Gardening Aspirations

I've never been much of a gardener, but I really do want to grow some of my own food. I blame it on the fact that I grew up in the big city, but that's really just an excuse. My brother has a lovely garden (although he's more interested in growing stuff than in harvesting it.)

Last year I tried a container garden behind my shop. Lynn, my plant guru, helped me out but there just wasn't enough sun so we only got a handful of tomatoes.

This year I've picked out a sunny spot behind my house and I'm going to give it another go. I've been trading quesadillas for tomato starts at the markets, and I've also acquired a handful of potted herbs planted in worm compost, in pots that are supposed to be deep enough that I won't have to transplant them. I want to make the whole process as idiot-proof as possible.

Who knows? Maybe this will be the year I actually make it happen. I think of people who try to stop smoking twenty or thirty times before they actually quit. Each attempt does bring them a tiny step closer to success.

The Dangers of Saturated Fat: Fact or Fiction?

I bought this jar of coconut oil the other day, because it was on sale and prominently displayed at my local supermarket.

1. I had my first experience with coconut oil several years ago when I was catering a monthly dinner for the Vegetarians of Washington, with Debra Daniels-Zeller. She wanted to use coconut oil in a number of recipes and I objected because of the expense, but she offered to pay for it herself because she felt so strongly about it.

We used it in both a sweet dish and a savory one, and it was lovely in both. She let me keep what was left of the jar and I made some nice cookies with it, but I haven't thought of buying it since then, until it caught my eye in the supermarket the other day.

Coconut oil is a saturated fat, and mainstream dietary advice warns us to stay clear of saturated fats because they contribute to risk for heart disease. But some studies have actually linked coconut oil with a decreased incidence of coronary ailments, in fact, the connection between saturated fat and heart disease--and even weight gain and levels of HDL cholesterol--is far from certain.

I do know that my own cholesterol level decreases when I stop eating cheese. (And I really do love cheese.) I couldn't find any information studying the difference in health effects between consuming plant-based and animal based saturated fat.

All in all, I think we tend to be much too quick to accept oversimplified dietary advice, and also too quick to reject it when we hear oversimplified evidence to the contrary.

Cabbage Sprout Slaw

Nash's Farm has been selling bunches of sweet, tender sprouted cabbage. I made this cole slaw with them, and found it quite tasty and satisfying. Mix all the ingredients together. This recipe makes 4 servings.

1 bunch green cabbage sprouts, finely shredded

1 bunch red cabbage sprouts, finely shredded

1 carrot, grated

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

2 tablespoons mayonaise, or a vegan substitute

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-2 tablespoons white, distilled vinegar

Cups from Corn

I was talking to my friend Heidi from Green Go Food the other day, and she muttered something about how you think you're doing the right thing using compostable cups, and then you find out that people in third world countries don't have enough to eat because we're using our corn to produce products other than food.

I share her anguish. It often seems like every good choice can lead to another bad choice. On the other hand, we're all relatively new to the green thing, which has only gained widespread traction during the past forty years, and hit us with real urgency very recently.

I don't know whether we're going to destroy the planet or learn to live on it sensibly, but I do know that we're not going to find ideal solutions without exploring quite a few alternatives.

The choices weigh especially heavily on us businesspeople, who make decisions about feeding hundreds or even thousands of people each week, rather than just our own families. I think it's most important to just do the best we can and keep improving over time, rather than feeling stifled by the enormity and complexity of it all.

Grandma's Cuisinart

I inherited my grandmother's Cuisinart when she died fourteen years ago. It was immaculate and she'd saved the box, of course.

We had a strong cooking connection. For years before she died she used to ask me what I wanted of hers when she was gone, and I never knew what to say. Then one evening soon after I learned she was terminally ill I woke up in the middle of the night with the answer: I wanted her pots and pans. I called and told her, but by that point she was past caring.

I used her Cuisinart at home for a while, and then a few years ago I brought it to work because the one we were using there was broken. In my commercial kitchen it's gotten banged up--the bowl is cracked, and I melted part of the chord--but I've thought of her every time I used it.

Today I bought a new Cuisinart, because I found a great price on one with a larger bowl, and this one was getting to the point where you had to finesse it. I brought it home, where I'll still be using it, but I did want to take a moment to honor this fine piece of equipment and, of course, my grandmother.

Rice Shortages-Fact or Fiction?

Lately there's been some scary news about rice shortages. Costco and Sam's Club have been limiting the amount that customers can buy in response to unexpectedly rapid sales spurred largely by reports of rice shortages in other countries.

1. In Asia, rice prices have climbed dramatically, in part because production has not kept pace with population growth. India and the Philipines are limiting their rice exports in order to satisfy demand at home.

But there is plenty of rice in the United States, despite the panic. Our fear and urgency is a fascinating mirror showing us how rumors and perceptions can exacerbate an already tricky situation. Like the epidemic of bank withdrawals that precipitated the Great Depression, the perception that the rice supply is insufficient is creating an insufficiency in the rice supply.

Fire at the Putney General Store

On Saturday night a fire destroyed the general store in Putney, Vermont. The top floor burned completely, and the lower floors were destroyed by water damage. The building was more than two hundred and fifty years old, and it had been a store for nearly a hundred and fifty years.

I was staying up the road at my sister's house, in fact, I must have been one of the last people in there. The fire department got the call at eight minutes to ten. I'd stopped in a little before nine and they hurried me out because they were closing. I'd gone in ostensibly to buy a chocolate bar, but really I was just looking for an excuse to browse.

I'm fascinated by food stores of all kinds. I love to see the different permutations, the product mixes and the ways items are organized in different regions, different countries, and even different neighborhoods.

The Putney General Store had a wonderful mix of mainstream food products, along with organic and locally produced foods, not to mention the toothpaste, video rentals, and fishing tackle. It was one of two groceries in town, the other being the food coop, which has its own charm, although you sometimes have to endure a very long wait for a very simple transaction.

Every time I passed the store on Sunday there were people milling around, looking stunned. My sister said she saw a police car out front. Having grown up in New York City, she assumed they were there to deter looters. (Nobody loots stores in Putney, Vermont.) Then she looked over and saw the police officer sitting motionless taking it all in, as stunned as anyone else.