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I thought we were encouraging exhaustion by accepting an invitation to an overnight in the woods in the midst of packing and moving. But unplugged time in the Appalachian back country turned out to be most relaxing. We hiked wet trails, played with sparklers, ate well, and then Lil experienced shooting for the first time. We feel grounded and ready to settle in a new house this week.
Lately I have been in a pie rut. My crusts have been tougher than I like and I suspected it had something to do with my switch to making pie crust with 100% butter fat. Compared to shortening, butter is arguably more healthy (because it contains healthy acids and vitamins) and easy to buy or make from local cream. I also much prefer the flavor of a butter crust to anything else. I could switch to lard and have made and used lard on occasion, but it isn't something I have on hand all the time.
I finally solved the butter crust riddle when I tested my theory that a thicker crust would correct butter fat's tendency toward toughness. The cranberry apple pie pictured above has a double crust recipe rolled thickly. The resulting crust is tender yet holds up to a fairly wet filling. It was neither mushy nor unyielding to a knife.
What placed my pie in the realm of perfection, however, is all in the topping. AJ of Sassafras Bakery generously shared her recipe with me on Twitter. Once I tested it, I asked for permission to publish for you and she agreed. Meet AJ and learn more secrets at her Buttercream-Decorated Sugar Cookies class December 1 and/or Art of Pie class December 8 at Franklin Park Conservatory.
I made AJ's crumble with Hawaiian macadamia nuts and smothered it on top of cranberries and apples because those are the ingredients I had on hand. I know I'll try it with other nuts and fruits as the seasons turn - I can almost taste a pear pie with pecan crumble topping and peach with walnut. Play with this recipe and let me know what combinations you love! Sassafras Bakery's Delectable Crumble Topping Makes: Topping for 1 9-inch pie Time: 10 minutes preparation, 30-45 minutes cooking
2/3 cup raw nuts (macadamia, walnuts, pecans suggested) 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter 1/2 cup white granulated sugar 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour
1. In a small saute pan, roast nuts over medium heat. Stir frequently and watch/smell carefully. As soon as nuts are slightly browned and smelling nutty, remove from heat. 2. Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat in a small sauce pan. 3. When butter is melted, add remaining ingredients and stir. Remove from heat. 4. Add nuts and stir to combine. 5. Spoon or use hands to place topping over a single-crust fruit-filled pie. You may not have complete coverage and that's ok. 6. Place a round of aluminium foil just smaller than the top of the pie on top to prevent burning. Remove foil five to ten minutes before cooking is complete to brown the top. 7. Allow to cool at least one hour before slicing.
I learned 1001 things about milk, cows, and cheese on the Ohio Dairy Adventure, many of which I will share in future posts. To get you in the mood, peruse these photos from my dairy and cheese tours: 1) bottle feeding a one-week-old calf 2) several-weeks old Holstein calf licking nose 3) Holstein, Jersey, and Brown Swiss cows eating 4) dog considering benefits of drinking milk off floor versus risk of being kicked by a hoof 5) 20x20 milking parlor where each white tube is the milk flowing from a cow 6) cheese curds stirred by a machine 7) 1500 pound stacks of Pearl Valley swiss cheese in aging room
The American Dairy Association Mideast provided meals, accommodations, transportation and access to farms during the Ohio Dairy Adventure. They did not allow me to bring home a calf. My opinions are my own.
A few months back, an Internet friend of a friend said she had a couple unclaimed pigs in a litter she was pasture raising on her farm. Via Facebook, I asked a few questions, made a few offers, and confirmed plans to slaughter the pig ourselves.
Just as casually, I set up a time to meet my meat, a Large Black hog. I owed the farmer some homemade bacon and pancetta bartered for a deposit on the growing pig and wanted to see her homestead. It was a simple friendly visit, one of many farm trips I've made, with deeper implications.
I believe that everyone who eats meat ought to visit a farm where their poultry, beef, pork, or lamb comes from at least once. Here's why:
Americans can buy butchered, trimmed, plastic-wrapped cuts from the meat counter that are as easy to cook as a vegetable. Simpler still, pre-cooked rotisserie chickens and frozen products only require a little reheating to serve. Restaurant dishes usually have no bones, scales, or other indication that the protein once belonged to a living thing.
This is all a fine, convenient thing, but it allows many people to be completely disconnected from the reality of eating meat. Eating meat - just like eating vegetables - requires that a living thing dies.
While some make the distinction between animals as sentient beings and plants as not, others argue that plants have feelings too. It cannot be debated that humans must eat something to survive.
Our place in the world is such that we can make choices about what we eat. Some tasty things, like pigs, pumpkins or lambs are cute. Thinking about an adorable hog dying for our morning bacon is difficult for some, but it must be faced. Death begets life.
Farmers who raise meat animals have many options available in the feeding, sheltering, pasturing, and slaughtering of their animals. Consumers have many options about these same conditions. Home cooks should be able to ask the farmer or butcher about farm conditions at the point of sale. Producers should answer honestly and always do in my experience.
But seeing is believing. Watching pigs denude an area in a matter of minutes to make a wallow clued me in to their destructive potential. Witnessing chickens stand in the rain rather than run for shelter makes me realize how dependent they are on humans. Seeing an animal suffering from mastitis makes me feel thankful for the availability of antibiotics.
A trip to a farm shouldn't be an excuse to 'check up' on a farmer but to truly understand the benefits and consequences of different agricultural choices. If something you see doesn't jive with your values, ask about it and don't be afraid to change your eating habits.
I have never visited a farmer who was not passionate and proud of her job. And in the midst of showing off their farm, the farmer is constantly working - carrying water to hogs while talking about their breed, hauling feed while telling me about the source of the grain, or explaining what the half-built coop will look like when it's finished.
We all hear that farming is hard work. When you witness the morning milking, daily feeding, breeding and birthing, managing fences, and time spent harvesting, the toil becomes more tangible. You see that farming is hours on the clock and exhausting wear on the body.
I return home from meeting my meat with a feeling of abundant appreciation. I eat a meal knowing the labor spent converting sunlight into delicious calories. I give true thanks for the lives interconnected by the animal's diet, the farmer's effort, and my choice to consume ethically-raised meat when I can.
What do you think? Have you ever looked your meat in the eye?
More than 1200 ecologists and environmentalists from around the world are in Columbus, Ohio right now for EcoSummit 2012. Among presenting research posters, symposia, and workshops, the delegates are treated to philosophical talks by leading ecological thinkers in daily plenary sessions.
Yesterday, Pulitzer Prize winners Edward O. Wilson and Jared Diamond began the conference with words about Appalachian biodiversity and lessons from past societies, respectively. Wilson started as an entomologist and is now an international advocate for biodiversity and the connections between science and the humanities; his most provacative book is the popular On Human Nature. Diamond, author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, is a physiologist/ornithologist turned wonderer about the reasons societies thrive and fail.
Attendants at the opening plenary filled a ballroom in the Columbus convention center. Wilson and Diamond inspired and encouraged the crowd. These quotes spoke to me:
We're living in a "Star Wars civilization: Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and God-like technology and that is a dangerous combination." -Wilson
"I never could be very dignified, looking at ants. Nevermind, the pleasure was enormous." -Wilson
It's an occupational hazard of ecologists to regard Europeans as evil, natives as particularly innocent. "In fact, people are people, today and in the past." "People have competing interests, people make mistakes." -Diamond
Diamond was asked, Do you anticipate (future societal) collapse? His response started with brief overview of societies currently lacking in organization and government services in Somalia and Haiti. He continued, "(I am) not so much concerned about possible collape of any one country. Now when any place collapses, that has effects of everywhere else." "My gentle bad case is spreading collapses like more Haitis and Somalias. Worst bad case: world collapse all together."
An audience member asked Wilson, What are the three most important things for ecologists to do? He answered: 1) "In preserving land and watersheds that relate to human sustainability, always carry surveys of flora and fauna." 2) "Keep on acquiring land aggressively, I'm talking Texas oil barren aggressively." 3) Form partnership with entrepreneurial entities. "Give them a key role in saving the world."
What words inspire and encourage you?
On Monday, Alex, Lil, and I trekked an hour north of Columbus for three hours of entertainment, education, groceries and snacks for only $16.25. Where was this great amusement? The Owl Creek Produce Auction at 20999 Waterford Rd. Fredericktown, Ohio 43019.
The auction begins with delivery of goods, mostly from Amish farms. The horse carts are unloaded into a large barn and grouped roughly according to lot size. Small lots for homeowners are under the eaves outside of the main building.
Before bidding starts, shoppers are welcome to wander through the offerings. Each bidder requires a number, available for free at the registration desk.
On the day we visited, two auctioneers sold the lots. A microphoned auctioneer, assistant, and recorder worked the big lots while a second set of non-micked men worked the outside smaller lots. The microphoned auctioneer also sold lots directly off the horse-pulled carts from a small tented stand.
The auctioneer described each lot quickly and started bidding. Many lots were split into parts wherein the bid was multiplied by the number of parts the bidder wanted, i.e. a lot of a dozen cabbages were bid on a per-cabbage basis and then multiplied by the number of cabbages the winner chose. A recorder noted the final price and winner bid number. A market manager posts average prices on the Owl Creek Produce Auction Report website.
I held off from bidding for awhile to observe how the auction worked. Lil encouraged me to bid on a lot of small pumpkins which I won for 50 cents a pumpkin, or $6.50 for the lot of 13. As soon as the bidding finishes, the winner can load their lot into their vehicle.
Until we won the pumpkins, Lil was totally confused about what was happening. She wanted to buy and know how much each item was going to cost. We explained that auctions are a good time to use our experience to estimate the value of goods. "How much would you pay?" we asked Lil.
Next, Lil had her eye on mums. The prices were great at $4.50 per gallon pot but the lot sizes were between 4 and 6 pots. I didn't need a lawn full of mums so I passed. I gathered that this week was the first for mums and perhaps in coming weeks the prices will be lower. Lil was sorry that we didn't get any flowers - another good lesson about auctions.
I eyed produce and some of it went for great prices, most notably a whole bushel of sweet banana peppers sold for just $1.00. The growing conditions were not advertised and therefore I wasn't interested in most of it. I prefer, especially for preserving, to use organic produce.
Lil spied a peck of small pears that were obviously chemical free - speckled, bird-pooped-upon, and not at all uniform. I managed to win them for $3.50. When we tasted them in the car on the way home, we discovered what a treat Lil found as the pears are tender and delicious.
The auction was well attended with people of all ages and backgrounds. Most of the buyers were non-Amish. Some seemed to be purchasing for small businesses while others were home cooks like myself. Several times I felt over-crowded but fresh air was only a few steps away.
We wandered away to look at new lots coming in and admire the horses. We ordered a reasonably priced but not Amish-made snack from a food stand behind the barn. Portable restrooms were available.
When we tired and were ready to go home, we took our bidder number back to the registration desk. Through a paper check system, the cashier quickly pulled up our lot prices and took our payment.
If you go:
Owl Creek Produce Auction 20999 Waterford Rd. Fredericktown, Ohio 43019 740-627-1660 Monday – 11:00 am, Wednesday- 10:00 am, Friday- 9:00 am through the end of October
The Veggie U culinary education program has delivered 1800 classroom kits to over 26 states from its Milan, Ohio headquarters since its inception in 2003. Many of these kits are funded through the annual Food & Wine Celebration held at the Culinary Vegetable Institute. Alex and I attended the 10th annual fundraising event two weeks ago surrounded by great food and glorious gardens.
Veggie U exists to "to promote the well-being of children through a healthy lifestyle." Farmer Jones and a team of teachers developed the Veggie U Earth to Table curriculum for fourth graders to give students a full-sensory experience growing plants and raising composting worms. The end result is an series of fun lessons that teach children where food comes from and why vegetables are an important part of their diet.
The Veggie U success naturally collects admirers among culinary celebrities. Robert Irvine, of Restaurant Impossible fame, was on hand during the 2012 event. He has used Farmer Jone's microgreens in his restaurants since 1997 and supports Veggie U because he wants people to eat better.
Our "eating habits have changed dramatically because we're busy," Robert shared with a group of reporters. He offered a potential solution: independent grocers could try marketing a selection of grab and go ingredients and recipes for simple real food meals to compete with fast food. And of course, educating children is key to changing habits. Robert, and Veggie U, operate under the principle that "if you make exercise and food fun, children will be healthy."
The Veggie U Food & Wine Celebration is held on the grounds of the Culinary Vegetable Institute (CVI) in Milan, Ohio near Sandusky. The drive in to the CVI are lined with fields of asparagus, ancient grains, and flowers. The grounds surrounding the event center are richly landscaped with edibles.
As Alex and I admired the herb garden, we could not help but fondle and smell the plants. Our attention was noted by CVI sous chef Brian. He gave us a personal tour of his favorite herb oddities including dozens of varieties of common herbs and sweet aztec, a stevia-like sweet tasting plant.
The most surprising herbal introduction was to the eyeball flower. A small pinch of the tight tiny flower petals on the tip of the tongue causes a tingling and numbing sensation similar to licking a nine volt battery. Wow, plants are amazing.
What I most appreciated about the Veggie U event was the quality of the food samplings. This particular batch of chefs from around the country created diverse, local-focused cuisine. Alex and I walked away with a half dozen ideas to try in our home kitchen.
Salmon Skin Chicharron - The Greenbrier (on our life list to visit) combined old school charcuterie with neavou molecular gastronomy at their stand. Alex loved crunching on the salmon skin chicharraon, gently cooked then deep fried strips of salmon skin shown standing up in the metal cone.
Pickled Tamale - A Cleveland-area caterer offered a tamale with a twist: wild rice covered in corn masa, wrapped in swiss chard, and soaked in vinegar brine for a few hours before service. This preparation was reminiscent of a Greek stuffed grape leaf. Takeaway was both to attempt tamales with a chard wrapper and consider lightly brining almost anything.
Sauerkraut Cakes - Jonathon Sawyer can do no wrong in my book but he did something genius at this event: sauerkraut cakes. We didn't ask about preparation but guessed that the kraut was mixed with a little egg or flour and pan fried.
Stuffed Baby Pattypans - I cannot resist a 'cute' vegetable and little pattypans always end up in my market bag when I see them. One chef played on their shape by hollowing out the center and stuffing the squash with a sausage mixture, something I will surely make at home.
Pressed Pulled Pork - The dish we could not stop talking about was a lengthy charcuterie-like pork preparation. Not only did the pulled, then pressed, then seared ham and shoulder squares taste delicious, they are a unique stand-in for a meat patty in a burger or layered plating. We will be recreating this post haste and will share the recipe when we do.
Veggie U set the bar for the chef-tasting fundraiser season very high and I am thankful for having the chance to visit. If you are heading to a similar event like Taste the Future or the Columbus Food & Wine Affair, I suggest you check our CMH Gourmand's article about how to survive such a foodie buffet.
