Food Violence

I know there's a lot of discussion about violence in the media especially violence towards women but have you ever noticed how much violence towards food is depicted?

Stay Home

I have so many food horror stories I am downright phobic about entertaining and parties. I'd rather stay home and have supper in my garden with my husband and dog.

Uninterrupted

When I was a child my mother hated everything related to parenting. It was all a chore. For dinner she made one of two things for us every night: hamburger or cheese ravioli. "Your favorite foods!" she said. "Not every night" I replied. She hired a live-in Barbados maid to clean the house and serve us lunch and dinner so she could stay away at lunch and have date night with my father, every night. We were not happy. My siblings and I fought like hell during meal time. When my step-father came home I was so excited to tell him about my day at school. He would snap at me "What about MY DAY? Why don't you ask me about MY DAY?" When it was vacation time my mother drugged us with Dramamine so we'd pass out in the back of the station wagon so she'd have peace and quiet in the car to chat with my dad, uninterrupted. And people ask me why I don't have kids.

Frederic Patenaude: European Eating

Eating Habits of Americans vs. French People and Europeans

Ted Kooser

Splitting an Order

by Ted Kooser

I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half,
maybe an ordinary cold roast beef on whole wheat bread,
no pickles or onion, keeping his shaky hands steady
by placing his forearms firm on the edge of the table
and using both hands, the left to hold the sandwich in place,
and the right to cut it surely, corner to corner,
observing his progress through glasses that moments before
he wiped with his napkin, and then to see him lift half
onto the extra plate that he had asked the server to bring,
and then to wait, offering the plate to his wife
while she slowly unrolls her napkin and places her spoon,
her knife and her fork in their proper places,
then smoothes the starched white napkin over her knees
and meets his eyes and holds out both old hands to him.

- Ted Kooser from Splitting an Order © Copper Canyon Press, 2014.

The Honey Shop Winthrop Street Woonsocket

Open Tuesday -Friday 12:00-6:00
Saturday 10:00-4:00
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I LOVE VEGETABLES more than dessert!

Article
Another article readers respond here.
We just went to THE BIG APPLE in WRENTHAM and bought locally grown apples, broccoli, cukes, and tomatoes. Then we went to Price Rite and bought more vegetables. We had tomato sandwiches: mustard on toast with tomato on top and garden basil. We made a carrot cukes and red onion salad with the black oil cured olives. Summer food!

Broiled Cheese of Childhood

Last night I threw together corn tortillas layered with black beans and pepper jack cheese on top and put it under the broiler, and then on the burner to warm the bottom. The cheese browned and tasted like childhood when we had open faced grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch all the time.

Cherry Tomatoes

by Anne Higgins

Suddenly it is August again, so hot,
breathless heat.
I sit on the ground
in the garden of Carmel,
picking ripe cherry tomatoes
and eating them.
They are so ripe that the skin is split,
so warm and sweet
from the attentions of the sun,
the juice bursts in my mouth,
an ecstatic taste,
I feel that I am in the mouth of summer

excerpt, Cherry Tomatoes by Anne Higgins

Buckwheat Pancakes

Buckwheat Pancakes – Our Gang Loved Them
Ingredient for 8-10 small buckwheat pancakes:
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (always shake the container first)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
unsalted butter to grease pan, and top pancakes

Fast Slow Bread

We ran out of bread today so I mixed up blended wheat flour with rolled oats, coarse cornmeal, sourdough starter, Fleishmann's instant yeast, kosher salt and water. It rose fast and yet it had gluten from the starter. I shaped the dough into small loaves and baked them at 450 in greased loaf pans.

Hunger Brings me to the Stove

When I was a child my mother was always in a perpetual state of panic and distraction. This really showed up in the kitchen and our walk in pantry. She would shop almost daily and perpetually overbuy. I remember once coming home from grade school to find a dozen boxes of raisins stacked up. I asked her why? She said she heard there was a grape shortage.

There's something beautiful about running out of something and getting a little hungry for it. It's like missing a friend. We have run out of bread and we ate all of my frozen loaves. I just set up a new batch of sourdough that is rising as I write this. Meanwhile I am dreaming of making pancakes or waffles for my next meal.

I never know what I'm going to make. I am grateful for my appetite, hunger brings me to the stove. I create a meal the same way as I make a painting.

Cherry Berry Celestial Seasonings

We are always hunting for the herb tea to spike our big pots of Tetley black tea. Recently we found cherry berry works the best. Our old favorite was Country Peach Passion but they changed the formula to become too citrusy for adding milk. Oh well. True Blueberry works well too.

Scones

I will make a variation using buttermilk and pumpkin and whole wheat flour. Stay tuned!

Cranberry and Vanilla-Yogurt Scones

Lightened-up, no-butter, sweet Scones made with a delicious vanilla yogurt and ruby red cranberries.
Author: Katerina Petrovska
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: English
Serves: Makes 8 Large Scones
Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
⅓ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup skim milk + more for brushing the tops
1 tub (5.3-ounces) Vanilla Siggi's Yogurt
½ cup dried cranberries (you can use fresh cranberries, too, but cut them in half)
½ tablespoon turbinado sugar, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt; whisk until combined.
Make a well in the center of the flour-mixture and add milk into the well; add olive oil and yogurt.
Using a wooden spoon, stir all the ingredients just until the dough comes together.
Using your hands, add cranberries and knead the dough around about 4 to 5 times.
Transfer dough to previously prepared baking sheet.
Flatten ball into a disk; using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 8 wedges.
Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Separate each wedge, leaving about an inch in between each scone.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes or until cool enough to handle.
Serve.

Making Crunchy Peanut Butter with Ear Protection

I love crunchy peanut butter so I decided to make it myself. I took a handful of salted peanuts we get at Job Lot and I put it in the mini food processor and used the sharp blade pressed the high button. It was so loud my husband got me his bulky red ear protectors that he uses for machinery. I added the pulverized peanuts to the jar of smooth oily peanut butter that we buy at Job Lot.

Upside-Down Spinach Pie

I just made this invention and loved it.

Take an iron pan and add olive oil and heat and add freshly chopped garlic. Add spinach, fresh or frozen and simmer with some vegetable stock until dried out a bit (not soupy). Then, pour on the beaten egg layer, 6 eggs. And then layer on soft corn flour tortillas, and cover. When cooked (cooks fast) eat it like a pie. My favorite seasonings are Adobo and kosher salt and Cholula hot sauce.

(Next day)
This was so good I ate the leftovers for breakfast!

Good Beans Love an Overnight Soak

Rinse one pound of kidney beans (or any kind you like) and while you have your morning cuppa, set up the pressure cooker with the plumped beans and plenty of water; one to two inches above the beans is good rule of thumb. Be sure to add a bloop of olive oil or any kind of oil you like, to prevent foaming, and cook them under pressure for 20 minutes. Voila! Add a generous sprinking of Kosher salt or my favorite; Adobo and then eat them or chill them in the fridge. If you are like my husband and me you will relish a bowl of cold beans for lunch eaten outside at the picnic table.

Steamed Baby Kale

Last night we steamed baby kale and ate it with olive oil garlic Adobo wine and almonds. My favorite food!

I LOVE Cauliflower

I love to buy cauliflower on sale, and chop it up (it looks like a brain). I saute it in olive oil garlic Adobo and stock or wine. Today I added slices of fresh ginger (unpeeled) and home made crunchy peanut butter and Cholula Mexican Hot sauce. We ate outside at the picnic table. A 3PM dinner! When you wake up early, you get hungry early.

Apple Raspberry Smoothie

A friend gave us frozen raspberries from her overflowing freezer. There's no such thing as too many raspberries! I made an apple cider, raspberry and plain yogurt smoothie, with ice. Perfectly delicious especially for dry days. Bananas and orange juice works well too.

Pumpkin Scones

from Epicurious
Scones:

3 cups all-purpose flour (or a blend of flours)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more if using whole wheat or oat flour)
1/4 cup ground ginger
1/4 cup ground cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I use low-fat)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (all pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.

3. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract into the well. Still using your hands, combine the ingredients until all the dry mixture is wet, but do not knead!

5. Turn the mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a disk about 1 1/2 inches thick. using a 3-or 3 1/2- inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many scones as you can and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones—just don't knead the dough too much.

6. Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let the scones cool slightly on the baking sheet (about 20 minutes) before glazing them.

7. While the scones are cooling, prepare the caramel glaze: Place the butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk gently until the mixture is smooth. Just as the mixture comes to a light boil, add the heavy cream and reduce the heat to low. Whisk well for 2 minutes, or until the glaze is thickened and smooth; then remove the pan from the heat.

from Alice's Tea Cup: Delectable Recipes for Scones, Cakes, Sandwiches, and More from New York's Most Whimsical Tea Spot by Haley Fox and Lauren Fox, © 2010 William Morrow An Imprint of HarperCollins

Quick Colorful Salad

Buy a few small cans of different kinds of beans: I like black, red, white and garbanzo, drain. Add a bunch of sliced red onions, and frozen yellow corn niblets, add sliced red bell peppers, and green pimento olives too. Then add some extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar Kosher salt and Adobo. Serve on a bed of mixed greens.

Karen's Ginger Scones

The scones are a daily part of my life. I make a batch, put them in the freezer, and pop them into the toaster for fresh baked goodies every morning. This recipe was from Nancy Silverton, and I use it as a base, and just change ingredients as needed. Key is having the butter frozen, and just whizzing it up with the dry ingredients in the food processor (or otherwise by hand). I make it with currants and cardamom, and have also used toasted coconut with dried pineapple (Pina colada scones!).

Here's a link. I use the open end of a wine glass as my scone cutter for the ginger ones, but make 2 round disks and divide them into 8 wedges each when I do currant ones. More traditional.
- from my friend writer Karen Edelstein

Evaporated Milk

I keep cans of evaporated milk in my cupboard for making pumpkin pie. When I run out of regular milk I use it in my iced coffee. I'll have to admit that I have a bomb shelter mentality about food. I try to keep an ample supply of refrigerated and frozen grains, flour, and dried beans because they are my art supplies. I love to bake and cook.

Swiss Inspired Breakfast

homemade applesauce
plain low fat yogurt
rolled oats
raisins
almonds
or sunflower seeds
dried cranberries
or raisins
Mix all ingredients together in wide mouth mason jar and eat with a spoon.