Purple Asparagus' January Newsletter

We just published Purple Asparagus's January newsletter. Click here to check it out.

Drawing with Your Food

Today, I wanted to share a guest post from my good friend and logo designer Julie Morelli, in which she tells the story of the Little Locavores logo.



I'm a graphic designer. I make things, lots of things. Posters, books, t-shirts, window signage, product packaging and even a temporary tattoo for kids. However it's not very often that I get to combine design with my other love: food. (Don't tell design but in a thumb war, I'm pretty sure food would win). So when Melissa approached me about creating a logo / mark for the Little Locavores blog, the answer was enthusiastically YES.

When starting a project I like to put myself in the shoes of the client and the audience, or in this case the audience's little ones! As soon as I figuratively slipped on my old strawberry shortcake velcro size 1's (circa 1985) I knew what I would do for the logo: draw with my food.

I went with the classic "potato as stamp" route. After a couple of disastrous potato incidences (accidentally turning my star into one lonely triangle) I got the hang of it again. Soon I had a few apple-y and tomato-y looking creations. They weren't perfect, but that wasn't the goal here. There were surprises along the way, things I hadn't planned on and imperfections that gave each little potato stamp it's own personality : just what I thought would fit well with the content in this blog.

It was a great break from creating on the computer (my daily routine) and an excuse to get an excessive amount of potatoes, resulting in potato pancakes, home fries, and gnocchi later in the week.



-------------------------------------------------

About Julie : In between running the graphic design business (Letterform, Inc.) she owns with her fiance, Andy, and printing her very own line of foodie greeting cards (Nourishing Notes), Julie is consumed by food.... or consuming food.

A Fine Condiment: Local Folks Ketchup

Yesterday, my delivery from Fresh Picks arrived, exciting me for many reasons, not the least of which was the return of Local Folks Foods' ketchup. Receiving it made me thing of the following post, which I wrote for The Local Beet last Spring when I first discovered it.

"Every year, on one of those first, early, beautiful days of spring, my family enjoys our first wood-grilled burgers of the season. Sometimes the urge arrives on a wafting charcoal breeze, others the weather report, with the promise of unseasonal balm. A little of both inspired the early unveiling of the Weber Kettle this year. The ingredient that provided the final impetus was a new product: ketchup from Local Folks Foods of Sheridan, Indiana.

Offered online at Irv & Shelly’s Fresh Picks, the Local Folks ketchup is sweetened without the ubiquitous, government-subsidized corn syrup. Bright red, in a BBQ sauce-shaped bottle, it beckoned from my countertop after arriving in my weekly Thursday delivery from Fresh Picks. The ground beef was from our monthly CSA delivery from Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm, the buns from Treasure Island, onions, cheese from Brunkow and lettuce from Wind n Oak Farm in Manhattan, IL. A testament to its deliciousness: the devouring of it by my very picky son. What about the ketchup?

There are a handful of products for which I’ve had a hard time to find a local substitute: most significantly, Hellman’s mayonnaise (yes, there’s homemade, but who makes it for a tablespoon or two in a recipe) and Heinz ketchup. There’s something about their formulas that is standard, comforting and just plain right, at least in terms of their flavor profiles. Ketchup has been particularly troublesome. While I’ve made plenty of homemade ketchups and catsups (including a mean and versatile red pepper version) none could capture the elusive spirit of the old 57, particularly the organic version made with real sugar. This is why I was particularly impressed by the Local Folks Foods ketchup. I mentioned earlier the true rose red color of it. The flavor is delicious and really quite close to the ideal, at least my ideal – Heinz. Piquant, yet rich; sweet, with a perfect counterpoint of salinity. My only small criticism is that it could be a touch thicker. Where as the Heinz needs that perfect tap to the 57 to flow freely, Local Folks pours like a river. A minor complaint when leveled at a small company selling an artisanal product that can stand toe to toe with an icon."

Even with my love of January, in rereading this, I felt a little wistful for the early days of spring. Soon enough, it will come soon enough.

A Little Something to Snack on

I was quite entertained by today's front page article in The New York Times' Food Section. In "Snacking Nation: When Did Grazing Take Over Our Children?," Jennifer Steinhauer thoroughly depicts today's snack culture among school age children and the troubling issues it raises for their physical health.

In a manner intended to entertain and engross the reader in her subject, Ms. Steinhauer writes:

". . . when it comes to American boys and girls, snacks seem both mandatory and constant. Apparently, we have collectively decided as a culture that it is impossible for children to take part in any activity without simultaneously shoving something into their pie holes."

I couldn't agree more.

She discussed all this "extra curricular" eating with other parents including one Chicago dad, Sean O'Neill, who wondered why the ever present need for snacks at every sporting event, even those at 10am or right before lunch. He remarked that:

"The kids are playing baseball, they are covered in Chicago Park District dirt and then eat a handful of fruit bites," he said. "It's pretty disgusting."

T-Ball first introduced us to the dreaded snack request. The email asking each "mom" (of course this wasn't a generic parent request) to sign up for a game after which said mom would provide peanut-free snack and drink for each of the team members. Like the reaction of the article's author, the request struck a bit of horror in my heart. I wasn't concerned about our turn, we are that "rare" family that showed up with a homemade snack: freshly popped corn prepared Thor-style tossed with Spice House Hickory Smoked Sea Salt and lemonade turned a lovely shade with locally grown strawberries. Yeah, it was a pain, but it was only a one time request and they both were a huge hit. No my fears centered on what my son would do when faced with the other selections.

Not too long before the season started, we successfully convinced Thor that he was allergic to GMO (genetically modified) corn. (Imagine our trips in Midwestern farm country, substitute for "Are we there yet?" "Is that GMO corn?" Stop, and repeat). This happened after he tried a bowlful of tortilla chips from an unnamed grocery store and soon broke out with a very itchy and red rash. With nothing else changing in his diet or skin care regime, we decided to pinpoint the blame on said chips. Running with this, I explained to him that the vast majority of high fructose corn syrup comes from GMO corn resulting in his becoming an avid label reader. So my fear and dread was focused on his reaction to the snacks presented. Would he loudly recoil and be ostracized as a food weirdo, or worse would he relish the opportunity to try the junk and undo our hard work?

The answer turned out to be none of the above. We did have the first small outburst when he turned to Dad and asked "is this GMO corn?" Fortunately, the mom didn't hear him as her attention was on distributing the kid-size packages of Cheetos. After that, we instituted the bait and switch. He would politely accept whatever snack was offered, bring it home, and we would replace it with a healthier and tastier alternative.

Nevertheless, despite our solution, I would relish the cultural shift suggested at the article's end:

"Food allergies are a real problem. But did no one ponder the idea that perhaps the solution is for children to bring their own snacks?

Or to eat no snacks at all?"

Or could we at least return snacks to their rightful role of a sometime food?

For those sometimes, here's our recipe for

Thor-Style Popcorn.

1/3 cup unpopped popcorn (we get ours from a local farm, River Valley), popped, preferably by air
Canola or grapeseed oil spray
4 or 5 shakes of Hickory Smoked Sea Salt (we get ours from The Spice House)

Spray the freshly popped popcorn lightly with oil. Toss with the sea salt and enjoy.

Michael Pollan's Food Rules

My good friend Tracy Kellner over at Provenance Food and Wine has been blogging about Michael Pollan's most recent book Food Rules. In today's post, Purple Asparagus got quite a nice mention.

"Food Rules #9: Avoid foods w/the terms "lite", "low-fat" or "nonfat" in their names

Pollan makes an interesting point: We've gotten fat on low-fat products over the last 40 years. I've long thought it was odd that if you compared people in pictures, movies, etc. from 40, 50 or more years ago to those in today's culture, movies, etc. we are so much bigger & taller than we used to be! Does anyone else find it strange that some middle schoolers are nearing 6'? Or the rate of obesity has risen as much as it has in the last 20-30 years? Call me crazy, but it's GOT to have something to do with our food supply and the way food is produced, doesn't it? All these "lite" and "diet" foods seem to have more carbs, are more processed and contain more chemicals (& we are eating MORE of them).

A friend of mine runs a non-profit called Purple Asparagus, which works to bring families together through food, but also does a lot of work with childhood nutrition and getting into schools to teach kids how to cook, the value of eating fresh, local foods and avoiding 'junk' foods." To read more, click here

I agree. About a year ago, I prepared a Healthy, Sustainable Snack Handout for Purple Asparagus, which had this to say on the subject of dairy:

"While many nutritional organizations suggest serving either low-fat or non-fat dairy products, with the exception of skim milk, Purple Asparagus does not recommend non-fat dairy foods. There’s some debate among nutritionists as to whether the “de-fatting” processes leaches nutrients out of the final product. There are also some nutritionists and doctors who suggest that eating full-fat or low-fat products as opposed to non-fat products encourage people to eat less because they feel more satisfied. We suggest that parents try portion control before introducing non-fat products into a child’s diet."

Click here to read the entire handout.

Silpat: Where Cookies Come From

File under "kids say the darndest things." When Thor was three, he told me that Silpat, the brand of silicone pan liners that I use, are where cookies come from.

Late last week, I read that cookie dough may be in short supply after Nestle found E coli in two samples during a routine testing. Nestle announced that it would start using heat treated flour in all of its refrigerated doughs "to enhance the safety of that product."

Nestle's move is admirable, I guess, but I submit that a better way to prevent illness from eating chocolate chip cookies is to make them yourself. And so this disturbing and screwed up news (how have we gotten to a point in our food system that a beloved childhood treat could become a source of dangerous pathogens?), inspired me to break out my chocolate chip recipe and make a plateful of cookies.

Now, just like most other cookies, this recipe with its high fat and sugar content cannot be considered a healthy snack, instead a treat. Nowadays, even Cookie Monster admits that cookies are a sometime food. However, you can feel a little better about these cookies with the addition of whole wheat flour. Add in sustainably produced eggs and butter, and you can feel downright virtuous.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar or coconut palm sugar (I use palm sugar from Zingerman's)
13 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon honey
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix together flours, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Cream together butter and sugars with an electric mixer. Stir in honey. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl before the addition of each. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour, mix on low until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Increase the speed to medium until well-mixed approximately 2 minutes. Add chocolate chips and stir the batter with a rubber spatula. Drop tablespoons of dough onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake for 15-18 minutes, reversing the placement of the pans about a halfway through.

Postscript: I just asked the little locavore whether he remembered his silpat quip. His response? "Well, don't they? Isn't that what makes them taste so awesome?"

Winter CSAs and Gluten Free Lasagne

I'm not much for vegetable CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) during the growing season. Whether teaching classes, volunteering, or buying for the business, I'm at farmers' markets at least once a week and with so much tempting produce, I can't be tied down to a box picked out by someone else. Come winter, with only occasional farmers' markets that are sparsely attended and stocked, I'm very happy to sign up for Fresh Picks' shares. With three sizes (single, double, and family), Fresh Picks combines local and California organic produce with prepared foods from local companies. It's delivered to my door Thursday afternoon, which gives me lots to play with over the weekend.

Our share this week included beautiful local Santina Gold potatoes and green leaf lettuce, California scallions, red pepper, radishes, and a large globe eggplant. The prepared item was marinara sauce from Local Folks Foods. I also ordered a quart of un-homogenized flash pasteurized milk from Trader's Point.

The eggplant and marinara sauce were a natural marriage. Initially, with a multitude of bags of bread crumbs in the freezer, I was thinking Eggplant Parmesan. But after a hefty weekend of eating (burgers and cheese fries at DMK Burger Bar this morning, an Indian buffet as yesterday's lunch, and a delicious dinner at Carnivale last night), I thought a lighter option would be a healthier choice.

Making homemade ricotta with the whole milk, we turned the eggplant into a gluten free lasagne.

Eggplant Lasagne
Serves 8

2 globe eggplants
1/4 cup or more of extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ pound ricotta
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sparkling water
1 tablespoon scallion greens, finely chopped
1 tablespoon basil, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
1 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
1 cup grated mozzarella

Slice the eggplants 1/3-inch thick. Brush with olive oil and grill on an electric grill, in a grill pan, or on a outdoor barbecue.



Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Mix together ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg, sparkling water, spinach, and herbs in a large bowl.



Pour in 1/2 the marinara in a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Lay the slices of eggplant on top of the sauce.



Drop the filling by large spoonfuls on top of the eggplant. top the filling with the remaining slices of eggplant.



Pour the rest of the sauce on top and sprinkle with mozzarella.



Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.