veggies for christmas?

how do i love thee,
my Glacier Valley Farm CSA box?
let me count the ways...
i love that i pick you up at my workplace,
that you contain fresh, locally-grown produce,
that getting you exposes me to foods and cooking
that i would not otherwise encounter.
i love the many incarnations of brussel sprouts we've eaten-
especially that divine brussel sprout and potato soup!
i love thy beets sliced thin,
cooked with AK onions and garlic
with feta cheese and toasted walnuts on top.
and i love, love, love opening you up:
like christmas morning, twice a month!

animal, vegetable, miracle

i've just finished reading
animal, vegetable, miracle,
by one of my favorite authors, barbara kingsolver.
it's a beautifully-told memoir of kingsolver's family's quest
to eat local, seasonal foods
for an entire year.
such a lovely, fun, eye-opening and nourishing book!
here are some tasty, thought-provoking morsels:

"When we traded homemaking for careers, we were implicitly promised economic independence and worldly influence. But a devil of a bargain it has turned out to be in terms of daily life. We gave up the aroma of warm bread rising, the measured pace of nurturing routines, the creative task of molding our families' tastes and zest for life; we received in exchange the minivan and the Lunchable."

“If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast.”

"April is the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot wrote, by which I think he meant (among other things) that springtime makes people crazy. We expect too much, the world burgeons with promises it can't keep, all passion is really a setup, and we're doomed to get our hearts broken yet again. I agree, and would further add: Who cares? Every spring I go out there anyway, around the bend, unconditionally. ... Come the end of the dark days, I am more than joyful. I'm nuts. "

i highly recommend reading the entire thing.
you can also check out the website,
which has oodles of simple and yummy recipes
as well as great resources for finding local food in your community.

bon appetite!

This summer I'm excited to help out in the studio of my friend Deb Putnoi, who's a pretty amazing woman and artist. I got to know her this year at the Fogg museum, where she taught Sketching Afterschool. She's also a graduate of the Arts in Education program at HGSE. Here's a sample of her work:

Also-- Yesterday I spent the afternoon picking mulberries from the tree in our front yard, and then attempted to make mulberry preserves! I ended up with mulberry syrup - delightful on ice cream, I'm sure - and my own version of fruit leather (that's what's in that pot, below, congealing...). Then Mom sent a picture of her berry work for the day: cherry pie from the tree in Beth's yard. Beautiful.