Sorry I haven't had the time to gardenblog. I've been, well, in the garden too much, and too wiped out after canning and harvesting to do pics. But I have some. I missed a period for good pics but I'll show some results instead. First up: Fleurs. Hecate has some going still, and I do too:
Mums did well, if a tad slow, this year. Nice and bright.

Baby pumpkins. So cute there's no need to carve them.

Tristero recently caused a bona fide flame war at the normally staid and Serious Hullaballoo comment community, in those two posts about food. I didn't really find too much of what he said outrageous or stupid, and I respect the fact that he came right out and admits that he eats what he likes because it tastes good. I confess I didn't think the Hullaballoo community had it in them, way to sling that pizza across the lunchroom, kids!

I just wanted to make a couple remarks and see what others think, because I believe that food is a critically important topic in many political debates, from those on the environment, health care, racism and more.

From my perspective, it's beyond obvious that far too many Americans aren't eating well. I was shocked, moving to this Heartland community where I now live, by the contrast of people's shapes here, vs places like DC and Chicago. That is, people in flyoverland really run to fat, in my eyes. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but the 'beautiful body' culture of my previous environment is almost nowhere to be found here, except among the Greek set of the local big state university. And I suspect those young women are not unfamiliar with some unhealthy food habits like binging and the dangerous, speedy drugs that make crash dieting an easy task.

Anyway, I bet I could get most of you to agree that the problem isn't just a regional one, and that there are many areas in which the quality of our food and the habits people have consuming it could be improved. But as the comments at those two posts remind me, a lot of people seem to have the attitude of "You can take my daily Twinkie when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands." What can be done to change that?

Further, I guess I don't understand the idea that people like me are overly righteous food snobs. Do people really want to have diabetes and be obese? I can't believe that. I understand that not all people have good food choices, but I would hope that if they did, they'd make them, at least most of the time. I'd also think people would enjoy the benefits that come with "progressively produced" food, organics and locally grown, food free of synthetics and chemicals and suchlike. That kind of food really does taste better. And if food is about satisfaction, well...I guess I just don't get the resistance to that.

A friend of mine recently introduced me to a terrific restaurant in this area, after long months of my despairing of ever finding a place that compares to the upscale, "progressive" dining option I had when I lived in big cities. It's in a town that defines "podunk backwater." It serves locally produced, organically grown, reasonably priced, fucking outstanding tasty food. And it's doing really well as a business, apparently, even in this Depression we're having in this state. So I know there's 'a market' for better food. My question is: why are so many people resistant to good food and healthy eating habits, in favor of unfood horror found at fast food restaurants or the junk food aisle? Marketing? Ignorance? Addiction to unhealthy but "good" tasting things like corn syrup and trans fats?

Also: consider this a Saturday Morning open recipe thread, if you've got any. I'm always looking for new cooking ideas, especially now that "chef" is practically my 4th job.

Well, the Summer ticks on, and the garden is beginning to show its maturity. I'm seeding in what will become the Winter Garden: lots of greens, turnips, and beets, mainly.

The Pole Beans are producing ten meals worth of beans every two days, and I'm close to having my winter needs met. The Romas are getting to the end of their Determinate production time, and are finally petering out. I have, between canned jars and freezer bags, forty quarts of tomatoes set up for winter. Plus another 15 pints of roasted tomatoes, and 18 pints of salsa (that salsa won't make it til Christmas).

Today, I am roasting what looks like the last ten pounds of Romas that I'll get en masse. I have been spending a LOT of time picking and drying Basil, Oregano, Sage, Rosemary and Parsley in the dehydrator. It'll be nice having that on hand without paying money at the store.

While the tomatoes roast, I went out and picked an assortment of Yellow and Green Bell Peppers, some Sweet Banana Peppers, and a mess of Jalapenos, and am going to roast, skin, can, and pack them away for Winter, too.

I found this recipe for easily-canned roasted peppers at CopyKat Chat Forum. I think it replicates the type you might buy at a grocery store, so I'm going to try it, today. Recipe follows after the break.

When I first moved to my current digs, I dealt with my depression and the wealth of window space in the new place by planting found seeds. The second year I had this:

2025: the end of US dominance --
the National Intelligence Council global trends review is out, and contrary to 2004's rosy view of 2020-- still dominated by US and with oil to burn--the new forecast sees things very differently. (pdf link to full report at bottom article)

"... the world is entering an increasingly unstable and unpredictable period in which the advance of western-style democracy is no longer assured, and some states are in danger of being "taken over and run by criminal networks". ..."

Take a hard look around you, boys and girls. The GOP is going to shut down GM if they can, and maybe Ford. How come? Autoworkers. Union labor. Kill the Big Three (Chrysler's already gone) and you can stamp out the next-to last vestiges of not-serfdom in the US.
"Clean coal" programs will, in all likelihood, lead us back to company towns. The middle class might be doomed -- but the skills of our grandparents, great-grandparents, and for those of us of a certain age, parents and selves might prevent our kids from suffering too much, if we gather them up and pass them on.

It's getting to be chilly even in West Texas. Alton Brown has a good basic grits recipe (note: he uses cornmeal. He doesn't call it polenta and he doesn't demand hominy. He understands that this is comfort food, and I salute him for acknowledging that it's a comfort to your budget, too).

At our house there are seldom leftovers when we have cheese grits.

It was my friend K who introduced me to good food. I'm invited there for dinner tonight and she has honored me by asking me to bring my olive bread. She is a gifted cook, a provider of reliable wines, and a treasured person, and we fear we might lose her soon.

The party in Denver continues.

I would like to know if anyone can suggest five simple things each of us can do to change the world, no matter what the politicians do, or don't do.

Like carrying a reusable bag to the grocery store, so you don't need either plastic or paper.

Like changing your expectations -- a vehicle should be something dependable, but shouldn't it be something you can afford to repair, rather than replace? What about a printer? What about a television or a cell phone?

Like turning the thinking on ROI upside down. How big a scam, exactly, is the 401K program? How much money are small investors risking / losing, compared to what the same amount of money would have been worth in the (former) pension plan?

Right?

NYT: "The Environmental Protection Agency rejected on Thursday a request to cut the quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, for the time being, that the goal of reducing the nation’s reliance on oil trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn."

No pics and just a short one from me today, as it's too durn pretty outside to stay on the machine for long. But: in case you don't know, many vegetable plants only require 30-90 days of growth before harvest. And many are very easy to grow; lettuce and chard and potatoes and even tomatoes. There are many foods that freeze well, or can be stored dry.

Why am I reminding you of this? Because the flooding in the Midwest is going to utterly ruin a lot of our corporate farms, the farms that we still rely upon for our system of cheap and readily available food. No, I don't predict starvation and food shortages, but yes, I do predict a rise in the price of food starting this fall or sooner, an even more dramatic rise than is already coming due to inflation and energy prices.

Spade up some grass. Fill a couple of pots. Head over to a community plot, or just create one on some unused land in your 'hood. It's not too late.

Our good friend Bruce D was teasing me about being such a flower-oriented poster, so I'm very happy to finally include some of the early performing veggies in today's garden post. Lots of pics, slow for dial up, and damn! Just try to make me slide into a bad mood today, nah. gunna. happen. Not with this much blooming and sunshine.

Today's Mystery Bloom! I'm so sorry I can't seem to do it photojustice. Seriously, it's so delicate and lovely, and after waiting all last year with no results, it's esp satisfying to see it turn on now.   Read more…

Massive post alert, Cross-posted from The Global Sociology Blog, because believe it or not, there is other stuff going on in the world besides tomorrow's much anticipated coronation.

I read all these articles and reports so you don't have to.

Weeks after the food riots spread around the world, a flurry of articles have been published all over the place, taking stock of what is happening, providing analysis and critique as well as prospects on global food production and policy. So let's review.

It turns out that if we feed our bodies with the diet we evolved to accommodate, we are healthier and live longer.

Holidays are often times when the confluence of family, friends, food and drink bring new things to your table. This year at the Feral household I served my Pear wine with Thanksgiving turkey which went over better than I expected considering my parents and sibilings preference for sweet wine. Of course, I had some Riesling Spatelese as a backup in case the Pear bombed. So how was your holiday experience? Any pleasant (or unpleasant) suprises?

Because GWPDA was looking for a pickled onion recipe.

Autumn's coming. Time to be thinking about what / how you want to put up your garden's harvest (or the last bargains from the farmer's market) against winter. Ideas?

So I'm hosting a garden party on Sat, going shopping for it tomorrow. Got a favorite, showy hors d'oeuvre you're famous for? The theme here is "garden," so only true finger food will be served- this isn't a sit down sort of thing. The weather here is hot and muggy, and I'll be including some foods I've grown myself in the mix. Here's some flower porn to entice you to share:   Read more…

A very cool site called MandarinTools.com has a page wherein you can find "your Chinese name." So I put in "Johnny Appleseed" (with my birthdate since it insisted on one) and found that maybe when Loud Obbs has a minute he might want to look into the story of Ai Jian Huan. Since the Philadelphia Inquirer is on the story too:

Farmers have been growing apples here since before the Civil War, and as times have changed, they have changed with them, planting smaller trees to speed up harvests and growing popular new varieties to satisfy changing tastes.

Like farmers in the bigger apple-producing states, they are becoming increasingly anxious about the prospect of China flooding the U.S. market with their fresh apples - an event many believe is inevitable, even if it could be years away.

Why is a country which for thirty years has been imposing a draconian population-control program--presumably at least in part because it has concerns about remaining able to feed its own people--taking over the fresh apple trade?

Well, because with labor policies like this, it can:

I'm not even going to quote any excerpts out of this superb piece from the San Jose Mercury News, (oops, originally WaPo) in large part because people's eating schedules are often irregular on Sundays and you don't want to read this either before OR after eating anything you didn't grow yourself or know who did. Well, okay, I'll just use the least-nausea-inducing graf I can find:

For years, U.S. inspection records show, China has flooded the United States with foods unfit for human consumption. And for years, FDA inspectors have simply returned to Chinese importers the small portion of those products they caught - many of which turned up at U.S. borders again, making a second or third attempt at entry.

Yum! I mean really, wouldn't you rather eat one of Lambert's zucchini than this Chinese stuff? Go read the story; the Tale of the Wandering Chickens is enough to send you out into the woods to gather nuts, berries and grubs rather than go to KFC again.

  Read more…

I'm swamped with work today, but I just took a quick lunch break and made some soup. I know it's wintertime, but even though it's cold, for me, this recipe is like a quick trip to tropical climes. And it's fast! All you need is a blender.

One or two avocados
Buttermilk
Chicken or mushroom broth, the strongly flavored kind
Chopped cilantro
Diced ginger
Cumin
Chilies (pick your favorite)
Lemon juice

Blend at the highest speed. Enjoy! If you're serving it to guests, you can strain it for effect. I like it slightly chunky, myself.

I can't believe I just drank the whole blenderful, but then again, I never met a glass of buttermilk or avocado I didn't love. Hat tip to the incomparable Ms. Jaffrey.

How does that make you feel? My mind is open on this one, and I can see the arguments from both sides. I didn't know we were so sure of our cloning technologies and abilities that we could be 100% sure this is a safe development.

Amount of avocado in real guacamole: 4, or what I'm guessing is about 80% of the total mass in the dish.

Amount of avocado in Kraft Store-Bought "Convenient" Guacamole: 2%.

Be careful out there, boys and girls.
Not everything you buy in the store, nor everything you raise at home, nor especially those things you snag at the drive-thru, is as safe as it probably ought to be.