Salad is no longer boring

April 1, 2010

Spring is in full bloom, and the salad greens are GOING CRAZY! My Mom planted an "Italian" and "French" salad mix of seeds in the fall, and they did pretty well, and then they died back in the snow we had in February. But now....they're BACK!

The most delicious mix was the "French," which included royal oak leaf, freckles lettuce, butterhead, flint, spinach, and heirloom Cos type lettuces. These are all "heirloom" varieties and can be found here at High Mowing Organic Seeds, of Vermont.

The oak leaf is most easily recognized in a "bag" salad of baby greens from the store, but it doesn't develop it's full flavor until the leaves are mature.

Even when mature and picked later, these varieties of lettuce are still tender and carry excellent flavor. I had heard that "baby green" varieties that are allowed to mature a little longer become bitter...I think this is a myth.

The radishes are doing well, and they provide a nice bite to my salad. We planted three varieties this year: traditional red, pink and mild white.

Here is a nice salad dressing I've come up with that contains many fresh, local ingredients:

- juice of 1 Hilton Head meyer lemon (frozen in December)

- 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard

- 1 tablespoon of local honey

- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

- blend in enough California extra virgin olive oil to make a 2:1 oil to acid ratio.

I like to whisk this all together in the bottom of my salad bowl. I then add the freshly picked (washed and dried) salad greens, thinly sliced fresh radishes, toss to coat and serve!

This dressing is great in a salad with dried cranberries, pecans and sliced local hard-boiled egg.

I wish that I could attend a workshop in May at the Sooke Harbour House garden, hosted by none other than my cousin, Buddy Cook.

He will be teaching guests about growing your own organic salad in small spaces or even window boxes.

Check it out here!

Spring!

It's springtime in the Lowcountry! The insects are out in full force, the warm tropical rains are drizzling down, washing the pollen to the Earth....and out of my sinuses!

The Bluffton Farmers Market is back, it just started this past Thursday, and so far, south Georgia and parts of South Carolina are already filled with spring goodies!

Many of these include honey, spring baby Vidalia onions, broccoli, mixed baby greens (spinach arugula, buttercrunch and the like), and even strawberries! In another 3-4 weeks the South Carolina strawberries will be ready.

Doug and I have been working hard to ready our little garden for spring. We've turned the compost and prepared our vegetable beds, and planted Clemson heirloom seeds in baby planters. It is so easy to have even a small vegetable plot, even on a small lot or in a window-box. I have not been composting at my home on Hilton Head, and I do produce a lot of organic waste since I like to cook from scratch. My roommate and I both recycle what we can, but I'd like to take this to the next level.

Our challenge is to figure out how to compost food materials in a small living space. We do not have a place to have or means to use a large compost bin, so I have researched smaller, indoor varieties. One thing that a lot of apartment dwellers use (especially in Japan), is the earthworm compost box. It is super easy, and relatively odor-free. There are many websites out there to help you get started, such as this one from Vancouver: Urban Agriculture and Worm Compost

I will soon be posting more information about composting and pictures of our garden as it grows! More recipes are to come as well, I picked up a very nice farmhouse blue cow's milk cheese from Swainsboro, Georgia at the farmers market and can't wait to talk about it!

Eco-Tourism and My Honeymoon

I had the most unique and wonderful honeymoon I could have imagined. There were two incredible components to the trip, so I will start with a little bit of history. Ever since my cousin Jessica got married at the Sooke Harbour House, I wanted to either be married there or spend my honeymoon there. I had no idea that years later, my dream would come true.

My cousin Buddy Cook, and his daughters Jessica and Sarah Cook are proud Canadians, and for 20 years, Buddy has been the head organic gardener at the Sooke Harbour House on Vancouver Island. This eccentric little B&B is well known for its restaurant, gardens and commitment to sustainability.

We began our honeymoon by visiting Doug's parents in Seattle, and then we drove up to Canada for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics! This was so special to me in that I attended the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and I thought that was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We attended Women's luge, Women's hockey, Men's curling and Women's downhill skiing events over the course of 3 days. It was a busy and tiring few days, but well worth the effort!

The night life in downtown Vancouver was vibrant and the local micro brews were delicious!

Our final day held the greatest treat of all...we got to see Lindsey Vonn win Gold for the USA!!!!

I am definitely now a lifetime lover of curling. It's basically shuffleboard on ice that allows cheating. The men tended to be a little more into shoving the opponent's stones out of the way with brute force, but the women would sit there and triangulate ways to out-maneuver the other team with precision.

We spent two days over on Vancouver Island, but did not get to see much. It was a very short trip, but I got what I wanted. I got to see my family and Doug and I had a very relaxing time in the Whale Room. I do wish that I could spend more time with the Cooks, they are lovely people and I have enjoyed getting to know them into my adulthood.

Aidan, Buddy, Deborah, Doug



British Columbia and Seattle offers a lot for the Eco-minded tourist. Everywhere we went there were public bins for composting and recycling, even out on the streets of Vancouver! Many restaurants and microbreweries we visited focused on locally sourced ingredients. Buddy often boasts that the only items on the menu at the Sooke Harbour House that are not local is the coffee, tea, sugar, chocolate and wheat flour (though Canadian-grown and milled). Seasonal, local food just tastes so much better! It is often not possible or practical to go 100% local, but every little change helps.


I think I have mentioned before that the goal of this blog is to educate my friends and family about the benefits of dining and shopping locally. Yes, local eating can be beneficial in the grand scheme of things (such as climate change, over-fishing, etc... but I'm not going there right now), the MAIN FOCUS is to SUPPORT your LOCAL ECONOMY, bringing food commerce back into your area (or keeping it there) and away from mass-produced products that are often stripped of character, culture and nutrition.


Food is less expensive and better for you when produced locally and minimally processed, which puts more cash in your pocket and more into the immediate community. It's not all about "saving the Earth," its about saving local, healthier ways of living.


You can do this even when you are on vacation. Pick a hotel or B&B that is environmentally aware and supports the community. Don't be wasteful...recycle when you can and don't eat at the mega TGIMcDougall's restaurants. It doesnt take that much research or effort, you can do it!

Back in Seattle after the Olympics, we went to the Theo chocolate factory!

Their tour was educational and the aroma was intoxicating. I wanted to morph into Lucy and step right onto the production line....except with Theo, they produce small artisinal batches of chocolate, so there is no "production line!"

Some awesome resources:

The only Organic, Fair-Trade Certified bean-to-bar chocolate maker in the United States: http://www.theochocolate.com/ Seattle, WA


Speaking of helping communities...what is Fair-Trade Certified?


This is not all just a bunch of hippie psychobabble....it's about doing the right thing for fellow human beings!

Drinks for the New Year

It's been a while since I've updated the blog, there has been TOO MUCH going on!

I've found that this absence from writing has given me some time to get my thoughts together for the New Year blog. With the parties that have come and gone from Christmas all the way to Super Bowl Weekend, I've done some looking around for local spirits and festive drinks.

When most people think about the South, they think about Jack Daniels from Tennessee, Kentucky Bourbon, and of course hot toddy (NOT HOTTY TODDY!!!!) and mint juleps. The hard stuff has the most vibrant history as well, from rum-running along the barrier islands by famous pirates like Blackbeard, to the birth of the modern sport of NASCAR in the foothills of the Appalachians.

Beer has unfortunately been slow to take hold, probably due to a couple of centuries without refrigeration and hot, humid conditions. Wine is made in the mountains but are not known for the best of vintage. The best "vintages" from those locations is of the moonshine variety. :)

I'm going to touch on a couple of items that I've found in local liquor and wine stores that are truly unique and worth your time!

Some of you may have heard of this stuff called "Firefly", which is a sweet-tea infused vodka produced in South Carolina. I do not care what the New York Times has to say about it....(what do they know about sweet tea anyways)...but this stuff is NASTY. I don't care if it's local, don't do it!

What IS worth your while is another liquor product from the Firefly people: Sea Island Rums. The Sea Island Carolina Gold Rum is made from sugarcane grown in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. It is delicious to mix into a South Carolina peach daquiri or just by itself on the rocks.

Living on Hilton Head Island and being exposed to the "wine scene" here has been an excellent education. The wine store and restaurant owners and staff are well versed in where to go for "local" wine....which comes from North Carolina or Georgia. There are a couple of Lowcountry "wineries" in the area that make wine, but the grapes come from as far away as Oregon. I'd prefer something a little fresher, and representative of the upland Southern climate and soil.

The best wine I've had that is "local" is from Shelton Winery in the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina. That's about 200 miles north of here, around the Winston-Salem area.

They grow 22 varities of grapes and broke ground on their 33,000 square foot facility in 1999.

Their 2007 Bin 17 Chardonnay is medium bodied and is a bit dry. It's not overly oaked, which is important to me. I have also enjoyed their 2007 Yadkin Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Doug has had a glass or two of these wines since his return from Japan, and he was quite surprised that it is so good. He definitely has been spoiled by good Washington State wine, so his thumbs-up on any East Coast varietal is awesome.

Another "older" winery is from Biltmore, also in North Carolina. Most of the vines were established in 1971. Biltmore has a bit of a reputation for being a producer of very sweet wines, varieties include Chardonnay, Riesling, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. It has been hit or miss with us--a bottle of Pinot noir recently went down the drain after one taste, but I did very much enjoy the 2008 Limited Release Malbec.

This tour of Southeastern wineries would not be complete without mentioning Château Élan. This winery is located about 15 miles from my parents home near Oakwood, Georgia. North Georgia does have higher elevations that could be conducive to growing decent grapes, but this is not the case. There is, however, one grape that can stand the Georgia heat, humidity and pests. Native only in the Southeast, the muscadine grape is characterized by heady rose and lemon aromas and was traditionally made into a sweet, low-alcohol wine. Château Élan has done some pretty impressive things to make their muscadine wine delightful. They have developed methods to harness and control its components, with the result being a light, fruity and uniquely Southern white wine. I have enjoyed many a glass of their Autumn Blush chilled on a hot summer evening.

Lately I have encouraged my friends and family to buy local, and if that is impossible, at least buy American. There are so many good wines out there from Washington State, Oregon, and California that it is hard and even scary to branch out into "local" Southern wines. From what I have been exposed to so far, there is something from Virginia all the way to Georgia that can satisfy any wine-o.

Winter citrus

While most of the eastern seaboard has been getting pounded with snowstorms, I have been enjoying beautiful 65 degree F days with clear sunny skies. Last week was a little glum with excessive rain and coastal flooding...but I'll take that over icy roads any day!

This past Sunday I took a 10-mile bike ride across the island. My ears got a little cold but it was fun, and I got to pay a visit to my local fruit stand. The people at the Spanish Wells Produce Market have lived on the island for many years and are of Gullah heritage. They have provided me with local produce all summer and fall, and they are closing for the holidays and for the winter. I luckily made it by in time to buy citrus, turnip greens and local honey.
My Aunt Susan has beautiful Meyer lemon and ruby red grapefruit trees in her backyard in Florida and I had given me more lemons than I know what do do with. After making copious amounts of lemoncello, I decided to barter for some oranges growing in the parking lot at the fruit stand.
I was entranced by these bright orange Christmas baubles tucked into lush dark green foliage. All this festive citrus tree needed was a star on top! The owners were happy to trade with me, the Meyer lemons are now tucked into a holiday lemon pie! I got the best of the deal....I traded 6 Meyer lemons for 15 Valencia oranges. I did do the labor of picking, and did not fall off the ladder.

For the next few weeks I will have delicious fresh-squeezed Hilton Head Island Valencia orange juice. I cannot wait to make mimosas with it Christmas morning. Is there a better way to celebrate the birth of a baby?

On another note about things that can be ingested this holiday season:

My Christmas week will be full of fun animal holiday antics and problems. Here are some of the things I have seen already this week:
1. my dog ate 2 pounds of chocolate
2. my dog broke into the presents and ate unidentified objects
3. my dog ate a poinsettia
4. my dog ate a starter-log
5. my dog ate the bone out of a spiral ham

What is next? I definitely know that I will be eating better things than the aforementioned items!

Tonight's project: honey-sorghum pecan pie experiment, more lemoncello making and valencia orange-squeezing

Foraging...'tis the season

I would just like to comment that I am blessed to live near quite a few large, old pecan trees in my neighborhood. While walking Danger I can take an old paper bag and fill it up with all shapes and sizes of pecans. I don't know enough about the trees to be able to comment on why some are round like little musket balls and others are more football shaped. They are all delicious nonetheless.

Picking around the yard for pecans could be considered a type of foraging, kind of like cattle or goats would do. Its amazing what you can forage for even in your backyard. Many types of nuts may be available in the fall, muscadines could rain down on your trampoline in late summer, or delicious tiny wild strawberries may poke their way between the blades of grass in an abandoned pasture. It may take a little more work than buying the mainstream varieties in the grocery store, but being outdoors and getting a little more exercise is definitely worthwhile.

Any Southerner knows that a Thanksgiving or Christmas table isn't complete without a pecan pie or sweet potato pie/casserole topped with praline pecans. We won't even get into talking about Claxton Fruitcakes....I'll save that for my Christmas blog.

I have been busy today helping my Mom make pecan pies from some delicious south Georgia pecans. I'm also researching some of the older recipes that call for honey or sorghum or cane syrup instead of corn syrup. I'll have to try one soon and have a more "local" pie.

My Grandmother Summerour's pecan pie recipe:
1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup dark Karo syrup (corn)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped pecans

1 deep dish crust (we like Publix brand from the refrigerated section)

Combine sugar, eggs, flour, Karo and vanilla--mix well. Cut up butter into small pieces and distribute along the bottom of the pie shell. Place the chopped pecans into the pie shell and pour sugar mixture over pecans. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to "let the bubbles out"......then bake in a 375 degree F oven for 20 minutes, then you lower the temperature to 325 for 30 minutes. This baking method prevents the pies from drying out too much. Cool a little bit and enjoy!

Georgia and South Carolina pecan sources:

We're nuts! (Ellis Pecan Company) Vienna, GA http://www.werenuts.com/

Orangeburg Pecan Company. Orangeburg, SC http://www.uspecans.com/

Wade Plantation Pecans. Screven County, GA http://www.wadepecans.com/

If you've never made or tasted a pecan pie, give my grandmother's recipe a try. I think the first thing Doug wants to eat when he gets home is a pecan pie....and maybe some ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and there are many things to be thankful for. It was nice being with my Georgia family for this wonderful day of overindulgence, but I was missing something....Doug was stuck in Japan

For the past few years we have been spending Thanksgiving Day with both sides of the family. It is amazing how similar the recipes are between my mother and father's family. It seems that across America there is a different dressing or "stuffing" recipe for every cook. Both sides of my family do a Southern-style cornbread stuffing, never cooked in the bird. Both include buttermilk cornbread, pieces of turkey giblets, celery, Vidalia onion (that has been hidden in the bottom drawer of the fridge since the end of the Georgia onion season and is somehow still good), poultry seasoning, and occasionally oysters or bacon grease. Sugar is NEVER added to the cornbread. This dressing is always made after the turkey is cooked so you can have the best "drippins" available. Who needs that canned broth stuff right?

Thanksgiving will be very different if Doug and I ever host it in our home. I believe he is from the world of "bread stuffing"....but I think he's open to adding oysters to it. :)

Now that the weekend is past, I must return to healthier cooking and enjoying the bounty this countryside has to offer. I am cautiously using fresh green onions from the garden instead of devouring my remaining 5 Vidalia onions hidden in the bottom drawer of the fridge. Doug deserves to eat them himself when he gets home. Only 7 more months until the next Georgia onion season. I'd rather eat green onions than buy sweet onions from Peru!

Tonight's sandwich included:
Homemade whole wheat flatbread (wheat grown and milled in South Carolina!) with melted herbed goat cheese from the Sweetgrass Dairy, roasted pimento and garlic from my garden (they're still going!!!!) and grilled fresh free-range pork sausage from south Georgia. The side consisted of boiled new potatoes I helped my Mother dig up this weekend in her garden, covered in homegrown parsley and green onion. The salt unfortunatley came from France.

I will note to my veterinary friends in food safety that the pork sausage was cooked to WELL DONE...no toxo here!

Mmmmm dessert: Roasted Georgia pecans with local honey "praline-style", butter and roasted Virginia winesap apple rounded out the evening.

It is super easy to make these "local version" praline pecans. Take 2 cups of shelled, halved pecans and place in a large bowl. Toss until coated with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of honey and a dash of cinnamon. Bake at 350 degrees on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 10 minutes. mmmm!

More local resources in South Carolina and south Georgia:

Anson Mills. South Carolina heirloom grains. www.ansonmills.com

Thompson Farms Smokehouse. Dixie, Georgia All-natural pork. www.thompsonfarms.com

Savannah Bee Company. Local honey and specialty honey. www.savannahbee.com