Meeting Chef David Tanis

When I started this blog, other local food bloggers welcomed me into their fold like pioneers seeking friendly companions on the new frontier.  We read and comment on each others' work and pass around opportunities and news.  We give each other link love and retweets, assets barely defined a mere two years ago. So it was that when a publicist for David Tanis, co-chef of Chez Panisse, inquired whether some bloggers would like to meet him, a few of us passed the buck until Andy and Bethia of Columbus Food Adventures, Taco Trucks Columbus, Street Eats Columbus, and Alt Eats Columbus organized a lunch date.  Thanks guys!

We met at Knead where the conversation immediately turned to the foodie secret: Ohio is a rather grand place to eat.  Tanis seemed to agree, having supped at DeepWood and Jeni's the night before.

Talk wound its way through many food topics while the brave Knead chef Rick Lopez created our meals.  Wendy of Midlife Celiac shared her expertise with gluten-free dining.  Tanis did his best to convince Lisa the Waitress that artichokes could be a delicious meal.  I talked about backyard chickens; Tanis suggested goats might be a good next step.  Ha!

I was delighted to be presented with a gratis copy of Tanis new cookbook (catch that, FCC, I received a cookbook for free) Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys, and more so when Debra of Persephone's Kitchen broke the ice to ask for an inscription.  Once home, Alex, who reads very little printed on paper these days, paged through the whole thing.  The photos and layout are simple, beautiful and inspiring.  I especially loved the 14 rituals Tanis detailed before serving up a single recipe.  Knowing a person's particular rituals is an insight into his cooking and eating style.

There are precious few perks to my part-time un-paid job writing this blog.  But the ones that do come along, like last week's visit with a treasure of an American chef surrounded by colleagues, are often rather spectacular.

Welcome to Our Restaurant

This is a repost from the now defunct Ohio Moms Blog, originally published in April of 2010. A few nights ago, I asked my daughter whether we should go out to a restaurant or stay home.  I was vying for restaurant because I didn't want to have to clean up dishes.

"How about a compromise?" she asked.  "We'll make a restaurant at home."

I rarely say no to her compromises because the act of offering one is something I want to encourage.  So restaurant play began as it has many times before.

We worked together on a big sign for the door that said 'Lizard Restaurant.'  My husband was designated the chef and Lillian, the waitress.  They collaborated to make a menu while I set the table with fresh place mats, cloth napkins, silverware and glasses.

Lil tied on a too small wrap around skirt as a cafe apron.  She choose a notepad on which to scribble orders, then called them to the chef.

I poured drinks and she carefully carried them to the table.  We used our real crystal and dimmed the lights.  Service began, in courses.  After an appetizer of chilled grapes and entrée of spaghetti with various toppings, we ordered dessert from the menu.  It was served on antique plates from my great grandmother.

Lillian the waitress has a lot to learn.  She rarely recalls an order correctly.  Sometimes she nibbles off the guest's plates.  She isn't very good about clearing the table and never remembers the bill.

But Lil serves up the biggest smiles and one great way to spend the evening together as a family!

A Day in the Slow Life

Annette of Sustainable Eats recently shared a day in her life and challenged others in the slow food lifestyle to do the same.

It is an interesting idea to compare our individual days. What chores do we share? What aspects of our routine are unique? What can we learn from each other? Why call it 'slow life' when we are so busy?

At any rate, here's what I did this Tuesday October 19, 2010:

7:45 am Wake up and get dressed with yesterday's clothes 8 Drop off Devie at the vet for surgery to address an eye ulcer 8:15 Return home, shower, dress in clean clothes (Lil and Alex still sleeping) 8:45 Eat half a Pattycake sticky bun and cup of coffee while posting pumpkin seeds recipe 9:15 Drive to Franklin Park Conservatory 9:30 Meet with Julia Hansel, education director, to brainstorm topics of kids and family cooking classes for 2010-2011 11:15 Return home, greet Lil and Alex for the day, start re-arranging basement to make a play area for Lil and better storage of home canned goods 12:15 Reheat homemade macaroni and cheese for lunch, pack Lil's preschool snack with crackers, apple, and kefir 12:45 Preschool drop off 1:15 Come home, begin making pumpkin puree from homegrown pie pumpkins 2:00 Take pictures of our tandem bike for sale 2:15 Finish pureeing and packaging 11 cups of pumpkin puree. 2:30 List Franklin Park events on the events calendar 3:00 Preschool pick up, play/chat with friends at playground 4:15 Return home, stopping at Clintonville Community Market for produce 4:30 Move a few more things in the basement 5:45 Pickup drugged Devie and meds from the vet 6:30 Return home, cook and eat polenta with roasted beets and goat cheese inspired by my friend Vanessa's recipe. Lil cries during dinner because she doesn't want to eat or get herself an alternative 7:30 Bedtime routine, including extra cuddles with healing Devie 8:15 Watch a little TV and drink wine while reading blogs, checking in to facebook and twitter 9:30 Realize I can barely keep my eyes open (seriously, this sinus infection or whatever it is WILL NOT GO AWAY) but continue to surf 10:30 Finally go upstairs, brush teeth, and settle in to bed with a short chapter of The Cook and the Gardener

What goes on in a day of your life?

This post added to Simple Lives Thursday.

Wise Water Use in the Kitchen - Blog Action Day 2010

The act of cooking food from scratch necessitates using water. We use water when we boil pasta, scrub potatoes, wash dishes, steam vegetables, and thaw frozen items. Here are five 'wise water ways' to reduce pressure on the water treatment facilities, reduce your water bill, and keep our access to water plentiful:

1) Turn off the tap. If you step away from the faucet while washing dishes, turn off the tap. As soon as the pasta pot is full, turn off the tap.

2) Reuse water. When you thaw meat*, water bath can or steam vegetables, you are left with a big quantity of useful water. Cool the water to room temperature and use it to water plants indoors or out, pre-soak dirty dishes, or fill the dog's water dish. *Only reuse water from meat if the meat was sealed in a package.

3) Consider the rinse. Do your dishes really need a pre-wash rinse before they go in the dishwasher (assuming you have one)? My dogs do the pre-washing in our house which has the double benefit of not using water to rinse dishes. If you don't have beasts, most dishwashers can handle dishes that have scraps scraped into the garbage or compost bin.

4) Scrub in a tub. Rather than run water over root vegetables or fruits to wash them, fill a small bowl or pan and scrub in the pan. Give them a final quick rinse in clear water.

5) Wash a full load. If you are running the dishwasher or filling up the sink for washing dishes, loading it up to the max makes best use of the water.

What else do you do to use water wisely in your kitchen? Share in the comments!

This year's Blog Action Day theme is Water. You can read thousands of other posts on the topic here. You can read my previous Blog Action Day posts on Poverty (2008) and Climate Change (2009).

Our Family Doesn't Buy Cakes

Sweet Lil turns five today.  I have no words to summarize my complex feelings about being her mother, nor reflections on her growing maturity and beauty.  Where to turn, then, but to food?

The setting: Mother and daughter are walking through an unfamiliar grocery store.

Mother, reading list: spaghetti, Parmesan.  Where's the Parmesan? Daughter: Can I have a...

Mother, interrupting: Oh here it is.  We're going to use already shredded cheese at your spaghetti birthday party because it will be easier.  Ok?

Daughter: Uh huh.

Mother: Now, lunch meat.  Do you really think you would eat lunch meat at school?

Daughter, spying the bakery case of decorated cakes: Hey, we could just buy a cake!

Mother: Our family doesn't buy cakes.

Daughter: Why?

Mother: Um, it's just not something we do.  We like to make them ourselves.

Daughter: But those are painted!  Can we paint mine?

Mother: Not really. Ours will taste better, though.  Do you still want decorations from the cake store?

Characters move on to other shopping.

Lil was beaming as we sang happy birthday around her homemade, not-from-a-box-or-a-store cake. Devie tasted not a morsel, unlike last year's thievery. The chocolate on chocolate cake was a sweet end to a lovely party for our new five year old.

Does your family buy cakes? Do I really have a five year old kid already?

Campfire Potato Packets

I mentioned in the Labor Day camping post that our campout menus are generally very simple.  There's grilled meat, cold veggie salad, fresh fruit, and always potato packets.

The 'packet' method of cooking is a standby because it can use a variety of ingredients, virtually any method of cooking, and cleanup is easy.  You can cook fish in parchment paper packets, meat and veggies in aluminum foil for packet stew, and many more combinations of ingredients.

After years of refining our method, here's how my family makes campfire potato packets:

Slice russet and/or sweet potatoes into 1/4 -1/8 inch rounds.  Try to get them as thin and uniform as possible.  If you are doing this at home, you could use a mandolin.

Cut onion into thin rounds too and chop a mess of fresh garlic.

Lay out a two foot length of aluminum foil.  Dot it with butter or olive oil.  Stack potatoes, onions, and garlic alternately.  Sprinkle seasoned salt and pepper between the layers and on top.  Dot with butter on several times and on top.

When the vegetables are three to four inches high, it's time to wrap up the packets.  Fold the long sides towards each other, crimping ends tightly.  Flip the packet onto another piece of foil and crimp again.  Depending on how stuffed the packets are and whether the foil is heavy duty, we often add a third layer of foil.

Place the packets on a wood fire.  Ideally, the packets will get low even heat for 40 - 50 minutes.  If there is room on the grill top, place them there, turning every 15 minutes.

Sometimes the packets need to be placed into the fire ring so the grill is free for other things.  Keep them away from the hottest part of the fire and turn every 10 minutes.

You can generally tell when the potatoes are fully cooked by gently squeezing the packets.  You should feel no resistant uncooked rounds.

Open the packets gingerly because they are hot and steamy inside.  Dump the potatoes into your serving container, in this case the cookset's largest pot.

Don't forget to enjoy the cook's treasure - the crispiest bits stuck to the foil.  Yum!

Campfire Potato Packets

makes one packet to serve four

1 - 2 pounds (about 4 - 5 large) potatoes, sliced into thin rounds

1/2 onion, sliced into thin rounds

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons seasoned salt (Lawrey's or Old Bay are our favorites)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons butter or olive oil

6 - 8 feet aluminum foil

1. Spread a 2-3 foot length of aluminum foil on work surface.

2. Dot foil with 1/2 tablespoon butter or olive oil.

3. Layer half of potatoes, onions, and garlic onto foil.

4. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon seasoned salt.

5. Dot with 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil.

6. Layer the rest of potatoes, onions, garlic, and seasonings.

7. Finish with the rest of the butter or olive oil.

8. Wrap the foil, crimping on all sides.  Flip onto additional foil and crimp on all sides again.  Repeat a third time if you wish.

What is your favorite camping recipe?

I'm Eating Meat Again

After a dozen years as a vegetarian, I have returned to an omnivorous nature. It all started after we killed and butchered Red the pig. The meat was so honestly procured and preparations so delicious smelling that I could not resist a few bites of bacon, then guanciale, then ribs and more.

I noticed that when I ate Red's meat, my tummy stayed full for a long time. I didn't eat extra starches. I wasn't hungry for a snack two hours later, a lovely feeling.  If I want to lose weight (a mere five pounds would bring me back to my high school weight) eating meat to stay full might be the way to do it.

I have never explained my reasons for being vegetarian on this blog because it is complicated. I initially started down the path because friends were vegetarian. Then I came to dislike meat because of the environmental degradation factory farming can cause. I couldn't quite stomach mistreatment of animals either.

Ultimately, my views have not changed, which is why I'm now a 'picky' meat eater. My self imposed dietary guideline is this: If honestly acquired, pasture raised meat is available, I will eat a small portion. I'll enjoy it in reverence for the animal's life and the hard work of those who raised and slaughtered it.

For the most part, this means I will remain a vegetarian restaurant diner.  As I don't want to be that annoying person who asks the source of every ingredient in a meal, I will still choose meatless options when dining with friends or family.  Even at home, we cannot afford high quality meat for meals every day so animal protein will remain limited in our meal planning.

As change is the only constant, I anticipate that my meat eating habits may be different at another time in my life.  Where are you on the meat/meatless spectrum?  How did you get to this place on your dietary path?

PS.  Today is the last day to vote for me to win a conference ticket to Asheville NC.  Will you please vote for @racheltayse?  Thank you!

Added to Two for Tuesdays real food blog hop.

Sexy Homegrown Tomatoes Bare All

Oh, Julia Child, you dear pink tomato.  Your blushing beauty covers your spicy inside, tempting gardeners for decades. Cherokee Chocolate, dark enchantress of the bunch.  That Christmas colored skin of yours yields to a dark juicy flesh, dripping with sunlight transformed to sweetness.

Then there's you, Rutgers.  Your pleats, your bulbous inundations, inspire a thousand delicious thoughts.

All together, you are a brothel of diversity, a color, size, and flavor for every preference.

Sliced raw, you bare your internal beauty, solid flesh giving way to juicy pulp and life renewing seeds.  Your eclectic flavors and textures are inspirational, a summer sensual feast.