Fall is my favorite season. Not only is it the season of my birthday, fresh donuts and cider, finally cooler temperatures, agricultural bounty, but it's also the start of the holiday season and the time for my favorite annual publications - the thanksgiving editions of the food magazines. Oh there's nothing better - it's food porn and I'm an addict. I love the pictures decorating the shiny pages of perfect food; golden turkeys, fluffy potatoes, browned casseroles, vibrantly colored vegetables.

My addiction to Thanksgiving isn't limited to the food. The seasonal decorations and the table settings are also a focus of my addiction. Autumnal colored linens, elegant holiday china, cornucopias, leaves, pumpkins and gourds, mums; I can't get enough. I hit the store to collect all the Thanksgiving editions of magazines I don't already subscribe to (yes, there are ones that I don't subscribe to thankyouverymuch), then I head to the library to check out all the cookbooks they have too. I plot and plan the menu, the table, the snacks, and the dessert with my mom and sister beginning more than a month in advance - discussing holiday menus past and assigning items for preparation.

This year we have an additional reason to be excited (and thankful) - two new family members trying holiday food for the first time (well, one actually trying it herself, one trying it second hand).

We have favorite dishes that return yearly to grace the holiday table (sausage stuffing, sweet potato casserole) and new items being tested for the first time. What are favorites on your holiday table?

Smells like an open house

Yes, it is what you think it is; warm, yeasty, crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside bread. Here's the deal: I took Martha's Baking Handbook out of the library the other day and have been perusing it daily, drooling and wishing for cold hands and more patience. Today I couldn't take it any more. I made my first cup of coffee and started out bright and early sifting my ingredients. I followed the recipe exactly, and everything was going well until I turned the dough out onto my board to begin kneading. Splat. So I added more flour. And kneaded. And added more flour. And kneaded. And added more flour, and more flour, and kneaded some more. This went on for quite a while. Finally, after much trial and error, I hit the right dough consistency; smooth, not sticky and pliable. I was thrilled - even baking isn't an exact science! Who knew? I might be hooked.

As American as...

I am not a baker. I'm not exact, I'm not measured and I'm definitely not predictable. I'm not that great at following directions, and I believe someones got to be different (and that's usually me).

But weirdly enough I want to be a baker. I dream of fresh loves of bread, with perfectly chewy interiors and crisp, crunchy crusts. I imagine holidays filled with savory, sweet pies, the house perfumed by wonderful, homey aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg. I buy book after book on baking, desserts and breadmaking and stare longingly at the pages. But I believe in change and growth and chances.

So I baked a pie.

It's not perfect; the crust didn't brown as much as I would have liked, and pastry is not my specialty, but it's a pie. And it'll taste fine.

And that's enough.

Yummilicious - and on the way to being even more so

I love food. Everything about it is exciting to me - it's origin, where it comes from, how it grows, the different ways it can be prepared, preserved and presented. One of my favorite places to shop is the grocery store, and I beeline for any store selling kitchen or food related products. I'm a weekly (and often more often) shopper at the farmer's market, and I buy my apples and pumpkins from a farm or orchard (not a parking lot stand). I'm so excited to serve food grown in my garden. I've even found great local wine!

Previous to this year I didn't give much thought to where my food was coming from. I lived in consumeristic bliss, happily making the bulk of my food purchases from the local Meijer, preparing my meals with little concern for the seasonality of my food.

I'm not sure where my transformation started. Maybe it was Fast Food Nation. It progressed to the Omnivorous Dilemma, and Animal Vegetable Miracle. It moved to Local Harvest, Fair Food Matters and Eat Local. And somewhere along the line, my feelings about food and concern for where it comes from started to change.

My first real personal change concerned the origin of my meat products. I'm an animal lover, a foster "mother" and a often guilty feeling omnivore. (I've tried vegetarianism but I love a good bologenese sauce way too much). So if I can't change my taste at least I can change where and how I get my meat. I stopped buying meat from the grocery store and started making my purchases from a local butcher, Quality Meats. I lost my squeamishness for venison and started adding it to more and more recipes. Recently I located an organic farm offering a meat csa and I'm currently plotting my purchases to store in my freezer.

Next I reconsidered my veggie choices. With the Farmer's Market open 3 days/week I've been really successful in limiting most of my vegetables to locally grown, but I've been troubled about my options for the winter, and still getting my out of range produce (i.e. lemons) from my local megamart. I was so excited to learn there are several local growers offering winter csas.

I'm really interested in finding more sources for local food. I'm not sure I could ever limit myself to living totally local - there are some things I just couldn't give up. Recently I read somewhere that even those who eat local allow themselves 12 items outside their food shed they just can't live without. So I started thinking - what couldn't I give up? Let's see..
1. Real Parmesan cheese (and maybe all cheese in general. I did find a local producer of ricotta cheese, and keep perusing the how to make cheese website - which may soon be another blog!)
2. Olive oil
3. Cocoa power/chocolate
4. Vanilla
5. Flour
6. Spices (can I make this one entry?)
7. Salt
8. Milk/soymilk (though I'm doing some research on local options)
9. Rice/cornmeal/couscous
(I'm actually surprised to find that at this point it's getting hard to think of other things I couldn't live without or find a local source for.)
10. Coffee
11. Soda
12. Fish

Update: I stopped at Centre Street Market today and found a flyer for a local cheese producer, which led me to a website listing several local producers. I'll continue to post my food finds in my blogroll for those of you interesting in pursuing other food options as well.

Love - an update

Monday night I was hit with a wild craving for turkey burgers on the grill - and what goes better with a grill than squash.


They were fantastic - very similar in flavor to yellow summer squash but with a few more seeds and a slightly thicker skin. I dressed them with a little olive oil and sea salt - delish!

I'm in love

Aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen? I saw them at the Bank Street Farmer's Market this afternoon and just couldn't resist them. I have no idea how I'm going to prepare them but I'll keep you updated.

I'm super excited for the upcoming Harvest Fest - it's being held at Tillers and features great great entertainment, exhibitions and a celebration of local food and farming. There's even a week long celebration of local food called Eat Local, Kalamazoo! I'm definitely going to be checking the events out - including the book signing at KPS by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon for their book "PLENTY: One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating".

Also on my horizon - the Master Gardener class beginning early September. I dropped off my soil samples today and am looking forward to getting the results.

Girlie Food

Let's say your husband is working the night shift on a big project, it's hot as a griddle outside and your local farmer's market had the most beautiful beets on display...what would you do?

Well I don't know what you'd do, but I'd make bortsch.

Alright, I'll admit, I was a little skeptical at first too. I'd seen it on a rerun of Barefoot Contessa and was intrigued by it's vivid color and ability to be served cold. It's been so humid here and I've been craving lighter suppers and drinking everything in sight. But is that weird pink soup is actually going to taste good? Ina was in character and excited about it. What the heck? I'm culinarily adventurous.

I was thankfully pleasantly surprised (a good thing because my backup plan was hotdogs at the Rootbeer Stand, and you know how good those things are for you). The soup is sweet, with a thin broth and mild tang from the vinegar and lemon juice. The sour cream adds a richness and creaminess and the cucumbers add a slight nice crunch. I even had seconds.

A quick warning note: Beet juice stains turns everything it touches a rich pinkpurple color, so dress accordingly for preparation.

Recipe adapted from the Barefoot Contessa.

Bortsch
5 medium beets
salt/pepper
2 cups chicken stock (I used homemade)
16 oz sour cream + extra for garishing (I used lowfat)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons champange vinegar
2 cups diced cucumber, seeds removed
1/2 cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill + extra for garnishing (I used ~ 1 tablespoon dried)

Bring beets to a boil in salted water. Boil for 30 - 40 minutes until beets can be pierced easily by a knife. Remove beets from cooking liquid (reserve cooking liquid) and cool beets until they're comfortable to handle (I stuck them in the freezer for a few minutes), then peel off skins. Cut into medium dice and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine chicken stock, ~ 1 1/2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid, sour cream, sugar, vinegar and dill. Whisk to combine. Add chopped beets, cucumber, scallions and stir. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and additional chopped dill before serving.

Celebrate

Yesterday we had my sister's baby shower (she's due early Oct.).

The Happy Parents

Me