rachel's blog

During the month of July, I’ve been blogging every day as a participant in the expanded version of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been posting about food for 31 days in a row. I figured I could come up with 31 things to say about food, and indeed I have. In fact, early in the month I made a list of ideas of things I could blog about, and there are still quite a few things on the list.

I made two food resolutions for the month of July. One was to never eat the same thing for lunch and dinner on any given day. This may sound strange to some of you, but for me, it was an issue of self-respect. As a single woman who lives alone, if I end up cooking more of something than I intended, the options are to either eat it every day for a week or eat it for both lunch and dinner for a couple days. Throwing it away is never an option… and during the month of July, neither was eating it for lunch and dinner.

The other food resolution was to eat something different for breakfast every morning during July. Several years ago, I used to eat bran flakes every morning. Then I started alternating that with cooked oatmeal. Later on, I stopped buying the bran flakes because they contained high fructose corn syrup, and added homemade waffles to my morning menu. Somewhere along the way I started eating more eggs. Waffles, oatmeal, eggs. Waffles, oatmeal, eggs. I was stuck in a breakfast rut.

For the past thirty-one days, I’ve eaten something for breakfast that I hadn’t eaten on any of the July mornings prior to that. An omelet is different from a soft boiled egg… which is different from creamed eggs, scrambled eggs, or poached eggs, so of course I ate eggs in every way I could imagine. I also enjoyed various types of waffles and oatmeal, as well as breads, applesauce, dried fruit, fresh fruits, tomato juice, pancakes, polenta, french toast, pumpkin mush, smoothies, hash browns, muesli, bacon, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, yogurt, grits, and more.

It was a wonderful change of pace from my routine cycle of waffles, oatmeal, and eggs. The breakfasts weren’t decadent, but some mornings I felt like I was operating a bed and breakfast… except that when breakfast was ready, I was the only one who sat down at the table. And I didn’t have to make coffee. And I got to read the newspaper.

Sometime during my backpack-and-lunchbox days, I learned the meaning of the words omnivore, carnivore, and herbivore. Many years later, in 2005, a clever person coined the word “locavore” to describe a person who seeks to eat food that is grown and produced locally, and in 2007 the New Oxford American Dictionary selected “locavore” as its word of the year.

People have been primarily locavores since the beginning of time, but as a result of globalization, food now travels an average of 1500 miles to reach the plates of North Americans. By contrast, locavores eat foods that are grown or produced within a relatively small radius, whether 50, 100, or 150 miles.

During the past several months, I’ve read quite a few books about food:

• “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” by Barbara Kingsolver (my top recommendation)
• “Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally” by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon (founders of the 100-Mile Diet)
• “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal” by Eric Schlosser
• “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” by Michael Pollan
• “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” by Michael Pollan

Thanks to these authors and the locavores I know personally, I’m becoming a locavore too… at least in theory.

August 3-9, 2008 is Virginia Farmers Market Week, and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is encouraging Virginians to choose one day during that week to eat only food grown in Virginia.

Of course, for me, Virginia-grown is not necessarily the same as local, as there are certainly locations in neighboring states that are closer than parts of my own state, but legalistic is the last thing I want to be when it comes to food. The map below shows the area my food could come from if I were following the 100-Mile Diet. You can see your 100-mile radius area by entering your zip code into the nifty little mapping tool on the 100-Mile Diet site.

I’m not sure yet which day next week will be my Virginia-only day, but I’ve decided to host a local foods potluck at my house on Wednesday evening… and I’m calling it “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Potluck.”

Not every ingredient needs to originate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, but every dish should at least feature locally grown or produced food. If you’d like to come to “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Potluck” and you haven’t gotten an email from me with the details, either send me an email (if we’re already friends) or leave a comment here (if you’d like to be friends). You don’t have to be a locavore or a gourmet chef; the only requirement is that you like to eat good, local food!

Seven o’clock on a Monday morning is not exactly my favorite moment of the week, so this morning I decided to kick-start the day with a homemade egg McMuffin… otherwise known as a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. I had never made one before, and I’m not even sure what inspired me, but it was So Good.

I beat an egg and poured it into a small frying pan. After frying the egg on both sides, I removed it from the pan and laid a slice of ham in its place. Meanwhile I toasted an English muffin. While the ham browned a bit, I folded the circle of egg into quarters, sprinkling some cheddar cheese among the layers. Moments later I assembled my sandwich. It was a fantastic way to start the new week.

In other news, don’t you think mealtime would be more delightful if you ate off the plate on the left instead of the one on the right? I thought so too. Four bucks at Ross. Sorry, Harrisonburgers, but I bought the last two in stock.

Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t think food is something you should be able to read… and I’m not talking about tea leaves.

In his book “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto,” Michael Pollan suggests that most of what we eat is not actually food, but rather “edible foodlike substances.” I feel quite certain that Pollan would join me in doubting that Printed Fun Pop-Tarts would legitimately qualify as food. This Kellogg’s product recently caught my attention in the grocery store, perhaps because it looked more like a toy than food. I haven’t eaten a Pop-Tart in years, and I’m perfectly OK with that.

I have no problem with finding the imprint of the word “Ghirardelli” on a chocolate square, of course, and like it or not, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing the letter “m” on M&Ms and phrases like “Be Mine” and “Let’s Kiss” on candy conversation hearts. But an entire knock-knock joke on a Pop-Tart? That’s just ridiculous.

I spent most of today thinking about mushrooms while holding either a paint brush or paint roller in my right hand. Through no fault of my own, the walls of my master bedroom were blue and orange, and I decided that it was time to finally change that. The walls are now the color of sauteed mushrooms. At least that’s what the paint chip says… and I tend to agree.

After I paint the trim and get the room all fixed up (it has been sitting empty), I’ll be sure to post dramatic before and after photos. Meanwhile, I thought I’d share a delicious recipe for squash soup that contains sauteed mushrooms. I discovered it in the “Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites” cookbook this past winter and it immediately became one of my favorite soups.

:: NEW ENGLAND SQUASH SOUP ::

1 c. diced onions
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 c. unsweetened apple juice
1 butternut squash (about 1 lb.), peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 potato, diced
3 c. water or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 c sliced mushrooms (about 6 oz.)
3 T. dry sherry
1 T. soy sauce
pinch of dried marjoram
2/3 c. evaporated skimmed milk
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Combine the onions, celery, garlic, and apple juice in a large soup pot. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add the squash, potato, water or stock, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat, and simmer until the vegetables are very soft, about 20 to 25 minutes.

While the soup simmers, saute the mushrooms in an uncovered skillet with the sherry, soy sauce, and marjoram until the mushrooms are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

When the squash and potatoes are very soft, remove the soup pot from the heat and, working in batches, puree the soup with the evaporated skimmed milk in a blender or food processor. Reheat gently. Add salt and pepper. Serve topped with the sauteed mushrooms.

I cook from scratch as much as possible, so it really bugs me that my favorite brownie recipe involves dumping a mix out of a box and adding an egg, oil, and some chocolate chips. The best brownies are chewy and fudgy with a beautiful, shiny, flaky top, and so far I’ve only been able to get these desired results when I use a boxed mix.

Occasionally I’ll ask around to see whether anyone might have a recipe for making brownies completely from scratch that will guarantee a flaky top, but I’ve never gotten an answer to the affirmative. What about you? Do YOU have a recipe for chewy brownies with a flaky top? If so, would you be willing to share it with me? Please…?

It’s hard to want to blog when there are two gallons of sauteed mushrooms sitting on my dining table. That’s right, I said two gallons.

Too bad “sauteed mushrooms” is just another way to say “brown paint.” I guess if Eskimos need lots of words for snow, paint companies need lots of names for their colors. But really, do all paint colors have to be named after FOOD? Peppered Pecan, Chocolate Curl, Chocolate Pudding. Fudge, Chasing Chocolate, Almond Fudge. Cracker Bitz, Bread Basket, Chewy Caramel. Iced Tea, Chocolate Kiss, Moose Mousse. Warm Gingerbread, Mocha Syrup, Hot Chocolate. ALL BROWN.

I already have Belgian Waffle in several rooms, and pretty soon I’ll be sleeping in Sauteed Mushroom. But I’m not complaining. I’d rather live among colors named for delicious foods than colors with frou-frou names like Discovery, Lovely Bluff, and Mona’s Mane…

In 1986, a small activist group in London began distributing a brochure called “What’s Wrong With McDonalds: Everything They Don’t Want You To Know.” The leaflet attacked almost every aspect of the McDonalds Corporation, claiming that their fast food was unhealthy and that McDonalds was responsible for destruction of rainforests, starvation in the Third World, exploitation of children, animal cruelty, pollution, and more.

McDonalds infiltrated the group with spies, and in 1990, McDonalds brought libel charges against five people. Three apologized, but two refused to back down. Thus began the infamous McDonalds Restaurants v. Morris & Steel — the longest-running court action in England.

You can read the story HERE or watch the documentary HERE. Both are long, but they’re definitely worth your time (82 minutes if you watch just the movie).