Paris is known for good food. We get that. It’s also known for good shopping. We get that too.

But when you combine the two, you get one of the most wonderful outdoor markets anywhere. Near the Bastille Station, Le Marche Richard Lenoir is a market city blocks long with vibrant flowers, fresh artisanal breads, spreads, preserves, eggs (look at that deep brown color), cheeses, seafood…. Oh, the list goes on and on.

A must Sunday morning visit – fill up on breakfast and lunch, and get some fresh produce for dinner.

Vietnam

A market in Vietnam at the end of the day.

Dear Food Television Programming,

I want to believe you have America’s best interests at heart.  Perhaps your shows really do intend to inspire people to step back into the kitchen for something other than a bag of cheesy crisps and a fizzy soda (only on a commercial break, of course). Should you truly wish to counter America’s growing waistline and reliance on food that has a cartoon as a spokesperson, I have a few minor tweaks that might make your programming more accessible to the typical American.

• Please stop hiring women who have the real-size measurements of Barbie™ and flash cleavage like they’re expecting dollar bills to transport through the TV screen.  I have trouble placing faith in the recipes of a lady who looks like she hasn’t had a meal since 1995. The junk in my trunk wants to feel free to eat that pancetta and parmesan pasta, not just cook it.
• 30-minute dinner shows, while well intentioned, seem to exclude some crucial elements of food preparation. I’m not sure about the rest of America, but my kitchen doesn’t include magic elves who pre-chop all the ingredients in colorful, little bowls, and *definitely* doesn’t include someone who whisks away the (approx.) 15 pots and pans you dirty throughout the cooking process.
• What’s with all the shows that star a guy just this side of chunky eating copious amounts of greasy foods with gusto? Why aren’t these hosts ever traveling to find the world’s “greenest” eateries? Or throwing down a big bunch of farm fresh carrots? You know what I’d like to see? I’d like to see that guy challenged to a kale eating contest.  Let’s see how you handle some fiber there, big boy.

• No more catch-phrases. When I see people exclaiming things like “pow”, or “wham” or “isn’t that beautiful/easy/delicious”, it doesn’t remind me of a kitchen. It reminds me of a 2nd grade classroom. You want to hear some words that fly around my kitchen, try s*#@, d@*$, or “ouch”.
• Fancy pastry doughs and dessert crusts should not be portrayed as if they take 20 minutes and nary a drop of sweat. For many of us, rolling out a pie crust or stretching a strudel involves tears, fire and, possibly, bloodshed. At the very least, a few swear words. Get real.
• Those shows where the chef tells about how easy it is to prepare a fresh meal for the family “every night of the week!” better include at least one option that involves ripping open a box and inserting it in a microwave or a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods.  Just sayin’.

• A brief word on set design. My kitchen looks like a category 5 hurricane just blew through by the time I finish cooking a meal. When your TV kitchens are a pristine white with curtains and placemats that match the chef’s cocktail, I don’t think, “well, this is something to aspire to”. I think, “pass me that bottle, sister.”
• Where do you come up with the “story” behind some of these meal plans? I have never, ever hosted an outdoor movie festival in my backyard for which I needed a menu. Not only do I not have my own movie screen and projector, but I don’t even have a BACKYARD. In the same category, the “a special menu for a special guest” episodes where, say, Gwyneth Paltrow or Jennifer Garner, stops by are ridiculous. I’m lucky to get a match.com date to my house for dinner. I’m not looking for star-quality-dining options. I’m looking for no-one-goes-home-with-food-poisoning-dining options.

If you want to really to get a true sense of my American kitchen, look to your competition reality shows.People racing to beat the clock, sweat pouring down their faces, ingredients running out rapidly, forgetting the next step in a recipe, curses and screaming occasionally slipping out.  *That’s* my kitchen. Throw in a kid crying, my dog projectile vomiting, or work calling with an emergency, and you’ll have a true sense of a real-life kitchen at dinner time. Perhaps then, you’ll consider your next big show: “One-Pot, 20-minute, Vegetarian/Carnivore/Omnivore/Vegan/Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free Meals for the Whole Family Made in a Dirty Kitchen by a Woman Who is Lucky if Her Clothes Are Clean.”

Good Luck.

Melissa

Recipe
These scones are SO easy. Honestly. I don’t think they’d ever show them on any food channel, because producers would fear viewers would learn how simple cooking can be. No fancy equipment is needed, but as you can see in the pictures above, I love my cherry pitter. Truly, I own no kitchen gadgets except this pitter. (I don’t even own a real food processor.) It’s extremely fast and handy and saves almost all of the fruit. Otherwise, you will just need a large bowl, a few knives, a wooden spoon and a cookie sheet for this recipe. That’s it!

I created these scones to utilize cherries, which are now appearing everywhere at the markets here. You could also substitute 1 cup of frozen cherries if that’s not the case in your neck of the woods. Tart cherries and oozy dark chocolate- what father wouldn’t devour these for his Father’s Day breakfast (lunch, dinner, snack, dessert)?

Dark Chocolate Cherry Scones with Mascarpone Chocolate Glaze
Makes 8 scones

Ingredients
Scones:
2 cups flour (I used 1 cup unbleached white flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour.)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes (keep the butter very cold until ready to use)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup milk (none of that non-fat stuff)
1 cup dark/bittersweet chocolate chunks, chopped if not already in pieces
1 1/4 cup pitted cherries (if large, you may want to slice in half)

Glaze:
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1-2 tbsp heavy cream (depending on consistency)
1 1/2 tbsp mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup-1 cup powdered sugar (depending on consistency)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper if desired. Otherwise, leave it ungreased.
2. Stir flour(s), sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Add butter. Cut into the flour mixture with two dinner knives until the butter begins to look incorporated and pea-sized. I usually just criss-cross the knives in X-shaped patterns in various directions across the bowl to accomplish this. (If you want to use gadgets, a pastry cutter, pastry blender or food processor can help.)
4. Add egg and milk, mixing gently with a wooden spoon. Delicately fold in chocolate chunks and cherries. (I used my hands a little at this point to gently make sure everything was incorporated. Don’t use them too much though or you will overwarm the butter.)
5. Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and spread it out. Put the dough on the floured surface and turn once to flour both sides. Gently shape into a disc that is round and about 1-inch thick. (About the circumference of a medium pizza.) These don’t rise much, so the thickness will just look right to you. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 wedges.
6. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until golden. 14-17 minutes. Allow to cool slightly.

For the glaze:
1. Melt chocolate over medium-low heat in a sauce pan with 1 tbsp of the cream, stirring constantly. Add the mascarpone cheese and vanilla. Turn off heat.
2. Slowly stir or whisk in powdered sugar until a thick glaze consistency is reached. (If you over thicken, just add more cream.)
3. Drizzle over slightly cooled scones and serve. Delicious warm!

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GROW! Source: Anthony-Masterson

It all started because we like to eat.

When we moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles in 2005, we had a hard time finding farmers markets where we could buy food – locally grown and directly from farmers. Back then, there wasn’t much demand and therefore not a lot of small, organic and sustainable growers.

As commercial photographers, we thought we might be able to help. We teamed up with Georgia Organics, a great farmer advocate non-profit and offered to photograph farmers pro bono for them to use in their publications and on their website. Our goal was to help make the farmers into rock stars and put a face on farming. We traveled all over the state, photographing the farmers, their farms and the food they grow.

Along the way we fell in love.

Filmmakers Christine Anthony and Owen Masterson, Source: Anthony-Masterson

We’re drawn to the farmers because of their passion, intelligence, and dedication to growing clean, fair food. We also believe that they hold the key to a more sustainable future, and, that they provide a solution to our broken food system.

In 2008, we decided to ‘make our pictures move.’ Our first project, was a 13-minute documentary called FARM!, filmed entirely on a Flip Ultra during 2 months in late Spring. We shot it with the idea of encouraging more young people to farm in Georgia. Surprisingly, it was an official selection of two film festivals in 2009, The Rome International Film Festival and The Athens EcoFocus Film Festival. It also got a lot of hits on Vimeo. And, we discovered that we liked making films.

Joe Reynolds, Love is Love Farm, Source: Anthony-Masterson

Fast forward to 2010. Our original idea for GROW! was as a sequel to FARM!, a bigger, better version using the skills, knowledge and gear we had picked up since 2008. As we began to put it together, we discovered that there were a lot more young farmers, so we ditched the idea of a sequel, concentrating instead on a new crop of growers, while still featuring some of the original cast, like Joe Reynolds of Love is Love Farm. Because it was important to show both the joys and challenges of farming, we decided to include his story in GROW! In 2009, just one year after he began farming on his own, his farm was hit by a devastating flood which wiped out most of his crops and removed a healthy layer of topsoil which would require years to rebuild. After describing the effects of the flood, he demonstrates the resilience required of all farmers when he says “I really never considered quitting.”

Caroline and Reid Archer, Bethesda Organic Gardens, Source: Anthony-Masterson

We filmed from April to November traveling over 5,000 miles making repeat visits to all of the farms. The result is a 50-minute documentary that features 20 young farmers on 12 farms throughout Georgia. What was surprising was that most every one of them had college degrees. Three of them were intending to become doctors but along the way decided that there was another way to help heal people. Some of them were unable to find jobs in the current economic slump. Some of them just decided that an agrarian lifestyle would be more fulfilling, allowing them to do something tangible that could have a meaningful impact. They all want to work towards changing this world for the better, to do something different with their lives, to help change the status quo of a broken food system and to do good for their communities and the environment.

They are fiercely independent and love being outdoors. Not having to answer to a boss while getting fresh air and sunshine is a large part of the agrarian appeal. Mostly landless, they borrow, rent or manage farmland in order to fulfill their dreams of doing something meaningful with their lives.

Darby Weaver and Elliot Smith, Sun Dog Farmers, Source: Anthony-Masterson

Our main hope for the film is to shine a light on the next generation of farmers and, by their example, to inspire more young people to consider farming as a viable career option. The average age of a farmer in the U.S. is 57 so obviously we’re going to need somebody to grow our food in the future. We also hope that it will encourage others to provide land and resources to young farmers as well as persuade people to help change current laws that are unfair to small, sustainable farmers.

We hope it will inspire others to make changes in their lives; the way they eat, shop and cook and think about where their food comes from and who grows it.

We encourage local and educational screenings. It gives people an opportunity to come together and start a dialogue about what they can do to support their local farmers, farmland conservation, and the health and economic future of their communities.

If you are interested in hosting a screening click here. See the trailer here:

GROW! Movie Trailer from Anthony-Masterson on Vimeo.

Yes, I did go to culinary school at Johnson & Wales. However, I would not call my time there “illustrious”. Week one, I managed to stick my hand in an industrial mixer while it was still moving and crush three small bones. What were we making?? Oh, you know, the highly complicated chocolate-chip cookie. By week eight, I’d added catching two kitchen towels on fire and dropping a rocket-hot metal weight into melted pork fat causing it to spew liquid oil like a dancing, Disney™ fountain and rain down in torrents all over my hair. Heck, it’s a wonder I *survived* let alone graduated.

If that wasn’t enough evidence for you, I have a few other unchef-like traits. One: I’m so freaking lazy about meal planning. Seriously. Not a good planner am I. My recipes must rely heavily on substitutions or things that are already likely to be in my refrigerator or pantry or, my personal favorite, sheer luck. (“Oh, look at that, it calls for rhubarb and strawberries. I HAVE rhubarb and strawberries. We shall have rhubarb and strawberries for dessert.”) I’m frequently tying my dog up outside a store, so I can run in on a dog walk and purchase a missing ingredient. Dinner parties are planned, more or less, the day they take place. (Along with the cleaning, shopping and laundry. Yes, I live on the edge around here.) You will be lucky to arrive and find enough service ware for the invitees to eat off of (oh, yes, I’ve asked couples to share a plate before), and you will indubitably hear me say, “I’ve never tried this before so I hope it turns out” and “Oops” before the night is over.

Unchef-like trait number two: no patience. Oh, how I’ve longed to be that serene (and preferably dainty…no one’s ever called me dainty) individual who floats along in the kitchen willing to wait for perfection. Not this chick. I want my food fast, and I want it to come fairly easily. When recipes use words like “slowly” or “carefully”, I toss them aside. There’s a reason I wasn’t a baking and pastry major and that reason is called impatience. In the one B&P class I had to take (of hand-breaking fame), I honestly shed tears while trying to stretch dough for a streusel. Some people might call this an area for improvement. I call it an area for avoidance.

Finally, I lack vision. My greatest strength in the kitchen is the fact that I have a semi-photographic mind and a ridiculously freaky memory. I read about cooking a lot. Recipes and techniques get stuck in my brain, and I use this to my advantage. I have never bolted awake in the middle of the night thinking, “Holy crap! If I add tarragon to that pork recipe, it will set the world on fire.” (In fact, I’m much more likely to wake up thinking, “Why did I drink so much wine with dinner last night?”) 99.9% of my ideas start in someone else’s head.

Now that I have completely destroyed my credibility and possibly have caused you to question whether you will ever read this column again, let me get to the point.

I AM a good cook.

Why am I a good cook? Two reasons.
1. I can read. (And if you’ve gotten this far, I’m guessing so can you! YAY! Halfway there.)
2. I buy the freshest seasonal, local produce and make it the star of my cooking.

That’s it. And that’s all you have to do, too. Read recipes. Choose ones you feel comfortable trying. Follow the directions in those recipes. Build confidence. Start combining recipes or using bits and pieces of several in one new recipe. Learn about flavors.

Shop at your local farmer’s market. Fresh, seasonal food (and food that hasn’t traveled miles and miles in a hot truck to get to you) tastes better. You don’t have to do much to make it shine. In fact, the less you cook it, the better it generally tastes. Minimal planning, minimal patience, minimal vision. It’s the lazy (wo)man’s greatest cooking tool.

And just between one unchef and another, those are my dirty, little secrets.

Spring Frittata

Spring Frittata
Serves 4-6
Not gonna lie. Little obsessed with the frittata. It’s so easy- takes about 15 minutes from start to finish- and can utilize all sorts of seasonal and local ingredients. Have it for breakfast with a hearty slice of bread or english muffin or for lunch/dinner with a side salad, a crusty baguette and a nice glass of wine.

As usual, I rolled up to my demonstration lacking a few ingredients (I may have used the cream from our complimentary market coffee in place of milk, eeee!) and having never tried finishing a frittata on the stove instead of in an oven. When the time came to flip the egg dish over I said to my market master, “Ok, everybody pray this works.” It did. And the results were delicious.

Ingredients
8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
2-4 tablespoons grated cheese (harder cheese work best)
4-6 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (chives, basil, thyme, parsley-all work well)
salt/pepper
1/2 lb. fresh asparagus (or other season vegetable), trimmed and chopped
2-3 oz. prosciutto (or other thin ham/bacon), cut into strips
1 tbsp. olive oil

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in 8 or 9 inch ovenproof skillet. Add asparagus/vegetables and cook over medium heat until tender. About 4-5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, beat eggs and milk with a whisk in a large bowl. Add grated cheese and chopped herbs and season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
3. Add prosciutto (or other meat) to asparagus and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Pour egg mixture over asparagus/ham mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes until frittata begins to set.
5. To finish, bake for about 10-15 minutes in a 400 degree F oven until golden and fluffy. Or, use a second pan to flip frittata and finish on stovetop.
6. To loosen frittata after baking in oven, place skillet back on stovetop over high heat for 30 seconds to loosen and then cover with a plate and flip out.

Confess! That was easy!

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Like most Americans, I was once a sprinter. I like things done fast for an immediate result. I mean this both literally and metaphorically. As I’ve matured, I’ve found that I’ve evolved in both domains. Running-wise, once a short sprinter in my youth, this weekend I completed my ninth half-marathon. Quick and immediate have been traded for slow and steady. For a significant part of my life, I avoided longer distances, unsure of my body and what it could endure. A not unsubstantial part of me was a little afraid I didn’t have a longer distance in me.

The rest of my life isn’t that different- what I ate being a good case in point. Like many Americans, I went by a number on the scale or a size on my pants and as long as I didn’t start to pop buttons on my clothes, I thought little of what I was actually consuming beyond calories. I didn’t *want* to know what I was eating. Platitudes such as, “Well, something will kill you,” or “There are chemicals in everything, you can’t avoid them,” were two of my common excuses in avoiding thinking more deeply about what I ate. I remained a sprinter (only concerned about the “now” of ‘will it make me fat?’), not yet prepared to metamorphosize into someone ready to go the distance with food.

And then, things changed. I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and it occurred to me that although I wouldn’t go on even one date with a guy who treated me badly, I consumed foods EVERY DAY that, quite possibly, treated me worse. What was I afraid of finding out?! Suddenly, I felt like a wimp. I’d taken on many long road races, but I cowered when it came to learning about where my food came from and of what it was composed?! Why? I think it was because I imagined eliminating processed/convenience foods was impossible. And learning about how everything I consumed was produced…well, that seemed insane.

Then, I paused. I thought about running. I didn’t go from the track to the marathon course in a day, or a month, or even a year. I started with a 5k, then got comfortable with the 10K, and so on. I learned what worked for me training-wise; what was too much; what was too little. Why couldn’t I do the same thing with food?

And so, I began training my diet. Not for a quick, short term, immediate results fix. Not to be a certain size or meet an aesthetic result. I began training for the long haul. To empower myself with the knowledge that I understood what I was consuming and why and to know that it was all completely in my control, not that of some unknown corporation or factory farm. Just like with love (or short distance sprinting), I reminded myself I did not have to settle. I deserved the best fuel for my body I could provide. (And I deserved a little pleasure, too.)

I’m still on this journey. I’m training to be a stronger and smarter eater every day. Want to train with me? After all, you’ll never know what you’re capable of, if you don’t even enter the race.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Here are a few easy ways to start:

• Pick a heavily processed food each week to cut out of your diet. (I started with candy, snack crackers/cookies and deli meats.)
• Try to eat meals you make at home at least 4-5 days of the week.
• Eat vegetable/fruit/whole grain-based meals (as close to vegan as you can get) at breakfast/lunch most of the week. (You’ll be surprised-it’s not as hard as you think.)
• Eat only whole wheat grain products (look for the word “whole” before the grain on labels to make sure this is what you’re getting), not white.
• Stop buying anything that has an ingredient you can’t pronounce or define.
• If you can’t envision how you would make it from scratch at home, don’t buy it. (Could you make your own Froot Loops™?!? Me either.)

And, of course…Frequent your local Farmer’s Market and learn how to use new fruits and vegetables!

Watercress with Strawberry Vinaigrette and Cheddar Croutons

Watercress with Strawberry Vinaigrette and Cheddar Croutons
adapted from a recipe in Simply Organic
Makes 2 entree salads or 4 small side salads

I’ll admit I used to judge watercress. It seemed both snotty (as in watercress sandwiches of “ladies who lunch” fame) and unruly (tangled like my waist-long, 3rd grade hairstyle). Then, I tried this salad.

Forgive me, watercress?

Vinaigrette Ingredients
1 – 1 1/2 pints strawberries, washed and hulled
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (depends on how tangy you prefer dressing)
1 garlic clove
Salt/pepper

1. Place all but about 4 of the strawberries in blender or food processor. (Save the extras to slice and garnish the salad with.) Blend until liquid. Add garlic and pulse again.
2. Add olive oil and 1 tablespoon vinegar along with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Pulse again. Taste and adjust as needed.

Cheddar Crouton Ingredients
4-6 ounces cheddar cheese or other sharp/smoked cheese (I used a white cheddar from a FM vender), shredded (use the largest holes)
1/4 cup unbleached flour
Red pepper, salt

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or rub with a little olive oil.
3. Toss shredded cheese with flour and a sprinkle of red pepper and salt in a bowl.
4. Place a thin, cookie-size pile of cheese in 8-12 clumps on the sheet.
5. Bake for about 10-15 minutes (check every 5 minutes), until cheese has melted and browned to form a cracker-like substance. (Don’t worry if they crack…you can break them up on the salad.)

Salad
4 cups watercress (run a knife through it once or twice, just to make it a bit tamer)
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and cut into slices
1 green onion, chopped
Remaining strawberries

1. Drizzle watercress with dressing and toss. (Save extra dressing in the refrigerator for another use.)
2. Arrange remaining ingredients and croutons and serve.

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One year ago this week, I was terribly unhappy. Then, the Farmer’s Market changed my life. Hyperbole, you say? (Congratulations on your extensive vocabulary, incidentally). I say, truth. (My vocabulary *is* smaller than yours). After a very depressing winter, an unclear career direction, and a severe case of the blahs, I made a decision. The decision was to hit the reset button on my life, starting with my diet. The most profound change I made being to basically eliminate most processed foods from my diet. (Exceptions being minimally processed foods…like, I’m not going to go out and grind my own flour or anything. Some food innovations are OK; let’s not get crazy). A year later, I haven’t even had things like deli meats, candy (nope, not even Halloween or Easter), sodas, Subway™, or cereal (other than plain oatmeal). I don’t miss it. Possibly because, I’ve also been undeniably cheerful, felt amazing and rocked the best skin I’ve seen in years. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not.

After the decision, I basically had to learn to make a lot of food from scratch. I’m a runner and not a dainty eater to start. A girl’s got to feed herself. Problem was, I had my safe little dozen or so of fruits and vegetables I felt comfortable with and from which I had never really strayed. (In fact, one year I even made a New Year’s resolution to start experimenting with greens. Every week, I would purchase a new green to try. The greens would then sit in my vegetable bin until they turned into a liquid, and I threw them out. That’s *kind of* an experiment, right?!) Boredom was bound to set in quickly. The Farmer’s Market changed all this. I began finding local markets in the D.C. area to inspire myself to cook with new and different ingredients.

DC Farmers Market

And it worked! Wandering the aisles, blinded by vibrant colors, helped by friendly farmers, enticed by amazing scents, I began to experiment a little more with my vegetable cooking each week. My diet got healthier. I got happier. Then, I got a job. Followed by, a whole career; part of which is doing demos teaching *other* people how to use that fresh, gorgeous produce in their own homes. See, I wasn’t kidding. The farmer’s market has enlivened and enriched my life.

Now, I’m one of those encouraging people at the market, showing off all that a good farm can offer. And I’m going to bring a little of that to you in this weekly column: Melissa@Market. So, come to the market with me. Explore the aisles. Pick a new ingredient. Listen to the farmer who says, “Go on. Try it…You’re just going to love it.”

It might just change your life.

Garbanzo Beans & Greens

Garbanzo Beans and Greens

Adapted from a 2011 Cooking Light recipe
Serves about 4

Oh, oh, oh- greens you have come a LONG way in my life. From your mushy pile in the depths of my fridge, you have risen to become the star of my kitchen. Kale, Collards, Escarole- I don’t care which hearty green you use in this recipe, because they are all spectacular.
And yes, this recipe calls for bacon. Bacon is my little secret to getting people who think they don’t like vegetables to eat vegetables. A little goes a long way, and that smell…well, I think we all know about the smell. Enticing, to say the least. I buy responsibly-raised local bacon at the market, but if you’d prefer you can substitute 2 tablespoons olive oil (or one tablespoon olive oil, one tablespoon butter for that richness).

Ingredients
2-3 strips bacon
1 cup chopped carrots (about 3 medium)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
3-4 cups vegetable broth (depending on desired thickness)
2 15-oz. cans garbanzo beans, drained (if you’d prefer fresh, just pre-soak and cook them)
4 cups kale (or other hearty green), chopped or torn

Toppings: Plain Greek Yogurt (I get the 2%), Feta crumbles, lemon wedges (optional)

Directions
1. Cook bacon in a dutch oven or soup pot on medium heat. Remove bacon with tongs and leave fat. (Alternatively, just heat olive oil or olive oil/butter combo in pan.)
2. Crumble bacon and set aside.
3. Add chopped carrot and onion to bacon fat (still over medium heat). Cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring.
4. Add garlic and stir for a minute or so longer.
5. Add paprika, salt, cumin and crushed red pepper and stir for about 30 seconds.
6. Turn up the heat and add broth and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every now and then.
7. Add kale and cover the mixture and simmer for about 10 minutes.
8. Sprinkle in bacon crumbles (if desired) and stir.
9. Top with desired toppings. Serve with pita, naan or crusty bread for a delicious meal.

Life’s already too short- eat your veggies!

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Alice writes about the garden on Growing Gardeners, and his is her newest update. Thanks, Alice, for all that you do!

I just created a presentation about the evolution of our school garden at George Watts Montessori. (I can’t wait to tell you why I was doing that, but that will have to wait for another post.)

To show what we’ve accomplished, I delved into the 5 biggest ways the garden has contributed to the students’ health and academics:

A proud grower of carrots

1. Kids are tasting more vegetables and fruits — and learning how to cook them. Tasting what’s growing in the garden is so essential, but it’s also a challenge to incorporate into the school day.

At schools like Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, Calif., they have kitchen and garden staff who work together in figuring out what’s ready to harvest and cook with children — and then do it during set-aside blocks of time. If you’re not lucky enough to have that arrangement, you have to fit in tastings somehow.

At our school, the tastings have happened as a school-wide “celebration” — like Harvest Feast or Green Smoothie Day — and also as an individual classroom activity. This year, for example, classrooms gathered lettuce to make salads for a mid-afternoon snack and harvested broccoli for a recipe a teacher brought in. Other classrooms nibble from the plants as they pass through the garden on their way to recess.

What can you make with spinach and strawberries (both grown in our garden)? Green smoothies!

This spring, we’ll be trying something new. More about that in a future post…

2. Kids move more. Outside in the garden, kids can stretch, soak up some sunshine vitamins, and have a sensorial experience, thanks to all the smells and textures in the garden.

But the biggest boon to students’ health? The .25-mile walking path that we installed as part of the garden expansion.

Many classes run the track before starting recess. It’s one way for teachers — and not just the P.E. coach — to help kids reach the daily recommended levels of physical activity, 60 minutes. A growing body of research shows the connection between physical activity and academic performance (not to mention the health benefits of exercise).

So anytime a teacher encourages a run around the track, she’s helping kids get smarter.

A class does a lap before recess begins.

3. It’s a learning lab. I’ve told you before about the garden-based curriculum we’re using at George Watts Montessori. But teachers don’t always need customized lessons to encourage learning outside. Journaling, measuring, making real-world observations, conducting experiments, gathering specimens — it’s all possible in a garden.

Students can witness what happens when they don’t water young seeds enough, or how slowly their compost heap decomposes. It’s like this Chinese proverb puts it: “Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.”

4. It brings food equity to our community. We have enough space in our garden now that we produce more than students can taste during the school day. So we’ve been able to think about how to share food.

Some weeks (with the help of the school’s counselor) we send home fresh vegetables to school families in need. Over the summer, everything we harvested was given away to families at a weekly Garden Giveaway Day at the school. At last spring’s Great Tomato Giveaway, every family who wanted one got a free potted tomato plant, along with a list of ways to cook and eat a tomato.

And recently, over winter break, 20 or so students and their families came to the garden to harvest spinach and carrots. We took loads of it to our downtown soup kitchen, Urban Ministries, so the chef could turn it into a meal.

5. It builds community. This means a lot of different things to me. It can mean a small group of parents coming together to work on the garden beds, or the entire school community coming together to celebrate Rootfest. Or it can point to the many connections our school has made via the garden.

So far, we’ve forged partnerships with urban gardening groups like Bountiful Backyards and SEEDS. We’ve worked closely with the nutritionists from DINE for LIFE who serve public schools. We’ve helped and been helped by Duke students who want to make a difference in Durham. We’ve collaborated with other teachers and parents throughout the public school system. We’ve received grants and in-kind donations from organizations like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, NC Beautiful, Whole Foods, Burt’s Bees, Cabot Farms and our own school alumni group Friends of Watts. (And our PTA continues to provide the critical financial and volunteer support that sustains this program.)

With all those people and organizations helping to lift up our students and lift up our school, we’ve accomplished a bazillion times more than we would have alone.

Sunflower

While I’m having fun splashing in my rainboots (who says you are too old to splash in puddles?), I thought this would a perfect time to try out a warm goulash stew. My inspiration was a photo by Cake Mountain Man’s mom, who spent the last two months in Germany with her family, Ralf and Helga.

I met Ralf and Helga a few months ago – two of the loveliest people with a twinkle in their eyes and a spring in their steps. They were also more comfortable speaking German.

I had to dig deep into my brain, now mostly mush, for the 7 years I spent learning German. I was actually pretty good at it until I stopped learning. Surprisingly and gratefully, Ralf and Helga patiently humored my German, assisted by a tiny English-German dictionary. Thankfully, their English was also far better than my German.

Ralf happens also to be a foodie, and he made a a Hungarian Goulash with a German accent, aka with sauerkraut.

The dish is traditionally served with Bohemian dumplings. For the original recipe and some other wonderful German dishes, check out this great recipe exchange site from Germany, Chefkoch.

I didn’t make the dumplings (yet), but I did have some fresh yellow tomatoes from the farmer’s market, cool weather (finally), and a hankering from German food.

German food often has a reputation for not being good, and I’m not sure where this reputation comes from. When I was in Germany, I couldn’t get enough of everything that was there. Hearty, wholesome, flavorful. Savory, rich meats. Warm, thick loaves of bread.

You can use beef or turkey, but I used ground bison in mine, which made for an even richer flavor. While my Goulash is no where near as good as Ralf’s, it was nonetheless a simple, healthy way to warm up your insides on cool, rainy, Autumn days.

Danke schoen, Onkel Ralf und Tanta Helga. Guten Appetit!

Galoshes Goulash

Galoshes Galoush
1 lb. ground bison (or beef or turkey)
1 lbs. pasta (egg noodles, elbows, twists)
20 oz. strained tomatoes
3-5 tomatoes, chopped (depending on how thick you want)
1 large onion
5 loves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

1. In Dutch oven, heat olive oil and saute onions and garlic until translucent and fragrant over medium-high
2. Add ground bison and brown
3. Add strained tomato and chopped tomatoes, lower heat to medium-low
4. Meanwhile, cook pasta
5. Add water accordingly until consistency is as desired
6. Add pasta into the stew and simmer for 10 minutes
7. Season with salt and pepper
8. Serve with dumplings or thick, hearty bread

Check us out with our new friends here!

Bostonians are a loyal people. They are crazy passionate – yes, that’s a Patriot‘s mobile and if you look carefully, yes, that’s a giant Tom Brady wall decal. The Kid – now nicknamed Bean Sprout aka Beanie Baby – already pledged his fan loyalty before he was even born. Beanie Baby is growing like Jack’s beanstalk and I’m COMPLETELY unbiased, but he is one adorable kid. And the Beanie Baby knows it.

Like other Bostonians, Beanie Baby is likely going to grow up also crazy loyal to his cultural heritages. As the offspring of two very ancient, very loud cultural heritages, he doesn’t have much choice.  Boston, as many of you know, is an amalgam of cultures and ethnicities, full of old and recent immigrants who hold onto the foods of their Mother Land – even if it’s generations later.

Cake Mountain Man and I headed up to the North End, Boston’s Little Italy. Formally separated by an ugly green highway before the ridiculously expensive and corrupt but forward-thinking Big Dig (who thought about urban greenspaces back in the 80s?) that I recall from my childhood, it is now flanked by a beautiful greenway that is filled people picnicking, throwing frisbees, and strolling between Faneuil Hall.

We stopped at Bova’s, the 24-hour bakery known for its Italian bread for over three generations (I told you, Bostonians are loyal).

I’m pretty sure I had the best Italian sub ever.

Then it was across the greenway to the famous Haymarket.  This is not your farmer’s market with $10 tomatoes and $20 goat cheese. This historic open-air market has seen a resurgence since the Big Dig has made it accessible and pleasant once more. Haymarket, open Fridays and Saturdays, is not for the meek.

Many of the vendors have been doing this for generations. Like true Bostonians, they work honestly, fast, and to outsiders – brusquely. These are bargain deals for the locals because there is no middleman. It’s a GIANT marketplace and vendors and stalls selling local cheeses and halal meats vie for your attention – and they will shout at you to stop by and buy their produce. You better bring small bills because this is no place to flash your $50s – they will just refuse your money.

I remember as a kid, you could go near the end of the day and you would be able to purchase a crate of corn or peppers for $3. Even though some of them would be bruised, you’d still end up with plenty for cheap. Those prices are crazy awesome – and yes, those cherries DID taste like candy!

Next was Chinatown, one of the largest and oldest dating back to the 1800s. It used to be intermingled with the Red Light District, and now intermingled with hole in the wall noodle shops, live poultry stores, and bubble tea bakeries. One of these special places is the Gourmet Dumpling House, a must if evidenced at all by its lines outside the street.

Their xiaolongbao, or little juicy dumplings, are…. You just eat them. They are too good for words. They pop in your mouth and this burst of juice…mm.

Culinary tour aside, I wanted to cook a few meals for my sister and put them in her freezer since she and her husband don’t cook (I’m not saying she’s a bad cook, she just doesn’t know how. She asked me how to boil water at 26). Going on the notion of Boston’s rich cultural diversity, I decided to do adapt my own version of doro wat, a traditional Ethiopian stew.

Doro wat is made with berbere spice – you can find a recipe for it here, though I am spoiled and have a jar of a homemade one from a friend of mine. It’s spicy with good things like cumin and coriander and paprika, complex layers of flavor and just gorgeous. It’s also traditionally made with niter kibbeh, Ethiopia’s clarified butter.

My sister lived on frozen meals and take out for years (how are we related?), whereas proximity to a farmer’s market is a must for any place I live for me. So I pushed my agenda with fresh eggs (love the blue shell), my own tomato sauce, and fresh chicken thighs to add to my Doro Wat What (recipe below).

I can’t wait to introduce the Beanie Baby to culinary travels and fresh food.

Doro Wat What

Doro Wat What

1 pound chicken thighs (juicier meat), deboned or boned
1 jar fresh tomato sauce (take 5 fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, thyme, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook down until mushy- don’t use paste so it keeps the liquidy quality)
2 TB fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup water or chicken stock
3 heaping tsp of berbere spice (more or less according to heat preference)
2 hard-boiled eggs
Oil (or clarified butter)

1. Heat oil in Dutch oven. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 2 minutes until fragrant
2. Add heaping teaspoons of berbere spice until fragrant – add a bit of water
3. Add chicken thighs (can keep boned or cut into pieces) and brown on all sides
4. Add tomato sauce (you can throw in fresh tomatoes and herbs here if you don’t have a jar available)
5. Add stock or water to cover chicken
6. Boil and then lower heat to medium and simmer for 20-25 minutes
7. Slice eggs and mix into stew
8. Serve over steamed white rice or with flatbread