Japanese Perspective

A few weeks ago, hubbie and I were perusing our front yard and discussing improvements that need to be made (ah, the joys of home ownership). As I stared at the front of the house, I suddenly noticed the leaf shape of the bushes beneath the windows. More specifically, I noticed how closely they resimbled the shape from the blueberry bushes my mother grew in our backyard while we were growing up.

In that moment, I remembered an observation shared by one of the chaperones on my 11 year old's choir trip to Tokyo - the Japanese yard (what little space they have) is regularly planted in edibles. What an interesting thought.... I've spent all summer going to the farmers market to purchase fruits and veggies. Frequently, wishing I had a little farm with space for a small garden.

The truth of the matter is, that I have almost a full acre lot. Granted, I have two large (one digging) dogs. We don't get an extreme amount of sunlight, especially in the backyard. However, we do spend time on a regular basis cutting grass, trimming shrubs and tending ornamental plants. Surely, there's a way to take this time and engery and convert it into someting edible.

Carrots Are Roots???

Funny little story....

One Saturday morning I came home from the farmers market with the usual bounty. Among the items in my bag were beautiful, fresh carrots. These carrots still had their tops. As I unloaded the bags on to the counter, my step-son watched inquisitively. At the ripe old age of 11, he has a tremendous amount of intellectual curiosity and is very well versed in just about any National Geographic topic. All of this is probably why I laughed out loud when, after staring at the produce for a few minutes, he announced, "carrots are roots!"

These are the moments when you really see how far we are from our food - and then there are the moments when you realize how much further your kids are from what they eat :).

Where's the Beef?

Months ago I wrote an entry about range fed beef. I had read about it's glories. I had made a trip to Whole Foods to take a peek. I had been scared to death when I saw the price tag - yikes! So, like any determined woman I started to scheme.

I know beef comes from cows and cows come from farms. I know I live in Alabama, which is covered with farms, many of which have cattle. It seemed as though there had to be a way to get closer to the farm without getting quite so far from my budget.

Through the power of Google - wa la! There is! The secret is Boutwell Farms. The first of their products I tried was a traditional roast. I did exactly what I do with all of the other roasts in our lives - stick it in the crock pot. It came out beautifully tender, literally falling apart. It actually came on the bone, which startled my children who gathered round to stare. One of them said, "it has a bone", to which I responded, "it came from a cow. Cows have bones." Bone or no bone everyone ate it - including my two year old, who's not big on meat.

I've since tried several cuts of steak and have some beautiful flank steak in a marinade for tonight. Their pricies are reasonsable. They come to the Valleydale Farmers Market every other week and make regular deliveries all over the state. Check out their website and let me know if you would be interested in shareing a quarter cow!

Bates House of Turkey

When my husband and I made our first beach trip together, we stopped at Bates House of Turkey - just south of Montgomery on I-65. I had never been there before, but turkey is one of his favorite foods, so it didn't surprise me that he had. In the years since we've stopped here many times.

It wasn't until this year that I realized what a treasure really is. Opened in 1923, Bates House of Turkey has been raising and serving free-range birds to hungry Alabamians for over 85 years. This year instead of just the ritualistic sliced turkey sandwich, I also picked up several pounds of ground turkey, two smoked turkey breasts and turkey sausage.

Being fairly new to this free-range, local meat idea, I am always aware that it's more expensive (although if you buy it from the farm and not from Whole Foods, it's not that bad). What never ceases to amaze me is how good it is.

A few weeks after returning home I de-thawed a turkey breast and we couldn't believe how moist and flavorful it was. There is no sliced Publix deli meat that can come close to this - even after being frozen for weeks. This week I de-thawed the turkey sausage. We started just warming it and serving it with eggs and biscuts for dinner. We used the rest to season pinto beans.

I always worry that turkey (be it ground, sausage or otherwise) will be bland. This was anything but bland. It was just spicy enough to get your attention, but not so much that those family members who don't like too much spice were turned off by it.

If you pass Bates, you should stop and stock up. If you don't, you can order from this online. If you like turkey, you should check it out -www.batesturkey.com.

Pickling

This summer I've been remembering some of the great canned and homemade foods over my adult life and looking for ways to recreate and enjoy them again.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine at work (hi, Becci) brought in some pickled okra. Now, I am a big pickle fan. I like most things pickled and I loved these. Not only were they fabulous by themselves, they are a wonderful complement to one of my favorite cocktails - the bloody mary.

Another great thing about pickles is at they capture all the great produce flavor and crunch at the peak of freshness and they don't require a pressure canner (I have to admit, I'm a little afraid of pressure cookers).

I asked Becci about the recipe, which she gladly shared. It came from Cotton Country Cooking, published by the Decatur (Georgia) Junior League in 1972. There are loads of these recipies in old cookbooks, which has started a facination with old cookbooks, but that's another entry.

I made the pickles on Father's Day. They have red pepers and whole garlic in them, so they can be a bit spicy. They have to sit for 6 weeks before eating. I can't wait!