Foodmomiac

Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Welcome to my first-ever (and possibly only) book review on this site. After three years of restaurant reviews, I would be happy to never review anything again, but this book is too phenomenal and monumental to not discuss here.

Also, though I'm discussing a book, this isn't REALLY a review. I just want to share some thoughts about it. To order a copy for yourself, click here.

As regular readers no doubt realize by now, I am a big fan of eating locally, eating responsibly and teaching my children to do the same. That said, it's not always easy. As the pretty, pretty Mir pointed out a week ago, this can be an expensive proposition. Organic meat, especially, is a lot more costly than conventional, but after reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I am more resolved than ever to change the way I shop for my family.

Specifically, I am going to do everything I can to buy more local, seasonally-appropriate and organic produce, dairy and meats. I am doing this for health reasons (organically-grown meat has more Omega 3's, more vitamin D and less cholesterol, not to mention the lack of chemicals) and for environmental reasons (I am tired of buying Washington apples, in the fall, when local ones are just as readily available. It's not worth the carbon footprint. It's for that same reason that I don't eat or buy tomatoes except in late summer). I just placed my grocery orders online. I ordered my staples from Peapod, but I ordered my meats, produce and dairy from Fresh Picks.

Additionally, Michael and I are going to see what we can do about creating additional food storage opportunities in our small-ish house. I'd like to be able to buy tons of tomatoes in August/September and then can them for the off months. Reading about this in Kingsolver's book was just mind-altering for me. I also think it might be nice to buy a large portion of meat (like a share in a pig or cow), and then store it in a freezer. Since I do want to buy only locally-raised, organic meat, this is the more economical option.

In the book, Kingsolver and her family eat only locally-produced food (with some very small exceptions, such as coffee) for a year. They grow and raise much of it themselves, on their farm in Virginia. Obviously, this is not entirely reasonable for me, seeing as I live on a city lot in Chicago, but the lessons taught in the book were meaningful regardless. EVERYONE can learn something from this book, even those of us living in big cities.

I have to say that at times the book is a bit preachy, but I was probably a bit more sensitive to that than others, just because with me, she was kind of preaching to the choir. That said, though much of the information in this book wasn't news to me (it's not that I was under the impression that factory farming was a good thing), it just brought it home in a new, more personal way that truly resonated.

To market. To market.

  Farmers market bounty 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

I have been battling a crappy cold for nearly four days now, so when I woke up from my sleep, groggy and froggy and very sluggish, it totally did not occur to me that today was Farmers Market day. Luckily, I am married to a morning person who has not yet caught this bug. "Farmers Market!" he yelled down, as I was pouring a hot cup of coffee. Ah yes, Farmers Market.

It's no secret that I am in love with the Green City Market. Truly, madly in love. And, when I can get there early in the morning with my daughter, a couple of tote bags, and a pocket full of cash, things are good in the world.

We started off at the crepe stand. Two weeks ago, Dylan hated her crepe. This week, she declared that she would enjoy one if I got it for her. She promised! And, indeed, she ate almost her entire crepe. With honey this time, instead of jam. I tried the cheese and herb variety, which was delicious, but I was jonesing for something sweet when I was done. Next week I go back to the butter/sugar variety.

Following our crepes (which we ordered while dancing around to the fabulous, live music that was playing - kind of a bluegrass/blues mix), we went over to Capriole, the famous goat cheese maker from Indiana (just over the Kentucky border). That is quite a schlep, so I was THRILLED. I got one Wabash Cannonball and one slice of Sofia. The Sofia is my favorite. I could eat this cheese for days straight. It is phenomenal. (The Cannonball is great too.)

Once we were cheesed up, Dyl and I headed over to a booth with giant piles of heirloom tomatoes. She picked one of the biggest specimens I have ever seen (you can see it on the bottom left of the photo - that is just one tomato, even though it looks like three). We also got a beautiful living lettuce and some cute baby cucumbers from that booth.

Other items from our bounty include arugula, shelling peas, strawberries (outrageous, from Seedling Farm), baby beets, radishes, and some beautiful carrots.

I have no plans yet for any of the items we bought (but the tomato is already gone - I had to slice it up because it was so ripe). Any ideas??

Pork Chop, Mache Salad, Roasted Red Skins

  Pork Chop, Mache Salad, Roasted Red Skins 
  Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac.

There is a lot of pressure inherent in ordering produce from a CSA, or having produce delivered from a business like Fresh Picks. I have no philosophical problem spending more money than usual on my produce. Because the offerings were (mostly) local and all organic, I am glad to pony up a few extra bucks. But, when you get a box of produce totaling $46 delivered to your kitchen, there is a lot of pressure to actually use it all.

It's also a little awkward that Fresh Picks will only deliver to my neighborhood on Thursdays. We don't cook on Fridays and Saturdays, so the produce just sits there, taunting me. I made myself feel better this morning by making up a menu that used nearly everything that was brought. And dinner tonight was a great start. We had grilled organic pork chops (from Peapod, not from Fresh Picks), roasted red skins (from Igl Farm), and a salad made with mache (from City Farm), French breakfast radish (from JenEhr) and cucumber. The kids and Michael also had some corn (from Nature Blessed).

It was a delicious way to start diving into our box of produce. The potatoes were especially fabulous. I was amazed by how sweet they were. To prepare, I scrubbed them and cut them into wedges. I then tossed them in a ziploc with a few glugs of extra virgin olive oil, some kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, smoked paprika and garlic powder. I put the bag in the fridge for about an hour to let the flavors meld. When I was ready to cook, I put them on a baking sheet and into a 400 degree oven until they were crispy and the skin had blistered. It was probably a good 45 minutes.

Tomorrow night (if I'm home in time from my one-day business trip) is eggplant casserole and brown rice.

I'm Joining a CSA!

One of the things I am most looking forward to when we move to Ann Arbor is being able to FINALLY join a CSA. I have wanted to do this for a couple of years now, but there aside from one or two small-scale farms here in the Toledo area, no one is doing it in NW Ohio. I found one last year, but the woman didn't return my phone calls, so I just gave up.

OK, what is a CSA? I realize not everyone knows, so here is a definition from Local Harvest (a great and very important website, by the way):

Many farms offer produce subscriptions, where buyers receive a weekly or monthly basket of produce, flowers, fruits, eggs, milk, coffee, or any sort of different farm products.

A CSA, (for Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce. By making a financial commitment to a farm, people become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA. Most CSA farmers prefer that members pay for the season up-front, but some farmers will accept weekly or monthly payments. Some CSAs also require that members work a small number of hours on the farm during the growing season.

I went on Local Harvest yesterday to find a CSA that serves the Ann Arbor area, and there were 12 to choose from! TWELVE!! I was actually overwhelmed. I had to make a chart to go over the various benefits! I think I found the one I want to do. As soon as my house sells (positive thinking - this WILL happen), I am subscribing online to the Summer Season Single Share package. Woo hoo!

Not only am I excited for bountiful amounts of glorious, organic produce, but I am also excited for the blog worthiness of a CSA. Every week I'll be getting interesting vegetables that will need to be prepared. Fun, fun, fun.