than that, if you know someone who's not a big fan of mushrooms, this could possibly convert them.  It did for me.  I still wouldn't consider myself big on mushrooms, but I do enjoy them this way.

I got this method from a vendor at Green City Market in downtown Chicago.  He had a bunch of mushrooms cooked up this way and managed to charm my friend and me into trying them.  It was eye-opening.  They almost tasted like little bites of steak!  No kidding, that was my mushroom epiphany right there.

Spring CSA Week 1

I've had a grin on my face all day.  Because...

Today was the first day of the year for our veggie CSA!

We got a newsletter beforehand telling us what to expect, and since I saw bok choy and harukei turnips on there, I decided to set the rice cooker before we went to pick up, because I could throw together a mean stir-fry with those field-fresh veggies.  After doing that, the kids and I headed to the farm...which happens to be about 5 minutes away, smack dab in the middle of the Chicago suburbs.

Here's what we got:

Jammy Chicken

Some days, you just need a delicious but low-maintenance dinner.  A dinner that it's really hard to screw up. A dinner that doesn't need chopping or stirring or babysitting.  A dinner that's ready for the table in 30 minutes.  A dinner that you can make with what you already have.

Here's a dinner like that for you:

You'll need salt, pepper, some jelly or jam, some balsamic vinegar (Okay, that's probably optional...any liquid that goes well with the jelly flavor is fine.  Or even water.), pepper, and some boneless chicken breasts.  Oh, and a little oil or cooking spray to grease the dish.  That's not pictured.

The Best Things You Probably Aren't Eating Yet: Asparagus

Spring is almost here.

I love it.  I've ordered seeds and plants for my gardens and yard, the sun stays out longer, the weather has a damp, rain-scented edge to it, and I feel myself come out of the shell that winter crowds me into.  And, off a few months in the distance, I hear the farmers' markets calling their siren song to me.

At the grocery stores, the seasons tend to be a few months ahead of us, because the food is transported from warmer climates.  That means that right about now, we are getting some of my favorite seasonal produce in the stores, and on some great deals.

A lot of veggies out there seem to be a "love it or hate it" kind of deal.  Green veg, in particular, seems to be a hard sell to some.  Just the word "asparagus" makes some people squirm.  But for me, it's spring in a stick. versatile, nutritious, and delicious.  No, it really is, I swear...give me a chance here!

Frozen Assets

My freezer is legendary.  I've blogged about some of the treasures it contains, but even before this blog existed, that freezer had a following of its' own.  At one point, I was going to make it a Foursquare check-in and call it "Frostco".  My friend requested that I devote a post to my wonderful freezer.  It's out in the garage, a full standing freezer, and it is one of my most appreciated possessions.

I think a lot of people don't really use their freezers to their fullest potential.  I know I used to be scared of freezing stuff, and I thought that things that were frozen didn't taste as good.  Turns out, I was wrong.  You just have to know what you're doing.  My freezer and I don't have a perfect relationship.  Don't get me wrong.  It's horribly unorganized.  Nothing's really boxed, so it has to fit in where it can, and sometimes I end up with a 4-pound frozen chicken hitting me in the head while I'm getting frozen veggies out of the lower drawer.  And don't even get me started on the day last summer when the seal lost it's sealing power and I lost half of what was inside.  It felt like a small part of me died that day.  Maybe I get a little overly emotional about food.  But, for the most part, I love my freezer, and it's become pretty essential to my family's eating.  

OMG, WTF is a CSA?

If you hang around me for any length of time, you'll probably hear me mention my CSA.  And if you're following my crazy antics on this blog, you've probably seen we write about it.  And you've probably figured out that it is something related to vegetables, or farms, or at least food in some way.  But you might not know what, exactly, a CSA is.  So, let me fill you in...

The acronym CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  Basically, people in the community buy a share of a farm, and in turn, receive a share of the harvest.  There are CSAs all over these days, and they can vary a lot.  Some include vegetables, fruits, some add meat, eggs, cheeses, preserves, or other local goods.  Some use several farms together and some come from a single farm.  For the single reason that it's the one I'm most familiar with, I'm going to use the CSA my family belongs to to explain it to you.

Piggin' Out

The other night, my kids were up in arms.  It was another crazy schedule of a day, and we only had about 40 minutes to make and eat dinner between activities.  Silly me, I had forgotten that I had told them they could have mac and cheese for our next quickie dinner.  So when they asked what we were having, and I said pork chops, the reaction was less than pleasant.  They must have inherited my "undying love for mac and cheese" gene.  Then, my oldest paused from the "But you said..."s and asked, "Are the pork chops from Amy's?".  I grinned, because I knew I had them now.  "Are there any other kind?"  Wink.  There was a split second of silence, and then, in unison..."Yay!  Amy's pork chops!!!"

If you haven't read me brag on her already, the Amy in question here is the owner of Amy's Organics, our local organic mobile farmers' market, and she carries some fantastic meat on her truck.  I've already written about the fish she carries.  The Berkshire pork chops, no doubt, are my family's favorite.  Amy gets her pork chops from Black Earth Meats, who believes in farming methods that are organic and humane, and they also are grass-fed.  Joel Salatin, a farming icon, likes to talk about respecting the "pigness of the pig", and to me, these chops are what that ideal tastes like.  They are a deep, rich pork flavor, and once we tasted them, any store-bought chops pale in comparison.

Summer Memories - Part One

So, on a typically dreary Chicagoland winter's day, or a weird one like today where it's raining and in the 40s, I can't help but think back on sunnier times.  Personally, I'm all about the in-betweens, and spring and fall are my favorite times of year, but I married a summer man, and I have grown to enjoy those hot, humid days as well.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer evening!

Now that the kids are getting a little older, we've been taking a yearly vacation up to my grandmother's cottage on Lake Michigan.  It's one of my favorite places, for many reasons.  We overlook the lake.  You can hear the waves crash all night.  Every other house you drive by sells firewood.  Our cell phones don't work there.  You get the picture.  It's just lovely.

This past year, we did something that I have never done in the almost 30 years that I've been going up to the cottage.  We went to a fish boil.  Now, I am a bit of a foodie freak.  I love food and the stories behind it.  I'm a huge advocate of local farms and food culture.  So, a fish boil might not sound exciting to everyone, but to me, it was a huge deal.  A dream of mine, you could say.  You see, a fish boil isn't just boiled fish.  In fact, the fish almost becomes a side note.  It's a gathering, seeped in tradition, an event.  And it's a perfect example of everything I love about local food.