I enjoy this video clip for a number of reasons- first, because I love gardening, of course… Ron Finley makes some wonderful statistics-backed points about what can be done with vacant and underutilized land to help fight the food desert phenomenon. I won’t spoil the video for you, but he speaks about the prevalence of vacant lots and even how yards can be utilized for greater benefit. Ron, however, had a similar problem as others have had when attempting to garden outside of the (planter) box. Now, I semi-understand why there is the push to keep grassy, standardized lawns so that properties look pleasant, but I find it much easier to sympathize with the gardeners when the clearly conspicuous gardens are 1) more useful for food purposes and 2) well-kept. All of the examples I have ever seen in the news for similar reasons have been gardens that were well cared for. Just imagine how much food we could produce if lawns in the cities were converted. Regardless of climate, quite a bit more food could be locally (and cheaply!) produced via fruit trees and plants and other vegetable plants. I try to garden with a little extra space and in a few extra pots, but ideally, I would like a larger garden. This is not to say that urban gardening is not without a few concerns, such as the quality of the soil. However, the larger point in this whole narrative is that if each of us was able to plant even a bit more food locally, it could have quite a few positive ripple effects. “Plant some sh!t!”
Author: greenwordchef
Popped…
Sadness. It’s not an April fool- Pop Deluxe (a favorite store of mine on State Street in Madison, and in the links below at the right) is closing its retail location. Pop Deluxe, if you haven’t heard of it, is a wonderfully quirky, unique, and whimsical store that had an ever-changing array of miscellany… Now, the news isn’t all bad, since the website will still be up. Whether it was snazzy kitchen gadgets or tastily diverse cookbooks or serene plant accessories, they always had something fun. Future State Street trips won’t be the same…
Now, where else can I get my art-o-mat fix…?
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Irish Clover Image by George McFinnigan
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! Whether you are Irish or not or Irish by affiliation (mine is through my wife’s side of the family), be sure to celebrate with good food and beverage. Learn the history of the day, get some ideas for green food, make green eggs and ham with Chef Fabio, or make a classic, like corned beef and cabbage with your slow cooker. Or have corned beef and cabbage made with Guinness® with a glass of Guinness® and enjoy the river dyed green!
Fabio Squared
This week’s episode of Chow Ciao! has double the Fabio for Chicken Saltimbocca. It looks simple to make, whether you have two Fabios in your kitchen or not!
Goodbye; Hello
I bid farewell to my blog’s old theme- I figured it was time to change since the theme would no longer get updates. The new version still feels like a fit. Here’s to spring!
Cuban Food in Key West
As part of our trip to Key West, Florida, we wanted to visit as many local restaurants as we could. One of our stops brought us to El Meson de Pepe. We wanted to try a little of everything, so we opted to split a #80- a plate that had three different dishes: Lechon Asado (pork), Ropa Vieja (shredded beef), and Picadillo Habanero (ground beef). I tried a bowl of the black bean soup, and our meal came with both sweet plantains and the yucca. We also split a piece of their Key Lime Pie (Torta de Limon). We are also fans of Tres Leches cake, but could not pass up Key Lime in Key West.
I had not had Cuban food before (just hadn’t had the opportunity yet). My wife had Cuban food previously, and she felt the flavors and tone of the restaurant were consistent with her previous experience. They had musicians playing outside, and had set up heat in the covered outdoor dining area since it was a little cooler that night (though still plenty warm, as back in Wisconsin it was nearly below zero!) Overall, it was relaxing, yet invigorating atmosphere.
The food was delivered super-quickly. My black bean soup was quite delicious, and a great way to start off the meal. My wife is not much of a fan of pork, so I had that dish to myself, and it was excellent. The shredded beef was just as tasty. I was the most excited to try the ground beef dish due to the combination of “tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, cumin, bay leaves, oregano, olives, capers, and raisins”. I was perhaps a little surprised that the flavors on the dish weren’t a little stronger given the ingredients, but it was tasty nonetheless. We both loved the plantains, and I had never had yucca before, but it was also good- a unique flavor. The Key Lime Pie was a refreshing way to end our meal, as well. All considered, we would certainly go back, and recommend that you do too, if near Key West.
Drunken Valentine’s Day Eve
What better on Valentine’s Day Eve (or national ‘Eat Italian Food Day‘) than to look to a classic Chow Ciao! for some last minute recipe ideas: Drunken Spaghetti! In keeping with the red wine theme, Chef Fabio also offers a recipe for Red Wine Risotto via his website. In either case, you have an excellent meal idea for Valentine’s Day.
Soup Day!
Yes, pomegranate in the background…
It’s National Homemade Soup Day! And there are always plenty of ideas and flavors for soup…
I love soup. It’s not the first time nor the last time I will say that on this blog. I enjoy eating different soups as much as I enjoy making soup. I like that it’s easy, aside from much chopping (sometimes)! The above picture is of a curried squash and wild rice soup that I made a little while ago with the last of our squash we had from our Community Shares Agriculture (CSA) share. I often make soups with the abundance of vegetables we get, especially in the middle of summer. It tends to freeze well for winter, when CSA vegetables are nowhere around. I tend to use spices instead of salt, almost to the point of under-salting, though the broth adds much of what I don’t.
The recipe turned out fairly well. I followed some of the comments and caramelized the onions in brown sugar, as well as using tomato sauce for an acid instead of orange juice. I also upped the curry powder a bit. I baked the squash beforehand, which made it easy to mix together and used an immersion blender before adding the rice to cook. We didn’t have any butternut squash left, but some buttercup squash combined with other squash worked just fine and gave it a nice color. The wild rice (from our Minnesota trip) held up well in the soup and added to the texture. It was nicely toothsome even in the tasty leftovers. I would make this again, as we had been looking for some good squash recipes.
Want to eat like you were at the inauguration?
You can eat what they had for lunch today at the presidential inauguration! Check out the menu and recipes (with wine pairings).
The Keys to Eating in Key West
Mr. Z’s Logo
Well, I’m back to the frigid northlands… I mean… Midwest… after a much appreciated surprise trip to Key West from my wife to celebrate my birthday. It took me a little bit to get accustomed to signs showing ‘January’ being in mental juxtaposition with the warm weather. It was my first visit to Florida, and I truly enjoyed it. We hope to return to catch even more of the things we missed. It was a long weekend trip, and we visited several museums and, of course, had to visit Duval Street. I’ll be posting some food highlights of the trip, in the event they may be useful in your travels.
First up was Mr. Z’s: a restaurant that offers cheesesteaks, pizza, and stromboli. We were wandering Duval Street and trying to decide what we were hungry for. We ran across Mr. Z’s, partly due to the enticing aroma that reached us on the sidewalk through the open window screens. It’s not a very large place, with a main counter and some seating on stools along the wall. This might make it easy to overlook amid all the food options available, but it was certainly worth our time and easily handled our hunger. I ordered the sausage and (sweet) peppers sandwich for a very reasonable $7, with an extra $1 for fried onions and cheese. It’s a sandwich that I will get hungry for from time to time, and this one did not disappoint. Coupled with a tasty red sauce, it was flavorful and satisfying.
My wife ordered a small veggie and four cheese stromboli, and they are not kidding when they say it will serve two people- my wife had leftovers. Again, it was a very reasonable price – $10. She let me try some, and it was prepared well. There was a good mix of vegetables complemented with the perfect ratio of cheese to the vegetable ingredients. The crispy crust held all the ingredients together well, also. They do advise it takes a while to cook, but it didn’t take too long to get our meals. I would certainly recommend Mr. Z’s in Key West if you’re looking to satisfy a craving or get a delicious meal for a reasonable price- just make sure not to miss it!
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