sprinklefingers

Don’t get me wrong. I completely-wholeheartedly-100% agree with trying to eat foods that were grown around here. That’s how I shop - it’s how I cook - it’s how I eat. 

That said, yesterday did I buy a package of heirloom quinoa that most certainly wasn’t grown around here? I did. Do I still occasionally have ice cream shipped across the country from my favorite ice creamery in Ohio? I do. Does my sister send me tiny jars of roasted thai chile paste (I also refer to this substance as ‘crack’) from the best place for Thai food in Austin, Texas? She does. Do I feel guilty about these transgressions?

Not really.

I mean, what’s the difference between me buying ice cream from Ohio and you buying books from Amazon.com instead of your independent and local bookseller? Not much. Except a pint of ice cream tastes way better than a copy of Swamplandia! (although I just finished reading it and it really was quite good.)

We’re all in charge of our own spending. And our own supporting. Would it be good great to always do the right local thing? Of course it would. But if you have interests in food outside of your own town or if you just can’t bring yourself to pay higher-than-Amazon prices for books - I so totally get it. 

There was this really funny piece in GQ not too long ago where the author challenged himself to eat foods from as far away as possible - he called it The FedEx Meal Plan. Do yourself a favor and read it. Not only is it a great piece of food writing, it’s also utterly endearing.

Here’s the opening paragraph:
 

ONE SHOULD NEVER underestimate the value of having friends whose first reaction, when you tell them you need two In-N-Out burgers FedExed from Los Angeles to New York by the next morning, is to ask, “Regular or Double-Double?” These are the kind of people with whom you’d be happy to share either a foxhole or a beer, the kind you know would be willing to follow you into any drunkenly conceived, willfully contrary, possibly wrongheaded, and certainly obnoxious scheme you’d manage to dream up. I happen to have such friends (their names are Oliver and Sarah), and I happened to have had such a scheme. It was this: To get as many foods as possible, from all over the world, sent overnight via FedEx to my home in Brooklyn.

Happy reading!

vincent family cranberries.
now available fresh.
excuse me while i squeal with excitement.

oh my sweet, sweet lord. is there anything better than a giant jar of farmer’s market honey?

wait. don’t answer that. i know there is. there are actually plenty of things better. but, for some reason, this year is the year of honey for me. my weekly (sometimes tri-weekly) trip to the farmer’s market always involves tasting at least two types of honey - which then invariably leads to me lugging a quart or so of the sweet nectar back to my car.

it all sounds so cool & local doesn’t it? me buying honey made by local bees, sold by local beekeepers at the local farmer’s market. oooh! how so very now!

until you fast forward to my house and see that i’ve had to clear out a cupboard to store the giant jars of honey i continually buy. it’s kind of disturbing. i mean, i think i have just over 2 gallons of honey in my kitchen as i type this. that’s insane. do you know how long it’s going to take this family to use that much honey?

i spent about 20 minutes of this weekend figuring out what i could do with our surplus. and two ideas came to mind. [which means if i spend even longer thinking/researching what to do with the honey, i’ll come up with more ideas…right?]

first, back in the olden days, didn’t people preserve nuts & fruit in honey? well, that’s what i plan to investigate (future post coming soon!)

next, what if i taught myself to make yogurt and used honey to sweeten it?

done! i’ve used up one whole jar simply by thinking of what to do with all that honey! only like 8 more to go!

now i just have to teach myself how to make yogurt. if you’ll excuse me, i have some bacteria to investigate.

i arrived home yesterday only to find a package of books on the front stoop. is there anything more exciting? (uh, don’t answer that. i’ve told you about 93 times that i don’t get out much - therefore the arrival of books truly is exciting.)

inside?

the latest offerings (in the US) from the supergreat hugh fearnly-whittingstall - the brains (& most often the brawn) behind england’s river cottage. now, don’t worry if you have no idea what i’m talking about. river cottage is a place AND a movement AND a way of thinking - all started by UK journalist hugh fearnly-whittingstall. basically, he bought a farm and grew his own food then started telling people about his adventures via his writings and a television series. but it was much more than work to him. today he has grown river cottage into a champion of the local, seasonal, grow-your-own food movement. at the headquarters near Devon you can take cookery & butchery classes, learn to grow vegetables, shop for seasonal produce AND enjoy a delicious local, seasonal meal at the canteen. and this is just a smattering of their offerings. check it out!

anyways, inside my package was river cottage preserves (us version) - and there is literally so much good stuff in there that i almost couldn’t sleep last night. my favorite? a very descriptive method for testing how much pectin is in a specific fruit so that you can make your own pectin ‘broth’ for jam-making. amazing. and incredible. and something i’ve never, ever thought to do before. cannot wait to experiment.

i’ll leave you now with hugh’s column from the guardian - this particular issue discusses muffins. i know you’ll thank me once you see the recipe for the red onion, cheddar and bacon version. you’re welcome.