Raw Milk and Liver.

Silver Linings

There are singular moments in life, moments when something happens, perhaps by your actions, perhaps not, and suddenly your consciousness is shifted.  You know that moving forward things will be different.  I had one of those moments in cooking about a week ago, and I can't stop thinking about it.  Now that may be a letdown if you were hoping I’d found an amazing new job or something (mom :-)), but let me tell you, this simple little moment sort of rocked my culinary world. And that's enough for me.

The Not-So-Sweet Surprise

Perhaps you've seen the new commercials for High Fructose Corn Syrup. All-American lad/lass #1 is presented with a food item containing HFCS, expresses dismay, but can't seem to pinpoint any actual problems with the product.  All-American lad/lass #2 calmly dispels any doubts with a smile and a touch of sarcasm - "why, because it's made from corn? is the same as table sugar?" etc.  #1 laughs, giggles, or nods with understanding and the two share the delicious food item. Yay! It's all part of a new ad campaign by the HFCS folks, whose slogan is "you're in for a sweet surprise."  Never has a slogan been more worthy of mocking than this one, in this week particularly, as a major study has just been released revealing that high fructose corn syrup contains.....mercury! Seriously, you can't write this stuff.

I'm enjoying an "I told you so" moment, tinged with sadness at the continous deception of the American public by the food powers that be.  The best remedy, I find, is laughter and good, HFCS-free food.

The former can be had here:
My favorite original HFCS commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVsgXPt564Q
Brilliant King Corn Spoof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRicUInkYQM

The latter can be had in your kitchen. Here's a recipe for a butternut squash soup I made last night. All the sweetness of HFCS...without the mercury.

Change Chili & Community love

What a week.  Last Tuesday morning, we were preparing to inaugurate Barack Obama as the next president. And I was making Change Chili for our weekly Tuesday night dinner.  That night I helped frost Erica's Obama cookies and celebrated with my Tuesday loved ones. In the days that followed I whipped up omelets and sauteed greens, thawed the first of my caramelized & frozen tomatoes for a luscious sauce, and prepped a dinner for 30 people with some dear Beacon friends.  We trekked it up to Tivoli where we enjoyed four days of a community-building love-fest with amazing folks from around the Hudson Valley, New York City, Atlanta & New Mexico, punctuated, of course, with wonderful warming meals.  I even baked a vegan cake! If that's not change, I don't know what is.

Apologies & a Seafood Chowder

 Ok, I admit it.  I've been terrible with this whole blogging thing.  And I'm not going to bother making promises or new years resolutions to be better, because we all know how those have turned out in the past.  But I would like to share a recipe, and hope that it can make up for my absence.

I spent about a week at home for Christmas, home still meaning Maine, and happily lapsed into a constant rotation of driving to Ceres Bakery, reading books, knitting by the woodstove, watching movies (slumdog millionaire was *amazing*), cooking and drinking (local beer, good wine, tea). And I ate an obscene amount of Clementines.  For me, going to Maine is like going to another world.  It's calm and relaxing, free from expectations.  I weave myself into a sort of cozy, private coccoon there, whether it's for two days, or two weeks. In Maine I feel completely removed from the rest of life, which, for better or worse, is just a lovely experience. And usually a delicious one, too.

Thoughts....

I have to say, I'm not entirely sober as I write this.  There has just been so much good eating and drinking in the past few days - I guess I feel like celebrating.  Celebrating food and farms and family and friends.