Here is the updated menu (please note vegetarian versions will be prepared for dishes with meat):
Spicy Greens Salad with Apples, Candied Pecans, and
Homemade Pizzas
Smoked Halibut Risotto with
Lemon, Asparagus, Green Garlic, and Spring Herbs
Braised Kale Rabe with Bacon
Onion Bread
Rhubarb Crisp with Whipped Orange Crème Fraiche
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Dinner Plans for May 15
We decided to try to have a broad array of different vegetable dishes for this meal (see what we bought in the little narrative below), but we haven’t come up with a plan for a main course yet. Feel free to make suggestions. Some of the ideas that have been floated so far are:
Quiche
Pasta all’amatriciana (pasta tossed with carmelized onions, red peppeer flakes, pancetta, diced tomatoes, and lots of parmesan)
Paella with homemade chorizo sausage (we would need a vegetarian/vegan analogue for this entry)
A group of us went to Bainbridge and we had a beautiful Saturday on the island. We started with the farmer’s market, where we bought young garlic (like scallions only with a garlic taste), kale raab (kale leaves with tender flower heads), and rhubarb (for making pie or a crisp). We had lunch at the market and then went to visit the farm (or group of farms) where Ariana is interning. She took us around the farm and then we had a wine tasting at Bainbridge Island Winery, which is part of the farming consortium. We bought four bottles of their Madeleine Angevine, a crisp dry slightly flowery wine made from a grape from the Loire Valley. This is one of the few grapes that do well in the Puget Sound region and this winery is also one of the few that grow all their own grapes used in their wines. We also visited another farmer in the group where we bought asparagus and then back to Ariana’s farm to help her weed the garlic beds.
The farmland was originally owned by the Suyematsu family who started berry farming there in the 1920s. They were interned during the war but the original owner of the land helped them keep up with their payments during the war so that they did not lose their land. The last remaining family member is 87-year-old Akio Suyematsu who wants to keep the land agriculture and has been selling off parcels to small scale sustainable farmers. The current farmers use draft animals as well as mechanized tractors to work the land.
Quiche
Pasta all’amatriciana (pasta tossed with carmelized onions, red peppeer flakes, pancetta, diced tomatoes, and lots of parmesan)
Paella with homemade chorizo sausage (we would need a vegetarian/vegan analogue for this entry)
A group of us went to Bainbridge and we had a beautiful Saturday on the island. We started with the farmer’s market, where we bought young garlic (like scallions only with a garlic taste), kale raab (kale leaves with tender flower heads), and rhubarb (for making pie or a crisp). We had lunch at the market and then went to visit the farm (or group of farms) where Ariana is interning. She took us around the farm and then we had a wine tasting at Bainbridge Island Winery, which is part of the farming consortium. We bought four bottles of their Madeleine Angevine, a crisp dry slightly flowery wine made from a grape from the Loire Valley. This is one of the few grapes that do well in the Puget Sound region and this winery is also one of the few that grow all their own grapes used in their wines. We also visited another farmer in the group where we bought asparagus and then back to Ariana’s farm to help her weed the garlic beds.
The farmland was originally owned by the Suyematsu family who started berry farming there in the 1920s. They were interned during the war but the original owner of the land helped them keep up with their payments during the war so that they did not lose their land. The last remaining family member is 87-year-old Akio Suyematsu who wants to keep the land agriculture and has been selling off parcels to small scale sustainable farmers. The current farmers use draft animals as well as mechanized tractors to work the land.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
May Event Sign Up
It turns out that May 10 is Mother's Day, but Ariana suggested we come to the farm on Saturday, May 9. She said that the farmer's market closes at 1 and if we arrive about 2:30, they will arrange a wine-tasting for us! We may want to purchase some wine for our dinner.
Please use the comment function to sign up for our trip to the farm and/or for dinner. Please indicate if you are signing up for one or both activities. Also, please let me know if you can help drive to the farm (on May 9) or help cook dinner (on May 15).
Also, please let others know about our dinner. It would be great to expand our numbers. I would also like to set the cost of dinner at $10 per diner this time, but $15 with wine. We didn't discuss this at our last meeting, so feel free to comment on this as well.
Please use the comment function to sign up for our trip to the farm and/or for dinner. Please indicate if you are signing up for one or both activities. Also, please let me know if you can help drive to the farm (on May 9) or help cook dinner (on May 15).
Also, please let others know about our dinner. It would be great to expand our numbers. I would also like to set the cost of dinner at $10 per diner this time, but $15 with wine. We didn't discuss this at our last meeting, so feel free to comment on this as well.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Meeting Notes from April 15 Meeting
Farm Visit
The group decided to plan a trip to Bainbridge Island to visit the consortium of organic farms where Ariana is interning this spring. A weekend in the first half of May was decided upon as good timing in terms everyone’s schedule with regard to the 10-week quarter. Ann will write Ariana to determine which weekend might be better from their end. It might be a bit early for some produce but we will just have to work with the season and with the reality that things might be a little late this year. Once the date is set, we can plan logistics for getting there. It would be wonderful if we could travel as foot passengers on the ferry, but it depends on what transportation will be needed once we get to Bainbridge. I will get that information from Ariana and will pursue the rental of a UW van if that seems like the best way to go.
I will also set up a doodle poll to determine the dinner date. A strong preference was expressed for a Friday evening in mid-May.
Slow Food on Campus
Emilia Ptak talked to us about her conversations with Slow Food Seattle. Affiliation might bring some resources to help us fund (and expand) what we are already doing and also might make it possible for us to send a delegate or two to Terra Madre in 2010. Student membership is only $10 (which includes the magazine Slow and the monthly newsletter). The question arose as to whether our current group is large enough to meet the organizational requirements for organizing as a Slow Food convivium (we need a full roster of no fewer than 10 officers!). We agreed that we could use our next meal event as an opportunity to increase our numbers. Emilia agreed to take the lead on any planning to pursue an affiliation with Slow Food in the future. She also mentioned an upcoming visit to Washington State by Josh Viertel, the President of Slow Food USA and director of the Yale Sustainable Farm Project, and we might want to see if we can either invite him to campus or send a group off to meet him (Emilia, can you provide us with some details on his visit? I forgot to make notes on that).
Broadening Our Base
Other opportunities to expand the group were discussed: a table on Earth Day (coming up soon on April 22), having a fundraiser at the cob oven, seeking affiliation with the Green Coalition. If any of you would like to take the lead on this, please let me know. I would especially like to have a table on Earth Day. It seems like too good an opportunity to pass up to get the word out about what we are doing. If any of you know what this entails, please get in touch with me. I would be willing to help out with this, but I need a student who knows the ropes about how to set one up.
Eat In
We discussed briefly the possibility of staging an "Eat-In" similar to the one that happened at Slow Food USA last Labor Day weekend. It is too late for this year, but we might want to think about it for next fall--a kind of harvest home. If you would like to learn more about staging this kind of event, please check out the Eat-In website.
The group decided to plan a trip to Bainbridge Island to visit the consortium of organic farms where Ariana is interning this spring. A weekend in the first half of May was decided upon as good timing in terms everyone’s schedule with regard to the 10-week quarter. Ann will write Ariana to determine which weekend might be better from their end. It might be a bit early for some produce but we will just have to work with the season and with the reality that things might be a little late this year. Once the date is set, we can plan logistics for getting there. It would be wonderful if we could travel as foot passengers on the ferry, but it depends on what transportation will be needed once we get to Bainbridge. I will get that information from Ariana and will pursue the rental of a UW van if that seems like the best way to go.
I will also set up a doodle poll to determine the dinner date. A strong preference was expressed for a Friday evening in mid-May.
Slow Food on Campus
Emilia Ptak talked to us about her conversations with Slow Food Seattle. Affiliation might bring some resources to help us fund (and expand) what we are already doing and also might make it possible for us to send a delegate or two to Terra Madre in 2010. Student membership is only $10 (which includes the magazine Slow and the monthly newsletter). The question arose as to whether our current group is large enough to meet the organizational requirements for organizing as a Slow Food convivium (we need a full roster of no fewer than 10 officers!). We agreed that we could use our next meal event as an opportunity to increase our numbers. Emilia agreed to take the lead on any planning to pursue an affiliation with Slow Food in the future. She also mentioned an upcoming visit to Washington State by Josh Viertel, the President of Slow Food USA and director of the Yale Sustainable Farm Project, and we might want to see if we can either invite him to campus or send a group off to meet him (Emilia, can you provide us with some details on his visit? I forgot to make notes on that).
Broadening Our Base
Other opportunities to expand the group were discussed: a table on Earth Day (coming up soon on April 22), having a fundraiser at the cob oven, seeking affiliation with the Green Coalition. If any of you would like to take the lead on this, please let me know. I would especially like to have a table on Earth Day. It seems like too good an opportunity to pass up to get the word out about what we are doing. If any of you know what this entails, please get in touch with me. I would be willing to help out with this, but I need a student who knows the ropes about how to set one up.
Eat In
We discussed briefly the possibility of staging an "Eat-In" similar to the one that happened at Slow Food USA last Labor Day weekend. It is too late for this year, but we might want to think about it for next fall--a kind of harvest home. If you would like to learn more about staging this kind of event, please check out the Eat-In website.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Making Plans for Spring Quarter
Our next Real Food Challenge Meeting will be this Wednesday, April 15, 5-6 p.m. in 401 Denny. Please come and help us plan for our farm trip later this quarter.
More news:
We had discussed last quarter about the possibility of planning a farm visit in preparation for our meal event for spring quarter. I have written Ariana Taylor-Stanley to see if we might visit her at the farm where she is interning on Bainbridge Island. The other possibility is to follow up on Mark Madsen's invitation to visit him on Lopez Island.
Emilia Ptak, who is a UW student, has contacted me about the possibility of setting up an affiliation with Slow Food on Campus. She has been in touch with the Seattle Chapter of Slow Food and she would like an opportunity to present to our group what this might entail in terms of organization and what resources we might draw on. We might also want to discuss whether we want to form an ASUW registered student organization, which would enable us to draw on ASUW resources to support our activities.
Plans are getting underway with the video blog project. Theresa Klaassen and Chris Brown are collaborating on a first installment of an online cooking school and we may have located a kitchen that would be good for videotaping.
Finally, Lucy Jarosz and I are still trying to figure out how to get the word out about our study abroad program for Fall Quarter (The Culture and Politics of Food in Italy). If you know of any students that might be interested, please help us spread the word!!
More news:
We had discussed last quarter about the possibility of planning a farm visit in preparation for our meal event for spring quarter. I have written Ariana Taylor-Stanley to see if we might visit her at the farm where she is interning on Bainbridge Island. The other possibility is to follow up on Mark Madsen's invitation to visit him on Lopez Island.
Emilia Ptak, who is a UW student, has contacted me about the possibility of setting up an affiliation with Slow Food on Campus. She has been in touch with the Seattle Chapter of Slow Food and she would like an opportunity to present to our group what this might entail in terms of organization and what resources we might draw on. We might also want to discuss whether we want to form an ASUW registered student organization, which would enable us to draw on ASUW resources to support our activities.
Plans are getting underway with the video blog project. Theresa Klaassen and Chris Brown are collaborating on a first installment of an online cooking school and we may have located a kitchen that would be good for videotaping.
Finally, Lucy Jarosz and I are still trying to figure out how to get the word out about our study abroad program for Fall Quarter (The Culture and Politics of Food in Italy). If you know of any students that might be interested, please help us spread the word!!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Another Success!
Our second meal event was very successful. We started cooking at 4:30 and sat down to dinner about 7:10 with a total of 21 diners. Everything went reasonably smoothly, despite a panicked search for the sausages, which were finally found in the back of my car where they had fallen out of one of the grocery bags en route to campus. I discovered that the Bosc pears I had selected at PCC for the pear tarts were not very ripe and so Theresa and Chris simmered the cut slices in a simple sugar syrup to sweeten them up. Lesson learned: select by fragrance and not just appearance! We had lots of pear slices left over, which were added to the roasted beet and fennel salad. Nothing was wasted: the beet tops were added to the dinokalopita as were the egg whites left over from the tarts.
Chris Brown archived the event with his camera and has promised to put the photos online soon. I will update this post once I get the link.
The cost of the meal came out at about $10 per diner. We now have an accumulated fund of about $130 (including the extra money from our first event). For our spring event, we might want to consider a more elaborate meal. Or we can use the accumulated extra funds to help fund our tentative plans for an "eat in."
Chris Brown archived the event with his camera and has promised to put the photos online soon. I will update this post once I get the link.
The cost of the meal came out at about $10 per diner. We now have an accumulated fund of about $130 (including the extra money from our first event). For our spring event, we might want to consider a more elaborate meal. Or we can use the accumulated extra funds to help fund our tentative plans for an "eat in."
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Menu for February 6
Ta and Lisa joined me this morning to shop for our dinner coming up this Friday. As we shopped, the following menu came into focus (please note the embedded links lead to a recipe):
Starter: Dinokalopita Frittata (like Spanokopita but with Dino Kale instead of Spinach)
Salad: Roasted Candy Cane Beets, Golden Beets, and Fennel, with a Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette.
Main Course: Tuscan Bean Stew (two versions, one with Italian sausage and one vegetarian) served with Polenta grilled with Montasio Cheese
Dessert: Pear Tart with Homemade Crème Fraîche
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)