Times they are a changin'

Food can transport you to a specific moment in time. When I smell marinara sauce, I immediately think of my grandparents. The smell of potatoes frying reminds me of my mother. A single bite of Parmesano Reggiano cheese transports me to Tuscany. Tomatoes transport me to hot August days in Indiana. There is nothing better than walking out your back door, plucking a ripe tomato out of the warm summer sunshine and taking a big bite. Pure heaven.

This week we experimented with how to blend seasons on a single plate. Like our ever changing weather (54 degrees and rainy Wednesday, 75 degrees and sunny today), lines are gently blurred between the flavors of the seasons. Fortunately, our experiment worked, and we created a delicious pasta dish! This vegan dish is great for any guests or members of your household with allergies because it can also be made gluten-free by using brown rice pasta (available at Trader Joe's). We used remaining vegetables and vegetable purees from the freezer as well as fresh, seasonal vegetables. Best of all, this recipe takes into account my cardinal cooking rule: "It's always better with garlic." Bon Appetit!

Seasonal Fusion Pasta

1 c. almonds, chopped
1 lb. Rotini pasta (we prefer Trader Joe's organic brown rice pasta)
Yellow pepper puree (instructions below if you don't have any to pull from your freezer)
Olive Oil
2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 green onion or spring leeks, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs fresh parsley, minced
6 chives, minced
2 c. broccoli flowerets, steamed or blanched
8 medium asparagus spears, grilled and sliced
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees. Place chopped almonds on a baking sheet and toast for five minutes. Stir almonds. Return to oven for one to two minutes, or until lightly toasted and golden brown. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and toss with yellow pepper puree.*

In a large skillet, sauté onions in olive oil over medium high heat until well caramelized. Add green onions or leeks and sauté until soft. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, just under a minute. Add fresh herbs and stir until combined. Reduce heat to medium. Add broccoli and asparagus. Cook until vegetables are heated through.

Toss vegetables with pasta and puree. Warm over medium low heat until heated through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately garnished with toasted almonds.

*To prepare yellow pepper puree, char skins of two yellow peppers over an open flame (gas stove burner or grill). Remove skins, stem and seeds. Place in a vendor or food processor until smooth. (After cooling, this mixture freezes well.)

Looks like we've made it......

.....We left each other on the way...to another love. Looks like we made it....or I thought so til today. Until you were there everywhere, and all I could taste was love the way we made it!

It doesn't take a '70's song to remind us food is love in our household. We travel with food in mind. We have vacations where there are no pictures of us, only pictures of the food we've eaten. We invite people to our home to share food and, by extension, love.

That's why I'm excited to share with you our greatest food accomplishment to date (the antithesis of Chef Thom's root beer experiment): WE LIVED LOCAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!!!!! Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program started again last week with beautiful salad greens, radishes, chives, mint, lemon balm and asparagus. Our goal was to live local for a year, and it LOOKS LIKE WE'VE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!

Achieving our goal gives us the chance to pontificate about our experience. And, you, as unfortunate subscribers to our blog, will now be forced to travel this sentimental journey with us. Our top ten observations:

(10) We got soooooooo lucky with the amount of food we preserved. We did not have a guide or reference point. We just guessed, and we guessed correctly! Chalk this one up to, "We'd rather be lucky than smart."

(9) You can still entertain while living locally. We hosted multiple dinner parties at our home without going to the grocery store. Can you imagine the luxury?

(8) Canned tomatoes will chase away the winter blues. After 60 or 70 gray days in a row (check), there is nothing more soul nourishing than opening home canned tomatoes and smelling SUMMER.

(7) The barter system works! You read our pain as we noshed on green beans ad nauseum (literally). Thanks to our friends from Seldom Seen Farms for trading green beans for canned, diced tomatoes. We haven't been this happy to trade something out of our lunch boxes since grade school.

(6) You will cook more creatively with limited supplies. Let's face it, the beginning of Spring is a tough time for dining locally at your own home. The winter supplies have dwindled. The spring crops have yet to arrive. You will become incredibly resourceful when you start to evaluate what you can make with apples, green beans, corn on the cob, pureed peppers and plums. Danger: There are no known recipes that contain all these ingredients!

(5) Out of season produce is as flavorful as my shoes (sorry, Jimmy Choo). We've spent years buying peppers in January, watermelons in December and cucumbers in April (HINT: these things are all out of season). We never realized how flavorless they were until we ate our tasty food at home, preserved in season, then ate somewhere else serving out of season foods. Those waxy peppers don't look good to us in January anymore.

(4) We discovered new restaurants. When we decided to get serious about all this, we started eating at places better aligned with our food philosophy. We've always liked R Bistro and added City Cafe and others to our repertoire as a result.

(3) We know the names of the people who grow our food. We know if our chickens lived happy, free range lives. We know the RDA for wheat berries (did you know these are grown locally?) We discovered local mushrooms. We fell in love with Local Folks ketchup (wicked good, if you've never tried it). We know these folks by name, we've visited many of their farms, and none of our food has been recalled. Yippee!

(2) We've earned the right to play "Revolution" repeatedly. Remember the lines, "You say you got a real solution? Well, you know, we'd all love to see the plan." We made a plan and lived it out! We're advancing the local food revolution! It's awesome!

(1) Anticipation rocks! Do you remember what it's like to really, really, really want something? A new bike? A Boy Scout merit badge? A pony? A promotion? Antonio Banderas? Eva Longoria (before the -Parker)? That feeling where you absolutely must have and it will give anything to get it NOW........even though you can't have it RIGHT NOW......which is what makes it so good when you finally get it! That's what happens when you eat food in season. You know you love asparagus, and the season is coming. You know you really, really love tomatoes, and you'll have some in two and a half months. Waiting makes it better. There's NOTHING like that first bite.

If you would like to learn more about Locavore Living, we will be speaking at the Slow Food Indy event in conjunction with the Weston A. Price Foundation. It is on the 30 of August, at Weston A Price's facility in Fishers, 116 & 69; it's the rec building of a Methodist church

Slow Food Indy Potluck Picnic and Farm Tour

Slow Food Indy Potluck Picnic and Farm Tour
via Going Local by Victoria Wesseler on 24/05/09


Join Slow Food Indy for a potluck picnic and tour of the biodynamic Seven Springs Farm on Sunday, May 31, at 2:00 p.m.

Luella & David Porter raise chickens, turkeys, and beef cattle on their biodynamic farm in Rush County, about 40 minutes southeast of Indy. Their all-natural farm fresh eggs are a mainstay at several Indy-area markets and restaurants. The couple will lead a tour of their farm and explain the biodynamic practices they employ to keep their animals and their land healthy and productive.

Bring a dish to share and feast on a potluck picnic at the farm. Remember to bring your own reusable dining ware (plates, utensils, cups, bowls, etc.) to minimize waste.

If you're interested in carpooling, contact Slowfoodindy@gmail.com.

And if you haven't tried Luella's Magic Quiche you are missing a real treat!

Yes, we were growing it in the basement......

It's not surprising, really. The naturalist movement is associated with certain behaviors that don't appeal to everyone. Behaviors that can put one into a particular state of mind. It all started back in the winter.....

Chef Thom poured over the Seed Savers' catalogue all winter long. He dog eared pages, circled things, researched and dreamt of all that our suburban yard could become. When the seeds finally arrived, he couldn't help himself! He planted them in the basement! We have two windows in our unfinished basement. And, I have to be honest, we have the most unique basement in America (once you look past the rarely used elliptical runner). We have three hams hanging under the stairs in various stages of becoming proscuitto. We have enough platters to cater an extravagant party for the entire Royal Family. We have more wreaths than we have doors. We have already purchased half of this year's Christmas gifts (guess which one of us is ahead of schedule). We have our "root cellar" of local food supplies (onions, garlic, squash). And, then, we have a large, folding table covered with tiny patches of dirt and sprouting seedlings.

It reminds me of childhood when you plant a flower seed in a Styrofoam cup and pray, pray, pray that the seed turns into a beautiful flower by Mother's Day, least you be the only child in your neighborhood giving your mother a cup of plain dirt. (A cup of dirt always looks great next to a homemade card, of course).

But, I digress. We've been watching the seedlings sprout. And, to ease them into their new outdoor environment, Chef Thom made use of his blue boyhood wagon. Each day he rolls the seedlings in and out of the garage for the appropriate amount of sunlight and rain. He's been moving our composted soil to beds made for the seedlings.

This week we reached a new level of status with the neighbors by having three tons of highly stinky, composted soil delivered to the house. It's in a giant pile on the driveway (except for the parts that have been scattered across the lawn). This dirt covered yard has allowed us to meet neighbors we would never have met in the past! They are fascinated with the dirt.....and the blue wagon with plants.

It's all part of our carefully crafted plan to convert everyone to locavore living!!

Everything's coming up......Asparagus.....

We did procure that local asparagus thanks to our local farmers! We added morel mushrooms to our stash from Goose the Market. Chef Thom took morel mushroom hunting to the next level by searching in his brother and sister-in-law's backyard......along with his nieces, ages 22 months and five months. As you might imagine, they were very helpful, especially after watching the movie "Ratatouille" multiple times!

When you wait all winter for your favorite ingredients, you must consume them immediately! Many of you know that reading "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver inspired our local food adventure. The book features a recipe we've been excited to try: Asparagus and Morel Bread Pudding (see below). We highly recommend it, especially when you use local asparagus, local morels, local butter, local milk, local eggs and homemade bread! This will become your favorite spring breakfast. You won't even notice you've become a vegetarian!

We already started freezing asparagus and morels to enjoy year-round. If you want to join our adventure of living and eating locally, this is the right season to start preserving food! Picture the joy of a cold winter day by the fire.......eating asparagus!

ASPARAGUS AND MOREL BREAD PUDDING

3 cups milk

1 cup chopped spring onions with green shoots

Add onions to milk in sauce pan and bring to a boil, set aside to steep

1 loaf stale or toasted multigrain bread broken into crouton sized crumbs

Pour milk over crumbs and allow bread to soak

1 lb. asparagus

Chop into ½ inch pieces and simmer in skillet full of boiling water until bright green

2 tbs. butter

1 lb. morels (or other wild mushrooms)

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in skillet, cook mushrooms until tender, add spices and set aside

4 eggs

1/3 cup chopped parsley

3 tbs. oregano

3 cups grated Swiss cheese

Break eggs and beat until smooth, add herbs and plenty of salt and pepper, add bread crumbs with remaining milk, asparagus and mushrooms with their juices and 2/3 of the cheese. Mix thoroughly and pour into a greased, 8x12 gratin, sprinkle remaining cheese on top and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes (until puffy and golden).

Spring Anticipation

Karen has gotten to the point she is rolling her eyes at me every time I mention asparagus. With the sun returning to the State of Indiana I have become enthralled with the idea of local vegetables growing again. Asparagus sticking their flavorful tips out of the ground, morel mushrooms poking around leaves, garlic send up shoots. We are heading into a magical time of year. And, yes, I may talk a little bit to much about how I excited to have fresh asparagus and morels sauteed together with a little "pet" butter.

This is also the time of year that we all need to start thinking about what to grow in our own gardens. Karen and I grew 5 plants last year. It is amazing how much one plant will produce. We were able to get 20 pounds of tomatoes from one plant. So, no excuses here, plant at least one vegetable, even if it is in a planter on the porch.

I started a few sprouts for peppers, tomatoes, onions, herbs, and a few native plants. Once these plants start developing leaves I will place them outside during the day and bring them in at night. Then, in the first week of May, I will plant them outside. Slow Food Indy is selling seeds at the Indy Winter Market as well as the Broadripple market. The seeds they are selling are heirloom. Goose the market is also selling these seeds.

If you don't have the patience to start from seed, you can always buy starts from your local greenhouse. It is best to wait until the first week of May to get stuff in the ground.

Indy Star Articles

I have had the opportunity to be involved with several articles in the Indy Star in the past few weeks. It all started when I was asked what I thought were the top ten food wonders of Indianapolis. They included one of my favorites in the article (butterscotch pie from Gray Brothers). They also decided to take 5 of the other ones and make it into a My Favorite Things article.
Today I was also involved with the Taste Section feature. The articles include information about preparing lamb for your Easter meal as well as recipes from the students for side dishes. I am really happy with the articles and especially the food pictures. The students did a wonderful job creating these recipes.

Fiesta Dinner

Karen made this for dinner this week. Wow, are the flavors wonderful together!

Enchilada Casserole

1 dried chili pepper
2 dried peppers
1 c. dried beans
1. c. rice
1 c. canned, diced tomatoes (home canned preferred!)
1 T. Italian seasoning
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 medium onions, sliced
1 jar canned, diced tomatoes (home canned preferred)
1 small can tomato paste (home canned preferred)
2 tsp. hot sauce
4 corn tortillas, cut in fourths

Reconstitute three dried peppers in water for 24 hours. Place dried beans in a bowl and cover with water. Soak for 24 hours.

Discard water from beans. Place beans in a pressure cooker with 8 cups water. Seal pressure cooker. Turn heat to high. When steam is pouring out, turn beans down to low and simmer for 45 minutes (ensuring steam is at a steady level). After 45 minutes, carefully open pressure cooker over sink, pointing away from face. Drain beans.

Cook rice in rice cooker according to appliance directions along with 1 c. canned, diced tomatoes. (the standard ratio is 1 c. rice, 2 c. liquid using 1:2 ratio. Cover. Turn on.)

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add rice and beans. Stir to combine. Season to taste. Set aside.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine large jar diced tomatoes, reconstituted peppers (stems and seeds removed) and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer over low heat until thick. Remove from heat. Puree until smooth. Return to heat. Add hot sauce. Season to taste.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8x8" baking pan with cooking spray or coat with olive oil. Ladle enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the 8x8" pan. Place five tortilla pieces on sauce. Scoop half of beans and rice on top of tortillas. Ladle enough enchilada sauce to cover. Repeat layers. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Remove cover, bake 5-10 remaining minutes or until done.

Monday Goodies Recipes

I can feel the excitement of spring coming. I hear people talking about what seeds they are buying and what they will be doing once it warms up a little. But, for now we have to look longingly out the window with a great cup of soup.
Enjoy this recipes to warm you up this week.


Mediterranean Lentil Soup

1 onion
1 carrot
2 T. olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 c. brown lentils
2 cloves garlic
2 dried chili peppers
2 qts. water
1/2 tsp. cumin seed
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 c. diced, canned tomatoes
1 c. cooked rice
Lemon juice or red wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Minced parsley

Place chili peppers in water to reconstitute. Peel the onion and carrot and cut into small dice. Sauté them in the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat, seasoned with salt and pepper, cooking until they are tender. Meanwhile, carefully pick through the lentils, removing any small stones or debris. Rinse the lentils thoroughly in cold water.

Wrap garlic and reconstituted chili peppers in a cheesecloth sack, add it to the soup pot. Add the lentils and the water. Bring to a boil and simmer until the brown lentils are very soft, 45 minutes to one hour.

While the soup is cooking, toast the cumin and fennel seeds in a skillet over high heat for a minute or two, until their aroma is released. Pound them in a mortar. Chop parsley leaves (or pull some from your freezer from last summer's garden!).

When the soup is done, take out the cheesecloth sack and squeeze any broth back into the soup. Stir in tomatoes and rice (I just stole some rice from my Spanish concoction above). Add the ground spices and taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper, if necessary, and a dash of lemon juice or red wine vinegar. Serve garnished with a dribble of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of the chopped parsley.

*Food sources: Parsley (what we grew and froze last summer), Tomatoes (what we canned and traded for from the summer), Onion/carrot (Winter Farmers' Market), Chili peppers (Dried from summer), Brown Lentils (From Slow Food Ark of Taste, purchased at Terra Madre in October).





Mangia! Mangia! Pasta

12 oz. dried pasta
Salt
Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. Fresh mushrooms (can find shitake mushrooms right now), sliced
12 oz. Green Beans, sliced
Parmesan Style Cheese

Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté garlic in olive oil for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add green beans and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Finally, add mushrooms and sauté mixture until mushrooms are soft.

Add pasta to skillet, and sauté mixture together until pasta is hot. Adjust seasonings. Serve immediately with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

*Food Sources: Pasta (DeCio Pasta from Farmers' Market in Scottsdale, AZ), Mushrooms (Winter Farmers' Market), Garlic (purchased from a farm in Orange County i August and have hanging in the basement), Green Beans (you already know these are frozen from our CSA this summer), Cheese (Traders' Point Creamery)

Wired on the good stuff!

My question to both of you that read our blog is, "Did you try making the potato soup?" We are still finishing the last few bowls of that delicious concoction that seemed to mate and multiply each time we closed the refrigerator door. It was amazingly well timed with us hosting a luncheon Friday in which we produced about 8x the amount of mashed potatoes needed, so we are living in starch heaven! I would like to tell you we are putting those carbs to good use by running a marathon today, but, as usual, we're just cooking........and, eating. Seriously. You know us. Do we look like marathon runners?

At the luncheon yesterday, we received lots of compliments about our coffee. Neither of us have taken up part-time barista employment (though that's not a bad idea), which means it must have been the coffee beans we purchased at the Indy Winter Farmers' Market from Harvest Cafe Coffee Roasters. If you miss them at the Farmers' Market, they do offer private appointments! I'm enjoying a cup now so that I can embrace the day! Helloooooooooooooooooooo, world!

The question of the day is, "If I sprinkle this coffee on the laundry, will it fold itself?" One could only hope.

For those of you carefully tracking our green bean saga, I would like to reinforce that everything you need to know about life you learned in elementary school. I have one of those particularly finicky mothers who packed fruits and vegetables in our lunch (occasionally along with riddles, yes, riddles); all the while we longed for any "Hostess" product. We struggled with the lunchroom trade for two reasons: we once attended a school so strict that talking was not allowed during lunch and because NO ONE WANTED TO TRADE CUCUMBERS FOR A HOSTESS CUPCAKE! However, we have found new application of this age old principle by trading some of our carefully frozen green beans for beautifully canned tomatoes. Thank you, Kellie! You have saved us from certain green bean death!

While I look at our growing compost pile through the window, I'm wondering what else I'll add to it today. It will certainly contain scraps from these tasty meals.....

Black Bean Tamales - I have to admit I cheated here and bought these from "The Tamale Guy" at the Farmers' Market. They need to be steamed for about 50 minutes. With them, I'll be serving salsa (frozen this summer) and Spanish rice (organic rice cooked in the rice cooker with a bit of saffron and tomato juice stirred in). To give the rice an extra nutritional boost, I will be adding wheat berries to the concoction in the rice cooker. The ones we have were grown locally at Agape Farms. They can be purchased at the Trader's Point Winter Farmers' Market.

Mediterranean Extravaganza - I love this cuisine! So, today, I pulled eggplant from the freezer that I charred on the grill, removed the peel and pureed this summer. When it thaws, I will add salt and pepper and serve it with warm pita bread from Al-Basha in Fishers, IN. It will be a great complement to Mediterranean Lentil Soup (recipe will be posted tomorrow).

Mangia! Mangia! Pasta - This is the quickest "slow food" I could concoct (and still use some of those blessed green beans). See recipe below. I used pasta that we purchased during a trip to a Farmers' Market in Scottsdale, AZ. The company is called DeCio Pasta, and they make delicious products! For the recipe below, I used the spinach, basil and garlic pasta. You can substitute any pasta you like.

Monday Goodies Recipes

Below are several recipes that Karen was busy cooking last week. Yum!

Peaches n Cream Oatmeal

1 c. steel cut oats
4 c. liquid (can use any combination of water, cream, milk, soy milk, oat milk)
Salt
Peaches, medium diced

Bring liquid to a boil. Stir in oats. Reduce heat to simmer. Stir every couple of minutes through the 30 minute cooking time. Adjust seasoning. Stir in peaches.

Food sources: Oats (Good Earth), Milk (Trader's Point or Apple Family Farms), Peaches (From our freezer from Your Neighbor's Garden this summer)


Potato Soup

6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, diced
6 celery stalks, diced
2 quarts water
1 onion, chopped
6 T. butter
6 T. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 c. milk

In a large kettle, cook potatoes, carrots and celery in water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid and setting vegetables aside. In the same kettle, saute onion in butter until soft. Stir in flour, salt and pepper; gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened. Gently stir in 3 c. reserved vegetable liquid. Simmer until taste of flour is no longer present. Gently stir in cooked vegetables. Add enough reserved cooking liquid to make soup desired consistency.

*Food sources: Trader's Point Creamery (milk), carrots (preserved from CSA), celery (preserved from CSA), onions (from Indianapolis Winter farmer's market), butter (Swiss Connection)




"Hoping for Spring" Strudel

3 large onions, sliced
2 T. butter
12 thin stalked asparagus, sliced
1/2 lb. shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 c. grated smoked cheddar cheese
Fresh rosemary
Salt
Pepper
4 T. butter, melted
Phyllo Dough

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large saute pan, melt butter and caramelize onions. Add asparagus and continue to saute. Add mushrooms and saute. Once mixture is well cooked, sprinkle with fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. Brush layers of phyllo dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once desired number of layers have been prepared, spoon vegetable filling onto dough. Cover with cheese. Roll jelly roll style.

Place on sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until phyllo dough is golden brown.

*Food sources: Trader's Point Creamery (cheese), rosemary (frozen from our garden), asparagus (preserved from CSA), shitake mushrooms and onions (from Indianapolis Winter farmer's market), butter (Swiss Connection)

Real Money Matters for Indiana

Victoria Wesseler at Going Local wrote a great piece today on the importance of eating local. Victoria has a vast experience in governmental affairs and has done a little research. Her theory is; if each family spends just $6.25 a week buying local food, it will produce up to a $1.5 billion impact on Indiana per year. As much as the government's want to kick around all the astronomical figures, this is what it really comes down to...buy local to keep your friends and family employed. Please take 2 minutes to read her articles.

School Lunch Programs

I had the opportunity to set on a year long board to talk about the school lunch programs and edible schoolyards that was supported by the Eagle Creek Foundation. The finally of the discussions was an appearance by Alice Waters to speak at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It was truly disturbing to listen to teachers and school nutritionists talk about how the kids eat in the schools. I think one of the worst parts is; that they did not always believe it was bad.
Kids are lined up and walk into a cafeteria single file without talking. They are not allowed to talk while they eat... This sounds like a concentration camp, not a school in the US.
Then there is the food. Most schools don't have kitchens at this point. All the food comes from a central commissary where the "food" is prepared hours before lunch. Shipped to the school where the food is "dispensed". Forget using any fresh fruits or vegetables as the kitchens will not even have a cutting board or knife to prep them.
Good thing is that there are some schools that have made efforts to look at local fresh foods and even planting edible schoolyards. It has made dramatic improvements in the health of the children in the schools as well as the neighborhoods. The picture above is taken at in edible schoolyard in an impoverished area of Muncie. The garden was planted on an abandoned lot in an area where half the houses were abandoned and no one cared about the neighborhood. The kids picked up litter as they walked to the garden. Soon the parents started picking up litter when they were out. It became contagious and soon neighbors were mowing lawns of abandoned houses and taking more care of their houses. It was dramatic to see what could happen in one year.

Check out this Op-Ed piece that was in the New York Times, co-authored by Alice Waters:
Op-Ed Contributors
No Lunch Left Behind
By ALICE WATERS and KATRINA HERON
Published: February 20, 2009
The National School Lunch Program, costing around $9 billion a year, has turned out to be a poor investment. It should be redesigned to make our children healthier.
View the full piece

Tourist in Your Own Hometown, Sunday

Sunday

We're still in love with Indianapolis. Our kind of town. This is not a sentence we would have written with such conviction just three short days ago.

Thom E is all out of new shoes, so we have to walk down to breakfast in our slippers. How cozy. It was fun to hear the group's adventures from the day prior.......discovering Goose the Market , stocking up at Trader Joe's and seeing Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time.

After an omelet and some warm coffee cake, we packed our belongings and headed to our first stop of the day, the Oldfield-Lilly House and Gardens. This 26-acre historic estate is on the same property as the Indianapolis Museum of Art. These are both free events as well. It's amazing how much you can see and do in Indianapolis at no charge. This has been a shocking discovery for both of us!

Anyway, we toured the home and learned that J.K. Lilly purchased the home from the Oldfield family. The audio tour headphones (free, also) clued us in to the history of each room and insights about the people who visited them. Lilly had an impressive collection of first issue books that he donated to Indiana University some years ago. Beyond the house, we enjoyed touring the well designed gardens. We would like to visit there again in the fall and spring, as the gardens were designed to be the most magnificent during those seasons.

We planned to spend the afternoon in Fountain Square, one of Indianapolis' oldest neighborhoods and the oldest historic district in the state. It's only five minutes from downtown but feels a world apart. Most of the restaurants and shops are closed on Sundays, so you might plan ahead better than we did!

We still found plenty to keep ourselves entertained, though, like lunch at Siam Square. This restaurant absolutely qualified as a hidden treasure! It's located in the building Bistro 936 formerly occupied on Virginia Avenue and serves up unbelievably tasty Thai cuisine. We sampled Som Tum, a papaya salad with peanuts that was so hot I felt certain we had been transported to a Floridian beach mid-August. We couldn't stop eating it! Siam Square uses local foods (they can even tell you the name of the lady who grows their Thai chili peppers) and can tell you the cultural nuances of each dish (such as the popularity of green curry with Thai people).

Vegetarian friends, please visit this Mecca. You may need to bring along some tissues, though, because the sheer number of vegetarian options will move you to tears. Move over dinner of side dishes at the local steak house!!!!!!!!!

We worked off our lunch with a highly entertaining hour of Duck Pin Bowling. I am generally not a fan of any event that involves wearing used shoes (notable exceptions would include offers of used Jimmy Choo's, Manolo Blahnik's and anything Prada), but this was an absolute riot! If economic circumstances ever dictate a job change, I should not plan to support myself by joining the professional Duck Pin Bowling circuit.

OK, ok. Back to the history. Fountain Square Recreation originally opened in 1928 and featured a bowling alley and billiard hall. The business closed in 1957 and remained vacant until 1994 when it was restored with authentic 1920's vintage bowling equipment and a 1918 pool table. This is a very, very fun place to spend an hour.......or two..........especially when you finish it off with:

FRESH DOUGHNUTS. Friends, this is much better than Krispy Kreme. The Fountain Square Diner makes fresh doughnuts each morning. You can purchase one for the low, low price of fifty cents. That's three for $1.50 if you passed elementary school math, which means you can try the original, caramel frosted and chocolate frosted. (I hope my doctor is not reading this blog because I did try all three.)

We've decided that there is more to see in Indianapolis, and we plan to hit the local touring circuit again this summer.

Here's what we really learned:
-There's more than corn in Indiana.
-If you want to buy more than corn in Indiana, visit the winter farmers' market......Mayor Ballard was even there!
-It is still fun to encourage first-timers to try the shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo's.
-There are more reasons than ever to LIVE LOCAL.
-Knowing about your community builds your sense of community.

And, as my mother would say when we returned home from every vacation, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

I'm clicking my bowling shoe heels together right now.

See all of the pictures

Tourist in Your Own Hometown, Saturday

Saturday

We shook off our dining hangover and bounded down the stairs for breakfast. We enjoyed visiting with the other guests, most of whom were perplexed as to why we would spend our hard earned money seeking lodging less than 30 minutes from our home. Among us were two teachers, an assistant school principal, an architect, a scooter salesman and two students. They hailed from Florida, Ohio and Illinois. We discussed local sites over a breakfast of eggs, fruit and waffles.

After breakfast, we bundled up for our adventure. Our first stop was the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument. We opted to pay $1 each to ride the elevator to the Observation Deck since we were still full from breakfast (and Thom E was wearing new shoes. I'm not bitter.). We enjoyed the view of Indianapolis and wondered why we've never done this before. How many times have we driven around the circle? Walked around the circle? Too many to count.

The monument was dedicated in 1902 and offers all the romantic possibilities contained in "An Affair to Remember," with the notable improvement that your hair will not be whipping in the mind. The observation deck is enclosed, although the window washer appeared to be on sabbatical.

We also toured the Civil War Museum located beneath the monument. It was a fascinating study of Indiana's role in this chapter of history. The museum is free, so be sure to stop by the next time you are leaving another important downtown destination......like the South Bend Chocolate company.......or Emmis, where you can make faces through the glass at radio personalities.

Lunch time already. We walked to City Cafe, primarily because they are known for sourcing food locally. This "shotgun" style restaurant has no more than 16 tables filled with happy diners. They serve breakfast all day on Saturdays, so we tried the Roast Beef Hash, eggs and homemade cinnamon rolls. HEAVEN. You must, must try this place!

After lunch, we visited the Indiana War Memorial (http://www.in.gov/iwm/). If you walk up the steps on the North side of the building and turn around, you will notice a very Washington D.C. like plaza. It was breathtaking, actually. The real treat was inside the memorial, though. This FREE monument has a gorgeous auditorium, stunning shrine room (top floor), and thought provoking depiction of war and conflict. Hoosier veterans are prominently featured, including databases where you can research your friends and loved ones that have served in the military. This self-contained history lesson reminded us of the value of the freedoms we enjoy. It was also a reminder of how far we've strayed from our roots, in some cases.......like the Victory Garden. We say bring back the Victory Garden! Check out these WWII era posters.......

We rounded out our Saturday touring with a self-guided tour of the Marion County Central Library. The glass to limestone building juxtaposition still troubles me, but the inside is fabulous. The top floor, facing South, has a great view of the city! We also enjoyed seeing how many kids were there enjoying the library!

We went back to Stone Soup Inn and changed clothes for dinner (enter Thom E's other pair of new shoes. Grrr.......). We enjoyed an early reservation at R Bistro . Owner/Chef Regina Mehallick is a wonderfully talented chef who prioritizes using local foods. The trendy building is no match for the fresh, clean taste of her cuisine. We had a hard time choosing just a few items to try, because they all sounded so great! Our absolutely delightful meal started with a refreshing salad of oranges, jicama, pine nuts and feta cheese and a seared sea scallop with celery root and grapefruit sections. The mark of a truly good meal is that each course is better than the previous one. We then enjoyed mushroom and goat cheese crepes and Maple Leaf Farms Duck with sweet potato hash......yummy. We finished the evening with chocolate soup and Red Velvet cake. There could not have been a sharper contrast to our Friday evening meal. And, thank you to Ariel for the phenomenal service!

The evening concluded with a visit to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for a performance with Michael Feinstein. The full house was treated to an evening of Frank Sinatra music in the historic Hilbert Circle Theater. We had a marvelous time and would encourage you to check out the performance schedule if you haven't been there lately.

We returned to Stone Soup Inn and composed the following Valentine, "Dear Indianapolis, We HEART you."

See all the pictures

Tourist in Your Own Hometown, Friday

Friday

Friday the 13th. It sounds so ominous when I say it that way! We continued our adventure as tourists in our own town. We checked in to the Stone Soup Inn , located in the heart of Indy's historic Old Northside. The Inn's charm is welcoming, and the Lilly Room offered a great view of downtown Indianapolis. After settling in to our room, we visited Circle Center Mall to do some shoe shopping. I would like to point out the bitter irony of shoe shopping, which ended with Thom - two vs. Karen - zero. Maybe that WAS the scary part of Friday the 13th.

We arrived at Euphoria at around 8:30 p.m.. Unfortunately, we won't be posting any pictures of that.......mostly because I didn't enjoy it all that much. (You do know I'm talking about Euphoria the restaurant, right?) Euphoria is located in Buggs Temple on W. 11th St. The former church has been restored to include Creation Cafe on the first floor (think local version of Panera) and Euphoria (fine dining concept) on the second floor.

The dining experience was a great reminder of what happens when the kitchen cooks without passion. In fact, I was rather shocked to see such favorable reviews of the staff (chef, in particular) gracing the walls. There is no possible way that chef cooked our food.......like the fresh from the semi-truck rolls (still frozen in the center), begging to be seasoned entrees and chewy dessert profiteroles. Our server worked hard, but I am still proposing a restaurant name change from "Euphoria" to "Snooze-oria."

Editor's note: I did really enjoy the service and especially enjoyed a braise short rib entree.

Stay tuned for Saturday.

Stuffed Squash

2 lbs. various squash (I used delicata, pumpkin and acorn)
1.5 lbs. ground beef (ours is from a local cow that lived a happy, free range life eating grass; you can purchase grass fed beef at farmers' markets, Apple Family Farms, Trader's Point Creamery)
1 onion, halved and sliced
1 c. tomato juice (we are using what we canned this summer)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan or firm white cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds (save them). Lightly grease squash on all sides, and place on a baking sheet, cut side down. Bake for 10 minutes, or just until squash is fork tender. Remove squash from pan to wire rack and cool completely.

Once squash is cool, scoop out pulp and roughly dice. Save squash shells for stuffing later.

Brown ground beef with onion. Drain grease. Add tomato juice and seasonings. Bring to a boil for 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer. Stir in diced squash. Continue to simmer until all flavors are incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff filling in reserved squash shells. Sprinkle with grated cheese prior to serving.

(These save well and can be reheated in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes).

*I save all the squash seeds, roast them with salt and serve as a snack.

Recipes

Karen will be writing about last weekend in the next couple of days. In the mean time she sent over a couple of the recipes people have been asking for:

My favorite is
Butternut Squash Risotto

1 large butternut squash
Butternut squash seeds
1 c. almonds
3 T. raw milk butter
1 medium onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz. Arborio rice
4 oz. white wine (something acidic works best)
4 c. hot chicken broth (from above recipe)
Grated Parmesan or firm white cheese
Salt and pepper
1 c. almonds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds (save them). Lightly grease squash on all sides, and place on a baking sheet, cut side down. Bake for 15 minutes, or just until squash is fork tender. Remove squash from pan to wire rack and cool completely.

Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees. Roughly chop almonds. Place on a separate baking sheet. Remove pulp from squash seeds, and place on a baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Next to Place in oven for 5-10 minutes, or until almonds are lightly browned and fragrant. Squash seeds should be lightly browned and crispy (they may start to pop off the cookie sheet in the oven).

Once squash is cool, scoop out the pulp. Medium dice squash. Compost peel.

In a medium sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, saute the onion in butter until golden until translucent. Add garlic and saute 30-40 seconds. Add diced squash and saute 4-5 minutes longer. Add the rice and stir until well-coated and translucent.

Add the wine and cook until evaporated. Add two cups HOT chicken broth or stock (from above recipe). Stir in two cups of hot broth and simmer gently until broth is absorbed. Add another cup of hot broth, and continue to stir. Once that is absorbed, add the final cup of hot broth. Continue to stir until stock is absorbed over the course of 18-20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in grated cheese. Season to taste.

Serve garnished with toasted almonds and snack seeds.


Tomorrow I will post her Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe.

Thursday - Tourist in your own home town

Our 4 day "tourist in your own home town" started Thursday afternoon. Indianapolis is well known as a stop for many of the Jazz legends. And, because of this, we have a great music scene here in Indianapolis. We definitely wanted to bring some of the music into our romantic get away. Karen and I met at the Arts Garden for lunch. Denise Tichenor-Collins played lively Gospel Jazz music.
Lunch was food from Goose the Market. Karen asked for a vegetarian option and Corrie was able to make her a sandwich that she later referred to as her new favorite sandwich. Myself, I went for the Wygu corned beef sandwich made from cows raised up in Roanoke Indiana.


Unfortunately, we both had to return to work. But, later that evening, we met at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for a behind the scenes tour. Tom; the executive director, led us through the history of the renovations to the present state of the orchestra. We were even taken back stage to see the inner workings of the acoustics. Even was able to peek into the music vault. Very interested and totally cool. It is amazing the little gems that are all around us.
We were able to do the tour as part of the orchestra's young professionals group, called Forte! For a small membership fee you get all kinds of perks from free tickets and drinks to special seating and networking events. This is a fantastic deal that I would recommend to anyone who is at all interested in hearing the great performances of our ISO.

Tourist in your own home town

Karen and I were able to spend the big V-Day together exploring Indy as Tourists. We stayed at a B&B in downtown Indy, toured many of the monuments we drive by all the time and ate ate fabulous Independent places. Over the next few days we will be giving all the wonderful details. But, for now, just let me put it out there...Indy is incredible. All the time we travel to see amazing things and we have it goin' on in our own back yard. Stay tuned.

Part of the weekend excitement was an appearance on Fox 59 Morning News. I did a segment talking about some foods the food challenged people could cook for Valentines day. Check out the video.