Y'all Come to Home Ec. Comfort Food April 15

What does 'comfort food' mean to you? Is it the sweet starchy goodness of Daddy's biscuits or the warm soothing flavor of Granny's green beans? Perhaps a drink with friends?

Join the club of hungry folk known as Home Ec. Off Campus - Columbus to discover comfort food in many forms this month. We'll gather at Rehab Tavern on Monday April 15 at 8 pm.

The 'rules' for Home Ec events are simple:

• bring a home-made dish that fits the theme as you interpret it
• pack a plate and silverware to help us reach our no-waste goal. One Columbus Home Ec'er brings a Japanese bento box with integrated chopsticks, perfect!
• have fun! These events aren't about competition, they're about sharing good food with friendly people.

If you aren't in the Home Ec homebase of Toronto or spinoff site Columbus, join the fun online by tagging social media posts #wphomeec on April 15.

What's your favorite comfort food?

Fermenting Wisdom from Sandor Katz

Wild Fermentation and Art of Fermentation author Sandor Katz visited Columbus briefly last week. He taught two classes to the ever-growing population of people who keep jars of ferments brewing in their homes.

Our family ferments sauerkraut, sour cream, kefir, beer, charcuterie and more on a regular basis. I don't write about it here often because we never make the same thing twice, preferring to ferment what we have in abundance at any given time. Fermentation is a fun and useful pursuit that I want to encourage. Below are ideas from Sandor Katz to start your sour juices flowing:

"There's No Food You Can't Ferment"

People ferment for:

• preservation - krauts, kimchis, and cheeses historically allowed populations to survive between growing seasons
• production of alcohol - to sanitize water, provide entertainment and elightenment, and preserve grains in a useable form
• digestion - see below
• flavor - almost all gourmet foods like cheeses, cured meats, olives, chocolate, coffee, and vinegars are fermented

Vegetables are a good place to start because they are intrinsically safe, require no special equipment, ferment quickly and are delicious. The process can be as simple as cutting up vegetables, pressing them until juices run, adding a little salt, and submerging under juices or water for a few days until they sour.

Salt is good for the process because it discourages unwanted molds, enhances taste, and maintains texture but you can use very little. Through osmosis, salt pulls out water and creates a desirable selective environment for the fermenting bacteria that can tolerate salt.

Fermentation changes foods by:

• pre-digesting nutrients that humans cannot digest normally, as is the case in dried soybeans fermented into tofu
• enhancing nutritients - fermented foods have more B vitamins than fresh versions and some nutrients like natokinase are only available after fermentation
• de-toxification - cassava, the African staple crop, for example, is a root vegetable that contains cyanide and is inedible until fermented.
• live bacterial cultures - pro-biotics aid digestion by supplementing the biota in our guts. Eating naturally fermented foods with diverse macrobiotics offer more benefits than monoculture probiotic additives or pills.

"Where Is The Line Between Fermented And Rotten?"

No form of life has lived without bacteria, yet Americans for the past 100 years have been indoctrinated in the idea that bacteria is dangerous. Humans need bacteria to digest and absorb nutrients, reproduce, and support immune function.

The origins of fermented foods predate recorded history because as soon as humans chose an agrarian lifestyle, they had to use fermentation to preserve crops. Agriculture would not make sense if fermentation did not exist.

Food exists on a spectrum from fresh to rotten. Cultural standards often define what is too rotten to eat. Scandinavians notoriously eat fermented fish that both smells and looks rotten to most Americans. Runny, molded cheeses are not common here either but are considered delicacies in parts of Europe. Expanding your palate by eating more fermented foods may open your mind to new flavors.

"Be Bold In Your Experimentation But Not In Your Quantities"

Once in awhile, everyone who attempts fermented foods will create something that isn't tasty at the best or afflicted by black mold at the worst. It's ok - we all make mistakes. To minimize waste, make many small batches until you learn what works in your environment and with your particular tastes.

For health, preservation and flavor, ferment!

Special thanks to City Folk's Farm Shop, Swainway Urban Farm, and Clintonville Community Market for sponsoring this event and Janine Harris Degitz for organizing.

Chicken Scratch {Friday Five}

Our chicks are growing up! They want you to know about these happenings related to chickens in Columbus, Ohio:

1) Select Columbus chicken owners are opening their coop doors for self-guided tours this Sunday afternoon. Download the tour .pdf for details or stop by City Folk's Farm Shop to pick up a flyer.

2) City Folk's is also hosting heritage breed chick orders this spring. They take care of the delivery and quantity purchases so urban chicken keepers can build flocks of smaller numbers. Pre-order online or in the shop by March 15.

3) Sneak a peek at our yard and rock-star chicken Austra in a short 10TV news piece that aired last week, embedded below. A revised version of the Franklin County proposal to zone for chickens, rabbits, and ducks will be on their website soon.

No, you didn't miss anything - we don't have another child. The reporter mistakenly identified one of Lil's friends as a sibling.

4) The Dispatch printed a story 'Counting on Chickens' with quotes from me too.

5) Only slightly related because some restaurants might have chicken on the menu, we want to let you know about the 10th anniversary celebration going on at Dine Originals Columbus restaurants. From March 11 - 20, independent restaurants will host a variety of special menus and events at great prices for Dine Originals 10. Click through the link for a calendar, menu listing, and brochure.

Got Roots? Columbus Home Ec Does!

The theme of February's Home Ec gathering was Got Roots? The tasting table in Columbus this month included a delightful variety of roots and preparations, showing off just how adaptable this vegetable family is.

We were treated to home-grown sunchokes aka Jerusalem artichokes from Como Yarden, served roasted with other roots in a home-grown pepper spice. I pickled the last of Swainway Urban Farm's sweet carrots harvested from snow-covered low tunnels. The roots section of my seed box for this year's garden is large because so many kinds can grow year-round with season extension techniques.

Kate once again included a foraged ingredient in her contribution. She found dead nettle greens to incorporate into homemade potato ravioli. Foraging is another way to eat fresh local food year-round!

Roots brought out the creative side in several cooks. Nick made Square Roots, punny square tarts topped with shaved beets and carrots. Zane and Hannah made radish salt and a carved fish to dip in it. Liz took beets in an entirely new direction for me by roasting them with honey, soy sauce, and sesame seeds.

Zane also contributed carrot syrup made by roasting, pureeing, and straining carrots. We tasted it in soda water and cocktails. Though ReHab was unable to make Zane's 'Orange Lady', he recommends shaking the syrup (1/2 oz) with egg white, gin (2 oz), and lemon juice (1/2 oz) at home.

Skip over to Well Preserved to see how our cohorts in Toronto showed their roots.

Home Ec is a fun, creative way to conclude a month of cooking. Won't you join us in March? We'll gather at ReHab Tavern at 8 pm on March 25 with a theme to be announced in a week on Kate's blog, Kate On The Way.

Learn With Me - Winter Classes 2013

After a hiatus from teaching to work on unpacking at our new home, I am excited to begin offering classes again. This winter I will teach hands-on cooking classes at Franklin Park Conservatory, homesteading discussions at City Folk's Farm Shop, demonstrations at the Clintonville Farmers' Market, and a workshop at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association annual conference. I am also partnering with Joseph of Swainway Urban Farm to offer a season extension workshop at our homestead. One of the reasons I love leading classes is that I learn as much from the participants as I teach. I hope we can share knowledge soon.

Be well,

Rachel

PS. I am thrilled to announce that next season, beginning in April, I will join the teaching staff of soon-to-open The Seasoned Farmhouse cooking school by Tricia Wheeler, publisher of Edible Columbus. Stay tuned for spring class announcements!

Franklin Park Conservatory - $30/members, $35 non-members. To register, visit the Conservatory at 1777 E Broad St, call 614.715.8022 or download a registration form here.

Dairy Delights - January 27 3:30 - 5:30 - A whole world of dairy products can emerge from a gallon of milk or bit of cream. Learn how to turn the basics into cheese, yogurt, kefir, butter, and whipped cream at home. The skills learned in this class can help you transform less-than-fresh dairy into something edible, make a recipe ingredient without going to the store, and have more fun in the kitchen.

Citrus Year-Round - February 24 3:30 - 5:30 - Do more with the fruit of Florida - put up the citrus jewels of winter to savor their tart sunny flavor throughout the seasons. We’ll make and taste lemon confit, candied grapefruit, marmalade, and homemade orange liqueur in this cheery class.

Potent Potables - March 24 3:30 - 5:30 - Beer, wine, hard cider, and mead are all within the grasp of the home cook. In this class we’ll taste samples and talk about ingredient sourcing, measurement, and bottling. Then, each participant will make a small batch of cider or mead to ferment at home.

City Folk's Farm Shop -  $20/person. To register, stop in the store at 4760 N High St. Columbus OH 43214, call 946-5553, or email shopkeeper Shawn.

Edible Medicine - January 24 6-8 pm - Not only can food keep our body healthy, it can help support healing. Learn simple, scientifically-based remedies for winter colds, skin ailments, and more.

Fats - February 21 6-8 pm - The variety of cooking fats is enormous. Learn about how to make and use natural and local fats in your home cooking and when to use butter, lard, and oils. We’ll compare the various health factors in using different fats too.

Odds and Ends - March 23 6-8 pm - Great chefs and thrifty home cooks know how to make the most of stems, bones, roots, and other frequently discarded bits of produce and meat. I will show you how I include odds and ends in her everyday cooking and preserving.

Clintonville Farmers' Market - free drop-in demonstrations 10:30 - 12:30 at St. James Episcopal Church at Oakland Park and Calumet in Clintonville

Jerky - January 26 - Turn local meats into healthy protein-packed bites by making jerky at home.

Fats - February 23 - Make and sample culinary fats from local sources and learn about the health benefits of using natural fats in your cooking.

Odd Cuts - March 30 - Learn how to cook and preserve unusual (but inexpensive) cuts of meat like flank steak, heart, and offal.

Special Events:

Cooking with Cultures: harnessing the power of yeast and bacteria to ferment foods - OEFFA Conference Sunday February 17 1:30 - 2:30 pm - Fermented foods and beverages like kefir, beer, sauerkraut, vinegar, and pickles are not only nutritious and delicious but can connect the cook with local foods and ancient traditions. In this demonstration workshop, I will show how to start or expand making fermented foods and home and share samples. Included with conference registration.

Hoophouse Build and Season Extension Workshop - March 3 10 am - 2 pm. $25 includes locally-sourced lunch sponsored by City Folk's Farm Shop. Register at City Folk's Farm Shop 4760 N High St., by calling 614-946-5553 or emailing shopkeeper Shawn.

Join Joseph Swain of Swainway Urban Farm and the Tayse Baillieul family for a hands-on season extension workshop and hoophouse build. With the addition of a simple hoophouse which can cost around $300, home gardeners in Central Ohio can extend the growing season from early spring to late fall and right on through the winter months. A hoophouse can also provide a warm space to harden seedlings and get a jump on summer crops. In this session participants will construct a hoophouse while learning best practices on growing food for themselves year round. Hoophouse hardware and supplies will be available for purchase at City Folks Farm Store. The workshop will take place at our homestead in north central Columbus.

Homemade Bitters {Recipe}

Cocktail drinkers know that a Manhattan isn't a traditional Manhattan without Angostura bitters and one can't make a Sazerac without Peychod's. But home mixologists might not know how simple and fun it is to make bitters and home.

What are Bitters?

Bitters are strong herb and spice alcohol infusions including at least one bittering agent like cassia, wormwood, quinine, citrus peel, or gentian root. A drop of flavorful bitters is the strong guest that holds the door open for the remaining sweet and sour seats around the table.

Bitters were born of the ‘tonic’ movement, a period in the mid 1800s - mid 1900s where people claimed to cure all with drinks flavored with herbs and spices. They were commonly consumed neat or over ice as digestifs. A culture of secret recipes and labels listing the afflictions for which each bitters were recommended surrounded the compounding craze.

Now, bitters are most commonly used in cocktails. Bitters support a drink with complexity that is notably absent if the mixologist neglects to add a drop or two. Creating bitters at home is one way cocktail makers can customize a drink recipe.

How to Make Bitters

1. Mix spices into alcohol. 2. Allow to age for up to three weeks at room temperature, tasting along the way to determine when the flavors reach your taste's desired strength. 3. Strain out solids and reserve alcohol. Dilute with a slight bit of water if desired. 4. Bottle and store in a cool dark place.

Because one only uses a few drops of bitters at a time and some of the ingredients are expensive, it is best to make very small batches. Organic bitters spices are available locally in tiny quantities at Clintonville Community Market and online through sources like Mountain Rose Herbs and Frontier. I like to store mine in dark glass bottles with eye droppers, available at Amazon and Mountain Rose.

Bitters Recipes

I created and tweaked the recipes below to my taste. Participants in my recent Infusions and Bitters class at Franklin Park Conservatory enjoyed them and many left planning to make bitters as gifts this holiday season.

Cocoa Bitters 1 teaspoon cacao nibs ¼ teaspoon sarsaparilla ¼ teaspoon orange peel ¼ teaspoon wild cherry bark 1 allspice berry 1 inch length of cinnamon stick ½ cup rum

Turkey Day Bitters 2 inches fresh rosemary 2 inches fresh sage ¼ teaspoon pink peppercorn ¼ teaspoon gentain root ¼ teaspoon juniper berries 150 mL vodka

Rachel’s Bitters 3 allspice berries 1 star anise ¼ teaspoon each pink peppercorn, gentain root, wild cherry bark, lemon peel, sarsaparilla 150 mL vodka

Even our kitty Moonshine was interested in bitters as I was photographing! Try making bitters yourself and see what flavor magic you can create.

Local notes:

1) I run a monthly co-operative buying group for Frontier herbs, spices, bath and body supplies including bitters ingredients and bottles. If you live in Columbus and are interested, contact me.

2) I am hosting a Gifts In Jars event at City Folk's Farm Shop, 4760 N High St,  this Friday November 23. I will have everything you need to make and label a beautiful Weck jar of hot cocoa mix, bath foam, or culinary herb salts with custom flavors. Each jar costs $6, will take about 10 minutes to make and the mess stays out of your house. Drop in anytime between 11 am - 2 pm this Friday.

Dirt, Brunch, Turkeys, Flowers, Jars & Calphalon?

I'm busy working on the new house with no time to pretty up this list of events I want you to know about. Imagine pictures and a real introduction here: Dirt! the Movie Event is coming to Wild Goose Creative this Sunday. My friend Kellie Gedert is organizing a panel of local soil-lovers, root vegetable food competition, and art show, followed by a screening of the documentary Dirt! Buy a $10 ticket now for the evening of November 4.

Brunch! I'm co-hosting a brunch on November 18 at Brother's Drake Meadery with Allison Lehman and Stephanie Hayward. We're gathering a group of local Internet friends who want to hang out in real life. If you fit the bill, Let's Do Brunch!

Turkeys! Now is the time to order your Thanksgiving bird. This year, for the first time, The Hills Market is offering an Ark of Taste heritage breed, the Red Bourbon from Tea Hills Organic Farms. I can't wait to discover what the Red Bourbon brings to the feast. You also might be interested in Cota Farms smoked or fresh pastured turkeys or Ray Ray's Hog Pit smoked birds with all the fixings.

Flowers! Add some locally-grown joy to your decor this harvest season with a bouquet from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm. They are offering three styles of arrangements for pick up at the farm, City Folk's Farm Shop, or Mix: Home.

Jars! Instead of consuming, try creating on Black Friday, November 23. Head over to City Folk's Farm Shop from 11 am - 2 pm to join me in making Gifts in Jars: custom cocoa mix, foam bath, or flavored salt in pretty Weck jars with a variety of labels. Each jar will cost $6 and take only 10-15 minutes to make.

Calphalon! The folks at Calphalon shared that they are hosting a warehouse sale at Northland Plaza this weekend and next. The location is dangerously close to my new house and they promise premium cookeware at very low prices.

Wool Carding, Dying, Felting and Weaving {Homestead Studio Recap}

For the last three Mondays, Lil and I explored wool with five children aged five and up and several adults. In a new class format I'm calling Homestead Studio, we use what we know and wonder about to guide open-ended exploration. Books help fill in the stories we can't experience in an hour-long session.

Week One: Washing & Carding

During our first meeting, we met our wool: raw Navajo-Churro fleece from Cota Farms. The fiber was primarily white with some dark sections. Touching the raw wool left our hands softened (and a little smelly) from the lanolin.

To remove the ample dirt (poop) and plant material, we washed the wool. Cleaning wool is tricky - too much agitation and you'll end up with felt instead of fiber. We soaked the dirty wool in warm water with Dawn soap inside a mesh bag. An amazing amount of soiled material streamed from the wool into the water. After a long soak, we moved the mesh bag to a bucket of warm clear water for a rinse. Then we removed from the bag and let it dry in the sun.

Next, we picked remaining plant material out of the clean dry fibers. We aligned the fibers with carding combs. Using the combs was difficult for some of the children because it requires coordination and a fair amount of strength.

We ended the class with a walk through the neighborhood looking for pokeweed. At home, I made dye from the pokeberry fruits.

The picture book for the day was Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep: A Yarn About Wool. The kids loved this silly cartoon-illustrated story of a farmer who makes knitted sweaters for his sheep.

Week Two: Felting

I presented pokeberry scarlet, natural black, and natural white wool for felting during our second session. Each participant had a small plastic container filled with warm water and a little soap. They wet and rubbed a small piece of white wool to create a mat or ball, adding wool to make the piece larger. Some chose to add color details on outer layers; some felted around plastic balls to later cut open for bowls.

After everyone had some experience felting, I offered bars of locally-made soap. When a bar is covered with felt, the wool provides pleasing color, an exfoliating texture, and an easy way to grip the slippery soap. Participants of every age enjoyed felting.

Weaving the Rainbow concluded our felting day. Soft, detailed watercolor illustrations tell the story of an artist using dyed wool to weave and felt a landscape wall hanging in this book.

Week Three: Weaving

Finally we made our way closer to a sweater, what most kids said they wanted to make at the beginning of the Studio series. We made fabric from wool.

Lil showed the others how to finger knit. This required too much coordination for some of the group but others completed a small rectangle of knitted fabric.

I made available two looms: a plastic, craft store version and a homemade cardboard box loom with a cardboard shed. The plastic loom used a long dulled needle to weave and the cardboard box used shuttles. Everyone tried both looms and realized quickly why hand-woven garments are so expensive - we barely created four inches of fabric in the whole class.

A few kids tried branch weaving. We wrapped wool horizontally across a v-shaped tree branch for the warp and used needles to pull yarn through as weft. These came out a little funky but I love the haphazard natural look.

We finished the class with Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie de Paola. Young shepherd Charlie shears a fleece, dyes the wool with pokeberries, spins yarn and weaves himself a new coat with a meddling sheep companion.

Join Homestead Studio!

The next Homestead Studio will be Mondays November 12-26 from 2-3 pm at City Folk's Farm Shop. We'll make home goods like cleaners, bath and body products, and candles from all-natural materials and scents. The projects are geared to appeal to children ages five and older and adults alike. Register on the Homestead Studio page.