The new USDA data on home food production in the US is in and it ain't pretty. The value of home-produced foods as a percentage of the total value of foods produced dropped by 20% from 2004 to 2005 meaning that we have hit the lowest mark in US history. If you take into account the fact that the average mouthful of food travels over 1500 miles from field to fork in the US, it's accurate to say that Americans have never been farther removed from the making of their food as we are now.

Now for the good news: what we're doing collectively and individually in our yards, lots, allotments, plots, and aplotments (yes, I know it's not a word, but it should be) is more important than ever. So keep it up and be sure to show your neighbor what a truly local and red ripe tomato tastes like. That's the best argument we have for doing what we do.

Posted by at 7:03 PM | Permalink

Posted by at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Do you remember the good ol' days when people recorded their recipes on index cards and zuchinni was spelled with only one "n"? (Actually, we'll have to double-check that last fact.)

While recipe cards may be following the same flightless flight path as the Dodo Bird into extinction, their memory lives on thanks to - well, how can we say it - some kooks with cameras. Good kooks, though, our kind of kooks! The type of eccentric people who think that family food traditions are worth holding onto even if it means sitting down for a whole afternoon and shooting picture after picture of Mom's entire recipe archive and then posting them all to the internet.

Here are two recipe card slide shows we found posted on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdorff/sets/1512108/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil_g/sets/412209/show/

So now a question for you: how do you hold onto "keeper" recipes in our disposable, digital age? Kooky minds want to know.

Photo courtesy of Gisara

Posted by at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

This month, Darrol Shillingburg of Las Cruces, New Mexico gets us thinking about what it means to be a "principled gardener".

To read the full newsletter, please go here:
http://www.kitchengardeners.org/newsletterjuly06.htm

Posted by at 6:52 PM | Permalink

Al Gore invented the internet and southern California invented the zucchini. Or is it vice-versa?

The latter claim - that zucchini would not be the international superstar it is were it not for California - is the subject of an article in today's Los Angeles Times. Be sure to check out the 3 SoCal-style zucchini recipes that go with the article.

Posted by at 2:08 PM | Permalink

You plant crops, but have you ever "intercropped" your crops? Chances are that you have without realizing it. Intercropping is like companion planting, except that it has more to do with finding two crops that fit well with one another in terms of space, sun and nutrient needs than it does matching complimentary plant personality types.

Here's how one useful Danish website explains it:

Intercropping is considered as the practical application of ecological principles such as diversity, crop interaction and other natural regulation mechanisms. Intercropping is defined as the growth of two or more crops in proximity in the same field during a growing season to promote interaction between them. Available growth resources, such as light, water and nutrients are more completely absorbed and converted to crop biomass by the intercrop as a result of differences in competitive ability for growth factors between intercrop components. The more efficient utilization of growth resources leads to yield advantages and increased stability compared to sole cropping.

Posted by at 1:22 PM | Permalink

This delicate sauce infused with the flavor of freshly chopped parsley offers a pleasant accompaniment for steamed vegetables or white fish.

Ingredients:
1 ounce butter (30 g)
1 ounce plain flour (30 g)
10 fluid ounces warm milk (300 ml) ("or" mixture of milk and light stock)
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley (15 ml)
salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure:
1. Melt the butter in a pan, but do not allow it to brown, then add the flour and stir until smooth.
2. Cook over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat and add the liquid, little by little, stirring after each addition to prevent any lumps forming.
4. Bring the sauce to the boil, stirring continuously.
5. Add the parsley, salt and pepper and cook gently for a further 3 minutes.

Posted by at 12:01 PM | Permalink

"I detest...anything over-cooked, over-herbed, over-sauced, over elaborate. Nothing can go very far wrong at table as long as there is honest bread, butter, olive oil, a generous spirit, lively appetites and attention to what we are eating."
-Sybille Bedford, English author (1911-?)

Posted by at 10:27 AM | Permalink

This poster in French reads "No to the Single European tomato: Preserve life's daily flavor and diversity". It is part of an ongoing campaign among some groups in Europe to resist gastronomic and cultural standardization.

So this month's open thread asks how are you on a personal level preserving flavor and diversity when it comes to tomatoes? What varieties do you plant and why? Does your garden favor heirlooms over hybrids? How do preserve the flavor of summer tomatoes once the summer is gone?

Please use the comment area below to sound off on tomatoes.

Posted by at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

By The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Climate warming could spell disaster for much of the multibillion-dollar U.S. wine industry.

Areas suitable for growing premium wine grapes could be reduced by 50 percent — and possibly as much as 81 percent — by the end of this century, according to a study Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The paper indicates increasing weather problems for grapes in such areas as California's Napa and Sonoma valleys.

The main problem: an increase in the frequency of extremely hot days, said Noah Diffenbaugh of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University.

Grapes used in premium wines need a consistent climate. When temperatures top about 95 degrees, the vines have problems maintaining photosynthesis and the sugars in the grapes can break down, said Diffenbaugh, a co-author of the report.

Until now, climate studies centered only on the impact of average temperature increases on wine production and concluded that wine growers might, if anything, benefit from the temperature increases expected in coming decades.

The new study, funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Purdue University, involved five months of supercomputer calculations. It is the first study in which researchers have been able to calculate the daily temperature swings from various climate-change scenarios in such detail.

For the purposes of their computer simulation, the researchers assumed that levels of carbon dioxide and other gases would continue to rise to more than twice their current level by 2100, as outlined in standard global-warming scenarios.

Eventually, the computer simulation showed, the number of extremely hot days during the growing and ripening season would increase by three to eight weeks in much of the South Central and Southwestern United States — too hot to produce premium wine grapes.

The number of cool days would also decline by more than three weeks in many regions of the country, opening up some areas for new grape production, but also increasing the possibility of more rot, mildew and fungus infections in those areas.

The West Coast would experience one of the biggest changes in season, resulting in a significant alteration to the quality of its grape harvest. Suitable grape-growing areas in California would shrink to a narrow coastal band, the researchers said, while premium wine-grape areas would shift into the Pacific Northwest and New England.

Article source: AP and the Los Angeles Times
Photo credit: Joe Thorn

Posted by at 2:51 PM | Permalink

Frittatas are one the best inventions known to humankind for recycling yesterday's veggies into something new and "delicioso", as their Italian inventors would say. Related to its French cousins "omelet "and "quiche", the humble frittata is not going to win you the James Beard award, but it may just win you some "oohs" and "aahhs" with friends and family who never knew leftovers could taste so good.

Technical note: this video uses Windows Media Player. To start video, click twice on the play button and wait for video to buffer.

Video source: The Food Network

Posted by at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In an age when most people would not consider making their own french fries from scratch, it is even stranger thought that some might entertain cooking up the ketchup to go along with it. Those days may be long gone for most of fast food nation, but they live on for a brave few who want to rediscover the pure flavors of yesteryear.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
4 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks or two 14.5-ounce cans chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup distilled vinegar
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Procedure:
1. Heat oil over medium in a large saucepan. Add onion and saute until golden, about 15 minutes. Add garlic, cloves, allspice, chile flakes, ancho chile powder and mustard seeds and cook for 1-2 minutes, until aromatic.

2. Add tomatoes, brown sugar, vinegar and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a light simmer and cook 35 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning.

3. Remove from heat and blend or process until smooth. Press through a fine strainer into a clean saucepan, pressing on the solids hard to push as much through as possible.

4. Cook over medium heat for another 15 minutes until thick, stirring to keep it from sticking. Cool before serving.

Variation: You can add any of the following spices for a different flavor: 2 teaspoons curry powder, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, a half head of roasted garlic, or 1 tablespoon harissa.

Yields 1 1/4 cups

Recipe source: San Francisco Chronicle
Photo source: Automania

Posted by at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Ingredients:
2 cups husked, rinsed and chopped tomatillos (or use 1½ cups tomatillos and ½ cup cored and chopped ripe or green tomatoes)
2 medium poblano or other mild green fresh chilies, optional, preferably roasted and skinned
1 teaspoon minced garlic, or to taste
¼ cup chopped white onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne or minced jalapeño to taste, optional
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, or to taste
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves.

Procedure:
1. In a bowl, combine tomatillos, poblanos if you are using them, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and cayenne or chili. Let stand at room temperature for up to an hour, or refrigerate for up to ½ day (bring back to room temperature before serving).

2. Taste and adjust seasoning, then stir in lime juice and half the cilantro; taste and adjust seasoning again, then garnish with remaining cilantro. Serve.

Yield: About 2 cups.

Recipe source: New York Times
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laraferroni/

Posted by at 11:03 AM | Permalink