You know it’s fall when The Simpsons airs its annual Treehouse of Horror episode. This years episode snuck up on me as I can’t really fathom how we’re more than halfway through October already (sidebar: they have Christmas decorations up at The Home Depot already, wtf?) . Thankfully the hubs remembered to set the DVR.

The second sketch parodied the zombie flick 28 Days Later when the new offering from Krusty, The Burger² (meat from cows that were fed cows), turns everyone into human flesh eating zombies called Munchers.  I won’t spoil the entire sketch which I  found to be be the most amusing of the episode, but it did leave an uneasy feeling when I remembered hearing about the recent beef tongue recall brought on by fears of mad cow disease.

When I first read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation I began to worry about eating commercially produced meat. After I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals I stopped buying meat produced in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).   It was incredibly easy to do.   I did some research (read: googled), and placed an order with Arnold’s Farm and stocked my freezer with 25 lbs of different cuts of beef.  It broke down to a little more than $5 per lb, and didn’t even take up all the space in our very small apartment freezer. It’s better than CostCo!

I love knowing that I am supporting a local family operation, and also eating food that is better for the environment.  Sure, you can get CAFO free meat at Whole Foods but you loose that direct connection to the farmer.  For more reasons why to give up CAFO meat click here.

Chew on this…(remember that ad campaign?)

Of the 16,000  -sixteen THOUSAND-  varieties of apples that have evolved from seeds brought by settlers to North America,   only 11 -ELEVEN- varieties constitute 90% of what we consume.   The Red Delicious apple alone makes up two-thirds of the entire US apple crop.

RAFT, a program of Slow Food USA

We’re in the midst of apple season here in the Midwest folks. Why not head to an apple orchard and try a variety you’ve never had before?

A couple years ago some friends and I went to see the raunchy puppet musical Avenue Q on a trip to New York.  I remember great belly laughs while we watched the puppets perform songs like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet is For Porn”. But underneath the adult rated humor was the underlying story that followed the main character on the typical post-graduate search for a meaningful livelihood with a B.A in English.  This resonated with me as I (like so many 20-somethings) have been looking for my “purpose” ever since I graduated college. I started culinary school after narrowing my passion down to *something that involves food*–still not the MOST narrow calling.  But, yesterday memories of vulgar (sometimes naked puppets) flooded back into my mind, when I think I finally found my calling.

I was inspired in a way I have not been in a long time as I read about the public school system in Batimore. It motivated me to take action and the links introduced me to Farm to School, which lead me to the Healthy School Campaign and a list of other programs developed for Illinois.

As I’m a 26 year old with no kids it may seem odd improving our school lunch program is the cause that pulls at my heartstrings. I  just believe that by getting rid of the garbage our schools get away with feeding kids and educating children about where food comes from we can solve so many other issues in our society (health care anyone?).

So, moving forward I’ve contacted a bunch of the organizations I’ve found to see if there is anything I can do to help them with their cause (in my abundant free time…gah!). If anyone knows of any related opportunities please let me know. And for the long term I now have something bigger to focus on once I’m done with my culinary certificate.

There is little I love in this world more than cheese. And yesterday on Alberta Street in NE Portland, we stumbled upon my version of heaven: The Grilled Cheese Grill.

It was perfect timing – I was just starting to reach the point of grumpiness from hunger. You know, when you don’t realize that you’re hungry, but you start just being irritable? I find this happens a lot when you’re on vacation with no discernible eating schedule. Anyways, we were walking east on Alberta, sort of away from the majority of the shops, thinking we would turn around and just go to a sit-down restaurant for lunch, when we noticed yet another street food cart.  The others on the street mostly hadn’t yet opened or were serving vegan fair that doesn’t fit my fancy.  This proved disappointing when we had primed ourselves for some BBQ at Dixon’s Rib Pit, only to find them closed.  But, this one had people sitting at tables! One point for being opened. Wait, what does that sign say? Something about cheese…the Grilled Cheese Grill!?! I jumped up and did a little jig. Grilled cheese is my ultimate comfort food. Lunch time.

Can't talk, chewing

Their menu featured everything from the Classic (regular old grilled cheese)  to the Cheesus Burger (a burger with 2 grilled cheeses as buns). I opted for the daily special called the “Pittsburgh, PA” (I think because they had G20 protests there that day) which was apple butter, ham,  Tillamook horseradish cheddar cheese and avocado. It was a taste bud trifecta of sweet, salty and cheesey.

Jason went with one called the BABS; the picture basically says it all.

The BABS: Bacon, Apple, Bleu Cheese, Swiss on Rye

My only complaint is that they don’t have one in Chicago. Bonus: Their twitter feed seems to basically just be links to old cartoon clips. Love it.

This is really exciting. The USDA is starting and initiative about how local food is better for the local economy, environment, and nutrition. Here, here! Let’s start the conversation.

I’ve never been a fan of cabbage. Be it broiled, braised,  as a slaw, or kraut, it was just never a vegetable I really enjoyed.  So for a week I had a head of green cabbage from my CSA sitting in my vegetable drawer taunting me. Begging me to figure out a way I could prepare and enjoy this nutritious vegetable.  So I broke out my trusty mandoline, and food processor and let my creative juices flow. I was in the mood for something on the sweet side so I decided to go a more fruity route.  I took some inspiration from my mom who will toss poppy seed dressing with bags of pre-cut coleslaw, and used my favorite poppy seed dressing as the base.  The result was a super tangy and sweet summery salad filled with crushed nuts and dried fruit . The cabbage itself provided a crunch that really made the salad complete.

Chopped Cabbage Salad with Poppy Seed dressing

Yield: 4 large servings

1 head green Cabbage, sliced or shredded

4 small red radishes, choped

1/2 cup Walnuts, crushed

1/2 cup mixed dried fruit (I used Archer Farms brand)

1/2 cup Brianna’s Poppy seed dressing

Directions

I chopped the radishes, walnuts and fruit by pulsing them in the food processor quickly.  Toss all ingredients together and serve. Tastes great with a Mothership Wit.

The perfect local summer dinner.  CSA vegetables tossed with fresh pasta and some chicken from Arnold’s Farm.  For the pasta I used mix of 1/2 semolina and 1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour. It gave it a firmer texture and deeper flavor than when I’ve used all-purpose flour on its own.  I made this the night before the hubs swam in the relay of the Chicago Triathalon.  Not a bad way to carbo-load.

Fresh Pasta

1 1/2 cups semolina flour

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

4 Large Eggs

Kosher Salt (just a pinch)

1) Combine flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and crack the eggs into it.

2) With a fork beat the eggs a bit and then incorporate them into the dough using a circular motion. Once the flour and eggs are mostly combined get rid of the fork and dive in with your hands

3) Gently kneed the dough by turning it about 1/4 of a turn and pushing it up into itself from the bottom continuously. Don’t over work the dough.  If it is to dry add a tiny bit of water.  It should form a smooth ball.

4) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes

5) Once dough has rested roll it out with a rolling pin (I do this in 2 sets) and then run it through a pasta machine

6) Let dough dry for about 1/2 hour before cooking in lots of salted boiling water (at least 1 gallon of water for each pound of pasta)