Sustainable eating: An easy way to celebrate Earth Day everyday
You’ve heard the term tossed around enough by now…sustainability. What does it mean? Why does it matter?
Sustainability, in relation to food and agriculture, refers to production and harvesting methods that meet the needs of eaters while avoiding the exploitation of the land.
Sustain Web (http://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefood/) cites a list of seven criteria which identify sustainable produced food as well as sustainable consumption.
- Food that is locally grown and seasonally available. This isn’t always possible for people who live in urban areas or the North, where seasonal produce is very limited, but the more you can do to support your local growers, the better it will serve your economy. Also, when the late fall rolls around, that’s a great time to pick up storage produce (apples, potatoes, garlic, onions)… things that will keep in a cool, dry, dark place for several month. To me, it’s essential to get these in their most organic form as well, whenever possible. A really good organic storage potato, which costs a little more than its conventionally grown cousin, is totally worth it in terms of taste and texture.
The Triple E Way to Holiday Entertaining
Elegantly, efficiently, and economically …yes! There are two unalterable facts to consider: the holiday season is upon us and this miserable economy has hit our pocket books in a big way!
Whether you’re entertaining friends or business associates, you can do it at home. Forget pricey restaurants. That money is more wisely spent on other things. What you can also forget are the bags of chips, beer, and soda cans, paper plates, and plastic cutlery. These things are fine for the Fourth of July and birthday celebrations but certain holidays require bit more finesse.
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Interview with Author Connie May Fowler: If this writing thing doesn’t work out, there’s always Le Cordon Bleu
by Tamara Kaye Sellman
Connie May Fowler is the author of the soon-to-be-released novel, How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly (April 2010) plus The Problem with Murmur Lee, Remembering Blue, When Katie Wakes: A Memoir, Before Women Had Wings, River of Hidden Dreams and Sugar Cage. She also served for two years as the author behind the food column, “Savoring Florida” and in her earlier years worked as a caterer and a bartender. She is the founder of Below Sea Level: Full Immersion Workshops for Serious Writers http://www.writingbelowsealevel.com/). She reveals at her website that, “…if this writing thing doesn’t work out, she fancies herself attending Le Cordon Bleu culinary academy not in Atlanta, not in Miami, but in Paris.” Looks like the writing thing worked out after all, but maybe Ms. Fowler will still find a way to make her way overseas for some cooking lessons…
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Gluten Free Classics for Bakers
Tamara Kaye Sellman
One of the fastest growing areas of dietary concern focuses on food-related sensitivities that wreak havoc with our systems. Celiac disease (or sprue), is an autoimmune disease in which ingested glutens and other related proteins damage the small intestine’s lining. Gluten is the key protein in wheat flour, but it’s also found in barley, rye, and (potentially) oats.
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Food Chat: Interview with Author Laura Kalpakian
“You take what’s on hand and apply to that a little imagination, a sense of timing, to make those ingredients yield what you want.”
by Tamara Kaye Sellman
Laura Kalpakian has received a National Endowment of the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and the first Anahid Literary Award for an American Writer of Armenian descent. Her novels include American Cookery, Steps and Exes, Graced Land, Caveat, and These Latter Days. Her short fiction has been gathered in three collections, including Fair Augusto, which won the PEN/West Award for Best Short Fiction.
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All You Have to Fear…is Making a Big Mess (and, maybe, treating war wounds later)
by Tamara Kaye Sellman
Last month I wrote about my purchase of a pressure cooker and my desire to make refried beans.
Of course, it hasn’t happened yet. Now I know why.
There are certain devices in my culinary arsenal that I generally don’t use, though my husband uses them. They include things that promise large blasts of heat or smoke or power-tool like effects: the gas grill, the Li’l Chief smoker, the salamander (that little blow torch you use for crème brulee), the pressure canner, and now, the pressure cooker.
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Rachel Ray ~ Can You Top This?
This morning,after having my coffee and 2 bites of a muffin, I decided to do some meal preparation for the week. As I applied myself to my usual multi-tasking procedure, I smiled to myself thinking,” I wonder what Rachel Ray would have to say about this?”
