Cherries!

Hello again! Hope you've all had a wonderful week, despite the rain that some of us can't seem to escape. The good news is that the weather is finally right in Pennsylvania for plump, sweet cherries.


Shockingly, this was never something I cared about until, well, yesterday. Before now, I just couldn't get excited about these early summer treats, but the specimens that showed up in my CSA share from Kauffman's Fruit Farm changed my mind. In fact, they were so delicious that I decided to put them in a pretty bowl and take a photo for you. Sadly, by the time I got out my camera, my fingertips were stained red and the majority of the cherries had mysteriously disappeared, with only a lonely half dozen or so remaining. Still, I think they look quite lovely.


Despite my recent love-affair with these sweet fruits, I don't think I could be convinced to eat them any other way then straight off the stem. I'm sure some of you would beg to differ... How you would rather have them?

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As an aside, we've got a few fun things in the works for Fresh, so check back at the end of this week and early next for a summer surprise and a very good story for the coffee lovers among us!

Kitchen notes + See you in a week!

In about an hour, my hubby, JK, and I are unplugging from the world and heading up to his family's cabin to enjoy an entire week of swimming, hiking, relaxing and soaking up the sun (if the weather holds out). In fact, as I type JK is behind me haphazardly tossing most of his clothes into a duffel bag. The fact that he can do that in about five minutes, while I have to spend two days carefully planning everything I will need, is another story entirely.

Before I go, I wanted to leave you all with a fun and functional recent addition to our kitchen. Lately, I've found that by sitting down and making a meal plan each week, we eat healthier meals and have a happier wallet. The list doesn't have to be hard and fast, just an outline that helps me incorporate all the goods from our CSA share and figure out what else to shop for. Until this week, I scribbled the list into a little blue notebook and carried it to the grocery store with me. But now....

{ our new chalkboard, in all of its glory. jk said it made him feel like he was in a restaurant }

Yes folks, after months of searching, we have acquired a vintage chalkboard for our kitchen. Granted, it's less portable than the blue notebook, but seeing this chalkboard hung in our lilliputian kitchen makes me very happy. Already, it's inspiring me to find new ways to use the bounty of our bi-weekly produce share. If there are others of you out there with little things that make you happy in the kitchen, I would love to hear about them here!

So on that note, have a lovely week all and I will look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday! In the meantime, check out this awesome story about the growing trend of roof gardens from The New York Times earlier this week... And a thank you to my dear friend Jo for pointing it out to me!

Future for Dairy

It has been established that I enjoy my milk products. So it's no surprise that yesterday's conversation on Civil Eats about the future of dairy farms in America caught my eye.

The original piece is a reaction to the sharp drop in dairy prices that is endangering American farmers, who are now being paid roughly half of what it costs them to produce milk. Not surprisingly, the cause involves the economic slow-down. When the recession hit late last year, many dairy farms were expanding to meet the growing worldwide demand for milk products. As we all tightened our belts, the demand fell and dairy farmers found themselves knee-deep in a surplus. At the same time, we saw a loss in our milk product exports according to the U.S. Foreign Agriculture Service, and an increase in milk product imports. By late 2008, the dairy industry was in trouble.

{ An organic dairy farmer in Brookfield, Vt. Photo courtesy of the New York Times }

The Civil Eats post mentions that the price drop is worst for conventional and small to mid-sized farms, but a recent New York Times piece explains that the organic dairy industry is being hit at least as hard, as farmers who made big investments to go organic are now watching their cash-strapped consumers return to non-organic milk.

I'm cringing at the idea of losing 80% of our dairy farms by the end of the year, a loss that would make us increasingly dependent on huge dairy operations and foreign imports, and I am in absolute agreement that action needs to be taken to avoid that outcome. Unfortunately, the problem is reaching a critical mass and the solution will most likely need to come in the form of an immediate increase in subsidies. That said, I feel strongly that these subsidies be a temporary solution, the last thing we want to see is a dairy industry that looks like our model for growing and subsidizing corn.

The future of our small, medium and organic farms depends on an economically sustainable solution, and as Farm Aid's Hilde Steffey points out, "Ultimately, what our dairy farmers need is a complete overhaul of the milk pricing system: one that incorporates the national average cost of production, a fair living wage, and an inventory management mechanism designed to address overproduction as needed. Furthermore, the Department of Justice must tackle unchecked anti-trust violations and excessive control in the industry to ensure a pricing system that is fair and transparent for dairy farmers, processors and consumers alike."

So while subsidies are an important temporary answer, it's crucial that we look ahead for a creative and economically viable solution... The future of our ice cream depends on it. If you're interested in making your thoughts heard feel free to share them in the comments below, or click here.

{ honey lavender ice cream from Epicurious.com }

Rhubard Conundrum.

Friends, I have a problem. It involves rhubarb. Aside from a few appearances in a Strawberry Shortcake cartoon, I've had little to no experience with this spring vegetable. In fact, I cannot remember ever having eaten rhubarb before in my life.

{ The Strawberry Shortcake gang... Still pretty cute, I must say. }

Cut to three weeks ago and my first CSA pick-up of the season (more on that later). Amidst the bounty was a ripe bunch of reddy-pink rhubarb. It was a busy week, with not much time for experiments in the kitchen, so I tucked the stalks away in the crisper draw to save for later. In the meantime, I searched some of my favorite baking sources for the recipe the would provide my first taste, never mind preparation, of rhubarb.

Though I came across a ton of recipes, my mind kept wandering back to two options. One, a classic; strawberry-rhubarb crisp. Never a big pie fan, (unless it's my grandmother-in-law's famous chocolate pie or anything my friend Ann puts in her delicious graham-cracker-crust) I am a devoted lover of crisps and cobblers. Couple that with the aforementioned rhubarb and the truckloads of plump strawberries that I've been impulsively buying recently, and that's shaping up to be a serious late spring dessert. My plan would be to use the peach and raspberry crisp recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, substituting in the rhubarb and sweet strawberries.

On the other hand, I found a fantastic sounding parfait on Epicurious.com from Bon Appétit last spring. Saute the red stalks into a sweet compote with a hefty dose of sugar and a touch of Chambord, top with Greek Yogurt (or vanilla ice cream if I'm in the mood to splurge) and walnut-coconut candy. Sounds pretty amazing, does it not? And perhaps a bit more friendly for those of us preparing for swimsuit season.

{ Photo by Craig Cutler courtesy of Bon Appétit, April 2008 and Epicurious.com }

So help me out here folks... The rhubarb has been patient up to this point, but it won't wait much longer. Which recipe should I go for?

Fast food | Low grades

I came across a study on Sloweb yesterday about the connection between fast food consumption and lowered test scores in children. Though the study is one of the first of its kind, and certainly more will need to be done for definitive analysis, it is the first to draw a conclusive link between eating higher-than-average amounts of fast food and lowered performance in school.

From a sample of 5,500 ten and eleven-year-olds, the study showed that students who ate higher-than-average amounts of fast food scored significantly lower than their peers on a range of literacy and math tests. Even when accounting for factors such as weight, parental income and race; the results showed that students who ate fast food between four and six times a week scored almost seven points below average, while students who ate fast food daily or multiple times daily scored between 16 and 19 points below average. [Telegraph. 5/22/09]

{ image from Richard Linklater's movie, Fast Food Nation }

Though the results have raised questions about whether fast food causes cognitive disorders that can effect academic performance, I can't help but wonder if the issue is that eating higher-than-average amounts of fast food means eating lower-than-average amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other foods that we need for our wellness. That said, I am certainly not advocating for fast food, only questioning whether the greasy bagged meals alone should take the blame for lowered test scores as opposed to fast food as a part of a bigger trend in our diet and lifestyle. This question is exactly where the study of nutrition gets sticky; it is almost impossible to isolate particular foods for study, because eating more of one often means eating less of another.

Nonetheless, the results point to common sense. Whether it is fast food alone that may negatively affect academic test scores, or the coinciding lack of substantial nutrition, or a further unaccounted for factor like the connection between fast food and parental involvement with homework, it seems that there is a clear link between a diet heavy in drive-in meals and lowered classroom performance.

Hopefully, this test will be the first of many and we will soon learn more about the specifics of this connection. In the meantime, it seems more important than ever to promote healthy eating in the classroom through nutrition and nature education curriculum. Do you know of a family, school or district that is doing this particularly well? What seems to be working and what isn't?

Sweet Capogiro

It's no secret; I have a sweet tooth. This seemed normal enough when I was growing up. Most of my family shared a similar affinity to sweets, so it wasn't until after I left home and roommates started commenting on my tendency to enjoy a bit of chocolate after breakfast when I learned that not everyone loves chocolate and ice cream quite the way I do. And oh my, do I love ice cream. So naturally, gelato also gets my attention.

I couldn't tell you about the first time I tried gelato. It must not have been a memorable iced-cream experience. This shouldn't come as a surprise since gelato is about the best dessert in the world when done right, but can be just "meh" when done wrong. Sadly, most of my pre-Capogiro forays were forgettable. But I can absolutely pinpoint my first experience with Capogiro, and many of them since then. It was post-sushi date in the city, spring of 2008 (I know, I was late to the game- the artisan gelato shop opened its doors in 2002). As usual, I needed something sweet to finish the meal and Capogiro's contemporary European storefront caught my attention. So did the line winding out the door and down the sidewalk. I figured whatever they had to offer must be worth the wait... And it was. Sweet Lord, it was.

{ the midtown village storefront, courtesy of the Capogiro website }

I was stunned by the variety of flavors; chocolate hazelnut, burnt sugar, rhubarb and avocado just to name a few. I settled on a Thai coconut milk and bittersweet chocolate combo that night, and the rest was history. I was hooked.

{ a peek at a few of the fruity flavors, photo by Richard Cress courtesy of GoPhila.com }

But here's the best part. Owners Stephanie and John Reitano craft their flavors seasonally and source local ingredients first, including milk from grass-fed hormone-free cows, from farms in nearby Lancaster County. And in the Italian tradition that inspired them, they make the gelato in small batches each morning. That's a sweet treat I can feel good about eating... Even if it is before noon.

{ a shot of my most recent Capogiro experience at Dujour Market in Haverford; Lancaster County mint with bittersweet chocolate }

One Step at a Time

At its simplest, food is a good thing. The right kind of food nourishes us, comforts us and sustains us. But right there, we’ve already run into a hitch. The right kind of food. It’s not always easy to define, and filling my shopping cart with it can be even trickier. Loosely, many of us define the “right kind of food” as Seasonal, Local, Organic and Whole, having also been raised humanely and with respect for the land. My preference would be to always buy this kind food straight from the farmer, warm from the sun and still covered in dirt. During the Pennsylvania growing season when our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share starts up, I’m lucky enough to do that. But when that isn’t an option, I find myself at Whole Foods.

It’s there, standing in the entrance, that the seemingly infinite number of nutritional philosophies, environmental factors, political motivators, personal food preferences and cost issues that influence my food choices overwhelm me. So much that I am left paralyzed at the door, shopping cart idling away from me as tornado of competing priorities whirs through my head. When I regain consciousness, I’m left frazzled and feeling guilty for not doing enough to support the local food economy that I badly want to help build. And this is just after considering the short list of food choices for myself and my family. At other times I worry about all of the other people who do not have the time, energy or resources to devote to sorting out the issues of where to shop, what to buy, and what they can afford. Granted, I come from a long line of worriers and it has been said that I worry too much. But I wonder if there are any of you out there with some of the same concerns?

In a recent short essay on Superhero Journal titled, “Good Enough,” writer Andrea Scher aptly points out that many of us don’t allow ourselves to be satisfied with what we have done, and instead end up focusing on everything that we haven’t done yet. The result is constant stress and a nagging feeling of never being “good enough.” In the case of eating healthfully and contributing to a local food economy it’s easy to be overwhelmed by this feeling. The obstacles standing in the way of a network of local, organic and environmentally responsible food economies are large. For this reason and others, buying seasonal, local, organic, whole foods 100% of the time is simply not an option for most people. But this shouldn’t mean that we can’t enjoy our food, or take pride in the steps we are taking to support sustainable food systems.

Which brings us to One Step at a Time. This Fresh category will introduce manageable steps to providing the healthiest food for ourselves and our families, supporting local producers of organic, humanly raised food and even improving our environment and access to good food for our wider communities. You may find some of these ideas doable for you or you may find that you already use many of them, in which case please share! Others you just won’t have time for, and that’s okay too. The reality is that a huge number of factors influence our food systems. To this end, some of us may be most comfortable writing a letter to our congress person about the change we want to see, while others prefer to shop at organic farmer’s markets and let their consumer dollars do the talking. Either way, by focusing on one step at a time and taking stock of what we’ve already done, we can let go of the “never having done enough” feeling and start enjoying our food. Because in the end, it really is a good thing.

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Does this all sound familiar? Do you all have ideas or specific concerns that you would like for me to address in upcoming One Step at a Time posts? If so, feel free to share them below.