Local Eating Local

One of the goats works to clear vegetation from a field near the Dixie Classic fairgrounds Friday, August 27, 2010.

Winston-Salem Journal Photo by Lauren Carroll

Kudzu no match for goat crew

By Laura Graff | Journal Reporter 

Against Sweet Pea, Rosebud and Mercury Moo-Moo, the kudzu didn't stand a chance.
...
The city is, for the first time, experimenting with goatscaping -- using animals to landscape.

(it's a good read)

Sign of the times v.2

YJDKIY was in a fall food way last night. Not to mention the Farmer's Market had some butternuts!

Ready for fall squashes!

As usual, I had to make some recipe modifications. I didn't have a sweet yellow onion and I refused to use butter over EVOO.

First time making risotto from scratch! It's kind of labor intensive, but I think it turned out just fine following the instructions on the box. I do see how more onion and butter would have been more standard risotto flavor.

Sauted green onion in EVOO and add rice until coated and starting to turn clear. Then add warm vegetable stock, 1 cup at a time as absorbed. After about 5 minutes of that, add finely chopped butternut and continue adding stock. I got bored and added the remaining 3 cups after about 15 minutes. Continue simmering, covered, for about 20 minutes until rice is desired texture. The box called for cream, but I used plain Oikos instead (perfect!), and added some parmesan and grated romano.

It was extra tasty and extra fally served with balsamic-garlic green beans made by the other cooker!

EFSA

Who cares about the Emmy Award. The EFSA, circa 1991, was created to denote outstanding fashion. And here you have it (and some not so it!).

Kelly Osbourne (Tony Ward Couture): She really looks like a completely different person. Glad to know being rail thin and bobbleheaded and blonde is what she was going for. The dress is great though. A

Lauren Graham (Yigal Azrouel): What the heck was she thinking? She's a pretty lady and this all over the place not flatering dress (and hair and accessories) was the best she could do?  D-

Kiernan Shipka: OMG she is so cute. She totally worked that look and pose. I'm so glad Sally's parents let her go. A!

Zooey Deschanel's sister, Emily (Max Azria Atelier): Well, at least her bangs resemble the horrid fringe on the dress. She does get points for the color, but that only makes for C.

Tina Fey (Oscar de la Renta): After several previous disastaculars, she finally got one right. It's creative, it fits, its flattering, and she looks pretty (and is posing!). Love the sleeves and bracelet. A

Lea Michele (Oscar de la Renta): I can't decide about this. She got raving EFSA points when she wore this color previously, so I do like it. But, again?  I like the necklace a lot,  but the hair and ruffles are a little much. Also does NOT look comfy. B

Claire Danes (Giorgio Armani Privé): I love this dress. For a second though, I thought this was Kelly Osbourne. And then I thought it was Heidi Klum. No points for originality and I'm kind of over this color of blonde on everyone. B+

Maura Tierney (vintage): LOVE this dress and her hair. It would be the perfect combination and look for her except for it's blending exactly with the red carpet. A bracelet would have been nice. A-

Sofia Vergara (Carolina Herrera): Another one I can't decide about. I think it's working for her, I like the cut, design, material, but don't just love the color. B

Anna Paquin (Alexander McQueen): Hmm, she pulls this off, oddly, well. Not much I can say about it though. SO tired of that hair color. B

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson (Prada): Um, what? He's fine, but is getting docked for letting her walk out the door like that. Nothing about it is acceptable. ESPECIALLY the shoes. F

Toni Collette (Valentino): YJDKIY is still disturbed from watching her current series, but this dress makes up for it a little. A-

January Jones (Atelier Versace): As per usual, fail. She has SUCH potential. Bedhead is not an acceptable red carpet look. The cut of the dress could have worked minus the texture, bodice and color. Makeup and jewelry would have been nice, too, Bets. D-

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Narciso Rodriguez): This is simple, clean, appropriate, and kind of boring. B-

Christina Hendricks (Zac Posen): This color is fantastic for her, the cut, particularly the neckline, not so much. The flippy things go with her hair though. C

Heidi Klum (Marchesa): Showoff. A

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick (Monique Lhuillier): When I saw just her, I was not fond of this dress. I still don't like her clutch at all. But, as a couple they look really polished and appropriate. A-

Elizabeth Moss (Donna Karan): Note to self, even if dress is nice, it should not match my pale skin tone. The hair and earrings are awful and she shouldn't try that pose. This 28 year old looks 58. D

Don Draper Jon Hamm (Giorgio Armani): Perfect, but I generally prefer him with less forehead and hair pouff. :P A

All in all, a good showing, that I didn't watch one second of! Glad to hear my two shows, Modern Family and Mad Men won!

Sign of the times

The baby basils have developed brown stems that resemble tree bark and I don't even have to bend over to pick.

 The plants have more brown than green or color.

The sweet potato vine is engulfing the steps on it's mission to take over the world.
Yep, it's the end of summer!

Sunday Morning

A great segment on farmer's markets, rooftop gardens, and the rising popularity of real food on CBS Sunday Morning made a nice backdrop for menu planning!

SUNDAY: Butternut squash risotto, garlicky green beans
MONDAY: Nature's Burger, sweet potato fries
TUESDAY: Cauliflower-Spinach Bake
WEDNESDAY: Broiled tofu, squash/succhini/carrot ribbons
THURSDAY: TJ's apple chicken sausage sauted with kale, brown rice
FRIDAY: bleh...on your own
SATURDAY: Grilled fish, corn + bean salad

Final Touches

Besides you know, painting along the counter top and trim, and the lighting fixture. So maybe it's really just decorating touches!

Etsy find: Victory Garden of Tomorrow postcard set for $6 (as seen on KERF in poster form) that just happens to match the green perfectly.

Yay for cheap IKEA bulk storage and awkward item hooks (and a side lunch trip to Rajbhog! I love that place so much, especially the chole and the guy that helps us pick out menu items. He is SO nice! AND another side trip to Trader Joe's...nomnomnom). Sorry for the crappy iPhone and lighting photo.

Oops

After I'd already taken pictures of this almost all local appetizer, I realized I've blogged this before! Alas, you're just going to have to live through a repeat of these tasty photos.

Splurge of the week at the Farmer's Market: homemade herb-garlic baguette. Although white, it was yummy and tasted like pizza without anything added to it!

But add to it I did....local tomatoes (except not from Correll Farms, I really miss them at the SFM!), local basil, not so local garlic.

Thanks CNN

For yet again covering NC's finest.

(PS: What's up with all the ghost stories around here?)

Local creepy crawlies

So, first on Friday morning, YJDKIY got an email containing this language:

Extra precautionary measures were taken through the use of specially trained
canine units. A limited number of contaminated areas were discovered to have
a light infestation.

Of what you ask? Oh, just these little guys that seem to be all over the news lately. 

Then, last night, while peacefully drifting off to sleep, I was dive bombed by some kind of flying buzzer bug who remains to be located. I might have slept with the sheet tucked over my head...tightly.

And then finally, upon waking, I was greeted with this at the front door. 

A common garden, or writing, spider, who almost met her end thanks to some Saturday morning door knockers, but was thankfully spared at the last minute.
 

All the way from Allentown

You know YJDKIY adores Weggie's all natural crunchy peanut butter. Introducing the new nowhere else member:

 Wegmans Chunky Unsweetened Applesauce

One wouldn't think it would be that hard to find, but alas, there is chunky sweetened and smooth unsweetened. I think my next afternoon snack will involve the mixing of these too. Holy!

#25 Eat Your Colors

That's from Food Rules, of course.

More about Eating Well by Color and 7 Colors that Should be on Your Plate Every Day


RED Red foods, such as tomatoes and watermelon, contain lycopene, a phytochemical that may help protect against prostate and breast cancers.

ORANGE Alpha and beta carotene make foods like carrots and sweet potatoes so brilliantly orange. The body converts these compounds into the active form of vitamin A, which helps keep your eyes, bones and immune system healthy. These phytochemicals also operate as antioxidants, sweeping up disease-promoting free radicals.

YELLOW & GREEN, part 1 (leafy greens) Many yellow and green vegetables are good sources of lutein and zeaxanthin, phytochemicals that accumulate in the eyes and help prevent age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in older people. Leafy greens are also rich in beta carotene.

GREEN, part 2 (cruciferous) Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and kale, provide compounds called indoles and isothiocyanates, which may help prevent cancer by amping up the production of enzymes that clear toxins from the body.

BLUE & PURPLE/DEEP RED BLUE, purple and deep-red fruits and vegetables are full of anthocyanins and proanthocyanins, antioxidants associated with keeping the heart healthy and the brain functioning optimally.

Local Puffy Heart

Arts, entertainment, culture, gossip, travel, food, gardening...all in one little free trip to the library.

Note: This audio book, while only on disc 2, is promising to shape up nicely. It's like David Sedaris meets Vogue meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And this has been everywhere lately even though it's three years old. Does this mean it is from my favorite (potato-kale enchilada) recipe site postpunkkitchen? And lastly, yeah Boston, finally!

Size is everything

YJDKIY used to mainly use small knives for dicing and chopping and cutting. I have short stubby fingers and it always seemed logical it would be easier to manage and control a similar style knife.

But then I started using this knife and life is so much better. Chopping an onion with something that large (and sharp!) is so easy. 

(remember the onion scene?)

More info than you could ever need on knives.

Ja-lah-pa-no

I can't say jalapeno the way you're supposed to. It just doesn't come out that way and it's more fun to say the j, there aren't a lot of j words, so why should it get robbed?

Start with all this. Dice the pepper, onion, and garlic and saute in EVOO.  Add a crumbled block of tofu and some cumin and cilantro. PAM the bottom of a casserole dish and add one flour tortilla.

Layer one: kidney and black beans

Layer two: Onion/pepper/tofu/garlic/spice mix

Layer three: grated cheddar, jalapenos (only on the right half!), olives, and either sliced scissored-up tomatoes (hello other cooker!) or salsa.

 
Repeat layers, finishing with a tortilla and cheese. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or so, finish with a broil, and serve with very ripe avocado!