Truly Terrifying Treats

Ready to dive into your Halloween candy?  Not me.  PGPR?  Vanillin?  TBHQ?   Those are the ingredients found in many chocolate products, including Twix, Mounds, Reese’s, and Hershey’s.  My kid’s pre-school gave us a box of these petroleum and lighter-fluid-filled products to sell to raise money.  (I will be making alternative suggestions for next year’s fund-raiser.)

PGPR, or polyglycerol polyricinoleate, is derived from castor oil and replaces cocoa butter.  That doesn’t sound too bad, aside from cheapening the product, except cocoa butter is where the phenols (potent antioxidants) and the stearic acid come from.  These  prevent cholesterol from building up in arteries and increase the good LDL in the blood.  Beware of health labels touting dark chocolate as an antioxidant if they’ve replaced the cocoa butter with castor oil.  Wikipedia details this: 

• Castor oil and its derivatives have applications in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, paints, dyes, coatings, inks, cold resistant plastics, waxes and polishes, nylon, pharmaceuticals and perfumes.[5]  
• The castor seed contains ricin, a toxic protein. Harvesting castor beans is not without risk.[6] Allergenic compounds found on the plant surface can cause permanent nerve damage, making the harvest of castor beans a human health risk. India, Brazil, and China are the major crop producers, and the workers suffer harmful side effects from working with these plants.[7] These health issues, in addition to concerns about the toxic byproduct (ricin) from castor oil production, have encouraged the quest for alternative sources for hydroxy fatty acids.[8][9] 
• Alternatively, some researchers are trying to genetically modify the castor plant to prevent the synthesis of ricin.[10]”   

Vanillin  is our next villain.  Beside being a cheap imitation of vanilla, is a petroleum product.  It is made from guaiacol – a petrochemical, because it’s cheaper.  It’s supposedly safe, but how much petroleum is safe to consume?  Think about it: If most of what you eat comes from processed foods, what artificial and chemically-derived ingredients are building up in your system?  How can a combination of these additives, used to make “food” cheaper to produce and last longer, effect your health?

Finally, what is TBHQ?  Officially, Tertiary Butylhydroquinone.  In plain English, it’s lighter fluid.  The FDA allows foods to contain up to 0.02% TBHQ in the total oils.  This is not just a candy additive to prevent rancidity, but found in processed foods, convenience foods, and McDonald’s chicken nuggets.  Natural News states:

• Consuming high doses (between 1 and 4 grams) of TBHQ can cause nausea, delirium, collapse, tinnitus (ringing in the ears), and vomiting. 
• There are also suggestions that it may lead to hyperactivity in children as well as asthma, rhinitis and dermatitis. It may also further aggravate ADHD symptoms and cause restlessness. 
• Long term, high doses of TBHQ in laboratory animals have shown a tendency for them to develop cancerous precursors in their stomachs, as well as cause DNA damage to them. It is also suggested that it may be responsible for affecting estrogen levels in women.

While it’s rare for my family to buy fast food (we prefer Wendy’s or Dunkin Donuts when we do need food on the run), I will not eat a fast food chicken nugget again or serve butane-tainted food to my family.  This does not make for a happy meal.

One way to avoid these toxins and support sustainability is to give out sustainable chocolate.    These chocolates have the cocoa butter and anti-oxidants without cutting down rain forests or supporting child labor.  Here are a few good brands: GREEN HALLOWEEN.  You could also give out  apples, toys, and home-made treats.  A little known fact: The first news story about the razor in the apple was faked, but it certainly helped the candy companies.  Why fear the food companies when we can fear each other?

12 Pound Mushroom and Firecrackers

I was in the neighborhood of ________________ to get some test done, and there, in the woods, a way off from the main street and away from any idling cars, was a a cream and brown cluster of coral-like growth.  It rose like ruffled feathers from the cool October earth, just over the lower trunk of an oak tree.  A few blades of grass had grown threw the spongy mass the size of a generous pillow.  It was a hen of the woods mushroom.  I sent my husband in to confirm, since he at least had had one course about mushrooming.  In the realm of safe bets, a misidentified hen of the woods would only taste bad and not kill us.  My husband cut it, placed it in a giant paper bag, and took it home.

It resided in our fridge for a few days while I fried up small pieces to try.  A centipede hid from the open-door light.  After two days of larger portions of a mild, chicken-like mushrooms and no ill-effects, we went for it.  I feared what we would find, after seeing the centipede.  And there were more of them.  But overall, this was a very clean mushroom!  I pulled out the grass.  There were a few pieces past their prime we cut away.  There was still a lot of mushroom left.  I washed and sliced a cup-full and sautéed them gently in butter over low heat, about ten minutes.  Much better than the quick fry I did earlier.  The rest of the mushroom was broken into pieces, frozen in bags, dried in the oven, and simmered into stock. The whole house smelled pleasantly of mushroom.  I made Chinese firecracker rolls, ate some, took some to a party, and some to church.  It should be noted again that eating misidentified mushrooms can lead to illness or death.  I've made this recipe with reconstituted shiitake mushrooms, which are also delicious.

Divide and Conquer

Sauté!

Stock!

Drying, 175ºF, about 24 hours

Dried and Ready for Storage

Vegetarian Option

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Firecracker Cabbage Rolls

Taste of China

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Prep: 20 minutes  Cook:  20 minutes  Makes: 20

2 tbs. cooking oil, divided

1 cup chopped, re-hydrated Asian mushrooms (wild option: 

     hen of the woods mushrooms – cook thoroughly)

1/2 pound ground turkey or pork (optional)

2 cups grated cabbage

1 cup grated organic carrots

1/4 cup diced onion

1 tbs. minced fennel leaf (or 1 tsp. fennel seed) 

20 sheets thawed phyllo dough

Chili paste:

2 Anaheim chiles, re-hydrated and chopped

1 tbs. cider vinegar

1 tbs. chile water

1 tsp. white sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Heat 1 tbs. oil in large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown meat, if using.  Add mushrooms*, cabbage, carrots, onion, and fennel, cooking until vegetable are tender, 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Run chile mixture through food processor and stir into cabbage mix.  Fold phyllo sheets in half length-wise.  Place 2 tbs. cabbage mix on end of sheet and roll tightly to other end.  Twist ends to look like fire crackers.  Place each roll on greased cookie sheet.  Brush with remaining oil.  Bake at 375ºF 18-20 minutes, until golden.  Serve with extra chile sauce, if desired.

* If using fresh wild mushrooms, sauté over low heat in oil or butter until cooked thoroughly.

It's All About the Beaver, Yo!

In farming, that is.  Attracting fish and wildlife, cleaning up rivers by removing pollution and pesticides, and raising the water table, these dams are part of a “beaver solution” in Spokane, WA.  The beavers assist in wetland restoration (also a great boon for bird-watchers).  Wetland sediment caused by erosion binds to pollutants like phosphorus, nitrogen, and heavy metals.  The dams keep that sediment out of the water.  Beaver Solutions also help land owners protect trees, manage flooding, and remove beavers to place them with farmers who actually can use their skills.  One farmer uses their dams for irrigation, notching them to flood his grazing pasture.  The industrious beavers repair the notches by the next day.  (Listen to the podcast at Living On Earth.  Mark Seth Lender’s following essay reads like a poem and is INCREDIBLE.)

Perhaps beavers can assist our New England cranberry farmers.  The biggest threat to them now is runoff from people over-fertilizing their lawns.  Over the years, and especially in the recent economy, farmers have sold off the land that once protected their wetlands and bogs to developers.  The woods that would have absorbed pollutants and protected the cranberry bogs have become chemical-green carpets down to the shore.  I see the same thing near my own home, a lawn extending into the lonely pond, the woods on the opposite side strewn with plastic water bottles, the huge stones left behind by colonialists sprayed with graffiti.  Each spring, my family cleans the woods and recycles the plastic.  This week, I’ve never seen the woods worse.  Now, kids on ATVs and mopeds race through, scraping and knocking down saplings.  I’m glad I rescued one of the wild blueberry bushes, which now thrives in my garden.  But what do we do about the human animal?  How can we educate people to know that supporting the natural ecosystem is to our advantage?  

Taken in the school garden.

Besides educating the general public that the health of all organisms depends on not using toxic chemicals, we can utilize the work of more animals in our own food chain.  One human who knows this well is Joel Salatin (see Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan), who runs Polyface Farm in Virginia.  He calls himself a “grass farmer” because that is the basis of the food chain he has established to produce meat from chicken, cattle, and pigs, as well as eggs.  The cows graze on a mix of grasses, clover, and forbs, rotated carefully by Salatin.  Two days later, when the cow manure has slightly aged and the fly larva is very plump, the chickens come in, working the manure into the land, adding their own fertilizer, and eating the weed seeds and grubs.  The pigs have their share too, rooting through composted cow manure to get to fermented corn.  Salatin also keeps several acres of woodland to the north, which act as a wind barrier, erosion control, supplying acorns for the hogs, and keeping predators of chickens contained.  All the animal waste is composted and recycled.  Customers say the quality of the meat and eggs cannot be matched.  

Another farmer wanting to grow blueberries organically in California found that gophers were actually his friend.  He set up Sierra Cascade Farm with 8 1/2 acres of highbush blueberries, with another 61 acres supporting the ecosystem.  When John Carlon first planted his bushes, gophers moved in and dug tunnels under the transplants.  Carlon expected to have to get rid of them, and spent several springs trying to trap them, with limited success.  But he noticed that the blueberries weren’t worse for the wear and discovered that the gophers dug tunnels well below the shallow root system of the bushes.  When he finally gave up trying to trap the gophers, local owls, coyotes, and gopher snakes from his surrounding land took care of the perceived pests until the population stabilized.  The burrows left behind became ideal habitat for bumble bees, the natural pollinators of this North American crop.  Bumble bees are much more reliable pollinators, not being daunted by cold or rain.  Plus, they’re free.  Carlon no longer has to rent honeybees.  (Organic Gardening AUG/SEP 2011)

How did YOU do?

My students caught bumblebees in our pollinator garden this week for scientific study, where I knew we could take advantage of their slow-moving docility and the cool temperatures of October reduced the chances a honey bee would sting them.  We also found miner bees, another docile species.  My hope is that through our school garden program, children will gain a life-long respect for our our ecological diversity.  While I was buying Mason jars at a store I normally wouldn't be caught dead in (starts with "W"), I overheard a man ask a clerk where the bee killer spray was.  I almost went to talk to the guy...why didn't I?  I don't expect my students to grow up to be farmers any more than artists (art being the subject I teach), but perhaps they will think before they spray or fertilize, buy organic foods, vote for leaders who will protect the environment, or become those leaders themselves.  What we do, what we believe, we are all connected.

Harvest Poetry and more...

Would you like to be part of something AMAZING?  Come to Fort Hill Farms 260 Quaddick Road, Thompson, CT 06277 for the "Harvest Poetry Festival" Oct. 22nd 1-4 p.m. Poets Joyce Heon and Joan Cantor, Music by Licia Sky, J-Cherry, The Conduit Project, and Gale Gardiner.  Guest Speakers Daniel Quiray (wild forager) and Adam G. Smith (child cookbook author), plus Colin Haskins, Melissa Guillet, Ryk McIntyre, David Cassarino, Andrea Barton,  and Douglas Bishop.  There will also be pumpkin carving and painting and a corn maze at other parts of the farm, great local ice cream, and more music from Tom DiBuono performing a mix of folk, bluegrass, country and even some Halloween songs. 

Jamaican Ginger Carrot Apple Bread

What an amazing weekend!  Friday my spouse and I tried Abyssinia on Wickenden Street in Providence and had a royal sampling of Ethiopean cuisine.  Everything was delicious, but the red lentils were by far my favorite.  Saturday I volunteered at the Burriville Farmer's Market doing soil testing through URI and met one of the women from Rhody Warm, where wool from local sheep is made into high-quality blankets.  Then I met friends who took my daughter apple picking, and we went to Waterfire to see my martial arts school break boards for breast cancer research.  They broke over 5000 boards in under ten minutes and raised over $25,000.

Sunday I made the Jamaican Carrot Bread (below), which I brought to church.  I talked to one of the women from the food pantry about our school garden donating our winter lettuce and they are thrilled to get produce in the frigid months.  Service was followed by the Scituate Art Festival.  Good finds all around: A hippie shirt for me, hot sauce for Daddy, and a book and butterfly wand for our daughter.  Took some nice shots.  Picked up our CSA.  Relaxed back at home, as much as a four year old will let you.  

Monday I attacked the garden, cutting the blackberry canes down to a foot.  There are no acorns to be found.  I think we're in an off-year.  I also attacked the fridge, cooking all the corn that's piled up in the crisper.  The older cobs I made into salsa with the counter-ripened tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and jalapeño.  The rest of the corn I cut from the cob and froze for a chowder later.  I made a portabello, onion, and Yukon Gold "cake" with fresh thyme, from a recipe in Gourmet magazine (October 2000).  Then I roasted cubed butternut squash and comice pears in Worcestershire sauce and thyme at 450ºF for 40 minutes, stirring gorgonzola and toasted pecans in after it was cooked.  I got the idea from a dish my friend brought over to my husband's 50th birthday, but added the pears and sauce to bring it up a notch.  I think a pinch of cayenne would be good too, although I didn't try it in this batch.  The first batch had cayenne and I pureed it all, but the textures are one of the best parts and got obliterated in the puree.  I also pan-roasted the squash seeds in butter and Worcestershire sauce.  Do this over LOW heat or the seeds will start jumping out of the pan!!!   Tomorrow, I'm making my Fiesta muffins with the salsa to freeze and trying out the sunflower muffins from a local cookbook: Out of the Earth A Heritage Farm Coast Cookbook.  I am now on the hunt for Maycombers, a cross between a radish, turnip, and cabbage.  Let me know if you find any!

Vegetarian/Vegan Option

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Jamaican Ginger Carrot Bread

Taste of the Caribbean

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Prep: 20 minutes  Cook:  25 to 60 minutes  Makes: 4 small loaves, 

     25 muffins, or one bundt cake

2 eggs or 1/2 cup of apple sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

2 cups peeled, grated, organic carrots (4-6)

2 cups peeled, grated, fresh or stored apples

1 tbs. minced ginger (include juice)*

2 cups unbleached flour 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg** 

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup of milk or water

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup flax seed (optional)

This is a Jamaican-inspired carrot cake that also includes apples for a very moist result.  Apples can be available year round with careful storage.  Some Rhode Island orchards send unsold, perfect apples to a temperature- and humidity-controlled facility in Conn-ecticut for just such storage.  Home-stored apples should keep until February.  Chose only unblemished or bruised, under-ripe and tart apples, washed and completely dry.  Wrap tightly in newspaper and store in a root cellar around 30-32ºF and with 90% humidity, careful not to let the apples freeze or their cell walls will burst.  

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Beat eggs (or apple sauce) and oil with an electric mixer until the consistency of pudding.  Mix in sugars, then ginger, carrots, and apples.  Sift flours, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl, then add dry mix in small amount to wet mix, blending with mixer after each addition.  Stir in milk or water, and raisins, flax seeds, or nuts, if using.   Grease pans or tins and fill half-way (use all of batter for bundt cake).  Cook 40-45 minutes for four small loaves, 20-25 minutes for muffins, 1 hour for bundt cake, or until toothpick comes out clean.

* Ginger can be easily peeled around its unpredictable curves using a spoon.  Or use prepared minced ginger.

** Use a micro-planer to quickly grind whole nutmeg.

Keeping It Simple

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day, right?  It's easy to pour a bowl of cereal or grab a power bar and be on your way.  Michael Pollan has a very simple answer for what you should eat: Eat food.  Look at what you're eating.  Is it food?  Or is it filler, MSG, HFCS, modified something or other?  There are great cereals, even "power bars", not loaded with sugar and fillers.  But if you make the time, there's nothing better than protein and fiber to energize you long-term.  This morning, I made enough home fries for six and fried up some eggs and made toast.

The toast came from a honey wheat bread recipe I modified by added a 1/2 cup of Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Cereal mix and using leftover honey water from canning peaches instead of the separate honey and water from the original recipe (Idiot's Guide to Easy Artisan Bread).  The dough didn't rise as much, but unlike the three other times I made the bread, the center wasn't gooey.  I made the dough and my husband baked it, also 20 minutes longer than the recipe stated.  It was very dense and sliced well.  Being slicable has been key in testing out recipes.  One loaf a week does the trick, so making bread is not overwhelming.

The home fries are even easier.  Dice and sauté some onions in oil or butter.  Throw in some pre-cooked diced potatoes with skins on.  (I microwaved red potatoes.)  Finely chop kale and any other vegetables on hand.  (I threw in my African eggplant.)  Season with salt, pepper, and your choice of curry powder, garlic powder, ground coriander, fresh or dried thyme, or oregano.

Looking to lose weight?  You can still eat food.  Just eat less and exercise.  I'm not a doctor or dietician, but your body needs certain vitamins.  I lost weight on the Atkins diet, cutting out carbs, then gained it back.  Eat less, of course.  Too many Americans want two of everything: two eggs, two toast, two scoops of ice cream, two cars...  See how you feel with just one.  At the very least, you're saving money.  In the last 6 weeks I've lost 8 pounds, eating food that is actually food, and exercising.  Many people just do a food diet where they're eliminating something.  Eliminate junk, yes.  But if you don't exercise, your metabolism will slow down.  Exercising also makes you LESS hungry.  Find something aerobic you enjoy doing and do it three times a week.  For me, it's tae kwon do.  A friend of mine runs and is running in Boston this weekend for Breast Cancer Research.  My dojo is breaking boards for breast cancer research at the Providence Waterfire tonight at 8:30.

I'll also be doing free soil testing at the Burriville Farmer's Market (135 Harrisville Main Street) from 9-12:30, so bring in your dirt!  I'll have free hand-outs from my blog on a first come basis.  I hope to see you there!

Parsnips and Pine Mouth

Recently, I made a huge batch of pesto with three different types of basil, parsley, olive oil, and pine nuts.  I had wanted to gather pine nuts locally, even though they would be smaller, but no luck.  Instead, it was raw pignolis from Russia, via Trader Joe's.  Of course, I snacked on a few of them.  The pesto was delicious.  A few days later, the metallic taste came.  I was eating green jello brain when I first noticed it.  Artificial lime flavoring?  No, it's actually a common reaction to pine nuts, no matter where they come from.  It goes away on its own, but eating sweet foods especially brings the metallic taste back.  Who knew?  This morning, at least, a week later, the frittata I made from local eggs, fresh thyme, chopped green onions, mozzarella, and diced tomatoes from the garden tasted the way it should.  Perhaps I'll make pesto with pecans next time.

Which brings me to parsnips.  My husband hates them, as many people do.  If I took two of the roots and made the sign of the cross, I probably could chase him out of the house.  But I love parsnips.  Garden Grill on the Providence/Pawtucket line makes a great Farmer's Pie with them.   I even made a point of making them when a friend was visiting that I knew to love parsnips as well.  I roasted them slowly in an oven, knowing I wouldn't be eating them alone.  This friend is Jewish and we're a long way from setting up a seder plate, but just in time for apple parsnip soup, an Irish invention.  My husband had seconds.

Gluten-Free/Vegetarian Option

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Apple Parsnip Soup

Taste of Ireland

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Prep: 20 minutes  Cook: 25 minutes  Serves 8

4 cups green apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2” cubes

3 cups parsnips, peeled and sliced 1/2” thick (about 1 lb.)

2 tbs. butter or oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 carrot, grated

1 stalk celery, sliced

5 cups no salt broth (chicken or vegetable)

1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

1 tsp. dried crushed sage

3 whole cloves

1/2 cup or more plain yogurt, sour cream, or creme-fraiche

Heat butter or oil over medium heat in large sauce pan.  Add onion, carrots, celery, and parsnips, stirring occasionally, cooking five minutes.  Add apples, broth, salt, pepper, sage, and cloves.  Simmer until parsnips are soft, about 20 minutes.  In small batches, pour soup into blender and blend until smooth, or use an immersion blender.  Divide soup among bowls and stir into each one 2 tbs. of plain yogurt, sour cream, or half-and-half, leaving a white swirl.  Serve immediately.