Thoughts on Food

I’ve been going to the Hollywood farmers market for many years now. It is my favorite.

Yes, I know, Santa Monica is bigger and many say better and yes, I’ve gone to that one many times as I used to be the head chef at Pacific Ocean Post.  So, on Wednesdays, I would shop and cook from there. But really, there is something different about the Hollywood one. I mean, there is something different about all of the farmers markets, something untangeable. I think that they all speak to us in a different way, Studio City was great when Syd was young; lots of rides and a petting zoo…uck, not a fan of petting zoos. But, at the Hollywood one there is an air of excitement, like at any moment something could happen. Not that anything ever does….oh well. On to last Sunday …… Devin, one of our chefs had never been to Hollywood farmers market and Syd and I thought it was our duty to enlighted her so off we went .

I purchased my favorite mushrooms, the ones I wait for all winter, chanterelles…”oh chanterelles”  how I love thee… which we roasted with a chicken. Oh my, was it good!  Then, on to the fish lady….black cod, gently roasted in the oven, simple. Rick’s favorite. Then some sprouted seeds, which Syd thinks are gross but I tell her in my mom voice “they are Sooooo good for you” and last but not least, black kale.

Long story short (Iknow too late) Devin loved the market!

Here’s a great recipe:

Kale Chips.

2 bunches kale

sea salt to taste

olive oil, about 2 tablespoons

Pull off the leaves to about a 2 inches each

Wash and dry well, in a spinner if you have one

in bowl, mix oil, kale and salt.

On a cookie sheet, lay in a single layer

cook in a 400 oven for about 10 minutes

you MUST watch the kale as it will burn really  easy.

they are done when the look brown and are crunchy.

These are like potato chips but so very good for you.

Enjoy!

This summer, Sydney and I, along with my Mother “Nana”, went to visit Aunt Norma on Cape Cod-West Yarmouth.  It was hot, humid and completely beautiful. While there we had what I believe is the perfect meal which I must tell you about, not only to share but to remember.

The perfect meal can consist of really, anything.  Anything that is locally grown from farmers you have met.  Anything that you love to eat, anything that is prepared with a great deal of talking, laughing and lots of mess.  Anything where everyone is sitting down at a table (any kind will do) discussing, laughing enjoying and even debating (arguing) as Nana often seem to do.  Our perfect meal started with a drive to the tip of Cape Cod, (Provence town).  It was incredibly beautiful and crowded and filled with people celebrating upcoming carnival. On the way home we took the long slow road and found by accident the only winery on the Cape, Truro wines.  I bought two bottles and on the way out of the winery, we chatted with one of the owners babysitting her granddaughter about the Chinese maple tree planted in the 1800’s.  So, now we have the wine….

Next day a trip to Hyannis found us in the local farmers market buying fresh live lobsters from the fisherman who caught them that morning and baby yukon potatoes, green beans, yellow chard, young garlic and leeks from a farmer up the road and to finish off, fresh bread and the wine we bought the day before.

The perfect meal…

You know where everything came from . . .

It’s fresh REAL food . . .

Delicious.

But most of all, bought, made, served and eaten with tons of love and laughter.

Happy New year. Time to take stock, clean closets, make resolutions…… All the things to begin again. Personally, I love new years. We put all holiday decorations away, deep clean the carpets and generally set-up for a bright new year. What I’m not a fan of is resolutions. You know, the things we do to set ourselves up for failure. So I don’t make many. If there is really something you need to change then do it now not on a given day. With that being said this year I did think of a few……Blogging, something I thought I would do every week. Boy, did I get that wrong. I am (resolution #1)going to blog at least once a month. Resolution #2 spend more slow time. I call it potching, taking your time, looking at the small things, eating slowly, generally just not rushing all the time.

So, Happy New year and happy potching!

I can’t believe it’s the end of summer, or that it’s been months since my last post.  The garden is waning in the hot August sun, everybody is waning in the hot sun. But fall is around the corner. In the Wesley garden we have pumpkins growing. They are small now but with a little luck we may have our first Wesley pumpkin for Halloween. The time has come to start cleaning out the garden, what a big job even for a small garden and then the decision’s of what to plant!. Love these problems. Next week school will be back and I for one am looking forward to the schedules, cool mornings, busy afternoons and most of all seeing all the kids and cooking. 

This year is going to be the best one yet.

 

 

 

 

March Madness.
Basketball?
Well not for me. March madness means spring is here. The urgency of the garden is calling.

March madness is really about gardening, yes folks, gardening.
Most of the rain is over, the days are longer and warmer and I just feel it.  Don’t you?
I want fresh greens and herbs.  So off to the garden we go.
Soon we will be in the Wesley garden; cleaning, planning and planting.
The planting will include peppers, tomatoes ( I have organic heirloom seeds),
and all kinds of herbs . . . especially basil.  Our kids love basil!
Summer corn, pumpkins for October, zucchini and yellow crookneck squash.

Jessica Gottlieb is a Wesley mom and writer. She recently interviewed me for the Celsias
web site. Jessica was great, Check it out.

http://www.celsias.com/2007/11/22/our-green-school-part-i/

I get asked this question a lot.  The answer is mostly I don’t know.  I know, not the answer you expected.  I write the hot lunch menus monthly and for the most part it is an easy proposition but truthfully, it can be difficult.  I always have to balance what the kids want to eat with what we as parents want them to eat.  If they don’t like it, no matter how great it is, they won’t touch the stuff.  What I am finding is that although Pizza and tacos are still the favorite, salmon and broccoli are good sellers.  I would have never guessed that one.

As we start the new year, I am thinking about my own family and how we can bring more vegetables into our diets. We are good on the whole with fruits.  Dried mango from Trader Joe’s is Sydney’s new favorite, but we can always use a few more veggies.  I love to shop
at farmers’ markets on the weekend.  It is inspirational to see and smell the vast array of vegetables, herbs and fruits.  We usually make a big pot of soup with whatever is found a
the market. Cook, eat, freeze, heat and eat. My kind of food.

Farmers Market Winter Vegetable Stew

3 cups hard winter vegetables…..yams, potatos, acorn squash, carrot…..or any ones that you like.
1/2 onion chopped small
1 cup soft vegetable……zucchini, green beans, peas….again, any ones that you like.
1 cup canned crushed tomato
2 cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water.
salt & pepper to taste
1-3 cloves crushed garlic depending on taste
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons fresh chopped flat parsley
1/2 teaspoon thyme

In a large stock pot over med heat add oil and onions cook till just soft.
add hard vegetables, salt & papper, garlic,thyme, tomatoes and stock.
Cover, turn up heat till boiling then turn down to low and simmer for 45 min…till veggies are done.
add soft vegetables and cook for 15 more minutes.
add chopped parsley
check seasoning

You can also add any can of beans that you like just wash then thoroughly before adding

We like to add a little grated Swiss cheese to the bowlful.
Yum!

It’s finally “after the hoildays”. Don’t get me wrong I love them but they sure take a lot out of you.
It’s funny but holiday time takes a lot out of the garden too. We have been in the garden this last week and
it is a little over grown, a little frozen in spots and looking just plain old worn out. The garden seems to always look this way
in the waning moments of December. We have pulled, cleaned and replanted some winter veggies. The broccoli are starting to bud
and lettuce is just right for picking. January in the kitchen is going to be fun and filled with fresh made soups and roasted winter vegetables.

Peace to all in the New Year.

How’s that for a statement. This one came from my ever adventurous 12 year old eater. She has always been a great eater and I have
never heard those words come out of her mounth before. So here I was faced with the challange……What to do, I did what all great mothers do
I laughed. I laughed hard. I couldn’t fathom how my wonderful daughter could not want to eat my pork and christmas lima bean stew/cassoulet
made in my favorite orange pot for dinner. My MIL (mother in law) was coming over for dinner and I couldn’t be happier
with the menu; the stew, homemade biscuits, maybe a baked acorn squash with butter and nutmeg, salad and dessert. WOW.
What a great meal…..and she said, “uck.” So I laughed and told her then, don’t eat it. But that’s whats for dinner. Eat it or starve.
When i was growing up we had dinner every night. The money to buy the food as well as the time to cook it was hard to come by.
We never said uck. We never said we wouldn’t eat it. My mother put dinner on the table every night. sometimes it was your favorite
sometimes not but it was always hot, fresh and homemade. We were to appreciate the effort of working for the money to buy it,
the shopping involved and cooking. I didn’t know all this at the time, I knew that dinner was at 6 and we needed to be there to eat.
This was what was for dinner. If you wanted something else, well, you needed to wait for tomorrow when there might be something else.
Anything else was disrespectful. How true. So, I laughed and told her oh well this is what is for dinner tonight. Eat or don’t that is your choice
but, this is all that will be availble tonight.
Repect. comes in all forms.

Pork and Christmas lima bean stew.

In a large pot with a lid, heat till smoking, add cut up pork loin and turn till all sides are brown.
Salt and pepper the pork .
Add one sliced onion, 4 sliced carrots, thyme and rosemary (dried or fresh)
Add one cup white wine (anything you would like to drink that day)
Add 1 cup of limas dried……limas, you can use any kind of dried beans I found these limas at the farmers market and they are very creamy when cooked.
Add 2 cups water, stir.
Bring to a rollng boil then turn down very low and simmer for 2 hours.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Yummy.
Freeze leftovers for the next week.

Hello all from the kitchen.
The start of the new school year is underway. Our new hot lunch program
has gotten off to a wonderful start. The first day we served spaghetti and homemade meatballs,
pesto pasta and fresh broccoli. We couldn’t believe how fast the broccoli
went. I later heard from students and parents how well everyone liked it!
Again, it just goes to show that if you put out
good, well prepared, fresh veggies kids will eat them.