Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Indian pound cake

Picked up the winter issue of South Shore Edible today. Loved the editors holiday food memories. A great article on wood burning ovens.There is a recipe for Indian pound cake that was found at pilgrim hall in a notebook dated early 1800's.Since I had all the ingredients I decided to try it,it contains johnny cake meal which is a white flint cornmeal grown in Rhode Island see the article on greys gristmill in the SSE winter edition. It also contained 1/2 of a nutmeg which I thought would be overkill but it was delicious.Foodies has the magazine in the store,pick up a copy soon as always a great read.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

common ground fair

Last weekend we attended the Common Ground Fair in Maine put on by the Maine organic farmers. I attended three lectures. The first was on growing and using sprouts the second was a great demonstration of fermentation,the speaker took the fear away and showed a way that is very easy using jars with gaskets. The third was a speaker on the fatback diet on getting back to whole foods and stop using low fat an d fat free products.We also saw awesome artisans and the best collection of farm stands in Maine,veggies,herbs,meat cheese they had it all. I even saw local foraged chicken of the woods mushrooms for sale.It was a great weekend.

Monday, September 21, 2009

9/21/2009 a few local treats







This week I made a gingered squash soup with anadama bread from jenny's bread at the farmers market.We also had steamers dug by Joe.The funny looking vegetable is Brazilian eggplant.The skin was tough and the eggplant was on the bitter side.Looked better than it tasted.Finally a good batch of mozzarella and I smoked it after it dried on the counter for a while. I found these great smoke cones at Aubochon hardware that you can cold smoke with.I haven't tasted it yet but it smelled good. I made 4 pints of kosher dills from the garden and froze some tomatoes that i blanched peeled and seeded. I also made some new pickles.The ones like you get with deli sandwiches that are still white inside, my favorite.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

One local summer week 14
















This week I had a lot of good experiences.I went blueberry picking at Dufort farm in Rehoboth,I also bought some beef and pork from them. The pork was very good.I have experienced some pork that has been a little strong tasting for my liking but this was really tasty.I cooked the pork with a hot slaw of cabbage,apple,onions,sage and carrots. I also cooked a wonderful corn tart with roasted cherry tomatoes from a recipe a friend gave me this week.I bought 25 pounds of tomatoes and made ketchup out of them.Homemade ketchup is worth the work.We went to a pot luck for slow foods on Labor day in Bridgewater. Not a lot of people but we had a good time and some good food and conversation.The best of the week was when I finally brought my first try of sauerkraut up from the basement. I made it about mid July in a crock in the basement and never looked at it. I sealed the top with a plastic bag of water and hoped for the best. I was really afraid of what I would find when I uncovered it. To my surprise it was beautiful! Nothing funky on top,no slime, nothing growing just beautiful fresh looking sauerkraut. Joe and I tried it together it was perfect and really crunchy.I have been having a terrible time trying to get mozzarella to come out right so I was so happy to have something work the way it should. I froze 8 cups of blueberries that I picked and will make the rest into a pie tomorrow.One local summer is actually over but I am continuing on.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

One local summer week 13


This weeks meal was homegrown cukes,tomato's and onion. Then a gnocchi dish made with homemade ricotta,swiss chard from a friend,homegrown onion,half and half and a hard cheese from narragansett creamery in R I and local eggs. Not local flour and olive oil. The gnocchi were light pillows of cheesy goodness.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

One local summer week 12


This week's meal was grass fed london broil from Plato's harvest in Middleboro ma. Our salad was local cucumber and onion from the farmers market and tomato's from our yard with local red wine vinegar not local olive oil and oregano from the herb garden.Green beans from our garden. At this point in the summer our meals are all about 75% local anyways. My tomatos are finally ripening,our best producer looks like it will be (marriana) they are a plum tomato and seem prolific they have not ripened yet. We have had cherry's and black prince. It looks like we will have a few brandy wine and very few german stripe. I was really looking forward to the german stripe.I planted 26 tomato plants but with the lousy weather I dont expect much.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Quahog


I have had some questions about quahogs. They are a large hard shelled clam,an adult little neck or cherry stone. They are ground up and used in chowders and stuffed clams. They are dug a few inches down unlike the soft shelled clam that is much deeper in the sand.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

One Local Summer Week 11





















This weeks local meals were:


#1 Roast chicken with mashed potato,cranberry jell,salad,carrots.The chicken was from Joe's nephew,the potatoes were from Plato's harvest farm,salad and carrots from the back yard and the cranberry sauce I canned last year with the neighbors berries.

#2 Stuffed Quahogs with carrots, my carrots that I grew and quahogs dug by Joe with local onions,peppers,chorico and bread from the freezer.

#3 Panzella salad, our tomato's with bread from the farmers market, local peppers,onions,cucumbers.not local olives and Olive oil and vinegar.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

One local Summer Week 10


This weeks local meal is late on Sunday night again, It seems I have been late every week this year. I was canning all weekend. Our local meal this week was meatloaf with beef from Aquidneck beef in RI,home roasted tomatoes,local eggs,local onions and green peppers froze last summer,with some local BBQ sauce on top. Pickled beets I canned last fall. Cucumber onion slaw local veggies with local red wine vinegar and honey from our bees. And roasted local potatoes.It was really good even though it was last minute.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Pickling and preserving

Today we went to red apple farm in Wrentham,I had never been and wanted to check it out.I bought a 1/2 bushel of pickling cukes for 6.00 and a 1/2 bushel of apricots for 12.95. I know I am going to make bread and butter pickles and relish. Not sure what I will do with the fruit yet.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

one local summer week 9




This week three local meals. The first was boiled crabs and foccacia bread from the farmers market and clams that Joe dug. The second was crab cakes, corn from farmers market and salad from the back yard. The third will be tonight clams dug by Joe with corn from the farmers market, potatoes from Ward's berry farm where we went berry picking this week and local chorico. Clams, clams and more clams. I froze 2 batches of chowder base and 2 batches of broth yesterday and 7 large stuffed quahogs. All this from about 30 pounds of clams.I will be happy to see no seafood this week enough is enough. Saw food Inc. again this week preceded by a lot of local vendors and a great discussion period after. This was at Plymouth Plantation and was well attended.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Food Inc Movie at Plymouth Plantation

The movie Food Inc. Is coming to the theater at Plymouth Plantation here is info for anyone in the area.

South Shore Edible magazine will be hosting a special event around the movie FOOD INC. at Plymouth Plantation. I have already seen this movie it is important and a must see. Saturday August 1st and Wednesday August 5, the event will start at 6.00 with vendors before the movie and a discussion after.Tell all your friends.




Check http://www.ediblesouthshore.com/ for more info.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

One Local Summer Week 8




We had quite a few local meals this week. Monday we had company over for stuffed quahogs made with clams dug by Joe 'local chourico local peppers from freezer and local onions.Bread stuffing from leftovers in the freezer, also a local salad with home grown lettuce local cucumber and carrot. Our dessert was homemade Amish root beer we bought on vacation with vanilla ice cream. We put the root beer down in the cellar when we got home a few weeks ago so the floats finished with a true beer flavor I guess I should of refrigerated it.(live and learn)Last night we had company over for Pizza. The crust was not local I made it with white flour from King Arthur,usually I would use whole wheat from Maine but I have not perfected the WW pizza crust so I did not want to serve it to guests. I did make the mozzarella,onion from our garden tomatoes and peppers from the freezer put up last summer and basil from the yard.We also had a salad from our lettuce and our first tomato and radishes and cucumbers from a farm d own the street. The picture of the clam meal shows the remains since I forgot to take picture till we were done.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

preserving 2009/ dilly beans

Today I canned 5 pints of Dilly beans with my own homegrown green beans. The only other thing I have preserved this year so far are strawberries about 6 quarts and some rhubarb. I went down to the cellar to see what is left from previous years. There are lots of pickles,beets,mustard pickles and corn relish. I will need to make bread and butter pickles and more ketchup and relish. I also will need to can more salsa, it seems a lot of things I can take me about 2 years to finish. I guess from now on I should take count of what is left before I plant so I do not plant more than I need. I also need to get better about using what I have canned.We made a lot of vegetable soup this winter with the veggies I canned and It was delicious.Our nephew gave us two huge chickens he raised this year can't wait to try one.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

One local summer weeek 7






This weeks local meal was one of many. A (bakeover) a recipe from Mary Janes Idea book. This is a meal of ingredients sauteed in a small wok then adding a pie crust or other topping and baking in the oven. I used my first green beans of the year,local summer squash,carrots,corn,onions all bought at farmers market,I also added green peppers and roasted poblano peppers I froze last summer. I added some Mexican spices. For a topping I used a cornbread recipe from a cookbook from the 1920's that does not use white flour. I used cornmeal from the local mill in Plymouth,honey from the back yard, butter salt and baking powder. The cornbread cooked over vegetables was almost custard like. It was real good .As a side dish we had a salad of local grated raw beets and onion,rice wine vinegar and non local orange.
We had a great dinner at a friends this week with almost all ingredients from the local farmers market,fresh salads and seafood on the grill it was delicious. We had a salad of carrots,small turnips grated with a fresh dressing of ginger and rice wine vinegar. A Mexican inspired salad of chopped vegetables(see photo above) .We had clams,shrimp,scallops and fish on the grill and to top it all off a colonial steamed pudding, similar to a brownbread with cranberries with a decadent sauce and lots of local libations. A collaborative effort a great casual summer evening. A good time was had by all I can't remember when I laughed so hard. Hope you all had A great week.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

One local summer week 6

This weeks local meal is littlenecks dug by Joe with some local (fall River) Chorizo and two bean salad with shell beans from the freezer from last year, and green beans from the farm down the street and corn from the same farm. Sorry no picture I totally forgot. We also had local strawberries this week, local beef, salads with all local ingriedients. I used our qhahogs to make stuffed quahogs with local chorizo and onions and peppers, and bread ends from the freezer for a party they were a hit. We saw the new movie Food Inc. this week a definate must see.We ordered a rack to cook clams on the grill so I hope it will be here for a get together we are going
to later in the week.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

One local summer week 5


We missed last week 's one local entry. We were on Vacation in Virginia and Pennsylvania,So we ate a lot of food local to that area since they are a little farther ahead in their season.I will blog more on the vacation later. Tonight we will have a lot of items from PA. since I count anything bought on vacation as local. We are having a PA. grown chicken bought at the wonderful Central Market in downtown Lancaster flavored with rosemary from the garden and garlic bought last fall.. This is supposed to be the oldest farmers market in the country. It was really great and you will see people coming in with their milk bottles for refills. They had a great butcher with free range poultry and grass fed beef, fresh not frozen. We will also have the first corn of the season from Billlingsgate farm in Plympton a few miles away, carrots thinned from my garden and asparagus bought from an Amish farmer on vacation and pickled beets I put up in the fall. Dessert will be grilled peaches also bought at the market in PA.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

One Local Summer week 3 2009


This is weeks local meal: Meatloaf the perfect comfort meal with a salad and asparagus and cranberry sauce. All salad ingredients from our yard.Asparagus Halifax 10 miles, cranberry sauce with cranberries from next door neighbor.The meatloaf was made with local grass fed beef from Dufort farm in Rehoboth about 30 miles,homemade ketchup,local eggs, Oats grown in Maine,green pepper from last year and garlic bought local last fall.Salad dressing was local wine vinegar, olive oil and fresh herbs from my garden.Ingredients used not local:Olive Oil, salt,pepper, and sugar.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Week 2 one local summer


Week two of One Local Summer 2009. My definitions of eating local are, 100 mile radius and anything I buy while on vacation. Tonight our meal is a grilled pizza with a salad topping. The whole wheat for the dough was bought in Maine last fall and kept in the freezer. I usually buy 20 lbs a year. The cheese is Atwells Gold (a hard flavorful cheese) from Narragansett Creamery in Rhode Island and a smoked mozzarella from Maplebrook farm in Bennington VT. The topping for the pizza added after the shell with cheese is off the grill is composed of: greens and oregano from back yard, garlic from last fall,red wine vinegar from a local red wine,tomatoes bought at a farm stand in Mattapoisett (greenhouse) a basil mixture from the farmers market.Non local ingredients,olive oil salt and pepper. We also picked strawberries in Mattapoisett this week,bought heavy cream from a local dairy,and bought some local asparagus,we are also picking our own radishes.Pizza is usually my local (lazy meal) when I don't feel creative but the freshness of the salad on the grilled pizza base was really,really good. I will definitely be making this again. The dough is a little chewy and dry with all whole wheat but was very easy to grill compared with crusts I have tried with white flour.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

one local summer week #1


Our first documented local meal for 2009 ols. We had roasted vegetables on Johnny cakes, with a tossed salad. The roasted vegetables: turnips,eggplant,asparagus from wishing stone farm Little Compton RI (approximately 57 miles) and Poblano peppers from last year (frozen) and garlic bought in Maine on vacation last fall. The salad was lettuce and radishes from our yard and cucumber and tomato from wishing stone farm(57 miles) greenhouse grown.The dressing was olive oil and red wine vinegar from a Friends homemade red wine and herbs from the garden. I had defrosted some garlic scape pesto to dress the vegetables but they were to good to cover up.Lastly the johnnycake's make with white flint cornmeal from RI. Salt used was smoked salt from Maine. Not local pepper and olive oil.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

springtime farmers market pawtucket RI

Yesterday we went to the last of the winter/springtime farmers mkt in RI. We bought tomatoes,cucumber,eggplant,turnips,plants,spinach and asparagus. All of this in May from Wishing stone farm in Little Compton RI. Greenhouses are a great thing. I will use these in our first One Local Summer meal of the year.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

what do you do with little eggs?






Tonights dinner a chorizo frittata made with local bantam eggs from Joe's brother and local chorizo and chives from the yard and a little no local red pepper and non local spagetti. Also a side dish of asparagus grown at the old barnstable county farm now run by cape cod organics. This meal was a nice light summer meal.photo of eggs shows the size difference between the regular chicken eggs and the bantams.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

1st farmers market of the year

Today I was heading to the cape for a meeting,I had read that Orleans farmers market was opening today. There was quite a lot available Lettuce,leeks,scallions,radishes,kale,rhubarb,
plants, and shitake logs. I bought one now I have two so a better chance of harvesting enough at one time to do something with them. Then I picked up some more barnstable grown asparagus
that is so unbelievable fresh. After my meeting in Dennis off to Dartmouth for farmers market,
also a historical reenactment camp, and farm tour of Alderbrook farm. What a great day. Tommorow we feast on asparagus and hope for a cold day this week for kale soup.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Local foraging





This weeks local foraging, steamer clams and Morel mushrooms, only three mushrooms so far. This is our third year having them in our front lawn but top amount was probably 6 or 7. We will have the clams with some corn I canned last year and homemade brown bread with local cornmeal and whole wheat from Maine. I am hoping to get out in the woods this week to see what I can forage, i think it is great fun to find free food. I have stored the mushrooms in a paper bag in the refrigerator hoping to have enough to actually make something.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

failed local meal

For some reason Sunday seems to be the day our meals are the most local, I'm not sure why.Tonight was little neck clams that I had froze in the shell this summer over Spaghetti squash with garlic scape pesto. I now know that you can keep a spaghetti squash in the cellar for 6 months and have it still be edible. But I do not know why I keep eating this vegetable, I just find it really boring even with the garlic scape pesto.The clams were not great, I think in the freezer a little to long. We also had a salad that had a few local components.So the dinner was a bust but i will finish off on a good note, strawberry shortcake with strawberries from last summer, they are delicious.I signed up to take a cheese making course at New England cheese making. I think it will be fun,I have made some mozzarella but out of three times only one was really edible.So i am really looking forward to it.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Eating local without trying

Tonight dinner was almost all local without even trying. We had meatloaf :hamburger Plato's harvest Middleboro, oatmeal,grown in Maine,green peppers frozen this summer,homemade ketchup.eggs Plympton
all local except spices. Mashed potatoes from RI,green beans canned this summer.Salad was spinach and radishes from RI,our sprouts.Not local:spices,onion,oil,vingar,cucmber.I did not realize what a local meal it was till we sat down to eat it. Saw a great interview on Alice Waters on 60 minutes. I would of missed it except hubby read about it on South Shore Edible's twitter site. Now I can see a reason for Twitter. I would not have known about this if he had not read it.

Monday, March 9, 2009

a local meal in the winter

Last night we had a couple also interested in eating local over for dinner. We had a beef brisket from Simmons farm in RI. We had mashed potato,maple glazed carrots homemade bread,salad(spinach,micro greens,sprouts,radish,tomato,cucumber) apple crisp with homemade ice cream. Everything was local to New England except for cucumber,condiments and flour. We had great conversations on many food related items, and I think we all learned a few things we had not heard of before. We have been out of the habit of having company over for dinner but will be trying to do more of it in the future.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Winter Farmers Mkt Pawtucket Rhode Island


We went to the Winter Farmers mkt in Rhode Island today. We bought chicken and chicken feet for stock,that is a new item for me. We were able to get fresh micro greens, spinach, herbs,carrots,potato's, cabbage, apples, cider,bread. We had lunch there, hubby had jerk chicken with rice, plantains and cabbage and I had a Jamaican meat pie and homemade ginger beer all was outstanding. We also could of had goat curry but neither of us was up to the challenge. The amount of vendors and shoppers was great. This is one hour from us but well worth the trip.Things available that we did not buy were many, beef,seafood,sauces,pesto's,baked goods,fair trade coffee, tea,chocolates,French meat pies,Indian food,cheeses. well worth a visit for any foodie.There was also the extra bonus of a 60 degree day.More photo's at my Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/9086132@N06/

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Still using it all up, no grocery challenge

Last night was a true New England winter meal. We had clam chowder with quahogs from the freezer and last of the local potatoes, homemade Boston brown bread and cole slaw with 1/2 of my last local cabbage. This morning hubby let me know we are almost out of cereal and the last banana. So today we will make granola and I made some fruit salad from the apples and oranges in the fridge that we never remember to eat. Lunch will be leftover soup and dinner will be chicken and dumplings from the chickens in the freezer that need to be cooked a long time to be edible.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

midweek no grocery shopping

I have not been to the grocery store for anything except milk or cream since Friday.trying to only use what is in the house. Running low on bread and English muffins. Bread making is not as much fun when you have to, as it is when you do it on spur of the moment and your in the mood. I made homemade whole wheat bread and Boston brown bread. The brown bread is good for breakfast and will also go with the baked beans I made the other day. Tonight we will have garlic soup from the nourishing traditions cook book. This will use up my potatoes that are starting to sprout and some garlic since we have so much,and some summer squash I canned. We do not seem to be using as much garlic as last year. The soup sounds really good. I checked on the cranberries in the garage attic and I will need to freeze some soon the are starting to get soft. We store them in a cranberry crate covered in blankets. I ran out of wheat thins so I wanted to make crackers today but I guess it will be Ritz if I want a snack. I planted some lettuce seeds in a big pot today to see how they would do. I also bought some seeds for pea sprouts.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Only from the pantry

I spent a good part of last summer canning and freezing local food for the winter. But I still seem to be doing a lot of food shopping,you know you need that certain herb or a particular vegtable to make the dish you want. For the next week and maybe more I will be limiting my grocery shopping to milk and cream. I will try to only use what we have in the house as of today. So dinner tonight will be homemade bread, shaker bean chowder, this will use shell beans from the freezer, chicken broth from the freezer and tomatoes I canned,a little bacon and onion fresh thyme from the garden that is still fresh and growing at the end of February.My thyme and sage plants produce all winter some times you have to wait for the snow to melt to be able to get at the thyme.I still have fresh fruit and vegetables bought last week. There will be no buying of snack food, We have Lot's of popcorn kernels which can be flavored many different ways. My favorite being the Food Network's hot and spicy kettle corn. I am assuming this may lead to weight loss since I will not be tempted in the grocery store. I have so much stored I really do not think this will be that difficult.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Fresh food in the dead of winter

I cannot believe how cold this winter has been,so how was I able to get my hands on fresh local produce in this weather? The Rhode Island Winters farmers market. This market is held in Pawtucket in an old factory.There were about 30 vendors. Bakers with outstanding breads and pastries. There were indian samosas,Jamaican meat pies,pizza and gourmet sandwiches.Grass fed beef, pork and pastured chicken,oysters,clams,apples,lettuce,micro greens,pea shoots,
beets,carrots,Narragansett creamery cheese.Also local made soda with cane sugar, yacht club was the brand and the also had a juice using purple corn high in antioxidants and very tasty. Also Rhode Island grown cornmeal,this is great since local grains are hard to come buy.Information on composting and other gardening classes. We arrived before they opened,(11-2 on Saturdays) We were able to check out the merchandise before the crowds came.It was very busy showing how local healthy food is becoming important to many. This market was about an hour away so I wouldn't go every week but a few times in the winter will be great. I am sure I missed some vendors but it was definitely worth the trip.For more information here is the link http://www.farmfresh.org/food/farmersmarkets_details.php?market=29

Sunday, January 18, 2009

a cold snowy day

What would be better on a snowy Sunday than homemade soup. I used homemade beef broth, shell beans I froze this summer,tomato's I canned,summer squash I canned,onion and garlic,carrots and celery. Also added some egg noodles and a Parmesan cheese rind from the refrigerator. This soup was warm and comforting, I usually don't make vegetable soup I thought it was a good way to use veggies I canned this summer.It was so good and will become a regular recipe in my kitchen.I also made cornbread with corn from the local mill in Plymouth. Since I did not have to leave the house today, I spent the day cooking and working on craft projects.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Local beef and squash

I had wanted to try this meal for a while. This week being so cold seemed like the right time.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nuevo-chipotle-beef-in-butternut-squash-boats-nuevo-latino-beef-dishes-recipe/index.html this was the winning entry on the food network for a beef cook off. The beef is slow cooked in a flavorful sauce with tomato,vinegar,chipolte,cumin then served over 1 quarter of a roasted butternut squash then topped with tomato and avacado. I thought it had over cooked in the crockpot but it was great and would make again. The beef was local, and the squash and the tomato was a (backyard beauty ) from Maine. This was a very healthy dish and did not feel like healthy food.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Its the New year

We are aiming for a healthy new year here, I have only missed one day of walking since Christmas. Also trying healthier menus, lots of salad and soup. Today we had Ellie kriegers grilled thai beef salad from her book the food you crave, It is a really satisfying salad. I also made homemade clam chowder yesterday. It was from clams Joe dug this summer. This year instead of freezing them raw whole I ground them up and froze them in there juice and also used clam broth I froze from the Qhahogs i cooked for stuffed quahogs. The clams ground up were great no big chewy pieces all small and tender and it tasted very fresh. The potatoes were also local.

  Local Dining One of the first warm evenings of the year means a trip somewhere for seafood on the water. Usually this trip would be to the...