WRPC Community Garden Update

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm serving as the sales coordinator for our church's community garden, and I wanted to give a little update on how things are going.

The garden is doing really well. We're growing zucchini, yellow squash, English cucumbers, tomatoes (including Roma and Lemon Boys), okra, butter beans, green and red bell peppers, and green beans.

Sales are also going well. We're selling on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings at the Suffolk Farmers' Market, and on Sunday mornings after each service at a picnic stand by the garden. Both WRPC members and Mercy Ministry clients have been helping with sales. Come visit us!

Fresh tomatoes, anyone?

Reading List for July 26-30

1. "Unsafe at Any Meal"

Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and co-producer of "Food, Inc.", writes in the New York Times about the food safety bill now languishing in the Senate.

"Food processors reluctant to oppose the bill openly will be delighted if it dies a quiet death. That’s because, right now, very few cases of food poisoning are ever actually linked to what the person ate, and companies that sell contaminated products routinely avoid liability. The economic cost is instead imposed on society. And it’s a huge cost. According to a recent study sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the annual health-related cost of food-borne illness in the United States is about $152 billion."

2. "The Future of the Sea"

A book review of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg, from The Economist

"Four wild fish species [salmon, seabass, cod and tuna] dominate the world’s seafood markets, but that might not last much longer. As Paul Greenberg observes in a sharp and occasionally lyrical book, we are at a significant moment: farmed fish now make up around half of all the fish consumed by humans."

3. Odes to Oysters

"Memories on the Half Shell" and "Where Oysters Grew on Trees" - both published in the NYTimes - read like short stories.

"The names of the oysters stayed with me — each one representing a distant, mysterious seaside community, where fogs settled over serpentine estuaries and men repaired their fishing nets around lantern-lighted tables at night. I felt that somewhere far outside the city (Pemaquid? Apalachicola?) there existed a briny, muscular life that had more meaning than mine, if only because it was aligned with the tides. I wanted to grow up and become part of a place like that. "

4. Teaching Kids to Eat Healthily

"School Lunches in France: Nursery-School Gourmets" from TIME

"[A brochure] lists in great detail the lunch menu for each school day over a two-month period. On Mondays, the menus are also posted on the wall outside every school in the country. The variety on the menus is astonishing: no single meal is repeated over the 32 school days in the period, and every meal includes an hors d'oeuvre, salad, main course, cheese plate and dessert."

"[I]n a country where con artists and adulterers are tolerated, the laws governing meals are sacrosanct and are drummed into children before they can even hold a knife. The French don't need their First Lady to plant a vegetable garden at the Élysée Palace to encourage good eating habits. They already know the rules: sit down and take your time, because food is serious business."

Valentine's Weekend in Charlotte, NC

For Christmas last year, we gave Topher's parents a getaway to Charlotte, NC over Valentine's Day weekend - with us! I know, how romantic, right? But it actually was a great trip: Topher and his dad took a cooking class together on Saturday at Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts, while his mom and I got facials at a local spa.

We drove separately - Topher and I from Hampton Roads, his parents from their home in NC - and met at the hotel in Charlotte just in time for dinner. True to form, Topher had picked out a delicious restaurant for us to try: Mimosa Grill. Their menu, which they describe as "global cuisine with a southern twist," features meat, poultry, and produce from local and regional farms.

That particular evening, a freak winter storm dumped 4-6 inches on snow on the city. It started just as we were walking to dinner, so by the time we left to head back to the hotel, everything was covered with a soft white blanket. It was really beautiful; I only regretted not bringing more suitable shoes!

What I Ate:

• appetizer: local organic greens with mandarin oranges
• entrée: salmon over grits with mussels, shrimp, & crawfish in tomato & onion broth - now these were some good shrimp & grits!
• dessert: pecan pie with vanilla gelato
• to drink: one mojito, and a few sips of Drambuie - kind of like a second dessert

The Scoop:

Mimosa Grill is located in downtown Charlotte at 327 S. Tryon Street. They're open M-R 11am-10pm, F 11am-11pm, Sat 5pm-11pm, and Sun 5pm-10pm. Reservations can be made online or by calling (704)343-0700. Get information about their cooking classes, wine dinners, and other special events via Facebook or Twitter.

Disappointing #2

I've decided to bite the bullet and write a second negative restaurant review (here's my first). This meal was particularly disappointing, since it was part of our anniversary weekend in Chicago. Thankfully there were several other culinary experiences that saved the weekend.

On Saturday evening, after a less-than-enjoyable afternoon at the Field Museum, we got all dolled up and walked to Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill, winner of a 2007 James Beard Foundation award.

My first issue with Frontera is that they don't accept reservations. I understand that once a place gets famous (via Food Network, PBS, etc.), the owner wants locals to still be able to come and eat without getting totally shut out by the reservation process. But when you walk in at 6:30pm and are told that your wait will be three hours, there's something wrong.

Still, we had it on good authority that this place was ah-maz-ing and would be worth whatever wait we had to endure. So we found a place to stand at the bar (all the seats were taken) and began our three-hour wait. Thankfully a couple at a side counter were taken to their table about half an hour after we arrived, so we were able to grab their seats.

We finally flagged down a bar waiter to take our drink orders. Upon his return (20 minutes later), he asked if we'd like to order food. Appetizers, right? we asked. No, he said, we could actually order dinner there, if we'd like. Great! Our three-hour wait just got cut in half.

What I Ate:

• for the table - corn chips with guacamole, chipotle salsa, & tomatillo salsa
• appetizer - Flautas de Camarones: crispy taquitos filled with wild Mazaltan shrimp, Prairie Farms goat cheese, poblano chile, and sundried tomatoes, served with roasted tomatillo sauce and frisee-watercress salad
• entree - Trucha al Guajillo: crispy guajillo-marinated Rushing Waters trout with quajillo-lime salsa, served with garlic-poached fingerling potatoes and Three Sister Garden "shoots" salad
• drink #1 - Topolo Margarita: Sauza Conmemorativo tequila, Gran Torres liquer and housemade limonada, shaked at the table
• drink #2 - Vampiro Fronterizo: El Milagro Silver tequila and Maraca bloody Mary mix, spiked with fresh lime juice - this drink was so tart & strong (read: disgusting) that I almost couldn't finish it

It all sounds so good, right? Well, the dishes just weren't as flavorful as the menu descriptions made them out to be. And Topher's entree wasn't hot; it was barely lukewarm. And imagine trying to balance on a bar stool to eat while being elbowed in the back by people trying to get to the bar - fun times. Apparently we're not the only ones who have had a subpar experience here, either.

Another tip: don't order the Trago Bravo (100% Blue Agave Silver tequila with spicy sangrita chaser and serrano chile) - it's downright painful.

Bottom line: For the money, and for all the hype, we expected much better. Mediocre food + poor service = disappointing.

Goin' All Ivy League on Ya

I'm constantly in search of well-researched and well-written online sources for nutrition information.

By now I shouldn't be surprised by the amount of misinformation that's circulated on the internet, but somehow I still am. I'm especially shocked at the number of writers claiming to be nutrition experts, and there are days when I simply throw up my hands in confusion and disgust at the contradictions and hidden agendas of so many "expert" opinions.

So imagine my delight when I found TheNutritionSource.org and learned that it is actually a division of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Some of my favorite features on the site include:

• The Healthy Eating Pyramid: a new take on the old government-issue food pyramid (which means that industry & special interest groups didn't have a chance to tinker with it)
• What Should You Eat? : a la Michael Pollan, this section offers 8 tips on how to choose healthy foods (not what foods to avoid!)
• a full page of recipes to try at home

An article that I've found especially helpful is "Choosing Healthy Drinks." I don't know about you, but sometimes Topher & I find it hard to come up with things that we like to drink (i.e. taste good) that aren't sugar-laden or alcoholic. Sure, there's milk and water, but those can get pretty boring after a while -- or downright painful, if you're lactose-intolerant. This article offers some good alternatives that won't inflate your daily carb/calorie intake.

And finally, "Fish: Friend or Foe?" is a great read about the benefits and possible risks associated with eating seafood on a regular basis. I never shy away from sushi, fried flounder, crab cakes, steamed shrimp, or raw oysters on the half, but some people do have serious hang-ups about eating anything from the ocean. The bottom line: "Fears of contaminants make many unnecessarily shy away from fish" and miss out on its numerous perks, which include omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, selenium, and protein.

Happy reading, and eating!

Reading List for July 19-23

1. A two-part NPR story on nutrition & obesity in low-wage America
- Part 1: Eating Nutritiously Is a Struggle When Money Is Scarce

"Hunger in America isn't about starving children with bloated bellies, as much as it is about having to calculate everything, down to the penny, to get through the month."

- Part 2: A Daily Fight to Find Food: One Family's Story

"[L]ow-income families might know milk is better for their kids, but when it comes to filling a hungry stomach, a cheaper high-calorie option can look pretty good."

2. Foraging – the latest trend in haute cuisine?

- "Into the Woods" from TIME

3. Can You Eat Well on $1 a Day?

- Jeffery Strain has done it for more than 70 days already, with a technique called coupon "stacking." Check out his blog.

4. From @MichaelPollan (on Twitter)

- "Here's a cool graphic attempting to visualize entire food system."

- "Fascinating study that suggests why processed food might be more fattening than whole, even when calories the same."

And this is just disgusting: Friendly's introduces a Mac & Cheese Quesadilla for kids.

Fun with Watermelon

Corn, blueberries, peaches - the fruits of summer are definitely sweet. Watermelon is one of the sweetest, and healthiest.

As its name suggests, watermelon is mostly water - 92% actually. Some days I find it hard to drink enough water to stay hydrated in this heat, so I eat my water instead: Water-rich foods like watermelon, cucumbers (95% water) and strawberries (91%) can help prevent fatigue and headaches caused by dehydration.

And watermelon contains lycopene, an antioxidant also found in tomatoes that may protect against heart disease and some types of cancer.

There's nothing wrong with eating a slice of plain, fresh-cut watermelon on your back steps with juice dribbling down your chin, but if you want to dress it up a little, try this recipe from Food & Wine.

The first time Topher made this, I thought it was a tomato salad, so the first bite was a sweet surprise!

Watermelon Salad with Feta & Mint

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• One 8-pound seedless watermelon, scooped into balls with a melon baller or cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (10 cups), chilled
• 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled (2 cups)
• 1 1/4 cups pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped (optional)
• 1 small sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves

Directions

1. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, lemon juice, salt, Tabasco and pepper.
2. Add the watermelon, feta, olives and onion, and toss gently.
3. Garnish with the mint, and serve.

More ideas: Here are four more fun watermelon recipes from EatingWell.com. The NYTimes Diner's Journal suggests grilling a watermelon steak.

Note: The image above was found here.