Jamie’s Fowl Dinners

Homegrown

You might have already heard of the Dervaes Family or even their website pathtofreedom.com but just in case here it is. These guys grow incredible amounts of food on 1/5 of an acre. Very inspiring.

I didn’t know that someone had done a documentary on them though. To learn more about the movie check out homegrown-film.com.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Daffodils

Lilacs, who can resist that smell!

The Bearded Iris is about to bloom!

Civil Eats

In my blog surfing, I was on Mark Bittman’s blog and read about swine flu and CAFOs, I stumbled across an interesting new site, Civil Eats. It’s a great blog site with lots of catagories covering all aspects of well, civil eating. Categories include, grow your own, in the kitchen, food policy and more. Check it out.

Caring for Cast Iron

I love cooking with cast iron. Most of my collection has been found at local second hand stores. Usually they need a little TLC to start. If you get one that needs to seasoned or re-seasoned don’t worry. I recommend bacon grease if you eat meat as it season well and adds great taste. Rub it all over the pan and bake at a lower temp until it turns dark. It should keep seasoning its self as you use it.

Never use soap on your cast iron. Never let it soak in the sink. Always dry it after you wash it out with hot water. Use a scouring pad or steal wool to clean if need be.

I highly recommend a grill skillet, a dutch oven and a couple different sized skillets.

Kids Love to Make Pizza

First make a bunch of pizza crust. The key is good flour and lots of kneading to activate the gluten.

The the kids get to make their own with the different pre-prepared toppings. B chose no sauce with olive oil.

C chose red sauce with meat. The dough made 10 small thin crust pizzas. I ended up putting 5 in the freezer for later. If you don’t want to make your own I highly recommend La Dolce Vita in Santa Fe. Great food and prices. Or they deliver for free in Santa Fe 629-4500.  It’s in the Salano Shopping center down from the Coop. We’re lucky we can walk there.

BK Bakes a Pie

I helped BK make a pie for Easter. We have this great peeler-slicer for apples. I think it was around $20 at Target. It makes apple pies very easy. We also used puff pastry for the crust. So basically all we had to do was add some sugar, flour and spices.

BK put a little egg on the top and we baked it at 375 until golden. Delicious.

HR875 and S425 Explained – STOP THE NWO!

This is very interesting and if you are a gardener or into supporting small and local farmers you need to listen to this.

Flat Stanley is Visiting

Flat Stanley has come to visit our house! I had no idea he could cook. He made some great pasta. And he can eat too. I wonder if he does house work?

Super Human Granola

I found a great new product that is made locally here in Santa Fe. It’s called Super Human Granola. It’s a little pricey but man is it yummy!

The granola is a mix of dried fruit, almonds, oats, millet, flax, maple syrup and more. It is sweet but not too sweet with just a hint of saltiness. I had to take the bag away from my kids so they wouldn’t eat the whole thing in one sitting.

You can buy it at the La Montana Coop here in Santa Fe or through there website www.superhumangranola.com. I highly recommend it.

Skillet Lasagna

OMG, Comfort Food! Who doesn’t love Lasagna?

Lasagna is a great local meal for the cold months when fresh veggies are harder to come buy.

It’s a basic recipe.

1 lb ground meat ( I used Elk)
3 different cheeses ( I used Mozzarella, Cheddar and Feta) Ricotta is good too
Pasta sauce or canned if you have some from your garden.
Lasagna Noodles ( I used about 3/4 of a package)
Favorite Italian Spices (basil is great if you have some dried or fresh)

Basically just layer ingredients, noodles, sauce, meat cheese and repeat about three times. Bake at 425 F until brown and bubbly. I like to use my skillet to bake in but any shallow dish or pan will work.

This one is one of my kids favorites.

Food Porn, Momofuku

So now you know. I would love to eat something from Momofuku! The simple pleasures of good food. Check the other great info and videos over ant eatmedaily.com

Good Reads

These are my most recent reads. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver was a very an easy read. It was a nice enjoyable ride. I like her writing and I am hoping to try out some of the recipes with my garden veggies this year.  I also found her links helpful resources.

I am almost done with The Omnivore’s Delema and have found it most educating! Some of what I found in Kingslover’s book is the same information as Pollan’s but I will never again think of the food I buy the same again. One thing that I have found particularly thought provoking was the industrial organic information. I have eating many of the products he speaks about and didn’t realize that my perception of the animals/vegetables origins were not based in reality. I also have a different understanding of the prices and foods available at my local farmers market and co-op.

I would recommend these to anyone interested in making more informed decisions about their food. You can find out more about the books at their web sites michealpollan.com and animalvegetablemineral.com

Heirloom Tomatoes – From Grow Better Veggies

Here’s a great video to enspire you to get those indoor starter plants going. Who wouldn’t love to grow all these heirloom toms. You really have to have a heat sink and start your plants early to get tomatoes to ripen hear in Santa Fe.

Check out Grow Your Own Veggies for great gardening tips and inspiration.

Mary Jane’s Farm

More Mary Jane Videos

I have been reading and follwing Mary Jane since my first was born. She is very inspirational. She sells some great mixes and I have a lot of here recipes. I make my own baking mix to use with her recipes. You can buy hers and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her products. If you can’t afford to order hers you can try making mine.

Basic Baking Mix ( substitute for Mary Jane’s Budget Baking Mix)

9 1/2 cups flour (white, wheat or mix, I do half and half)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder (non-aluminum)
1 tsp sea salt

Chill over Powder

Agar-agar ( buy at the health food store)

If you want Mary Jane’s recipes you can get here book or a back issue of MaryJanesFarmMagazine, 8th Issue, Farm Kitchen.

I have it and it has a load of great recipes. Or she has a few books out as well as a regular 6 issue a year magazine. Enjoy

Food Fight

This looks cool. Yeah I am on a video kick right now. Check out the website foodfightthedoc.com

Food Matters

Here”s the first of a 2 part series on YouTube or check out theses vidoes on FORA.tv

Mark Bittman has a great approach and philiosopy about Food.

The Garden

I would like to see this.

The History of the White House Garden

My hubby sent me this. Enjoy

The Hungry Mouse

I found a great blog about food. It’s called The Hungry Mouse but don’t go there unless you plan on being hungry. Between the pictures and the recipes you will be drooling. Check it out if you dare!
While your at if check out Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice too.

Great Food Blogs

finger food, originally uploaded by まてぃあすMattias.

My sweety sent me a grat link to a blog called White on Rice and through them I found another great link called Foodbuzz. Great pictures and recipes. Check it out.