Neen's Notes

Back to Basics: Béchamel

2011-01-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

In The Making of a Chef , Michael Ruhlman recalls that nearly everyone in his Skills One class at the Culinary Institute of America scorched the first béchamel sauce that they attempted. He vividly describes the mountain of pots lined with scorched flour/butter/milk piled in the sink. Upon reading this, I smiled to myself:

“Oh, I remember that.”

I cannot count the number of times during college that I stood (highly annoyed) scrubbing stuck-on roux off of the bottom of my only saucepan. Irritated, I’d grab On Cooking off of my bookshelf and wonder, “What did I do wrong this time?” The number of things that could go wrong with such a simple sauce astounded me: Wrong pan. Pan too hot. Milk too cold. Milk too hot. Flour and butter not cooked enough. Gritty consistency. Raw floury taste. Burnt taste.

I hope to help my dear readers avoid that angst. This is how I make my white sauce and, inspired by the passage from Ruhlman's book, I thought it was worth sharing.

Carl Sagan once wrote that “if you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” I say that if you want to make the perfect macaroni and cheese, you must first create the béchamel.

Unlike other mother sauces that begin with long-cooking stock, the beauty of béchamel is in its simplicity and relatively short cooking time. It is a post-work weeknight sauce.

Begin by pouring one cup of milk—in my opinion, 2% yields the best consistency and mouth feel—into a small saucepan. Add a bay leaf, bring the milk to a boil and then remove the pan from the heat and cover it.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 oz. of butter and 1 oz. of flour over very low heat to make a roux. The roux will act as the thickener in this sauce. Using a pan with sloped sides is very important. You don’t want your roux getting stuck in the corners of a straight-sided pan and scorching. Not only will that undoubtedly ruin the flavor of your sauce, but lost roux means a watery, runny consistency.

As the butter melts, mix it with the flour to form a paste. There are various stages of cooking a roux. For béchamel sauce, cook on low heat only until it is just golden. The more a roux is cooked, the more flavor it develops, but the trade-off is that it loses its thickening ability. Darker roux are frequently used for brown sauces, gumbos and stews.

Now it is time to add the milk to the roux. Patience is the key here. Think about making an emulsion. If you’ve ever made mayonnaise you know that if you add the oil to the egg yolks too fast, the mixture will break and you will be left with a messy oil slick instead of a creamy mayonnaise. In this case, if you add the milk too quickly (or use cold milk) the sauce will be lumpy and/or grainy. How sad. So begin whisking the roux before any milk even touches the pan and add the scalded milk in a thin, steady stream.

Whisk, whisk, whisk. Turn the heat up to medium and do not stop whisking. Within a few minutes, the sauce will thicken and begin to bubble. At this point, add a few pinches of salt and taste the sauce. It will probably still have a little bit of raw, starchy taste. Cook, stirring continuously for 5-6 more minutes until the sauce is velvety and coats the back of a spoon. Add a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg, stir, and taste again. If you like how it tastes, stop there.

Think, I mean really think, about how your sauce tastes. Yes, béchamel is often just a base, but it’s like building house: If you don’t have a good foundation, the rest is just going to crumble. So take time to make your base well and the final product will reward your taste buds. Taste, season, and taste again. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Now you have your béchamel, or white sauce, and you can get creative. Add a handful of your favorite cheese and stir until it melts—that goes great over pasta and vegetables (I LOVE it on broccoli), use it unadulterated as lasagna or moussaka filling, or add a small onion that has been very finely diced and sweated in butter to make sauce soubise—which is excellent with grilled meat.

So there you have it: Delicious white sauce that takes less than 20 minutes to make. Experiment and enjoy.

Ciao for now,
Neen

Ms. MLIS and the 114 Dozen Treats

2011-01-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year from Neen’s Notes!

I took a hiatus from blogging in December for a multitude of reasons. The first was to focus on completing my final projects for graduate school. You may recall such posts where I defeated the Great Perl Dragon and other beasts along the way, but this was (to put it in super-nerd terms) the true Boss Battle. And yes, I won the game of graduate school. I’m now a bonafide library and information scientist.

And then came the baking and candy making. Once the final papers were off to my instructors, I suddenly had…time. It’s not as though I never had free time while I was in school, but I always had a lingering, “I really should be working on (blank)” feeling whenever I tried to take some down time. Last December, when I was only a little more than half-way through school I made 65 dozen cookies for friends and family. I did not anticipate ever coming close to breaking that record. After all, I only have two cookie sheets and two 9x13 in. pans.

Armed with my favorite recipes from last year and a brand new confectionery book, I warned my family not to bake and that I’d bring more than enough home for Christmas. I’m not sure they anticipated quite how excited I was to be back in the kitchen.

Here’s the final tally:

7 dozen peanut butter cups
3 dozen Nutella cups
6 dozen orange chocolate truffles
6 dozen gingersnaps
4 dozen thumbprints
6 dozen peanut butter blossoms
3 dozen chocolate almond coconut biscotti
4 dozen chocolate cherry walnut biscotti
4 dozen cranberry orange pecan biscotti
8 dozen Russian tea cakes
10 dozen coconut joys
17 dozen walnut caramels
7 dozen torrone
10 dozen chocolate marshmallows (for Folger party)
12 dozen vanilla-almond spritz cookies
3 dozen walnut-coconut patties
4 cups sweet and spicy pecans
4 cups sweet and spicy peanuts

Total? Not counting the candied nuts, 114 dozen. I should go into business! If you have a request for any of the recipes above, let me know. There may be photo-tutorials for some of them in the coming weeks. Candy is so temperamental that it can be hard to get pictures of the process, but I’m getting better at setting the timer/one-handed photography.

My final reason for a blogging hiatus? Pittsburgh, of course! I can’t believe that I somehow didn’t write about the fact that (back in October) Joe got us tickets to the Steelers’ last home game of the season as an anniversary gift. The game was 2 days before Christmas and so we decided to spend the first week of our holiday up in PA.

Joe has taken me to a few Steelers games when they’ve played down here at Fedex Field, but I had never been to a home game at Heinz Field. In fact, the only home game I had ever gone to was a game at Three Rivers Stadium when I was…12ish? Needless to say, my anticipation was building for a very long time.

Thursday, December 23, 2010 I watched the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Carolina Panthers 27-3 from Section 223, Row K, and it was incredible. My favorite part of the stadium was the Great Hall, where memorabilia (including all of the Lombardi trophies!) from Steelers and Pitt Panther stand-outs are on display for all fans to see. A live band, members dressed in black and gold and donning Polamalu wigs, blasted rock music to get the crowd milling around excited and ready to go. Fans wore jerseys from every era emblazoned with names like Lambert, Greene, Harris, Bettis, Stallworth, Bleier, and Swann. Of course, current players were heavily represented as well, and even some…interesting throwbacks like Kordell Stewart. I did not, however, witness any Neil O’Donnell jerseys and do not believe I ever will.

And everyone, I mean everyone carried a Terrible Towel. Even before the announcer could start naming the players who ran onto the field, the crowd looked like a sea of Vegas-gold waves. The experience of being in a place where 60,000 people are excited and proud of the same thing was unbelievable. The players on the sidelines too, waved their Terrible Towels to liven up the crowd during crucial moments. (The glorious noise forced 2 Carolina time outs and contributed to 3 false starts. Hope we helped, boys!)

I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire evening. Thank you again, Joe, for making yet another one of my dreams come true!

Yet, that was only the very beginning of our vacation. You’d think it couldn’t get any better but it did. We spent the next 4 days celebrating with family we don’t see nearly enough. There are few things that make me happier than just having time to spend with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and Joe. We had some wonderful meals together, wandered the Strip District, and just caught up on life over wine and board games. Cigars, too. Oh, and cookies…days and days of cookies. I feel like we should install a fire-extinguisher type case in each family member's house that contains a tray of cookies: "Break glass in case of celebration."

I hope your holiday held wonderful memories as well. My hope for this year is that I may continue learning how to have more compassion for both others and myself, to remove the ego and respect what my body and mind can do on each day that I am alive, and to live with a sense of respect for all that this amazing planet provides each day.

Happy 2011—Ciao for now!

-Neen

Truffle Shuffle

2010-11-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

I recently gifted myself Chocolates and Confections at Home with the Culinary Institute of America written by Peter Greweling, an instructor at the CIA. I’ve been in the kitchen nearly every free moment since receiving it. Each chapter begins with a discussion of the theory and techniques (with photographs!) for the recipes found therein. Even if you’re not interested in making your own candy, it’s a really fascinating book for learning about what goes into some of the treats we love. Like most food, candies have cultural, social and regional ties that can bring a sense of nostalgia just from seeing them. For instance, you C.S. Lewis and/or Charles Dickens fans may be interested to know that there is a recipe in Greweling’s book for irresistible Turkish Delight (I made mine orange and almond):

The main reason I went after this book was for the chocolate. There’s a whole chapter devoted to the treatment of chocolate and avoiding pitfalls like blooming or streaking in finished candies. Tempered chocolate and I have in the past, had a tenuous relationship. I chocolate-dip torrone or marshmallows, but they never look particularly pretty. How do I make molded chocolates with caramel or peanut butter inside? And candy bars? And cordial cherries? And..and…and…well the list goes on.

After reading the chocolate-chapter, I practiced tempering chocolate for some pecan and walnut turtles. While disastrously messy, it helped me learn how to arrange everything on my limited counter space and gave me a sense of the pace at which I needed to work. It reminded me so much of making marshmallows for the first time: Accept that you will make a mess, learn from it, and know that in the future you will know how to avoid it.

I was right. So before you all head off to dive head-first into your Thanksgiving cooking, here is a simple truffle recipe that makes an elegant addition to a holiday candy dish.

Marzipan-Walnut Truffles

Ingredients
Marzipan:
-3 oz. almond paste (I found it in the baking aisle at my local grocery store.)
-¾ cup powdered sugar
-2 oz. walnuts, chopped
-1-2 tbsp. brandy or other liquor (can use corn syrup for alcohol-free)

Coating:
-8 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
-2oz. walnuts, finely chopped

Method
-Cut the almond paste into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl.
-Sift the powdered sugar over the almond paste and knead into a cohesive ball, adding liquor or corn syrup as needed.
-Knead the chopped walnuts into the marzipan.
-Scoop teaspoon-size portions of the walnut marzipan and roll into balls to create the truffle centers.
-Prepare the coating by melting 6 oz. of the chocolate in a heat-safe bowl that fits snugly over a pot of barely simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the simmering water), stirring frequently until it reaches 120 degrees F. Remove from the heat, add the remaining 2 oz. chocolate and stir frequently until the chocolate is melted and reaches 85 degrees F.
-To maintain the temperature, place the bowl of melted chocolate on a heating pad set to medium. Alternatively, leave the small pot of water at a bare simmer on the stove and stir your chocolate over it if the temperature starts to drop.
-Use a fork to gently press each center in the melted chocolate and then turn once to coat evenly, -Scoop the truffle back onto the fork and tap the bottom of the fork on top of the melted chocolate a few times.
-Tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to remove the rest of the excess chocolate before gently setting the truffle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tapping the fork on top of the melted chocolate and then on the side of the bowl helps to keep a little chocolate puddle or “foot” from forming on the bottom of the truffle.
-Sprinkle the remaining chopped nuts over the truffles before the chocolate sets and then leave at room temperature until dry.

Makes about 20 truffles. Stored in an airtight container, they will keep at room temperature for several weeks.

Have a wonderful week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ciao for now,

Neen

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Italian Meringue

2010-11-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

Another birthday weekend! We celebrated Lynn’s (Joe’s mom) birthday this weekend with dinner on Friday night and brunch on Sunday. Who doesn’t love an multi-day birthday celebration?

Of course this meant more cake baking (Yay!). But this time, I had to take into consideration that Lynn is avoiding eating a lot of excess sugar these days. She was certainly not adverse to a little something extra-special and loves chocolate, so I thought that the occasion called for something dark, rich and only slightly sinful: The Flourless Chocolate Cake.

It has its sweetness, but the chocolate is the star. I played around with a few recipes, not wanting to tromp all over the chocolate flavor with a lot of butter and eggs. This version came out fudgy, dark, and rich. For the icing, I chose a light and fluffy Italian meringue. You don’t need very much (I used a little more than half of the recipe) for a one layer cake.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Italian Meringue and Strawberries

Cake ingredients
-4 oz. dark chocolate
-1/2 cup butter
-3/4 cup sugar or sucanat (I used half and half—the latter has a lower glycemic impact)
-1/2 cup cocoa powder
-3 eggs, separated
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-Pinch of salt

Method
-Grease and dust an 8 in. spring form pan with cocoa.
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
-In a saucepan over low heat, melt together the butter and chocolate and whisk until smooth.
-Remove the chocolate/butter mixture from the heat and whisk in the sugar, vanilla, salt and then the egg yolks (one at a time) until smooth.
-Sift the cocoa powder on top of the mixture and mix just until combined.
-Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and then gently fold into the cake batter.
-Pour the batter into the spring form pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until just set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Italian meringue ingredients
-2/3 cup and 2 tbsp. sugar, divided.
-¼ cup water
-Pinch of salt
-3 egg whites
-1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Method
-Combine the 2/3 cup of sugar, water, and pinch of salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan gently until the sugar dissolves and then cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 230 degrees F.
-While the sugar syrup is heating up, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy and then slowly add the 2 tbsp. sugar. Beat until medium peaks form.
-Once the sugar syrup has reached 230 degrees, remove it from the heat and allow the bubbles to dissipate. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites and then increase the speed, add the vanilla, and beat until stiff peaks form.

Normally meringue does not store well, but the addition of the cream of tartar meant that I was able to keep this in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a day without it beginning to weep or shrink. Place a layer of wax paper directly on top of the meringue to avoid condensation from getting into it.

Spread an even layer of the meringue over the top and sides of the cake and then arrange sliced strawberries in overlapping circles. I wouldn’t recommend glazing them with anything as it will likely cause the icing to melt and spread.

Enjoy—and happy birthday again, Lynn!

Ciao for now,

Neen

Free Time for Croissants

2010-11-07T21:24:00.000-05:00

I found out on Friday that I passed my graduate portfolio. I turned in the last several documents for it earlier in the week, and expected to receive revision recommendations from my advisor soon. I thought I'd likely spend this weekend tidying everything up. Instead, I opened my e-mail inbox to see the message subject line: LIBR 289 CONGRATULATIONS CHRISTINA CERTO. I'd completed the requirements for the course.

I spent the next day in shock and then decided that a long set-aside culinary project was in order. I'd put off doing it due to time restraints--but this weekend presented the perfect conditions.

Anyway, time for Croissants!

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup barely warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups cold unsalted butter (3 1/2 sticks)

Method
-Mix 1 cup of the flour, the water, and the yeast together and then set aside to rest for one hour.
The mixture will become very foamy.

-Add the remaining flour, cream, and salt, then knead the mixture for one minute. Let the dough rest in a bowl covered in plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

-At this point you can either knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes or in a mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment for 15 minutes on a low speed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a half hour.

-Place the sticks of butter in between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound / roll them out into an 8 inch square.

-On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the dough to a 9 x 17 inch rectangle and place the square of butter on half of it:

-Fold the top of the rectangle over the square of dough and pinch the edges with your fingers to seal.

-Roll the dough into 9 x 18 inch rectangle...

and then letter-fold into thirds. Turn the dough so that the single-folded side is on the left:

-Roll the dough out to a 9 x 18 inch rectangle again and complete another letter-fold. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour. (I docked the top with two dots to note that I had completed two "roll-fold" cycles.

-Remove from the fridge, roll the dough out to a 9 x 18 inch square and letter-fold two more times. (A total of four). Cut the final letter-folded dough in half and wrap each in plastic wrap. Now the dough is ready for use, although aging it for a few hours or overnight will develop more flavor.

-Roll the dough out into two 6.5 inch by 20 inch rectangles. Place on two parchment-lined baking sheets and return to the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

-Dock the edges on each side of the rectangle to mark off triangles. Cut them out with a pizza cutter or small, sharp knife.

-Make a slit at the base of each triangle and roll slightly outward as you tightly roll up the croissants. Roll the triangle up so that the final tip is underneath and then bend the two ends toward one another to form the classic croissant shape.

-Arrange the rolled croissants on parchment-lined baking sheets, cover with plastic wrap and proof overnight in the refrigerator.
-When it is time to bake, remove the croissants from the refrigerator and leave them at room temperature for an hour.

Beat one egg and a splash of cream together and brush the mixture on top of the proofed croissants.

-Pre heat the oven to 375 degrees F and then bake croissants for 35 minutes or until puffed and deeply golden-brown. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy the buttery flaky goodness.

Ciao for now,

Neen

Hallow-Mallows

2010-10-31T13:47:00.000-04:00

It's really too bad that you can't give out homemade candy to trick-or-treaters without parents being wary of your sanitation practices or fearing you might have mistaken arsenic for the vanilla extract. I love to make candy, especially marshmallows. They take very few ingredients, not a ton of time, and can be flavored hundreds of different ways just by switching out the extract or adding spices or crushed candy to the final dredge. This Halloween version has a sweet vanilla-bean middle with a crunchy chocolate topping, better than any bag of long-ago packaged candy. Mmm.

Chocolate-dipped Marshmallows

Ingredients
3 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 of a vanilla bean, split and scraped or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Orange food coloring

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup cornstarch mixed with 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Method
Grease a 9x13 in. pan and cover it with a layer of the cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture. (Reserve the rest for dredging the marshmallows later.)

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup cold water. Let bloom for 10 minutes while preparing the sugar syrup.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, salt, and vanilla. Stir gently to dissolve the sugar and then let the mixture come to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and then remove from the stove. Allow the bubbles to dissipate.

Turn the mixer onto its lowest setting and slowly add the sugar syrup to the gelatin. When all of the syrup has been added, turn the mixer to the highest setting and whip for 12 minutes. When there are about 2 minutes left, begin adding food coloring until the desired shade of orange is reached.

After whipping for 12 minutes, you should have a fluffy, shiny, creamy marshmallow mixture. Using a greased spatula to get as much as you can (you will not get it all, trust me) pour the mixture into the 9x13 in. pan. Then, quickly grease your hands and use them to spread the marshmallow into an even layer. Sprinkle another layer of the cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture on top. Let set for about an hour in the pan. When you can press a finger on top of the marshmallows and they spring back, they are ready to remove from the pan.

Flip the rectangle of marshmallow onto a cutting board and cut into squares using a pizza wheel. Toss the squares in the remaining cornstarch and powdered sugar to keep them from sticking together. Store in an airtight container.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips over very low heat and mix the melted chocolate until it is smooth and shiny. Dip one side of the marshmallow into the chocolate, swirling gently to coat evenly and then place on a cooling rack to dry. Makes about 90 marshmallows.

Happy Halloween!
Ciao for now,

Neen

An Ice Cream Layer Cake for Roger

2010-10-17T23:30:00.002-04:00

Celebration cakes are my favorite cakes to make. I'm not particularly apt at piping icing designs or writing messages, but I can usually come up with something creative to complement the flavors under the icing. The person the cake is to be for inspires me with their choice of flavors and then from there...a blank canvas. No rules, no rubrics to follow, no required homework, just good creative fun.

When Joe told me several weekends ago that his dad's birthday was coming up, I offered to make the cake and asked what kind he thought Roger (his dad) would like.

"Can you make an ice cream cake?"

I had no idea. I didn't even know if I had a powerful enough freezer, or for that matter, one with enough space to freeze multiple cake layers. I resolved to try, because (as they say) if you don't try, you'll never know.

One thing I did know was that Roger loves chocolate, so what better to include than my personal favorite perfect chocolate cake recipe. I made two 9in. layers of Ina Garten's Beatty's Chocolate Cake. After cooling completely on a rack, they were wrapped and placed in the freezer to firm up.

The next step was to create the ice cream layers. After lining two nine-inch rounds with plastic wrap (so I could lift the layers out later), I scooped and flattened softened ice cream into each--cookies and cream in one, and vanilla in the other. Using an offset spatula, I smoothed the surfaces even as best I could, then covered each with another layer of plastic wrap and then put them in the freezer to harden.

After a day, I lined a springform pan with plastic wrap and stacked the layers together. First the cookies and cream ice cream, then a layer of chocolate cake, then the vanilla ice cream and finally the second chocolate cake layer. I wrapped the whole cake tightly in plastic wrap and returned it to the freezer.

Two days later, I turned the cake out of the springform pan and onto a turn table. By that time, the layers had frozen firmly together and I was able to do a quick crumb coat of icing. I used Cool Whip, by the way, as it will firm up in the freezer, but won't get too hard. I let another 8 or so hours pass and then put on a final coating. I also moved the cake from the turn table to an aluminum foil covered piece of cardboard that I'd cut to fit inside of a cake box that the kind folks at the bakery near my office had graciously given to me.

As for decorating? Well, by the time I'd iced the cake I was so amazed that it had actually come together that I was hesitant to ruin it with a bad attempt at writing "happy birthday" on top. What I did instead gave me a lot of flexibility.

I melted a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips over low heat, mixing constantly until just smooth. I then poured the melted chocolate into a pastry bag fitted with a rounded point and piped lots of little shapes onto big sheets of wax paper. I made swirls, stars, zig-zags, curls and other odd little designs that I thought might look interesting. After they hardened, I topped the cake with them by gently pressing an edge of each into the icing until it stood. I wanted an explosion of chocolate stars and fireworks bursting forth from the icing. Because this cake, if it were to personify anything, I would want it to be joy.

With the freezer turned to its highest setting, I returned the cake to it once more to prepare for its final 10 minute trip to Joe's parents' house.

Fortunately, Joe had pre-warned his mom to make freezer space, and it was quickly tucked away to wait patiently for its unveiling after dinner.

At last I saw it opened, still decorated and stable, and was finally able to breath a sigh of relief.

And the inside looked really cool!

I was really proud of this, especially once I saw how well it held up after we took a few slices out. Aside from the icing starting to get soft, the layers of cake and ice cream remained remarkably firm and tasted oh-so-good. After Roger had two slices, I felt comfortable in assuming that it was in fact, delicious.

What I learned throughout this little endeavor is that ice cream cake doesn't take a ton of time on any given day, just the patience to take small steps in between freezings. While it took me the course of a week to make, I worked on it for maybe 5 minutes each day either stacking, unmolding, icing, or decorating. An exercise in patience? Yes.

Worth it in every way when I saw the smiles on the faces of the folks around me eating it? You bet.

Ciao for now,
Neen

Mystery Food Week 20: Grand Finale edition

2010-10-13T20:40:00.000-04:00

Well here it is, the final week of Mystery Food 2010. The season seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye this year. Here’s week 20:

Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, apples, and beets. How wonderfully autumn!

I still have last week’s pumpkin and an array of squash, so there will undoubtedly be a lot of canning this weekend. I got around to taking care of some of the apples over the weekend after finishing the first round of Project Boerewors. (First round because the boss gave me some ideas for improvement and delicious culinary projects take time and refinement.)

But yes, about those apples. I had planned to can pie filling because Rome apples stand up incredibly well in baking applications, but alas I forgot to order some Clear-Jel before the weekend. I’ve never found a store that sells it and usually buy a bag online just as fall starts specifically for the purpose of making pie filling. Clear-Jel is cornstarch that has been modified to withstand the high temperatures that it is exposed to during the canning process without becoming cloudy or losing its thickening ability. So, no pie filling…yet.

So I did what any resourceful food preservation lover might and turned to my trusty Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and looked in the index under “apples.” An overwhelming number of recipes poured off of the page, but I was looking for something a bit simple. (I’ll tell you why later.) One recipe caught my eye and with only 4 essential ingredients it was a perfect project for the day:

Brandied Apple Rings

Ingredients
5 lbs. apples, cored and cut into ¼ inch rings, treated with lemon juice or citric acid to prevent browning.
3 cups water
4 cups sugar
1 cup brandy
Red food coloring (optional, but makes this look oh-so-pretty.)

Method
-Bring sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan large enough to fit all of the apples. Boil sugar and water for 5 minutes.
-Remove from the heat and add the apples and food coloring. A few drops of food coloring is all you need. Let the mixture boil gently for 15 minutes or until the apples are tender.
-Again remove the pan from the heat and remove the apples from the syrup using a slotted spoon.
-Pack the apples loosely into clean, warm jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.
-Put the saucepan back on the heat and return the syrup to a boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the brandy.
-Pour hot syrup over apples, leaving ¼ inch headspace. Tap the sides of the jars to remove air bubbles and then adjust the headspace if necessary.
-Wipe the rims of the jars clean and then place on the lids and screw on rings.
-Process jars in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

The apples are tasty warm, but I bet they are even better after sitting in that brandy-syrup for awhile. They are a lovely accompaniment to fall pork dishes and would also make a slightly more elegant strudel.

By the way, if you have syrup left over after filling the jars, put it back on the stove over medium heat and let it reduce to a thicker consistency. Add a few shakes of cinnamon and you’ll have a delicious topping for ice cream, waffles, cheesecake, or a spoon!

So, why did I go for a simple apple recipe over a more ingredient-heavy chutney, salsa, or multi-fruit jelly? I guess you’ll have to wait until I post about Project Ice Cream Layer Cake later this week… ;-)

Ciao for now,

Neen

Boerewors: A Sausage-Making Adventure

2010-10-10T01:20:00.000-04:00

I always like a culinary challenge, and this one was especially intriguing given that I really had no idea how the final product was supposed to taste. My boss was looking for a butcher in the area that would make a particular type of South African sausage when I piped up that I had a meat grinder. "What's in it?"

He showed me a recipe and I consulted a few other resources online to get a sense of the cuts of meat used, seasoning blends, and meat to fat ratio. Once I felt like I had a better sense of the flavors, I settled on the ingredients for a batch.

Boerewors

Ingredients

3.5 lbs. beef chuck
1 lb. lamb shoulder
1 lb. pork shoulder
5 oz. pork fatback (salted)
3.5 oz. sheep casings
5 tbsp. malt vinegar
3 tbsp. coriander seeds, toasted and then ground.
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. ground pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice

Method

First thing's first: Soak your sausage casings. Sheep casings frequently come in tubs packed with salt and can be preserved that way in your fridge for almost a year with no negative consequence. Soak in water that starts at 110 degrees F. while you prepare your meat and spice blends (or at least 30 minutes).

The fatback will also require a pre-soak, but in a medium-sized saucepan with boiling water for about 5-7 minutes. This will remove some of the excess salt. After boiling, pull the fatback out of the water and refrigerate for a little bit to firm it up.

Dice the lamb, pork, beef, and fatback into small cubes.

In a small bowl, combine the coriander, salt, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. Set aside.

Next, grind the meat using a coarse plate.

Now it's time to add the spices and vinegar. Take care not to smash the meat together too much when mixing everything together.

Make yourself a small patty and fry it quickly to test the seasoning. Mine needed a few extras pinches of salt and another few grinds of pepper. Otherwise, it was delicious!

To stuff the sausage, I used the 5/8 in. tube attachment for my mixer's grinder. Before getting the casing onto the tube, find the opening in the casing and run cool water down the length of it to remove any kinks that weren't straightened out during the soaking process. Grease the tube with a little bit of vegetable shortening and then gently shimmy on the casing. Tie a knot at the end of the casing and you're ready to stuff!

At this point, have a pin handy so that you can prick the casing if any major air pockets form.

With the mixer on a low speed, feed the seasoned meat into the hopper and through the tube. The casing should slide easily as the meat is fed into it. Do not overfill or you run the risk of tearing the casing or having it burst during cooking.

When you reach the end of the casing, leave 2 inches or so empty so that you can tie a knot to seal it off. Roll the sausage into spirals and prick with a pin all over to remove excess air.

Hypnotizing meat spiral...mmm.

So there you have it; my first foray into making boerewors. I'm really pleased with the final product and hope that the boss-man enjoys grilling it up as much as I enjoyed making it.

Ciao for now,
Neen

Mystery Food Week 19: Clown Box edition

2010-10-06T11:49:00.000-04:00

My stomach and I are at war. I don’t know what I ever did to it, but it’s mad at me. Most of my delicious mystery food from last week had to go the preservation route, but I am absolutely not complaining about a freezer full of lunches. I did get around to making some delicious potato soup from the mountain of potatoes I accumulated and it’s been a lifesaver while I’m not feeling 100%. It’s also perfect for this lovely, brisk weather that has appeared out of nowhere. It’s not too heavy, but substantial enough for a meal:

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Ingredients
-12 small/medium potatoes (use the week 17 and 18 pictures for size reference.) They yielded about 6 cups diced.
-1 medium white or yellow onion, diced.
-3.5 cups of low sodium chicken stock. I like Kitchen Basics’ unsalted variety.
-3 cloves of garlic, minced.
-3 slices of bacon
-1 cup of 2% milk
-1.5 tsp. dried thyme
-A few shakes of cayenne pepper
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Green onions or chives to garnish

Method
-Peel and quarter-inch dice your potatoes. If you too are sick with the stomach flu, have a friend drag a chair and your laptop into the kitchen so that you can sit and watch bad reality television like Hell’s Kitchen while you work. If you’re preparing them in advance, put the diced potatoes in a bowl and cover with cold water. This will keep them from turning gray.
-Dice the bacon and sauté it to render out most of the fat.
-Put the potatoes, chicken stock, bacon, thyme, pepper, and some salt into the crock pot and set it on high.
-Gently sauté the onions in the left over bacon fat (you may need to add a splash of olive oil) until translucent and fragrant. Add the garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes more. Add this to the crock pot and give everything a quick stir.
-Cook on high for 4 hours.
-Ladle half of the soup into a blender and add the milk. Blend until smooth. Add the puree back to the crock pot and cook for another ½ hour on low. (It should be simmering very gently.)
-Garnish with green onions and a few grinds of black pepper. Eat merrily.

Yield: Six 1 ½ cup servings

It’s so good. I confess, however, that by the end of the weekend I was really tired of the lack of solid food in my diet. I made cookies and justified it by saying that the inclusion of ginger (digestive aid!) and blackstrap molasses (iron!) made them an appropriate snack. And they’re perfect autumn cookies, best eaten alongside a strong cup of coffee.

Giant Gingersnap Cookies

Ingredients
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-2/3 cup sugar
-4 tbsp. unsalted butter
-1 egg
-2 tbsp. blackstrap molasses
-2 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. ground ginger
-1/4 tsp. ground allspice
-1/4 tsp. baking soda
-1/4 tsp. salt
-A few grinds of black pepper (really amps up the spices)

Method
-Pre heat an oven to 350 degrees F.
-Mix the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a bowl and set aside.
-Cream the butter and ½ cup of the sugar (reserve the rest in a small bowl) until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses and mix well.
-Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined.
-Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets. They will spread slightly, so only put 7 cookies on each sheet.
-Spray the bottom of a glass with non-stick cooking spray, dip in the bowl of reserved sugar and then flatten a mound of dough. Repeat for each cookie.
-Bake for approximately 13 minutes or until just set. The centers will still be slightly soft, but will firm up and be crunchy once cooled.
-Cool on a wire rack and then store in a sealed container for up to a week. But they won’t last that long.

Yield: 14 big wonderful cookies

Onto this week's Mystery Food…I called this week the clown box edition for good reason. Items just kept coming out no matter how many times I reached into the box! Fantastic.

Salad greens, Rome apples, green bell peppers, a small eggplant, squash, potatoes, and a lovely pumpkin. I found a recipe for sweet spiced pumpkin pickles so I might give that a go. If I end up canning I might also use some of those beautiful Rome apples to make apple pie filling. A quart jar of pie filling is the perfect amount for a 9-inch pie.

I hope you enjoy this week’s recipes. I’m crossing my fingers that my stomach and I can form a peace treaty so that there will be apple-picking in the near future. What better way to celebrate autumn?

Ciao for now,

Neen

Mystery Food Week 18: Changing Seasons edition

2010-10-01T10:45:00.000-04:00

Well autumn has definitely arrived. This week, I wore a jacket to work for the first time since the spring. We also went to the last Nationals home game of the season. I really like going to Nats games and I think that part of it is because it reminds me so much of going to Pirates games in Pittsburgh. (Ladies and gentlemen, you can get your “Haha, that’s because both teams are terrible, right?” jokes out of the way now.)

But in truth, I say that for several reasons. The parks are similarly designed—small, not steeply graded, and open on one side. There isn’t a bad seat in the house at either place. Then there’s the price-tag. Our seats Wednesday night were on the 1st baseline in the top section and I think we had the best view in the house--for $13. While I’ve seen the Steelers play down here at Fedex Field, I’ve never seen them play at Heinz Field. I did see the Penguins play at the Civic—excuse me, Mellon Arena, but I highly doubt my chances of getting into a game at the new arena for a long time. Tickets are difficult to get and often very pricey. Joe and I like to get to a Redskins game once or twice a season, but even if you grab a set of tickets they gouge you terribly for parking at Fedex. And, unlike the baseball stadium, there is no direct Metro access. You can see into Nats Park as soon as you come out of the Metro station—that’s my favorite part. I always start to get excited as soon as I see the stadium all lit up. Finally, there is the culinary joy of the ballpark. Pittsburgh has its Primanti’s sandwiches and Quaker Steak wings and DC has Ben’s Chili Bowl and Teddy’s BBQ (which includes a giant caricature of Teddy Roosevelt in chef regalia outside). We opted for the more traditional hot-dog-and-a-beer route on Wednesday, but the smell of the giant smoker with all of that tasty barbecue was wonderful!

The ballgame ended with fireworks and a video of the players, announcers, and vendors saying “thank you” for a great season. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Wednesday evening. Now, I am officially, fully, and completely in fall sports mode.

This week’s Mystery Food is an interesting mix:

Cabbage, kale, green peppers, squash, zucchini, apples, and potatoes.

I’ve accumulated two weeks worth of potatoes now and this chilly weather encourages the making of some potato soup. My main issue with potato soup/potato cheese soup is that it’s either incredibly heavy and garnished with an ice cream scoop’s worth of sour cream and bacon, or it’s really one-note. I’ll try to strike a balance…maybe add some slow caramelized onions and roasted garlic and other veggies for color/sweetness.

That will likely be this weekend’s project in between the ongoing writing of super-portfolio-thesis. Oooooh and maybe a loaf of fabulous no-knead effortless bread. Welcome, autumn. :-)

Ciao for now,

Neen

Mystery Food Week 17: Pickled edition

2010-09-23T09:09:00.000-04:00

Fall is here. I actually needed to throw on a cardigan this morning to go outside. For the last few months, I’ve only needed one inside because my office is frequently arctic. It must be better for the books. Or they’re secretly housing penguins on Deck C. I think I’ll keep believing that—specifically, penguins in early modern costume. Adorable.

I’ve been stockpiling at least some of the last few weeks’ worth of squash and eggplant for pickling and finally got around doing that over the weekend. After suffering from some kind of chest cold that wiped me out for two weeks, I’d accumulated a whole lot of food in the fridge. Friday night was pickle-fest, and Saturday was apple-pear butter day. Fridge clean, pantry full, life good.

Sunny Squash and Eggplant Pickles

Ingredients:
-4 cups seeded and cubed squash (I used summer, patty-pan, and zucchini) and eggplant
-1 cup sliced onion
-2 cups water
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup white vinegar
-1 tsp. plain salt (not iodized)
-1 ½ tsp. dry mustard
-½ tsp. turmeric
-½ tsp. ground ginger
-A pinch of saffron threads

Method:
-Combine all ingredients except the squash and eggplant in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add the vegetables and return to a boil for 10 minutes.
-Using a slotted spoon, pack the vegetables into warm, sterilized jars, leaving ½ inch headspace.
-Add enough of the pickling liquid in the saucepan to cover the vegetables in each jar.
-Secure lids and rings onto jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Pickled Beets and Onions

Ingredients:
-4-6 large beets (see: last week’s mystery food)
-1 large white onion, sliced
-2 ½ cups white vinegar
-1 cup sugar
-3 tbsp. pickling spice (usually in the baking aisle with other spices)

Method:
-To prepare the beets, scrub them gently and then boil for 20-40 minutes or until just tender. Rinse with cool water. Slide off the skins and quarter or halve depending on the size.
-In a large saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat slightly and boil gently for 15 minutes.
-Add the beets and return the mixture to a boil.
-Using a slotted spoon, pack the beets and onions into jars leaving ½ inch headspace.
-Add enough of the pickling liquid in the saucepan to cover the vegetables in each jar.
-Secure lids and rings onto jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

With all of that squirreled away, there was finally space in the fridge for this week’s Mystery Food. And boy is it a good one…

Tomato, cherry tomatoes, squash, sweet corn, apples, potatoes, green peppers, and swiss chard. The cherry tomatoes are so sweet. I had some in a wrap with black forest smoked turkey and provolone cheese from the deli and it was such a delicious contrast.

Joe’s folks are away at the beach for the weekend and have absconded with our dog. Yes, that’s right, he gets a vacation from his difficult life of being spoiled. But that does mean that Joe and I can go out after work on Friday without one of us having to run home to Virginia first. And I can cook squash without a pouty face staring at me begging for some (he is weird). Cool.

Ciao for now,
Neen

Mystery Food Week 16: Purple Hands edition

2010-09-16T10:02:00.000-04:00

Oh okay, they aren't purple anymore. But they were decidedly still a tinge purply on Tuesday when I received this week's Mystery Food. I finally got around to making grape jelly from the 3 bunches of concord grapes received in recent CSA boxes. The process was fairly easy too. Try it out sometime!

Concord Grape Jelly

Ingredients
5 cups of grape juice
3 1/2 cups of sugar
1 box of powdered pectin

Method
To make the grape juice, remove the grapes from the stems and wash them. Place the grapes in a pot and mash them up. Over medium-high heat, bring the grapes to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, smashing them every so often.

Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place it over a large pot. Pour the hot grape mash into the sieve and strain for several hours or overnight.

Once juice has collected, rinse the cheesecloth and run the juice through the sieve into a pot one more time to remove any sediment.

To make the jam, mix the package of pectin with 1/4 cup of the sugar and sprinkle it into the grape juice. Bring this mixture to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently.

Once boiling, add the rest of the sugar and return to a rolling boil while mixing constantly. Let the jelly boil for 1 minute and then remove it from the heat.

Ladle into clean, warm jars and then secure the lids and rings. Process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Share if you must. I made half of this recipe and it yielded three half-pint jars.

Onto this week's Mystery Food:

Zucchini, squash, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, beets, green beans, peppers, apples and Asian pears.

The apples have been hit or miss. Some are a little bit grainy, but they'll be good for fruit butter. I have a lot of apples and pears hanging around, so I will probably throw most of it into the crockpot this weekend with some spices and a little bit of juice. If you just let it cook on low all day, giving it a stir or a mash every few hours, it becomes a warm and tasty sauce. To reduce it for fruit butter, vent the crockpot lid with a chopstick or skewer.

As for the veggies, zucchini and tomato season is one of my favorite parts of the early fall. I love coming home and making a quick braised vegetable dish with chopped zucchini, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and then seasoning it with a little bit of cayenne pepper and saffron. It's a fast, easy dinner and you can add whatever protein you have hanging around to make it more substantial. Light fish, like tilapia or haddock is really pleasant, as is ground turkey or bison.

I hope everyone's fall has gotten off to a great start. It has been absolutely lovely in DC this past week.

Ciao for now,
Neen

Mystery Food Weeks 14 and 15: Back to School edition

2010-09-09T11:42:00.000-04:00

Another double-edition of Mystery Food today. This should tell you that my fall semester of graduate school is officially in full swing. Apart from working on my e-portfolio-thesis-magic, I'm taking a course in Medieval Manuscripts. I've always wanted to take a course on illuminated manuscripts, because pre-printing press books (and not simply their content) were intricate, one-of-a-kind works of art. Our class will focus mostly on Western Europe during the Medieval period, but one of our assignments is to create a wiki on scribes and writing in a different part of the world. Since everyone is required to post the assignments to our class discussion board, I'll hopefully get to learn about a lot of different places.

All work and no play would make me a very dull Neen though, so I'm really excited that football season starts today. New Orleans and Minnesota play at 8:30 tonight! This year, I am participating in two pick'em leagues and one fantasy football league. It's the first year in the seven (wow…) I've been playing that I'm only in one fantasy league. The final semester of graduate school has to get some priority. The pick'em leagues are different in that one uses the point spread and the other does not. I like the added challenge of the point spread, but I'm admittedly not very good at it.

My beloved Steelers are down a starting QB, but it's alright because my favorite player (and his million dollar hair) is back!

On to Mystery Food…

Week 14 brought a giant eggplant, tomato, sweet corn, concord grapes, beans, Asian pears, summer squash, apples, and peaches:

Week 15 continued to spoil me with zucchini, patty pan squash, sweet corn, concord grapes, beans, Asian pears, apples, peaches, small watermelon, and a tomato:

Oh, those beautiful flowers in the week 15 picture? No, they are not mystery food. I've been sick all week and Joe got them to cheer me up! He really is quite the catch. ;-)

Ciao for now,

Neen

Mystery Food "Lucky 13" edition and Funeral For a Friend

2010-08-26T14:40:00.000-04:00

First thing's first: This week's mystery food had a lot of my favorites!

Concord grapes, green beans, sweet corn, a tomato, peaches, zucchini and summer squash. Included in the weekly farm newsletter was a recipe for grape juice, so I may check out the farmer's market and buy more grapes. I'd really like to try making some grape jelly from fresh grape juice. My mom and I were discussing last night how grape jelly never really tastes like grapes…so I want to find out if it does if you make it from scratch.

Also exciting on the local food front is that I picked the first watermelon of the season from my garden! The other two probably have a few more weeks to go, but here's the goodness:

What is the second half of this blog post title referring to? I'm really not so crass that I would use an Elton John reference to make light of the actual death of a living creature. Now that your blood pressure has returned to normal, read on…

The last time I spent any significant time clothes shopping was when I went searching for items to complete my Halloween costume last year. Shoe shopping? I am clueless. When I find something that I like…it gets worn/used until it dies.

Examples: My favorite pair of sandals are four years old. I bought them before I left for England. I'd had foot surgery and had to wear shoes good support. The brown Sketchers I found (on SALE) were pretty ideal. Only now are they starting to fray a little bit around the edges. The same goes for my work shoes. Before I moved to D.C., I found the perfect pair of black mary jane flats. Every once in awhile I go over the scuffed edges with some polish and they look new to me. I am clearly tempting fate as I can see where one of the straps is about to give out and one of the soles is nearly worn through. I do this with clothes too-one of my favorite t-shirts was bought on a whim at Pac-Sun while I was shopping with my cousin Emily on vacation…we were 13 at the time. The most bizarre thing there is that it fits me better today than it did 12 years ago.

But my Travelsmith bag, with an apt model name of "MetroSafe"…it's perfection. Joe's parents bought it for us before our trip to Amsterdam in March of 2006. It is the best bag in the world-don't argue with me on this, you will not win. First of all, it's black, so you never have to worry about it clashing with clothing if that sort of thing bothers you. The adjustable shoulder strap is lined with slash-proof cable and the front panel hides a bunch of zipper pockets (with tamper proof clips!) beneath water-repellent nylon. The bag itself is only 11 inches tall and 10 inches across, and yet somehow I can fit all of the following items inside: A journal, Kindle, MP3 player, wallet-purse-organizer-thing, Blackberry, keys, my eyeglass case, a travel-size umbrella and a spill-proof travel mug that encourages my sweet, sweet affair with coffee. Simply put: this bag is magic. Mary Poppins would be impressed. And unless I'm going somewhere special or getting dressed up, it is about the only bag I ever carry.

And oh, how I have abused it. On multiple occasions I've had to run it through the washer/dryer because I a.) accidentally left the open/close button pressed down on my coffee mug, causing coffee to slosh out, b.) crushed a small packet of jelly that I stashed in one of the pockets when I bought a bagel, or c.) had an ink pen explode inside of it. The clip for the strap also broke after I snagged it on the Metro for the umpteenth time, but was easily repaired with a new one from the fabric store. The bag has been dragged through the Netherlands, England, Boston, Pittsburgh, DC and a hundred destinations in between. It has been thrown in the car, smashed in between luggage in the trunk, stuffed in an airplane overhead bin, and cramped into Metro trains sardine-packed full of tourists. It has donned buttons celebrating Steelers Super Bowl and Penguins Stanley Cup victories and stickers promoting political candidates and important causes. Yes, the Travelsmith bag is an item of beauty and awe.

Despite its incredible durability, the nearing end of its lifespan looms over me like a dark cloud. The cables in the strap have worn through the fabric lining and the jelly explosion seems to have caused irremovable stickiness on the inside of one of the pockets. Alas, it is probably time for retirement. It is time that I must allow my dear friend to go to bag-heaven. Goodnight, sweet prince.

Of course, I say this now, but it will be weeks before I actually acquire the necessary motivation to look for a new handbag.

Oh Travelsmith bag…I wish I knew how to quit you!

Ciao for now,
Neen

Park51 and why it belongs in lower Manhattan

2010-08-20T11:27:00.000-04:00

I read a thoughtfully written piece by Roger Ebert today entitled, "10 things I know about the mosque." It was his assessment of the proposed construction of the Park 51 community center, which plans to house a mosque in addition to a wide range of recreational and educational spaces.

While I agreed with his final conclusion that the true reflection of American values would be to live and let live freely, I did not agree with his assessment that "[t]he imam would be prudent to chose another location, because the far right wing has seized on the issue as an occasion for fanning hatred against Muslims."

We should not be threatened by those who would promote fear and hatred in order to control culture and refuse tolerance. Islam is the world's second largest religion. A Pew Research study in 2009 estimated that there are approximately 1.57 billion Muslims in the world, which is about 1 in every 4 people.

Much like Christianity, which has an estimated 38,000 denominations, there are debates within the Muslim culture about the ways in which the religion is practiced, thus leading to a variety of sects and movements. There are radical, hate-filled branches springing from any religious culture, but these should not and do not define the vast majority. The Muslims living in this country are just as American as anyone else. They desire the same things as non-Muslim Americans: education for their children, adequate healthcare, employment, fulfilling relationships with others, and space to practice their faith.

The space proposed in lower Manhattan is not a selfish place, but an inclusive one. Park51 writes that its vision is "dedicated to pluralism, service, arts and culture, education and empowerment, appreciation for our city and a deep respect for our planet. Park51 will join New York to the world, offering a welcoming community center with multiple points of entry. With world-class facilities, a global scope and strong local roots, Park51 will offer a friendly and accessible platform for conversations across our identities."

The community center plans to house recreational facilities, a swimming pool, a culinary arts center, restaurant, a library, reading room, art studios, an auditorium, a mosque which is open and accessible to anyone, and a September 11th memorial with "quiet contemplation space, open to all."

Shouldn't we embrace such an idea? Why not build something like this so close to the former site of the World Trade Center? Why not use it as a beacon to the world that says, "We will NOT be afraid. We will NOT give into hatred. We will NOT let terrorists destroy our country or our culture. All of us, regardless of ethnicity or creed stand united as Americans."

There is a chance for this to be a positive turning point in our history. Don't let the hyperbolic, fear-based rhetoric win. This is not a game, nor should it be used as a political bargaining chip to sway voters. Those who would use it in such a way should be ashamed that they would deny fundamental civil rights and simultaneously encourage bigotry and fear to advance their own agendas.

Turn your face instead toward peace and tolerance. Only those who believe in liberty for all can truly be free.

www.park51.org
(For more information on the community center)
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/08/ten_things_i_know_about_the_mo.html
(For Roger Ebert's comments on Park 51)
http://pewforum.org/Mapping-the-Global-Muslim-Population.aspx
(The Pew Research study on global Muslim population)

Mystery Food Week 12 and the County Fair

2010-08-19T15:16:00.000-04:00

Remember how I mentioned being inundated with peaches last week? (I know, woe is me...) Here is one of the county fair entries that came out of the bounty. All-fruit peach preserves. Nothing but peaches, lemon juice, white grape juice, and some pectin. I love the color so much.

The other entry was a peach apple cider butter. It came out with just enough spice, and the hard cider I used added a tang on the finish. Yum. Right now they're in the gym of the Thomas Jefferson Community Center waiting for the Arlington County Fair judges to taste them.

As I said to one of my colleagues, "I am fully prepared to be schooled by somebody's grandma." By the time I got to the gym yesterday, there were lines of jars filled with preserves, jellies, fruits, vegetables, and honey of every color in the rainbow. It was a pretty impressive display--I won't lie, I felt a little bit intimidated. But hey, if you don't try, you'll never know if you can succeed. And so I left my jars among the others and tucked the claim checks away in my wallet. Regardless of what happens, I'm really proud of the food I made and hope that the tasters enjoy it.

There weren't many people at the fair due to a gray, drizzly sky, but I wandered around for a little bit. The food stands alone showed what a diverse place Arlington is. How many county fairs do you know of that have pad thai and stir-fry next to the deep-fried oreos and funnel cake? I hope to go back during the weekend if we get some nice weather.

Not too much else is going on here at the moment. I have a short breather and then the fall semester starts up next week. Right now I'm just enjoying having some time to bake cookies and play with the goodies from Mystery Food Week 12:

I received summer squash, peppers, an apple, a tomato, sweet corn, peaches, a cucumber, green beans, and a dill plant. A fun variety this week. I might try to poach some of the peaches in wine...

As for my own garden, I discovered a hidden treasure. The massive amounts of leaves and vines on the watermelon plant were concealing a melon that was growing in the corner! It's about the size of a medicine ball and I never even saw it under all of the foliage. What a delicious surprise. The peppers are also still coming in full force. I see pickling in my future...

Hope you are all enjoying the waning days of summer. Be blissful.

Ciao for now,
Neen

Mystery Food Weeks 10 and 11: Double Delicious edition

2010-08-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

We had a bad storm in Arlington last week and this happened behind our house:

So I didn't have Internet access from home until this morning. But I still had some wonderful things delivered to my doorstep by the folks from Great Country Farms. Here are week 10's gifts:

Beans, corn, a melon, a tomato, onions, doughnut peaches and freestone peaches.

And week 11...

Eggplant, corn, peaches, nectarines, onions, tomatoes, and a potted nasturtium.

I'd love to stick around and chat, but in addition to all of that fresh goodness, Joe's parents brought me peaches from the eastern shore. Time to make some jam (for possible county fair entries)!

Ciao for now,

Neen

Mystery Food Week 9: Heatwave edition

2010-07-29T10:53:00.001-04:00

Another very fruit-filled box this week!

Here we have a tomato, melon, doughnut peaches, freestone peaches, green beans, and summer squash. I made a great little dish out of the tomato, green beans and squash sauteed with hot peppers, garlic, and onions. Topped a bowl of it with a slice of provolone and let it melt. One of the best vegetarian meals I've had in awhile. Nice and simple too for these dog days of summer.

It hit triple digits here over the weekend and of course our air conditioning decided to die. Fortunately, it was after I finished baking an assortment of 6 dozen cookies for co-workers (mine and Joe's) because, well, who doesn't like homemade baked good surprises? Here's the sampler plate...I had leftover chocolate ganache in a ziploc bag and decided to do a little art project.

One knows that it must be unbearably hot outside when, aside from a lone box of Italian ice, the grocery store is entirely sold out of popsicles and sorbet. Thus was my experience on Tuesday evening. There was still an array of ice cream on the shelf, but I wasn't really in the mood. I wanted something refreshing, cool, and fruity.Well, if you want something done you've got to do it yourself sometimes. I'm seriously disappointed that I couldn't get a good picture of the final dish, because it was absolutely out of this world.

Peach-Basil Sorbet (with vanilla whipped cream and double-berry preserves)

Players
for the sorbet:
-5 to 6 ripe medium sized peaches, diced. (You can peel them if you want...I never do.)
-Handful of basil leaves, torn.
-1 tbsp. lemon juice
-3 tbsp. sucanat or sugar
-1/2 cup water
-Pinch of salt

for the cream:
-Whipping cream
-Sugar, to taste (I used about a tbsp.)
-1 tsp. vanilla extract

for the topping:
-Blackberry/blueberry preserves

Method
-Combine the sugar, water, salt, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and slowly bring to a boil.
-Add the basil leaves and boil for 10 minutes or until slightly syrupy.
-Combine the peaches and basil syrup in a blender and process until smooth.
-Churn in an electric ice cream maker for about 20 minutes and then transfer to a freezer safe container and chill.
-Whip the cream, vanilla, and sugar until soft peaks are formed.
-To serve, place a scoop of the sorbet on a plate, top with a spoonful of preserves and a spoonful of the whipped cream. Garnish with more torn basil if desired.

It is a really wonderful summer dessert with all of those components, but that's only if you can keep yourself from eating the sorbet straight out of the freezer. It's a challenge.

Enjoy the week and stay cool!

Ciao for now,
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 8: Summer Ragout edition

2010-07-22T11:48:00.000-04:00

Before we get down to the joy of Mystery Food, I want to express my joy and thanks to all of the family and friends-that-are-like-family in Pittsburgh who made the July Birthday Extravaganza so wonderful. I enjoyed it this much:

(Special thanks to Rendezvous for letting me make a guest appearance!)

Onto the tasty things…Mystery Food week 8 was summer in a box. It was perfect:

I received yellow peaches, doughnut peaches, apples, summer squash, zucchini, apricots, sweet corn, and a basil plant.

Between all of the squash, fresh herbs popping up in my garden, and a can of amazing San Marzano tomatoes (thanks dad!) I started thinking, "Ragout, ragout, ragouuuuuut."

Let’s talk about stew/ragout/ragu. Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Stew? Neen, really? It’s been in the 90s in Arlington for the last few weeks and you’re thinking about warm, fuzzy-sweater-cozy stew?” And while I’ll confess that what I’m about to present is a hot meal, I’ll argue to the end of the world that there is no better time to have it than in summer. The squash is perfectly sweet and tender, complemented by warm notes from bacon and cayenne pepper, all brought together in a sea of tomato-basil goodness. All it requires is some chopping and one pot. So without further ado, here's...

Neen's Summer Ragout

Characters:
-One summer squash, diced.
-One zucchini, diced.
-6 or 7 Roma tomatoes, chopped or one can of San Marzano tomatoes.
-2 ears worth of sweet corn kernels.
-2 spring onions (or one medium white/yellow onion).
-3 small cloves garlic, minced.
-1 slice thick-cut bacon.
-1-2tbsp. grape seed or olive oil.
-A few splashes of white wine (optional).
-A few strips of dried cayenne pepper, diced (or cayenne powder to taste).
-Handful of basil leaves, torn.
-5 or 6 sprigs of lemon thyme leaves.
-Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
-Grated parmesan cheese, to garnish.

Method:
-Place the slice of bacon in the pot over medium heat until it is cooked through and the fat has rendered out.
-Remove the bacon and dice it.
-Add the onions and garlic to the pot, add a little bit of oil, and reduce the heat to medium-low.
-Cook until the aromatics are golden-brown. Add the diced bacon.
-Move the pot off of the heat and add a few splashes of wine, then return the pan to the heat and turn it up to medium.
-Add the zucchini and summer squash and sauté gently for about 7-8 minutes.
-Add the tomatoes, corn, cayenne, herbs, a few pinches of salt, and a few grinds of pepper.
-Put the lid on the pot, reduce the heat so that the ragout is simmering gently. Cook for 1 hour, giving it a stir every 15 minutes or so, and cook until the squash is soft, but not mushy. Remember to taste and adjust your seasonings along the way!
-Garnish with a bit more basil and some parmesan cheese if you like. Voila!

I ate mine as it was, but ragout certainly goes well over pasta, brown rice, or quinoa. Ground turkey breast, browned and put into the pot when the tomatoes are added is another nice way to make a heartier meal. It also freezes/reheats nicely—always a bonus.

Finally, remember that watermelon plant that I mentioned was taking over my garden like a kudzu vine? It’s been covered in little yellow flowers with no signs of fruit. This morning, I found this:

Cutest. Watermelon. Ever.

There are four of them, each about the size of a kidney bean at the moment. Hopefully we’ll get one or two that ripen fully.

Ciao for now!

-Neen

Mystery Food Week 7, Vacation, and the Fresh-Food-Panic

2010-07-15T16:31:00.000-04:00

We've all been there.

A fridge full of beautiful, fresh food. And you've tried, (oh you've tried) to eat and use as much of it as possible. Alas, here it is the day before your vacation and well...there's still food.

It makes me really sad to waste food. There are a lot of hungry people in the world and I am grateful to have a job that allows me to put healthy meals on the table. I became really interested in canning when I was still living in Boston. After a trip to pick apples at a farm not too far from the city, I realized rather sheepishly that in my excitement seeing all of the delicious varieties of apple trees, I'd bought far too many. Lots of people got spiced apple pie filling for Christmas that year, but nothing went to waste. I don't even peel thin-skinned fruits like apples, tomatoes, or peaches.

In this instance, it was the drupe-fest that came last week, and in Mystery Box Week 7:

I got a lovely napa cabbage, yellow and white peaches, spring onions, purple frilly basil, summer squash, cucumbers and apricots.

Last week's mystery box was also full of peaches, apricots and some red plums. Swimming in stone fruit, (I know, woe is me right?) I needed to take care of it all before leaving for a trip to Pittsburgh-yay!-to see my family and party with them.

In light of that, I thought I'd share some of my favorite last-minute techniques for preserving things when you just don't have time to can.

Drupe Project 1: Fruit Sauce

Applesauce is awesome, but stone fruits make some excellent fruit sauce. My "drupe-sauce" was simply peaches, plums, and apricots cooked on the stove until nice and soft and then mashed up. If you like smoother sauces, go ahead and run it through a blender. Add a little bit of lemon juice so it doesn't lose the pretty color. Stored in a well-sealed container, you can keep it for a good week or so.

Drupe Project 2: Fruit Leather

I have a dehydrator, but you can also do this in your oven on a parchment lined baking sheet. Set the oven to its lowest temperature--don't worry if it doesn't go as low as the dehydrator temperature I mention. Using a food dehydrator, about 135-140 degrees is fine. Blend pitted, diced fruit together with a tablespoon of honey (this keeps fruit leather pliable) and then spread the mixture out on a cookie sheet or dehydrator tray. It is ready to remove from the oven when it is dry all the way through and feels pliable, but not mushy. Store in a cool, dark place in a jar between slices of wax paper.

Drupe Project 3: Brown Sugar-Spiced Peaches

Another dehydrator/lowest-oven-setting project. Dice up some peaches, toss them with lemon juice to keep them from browning, and then toss with a tablespoon of brown sugar and a few shakes of cinnamon. Lay the fruit on a dehydrator tray or parchment-lined cookie sheet and bake until dry, but still pliable. A fantastic addition to cookies, muffins, or quick breads. You can also rehydrate them later for fruit compote.

This dehydration technique (minus the sugar/cinnamon/lemon juice) can be used with tomatoes and peppers as well. Great for making homemade cayenne powder. Mmm.

Drupe Project 4: Dreams of Future Baked Goods
Just freeze them! Pit and dice your fruit, lay them on a baking sheet and freeze. When the pieces have frozen, put them in a labeled/dated freezer bag and store in the freezer for...a long time. Doing this keeps the individual pieces of fruit from sticking together in a frozen lump. Oh, it's the middle of the winter and you want peach crisp? No problem, just grab that bag out of the freezer and you get a little piece of summer back.

Mystery Food Week 6: Post-vacation edition

2010-07-08T11:03:00.000-04:00

I have discovered that the school semester becomes marathon-like when reduced from 15 weeks to only 10 for the summer. You would think that after last summer’s adventures with the Great Perl Dragon (and its subsequent defeat) that I would have learned to select only one course.

Not so. Not stubborn, “determined-to-do-the-weird-difficult-or-strange” Neen. I’ve never really understood this obsession. It’s like my brain goes, “Hey, I wonder if I can do____” and I have to try it. Can and preserve jam/relish in a one-bedroom Boston apartment kitchen with absolutely no counter space? (Yes) Take three classes during my first semester of graduate school? (You betcha) Ferment yogurt using only a large pot, cooler, and a heating pad? (Done) Bake 65 dozen cookies as Christmas presents for co-workers and family in the midst of working and school-ing full time? (Just call me Santa) Dry beef jerky using a box fan and several layers of furnace filters? (Okay, I stole that idea from Alton Brown)

So when Joe asked last week if I’d like to go down to Chincoteague Island over the 4th of July weekend, I spent the next two days on schoolwork overload so I could turn off and read science fiction on the beach and back porch all weekend. It. was. blissful. And for once, instead of the return from vacation being a difficult let-down, I felt more motivated than ever to push through these last 6 months of brain-stuffing. I mean, it's pretty impossible to NOT feel good after spending a weekend like this:

Top L: View from the back porch of the house
Top R: Annual VFD carnival which culminates with the famous Pony Swim at the end of July.
Bottom L: Fresh caught shrimp and homemade garlic bread, grilled up and ready to devour.
Bottom R: Cigar and Kindle on the screened-in porch. The sweet life.

And then, THEN I came home to this:

The first of the cayenne peppers from my garden decided to grace me with their ripeness. So pretty and bright…yet, painful in large doses. I think I will put them in the dehydrator and then run them through the food processor to make homemade cayenne powder. A pinch of it in a batch of marinara sauce is so good. It adds just enough heat to balance those nice, sweet summer tomatoes that are coming our way.

A mere day later, the produce gods smiled on me once again, with a very fruity CSA box!

Beets, spring onions, red chard, apricots, peaches, and plums. I’m never too sure about beets. They are good roasted, pickled, or fresh on top of a salad, but I always long to do something a little more interesting with them. Of course, the farmers market is always inspirational (for the devoted/obsessive cook) and I tasted some really amazing beet relish that I’m going to try to replicate. I just kept thinking how good it would taste on a smoked turkey or rare roast beef sandwich.

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th and that you too got 'back to the grind' without too much trouble.

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 5

2010-07-04T00:07:00.000-04:00

It was a very fruity week for the farm share:

I got beets, spring onions, peaches, apricots, plums, and an arugula plant! All very delicious and wonderful.

But alas, this is a short post because I'm on vacation with Joe this weekend. :-) Happy 4th all!

Ciao for now,
Neen

Mystery Food Week 4 and Library School Gymnastics

2010-06-25T11:27:00.000-04:00

I’ve spent the week with my head in two very different worlds. My spring semester was challenging in a way I’d not expected. I took a course on managing prison libraries, which forced me to weigh access to information against public safety and take a very honest personal inventory of my thoughts and subconscious judgments about the incarcerated population. What I learned was that prison librarians have an incredibly important role. These are the men and women who lead the book group discussions that teach positive socialization, help prisoners locate and comprehend legal materials, and ultimately manage and circulate resources to prepare them for life post-incarceration. It takes a certain amount of determination and resiliency to face what is often a difficult population to serve, whether those difficulties arise from the imprisoned or the bureaucratic “hurry-up-and-wait” nature of prison administration.

When it came time to register for summer courses, I finally decided to stop procrastinating and got around to signing up for a required research methods course. The specific topic for the course is “action research.” While I’m still grasping the concept, it seems to deal a lot with how research acts as a continual, fluid learning process that has no fixed beginning or end. For my other course, I chose a class on selecting materials for children ages 0-4. So you can imagine that going from writing about the constructivist theory of learning to evaluating a copy of Clifford: The Big Red Dog might make some mental gymnastics a necessity.

Nonetheless, I remain determined to share the joy of local food with the world and so present to you Mystery Food Week 4. This was the best haul so far (in my humble opinion).

Here we have some arugula, garlic, spring onions, kale, a potted basil plant (Yay!), a summer squash, and some lovely yellow plums.

…And now a confession: I have never eaten a fresh yellow plum. But the delightful smell as I opened the little container was so sweet that I immediately chose and bit into one.

Oh. My. God. Juicy, fruity, and wonderful. Like a tiny, golden nectarine. Immediately visions of chutneys, preserves, sauces, and salsas danced through my brain. Yes, yes, yes to fresh, in-season yellow plums.

I baked a few of them with some peaches for dessert last night, but wanted to save a few for a spicy plum salsa to go with a grilled pork loin I plan to make for a late Father’s Day BBQ this weekend. (Hey, we do things at our own pace here in the “south.”) I just finished the menu plan and it’s chock-full of delicious goodies. I’ll try to take some pictures.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Mine will be spent at my favorite market and then celebrating with family. Oh, and maybe a little homework will sneak in there too…all in all, not a bad way to spend a few days.

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 3 and Doing the Can-Can

2010-06-17T19:11:00.000-04:00

I took advantage of waking up incredibly early this past Saturday and decided to take a trip out to Bluemont, VA and visit Great Country Farms. That’s where I’ve purchased a CSA share from this year and their weekly newsletter noted that tart cherries were ripe for picking.

It took about an hour to drive to the farm from Arlington, but it was a peaceful, sunny morning and I spent the next hour or so in cherry trees looking for the chubbiest, dark red specimens. Well, 6lbs. of cherries later I finally decided that I had enough for jam and drying. The trees were so lovely and the landscape was incredibly serene. It was nice to be somewhere so quiet.

Sunday morning I at last christened the new canning rig…Now this is canning Tim Taylor/Jeremy Clarkson (“POWERRRRRRRR!”) style:

I whipped up a batch of fabulous tart cherry jam. No-sugar-added jam is actually quite easy to make. The canning process adds a few extra steps at the end, but the actual method for jam-making is very straightforward.

I used 3lbs. of cherries, 1 1/4 cup of white grape juice, one box of no-sugar/low-sugar pectin, and a 1/2 tsp. of citric acid to preserve the vibrant red color. To get started, pit the cherries and put them in a big pot on the stove over high heat. Smash them up with a potato masher, sprinkle in the citric acid (you can also use a squirt of fresh lemon juice) and let it come to a simmer. Whisk the grape juice and pectin together and then add them to the cherries. Let the mixture come to a full, rolling boil (one that does not stop when stirred) and cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and skim the foam off of the top of the jam. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then stir before ladling into jars. This short rest period followed by stirring keeps the fruit from floating to the top and separating from the juices. Even though it’s very liquid-y when hot, the jam will set as it cools down.

If you’re interested in canning this recipe for long-term storage or gift-giving you will also need a big pot of boiling water, 5 or 6 pint jars with flat lids and rings, and something to lift the jars in and out of the boiling water. Jar grabbers are available online for less than $10. If you have mason jars hanging around, the actual jars and rings are certainly reusable, but it is important to always use brand-new flat lids as the adhesive on them will only form a tight seal once.

Sterilize the jars and rings by washing them with hot soapy water or running them through a dishwasher with a heated dry cycle. While you prepare the jam, place the flat lids into a small pan of simmering water to warm up the adhesive. Gently ladle the hot jam into the jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top. Wipe the edges of the jars with a damp towel, place on the flat lids, and then screw on the rings. Place the closed jars into the pot of boiling water, making sure that they are completely submerged, and boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the hot jars and place them somewhere to cool undisturbed. Over the next several hours, you might hear tiny popping noises--it’s a good thing. It means that the air-tight vacuum has formed and that the jar has properly sealed. After 24 hours, check all of the jars by pressing down on the flat lid gently. If it doesn’t pop back, the jar is safely sealed. Store the jars in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Homemade jam will start to lose its firm set after about 8 months, but is still safe to eat (albeit a bit runny) as long as the jar remains sealed.

Here’s the final product, from farm to table in one weekend:

Not a bad way to spend the weekend, I must say. And of course, a mere two days later it was time for more goodies:

That’s Mystery Food Week 3 and included in the basket this week were collard greens, red leaf lettuce, beets, broccoli (my personal favorite), and cilantro. Cilantro and I don’t get along so well, so that plant will probably be given to a good home. I’m sorry cilantro, it’s not you, it’s me.

I’m still thinking up creative ways to use everything, but those collards look destined for my favorite application—sautéed in a bit of bacon fat with a whole lot of garlic and white beans. Food just doesn’t get more comforting than that. Have a great week all!

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 2

2010-06-09T10:21:00.002-04:00

Here’s this week’s delivery of red chard, mixed salad greens, potted chives, spring onions, and strawberries:

My goodness, look at that chard! It’s beautiful. How beautiful do I think it is? It was beautiful enough that it got me out of bed 20 minutes early this morning so that I could think of something to make with it for lunch. Now that is some serious motivational power.

I still had a small bunch of (oddly not wilted) kale from last week’s delivery, so I chopped that up with several handfuls of the chard and sautéed them in olive oil with garlic, spring onions, and about 1 and a half cups of cooked garbanzo beans. Seasoned it all with a few heavy pinches of salt and some red pepper flakes and then took it off the heat and added about 2 tbsp. of grated parmesan cheese. The whole process took about 10 minutes, and if you can believe it, the chard got even more vibrant as it cooked. Normally, I’d just eat that as is, but I like to have a little bit more protein at lunch for a mid-day boost. I boiled a few eggs this morning and will likely chop one up and put it over the greens and beans.

The strawberries were exceedingly ripe and therefore needed to be eaten immediately (oh darn!). I baked a version of yesterday’s Goodbye Gluten Peach-Berry Crumble, changing out the blueberries for strawberries. It was every bit as incredible as I dreamed.

My own little garden is looking pretty fantastic this year. I attribute this mostly to good spring rainfalls and a few doses of bone meal and blood meal at the base of the plants. Here are some of the lovely cayenne peppers and zucchini that are growing:

I was surprised how much larger the peppers have grown this year. Those two are already the length of my hand!

The garden also has two watermelon plants (that seem to grow longer by the hour) and several Romanian sweet pepper plants that are starting to bear vegetables. The spinach plants have been harvesting big, beautiful leaves for the past month, but are about finished now. Finally, there’s the tomato plant. I’ve never had much luck with tomato plants in the past, but I bought a smaller variety this year and already have three little green tomatoes.

All of this makes me very excited to be receiving Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods by Eugenia Bone in the mail today. I want to christen the new pressure canner with something fabulous.

Ciao for now!
-Neen

Something Sweet for Sarah

2010-06-08T10:18:00.004-04:00

My cousin Emily and her boyfriend Josh had their beautiful little girl Anna Marie baptized this weekend. She looked like a little angel in a christening gown made from the train of my grandmother’s (Anna’s namesake) wedding gown. The event was a great excuse to make a trip to Pittsburgh and see my family, most of whom I haven’t seen since the winter holidays.

And everyone looked great! At the reception I was sitting and chatting with my cousin Sarah. A while back, she learned that she has some kind of gluten intolerance and has been avoiding wheat. Unfortunately for her, this meant that she could only taste the (divine) frosting on the white almond cake from Oakmont Bakery. Boo. That’s no fun. Even our gluten-free friends should get to have some sweets.

Well Sarah, this one is for you. Not only is this a fairly clean dessert, but it is entirely free of wheat products and is pretty perfect for summer. Plus, it doesn’t require any babysitting—I made this during Stanley Cup Finals, and hey, I have priorities.

This recipe can be doubled if you’d like to bake it for a larger crowd, but I generally only cook for two so I make it in a loaf pan or small round casserole dish.

Goodbye Gluten Peach-Berry Crumble

Filling:
-2 small peaches, pitted and diced
-2/3 cup of berries (I used blueberries this time, but strawberries or blackberries would be delicious, I'm sure.)
-1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
-1 tsp. natural, unrefined cane sugar, sucanat, or palm sugar (It’s a small amount—you can get away with regular white sugar if that’s what you have on hand.)
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Crumb Topping:
-2 tbsp. stone-ground cornmeal
-2 tbsp. rolled or Scottish oats***
-2 tbsp. natural, unrefined cane sugar, sucanat, or palm sugar
-1 tbsp. walnuts
-1/2 tbsp. butter
-1 tsp. cinnamon

***If you are extremely wheat or gluten-sensitive, check the label and buy a variety that is made on equipment that does not also process wheat ingredients. Bob’s Red Mill, Glutino, and Glutenfreeda are some brands that offer a specific gluten-free variety of oats.

Method:

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the filling and set them aside while you prepare the topping. (The fruit will get wonderfully juicy!)

In the bowl of a food processor or a regular mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients for the topping. If you’re not using a food processor, chop the walnuts before you add them.

Cut in the butter using short pulses (in the food processor) or the tines of two forks until the mixture resembles a coarse meal like this:

Lightly grease a small baking dish and add the fruit. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit—no need to press it down—and bake for 50 minutes or until the fruit is softened and the juices are bubbling.

Heap a generous serving-spoonful onto your plate and enjoy! Share if you must.

Yep, I could eat that everyday. Hope you like it, Sarah. :-)

Mystery Food Week 2 to come later...

Ciao for now, folks!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 1 and Twist on an Old Favorite

2010-06-01T20:36:00.006-04:00

This is what was waiting for me when I got home from work today:

Onions, a potted dill plant, strawberries, a glorious amount of lush kale, and salad greens.

I ran outside and planted that dill in my garden, which has already supplied me with a generous amount of spinach this year. The other plants (zucchini, peppers, cherry tomatoes and watermelon) are all looking good as well. I'm crossing my fingers for a good harvest.

In the mood for simple comfort food, I decided to dress up one of my favorites with some of that gorgeous-looking kale.

Parmesan-Black Pepper Pasta with Crispy Olive Oil-Garlic Kale Chips

It's a pretty basic pasta dish: Whole-wheat rotini tossed with olive oil, coarse salt, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and a few handfuls of grated parmesan cheese.

To make the kale chips:

Pre-heat an oven to 300 degrees F. Simply remove the hard ribs and stems from a bunch of kale. Toss the leaves with a little bit of olive oil and then lay them in a single layer on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the leaves with coarse salt, pepper, and garlic powder and then bake for 20-25 minutes or until crispy. Cool on a rack.

I like to crumble the kale chips over the top of the pasta. Mmm, delicious. And Tuesday-night-easy.

Not a bad way to start off the CSA season. Now to go enjoy some of those strawberries...

Ciao for now!

-Neen

Mystery Food: 2010 Edition

2010-06-01T14:46:00.000-04:00

Last year, blogging my weekly CSA share really helped to keep me writing more regularly so I’ve decided to take on that project again this year. Not only does it encourage me to think more about creative ways to use my share, but it also shines a spotlight on some of the beautiful, locally grown fruits and vegetables here in Northern VA.

This year, I’ve purchased a half-share from Great Country Farms, located in Bluemont, VA. The weekly box will be delivered on Tuesdays (starting today!) for 20 weeks. I’m looking forward to a summer full of fresh, inspiring food and new recipes.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to update Neen’s Notes. Spring was full of new challenges. As I come closer to completing my MLIS in December, I’m doing more and more research and writing a lot of papers. Sometimes after a day of writing and e-mailing at the office and then reading and writing for school, I just don’t have it in me to be a blogger too. I do think it’s important to “turn-off” for a little while before going to bed at night otherwise all of the day’s thoughts have no time to settle down.

One of the challenges I’ve also been dealing with lately is how to get back on the clean-eating wagon after taking a pretty nasty spill. When things got stressful and busy, it was much harder to avoid falling back on easy take-out or delivery solutions. As a consequence, I put on a bit of weight around the middle and haven’t been feeling like I’m at my best. So I thought that starting up my “mystery food” blogs again might help me win back some of my motivation.

You’ve got to start somewhere, right?

I just keep reminding myself that two steps forward and one step back is STILL progress.

Ciao for now. Look for Mystery Food 2010 Week 1 later!

-Neen

Project Yogurt: Fun with Fermentation

2010-03-10T15:58:00.005-05:00

It’s an underestimation to say that I like yogurt...

I find it hilarious to type that because it was only a few years ago that I distinctly recall wretching at the taste of the various low-sugar/low-fat yogurts I tried to choke down in a vain attempt to get some protein. To me, most of it tasted like chalky, artificially-flavored goop. I decided that yogurt just wasn’t for me and it never would be.

Then I started using it in baking. As you’ve probably noticed if you read this blog regularly, I use Greek-style plain yogurt as a replacement for oil or buttermilk in a lot of my recipes. At the outset, it was just to add some protein, but along the way I found that it brought a softness to the texture of muffins/quick breads that applesauce or other fruit puree didn’t seem to copy. It was a win-win situation in my head: the benefit of yogurt without the taste!

One day at the farmer’s market, the vendor I regularly bought ricotta cheese from was selling tubs of fresh, homemade Greek-style yogurt. “Alright,” I thought, “maybe I’ll like fresh yogurt. After all, I can flavor it myself and peaches are in season.” At worst, it would end up in my latest loaf of strawberry bread. Not a bad fate.

But that yogurt was destined for greater things. One spoonful and I was hooked. I started eating it nearly every day with a touch of raw honey and whatever fruit I could find. Peach-cinnamon, strawberry-apple, blueberry-banana…the possibilities were endless. It was so rich and creamy I found it hard to believe that it was fat free, but the vendor swore up and down that it was. Soon, every week I came home from the market with at least 2 tubs of it that might last the week (if I was lucky).

Then came winter. And we were pummeled with snow. I couldn’t get to the market as often and missed my yogurt. In vain, I searched for a store brand that didn’t taste goat-cheesy (not my thing), runny (gross), or somehow…off. (I get it, I’m picky about yogurt. Sue me.) I even tried the more expensive, organic “all-natural” flavored ones and they were tasty, but had enough sugar to make me remember why I’d scratched them off the list years ago.

I also began to consider just how much money I was spending on that particular dairy product (oh dear). The label read only: skim milk, non-fat dry milk, live active cultures. Could it really be so hard to just make it myself?

Answer: Nope.

And here’s how I did it…

Basic Yogurt

*image from treehugger.com

Ingredients and Equipment

-2 quart-sized mason jars with lids and rings. Plastic containers are also fine, but make sure you sterilize whatever you use. I do this by putting the jars in my dishwasher on a heated dry cycle. Leaving them in a pot of boiling water for 5-10 minutes works too.
-1 large saucepan.
-1 candy/fry/probe thermometer that you can leave in said saucepan.
-A warm place for incubating. I created a small incubator by placing a heating pad set to “low” on the bottom of an insulated cooler and placed the jars of yogurt on top of that. A crockpot set to “keep warm” works well, as does simply wrapping up the containers in thick bath towels and setting them in a warm place in your house.
-Half-gallon of the milk of your choice. It can be pasteurized, but avoid ultra-pasteurized varieties as it is more difficult to cultivate the necessary bacteria in these. I used skim milk, but any fat content will do.
-1/2 cup of plain yogurt containing live active cultures OR a powdered yogurt starter (which can be found on Amazon.com). I used a small container of store brand plain, non-fat yogurt.
-1/2 cup of non-fat dry milk to aid in thickening.

For thicker, Greek-style yogurt, you will also need a colander lined with several layers of coffee filters or cheesecloth set over a large bowl.

Method

-Begin by placing the half gallon of milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and putting the pan over medium heat. Clip the candy or fry thermometer to the saucepan and allow the milk to heat to 185 degrees F.
-Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees F. (You can do this quickly by gently setting your saucepan in a sink full of very cold water.)
-Once the milk cools to 110 degrees F, add the 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup dry milk and whisk until smooth. Ladle this mixture into the jars or containers and secure lids and rings.
-Incubate the yogurt in a warm place for 7-8 hours. At this point, it will have thickened and some liquid (whey) will probably have settled on the surface.

At this point, you may CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY!

You can either move the jars directly from incubation to the refrigerator. After several hours of cooling (overnight is best), you will have delicious yogurt that can then be flavored with any number of things. Fruit puree, jam, raw honey, cocoa powder/raw honey, agave, cinnamon, and even herbs are all great.

Or if you’re like me and love the thick, rich flavor of Greek-style yogurt, pour the just-incubated yogurt into a colander lined with several layers of coffee filters or cheesecloth set over a large bowl. Set that in the refrigerator and allow it to strain for several hours. You will be left with a colander full of thick, wonderful, protein-rich yogurt and a bowl full of whey (which you can discard or use in other recipes). Ladle the yogurt back into the jars and store in the refrigerator.

What does one do with nearly two quarts of yogurt? Well if you’re like me that won’t last you very long, but if you need some ideas these are my favorites:

-Mix 6oz. yogurt with 1 tbsp. all-fruit strawberry preserves and a drop of vanilla extract for strawberry creamsicle yogurt.
-Mix 6 oz. yogurt with 1/2 tbsp. raw buckwheat or apple blossom honey and a shake of cinnamon. This goes great on top of diced apples or peaches.
-Mix 2-3 tbsp. yogurt with a can of tuna, some Dijon mustard, and assorted vegetables for a high-protein tuna salad.
-Mix 4oz. yogurt with one small cucumber, pinch of thyme, and cayenne pepper and use it as a spread on sandwiches or as a vegetable dip.
-Mix 4oz. yogurt with 1 head of steamed, diced cauliflower, a dash of cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and a handful of parmesan cheese.
-Blend 4oz. yogurt with 4oz. light cream cheese, a can of drained artichoke hearts, a few tbsp. of parmesan cheese, herbs, dry mustard, and some sautéed leafy greens and garlic for a fantastic dip.
-Use in Zucchini-Apple Quick Bread (see the post before this one!)

So you see, yogurt has a multitude of sweet and savory uses. Usually, if a recipe calls for sour cream or mayonnaise, I like to see if part or all of that can be replaced with yogurt. It adds a significant amount of protein and is also a great source of calcium.

There you have it: Yogurt 101. Go to it!

Cheers,
Neen

Battle Zucchini Bread!

2010-03-07T15:23:00.006-05:00

It all began with a simple craving: Zucchini Bread.

Using all of my Google-fu, I searched the vast depths of the Internet looking for a whole wheat zucchini bread recipe. I found thousands, but the vast majority had this in common:

1 cup of sugar, raw honey, brown sugar, or other sweetener
1/2 cup of oil

Not okay. I just don't think that a full cup of sweetener is necessary for one loaf of zucchini bread. At that point, aren't you just masking the taste of the zucchini rather than accentuating it's natural sweetness?

The 1/2 cup of oil seemed excessive too. Some recipes replaced part of that with applesauce, but I was out.

Still, I understood the need for a good deal of moisture, especially in a whole-grain bread. I had a small, sweet honeycrisp apple in the fridge and suddenly....it all just came together. Recipe out of nowhere.

Sweet, sweet victory. Moist, fluffy, sweet (but not cloying) and perfect with a dollop of plain yogurt on top. Even if you don't like zucchini, try this recipe. It's one of my favorites to date.

Whole Grain Zucchini-Apple Bread

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

1 apple, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1/2 cup plain non fat greek yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 egg

Method

-Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8x4 or 9x5 loaf pan.

-In a large bowl whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

-In a separate bowl whisk together the grated apple, grated zucchini, egg, yogurt, and honey.

-Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until just combined.

-Spread the batter in the prepared loaf pan and bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes.

-Yield: 10 slices

Nutritional Information per slice:
112.7 calories
0.8 grams of fat
23 grams of carbohydrates
2.8 grams of fiber
3.7 grams of protein

Mangia!

Cheers,
Neen

A Delightful Trio of Bread

2010-01-26T14:56:00.007-05:00

I am constantly amazed at the variety of ways people respond to stress. Joe goes for video games. I see the appeal in that---particularly because he likes the role-playing games where the story changes based on the decisions your character makes. There's a certain amount of control, and yet a freedom in the whole escape aspect of it. I have other friends that smoke, and some that simply insist that there's no better way to unwind than a glass of red wine or a cocktail. Still others would chime in that the best way to relieve stress is a good, hard run.

I don't see any of these responses in the light of "good" or "bad." More and more I think that we need to be lenient with ourselves. Technology has allowed communication (and thus, work life) to speed up so much that I think people take what they can get to find some relief from the constant barrage of work communication. No, smoking isn't really a great habit. Nor is drinking to excess. And if you played video games or exercised 24-7 that would be a problem too. But I think that every person needs an outlet. To say that choosing to do yoga over watching a movie is "better" because of its benefits to the mind and body is oversimplifying, in my opinion. There are days when I need yoga.

But there are also days where I need...to knead. Like I said, some folks go dancing to unwind...

I bake bread.

What is it about bread in particular? I don't know. I've always loved bread. As a kid, my family teased me about being the carbo-queen. At family dinners, I'd gladly opt out of dessert in favor of another slice of fresh, warm bread.

And so maybe it is those memories of childhood... the thought of dad's Easter bread peeking out of the oven, golden-yellow and perfect from being baked at just the right temperature after receiving a careful egg-wash... the thick slices of soft Italian bread covered in butter I used to get at Primanti's before I was old enough to enjoy the sandwiches... the perfect toast at Jo Jo's that sopped up the rich yolks from fried eggs on Sundays after church...

When I'm stressed out, sad, or just wanting to feel better, there is nothing so soothing as making bread. The very idea of creating the food that is the very symbol of a "staple" and sharing it with others always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Focaccia (Roman Flatbread)

The first yeast bread I ever made was focaccia. It seemed logical to start out with something that wasn't entirely dependent on rising or shaping...but I fell in love. A basic olive oil flatbread became heaven on a plate with a sprinkle of coarse salt or the addition of some chopped rosemary. This also makes a great pizza base. In fact, I was making a batch of this last week when Joe came home from work exhausted and prepared to order a pizza. The dough was already in the middle of rising. "No need," I told him, "I'll make you one." He looked at me like I was a little bit crazy, but 25 minutes later he was eating homemade pizza.

Ingredients

18 oz. flour (I use half white and half whole wheat)
12 oz. warm water
1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tbsp. sugar
1.5 tsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil

Method

Combine water, sugar and yeast and let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes). Add the flour, oil, and salt and mix well. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Let the dough rise in an oiled, covered bowl until it has doubled. Punch it down, and then stretch and press it out onto an oiled sheet pan. I generally make two round loaves (about the size of a medium pizza) with this recipe. Let rise again for 15 minutes.

Brush with olive oil and a bit of coarse salt or herbs and bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.

Yield 16 slices.

Perfect Bread Knots

I can take no credit for this recipe. In fact, after years of stealing leftover bread knots after holidays at my parents' house, I only recently (think: December) got around to asking my dad for the recipe. It makes 24-2.2 oz. knots, but as you can see in the picture, it works for larger shapes as well. I made three small loaves this last time around. It makes a perfect sandwich bread, but I think it's best when it's warm or toasted.

Ingredients

1 tbsp. active dry yeast
1.5 cup warm water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
6-7 cups flour
1 egg
2 tsp. salt

Method

Combine water, sugar and yeast and let stand until foamy (about 5-10 minutes). Add the oil, egg, and salt and mix well. Then add the flour, one cup at a time until a cohesive dough forms. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap.

Let the dough rise at room temperature for an hour, then punch down and let rise again for a half hour. Alternatively, you can just let it rise in the fridge overnight. I think that works best, honestly.

Shape the dough into loaves or knots and then let them rise for another 15-30 minutes. Brush lightly with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp. water). Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes for small knots or about 30 minutes for larger loaves. The bread is done when it is golden brown or sounds hollow when the bottom of the loaf is tapped with a finger.

Yield: 24 dinner-sized rolls

No Knead Artisan Bread

This is the easiest bread I've ever baked, and frankly tastes like it's straight from a bakery. The minute I pulled the first crusty loaf out of the oven I knew that this would become my "go-to" bread recipe. The ingredients and method can be found here.

Note: I don't have a stone or a pizza peel and this still comes out fantastic. After shaping the loaf, I simply put it on a piece of parchment paper and put a baking sheet in the oven while it is pre-heating. When the bread is ready to go in the oven, I just take it on the parchment and set it on the pre-heated baking sheet. It's not exactly the same, but it does produce a slightly crispier crust.

If you're someone who has always wanted to bake bread, but feels intimidated, it's a great recipe to try. I find that the loaves are more flavorful after the dough has been sitting in the fridge for a few days, so don't worry about using it all at once. For a few minutes of your time before or after work, you can have fresh-baked bread that is worlds better than anything you can find at the grocery store. Trust me.

When I finished baking these various breads, I felt good. But let me tell you the best part of it all:

I got to feel good again when Joe smiled as he sunk his teeth into a 3rd slice of the focaccia pizza...
And again when Amanda's eyes lit up upon seeing the bread-knot loaf I made for her...
And again when I passed one of my artisan loaves along to Roger during a week where he had little time or energy to cook...

Bread-baking is the gift that keeps on giving. So bake some bread, and pass it on. You'll be glad you did.

Cheers,
Neen

65 Dozen

2009-12-29T21:54:00.005-05:00

What I baked for Santa:

Cherry-Walnut Thumbprints, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Gingersnaps.

Gingersnaps and marshmallows dipped in tempered chocolate and chopped, roasted peanuts.

Chocolate-peanut covered marshmallows, "mini-s'more" marshmallows, and vanilla marshmallows.

Cherry-walnut thumbprints, peanut butter blossoms, walnut-cashew torrone, gingersnaps, caramels, spicy-sweet nuts, homemade oreos, and gingerbread.

And a merry little tree!

Happy holidays...hope you got everything you wanted:

Cheers,
Neen

A Holiday Wish

2009-12-14T11:45:00.001-05:00

Baring my soul to the vast depths of the Internet has never been what blogging is about for me. When I began writing this blog after our move from Boston, I tried to not make any expectations or plans. It was one of the first projects I ever embarked on without a plan for how often I would work on it or update it. I didn’t really know what I would write, and so that’s why I simply titled it “Neen’s Notes.”

Over the past year and a half, I’ve shared some of my favorite recipes, reveled in the joy of local food, reminisced about life, plugged some of my favorite progressive causes, and even yakked a bit about sports.

But, dear readers, I confess to feeling guilty (again) lately. Not only because the blog has been so neglected, but because I’ve been making a lot of wonderful goodies and fun recipes for the holidays that are admittedly not “clean” foods. It occurred to me then that perhaps my focus has been too narrow. I’m still sourcing the products I do buy from local or fair-trade growers and while the recipes may not necessarily be healthy, they are important in another way. They make my heart feel good. To share them with the people I work with or my family and friends makes me feel so much happiness.

It wasn’t until I was sitting in a yoga practice a week or so ago that it occurred to me. Extremes, by their very definition are drastic and radical. Why make my life so full of that kind of tension? Why carry that with me all of the time?

Many, many times my yoga instructors have said, “Take the ego out of it. Respect what your body and mind can do today and let that be enough,” and I only just at that moment really let it sink in. A deep sense of peacefulness came over me. To capture that—if only for a few moments, was enough to make me reconsider my approach to writing this blog.

And so I have decided that my theme for this holiday season (and hopefully one that I will carry into the coming year) is flexibility. Neen’s Notes will continue to be a blog about living healthy. That means taking out the ego, accepting who I am on any given day, and striving each day to live with a sense of peace, love, and respect for those around me and for the planet that provides so many valuable resources.

If there is one wish I have for all of you this holiday season, it is that you come to find that sense of peace amid the insanity of crowded shopping malls and busy work days. Let it in and let it just be.

Cheers,
Neen

Back-(b)log!

2009-11-02T15:16:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I admit it. I’ve been avoiding the blog…a little. Around mid-September life got back to being crazy with school and work. Unfortunately, I ran out of hours in the day and so blogging took a backseat for awhile.

I would be lying and doing my readers a disservice however, if I did not admit that my absence was partly due to feeling a little “off the wagon” so to speak. I struggled throughout October particularly and found myself making easy, bad food choices more than I’d like to admit. I’d been dwelling on those choices and generally lazing in a “guilt-funk” that made me feel pretty grumpy.

Finally, finally I feel like I’m out of that place of negativity and getting back to feeling like Neen. It is amazing how rejuvenating it can be to stumble, recognize your own weaknesses, accept that you have them, and then resolve to strengthen them as best you can. Because honestly, while there were some food struggles, it has ultimately been a wonderful autumn thus far…Let me share some of it with you…

In mid-September, I finally joined the Energy Club gym in Shirlington so that I could keep up running during the cold months to come. What I’ve found there so far is a great community of gym-goers and instructors. Everyone is incredibly friendly and I’m enjoying the classes (particularly Flow Yoga and Body Jam) more than I ever thought I would. My goal for next year? Run the Army 10-miler.

Yoga has been particularly good for working through negative or intrusive feelings. It's soothing and empowering all at once---a very unique blend of emotions.

October 3, 2009

I run AIDS Walk Washington (5k) and finish in around 26.5 minutes. An exhilarating experience that raised over $800,000 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic of Washington, DC. I was nervous with it being my first race, but I kept thinking of all of the people that sponsored me. That was what ultimately gave me the boost I needed during the last stretch up Pennsylvania Ave. Hearing the announcer say my name as I crossed the finish line was pretty cool too.

October 9, 2009

Joe and I take a trip to Smith Meadows Bed and Breakfast to celebrate our five-year anniversary (awww). While staying at their lovely Summer Kitchen Cottage on a 400-acre sustainable farm, we cooked a great meal, walked the grounds, enjoyed cigars and champagne by sunset, and were treated to an amazing breakfast prepared by the B&B proprietor. It was honestly the most peaceful place I have ever been in my life.

mid-October, 2009

Mystery Food 2009 comes to an end with a final basket loaded with squash, peppers, tomatoes, apples, salad greens and fresh HONEY! I was thrilled. Thank you to Leigh at Bull Run Mountain Farm for a wonderful CSA season.

October 31, 2009

I put the final touches on our fabulous Halloween costumes. Joe and I hit the town Saturday night as Batman villains The Riddler and Poison Ivy. I took most of my Ivy inspiration from how she appeared in “The Long Halloween.” It ended up looking better with less leaf-applique than I originally did. Joe’s Riddler costume was centered mostly around the amazing lime-green polyester suit that we found for a rather inexpensive price on Amazon. (Seriously, what can’t you find on that website?) He took inspiration from several comics and I did my best to bring his vision to life with limited time. I wish I’d had more time to sew more question marks on the suit, but he says he liked it simple.

A busy month and a half, huh? Somewhere in there I juggled work and a full course load and managed to get the flu (ugh). No one can say I’m (to use an Alton Brown expression) a unitasker! I’ve been doing some cooking as well and getting back into using the crockpot more now that the autumn chill seems more permanent. I’ll post some new recipes soon---stracciatella is on its way as well as a slow cooked tomato-cubanelle sauce that I guarantee will impress even your grandmother.

Until then friends, stay healthy and get out there and VOTE tomorrow.

-Neen

Cooking from the Heart...

2009-09-09T09:23:00.004-04:00

I strive to be a really positive influence on others, but we all experience times of doubt and insecurity. Sometimes, I don't think I am as honest with my readers as I could be about the struggle that is a part of healthy eating and living. The truth is that for as often as I am happy about the progress I have made, there are days where I beat myself up. It could be that I finally broke down at the deli and bought a candy bar after months of clean eating, or simply that I woke up that morning I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. There's a part of me during those moments that knows it's time for a reality check, but sometimes that voice can get stifled.

Food and I have a tenuous relationship. As humans, we need sustenance to live. At a young age we come to acknowledge those who provide us with that sustenance as our caregivers. From very early on, we learn that to feed another person is to love them. When I met Joe and discovered that I liked him, one of the very first things I did for him was to make sauteed balsamic-thyme sirloin tips with mozzarella cheese. And it was not a dish I made to be particularly impressive, but because I had those ingredients in the fridge. It won him over, and the feeling of providing that kind of comfort to another person won me over. True, I'd spent the latter half of my freshman year of college cooking weekly meals with a friend for our group of friends, but that was the first time it was me alone just whipping something up on the fly for someone else. In any case, I kept cooking. I read culinary textbooks, southern cookbooks, cookbooks for every ethnic food imaginable...anything to stimulate my imagination to create new things. But at the same time, I found it difficult to avoid overeating when I was always trying out new recipes. I walk the line. I am constantly trying to balance between being passionate about the creation and sharing of food while avoiding gluttony and irresponsibly grown/created food products. It becomes overwhelming, it becomes burdensome, and worst of all...cooking becomes guilt-ridden.

And then I know it's time to step back, take a breath, and just go home again. Time to take a day and remember why the act of sharing a meal is an act of love. Remove everything else from the equation and just create out of the desire to love another person.

And on Sunday, I did just that. Taking flour from Morris farms, eggs from Polyface farms, cheese from Blue Ridge Dairy Co., tomatoes, garlic, and basil from Bull Run Mountain Farm, and cayenne peppers from my own backyard, I brought together those who provide me with products I know are grown and raised with love and a sense of pride.

First, I made these:
I made the pasta dough from a combination of whole wheat and whole grain durum (semolina) flours, two eggs, a few tablespoons of olive oil, and a few tablespoons of water. It made a fine, elastic dough that was surprisingly light. I think that one of the keys to whole wheat pasta is to make sure that the dough gets a proper rest before it's rolled out. The filling is comprised of part-skim ricotta, parmesan, and pecorino romano cheeses. I bound it with an egg and added a few herbs and spices to bring out the flavors of the individual cheeses.

What good are ravioli without a nice sauce? Since Leigh said that it was likely the last week for big, ripe tomatoes (damn blight) I took the bunch of gorgeous orange and yellow ones he gave me and sauteed them in a few teaspoons of bacon fat with garlic, some bell pepper, thyme, basil, and spices. I finished it with a diced cayenne pepper. I'm not really a huge spicy food fan, so I removed the seeds first. After tasting the sauce, I instantly mourned that it would be gone so quickly. Even Joe, who normally asks me to go light on the marinara sauce when I serve him pasta, asked for more of it on his plate.

And what better to serve a lovingly prepared meal on than a dish designed with the earth in mind?[FYI, that's a seven-inch triangle plate in grass green from Riverside Design Group's Sea Glass collection. How awesome is that color? If I didn't already have an "Empire Red" theme going on with my kitchen appliances, I think I'd go with that green. It's refreshing!]

After it was all said and done, I felt accomplished. Even satisfied.

But it wasn't until Joe brought me his empty plate in search of a few more ravioli that I felt "the happiness." There was that same look that made me feel all warm and fuzzy five years ago, and I thought "Yes. I may not always do right. I may not always make the best choices. But if I can always give this kind of comfort and love to the people around me, then I think I'll be okay."

-Neen

Marriage, Mystery Food (lucky 13!) and More...

2009-09-03T15:23:00.007-04:00

What an absolutely amazing and fabulous vacation. I could not have asked for more happiness to somehow have crammed its way into this past week. It still boggles my mind a little that my brother is a married man now. He and Jessica both looked amazing at the wedding and truly happy to be with one another. Both of them were so alive with joy the whole time that you really couldn’t help but have it rub off on you.

Joe and I had a really fun time in Pittsburgh and I’ve been missing everyone terribly since we got back. It’s always hard to come down from something that you looked forward to for so long. Ah, we’ll just have to find another reason to celebrate soon and get together again! Fall is almost here, and that means holidays so I’m sure it won’t be too long.

Anyway, I’m back in action here in Arlington and went to pick up some goodies from Leigh last night:Sweet corn, tomatoes, tomatillos, hot peppers, Thai basil, Italian basil, chives, sorrel, sweet potatoes, peaches, apples, and garlic. Yum! Everything looks so vibrant. This is likely the last week we’ll get big tomatoes though, so I’m rationing those.

I haven’t done much cooking yet this week aside from a little bit of flatbread with various vegetable/meat toppings last night. I did, however have a nectarine and a few apples left over from last week and a craving for sweets. It led to this:

Spiced Nectarine-Applesauce

The great thing about fruit sauces is that it takes very little effort to make them delicious. In-season fruit is a candy all its own and combining it with a few spices makes a great treat. You can even spread it out on some puff pastry and bake for a fast tart.

This particular sauce was made from some Ozark gold apples and nectarines. The method is fairly simple. Cut the fruit and treat it to prevent browning, then put it in a small saucepan with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot. Add some spices if you like. This batch had a few cinnamon sticks (remove before pureeing) and a few sprinkles of pumpkin pie spice (a blend of cloves, nutmeg, lemon peel, cinnamon..). Set the heat to medium-low and cover. Let it cook until all of the fruit is nice and soft and then use a potato masher, immersion blender, or food mill to process to your desired consistency. Sweeten only if you think it needs it. The nectarine I had was really ripe and almost tooth-achingly sweet. Some types of apples benefit from a teaspoon or so of honey added to the mix.

Over the holiday, I had the great fortune to receive some wonderful plates, platters and bowls from the folks at Riverside Design Group in Pittsburgh, PA. The sauce in the above picture was photographed in a 7” bowl in amethyst over a 10” bowl in gold from their Sea Glass collection.

From their website:

“Since 1996, RIVERSIDE has been passionate about creating a more sustainable global community. We remain committed to both responsive and responsible design. We use post-industrial/preconsumer recycled glass and other sustainable materials, our packaging and promotional items are environmentally friendly, and our offices are located in a LEED certified building (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design).”

Look for more of their unique, earth-friendly designs to pop up in future posts…

We have a long weekend for the Labor Day holiday, and I’m really hoping to make some homemade pasta this weekend to enjoy with those magnificent orange tomatoes from Leigh.

And before I disappear for the holiday, here's a really important plug for Slow Food regarding the Child Nutrition Act and their "Time for Lunch" campaign.

So far, over 16,800 people have signed the Time For Lunch petition to get real, quality food back into America’s schools. Every 4 to 5 years, the Child Nutrition Act (which governs the National School Lunch program) comes up for renewal in Congress. This program sets the standard for what over 30 million children eat at lunch every day. In the past decade, school budgets have been slashed over and over again, leaving our nation’s schools struggling to provide nutritious, wholesome food to the next generation.

The deadline for renewing the Child Nutrition Act is coming up at the end of September. Congress and the Obama administration must renew this act in a way that benefits children and provides them with healthy, sustainable food. Here is the official platform from the Slow Food website:

1. Invest in children’s health.
Give schools just one dollar more per day for each child’s lunch. Under the National School Lunch Program, the USDA reimburses schools for every meal served: $2.57 for a free lunch, $2.17 for a reduced-price lunch and 24 cents for a paid lunch. Since these reimbursements must also pay for labor, equipment and overhead costs, schools are left with only $1.00 to spend on food. How can schools be expected to feed our children and protect their health with only a dollar a day? It’s time to build a strong foundation for our children’s health by raising the reimbursement rate to $3.57.
2. Protect against food that puts children at risk.
Establish strong standards for all food sold at school, including food from vending machines and school fast food. At most schools, children can buy junk food in vending machines, at on-campus stores and in the cafeteria as “a la carte” items. These overly processed, high-calorie “fast” foods sneak under the radar of federal nutrition standards. They undermine the National School Lunch Program’s investment in children’s health and allow food companies to profit from selling obesity. It’s time to take the first step towards making real food the standard by approving Rep. Woolsey’s and Sen. Harkin’s Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act of 2009.
3. Teach children healthy habits that will last through life.
Fund grants for innovative Farm to School programs and school gardens. This spring, 30 fifth-graders joined Michelle Obama in planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn. “What I found with my kids [is that] if they were involved in planting and picking it, they were much more curious to give it a try,” Mrs. Obama says. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn healthy eating habits at school. In 2004, a section was added to the Child Nutrition Act to provide schools with grants to cover one-time grants that enable them to purchase local foods and to teach lessons on healthy eating in kitchen and garden classrooms – but Congress never appropriated funds for it. This year, it’s time for Congress to guarantee $50 million of mandatory funding for Farm to School programs.

We also ask that Congress and the Obama Administration:

1. Give schools the incentive to buy local.
Establish financial incentives that encourage schools to buy food from local farms for all child nutrition programs. Buying fruits and vegetables from local farms is an economic engine for creating jobs in our communities, rebuilding rural economies, and supporting family farmers. By shortening the distance food travels – from farm to table – it also saves oil and ensures school foods are as fresh and healthy as possible.
2. Create green jobs with a School Lunch Corps.
Train underemployed Americans to be the teachers, farmers, cooks, and administrators our school cafeterias need. We can’t serve real food in schools without investing in school kitchens and the people who prepare and serve lunch. This spring, President Obama signed the Serve America Act, which expanded Americorps and reinforced his call for Americans to serve their country. Right now, our nation has an opportunity to train young and unemployed Americans to be the teachers, farmers, cooks and administrators we need to ensure the National School Lunch Program is protecting children’s health. President Obama has called for an end to childhood hunger by 2015; let’s answer that call by putting Americans to work building and working in school kitchens nationwide.

Please go to www.slowfoodusa.org to sign the petition or sign up to host or attend a Labor Day Eat-In. An “Eat-In” is simply a potluck held in a public place like a park. Let people know that you’re showing your support for real food in schools by gathering community members, family, and friends together for a shared meal. If you can’t make it to an Eat-In on Labor Day, there are many other ways to help out, like a telephone call or letter to your state representative. A PDF version of Slow Food’s platform is available on their website and is great to use as a starting point if you aren’t sure what to say.

Enjoy a local Labor Day weekend everyone!

-Neen

Hot Dates (with chocolate, football and mystery food)!

2009-08-25T08:49:00.009-04:00

Wow--I have way too many things to update, so long post ahoy:

Numero uno, friends, is Mystery Food Week 11. It was a delicious mix of sweet corn, tomatoes (Mr. Stripey!!!), Thai basil, Italian basil, eggplant, purple potatoes, garlic, hot peppers, nectarines, peaches, and apples. So much food! And I only buy a half-share.Of course the first thing I did when I got home from picking this up was to make a big batch of tomato sauce for pasta. I love a long-cooked tomato sauce, but there's something so sweet, simple, and wonderful about a quick summer sauce. The squash, potatoes and peppers ended up in a pot roast I made from a chuck blade roast from Polyface farms. I seasoned and seared the meat, caramelized some onions, and then threw everything into the crockpot with a splash of red wine to cook all day. When I came home, Dioji was very anxious to discover where the delicious smell that he couldn't find was coming from (he's not allowed in the kitchen while we're not home--safety first!) and then whined at me when he realized it wasn't for him. Oh sheltie.

Numero dos is that our fantasy draft for the "I Cannot Wait For Football" league was this past weekend. It went pretty well for me, although I made one really bad decision because of outdated information. Here's the lineup for team Plaxico's Cellmate:

QBs: Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Chad Pennington

RBs: Clinton Portis, Steve Slaton, Joseph Addai

WRs: Chad Ochocinco, T.J. Houshmanzadeh, Steve Breaston, Michael Crabtree

TEs: Dallas Clark, Owen Daniels

K: Ryan Longwell

DEF: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

A pretty solid draft if I don't say so myself. The Michael Crabtree thing was a lapse in judgment, I swear. We have another one this weekend, but I'll be autodrafting because it is the same day as my brother's wedding. I'm not sure he'd be too pleased with me if I disappeared from the reception to draft a fantasy team.

And Numero Tres is that I've been craving filled pastry/cookies. I used to really like fig newtons heated up in the toaster oven when I was a kid. A week or so ago, I was in the market and saw some nice, soft Medjool dates. I remembered from when I was first diagnosed with anemia that dates were a good source of iron, but I've never cooked with them before last week. Recalling that the texture of my favorite kashi bar (the dark chocolate/coconut one) is made by creating a date paste, I decided to try a similar route. After several tries using the food processor to create said paste, I got frustrated because it never seemed to get sticky enough to hold everything together. The raw date bar recipes I searched all suggested that the approach would work, but it wasn't the consistency I wanted. Finally, I found a good old southern recipe for date squares and modified it using a base recipe similar to my Banapple-Nut Bars.

I'm not saying I'm a genius, but this is kind of amazing...

Chocolate-Date Cookie Bars

Ingredients

For the cookie base:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup mixed nuts, ground to a coarse meal by pulsing in a food processor. (I used a mix of macadamia, cashew, almond, and brazil nuts.)
1/4 cup 10-grain hot cereal or other high-protein hot cereal, dry.
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Pinch salt
2 tbsp. raw honey (I really like buckwheat honey in this, but anything will work.)
1 medium egg
2 tbsp. natural peanut butter
For the filling:
1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 heaping tbsp. dutch process cocoa powder
10 grams 70% dark chocolate, chopped.
For the topping:
1 tbsp. shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 oz. mixed nuts, roughly chopped. (If you would like the recipe to be lower-fat, you can skip this and use some lightly toasted seeds, rolled oats, or cereal.)

Method

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, combine the dates, extracts, and water over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened. Use a potato masher or immersion blender to create a more even consistency. Stir in the cocoa and dark chocolate and set the mixture aside to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the oats, ground nuts, cereal, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Slowly drizzle in the honey while pulsing occasionally to disperse evenly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and peanut butter, then add them to the food processor while pulsing occasionally until a sticky dough is formed.

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and press the cookie dough into the bottom to create an even crust. Next, layer on the chocolate-date paste, and then top with the chopped nuts and shredded unsweetened coconut.

Bake for 20 minutes and cool completely before cutting into bars.

So good. Not a drop of refined sugar or flour and yet somehow full of sweet, chocolatey, nutty goodness.

Nutrition facts: Yields ten servings. Each cookie bar is approximately 138 calories, 7 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of protein, and 16 grams of carbohydrates. They are also a good source of vitamin A, vitamin B-6, folate, and iron.

I think that this recipe could be easily modified into a good energy bar recipe by adding another egg white, replacing some of the oats with some wheat bran, and maybe adding some greek yogurt into the filling or base. If you were so inclined, you could replace the 10 grain cereal with a scoop of vanilla or unflavored protein powder. I'm really trying to keep things more natural these days.

Oh, and if you want to blow your mind...mix a spoonful of the chocolate-date paste and some berries into 5 or 6 oz. of nonfat greek yogurt for a creamy treat. That's a post-run snack I can totally get behind.

Well, I'm off to Pittsburgh tomorrow for my brother's wedding, so I'll be M.I.A for a little while. In advance, have a great weekend and good luck to all my fellow fantasy team owners who have upcoming drafts.

Stay local, folks!

-Neen

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Football (and Mystery Food Week 9)

2009-08-06T09:36:00.004-04:00

Ah, August.

You know what that means: NFL training camp is in full swing! The Steelers have their first preseason game next week against Arizona. News from the front lines says that Limas Sweed is looking good as he battles for the number three receiver position behind Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes. Tomlin has been presenting some good challenges to the team, switching players in and out of on-field leadership roles to encourage well-rounded communication. So far, it doesn't look like the team has taken too many injury hits, but who knows what the next few weeks will bring?

Wishing I could be in Latrobe tomorrow night. The Steelers are holding an evening practice with autograph session and all six of those shiny Lombardi trophies will be on display too!

Since I had football on the brain, I got our fantasy football league set up and ready to go. The draft is going to be interesting this year. I'm sure I'll have a better sense of who is really raring to go after seeing some preseason games, but right now I feel pretty clueless. I didn't pay close enough attention to last year's college season and need to read up more on some of the rookies.

The elephant in the room here seems to be at quarterback. There is no one that comes to mind that I think "Yes, I must have him." Odd as it sounds, I'm not entirely sure that any of those guys normally considered a safe bet, is in fact a safe bet this year. Sure, either Manning brother is probably reliable, and Roethlisberger would be okay if not for his off-field issues and an o-line that still has a few holes. Tom Brady is an option too, as much as I'm not a fan. He's had a good, solid year to rehabilitate his injury, but it really depends on how tentative he is with planting that leg. If I had to pick right now....probably Drew Brees. He put up some great numbers last season while his receivers kept switching due to injury, so he's very flexible. Definitely want to keep an eye open there.

Roethlisberger being embroiled in this civil suit doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to have a bad season, but it is certainly going to be on his mind. It's hard to form an opinion on his situation when inaccurate news is reported as "facts of the case." The only people that know what really happened are Ben Roethlisberger and Andrea McNulty. I've admittedly found it very difficult to remain objective. My gut reaction tells me that I should never doubt a victim coming forward with a claim of sexual assault, especially because victims are so frequently discouraged from doing that or filing any kind of charges (let alone criminal ones). Ms. McNulty's character as its being reported is more than dubious, but again, I have seen all too clearly how a person's character can be shredded when the person they are accusing of assault is well-liked. All this said, I hope that things find a way to work out in the healthiest, fairest way for everyone involved.

Onto other things! Picked up my weekly share from Leigh yesterday and it was a big one:We've got corn, a big orange tomato, ground cherries (like tiny tomatillos), zucchini, okra, garlic, potatoes, tomatillos, and peaches. The tomato lasted all of a half hour. I sauteed it with some garlic, onion, some cherry tomatoes from the farmer's market, salt/pepper, and a few sweet peppers. Let everything caramelize a bit and then ran the whole mixture through a food mill. It turned into a glorious burnt-orange colored tomato sauce. We had it on whole wheat penne with some fresh mozzarella. I rarely eat pasta, but it was fantastic.

I'm not sure yet what everything else is destined for, but the peaches are a little bit bruised so I think peach sauce/butter/preserves might be in order. Today was my first day back to running (and in an invigorating morning rain!) since Mt. Gallbladder's eruption last week , so I diced up some of them for my post-workout yogurt. We'll see about the rest...mmm peaches.

More later--stay local, folks!
-Neen

Attacked! (and Mystery Food Week 8!)

2009-08-04T09:06:00.005-04:00

Every once in awhile, I think that our bodies decide to do something in order to remind us that they are in fact, in charge. Once the defeat of the great Perl Dragon was completed, I thought that the knot in my stomach would unwind peacefully, but alas it was not to be.

Starting out last Thursday with coffee on an empty stomach was probably mistake number one. I’m guessing that mistakes 2 through 4 were salad with at least a cup of raw, cruciferous vegetables, another cup of coffee, and a peach with the skin still on. I tried (in vain) to make it to the Capitol South Metro after work in search of yogurt at the Penn Quarter farmer’s market, hoping that would calm what I thought was just bad indigestion. (Again, I was mistaken). By the time I got to the corner in front of the Library of Congress, the $20 in my wallet was destined not for delicious yogurt, but rather for a cab to Joe’s office, where I’d parked the car that morning. We weren’t even out of the city before I admitted to Joe that yes, I thought I needed to go to the hospital.

I don’t feel like my readers need the graphic details of what a gallbladder attack feels like, suffice to say that it is the worst pain I can recall since dislocating my elbow (and I’ve had surgery twice since then). Anyway, I spent Thursday night and most of the day Friday stuck in Alexandria Hospital not allowed to eat, drink, or leave. A CT scan showed an inflamed, gunky gallbladder that was clearly not pleased. Oh well, a little anti-nausea medication and some antibiotics and I was back in action. The gallbladder gets to stay as long as it behaves, but at the remote sign of crankiness, out with it!

The weekend wasn’t all bad though. My parents had planned to come visit us this weekend, so it was nice to have them around when I wasn’t feeling great. We still had a lot of fun, actually! Friday night after I was released from the hospital we went and got a bite to eat at Legal Seafood and then picked up Dioji (who was at Roger and Lynn’s house because Joe was at the hospital taking care of me.) Saturday, I got to take them to the Arlington Farmer’s Market. I was so excited because I knew they would love all of the vendors there. Sure enough, they left with granola, heirloom tomatoes and these little baby peppers that looked irresistibly sweet and colorful. I got my usual haul minus meat because I placed an order with Polyface Farms to try out their products. Pick-up is this Saturday and I am really looking forward to it.

Our other venture on Saturday was to Agraria Restaurant in Georgetown. I originally saw them listed on Slow Food DC’s website as an area eatery that supported sustainable agriculture. Joe mentioned to me that his office frequently takes members there for a meal and after our experience, I can certainly see why. I think that fate was being kind to me because we missed our Friday reservation at Nora’s and I managed to get a table for Joe, myself, and our parents. The harbor was packed and lively, and we had an excellent meal. The dishes weren’t overcomplicated or pretentious, which I really liked. I had the pan-roasted chicken with lemon, thyme, and rosemary. It was accompanied by this really fresh corn, bean, and pepper salad and some whipped potatoes. The portion was just perfect, too. Joe tried one of their pizzas. Wow. The combination of fresh dough, heirloom tomato sauce and fresh made, hand-stretched mozzarella fired in an 800 degree oven created what may be the best pizza I’ve ever tasted. Joe says it was better than Otto, but I dunno…that might require a blind taste test for me to say for sure!
After dinner, we watched boats in the harbor and chatted for awhile. It was so relaxing and refreshing to see everyone having a good time. There are few things better than good company AND good food together. Pictures are good though!

Sunday, we had coffee, a leisurely stroll around Shirlington (with the requisite stop at Cakelove…mmm), and then lunch at Luna Grille before my parents packed up their cooler full of goodies and headed back to Pittsburgh. It was a very relaxing weekend, which was honestly just what I needed after the gallbladder excitement.

Ah yes, and even though I’m banned from eating them raw, I’ve still been enjoying my CSA treats from Wednesday.

Yay! A tomato! And potatoes, green peppers, corn, broccoli, ground cherries, peaches, and apples. All in all, a very good week. There were several fine frittatas to be had. I got some really big blackberries at the Arlington market and I think I’m going to bake them with the peaches for dessert later tonight. I basically make a crust-less pie and then toss toasted honey-cinnamon granola on top of it for a little bit of texture. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good pie crust, but anything requiring a lot of butter just doesn’t seem like the brightest idea right now.

Oh well, at least being laid up gave me some time to get into the meat of Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run. Here’s a quick blurb about it from the Washington Post. I’ll post my own review and thoughts once I’ve digested it a bit more. So far though, it is really engaging.

McDougall's subject is the Tarahumara, a tribe living frugally in the remote, foreboding Copper Canyons in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The Tarahumara are legendary for their ability to run extreme distances in inhospitable conditions without breaking a sweat or getting injured. They are superathletes whose diet (pinole, chia seeds, grain alcohol) and racing method (upright posture, flicking heels, clear-headedness) would place them among elite runners of the developed world even though their society and technology are 500 years behind it. It's a fascinating subject, and the pages of "Born to Run" are packed with examples of McDougall's fascination....The book flows not like a race but like a scramble through an obstacle course. McDougall wends his way through the history and physiology of running, occasionally digressing into mini-profiles of top-tier racers and doctors, spinning off into tangents about legendary races like the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon, while always looping back to the main narrative. Back on course, he describes his pursuit of the bashful, elusive Tarahumara and their secret to success on foot; his befriending of an eccentric gringo who became part of the tribe and is the key to McDougall's communication with it; and the realization of the eccentric's dream to pit big-name, corporate-sponsored American marathoners against the near-primeval Indians in a super ultra-marathon in the Copper Canyons. A race to end all races, in other words.

That’s all from me for now…I’ve got to get back to work!

-Neen

Mystery Food Week 7 (Schoooool's out for sum-mer!)

2009-07-28T09:33:00.005-04:00

(Insert sigh of relief here)

There were some tears and frustration, but I finished up all of my assignments for the semester. The Perl dragon has been slain. It feels so good to be on vacation for a little while. Yes, there's still work during the day, but now I can at least do fun things like garden and read on my Kindle when I get home at night. I haven't had two seconds to think about getting fantasy football set up for the season, so I'm looking forward to doing nerdy football research this week.

But, speaking of gardening here is Week 7's delicious bounty from Bull Run Mountain:

Potatoes, celery, garlic, salad greens, broccoli, tomatillos, apples, and PEACHES. I have been a peach-eating machine lately. This summer's are really are the closest thing I've tasted to the infamous "Florence fruit stand peach." I'm not sure anything will ever top that. It was a blisteringly hot day in Florence and my parents and I wandered up to this fruit stand with the most gorgeous produce I've ever seen. Hungry from doing the tourist-thing, we got some fruit and to this day that was the most delicious peach I have ever eaten.

Anyway, I digress. I made a big batch of veggie pancakes by shredding one of the potatoes with last week's zucchini, some peppers, onions, garlic, broccoli, and some herbs/spices. Add an egg and a few tablespoons of flour to the mix and then fry them in a pan for a few minutes on each side. They're really crispy and savory!

As for the 10 peaches, I made a batch of peach yogurt (peaches + pumpkin pie spice + greek yogur t+ drizzle of honey + dash of vanilla), ate a few raw, and roasted the rest with a little bit of butter, cinnamon, two small apples, and toasted oats.

Over the weekend, I was in Pittsburgh with the family for Jess' bridal shower. It was a lot of fun! I'd never been to a bridal shower before, but I liked the silly games and enjoyed a really tasty lunch with a lot of people I don't usually see when I'm home. I'm really looking forward to having fun with everyone at the wedding in August. Here I am with the beautiful bride-to-be:

When I came back yesterday, I noticed that I have three bright red cayenne peppers that are about ready to pick and two green sweet peppers that weren't even on the plants when I left! Yay! I was worried. I haven't had much success growing vegetables in the soil in my box garden…

It's good to be back in Arlington, but I already miss everyone. I'm looking forward to some more CSA goodies tomorrow, a week free from worrying about school, and a visit from my parents this weekend.

It's going to be a happy week.

Ciao for now!

Where did Neen and her notes go? (And Mystery Food Week 6!)

2009-07-16T18:01:00.005-04:00

Yes, it’s true, I disappeared there for a week. But life happens, right? In short, I had a very important presentation for school, compounded by a Perl assignment I couldn’t seem to get a handle on and then wound up with the stomach flu. It was a rough week. I picked up my CSA share (a delicious basket of potatoes, squash, basil, cabbage, purslane, kohlrabi, and a few other items), but froze most of it because I wasn’t up for eating much or taking a picture. But this week’s is beautiful and is further down in this post…yum!

Fortunately, as of Saturday afternoon things started getting a lot better.

My birthday was Saturday, and it started off with a trip to the farmer’s market and then a group presentation on Elluminate. It was the first time I’d done an online presentation and it went really well. I must attribute some of the success to having a wonderful group to work with and a class that seemed genuinely interested in the topic (biographical reference sources). Want to see our presentation? Go to: http://stuckinthestacks.blogspot.com to view it in its entirety.

After that was done, it was off for a quick run, which was VERY refreshing after being sick all week. (I tried to run on Friday and barely made it down the block).

And then…the culmination of four months of waiting: Billy Joel and Elton John Face to Face!

Pre-concert:

At Nationals Park:

Yes, it was amazing (as always), but even more special that it was the first concert at Nationals Park AND on my birthday. Sometimes the stars really do align. The sustain pedal on Elton’s piano got stuck during the opening set, but it didn’t cause a major problem. Billy’s band came on and he did his set while they took Elton’s piano off for fixing. (It didn’t seem to phase him much---Elton opened his set with Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding and it brought down the house).

Billy Joel was walking on top of pianos, running around throwing microphones, and even dived under Elton’s piano during the technical problem to try and fix it. Very spry and excitable for a man that just turned 60 and is going through divorce #3.

I was really impressed that they went on for 3 and a half hours in the 90 degree heat and very sticky humidity, considering both men were wearing full, dark colored suits. Their bands sounded incredible too. Mark Rivera was dynamite on sax and Crystal Talifiero was her usual “jack-of-all-trades” self, playing everything from bongos to horns.

So, THANK YOU JOE for a wonderful birthday concert experience.

This week has been kinder so far. I finished the impossible Perl assignment and feel like I’m finally starting to get the hang of the language and its syntax. Looking at the CGI book really helped considering I’m a lot more familiar with programming for the web than I am with command-line programming. Oh, but you didn’t come here to listen to me go on about Perl, you came for Mystery Food!

That is a delicious bunch of goodies including zucchini, cucumber, tomatillos, potatoes, garlic, basil, Lodi apples, and (my favorite) peaches. The peaches are like candy. (For breakfast this morning, I had something really delicious: Dice one peach and mix it with 5 oz. of plain greek yogurt, a teaspoon of raw honey, sprinkle of cinnamon, and a 1/2 oz. of chopped mixed nuts. Happy in a bowl. It’s also perfect post-workout recovery food. Vanilla or almond extract might be a nice touch, too.)

Tonight for dinner, we’re having lots of local treats…

Last night, I seasoned, herb rubbed, and seared a bison chuck roast and sautéed onions, garlic, tomatillos, and some heirloom tomatoes. I put everything in the crock pot in the fridge overnight. This morning I added some chopped potatoes, kohlrabi, a cheese rind, and about a 1/2 cup total of broth/red wine to the pot. The crock pot is now making me dinner while I’m at work. Total time/effort? About 10 minutes of chopping and sautéing. (You could do everything the night before, but potatoes can get kind of gray and mealy on you if you cut them too far ahead of cooking.)

I hope that everyone out there is having a great week. I’m really looking forward to getting this summer semester finished so that I can focus on other things (like blogging, my brother’s wedding, Slow Food stuff…etc.) for a little while. It’ll be nice to have a month where I have no required reading. I’ll be getting very friendly with the Kindle!

Oh, and no, I did not indulge in a birthday cake this year, but there was a birthday frittata instead!

Weird, yes. Delicious, definitely.

Ciao for now—stay local, folks!
-Neen

Mystery Food Week 4

2009-07-07T21:26:00.005-04:00

...was a really busy week, but here's the loot from last Wednesday (7/1):
Salad mix, sorrel, Italian basil, garlic scapes, radishes, and a big purple kohlrabi!

Most of this week's goodie bag ended up in various parts of our early 4th of July cookout on Friday. It was a wonderful meal with friends, and we supported some excellent local farms in the process. On the menu: Hot spinach dip, cool Italian bean dip, fresh vegetable crudite, brined smoked chicken breasts, bison-beef burgers, braised barbecued pork shoulder, and whole wheat peanut butter chocolate-chip cookies and fruit sorbet for dessert.

Unfortunately, class calls, so that's all I've got for now. Oh, except that we went to a really cool pig roast with the good folks from Slow Food DC....yum!:

Making a Connection

2009-06-29T10:17:00.002-04:00

In the midst of the bizarre stories and accusations that frequently made the news during my childhood, I never formed a negative opinion of Michael Jackson. Maybe it was because I did not see an adult man, but someone who had reverted back to a childhood that never existed for him the first time around. I saw a troubled soul, lost on the continuum of time and truly unaware of his age or the social norms attached to that. I saw someone trying to reclaim an idyllic fantasy of a carefree childhood. And maybe he acted wrongly in that state of mind. I do not know and would not assume.

I do, however, have one very distinct memory that has stayed with me for years.

At 12 years old, I was a little odd. Instead of talking to the other kids on the school bus, I was normally busy trying to rig a piece of masking tape over the battery enclosure on my portable cassette player. If not attempting to get the walkman to play just one more song before it drained the last juice from two fat double-A batteries (or broke for the umpteenth time), I was singing to myself and dreaming of being just like one of the performers I heard.

"Weird" and "old" were the words most kids my age used to describe my taste in music. Whenever our art teacher rewarded us by letting us listen to music during class, my cassettes were never picked. Instead, the kids teased me mercilessly about even bringing them.

One boy in particular always gave me a hard time. Not just about music, but being slow in gym class, or giving a wrong answer in Spanish class--anything to get my goat. He was kind of a tough guy and was frequently in detention. Not the guy you'd pick to be the sensitive, music-loving type. I couldn't stand him.

And so I was a little bit shocked to see this boy at auditions for the school talent show. When he told me that he was going to dance, I laughed a little bit. He didn't really seem like the type of guy to be okay with dancing in front of his fellow12 year old Catholic school boys. But from the moment he got onstage, with his white and black fedora, he embodied Michael Jackson. He must have spent hours in front of the television watching Michael's music videos, because he knew every move to a T. He was good. Very good.

And for a moment in time, we were friends. When he realized that I thought his talent was cool, the teasing subsided a little. We made a connection through music. My passion for singing came from the same place as his passion for dance, just in a different form. He didn't tease me about having to sing a song by a man because I didn't know how to sing "high" like the women I heard on the radio.

Sadly, the rest of our classmates never got to see him dance. I can't remember whether it was too many detentions or bad grades that got him banned from the show, but one of the two kept him from being allowed to participate. It was more than tragic, in my eyes, that the rest of the school never got to see how truly excellent he was. That maybe he did get in trouble and wasn't the most devoted student, but he could DANCE and do it brilliantly.

To this day, when I hear "Billie Jean," I think of that boy and the dance he choreographed. I think of watching him meticulously rehearse each step, each isolation, until it was just right. But mostly, I think of that brief moment in time where we became friends through music and performance. It changed my outlook permanently.

Even now, when I see tough, bulky weightlifters at the gym, or a group of military folks running along the Potomac, I wonder if any of them can do a great Moonwalk...

Thank you, Michael.
1958-2009

Mystery Food Week 3 and the Glory of "Brinner"

2009-06-25T13:53:00.003-04:00

Hello all! Here's this week's batch of produce

Included in this week's bag were mixed greens (mostly purslane), a head of pak choi, garlic scapes, baby onions, lots of sage, lavender, a potted flower, and basil. Leigh also had some eggs for sale, so I grabbed a half-dozen.

All in all, another good week. Some of the salad greens were the base for today's very clean, very tasty, and mostly local lunch:

Lots of greens and scapes from Bull Run, a boiled egg from Smith Meadows (the yolk was divine in color and texture. Picture does not do it justice), peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots from the farm market, and a few pieces of grilled chicken from a little place near my office. Finished off with a touch of salt and pepper. I guess one fortunate thing about my clean eating journey is that I've never really preferred dressing on salad all that much. I like a little bit of oil and vinegar on occasion, but dressing was never really my thing.

After I got home last night I was pondering what to do for dinner and feeling a little lazy. I had an assignment due for class that really needed to be finished, another assignment to work on...etc. Joe's parents recently gave me their waffle iron, and so I decided that it was definitely a night for Brinner (the glorious combination of breakfast @ dinner, but you Scrubs fans knew that).

Whole Grain High-Protein Waffles

Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup graham flour

1/4 cup soy flour
2 tbsp. wheat or oat bran

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1.5 tsp. baking powder

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. raw honey

1/2 cup non fat greek style yogurt

2 tbsp. low fat milk

2 egg whites

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch cream of tartar

Method

Combine the egg whites, a pinch of salt, and cream of tartar in a blender and process until doubled in volume (about a minute).

Add the applesauce, vanilla, milk, yogurt, and honey and process until smooth.

In a separate bowl sift the flours and bran together with the baking powder and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Then add the dry ingredients to the blender and process until well combined.

Cook in a waffle iron according to the manufacturer's directions.

Makes 5 tasty waffles at 103 calories, less than 1g fat, 16g carbs, 7.5g protein, and 3g fiber each.

I had mine with a little bit of raw honey, cinnamon, and a half ounce of chopped mixed nuts. Fruit would have been even better, but I was out.

Now, I obviously wasn't going to eat 5 of these by myself. They're really filling. I put one of the extras in the fridge and 2 in the freezer. The one in the fridge took maybe 2 minutes to crisp up in the toaster at work this morning. I imagine that right out of the freezer they'd take about 5-6 minutes on a medium setting.

Other flours that are good in this recipe: spelt, buckwheat, potato, brown rice, garbanzo/fava bean, or finely ground nuts.

For even crispier waffles, add about a tablespoon of sucanat or evaporated palm sugar to the batter. The sugar will caramelize and make nice, toasty edges.

It's been very busy around here. My boss is retiring at the end of the month, school is back in full swing, and couch to 5k is getting more and more challenging! Joe and I are really looking forward to a nice weekend though. We're going to a pig roast with the folks at Slow Food DC. I'll be sure to post a trip report if I don't enter a pork coma. Mmm.

Stay local, folks!

-Neen

Mystery Food Week 2 (and Bonus Bread!)

2009-06-22T09:28:00.006-04:00

Sorry it’s taken me so long to report on Week 2’s goodies. I’ve been very busy with schoolwork. Anyway, here's what I got:

Included in last week’s bag was an enormous head of Chinese cabbage, more garlic scapes, parsley, basil, sage, oregano, rosemary, and mustard greens. Again, I ended up making some delicious soup (recipe available here) and a hearty whole-wheat rosemary-garlic focaccia.

Focaccia, for those who may not be familiar, is an Italian flatbread made using a method similar to that for making pizza dough. I make mine entirely with whole wheat flour, which has a reputation of making bread turn out dense. Fortunately, there are ways to combat this:

Bloom the yeast: Begin with 1 cup of warm (105-110 degrees F) water and then sprinkle in 2 tsp. of dry active yeast and 1.5 tsp. of sugar. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes or until it looks foamy on top. This is a sure sign that the yeast is active and ready to work.

Flour: Add to the water 1 tbsp. of olive oil, 1.5 tsp. of salt, and about 3 and a half cups of flour. I use about half regular whole wheat flour and half whole wheat pastry flour. The pastry flour is finer and helps the bread remain more tender. Since this was to be rosemary bread, I chopped up the leaves from a sprig of rosemary and added it to the dough.

Knead, knead, knead: Once the ingredients are mixed together well, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for at least 10 minutes. Give those forearms and hands a good workout! Kneading helps activate gluten in the dough which will make for a better final rise. When the dough is smooth and elastic, roll into a ball, coat lightly with oil, and put it in a bowl to rise.

Rise: The rising time for whole wheat dough is significantly longer than that for all-purpose flour dough. Leave the dough in the bowl covered with a damp tea towel for a few hours in a warm place. Overnight is best. I usually sit mine on top of the stove because it’s far away from any drafts and is likely the warmest place in the house (except for the attic in the summer…). You want the dough ball to double in size. After the long rise, punch the dough down and allow it to rise for another half hour.

Oven Prep: Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Press the dough out onto a lightly oiled baking sheet (a 1/4 sheet pan works well for this amount) and very lightly brush the top with oil. I usually also add a few spices and herbs here depending on the batch. For the one I made this week, I added a little bit of coarse salt, cracked pepper, some finely chopped garlic scapes, and some more crushed rosemary leaves. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden on top and lightly browned around the edges.

Makes about 20 pieces at 80 calories each. Cut in half if you plan to use them for dip or fondue. I like to top pieces with sautéed peppers and onions for a really filling snack. Mangia, mangia!

NoVa/DC loca-vores, cherries are now in season and they are a-MAZing. I picked up some from Toigo Orchards at the Penn Quarter FreshFarm Market last week and can't wait for more. I suggest getting some before I eat them all…

Have a happy Monday all!

Mystery Food Week 1!

2009-06-11T10:01:00.008-04:00

Ah yes, nothing says summer harvest season like a mystery bag full of fresh-picked vegetables and herbs.

This year, I've purchased a small farm share from Bull Run Mountain farm (www.bullrunfarm.com) and will be receiving a bag of produce each Wednesday until the end of October. Whatever is ready to harvest each week is what ends up in the bag, which I find really fun. I also bought a fruit share and will start getting fruit along with the vegetables in mid-July. Most fortunately, one of Bull Run's weekly delivery spots is less than 2 miles from my house.

Anyway, I thought it might be fun to share with my readers what's coming into season here in Northern Virginia each week. I would love to hear from folks in other areas about what's growing in their neighborhood, so please leave a comment if you'd like to be involved.

Week 1: 1 very large head of pac choi, a handful of Italian basil, several sprigs of oregano, some chives (fatter than any I have ever seen before!), baby onions, garlic scapes and a potted parsley plant. I was also offered pick of some of the farm's excess seedlings and chose a red cabbage plant and a purslane plant. I do love a good red cabbage shredded on top of barbecued pork. Purslane I have never grown or used before, so I'm looking forward to trying something new.

A very green harvest this week! The only supplements to this batch that I plan to pick up at the farmer's market are a head of cauliflower and a pepper or two. I chopped and sauteed the head of pac choi in a small amount of fat left from a slice of bacon along with one of the baby onions, some cannellinni beans and some of the garlic scapes. That's currently waiting in the fridge because it is to become soup later today. (I've been saving some vegetable/herb scraps to make vegetable stock and today finally have time to do so.)

I was recently asked how I plan out meals for the week with what most people would consider fairly scant information about what I might/might not have. So, here it is, a brief venture inside of whatever part of the brain does meal planning...

Wednesday: Get CSA share and start looking at recipes for whatever is in the bag.

Saturday: Visit the Arlington Farmer's market:

Meat: Weekly I usually get 2lbs. of ground bison (or 1lb. of ground bison and 1lb. of steak/hot dogs), and 1 lb. of pork loin chops or a small tenderloin. Every two weeks, I pick up a whole chicken and sometimes a few extra assorted chicken pieces. Sometimes, if there is a special deal on a particular cut of meat, I'll grab that in lieu of extra chicken to save money.

Dairy: Weekly I pick up yogurt and ricotta cheese. Every few weeks I might get some milk or cream to make ice cream, and I get butter about once a month. A tub of butter stored properly lasts us a good while since we use it sparingly.

Produce: I like to grab some fruit and a vegetable or two to supplement the CSA share. This will probably change once the fruit portion of my CSA share starts and more vegetables (as opposed to greens) come into season.

Other stuff: There's a lady who makes amazing apple dumplings, cookies, and doughnuts, so sometimes I stop to get Joe something special for Saturday morning breakfast. I also get a jar of honey about once a month.

And the rest? Right now I shop at two small markets (MOMs and YES!), both of which have nice "bulk bin" sections. These are a great thing to look out for because you'll pay less to buy grains by the pound than you will to buy them pre-packaged. I store grains in a cool, dark closet usually in mason jars. This has never failed me, so I don't need to buy frequently. As a bonus, mason jars have measurements on the side so you always know exactly how much volume of something you have. On hand, I like to have whole wheat pastry flour, brown rice flour, spelt flour, graham flour, rolled oats, steel cut oats, quinoa, some type of multi-grain hot cereal, and durum semolina (for pasta). Occasionally, I'll get something like arrowroot, soy, or sorghum flour to experiment with, but the above list is what I try to keep in the house regularly.

I also pick up things like nuts, nut butter, dried beans, and a few little snack foods that I haven't mastered making on my own (yet). I try to buy from companies that are local, or at least in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic regions. That said, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love to get a juicy Florida orange as a treat from time to time.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful for anyone who is looking to get more local food into their diet. It does take some planning, but it's really worth it at the end of the day.

That's all for now, but for those of you who've been following the Stanley Cup Finals, I think that Rex (a creation of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh) describes fairly well what I have to say about tomorrow's Game 7...
GO PENS!!!!

-Neen

Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Don't Discriminate!

2009-06-09T10:23:00.004-04:00

Generally, I like riding the Metro. I enjoy having the time to think about whatever I want to think about. At work and home there are usually little tasks waiting to be finished, but on the train there are no computers and barely even a cell phone signal. Free-thinking time.

Usually, this is a good thing. For instance, it gave me a chance to read up on the candidates for today's primary elections before I go off to vote after work. Yes Virginians, there is a primary today. GO VOTE. Polls are open until 7.

Some days, this thinking time is not such a good thing. Those days are usually the ones where something has gone awry and I'm brooding over it because I cannot think of any action to take. Yesterday was such a day. I was reading the news and came across this:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear a legal challenge to the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, a decision that allows the Obama administration to continue its slow, back-burner response to liberal activists who want gays to serve openly in the military.
During last year's campaign, President Barack Obama indicated that he supported eventually repealing the law, but he has made no specific move to do so since taking office in January. The White House has said it won't stop the military from dismissing gays and lesbians who admit their sexuality.
Democrats who control Congress also are not in a hurry to end the policy, which was made law in 1993. Easing the outright ban on gays in the military caused political trouble for President Bill Clinton and Democratic lawmakers that year, and Obama and his congressional allies want to avoid an issue that would roil the public just as they are seeking support for health care and other initiatives.
A Democratic aide to the Senate Armed Services Committee called a review of the law "not a high priority" and said the panel will look at the issue sometime before the end of Obama's term — but would not specify when. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely about the committee's plans.

It shouldn't surprise me, but it does. It sickens, disgusts, and enrages me beyond belief to see our government support such a shameful policy. And it made me wonder, "What if Clinton had stood his ground?" By compromising rather than demanding equality at the very start, it's made it far too easy for the homophobic portion of the population to consider "Don't ask, don't tell" a fair and just policy.

At it's heart, the policy is nothing more than basic discrimination. The fact that reviewing it is "not a high priority" is outrageous when those in power claim the U.S. as a nation to be a celebration of diversity. Using the excuse that repealing it now would distract us from our "objectives" in the middle East, or make it more difficult to pass health care reform, is ludicrous. By requesting that the Supreme Court not hear this case, the Obama administration has effectively slapped the faces of many of its most fervent supporters. I knew there would be decisions I did not agree with, but this was a no-brainer.

It doesn't take rights away from anyone, it doesn't take money away from anyone, and it's a Puritanical policy that was put in place to soothe a group of people who use this logic: It's okay for you to go and get your head blown off in a foreign country by some grenade wielding maniac, but don't you dare tell us that you love someone of the same gender! In other words, you're good enough to be a tool of our military, but not a human being with a full set of civil rights.

Support the troops? Then put your money where your mouth is and support all of them.

In Praise of the Pasture

2009-06-05T14:46:00.006-04:00

Note: The following post contains information about commercial beef production that readers may find disturbing. While I encourage you to read on, I ask that you do so at your own discretion and with an open mind. Thank you.

Before the corn industry took America by storm following World War II, cattle and other herbivorous, pastured animals were raised in fields using rotational grazing. This grazing practice divides a pasture into several sections and moves the herd between sections regularly throughout the year to prevent over-grazing. In return, the cattle provided their rich manure to help replenish the pasture year after year. This manure was also used to fertilize the crops grown on the farm. In fact, the working farm was very nearly a perfect cycle with no waste.

However, once World War II ended, the U.S. found itself left with an overabundance of synthetic nitrogen which had been used to make bombs. In an attempt to use it, it was given to farmers to use on their fields. With synthetic nitrogen now replenishing the fields, there was no longer any need to pasture animals. That same land could be used for growing more corn. Thus, the animals moved from the farm to the feedlot, where nature's balanced cycle was indelibly broken. Farmers were no longer forced to rotate crops in order to keep nitrogen in the soil and corn became the golden child of the commercial agriculture industry. It has since made its way into over 2/3rds of consumer products.

And as for those big steer in the feedlots?

A typical commercial steer is given access to "feed" fairly frequently while being contained in a pen with hundreds of others like it. I put the above word in quotes because I'm not sure that this diet can necessarily be considered food to an animal that is, by nature, an herbivorous creature. Here is what the average steer gets:

Flaked corn, liquefied fat which is often in the form of beef tallow, molasses and urea (a protein supplement made from the same synthetic nitrogen fertilizing the fields), alfalfa hay and silage, Rumensin and Tylosin (antibiotics), and synthetic estrogen.

What's important to remember is that steer evolved eating grass. Their stomachs contain a unique fermentation-like chamber where they can actually convert grasses into a form of protein. They're not biologically equipped to digest corn and force-feeding it has created the host of problems (like bloat, acidosis, and infection) that cause the antibiotics to be necessary. In fact, cattle are so ill-equipped to digest this food that it can only be given to them for 150 days at most before they must be taken off of it. According to Dr. Mel Metzin, a staff veterinarian at a feedlot in Kansas, 15-30 percent of feedlot cattle are found to have abcessed livers at slaughter, and in some places the figure is as high as 70 percent. The antibiotics are also needed because the cows sleep in the very same pen where they eat, which often means sleeping in their own manure for extended periods of time. While not a pleasant thought at the start, it becomes even more reprehensible when you consider all of the hormones and antibiotics the average steer is laying in on a regular basis.

These antibiotics make their way into our meat and unfortunately have caused antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria like e-coli to evolve. All of this doesn't even take into account the fact that the corn being fed to these non-corn eating animals is littered with chemical fertilizers and has been genetically modified to produce maximum yield (some new strains even have built in pesticides! Eee...).

If this sounds overwhelming to you, breathe a sigh of relief as I tell you that you absolutely do not have to support this even if you are an omnivorous human like myself. Below are the URLs of the two local farms that I choose to get my bison, pork, and poultry products from. I provide their websites to use as a reference for what you should look for if you want to find a sustainable farm in your area. Notice how open these farmers are about guests visiting and how freely they describe their agricultural practices. Farms like these can provide you with quality meat/poultry products from animals that are raised on the foods their biology programmed them to eat, without any added antibiotics, hormones, or genetically modified food.

www.smithmeadows.com
www.cibolafarms.com

Please note that I choose bison over beef purely for the health reasons (higher protein content/lower fat) and because it is more readily available at my local market. I have nothing against sustainably raised cattle. If you're really interested in finding a sustainable source of quality meat and are having trouble, please leave a comment and I will be more than happy to help you in your search. After all, I'm in library school...I can always use practice on those reference questions!

-Neen

References

Kessler, David. The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (Rodale, 2009).

Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Penguin, 2009) and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Penguin, 2007).

Why Should I?

2009-06-01T10:04:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, I took some time to consider the question, "Why do this?"

It was tough when I began to think about writing this particular blog post because there is a whole host of reasons why I've chosen to eat clean and as local as possible. Much of my reading as of late has been devoted to this topic and has inundated me with a great many statistics. While these are certainly important, what I am trying to do and the motivation behind it can be explained in much simpler terms by someone who has done far more research:

"Depending on how we spend them, our food dollars can either go to support a food industry devoted to quantity and convenience and "value" or they can nourish a food chain organized around values--values like quality and health. Yes, shopping this way takes more money and effort, but as soon as you begin to treat that expenditure as a kind of vote--a vote for health in the largest sense--food no longer seems like the smartest place to compromise."
-Michael Pollan

For tens of thousands of years, our ancestors ate the food provided by their local habitats. Even in (relatively) recent history, items transported from other places were rare commodities, saved for special occasions and relegated to things which simply could not be produced in the local climate.

With the advent of modern technology, we've learned to do it all quickly and efficiently. But is this really the best way to do things? Consider that most commercially grown products are bred for quantity (thus those watery, mealy tomatoes that pop up in the store in January) and visual appeal (but they looked so nice on the shelf!), and it becomes clear that what is being provided in the grocery store is nothing more than a mirage. Sure, the produce section looks full even in the middle of winter, but at what price? By the time those tomatoes reach the store, they've been shipped hundreds (if not thousands) of miles and their nutrition has degraded significantly. And since it's the middle of winter, you guessed it, you're going to pay more for them anyway. Paying more for an inferior product doesn't make sense, does it?

So, as Pollan puts it, you have to put forth the effort. This means buying tomatoes from a local farm when they are in season and preserving them as best you can. While canning, dehydrating, and freezing all cause nutrient loss, products grown using sustainable agriculture practices contain significantly more vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants than their commerically grown counterparts. So, while you'll still lose some in the "saving" process, you're left with more than what you'd get from the grocery.

Even much of that can be avoided by eating what is in season at any given time. Googling farms in your area can give you an idea of when certain products peak and what time of year you can expect to have certain vegetables and fruits. It's really forced me to try some new veggies, which is never bad! Plus, many farms are open for "pick-your-own" fruits and vegetables, which is a great way to get kids involved in healthy cooking as children are more likely to eat something which they've had a hand in choosing and preparing.

And yet, while all of these are fine arguments for local food, none capture what it is that drives me: I feel better. I am very curious to see how my blood work comes up this week after finishing iron treatment and really devoting myself to better eating habits. But it's not just a physical feeling of well-being either. It's embracing my place as a citizen of the world. It is accepting that food, in its most basic form comes from a complex web of relationships between living beings. It is understanding that while the lifestyle comes with its sacrifices, it embraces the harmony between those living things that provide us with sustenance and a sense of community.

While I'm not a member of a religious faith, this connection to what fuels us has brought me a profound sense of peace and has reminded me that nature is, in the truest sense of the word, awesome.

Clean BBQ? It's True...

2009-05-27T23:02:00.005-04:00

When Joe and I decided to have folks over for Memorial Day this year, I decided that I wasn’t going to prepare a bunch of food that I couldn’t eat. For one thing, I knew that there would be leftovers and I wasn’t tossing away my grocery money on food that wasn’t in my plan. Furthermore, I thought my guests deserved food and not “food-like products.”

Here I am hanging out with Mr. Stripey ready to grill, so what was on the (mostly) clean menu?

Clean Eating Magazine’s Caramelized Onion, Spinach, and Artichoke Dip served with Trader Joe’s natural corn tortilla chips, chopped carrots, toasted whole grain bread, and sugar snap peas (from Westmoreland Berry Farm---so delicious!).

Dry rubbed chicken legs grilled to perfection and then glazed with a natural BBQ sauce.

Grilled portabella mushrooms, green peppers, and tomatoes tossed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, kosher salt, lemon-thyme, pepper, and garlic.

Not pictured: Dry rubbed smoked spare ribs that I had hanging out in our freezer for awhile. I was saving them for a special occasion. I warmed them over low heat in the crock pot for a few hours with a bit of cider vinegar and sucanat in the bottom. It made its own sauce and tasted absolutely fantastic!

Chocolate sour cream cupcakes, modified from Clean Eating’s recipe. I replaced the skim milk with unsweetened chocolate almond milk the second time I made these and never looked back. Best chocolate dessert ever.

I also made classic and in no way clean vanilla ice cream using the base for Cliff’s ice cream recipe from the Top Chef cookbook. It was some really great stuff. I used heavy cream and milk that was practically fresh from the dairy and the rest of the eggs that I gathered from the farm. Joe is still savoring the final container of it.

Sunday evening I realized that my berries from Westmoreland were on the verge of over ripening. Not wanting to let them go to waste and having cold/sweet stuff on the brain, I made some frozen yogurt. That vanilla ice cream might be decadent, but this stuff is sweet, tangy, cool, and 94 calories a serving.

Fresh Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

2 cups good quality low-fat plain yogurt (I buy mine from Blue Ridge Dairy Co.)

1 cup pureed fresh strawberries

1/3 cup raw, natural honey

Pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and then chill in a lidded container in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This really improves the texture and flavor quality of the final product, so don’t skip the rest period!

Churn for approximately 25 minutes in a countertop electric ice cream maker and then transfer to a lidded container and freeze for at least 3 hours before serving. On his show Good Eats, Alton Brown often says, “Your patience will be rewarded.” Listen to these wise words.

(Makes 6 servings)

I really would have taken a picture of it's awesome pink color, but it didn't last long enough! I guess I'll just have to make it again soon...

Stay local!

-Neen

Breaking up...

2009-05-20T13:57:00.002-04:00

Here it is now, almost a month since we've been together. And I have to tell you the truth...

I'm not coming back. I thought about it and I'm happier this way.

I spent too much time and money, invested so much of myself, and for what? Salt solutions? Phosphoric acid? BOGOs? No, it isn't worth it. All the coupons in the world can't change that. You'll just keep offering the same things that kept me a prisoner of our relationship and I won't tolerate it.

You said I'd never be able to do it, that I'd come crawling back because of your ease and convenience. You said that my wallet would surely wither and my bank account balk at the very thought of looking elsewhere.

Oh how wrong you were. I know that the words "natural" and "organic" have no real standards, and so I bought food as local as possible and Googled the producers listed on the few prepared foods I did want to have. You didn't count on me learning to can, dehydrate, and process my own foods (oh the magic of the Internet).

And at the end of the day, I am told by others who wish they could do the same that they simply can't afford it. And that is what YOU have convinced them. With your "BIG BUY" packs of chicken breasts made up of salt solutions and hormones and your "GREAT VALUE" loaves of white bread that are mostly air. You've convinced people that I care about that you are offering the best value, that you want to help them stretch their dollar.

You are a big, fat liar.

A 1 lb. package of 4 buffalo burgers from Cibola Farms, (a local buffalo and pig farm that focuses on sustainable practices) cost me six dollars last week. Joe found the first sweet corn of the season at the Trader Joe's near his office for 50 cents an ear. That's two filling dinners for $4 a person. Yes, it's true that some products produced on a local, small scale have a higher price tag. But these whole foods are often more filling because they haven't been processed to death, leaving their nutritional content significantly higher.

I'm not saying I've got all of the answers. I'm just saying that I've found a healthier way to live my life. Maybe I'll stop by now and again for something Joe wants, or to grab some of that delicious sparkling water (which I haven't been able to replicate...yet), but for more? No, I'll be sticking to the farmer's market and MOMs for our groceries from now on.

Goodbye Big Box Grocery Store, goodbye.

My only regret is that I no longer have a surplus of plastic grocery bags to use when cleaning up after the dog...

Inspiration at the Farmer's Market

2009-05-11T09:38:00.002-04:00

I think that I must have been a farmer in another life.

There's nothing that gets me more motivated to eat well and eat clean than to buy groceries fresh from their sources. I have accepted that this means putting a few extra dollars aside every week, but it is a.) incredibly important to support local farms that focus on sustainable agriculture and b.) much better for all who eat my cooking to not be unwillingly inundated with extra hormones/salt solutions...etc.

It was with that motivation that I set out for a Saturday morning trip to the Arlington Farmer's Market. For many folks, the image of these street markets conjures up thoughts of craft stands with the occasional person selling homemade preserves or fresh herbs. Arlington's market, however, is a clean eater's paradise. There's a vendor for nearly any grocery item you might need including (but not limited to) a baker that sells whole-grain products (some gluten-free items), several dairy farmers featuring fresh eggs, milk, and cheese, veggie/fruit farmers with produce of all kinds, tomato and herb plants, livestock farmers selling meat and poultry, a mushroom vendor with a wide variety of types, and even someone selling raw honey. The Master Gardener's club also has a tent on-site to answer any gardening questions people purchasing plants might have.

This week's trip yielded a whole chicken, some buffalo burgers and jerky, pork chops, vine tomatoes, homemade ricotta (which is so good that eating it out of the container with a spoon is perfectly acceptable) and mozzarella cheeses, a dozen eggs, two giant portobello mushrooms, baby arugula, romaine lettuce and a sweet onion.

Many of the farms are located in Loudon County, which is having their spring farm tour this coming weekend. I've already decided that I want to visit one of the places where you can gather your own eggs, but it's also getting close to the time of year when strawberries are candy-like, so...decisions, decisions!

Anyway, my motivating trip to the market segued nicely into cooking. Looking to use up some of the grains I had around, I decided that pizza dough was in order...

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups whole grain spelt flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup whole grain durum flour (Usually labeled as semolina, has the consistency of fine cornmeal)
1/2 tbsp. light olive oil or grapeseed oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp. dry active yeast
1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees F)
1 tsp. sucanat or evaporated palm sugar

The method is the same as you'd do for any normal yeast based pizza dough...

*Dissolve the sucanat in the warm water and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow this to sit for 5 minutes or until the yeast foams.

*In a separate bowl, combine the flours and salt. Make a well in the center and gently pour in the yeast/sucanat/water mixture.

*Add the olive oil.

*Mix until a soft dough forms and then turn out onto a board lightly dusted whole wheat pastry flour. Knead 10-15 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

*Roll the dough into a ball and put it in a bowl that has been greased lightly with olive oil. Toss to coat the dough with the oil and then cover with a towel and allow it to rise for one hour.

*Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

*Punch the dough down and allow it to rise for another half-hour.

*Now, you're ready to bake! Stretch the dough out on a cookie sheet or pizza stone, top with your favorites, and bake for 15 minutes. (I made some homemade sauce out of those vine tomatoes and topped with the fresh mozzarella and a few dollops of ricotta)

NOTE: I did a slow-rise with this the first time I made it (24 hours in the fridge as opposed to 1 hour in a warm place), but it came out a touch tough. I prefer a crust that is crisp on the outside, but has a little softness to the bite.

A common complaint from people who try this and other whole-grain based breads/crusts is that it's heavy. Yes, it's true. I ate one piece of this pizza and was full for the rest of the afternoon. (Joe had two pieces and was full to give you an idea of how the average stomach reacts.)

You're absolutely going to feel full. Eating whole grains means that you've got to digest every part of the grain including the germ, bran, and kernel. It takes a lot of time and effort for the body to do that. When you eat refined flour, a lot of those elements get taken away, thus it takes more to fill you up. This is, I think, the main issue in the American diet that causes weight trouble. Most of what's hanging out on the grocery store shelves contains huge amounts of highly-refined ingredients, which in turn allow us to eat large quantities without feeling full. Add sugar, fat, and salt and you've created the drug that so many of us get hooked on.

Fortunately, many farmer's markets (including Arlington for those of you in my area) stay open year-round, and more and more natural food stores are opening up and forcing competition with some of the chains. While it's still more expensive than a trip to Safeway, I find that I am able to stretch the ingredients I buy further because I'm eating less. (We did have more than half of a pizza left yesterday!)

If you want to try some different flavors, replace the whole wheat pastry flour with garbanzo bean or white bean flour. It's a neat texture difference and really nice if you have a bit of a gluten-sensitivity(it is not, however, gluten-free).

That's all for now! Hopefully, the next few weeks will mean more time to experiment while I'm on break from school. If you have a recipe that you'd like to see reformed for a clean diet, please shoot me an e-mail at bananafish711@gmail.com. I'd be glad to give it a go!

Ciao friends!
-Neen

Food Rehab

2009-05-05T16:19:00.002-04:00

David Kessler, M.D., former FDA commissioner under presidents Bush the first and Clinton has been popping up here and there lately to promote his new book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. I saw him first on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and then last Friday on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Kessler theorizes that “hyper-eating” is not a personal character flaw, but rather a biological challenge that individuals must overcome through education and persistence. Lifestyle changes, along the increase of power in the advertising and food industries since the 1980s have left many Americans at the mercy of reward-driven eating. Kessler’s main argument is that the brain has a significant reward response to the diabolical combination of salt, fat, and sugar. This sets people up for a lifetime of food obsession due to the permeating presence of these attributes in most mass-marketed/widely available foods. Kessler makes an urgent plea for “food reform” and suggests a simple kind of rehabilitation for overeaters, promoting new sources of reward and pleasure.

Anyone who has ever tried to make a significant lifestyle change knows that it’s a struggle. Some days are easy, while others you find yourself frustrated, angry, and willing to make any excuse as to why it’s okay to stick with a bad habit rather than change it. One of the main things that surgeons performing the RNY and other weight-loss procedures emphasize is the lifestyle change. It’s repeated over and over again how truly permanent the changes have to be in order to make the surgery a success.

When I made the decision to cut refined flour and sugar out of my life, I was miserable for about 2 weeks. I chewed through multiple packs of Trident in a day to keep myself from biting the inside of my mouth or grinding my teeth. I had unbelievable cravings for bread, crackers, and salty snacks. My own miniature detox.

It took time, but I stopped craving those things with that kind of fervor. I still think about them and even still want them, but I don’t feel compelled to find them.

When I want sweets, I crave oatmeal with evaporate cane juice (sucanat), roasted nuts, Vietnamese cinnamon and diced apples. When I want salty food, I crave roasted chicken, spinach and artichoke dip, or hot multi-grain cereal with parmigiano reggiano and a dash of olive oil. As I have changed my lifestyle and altered the way I grocery shop, the cravings have changed too. I don’t stress about my “diet” as much because the only real thing I need to watch is the quantity of what I eat (oh freeze-dried fruit, I could eat you forever and a day).

What does it all boil down to? The cover of Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food (another great book) reads “Eat Food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants.” I think he’s got it covered pretty well. I’d add eat fresh and as local as possible too. Cleaning up your eating as opposed to simply going on a diet will have greater long-term benefits.

Some people who try a new diet often consider the idea of having a “cheat day.” As much as this idea seems alright on the surface, it’s considerably risky to healthy lifestyle success. If cheating means the occasional binge on a food containing large quantities of addictive, dangerous substances, then you can never really be the one making the decision. (Do you want food to make your decisions for you?) Food addiction is no joke and the obesity epidemic is evidence enough to convince me. You wouldn't encourage an alcoholic to indulge in one drink a week, so why do the same thing regarding your own diet?

That said, I'm not suggesting depriving oneself of the pleasure derived from food entirely. I'm simply saying that it's possible to feel healthy, sustained, and happy without needing dangerous foods to feel that pleasure.

If you're a foodie who takes pleasure in providing delicious things to others, I suggest starting a small garden and canning at the end of the season. There's a special kind of pleasure reserved for opening a jar of homemade tomato sauce in the middle of a freezing, gray winter.

Have a great week!

Cherry Blossoms Then and Now

2009-03-31T12:20:00.002-04:00

This time last year, I was seeing the cherry blossoms bloom for the first time.

I can’t believe that Joe and I have been in our new house with Dioji for nearly a year now. I still remember the feeling of terror that came over me as I sat on the hard wood floor in our living room staring at the dog’s expectant face…

“Now what?” he seemed to ask.

With a slight frown I sighed, “I don’t know…puppy.” (We hadn’t decided what to call him.)

It was a bright, sunny afternoon after what had been a fairly gloomy and grey morning. Sore and achy from moving in the day before, I was hunched over on the floor surrounded by mountains of boxes waiting to be unpacked. Joe and his mom were off collecting toys, food, and bedding for the new addition while I thought about what to do. I couldn’t believe that in the space of two days I’d acquired a new house and a new dog. While I considered that extremely fortunate, I was very nervous about all of the new responsibility on top of a job I’d only been at for a month. Oh, and did I mention I was applying to graduate schools too?

Tap. Tap, tap, tap. The dog was slowly pacing around what would become our living room.

“I bet you’re scared too.” He looked scared. What had I gotten myself into? Adjusting to a new city, new job, new school, and a new dog was perhaps too much to take on at once. Nevertheless, that was the situation.

The dog laid down in front of me, his eyes warily scanning the strange room.

“Why don’t we sit somewhere better?” I asked him. Even glued down (he was being prepared for the show ring before we adopted him), I could see his ears perk slightly. Slowly, so as not to startle him, I moved to the couch and patted next to me. He hesitated, but then eased himself next to me and let me pet his head.

“We’re going to be okay, puppy.”

I hoped that I was right. Joe and I are a very strong couple. Anyone who was close to us in Boston knows of the great “Riccardo saga.” Basically, we lived in a nightmarish, constantly flooded apartment for a year while fighting a crazy landlord the whole time. Afterward, I moved away for two months to study abroad in England and Joe went through shoulder surgery and physical therapy. Needless to say, we know how to get through tough times together. Still, even with the best teammate in the world, I felt overwhelmed at the prospect of everything before me.

But the bulletin board beside my desk is proof that things are different now. There are ticket stubs from the inaugural game at Nationals Park, a Wizards playoff game, and a Redskins v. Steelers game. Hanging among those are newspaper clippings from several local papers following the Steelers Super Bowl victory. Next to those is a list of Michael Phelps’ races (and a few pictures of him…mmm) during last summer’s Olympics. Each one has a red checkmark next to it, which I added after he won each gold medal. Scattered throughout the newspaper clippings are cards from Joe and Dioji, and pictures of my family. All just reminders of what a whirlwind, wonderful first year in DC we’ve had. There have certainly been some growing pains and trials along the way, but we’ve come out stronger and happier. (Really, can you ask for more than that?) These days, Dioji needs little more than to hear my keys jingling before he (clumsily) rushes down off of the couch to greet me.

And the future? I’m learning to live in the present, but my bulletin board certainly shows hints of the joys yet to come. Above the ticket stub from the Nationals game is my “save the date” card for Michael and Jess’ wedding. Also lingering among the newspaper clippings is one announcing that Billy Joel and Elton John will be playing the inaugural concert at Nationals stadium…on my birthday. Yes, I have tickets (courtesy of an awesome boyfriend who thinks I deserve such a rad birthday gift)! Commence girlish screaming.

I can’t describe how incredibly different I feel now than I did this time last year. For the first time in what seems like forever, the things that I hope and dream about don’t feel clouded by anxiety. For someone with a tendency to over think things, it is a great relief to think and consequently feel more positively. One day at a time, right?

They cherry blossoms are blooming again. The branches are full of white and pink buds that were never even a dream this time last year. They are brand new, and a welcome sight to eyes tired of winter’s barren appearance. I appreciate these flowers in a way that I’ve never felt before. The trees endured the long winter months to be in bloom for maybe two weeks. Maybe.

The flowers are a moment. Outside my window right now exists a moment that will never be again. That tree will never bloom in the same way. Right now is the moment for those cherry blossoms.

That’s what I mean by trying to live for today. I want to live for what is happening around me right now. It could rain hard or get terribly windy tonight and those flowers would be gone tomorrow.

So I’m going to go get a better look while I can!

The swimmer in hot water (and why we should cool it down).

2009-02-06T14:55:00.004-05:00

In the news this week is one of my very favorite athletes, Michael Phelps. Unfortunately, the reason he is in the news isn’t positive. Pictures surfaced of Phelps that depict him inhaling through a water pipe, a device commonly used to smoke marijuana.

I personally didn’t feel disappointed to hear this news and a lot of people around me were a little shocked that I didn’t think it was a big deal. Those of us who grew up with the D.A.R.E program had it burned into our brains that drugs were bad, dangerous, and only used by mean, awful people. At some point along the way, I found myself very curious as to what the “un-simplified” facts were, and after doing a lot of reading, I became of the opinion that marijuana should be legalized and taxed in a way similar to alcohol.

First there’s the economic impact. An article in the December 18, 2006 edition of the Los Angeles Times reads, “A report released today by a marijuana public-policy analyst contends the market value of pot produced in the United States exceeds $35 billion — far more than the crop value of such staples as corn, soybeans and hay.”

We are in the midst of an economic crisis. Legalizing and taxing marijuana could save taxpayers an incredible amount of money and invite a new revenue stream into the economy. In fact, according to Dick Startz, Professor of Economics at the University of Washington, “Washington state would save about $105 million a year if we legalized marijuana (U. Washington News, 6/3/05). He adds that, “An extra $100+ million would be nice for the state budget. But an even better economic argument for legalizing marijuana is that it would move the legal line, so that relatively safe drugs like caffeine, alcohol and marijuana are all on one side of the law and the truly dangerous drugs, such as crack and meth, are on the other.”

So it’s not just economically helpful, it almost has a “reverse gateway” effect. And the argument has support from some very well-read and reliable sources. Dr. Jeffrey Miron, a visiting professor at Harvard reported that, “Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year.” His report was endorsed by over 500 distinguished economists.

Then there’s the medicinal side. A federal report concluded that there was evidence of marijuana being beneficial to those suffering severe nausea and pain. The Institute of Medicine states that there is clear scientific evidence to support the therapeutic benefits of, “cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation."

In 2007, a group of researchers at Harvard University found that THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana, reduced the growth of lung cancer in mice (Forbes Mag., April 17, 2007). A year later, German researchers at the University of Rostock discovered that certain components in marijuana actually inhibit tumor growth, a conclusion also reached by scientists at Compultense University in Madrid in 2000.

A common argument related to the above is that marijuana is harmful to people’s health. According to a study done by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that there was no correlation between marijuana use and three types of cancer. The results surprised Dr. Donald Tashkin, a veteran of marijuana research, who said, "We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use. What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect." Another study published in the Journal of International Neuropsychology found that there was no correlation between long-term, heavy marijuana use and brain damage. Much like Tushkin, lead researcher Dr. Igor Grant was taken aback. “We were somewhat surprised by our finding, especially since there's been a controversy for some years on whether long-term cannabis use causes brain damage.” What’s important to keep in mind is that both of these studies were done with adults—but I’ll address why that makes a difference later.

And finally, there’s the infamous “Gateway Drug” theory. This has been debunked so many times over that it was hardly worth finding sources for. Over 12 years, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that teen marijuana use had no bearing on later drug or alcohol use. Several other studies that can be found here actually predict quite the opposite. Regular marijuana users do not, in fact, move on to other drugs. What is true is that using marijuana as a teenager can put the individual in contact with others who use and sell other, more dangerous drugs. Legalizing and taxing marijuana then actually closes the “gateway.” There’s no evidence suggesting that prohibition has done anything to curb marijuana use. Still, if I were the one considering how to legalize and tax marijuana, I would prefer it have an age-limit of at least 18. While many studies have debunked the negative effects of marijuana in adults, the effect could be very different for a teenager whose body, particularly the nervous system, is still developing.

But really, the bottom line in all of this is that adults ought to be able to make their own decisions. We let, nay encourage people to overeat (I firmly believe that the 2000 calorie Heath bar milkshake from Baskin Robbins which contains a half-pound of sugar is more dangerous than marijuana) and have legalized a drug (alcohol) which is extremely likely to be abused and is very addictive. What is it then that holds us back from making marijuana legal? Well, the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 wrote that it has a high potential for abuse and no acceptable medical use. I would say that research has come a long way in nearly 40 years, and that such outdated laws need to be revisited in light of overwhelming new evidence that contradicts the Act.

Michael Phelps smoked marijuana, it’s true. The International Olympic Committee doesn’t consider marijuana a banned substance, so there’s no issue as to whether he earned his medals or not. Phelps’ accomplishment is still one of the greatest in sports history, and there’s no reason that kids out there can’t still look at him as a role model. If parents are truly concerned about their children, then they should use this story as an opportunity to talk to them about drugs in an intelligent manner. May I suggest the book It’s Just a Plant: a children’s story of marijuana to get the conversation headed in a healthy direction. It is important that kids know that like alcohol, marijuana isn’t something safe for them. But I also think it's crucial that the discussion evolve as children become teenagers. “Don’t take drugs because it’s dangerous” is fine for a child because they can’t understand all of the issues, but it’s not right for a teenager. Level with them and say, “Look, these are the facts. When you’re an adult, you’ll have to make your own decision and accept whatever consequences come with that decision.”

I don't agree with U.S.A. Swimming suspending Phelps from competition for 3 months. I think it's excessive and unwarranted based on such a small infraction. But until we as a society make a decision to stop demonizing marijuana and see it for what it really is: a plant that could potentially keep cancer cells from growing/help cancer sufferers live better lives, then we'll never be able to really focus on researching those possible treatments. To ignore the possible benefits based on misconceptions is foolish.

So there's my two cents (more like 2 dollars...I did go on a bit) on the matter. I don't really want to take up a ton of space putting my reference list here, but I am glad to direct any of my readers to any of the articles I mentioned in the post. Just leave a comment.

That's all for now, folks!

-Neen

A Sixburgh Celebration

2009-02-06T14:53:00.003-05:00

So, I’m sure you can all guess that I’m still coming down off of the high from the Steelers winning the Super Bowl. I want to extend my congratulations to the Rooney family, the coaching staff, administrative staff, and (of course) the players for giving the fans such an amazing season. Pittsburgh just got its own personal stimulus package!

It was a really exciting game. Afterward there were the usual complaints about refereeing, but in all honesty, I thought this one was pretty square. Both sides got called for the ever-so-blatant holding on most occasions, and the two “questionable” plays were reviewed and confirmed. Yes, you heard me right. To the thousands of people on the ESPN boards claiming that the final play was not reviewed, it was, and Al Michaels said that they determined it was a fumble. I certainly understand the tuck-rule argument, but if you watch the tape you can see that Lamar Woodley clearly strips the ball before Warner’s arm begins to go forward. Once he was making the passing motion, he no longer had complete control of the ball.

As for Mr. Santonio Holmes…listen, if you can’t accept that his game-winning catch was stunning and an incredible athletic effort then you’re kidding yourself. Yes, his right foot was behind his left, but there is in fact a point (and I think it’s the AP photo that shows it—I may be wrong) where both toes hit and drag.

What I didn’t agree with? Well there were a couple of things. Personally, during the review of Big Ben’s touchdown (which was overturned), I could see a shadow under his knee. It may have been my imagination, but I think that one should have been six points. I was also disappointed in James Harrison’s behavior. Defensive Player of the Year or not, he should know better than to let his temper get the best of him during the biggest game of the year. I’m actually a bit surprised that Goodell hasn’t fined him for his actions.

At the end of the day, the Steelers made plays when they needed to and went home with the Lombardi. They certainly earned it, but I have to give credit to Kurt Warner. He now holds the number 1, 2, and 3 spots for most Super Bowl passing yards. Larry Fitzgerald was incredible as well. He made me hold my breath every time I saw him going deep. Anguan Boldin may be out of the picture in Arizona next year, so Fitzgerald should have a real opportunity to take a leadership role on the team. I read today that their offensive coordinater Todd Haley agreed to coach the Kansas City Chiefs next season, so it’ll be interesting to see how things change. If Kurt Warner retires (I doubt it), then Fitzgerald will really need to solidify himself as a leader on the offensive unit.

What more can I say? It's been a great season that ended with the one thing any fan of any team really wants. I'm proud to be a fan, and I can't wait until next season.

Continuing to Live Vicariously Through Hines Ward...

2009-01-22T15:42:00.005-05:00

I hope President Obama doesn't mind if we borrow his slogan...

In celebration of his Inauguration, the Rooneys presented the new President of the United States with the game ball from Sunday night's AFC Championship game. To quote Dan Rooney,
"He's a Bears fan first, he admits that...But he's a Steelers' fan. He's said it, and all his staff, they're rooting for us [in the Super Bowl]."

Before my sports blog made its move over from ESPN’s website, I posted my thoughts on the Penguins making it to the Stanley Cup Finals. With the Steelers now headed to Tampa for the Super Bowl, I was reminded of something I wrote then…

Yesterday the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 (ouch) to move on to the Stanley Cup Finals. I’m reading the local free paper on the Washington D.C. Metro this morning and see a picture of an elated Pascal Dupuis celebrating after his second goal of the evening. I can barely sit still. It’s the same maddening feeling I had two years ago when I realized that the Steelers were going to Super Bowl XL. I was living in Boston and had to have had the most ridiculous, goofy smile on my face for the whole week before (and then after!) the Super Bowl.

What’s so maddening about this feeling? Well, there’s no one to share it with when you live in a different city. In Pittsburgh, I know they must be bubbling over with nervous excitement. That is when I suddenly feel nostalgic and long for home.
…

I’m wishing I could be in Pittsburgh, watching the Strip District buzzing with excitement, sharing enormous sandwiches at Primanti’s over game highlights, listening to “Here We Go” on repeat, and immersing myself in that sea of black and gold.

Two stops later, a gentleman gets on the train wearing a Penguins ball cap. Shortly before I get off at my stop, I tell him that I like his hat and ask if he is excited for the upcoming finals. He answers with an elated “yes!” Not surprisingly, we are both transplants to the area from fairly close parts of Pittsburgh.

As I exit the train and begin walking toward the escalator, I catch a glance of him through the train window.

His smile is beaming, and I wonder if he’s back home for a moment too.

Writing that (8 months ago!) made me start noticing fan gear anywhere and everywhere. While the occasional Sidney Crosby jersey or Pirates hat would float by, it was mostly Steeler paraphernalia that caught my eye. From the quiet island of Chincoteague where a man in a Hines Ward jersey told me to “keep an eye on those Redskins fans,” to a bar in Northwest DC where a fellow fan and I debated the effectiveness of Casey Hampton, there were dozens of folks who noticed my hat (or super-awesome-$1-in-the-Strip-charm-bracelet) and stopped to chat. In any case, I’m on the lookout for the next week and a half for anyone in the area wearing Steeler gear. So if you happen to be doing just that in the NoVa/DC area, and a short 23 year old girl comes running up to high-five you, please don’t be alarmed. I can’t help it.

Right now I can barely let myself think about the possibility that in less than two weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers could become the first NFL team to have six Lombardi trophies. But I definitely don’t want to get ahead of myself either (pompous fans anywhere are obnoxious). The Cardinals are a formidable opponent and it’s going to be a really exciting game. I plan to have more in-depth analysis and some thoughts on the game as it gets closer. For now, I'm just enjoying the excitement.

Some Useless Trivia!

*Coach Mike Tomlin and linebacker James Farrior played against one another in college. Farrior was a linebacker for The University of Virginia while Tomlin was a wide receiver at William and Mary. In the game on October 4, 1994 Farrior finished with 2 tackles and an interception, and Tomlin finished with 4 catches for 58 yards.

*Larry Fitzgerald, Sr. has been covering the Super Bowl for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder for 28 years. This year, he will be covering his own son, Larry Fitzgerald, Jr., the standout wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals.

*At age 36, Mike Tomlin is the youngest coach to take his team to a Super Bowl.

*Kurt Warner didn’t start a game in the NFL until age 27. He is 37 this year and on to his 3rd Super Bowl appearance.

*The Steelers and the Cardinals are the only teams this year to have swept their respective divisions (the AFC North and NFC West).

Oh, and as for the title of this blog post? On my old ESPN blog, it asked me to describe myself "in my own words." Here's what I said:

I bleed black and gold.

I follow most professional sports, but my favorite is football. I play fantasy football on a couple different websites and dream about being a wide receiver in the NFL. (Alas, I am 5 ft 3.)

Debating players and sports is one of my favorite activities, but it's all in good fun. While passionate about the teams and players I love, I am in no way like my angry neighbor who broke his TV when the Pats lost the Super Bowl this year.

Here we go, Steelers.

A Pleasant Observation...

2009-01-16T14:17:00.003-05:00

(Late) Lunchtime! I thought I’d share an observation…

It’s been bitterly cold here in DC the past couple of days. Well, since most of my dear friends and readers are in Pittsburgh and Boston, I suppose it’s even colder for you. I won’t complain too much, I promise. It’s not even the cold that I mind so much, just the wind! Brr!

Anyway, I have to say that while the arctic chill has made me reluctant to go outside, I am absolutely amazed by the clear skies. When I lived in Boston, winter (particularly mid-January and February) meant cold, wind, mounds of snow, and GREY. It was always grey. It drove me nuts. There was one day last January so grey and cold (-20 with the wind chill) in fact, that I called into work sick because I couldn’t stand the thought of going out in it. (In fairness to me, being really anemic made it difficult for me to keep warm.) Here in NoVa/DC however, it’s still freezing, but the sun is shining! I wish I could express how good that is for my mood. It makes more of a difference than I previously thought.

Outside my window right now I see a powder blue sky and the bright sun gleaming off the dome of the Capitol. The trees are mostly bare, but the Capitol grounds and the Library of Congress campus are green and meticulously mowed to a perfect evenness. I’m sure that’s mostly because the Presidential Inauguration is on Tuesday, but it really does look great.

The whole city is buzzing with excitement. I saw some rehearsals outside of the Capitol earlier this week and watched some of the set up. Lots of street vendors are stocked with Obama merchandise (Obama lunchbox anyone?) and the city is preparing itself for the onslaught of people expected to attend the festivities. Restaurants are featuring some very cool specials as well. I particularly like Good Stuff Eatery’s Obama Burger. If you are a fan of Top Chef, that’s Spike’s (from Season 4) burger joint and I think it’s a pretty tasty place.

Joe and I (along with most area residents) will be watching everything from home. We’re both off both Monday and Tuesday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the Inauguration, respectively) and we’re welcoming the mini-vacation. They’ve closed off most of the roads/bridges leading from Virginia into DC, so we plan to hibernate and enjoy some quality relaxation time at home with the dog. To anyone planning to get to DC, I’d say good luck—it’s going to be packed!

Oh, and as for this weekend, I have this picture from my mom that says it all:

Go Steelers!

Have a lovely weekend, all.

Things Change

2009-01-14T09:18:00.004-05:00

At the beginning of December, I stopped tracking my daily eating habits and gave myself a bit of a break from the somewhat stringent self-imposed standard I’d set. Feeling guilty when I “messed up” and ate something outside of my plan was really getting to me, so I decided to reevaluate my habits.

Over the holiday, I ate white flour, had some cookies with real sugar in them, and even had a hamburger from a fast food joint (and found that it was less tasty than I remembered). I’d estimate I wavered between a 5lb. weight difference. Partially, I wanted to see how much of my practice with healthier eating has become intuitive, and at the same time I felt the need to give myself a little bit of breathing room during the holiday season.

After some evaluation, I was able to come to a few conclusions about my attitude towards eating and food in general. This helped me get a better idea of what I’m doing well and what I’m struggling with. Also, I have to admit that it was really fun to do my holiday baking without thinking about re-writing recipes.

A Cookie Is Not The End of the World

I admit it. I love peanut butter blossoms. I’m not sure who woke up one day and thought how awesome it would be to put a Hershey kiss in the middle of a peanut butter cookie, but this was a brilliant person. Sweet, savory, and rich all at once, I’m pretty sure that it’s my favorite cookie.

And I had several over the holiday. Did I balloon up to 200lbs.? No. Did my stomach feel a little queasy the evening that I ate three of them? It sure did! My point is that a cookie is simply not the end of the world or the end of a successful weight loss journey. By allowing myself some wiggle room, I took the guilt out of eating. With the guilt gone, there were no bad feelings to *gasp* drive me to want to eat more.

Flour Power

Many of the cookies I made over the holiday had a portion of the all-purpose flour replaced with whole wheat flour, ground almonds, ground oats, or whole wheat pastry flour. These grains and nuts added greater depth and texture to my baked goods while the all-purpose flour kept them from becoming too dense or crumbly.

White flour doesn’t provide much in the way of nutrition though, so where it could be replaced without the risk of lowering the quality of the final product, I did so. More and more, I’m realizing that an “all or nothing” approach to ingredients is somewhat foolish.

Karo Syrup Has Other Uses Besides Stage Blood

My senior year of high school, we had a group project where we needed to act out (and videotape) a scene from King Lear. Ours happened to be the one wherein Edmund wounds himself with his sword to make it look like he has been attacked by his brother Edgar. Karo syrup mixed with red food coloring makes excellent on-camera blood.

It also keeps sugar from crystallizing and making grainy, cloudy candy. My nut brittle and toffee never would have been the same without it. Again, it’s not something I’d advocate using on a regular basis, but corn syrup has its place in the kitchen.

Make A Friend at the Dinner Table

My mom and I sat next to each other at Christmas dinner and shared a plate of food so that we could each try everything without getting stuffed. This was a brilliant idea.

It’s Okay To Change Your Mind

Before I began writing this blog entry, I worried that it might disappoint some of my readers to hear of my holiday revelations. And that’s when I had the most important realization of all. Dear friends, every day we continue to grow and change. Had you asked me this past summer if I would ever have consented to that “holiday leniency,” I would have stubbornly said “no.” At that time, what was best for me was a strict eating regimen that included careful planning and calorie counting. It helped me develop the habits that kept me from gaining weight when I relaxed things a bit.

When autumn came, I was not only working full-time but also starting graduate school. Admittedly, weight loss moved down on my list of priorities. I was more concerned with getting good marks in my core classes. Since I had less time to plan, I needed to recognize that my meals would not always be ideal, but that I would do my best (whatever “my best” was on any given day) to make good choices. I consider it a success that I am around the same weight I was when autumn began. Strangely enough, removing the pressure and guilt from the situation actually helped me lose a pound or two over the holiday.

Simply put, it comes down to something I mentioned in my last blog post: Do what makes you happy. At the end of the day, you have to be okay with yourself. Sometimes that means admitting that you need some help to finish that big job, and sometimes it means giving yourself a kick in the behind. Know that it’s okay for “what you need” to be different the next day. Be flexible. Be adaptable.

Be happy.

New Lessons for a New Year (and Football Predictions!)

2009-01-08T14:58:00.006-05:00

As a rule, I don't really have New Year's resolutions. I love goal-setting, but having something set in stone doesn't work well for someone who tends to chastise herself when things don't go according to plan. Instead, I thought I'd share with you some of the lessons 2008 taught me (and that I will hopefully apply in '09!)

1. Guilt has no place in every day life.

We all have certain things we do out of a sense of obligation. What I discovered is that there are many things I've convinced myself that I have to do without any outside pressure. So, I started asking why. Why do I feel bad when I don't do the dishes in the sink immediately when I come home from work? Why do I feel obliged to go to a crowded party? (I'm not saying you should let your dwelling become a pig sty or that you should become a social recluse.) What I've learned is that I can take control of my decisions and own them. It's okay to let those dishes sit until a little later if I'd rather just have some quiet time after work.

2. Being healthy means taking a very honest look at yourself.

Taking my vitamins every day is not optional. 2007 taught me what I stood to lose by being ill-informed about my own health. This past year taught me an even greater lesson, and it was about being honest. I stopped drinking alcohol. I spent four years trying to keep up with other people my age at college parties before (finally) acknowledging that my post-op digestive system is simply no longer equipped to digest alcohol at a normal rate. I was not being honest with myself about my physical limitations. I accepted that there were certain foods I can't eat anymore, I accepted that I can only eat limited portions, but I couldn't accept the idea of going out for happy hour and not being able to have a drink with everyone. I don't know why--I felt like I wouldn't fit in at parties anymore. Once I stopped, I felt so much better. I didn't have to worry if the evening would be one where I was okay, or if it would be one of those nights where my stomach just couldn't tolerate it. Going out knowing that I won't have to worry about feeling sick is an amazing feeling. It's also great to know that I always have a designated driver!

3. I work to live. I do not live to work.

Our society places a lot of value on people who work tirelessly at their jobs. These people are to be commended for their sacrifice and dedication. Some people truly feel their best when they are working. But daily, I see nervous businessmen/women typing frantically on their Blackberrys while attempting to swallow a cup of soup for lunch. I hear people on the Metro say on their mobile phone, "Hey, I won't be home until after 8 or 9 tonight."

I like my job very much. I work with good people, I enjoy the work I do, and it's something I can do well. Part of the reason I am no longer at my previous job is because of the rigorous expectations of the corporate world. I had no wish to rush all day and work long hours for what was barely a living wage in Boston. I really believe that it doesn't have to be like that. I can hear the chorus of people calling me naive from here, but I honestly believe that things would still get done if people truly worked 9-5 every day and spent the rest of their time living.

We all have responsibilities at work. But tell me why those responsibilities should trump our responsibilities to ourselves, our families, our pets, and even our hobbies? It doesn't make sense to have priorities skewed so much toward what is only ONE part of life. This leads into my next point...

4. Slow down.

I don't want this year to fly by. Our family has so much to savor. My brother is getting married to someone wonderful (and I get to be in a wedding!), my cousin is having a baby, my dad opened a brand new office, and Joe and I are exploring what is still a relatively new home for us.

But sometimes with workworkworkworkschoolschoolschoolschool, I forget to just slow down and take some time to enjoy the things around me. It amazes me how far Dioji has come from the scared, shy, and wary dog he was the day we brought him home. Now he sleeps on my feet when I sit on the couch so that he'll know if I move. He's learned to play with toys (he was so confused for those first few months), he is too smart for his own good, and he makes me smile every day. Right now, I'm in my basement writing this blog and enjoying the smell coming from the pot of coffee I just brewed. It's a really simple moment, but what I'm doing right now is exactly what I want to be doing. That's a nice feeling.

6. It's ok that things don't go according to plan.

This has been a difficult one for me to learn. It's not that I haven't been aware of the fact that things don't always go according to plan. The problem I've had in the past is being at peace with that. I'd get very flustered and frustrated. After going with the flow a little more during the latter part of 2008, I started recognizing that sometimes change is better than the original plan. Things do, in fact happen for a reason. Allowing a little flexibility in life makes it more exciting. I ought to just enjoy the ride more often.

So, Happy New Year, folks. In the new year, I encourage you to follow your heart, trust your instincts, and remember this:

"Smart people do what they like to do, not what the world thinks." -Elia Aboumrad

Cheers, friends!

And now for something completely off-topic...

Seeing as my Pick'em league ended (Joe won! Congratulations!) before the playoffs, I thought I'd put my football picks for the playoffs up on here. This Sunday is the Divisional Round and the team I list in bold is the one I pick to win.

Baltimore @ Tennessee, 4:30pm Saturday: This is one of those games I see going into overtime and ending with a lot of very battered players on both sides. Two of the best teams in football right now are playing in what I expect to be the epitome of a smash mouth game. On the Tennessee side, this game is going to come down to Collins' timing with his receivers. If Ed Reed manages to get his hands on a pick, look out. To win, Tennessee must not commit turnovers and they have to find a way to run the ball against Baltimore's very stingy run defense. Baltimore also has areas where they need to step up. Rookie QB Joe Flacco has progressed well throughout the season under the leadership of new coach John Harbaugh. What I want to see is how some of the veteran leadership on the team (Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Derrick Mason) can help their young QB and first-time head coach avoid mistakes caused by inexperience. To win, the Ravens must continue to hold teams on 3rd down and force turnovers. That said, it's hard to decide who really has an edge in this game. Even with the game being in Nashville, I've got to think that Baltimore wants it more. Ravens win it on a Stover field goal.

Arizona @ Carolina, 8:15pm Saturday: If you'd told me this time last year that Jake Delhomme would come back after Tommy John surgery and help lead the Carolina Panthers into the playoffs, I might have scoffed a little. I didn't count on Deangelo Williams pulling out a 1500 yard rushing season or Steve Smith having a 1400 yard receiving season. Bottom line? Carolina has a well-balanced offense that's poised to adapt to its opponents. In contrast, Arizona has an excellent passing game with Kurt Warner having thrown for over 4500 yards this season, but a meager running game. If Carolina's secondary shuts down the pass, the Cardinals are in some serious trouble. Statistically, Arizona also fumbles more than Carolina does. In the end, I think that Carolina's balanced play will overwhelm the pass heavy Cardinals. Panthers by a touchdown.

Philadelphia @ New York (G), 1:00pm Sunday: This is an exceptionally hard game to call. Division games always are. Teams in the same division play so often that they really get to know the nuances of their opponents. Statistically, there's no category where one team has a distinct advantage over the other. The X factors in this game are the running backs. New York has to contain Brian Westbrook and force Donovan McNabb to make snap decisions. If McNabb has time in the pocket, the Eagles will win. Conversely, Philadelphia has to contain the trifecta of Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward, and Ahmad Bradshaw. With such depth in the running game, I predict a more confident Eli Manning in the pocket and a Giants win by 10.

San Diego @ Pittsburgh, 4:45pm Sunday: After last week's game against Indianapolis, let me say that I don't believe any of the injury reports coming out of San Diego. Tomlinson says now that he has a tear in the tendon near his groin. Nate Kaeding is also questionable with a groin injury. Losing either of these players could be a kick in the gut for San Diego. However, I think losing Kaeding might actually be worse. Let's not forget how excellent Darren Sproles has looked on the ground lately. Kaeding has a reputation as one of the most reliable kickers in the game, and if this one comes down to 3 points they're going to want the best guy they have trying to put it through the uprights at Heinz Field (a stadium infamously difficult to kick in). The other factor on the Chargers side is of course, Philip Rivers. In order to win this game, Rivers has got to keep his cool. The Steelers #1 ranked defense is going to throw everything it has at him, and in the past, Rivers has shown that he becomes flustered and makes bad decisions under pressure. As for the Steelers, I find myself less concerned about Roethlisberger's return from his (3rd?) concussion because I have confidence in the Parker-Moore-Russell tandem. Admittedly, it hasn't been Willie Parker's best season. It's possible that breaking his leg last season has left him a little bit gun shy. However, the multi-angled approach to the run has worked well for Pittsburgh this season. The receiving core hasn't looked too bad either. While the numbers don't look especially spectacular, Nate Washington, Santonio Holmes, and Hines Ward have all made plays when they needed to happen. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if it's 1 point or 20 points--a win is a win. The Steelers have been somewhat reliant on their defense to propel them forward. In order to win, the offensive line must keep San Diego from pressuring Roethlisberger in the pocket. During running plays, blocking needs to be a team effort in order to give the Steelers' running backs space to make big plays. I say Pittsburgh takes it by a Jeff Reed field goal.