The Leftover File

Hope your Thanksgiving was tasty, warm, and filled with friends and family, recharging your gratitude tanks. The holiday recaps I've heard range from "we ate so much that we weren't hungry all the next day," to "I'm proud that I managed to fill my plate, stay away from seconds, and didn't feel ill afterward," to--at the other end of the spectrum--"our family usually goes for a walk around Lake Washington while the turkey is roasting." Goes for a walk? It crossed my mind, the thought of exercising, as I lay on the floor watching football afterward, but that's as far as that went. Instead I only roused enough energy to put on the sweatpants I was smart enough to pack for just such an occasion.

Sadly, we've eaten up the leftovers, but if you still have mashed potatoes lingering in the fridge, give Deborah Madison's mashed potato cakes recipe a try, from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I served these up with her applesauce (made from leftover market Jonagolds that didn't fit in the pie) and sour cream. Yum.

Mashed Potato Cakes
2-1/2 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup dried bread crumbs (I just ground up a bread heel in the food processor)
clarified butter or olive oil for frying

Shape the potatoes into 12 round or oval cakes about 3/4" thick. Coat them with bread crumbs and set on wax paper. Film a heavy skillet with some of the butter and set over medium heat. When HOT, add the cakes and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Flip and fry on the second side.

She also suggests serving them with sauteed onions, which I'll have to try next Thanksgiving!

Besides lying around in my food-induced coma, I managed to get through one book off my UrbanFarmJunkie to-read list, for which I posted this review on Goodreads.

The American Way of Eating by Tracie McMillan. (3.3 of 5 stars.) McMillan goes "under cover" as a migrant worker, a Wal-Mart stocker, and an Applebee's "expediter" to understand where our American food system goes wrong. (I say "under cover" in quotes because I can't imagine--given that she's white and small in stature with soft hands--anyone in the California fields was fooled by her story that she just wanted to work hard and not think about things or talk to people.)

What she discovers will not be too earth-shattering for people who read about our food system. Field workers are under-paid by the piece, which then gets converted to minimum wage, resulting in ludicrous pay statements that say they only worked a couple hours that day. McMillan claims that, in the price of your average supermarket apple, the cost of growing/harvesting it amounts to 16% of its price, with marketing infrastructure making up the remaining 84%. Thus, if wages to workers were increased by 40%, the resulting increase to the average American family's annual produce bill would be about $16. Count me in! I look forward to chats with my local farmers market farmers next spring about how they would divvy up their costs. Given that their produce prices are comparable or only slightly lower than supermarkets, does that mean more of the money makes its way to the farmer and workers?

The Wal-Mart produce section wasn't such a shocker, though I didn't realize 1 in 4 American produce dollars gets spent there. Things get wasted, things get "crisped", things don't have a lot of flavor. The pay is lousy, full-time employment is hard to come by, overtime is avoided. Uh-huh. Interesting that, when Wal-Mart has a lot of competition in the food department, their prices are lower. If there's just them, or them and another store, they're not that much cheaper. Also, because of their ginormous deals, they're your go-to folks for shelf-stable, processed, fake foods.

Applebee's was another case of overwork and underpay, not to mention Olive-Garden-style nuked and reheated pre-prepped food. The discussion of how the assembly-line model moved from manufacturing to food service was interesting. I had no idea it began around the turn of the century (the 20th, that is).

Because she worked at survival wages for a couple months in each situation, McMillan's heart is with bringing decent food and wages to every class in America, not just the middle-class and beyond, happy with their organic produce and farmers markets. The rise of urban gardening in Detroit and the new availability of fresh produce in food deserts are two hopeful trends, as is the modification of the food-stamp program to require fresh fruits and vegetables. As she points out, the underpaid have both less time to spend on home cooking and less money for great ingredients, but, at least among the migrant workers, there was still plenty of cooking and shared food happening. Maybe such a return to community division of labor would make better eating possible for more of the population.

If this subject interests you, you might also enjoy CHANGE COMES TO DINNER by Katherine Gustafson (discussion of hopeful signs in how Americans are relating to food and getting fed).

Next up I had a foodie-type memoir, but I abandoned it fairly early on, biased perhaps by the recent New York Times article on how memoirists need to make sure they have something that needs saying. As I read about the author's unloved childhood and pot-smoking college ventures, I had the tired feeling this story was all too common, and I didn't feel like slogging through to where the risotto saved her. Never fear, however! My UFJ to-read list remains six books long, and growing...

Thanksgiving Best Practices

This week I've been polling people on what works and doesn't work for their Thanksgivings, and the answers were as varied as the ones who gave them. Therefore I have aggregated them for you, dear reader, so you may pick out the ones you consider gems and discard the rest.

Talking Turkey

"I was stressing about the turkey, and a co-worker told me she was just picking up a smoked turkey from Honeybaked Hams. On the way home from work I ran by and grabbed one. Boom. Done."

"The moistest turkey I ever had was baked in one of those Reynolds bags. No brining necessary."

Brine me if you dare

 
"I loosen the skin and put butter and herbs underneath it to keep it moist and flavorful. No brining necessary."

"I love brining the turkey. It's not a pain." (If you go the brining route, start immediately. Here's Eiko's recipe from Skagit River Ranch.)

"I cook the turkey breast side down. It's not as pretty, but it keeps it moist."


Cultivating Thankfulness

"We go around the table and have everyone say something they're thankful for."

"We go around the table and have everyone say something they appreciate about another generation present."

"Give someone the gift of attention. See that person and thank him or her for something specific."

"Send a gratitude letter or even a text!" (My husband read me a gratitude text he had received last night, and it brought tears to both our eyes, especially because we'd been discussing something discouraging.)

Grateful for candle pilgrims

If you're on Facebook, you probably have numerous friends listing what they're thankful for every day, and you may be seeing random items of desperation, such as I found on my girls' Thankfulness lists this year ("DS games," "carpet," "that I'm not a procrastinator"). (Just FYI, I do not require my children to draw up Thankfulness lists. It's one of the bizarre behaviors that develops spontaneously when you're pastor's kids.) If you face this same problem of trying to come up with genuine reasons for gratitude at the drop of a hat, one study recommends listing a few things from yesterday you were grateful for. It will make you review your day thoughtfully, see it objectively, and appreciate.

Adjust Expectations
This was a great one, I thought. A friend told me her mother-in-law always arrives with the vegetable tray--an enormous one--and plunks it down in the center of precious counterspace, along with bags of prepared refill vegetables, ready to be plundered the second the celery sticks show signs of dwindling. If anything gets moved off the counter to a more out-of-the-way spot, she freaks out. For years this habit drove my friend bananas, but now she realizes the veggie tray is her MIL's way of showing love--her heartfelt contribution. There the vegetables will be. And my friend will tell herself, "Deal with it. Plan ahead. Work around. It's not the end of the world."

People want their childhood foods. You may be on some kind of diet. You may have eliminated processed foods, carbs, meat, sugar, what-have-you. You may think it's a great idea to substitute mashed cauliflower for mashed potatoes or to serve a crustless pumpkin pie (both suggestions from the health club magazine where my kids swim). All I know is, next year I would not want to eat at your house. Or not for Thanksgiving, at any rate. Serve people what they're expecting. Save the diet and food proselytizing for another day.

Made with Bloom Creek Farms cranberries

Speaking of traditional food, there's the cranberry sauce controversy. My stepfather falls in the it-ain't-cranberry-sauce-if-there-aren't-ridges-from-the-can camp, whereas I like fresh. We serve both at the table. But weird, fresh cranberry-orange relishes are neither desired nor offered, thank you very much.

We have to draw the line somewhere.

If you have tips for the meal or for encouraging grateful hearts, feel free to share them here. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Countdown

Skagit Turkeys (note the heavenly light surrounding them)

My mother-in-law and I just divvied up The Dinner. Here's how it played out:

RITA--
Turkey (but my Skagit River Ranch turkey will be delivered this week for personal consumption)
Gravy
Hors d'oeuvres
Pumpkin pie

ME--
Homemade rolls (I'll substitute some whole wheat flour)
Apple pie (delegated to the pie-baking husband)
Butternut squash (suitably disguised as dessert--I'll also add marshmallows to the topping)
Green bean casserole
Brussels sprouts with apple and bacon

That last item I forgot to mention to her, so it'll be a surprise. Did I mention that Thanksgiving is my favorite-est holiday ever? All the food of Christmas, without the gift-giving onus. A holiday where you actually sit around being thankful for what you have already received. No lists, no debt, no gift wrapping, no shipping, no returns. The only downside to the World's Best Holiday is that it marks the end of our Bellevue Farmers Market season. And that is a bummer.

Last chance until May to stock up on just-picked local goodness! Apples. Pears. Greens. Squash. Tomatoes. Herbs. Eggs. Salmon (buy and freeze!). Honey. Jam. Treats from Snohomish Bakery and Manini's. Toffee. Soup. Fruit-veggie smoothies and more.

So long, farewell, Bellevue Farmers Market 2012 season!

10-3 in the Congregational Church parking lot. Dogs are welcome, as are early birds! The only birds who have to fear this time of year are the turkeys. And on that note, I leave you with this compelling music video by Katie Rice Music on behalf of our feathered feast fixings.

And the Beets Go On...

(Photo: NC Times)

Yippee! Whatever your political bent, I hope we can all agree that the end of election season is cause for rejoicing, if only because all those signs littering our communities can be cleaned up, and we can stop rushing to the phone only to realize it's another of our strident candidates calling.

The only opinion I'll venture here is that I was sorry to see Proposition 37 going down in flames in California. For those unfamiliar with 37, it was the proposition that genetically-modified foods be labeled among ingredients, as is already done in more than 60 countries around the world. Oh, well. We consumers will have to go back to paying attention ourselves. For starters, remember that 80% of American soybeans are genetically modified (usually so they can resist being doused with Round-Up), and nearly that high percentage of Canadian soybeans. Soybeans, soybean oil, and other soy derivations are in just about everything (along with genetically-modified corn and its derivations), so look for organic labels if that bugs you.

Now more than ever we appreciate being able to trace our food to its grower and to talk to our farmers when we have questions. I loaded up this past Saturday on vegetable goodies I'd gone too long without (see my hurricane post): baby bok choy, bell peppers, brussels sprouts, potatoes, onions, garlic, black beans. What riches!

"Branch-Ripened"(?) Brussels Sprouts

I was also excited to see we welcomed a new farmer to the Saturday Market:

Hand-Farmed Organics (HFO) of Carnation. Their mission statement: "To improve the way in which produce is grown, harvested and distributed. Everything we do is guided by our mission of being quality-driven, environmentally friendly and stewards of the land. We believe that quality food begins with the farmer, and because of that, we provide only fresh, local and naturally-grown items." Works for me.

More HFO goodies

And then, is that sage I see? As in, put-it-in-your-Thanksgiving-stuffing sage?

Right there in the "Herbs" basket

From checking out their website, I'd love to chat more with them about their use of chickens in farming. If you're a chicken lover, you'll want to click through their beautiful "Chicken Bios."

Unbelievably, we only have two more Saturdays before Bellevue Farmers Market closes for the season. Stock up now for Thanksgiving and the long, long dry spell!

Belated Rock-Me-Like-a-Hurricane Post

As I mentioned in my last post (which seems a century ago), the family and I were going on vacation and I would be missing a week of UrbanFarmJunkifying. That vacation began in:

I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill

 and then moved to:

Lovely Lady Liberty, with her book of recipes

where I made a new friend named Sandy. Sandy turned out to be rather the controlling type, limiting my access to electricity, water, transportation, and heat. She finally ousted me and my family from our blacked-out hotel and forced us into the arms of a Brooklyn friend before we made our escape from New York, three days later than planned.

All of which is to say, I apologize for the lateness of this post! Food was on my mind the entire trip, although by the end it was more a matter of, will any place be open for business to feed us besides that one pizza place by the Empire State Building? Mayor Bloomberg's recent ban on supersize sodas became a non-issue. People were lined up at any open store or deli to buy anything they could, to eat or drink. My husband even bought $4/bottle Fiji water, which the label bragged had never been touched by human hands until you unscrewed the cap, to pour down the hotel toilet when the water went out.


Before we met Sandy, however, we encountered two farmers markets. The first was right by our Washington, D.C., hotel in Foggy Bottom. To my kids' disgust (they were exhausted from walking from the White House down the Mall and back to Federal Triangle), I stopped to take a couple pictures, and I had to buy some baked goods to appease them. I'm happy to report that the Foggy Bottom FreshFarm Marketgoers enjoy excellent lemon poundcake and "some kind of chocolate thing" my hub bought that drew groans of pleasure.

Instead of the honey purveyors we feature at our Market, they had a maple syrup farmer! From Maryland, of all places. I'd read recently that, because of global warming, most maple syrup production was moving to Canada, so I'm happy to find pockets of Maryland still cold enough to produce this treat.

Of course, if they're "Maryland's Largest Maple Syrup Producer," it looks like Foggy Bottom is lucky to have them and may not even a few years from now.

The second market was right outside New York's Museum of Natural History, and this time my son forbade me to stop and take any pictures. All I can say is, I think the mix of offerings was not solely "local"  because I saw bananas. And it was before Sandy could have blown them up from the Caribbean on her way through. New York has a long history of markets and farmers from surrounding areas making the trip into the City with fresh, local food. (How else, after all, could New Jersey ever have earned the now-mystifying moniker "the Garden State"?) I'm afraid, in Sandy's aftermath, with all the power and transportation issues, locals' access to fresh food will be seriously jeopardized for the near future. Another reason to keep sending thoughts and prayers their way.

Beyond shelter, power, water, easy transportation, heat, and gasoline, I'm so very grateful to be home. I could use a scratch-cooked meal made from ingredients I selected and prepared myself. Very much looking forward to Saturday's market. The fridge still has Millingwood eggs and Bloom Creek Farms cranberries, but that's about it! Can't wait to get my hands on some greens, brussels sprouts, potatoes, and onions. Maybe throw in some hot soup and a JuiceBox drink. Thanksgiving starts early in our house...