conscious crumbs

Harvest Time: Cherry Tomatoes

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:05:00 -0400

Harvest Time: Cherry Tomatoes: Try something different and tasty with your cherry tomatoes.

The Hostess Twinkie Deconstructed: 37 Ingredients By...

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:44:30 -0400

The Hostess Twinkie Deconstructed: 37 Ingredients

Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [Flour, Reduced Iron, B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Folic Acid)], Corn Syrup, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable and/or Animal Shortening (Soybean, Cottonseed and/or Canola Oil, Beef Fat), Whole Eggs, Dextrose. Contains 2% or Less of: Modified Corn Starch, Glucose, Leavenings (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate), Sweet Dairy Whey, Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium and Sodium Caseinate, Salt, Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 60, Soy Lecithin, Soy Flour, Cornstarch, Cellulose Gum, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sorbic Acid (to Retain Freshness), Yellow 5, Red 40.

The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15: The 2010 Shopper's Guide To Produce Pesticides

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0400

The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15: The 2010 Shopper's Guide To Produce Pesticides

Blueberry and Peach Crisp This was easy and tasty on its own,...

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Blueberry and Peach Crisp

This was easy and tasty on its own, but twice as good with a generous scoop of homemade honey vanilla frozen yogurt. I followed Heidi Swanson’s recipe at 101cookbooks, substituting blueberries for plums.

Truck Farm Extreme urban farming: King Corn filmmakers Curt...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 13:22:42 -0400

Truck Farm

Extreme urban farming: King Corn filmmakers Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney are cruising around Manhattan in an ‘86 Dodge Ram tricked out with a veggie garden. The film documenting their recent adventure is due out this fall.

"There are people in this world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:54:12 -0400

“There are people in this world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of...

Petite Patty Pans from Nichols Farm, Illinois Tired of...

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Petite Patty Pans from Nichols Farm, Illinois

Tired of zucchini? Try a patty pan squash this summer.

"Stored away in some brain cell is the image of a long-departed aunt you haven’t thought of in..."

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

“Stored away in some brain cell is the image of a long-departed aunt you haven’t thought...

Pennsylvania State Poster, 1917 Part of an online Smithsonian...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Pennsylvania State Poster, 1917

Part of an online Smithsonian exhibit (via The National Agricultural Library) created by Cory Bernat showcasing American food posters from World War I and II.

Making Cherry Bounce A friend brought me a couple quarts of...

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:13:53 -0400

Making Cherry Bounce

A friend brought me a couple quarts of fresh sour cherries from Michigan. She even pitted them for me! My first thought was pie, until I came across this recipe (courtesy of the Beekmans) for a Cherry Bounce, a yummy sounding libation that dates back to the 18th century. A long-time fan of the Manhattan (bourbon, straight up please), I already knew that cherries plus bourbon equals luscious. Alas, there is a downside - “Do not open until Christmas.”

"When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden."

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

“When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.” -...

Contemplating the Sweetness of Summer

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Contemplating the Sweetness of Summer

Urban Worm Girl and Vermiculture

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Urban Worm Girl and Vermiculture: Regrettably we stop our composting efforts when the snow starts to...

"If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

“If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the...

Foraging in Maine On a recent trip to visit friends in Maine, I...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Don't forget the crusty bread

Indiantown, Maine: local harvest

3 cooked "winkles", 1 shell, 1 operculum

Winkles sauteed with garlic butter

Foraging in Maine

On a recent trip to visit friends in Maine, I had the opportunity to forage for our dinner: digging for clams at low tide, carefully plucking mussels from the rocks and scooping up periwinkles from large piles of algae. A few hours later we were sitting down to one of the freshest and tastiest meals I’ve ever had.

First Carrots of the Season Daley Plaza Farmers Market, Chicago,...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:49:07 -0400

Enough said

Round carrots?

First Carrots of the Season

Daley Plaza Farmers Market, Chicago, July 2010

"There is, it seems, no substitute for NaCl. There is no faking its fine stimulus, its artful..."

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

“There is, it seems, no substitute for NaCl. There is no faking its fine stimulus, its artful...

Windy City Square Inch Gardening: Growing Sweet Potatoes in...

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Yes sir, yes sir, two bags full

Windy City Square Inch Gardening: Growing Sweet Potatoes in Bags

We’ll try just about anything to increase the amount of food we can grow on our Chicago city lot, especially when it comes to our favorite Hawaiian Purple sweet potatoes. Our new 15-gallon fabric potato grow bags from Gardener’s Supply promise up to 13 pounds of potatoes per bag. We hesitated when we saw their price - $12.95 per bag - until we realized they’re reusable.

Five Spice Rhubarb Chutney It’s good to have friends and...

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Five Spice Rhubarb Chutney

It’s good to have friends and even better to have friends that graciously share their rhubarb and kitchen. My friend Lauren harvested the rhubarb for this recipe from her garden on Indiantown Island in Maine. Then she turned me loose in her kitchen. The chutney would be a natural with lamb or duck, but we loved it with slices of crusty fresh-baked French bread and crumbly slices of the cheddar-like ”City of Ships” Cheese from Maine’s Hahn’s End Artisan Cheese.

1 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
2 cups rhubarb, 1/2” dice
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced (spice wimps should remove the seeds)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup dried currants
1 T fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tspn. salt
3/4 tspn. Asian five spice

Combine all ingredients except the Asian five spice in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add Asian five spice and simmer until thick, about 15 minutes.

Makes 2 cups.

Adapted from Cooking Light, May 2008

Got Raw Milk?

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:00:00 -0400

Got Raw Milk?: Looking for raw milk in Chicago? Time Out Magazine recently ran this article on local...