Michael Pollan is going to be at the Cornwall Library on August 15.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see Michael Pollan speak, take it now! I saw him a while back and he was excellent.
Category Archives: books
Putting By in Fits and Starts
I just got the Summer 2008 Edition of the Edible Nutmeg (at New Morning Natural Foods). It’s probably been out awhile…I need to subscribe already.
Anyway, what caught my eye in this issue was an article called Putting By. I have to admit, I’m slowly warming up to the idea of food preservation, and not only because I get to buy new kitchen gadgets. (I am gadget girl to some.) What with making my own yogurt, butter, pasta, and a living, who has time for this too? However, I missed having local vegetables over the winter and felt lucky to find hydroponic lettuce (thank you Perry Hack), but sometimes I wanted something besides salad. Especially in the winter. I had a few items in the freezer, but certainly not enough for a winter. It’s time to bite the bullet and move beyond the freezer.
In this article, Sherri Brooks Vinton touches on each of the various methods for storing foods, pickling, freezing, drying, root cellaring, and canning. She offers some suggestions for further reading. The article is good and it’s worth going out and finding the magazine. By the way, Sherri Brooks Vinton is also the co-author of The Real Food Revival.
For my putting-by education, I purchased The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food, by Janet Chadwick. It’s easy to follow and has good practical suggestions. So far, I have tried drying blueberries, basil, and zucchini. The basil worked out. I won’t go into the sordid details of the other two failures learning experiences, but I do have a new plan for the next attempts.
This issue of Edible Nutmeg also features a directory of all the Connecticut Farmers’ Markets. If you haven’t been to one yet this year, it’s not too late. In fact, we are in prime time. And then you’re going to want to preserve all this bounty for the upcoming cold, dark days.
Michael Pollan in Connecticut: A Review (of sorts)
This post is a follow up to this post.
With all due respect to the Jersey Boys: Oh what a night! The Station Square in Madison, CT. was packed! I had e-mailed for reservations but the author’s talk was already booked solid. My party was even too late to get on the waiting list. And yet, we got in! Pollan turned out to be excellent. He is one of those rare authors who speaks as well as he writes.
The Farmer’s Market side of the venue was packed as well. There wasn’t room to turn around. And yet, it was exhiliarating–all of us there to get the good stuff.
I scored:
– French Country Bread from Wave Hill Bakers.
– Empire Apples from Palazzi Orchard.
– Two cheeses, one with a Jalapeno and tequila rind from Meadow Stone Farm. (Sorry about not knowing the names of the cheeses. I bought what I sampled and didn’t write them down.)
– A taste of Cabernet Franc from Chamard Vineyards. (They were not allowed to sell any at this venue, so I’m going to have to make the road trip!)
– Pleasant Son cheese and soft cheese from Beaver Brook Farm.
– Lettuce from Two Guys from Woodbridge.
– The latest edition of The Edible Nutmeg.
– A family membership to NOFA.
– Michael Pollan’s new book, In Defense of Food (signed).
There were many, many other treats and not enough time to check them all out. It was so wonderful and wild. It was definitely worth staying out late on a school night. I am so sorry that I didn’t get any pictures. Maybe next time!
UPDATE: Sue Spencer has done a much better job than I have at recapping the evening.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
I finally ordered and read the other locavore book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. Like Kingsolver, Pollan is an exceptional writer and his story is well-told. While he provides a plethora of research details, it is never boring; in fact, it’s fascinating. If you really want to know where your food comes from (mostly corn) and why it comes that way, read this book.
One of the things I took away from the book is that farming doesn’t really scale well past a certain point. Factory farms and feedlots are not in the best interests of the country, the environment, the economy, and the health and well-being of the eaters (us).
One of the book’s segments discusses Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA, a model of sustainability. The farm belongs to Joel Salatin, who is one guy I’d love to meet. I wish there were more farms adopting Salatin’s model.
Among many other things, Salatin said, “We don’t need a law against McDonald’s or a law against slaughterhouse abuse–we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse.”