Cider Pressing, Thanksgiving Turkeys & Winter Markets

Cider Pressing Party This Saturday, November 6, we will host a casual cider pressing party at our home, 349 Tibet Rd Columbus OH 43202.  Drop in between 2 and 4 p.m. to help make cider, have a taste or two, make apple rings, and play at the homestead.

We'll have a donation jar out for anyone who cares to contribute to the cost of the apples and the press.

Local Turkeys Available for Pre-order

It's time to talk turkey again.  Many specialty grocers and groups are pre-ordering locally raised birds.  Here are some of your options:

Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association - Pasture raised at Fox Hollow Farm and Tea Hill Farm ($3.79/#), pre-order by November 6.

Hills Market - Amish ($1.99/#), Bowman and Landes ($2.99/#), or Pastured Organic from Tea Hill($4.99/#)

Weilands Market - Bowman and Landes, pre-made turkey dinners

North Market Poultry and Game - Bowmand and Landes

Winter Farmer's Markets

Locally grown produce, meats, and handmade goods are available year round at a number of indoor farmer's markets.  Many are opening this week including:

Columbus Winter Farmer's Market - Held roughly every other week at the Clintonville Women's Club, 3941 N High St Columbus 43214 starting this Saturday, November 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Pearl Alley - The 2010- 2011 Winter Pearl Market will be held every Tuesday & Friday from 10:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. from Tuesday November 2 through Friday February 25, 2011.  Location: 33 N. Third Street

Worthington - Open November 20, December 11, and every Saturday January 8 through April 30 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Griswold Center, 777 N High St. Worthington

and of course the North Market is open 7 days a week.

If I am forgetting any turkey sources or winter markets, please let me know in the comments or by email so I can update this list!

PS.  THANK YOU to all who voted for Issue 4 to fund Columbus libraries.  It passed!

A Lovely Wood Stove

We live in an early 20th century house with a brick hearth and built in bookcases. I have always wanted such a set up and loved it for two years. But last winter, I couldn't ignore what was missing: a fireplace.

These houses were built to hold gas burning units, as evidenced by the gas key hole in the floor.  I'm not a huge fan of gas heat, though it runs our furnace, because gas is an unsustainable resource. It's also seriously expensive.

Wood is renewable. In a high efficiency stove, wood is an efficient heat source. Free wood is often available on craigslist or freecycle and building a woodpile is simple.

So last winter, in February, we were able to score a wood stove that fits our hearth on clearance at our local Sutherlands. We were unsure of the quality of our chimney so we bought pieces for a chimney liner at the same time.

We hired friend Leonard to help install the liner and stove. He and Alex had to do a fair amount of modification to fit the woodstove in our small space, including placing the unit slightly off center in the opening. This does bother my sense of order, but I can tolerate it for the wonderfully warm heat that fills our house from this tiny stove.

Last night, the temperature dropped to mid 30s overnight. Alex lit a fire in the early evening, adding logs every hour or so until he went to bed at midnight.

When I woke up this morning, heat was still emanating from the fireplace and there were still hot coals. Mmmm....toasty warm!  We have yet to turn on our furnace this year.

A few weeks ago, I attempted to start a fire on my own.  I sadly couldn't do it.  I do not have the natural affinity for fire that Alex does and I always defer to him to start campfires and get the wood stove going.

I practiced under his eye for a few nights.   This evening, night one of his business trip to California, I made the fire myself!

There is more pleasure to come from this wood stove. In early 2011 when I prepare taxes, I will be able to take a credit for 30% of our purchase price through the American Recovery Act. This credit, which applies to new stoves purchased and installed in existing homes, expires December 31, 2010.

Vote For Issue 4 to Keep CML Strong

Voting is as critical as planning the garden to us at Hounds Central - both activities set the stage for life in the coming years.  On Tuesday, we want you to vote, to express your voice in America's democracy, no matter your political leanings. If you are in Columbus like us, your ballot is lengthy with candidates and we would not dare use this platform to advocate for electing any one particular person.

But we will use it to advise you on an issue near to our hearts and our homestead: Issue 4, the renewal levy to Keep Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) Strong.

We could share the facts about Issue 4, including the growing demand of the library's resources without a funding update since the 1980s.  We could spout statistics of increasing visitors, circulation, and number 1s.

When it comes down to it, Hounds in the Kitchen supports Issue 4 for simpler reasons.  We voted (early yay!) for Issue 4 because:

The library is an educational resource.  When we impulsively decided to buy chickens, the library provided a wealth of co-op building and chicken books.  When we impulsively bought a cider press, we reserved a book on making cider and picked it up two days later.  The library supports our diverse crazy pursuits.

The library is an arts and culture venue.  Lil and Rachel attended a performance of Lil's favorite band, the Shazzbots, at a CML branch in the summer.  Alex's mother and father have participated in art shows at CML branches.  The very buildings that house many branches are beautiful works of architecture.

The library is a point of pride for Columbus.  Rachel shared on Travels with Pirates that it wasn't until moving away from Columbus that we realized the true value of the libraries here.  For businesses and relocating citizens, the outstanding Columbus library system draws them in.  We're not just a city with a great college football team.

The library builds community.  By being free and accessible to all, the library is a place we always meet neighbors and friends from all walks of life.  Indeed, baby storytimes at the library were some of Lillian's very first meetings of her peer group.  Friendships, alliances and businesses are built at the library.

The library is as necessary to a community as soil to the garden.  It is the foundation that nurtures the ideas that build our city.  Keep CML Strong - Vote for Issue Four

CSN Stores (sponsored)

Have you heard of CSN, an online retailer with over 200 stores selling everything from dining room sets to cookware to clothing? Neither had I until a representative from CSN invited me to learn more. I peeked around and noticed they sell practically everything. Item pages are very clear for shoppers to read and include customer reviews, current inventory, and shipping times right on the page.

CSN offered me a gift certificate to try their products and service. I decided right away to order an apple peeler slicer corer. I've been wanting to play with one of these for years! It might even save effort during applesauce making whose time is coming soon.

I'll let you know what I think of the CSN experience and the apple gadget soon.

Disclosure: CSN sponsored this post by giving me a gift certificate for use in their stores.

Made by Hand, Blueberry Girl, Jamberry & Blueberries for Sal

Publishers recently sent me a copy of Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World.  Written by Mark Frauenfelder, founder of Make magazine, this quick read is an overview of one family's experience with making things by hand.  Organized by the various objects they attempt to create, each chapter is both a tutorial and reflection.  The themes are simple: waste not, want not; creativity and out-of-the-box thinking is fun; mistakes are how we learn; and quality beats quantity.  While some chapters seem to come to pat conclusions, I always enjoy peering into another do-it-yourself-er's life. It's berry picking season in Ohio and we have three berry favorites in heavy rotation for reading to Lillian:

First is an old story I remember my mother reading to me, Blueberries for Sal.  In it, a mother and cub bear and mother and child human both happen upon the same blueberry hill at the same time.  Robert McClosky, author of other classics such as Make Way for Ducklings, spins a tale of what happens when the two children get mixed up in a daze of gobbling berries.  A Caldecott Honor Book with indigo illustrations, Blueberries for Sal is a gentle cautionary tale, perfect for reading aloud to a young child about to pick blueberries for the first time.

Jamberry is a quick silly rhyming book about many kinds of berries, both real and fantastical.  Packed with charming illustrations of a friendly bear and child, this is a favorite read aloud at my Kids Cook classes.

Blueberry Girl is by the poet and author Neil Gaiman.  A gift from Alex and Lil to me for Mother's Day 2008, this poignant book is equally appropriate for adults and children.  It's a love poem from parent to daughter detailing the hopes and dreams held in that relationship.  Whimsical illustrations compliment Gaiman's well metered writing.  Below is a trailer of sorts with Gaiman reading.

A month or so ago I also recommended a few books.  I have an ever present stack of books from the library (you'll Keep CML Strong, right?) and regularly coming across material appropriate for Hounds in the Kitchen readers.  I would like to start a little 'recommended reads' series but am struggling to come up with a catchy title.

So, how about a little giveaway contest?  I'll mail a copy of Made by Hand and jar of my handmade jam to whomever suggests my favorite series moniker.  It has to be relatively short so I can make a little icon and include it as a category.  Something to do with the common subject matter - food - would be good too.

All you have to do is leave a comment with your suggestion(s).  I'll leave the giveaway open for a week and choose a winner next Friday, August 20 at 9 PM.

FTC disclosure: I received Made by Hand for free.  Title links are through the Amazon affiliate program.  I really hope readers will use their libraries before buying!

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays