Did You Say that the Figs are Ripe?

Some people attract money but I attract fruit and vegetables. This arrangement seems just fine to me since you can't eat money but you can eat produce.

Today I got my first dehydrator, used from ebay, and it works just fine. Not a top of the line Excalibur but it has an adjustable thermostat. I am currently drying persimmons.

My neighbor has a persimmon tree and one of the branches broke so I ended up with a huge bag of still kind of green persimmons. Since you can dry not quite ripe persimmons and get good results, I cut these and put them in to dry.

Today another neighbor said the magic words: the figs are ripe. That is music to my ears. It didn't send me running to get them as I had a 2 deadlines to meet but shortly thereafter I went to pick. The fig tree is huge and because of how it's been pruned I don't need a ladder to reach the lower part of the tree.

I have been picking figs for years and consider myself an expert. The funny thing about picking figs is that it's hard to see them when you are in the tree, maybe more so for figs than for other fruit which proves the "forest for the trees" theory. And I am very particular about how ripe my figs are except now that I have a dehydrator I may pick some that are not quite as ripe as I usually want them.

I just had a chance to try one of the best figs ever -- desert king. It is light green outside and bright red inside. If I had a place for it, I'd plant one of these in my yard. But for now, I am content to buy these occasionally and to pick my neighbor's black mission figs when they are ripe. I will surely enjoy them dried and canned this winter. I am going back for more as they ripen, and before the winter rains arrive. Oh, let's see -- what can I do with figs? Figgy pudding, fig bars, fig chutney, hmmm? Any good fig ideas? Just let me know jill@theveggiequeen.com.

My Japanese Food Week with Natto and Shoyu

As if using fresh yuba (the soybean skin) in my cooking wasn't exciting enough for me, I got an invitation from one of my former students who is Japanese to try natto, a traditionally fermented soybean product. I have mentioned before, or at least I think that I have, that eating fermented foods is a good thing.

And I may have even possibly posted about trying natto once before. I said that it was right up there with one of the 10 most disgusting foods that I have ever had. Well, I need to rescind my comment on natto. I tried frozen natto and it was beyond gross and smelly.

The natto that I tried today, produced here in the United States, just 10 minutes from where I live, in Sonoma County, is a very different food product. It doesn't have a ton of flavor and certainly not one that I would consider disgusting. I must point out that the texture is certainly not something most Americans are used to, as it is a bit gummy. I was told that the stickiness contains that nattokinase which is the beneficial part of the natto. The soybeans used in this natto are non-GMO beans from North Dakota that are not like any soybean that I have ever seen or used, they are much smaller.

Traditionally natto is eaten daily on top of rice with shoyu and mustard or wasabi, often for breakfast. I tried my natto with some shoyu and ate it on a lettuce leaf. It was delicious and a most interesting appetizer -- very fresh.

This brings me to shoyu -- I happened to be at http://www.gourmet-natto.com/ when there were some Japanese visitors who own a shoyu plant in Japan. I left with a small bottle of 2 year old shoyu, made without water. This is not what we usually see here in the US, unless you spend more money on your soy sauce, which I occasionally do. I actually use tamari, not soy sauce, since I know that it's usually a higher quality than the brown stuff in bottles.

I met with Minami and Shun and it was a great pleasure. I learned more about Japanese foods in one short visit with them than I had anticipated. I cannot wait to have my students try natto to see what they think. And I may have to take a trip to San Francisco to get some special Japanese products. Minami told me that he knows one of the best tofu makers in Japan. Perhaps I should just resurrect my idea of the Tofu Tour to Japan. Are you interested? Let me know by posting a comment here.

My Japanese Food Week with Yuba

Last week I did a cooking demonstration at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. Thank you to all who attended. It was great fun, especially because I got to make Eggplant with Yuba, Ginger and Garlic. I added colored sweet peppers to it and green onions. It was easy, delicious and beautiful and went perfectly with the Massa's brown rice.

Yuba, for those who don't know, which is likely most of you, is tofu skin. I know that this sounds strange. But the good folks at Hodosoy make tofu (and many tofu products which always makes me want to stop in SF at the Saturday market or in San Rafael at the Sunday market to pick them up). They skim off the top layer of tofu to make large, thin sheets of the skin which are about 10 by 15 inches (although I could be way off). I cut them up in strips and put them in with the eggplant but also used one to make a roll with the rice and eggplant dish inside. It tasted very good and looked quite beautiful on the plate, garnished with peppers and green onions.

Tofu skin makes a great topping when making a loaf at Thanksgiving which was in my original cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Volume 1 (way before Deborah Madison wrote her book). But back then I had to use dried, rehydrated yuba sheets. The fresh product beats the other hands down. I don't necessarily expect that you'll find it in your neighborhood store but if you happen to be in the San Francisco area, you now know about another wonderful traditional, i.e., not processed, soy product.

The Veggie Queen Loves Beans

It is likely no surprise that I love to eat beans. I don't care if they're the green, yellow or purple bean type, fresh shelling beans or dried beans, regular or heirloom. They are all wonderful in my opinion.

My friends, Jill and David, at Crescent Moon Farm did me a huge, big deal favor a while back and picked and labeled about 10 kinds of shelling beans for me that I used for one of my show, tell and taste demonstrations. I had Cherokee Trail of Tears, Painted Pony, 2 types of Cranberry -- one almost white and the other dark red, and a number more. I shelled them and added them to dishes but with only a few pods of each, it didn't add up to a meal. But soon there will be dried beans for sale and I can stock up, if I can afford it.

Yesterday I bought cranberry beans from Tierra Vegetables and enjoyed shelling them to teach a cooking class at The McDougall Program today. I made my soup for a Chilly Fall Night, even though it was the day time. Still yummy with winter squash, peppers, cumin, tomatoes, corn, and cilantro for a garnish. But back to the beans...

I realize that growing, picking and threshing beans is a labor intensive, labor of love type process which justifies the high price but there is a limit to my purchasing power. I consider the heirloom beans equivalent to eating a gourmet meal out in the world. Truth is that I much prefer my special beans to most meals that I can get.

Although yesterday fellow Registered Dietitian Jeff Novick and I ate at Peter Lowell's in Sebastopol where they offer a darned good (but possibly overpriced) macro bowl, with brown rice, beans, vegetables and your choice of tempeh, seitan or tofu. I got a really good ginger-something dressing with it that was really fresh. Jeff didn't say it but I know that he liked my tempeh better than his tofu so next time maybe he'll order that. Jeff liked the dish and the place is the "greenest" restaurant in Sonoma County.

And this brings me back to the expensive beans. If I cook my own rice (not in a nice oven proof crock) and serve it with the beans, vegetables and I'd add some of my very tasty sauerkraut, it would cost me far less than $9.50, even with my $8 per pound beans. Generally a pound of beans will yield from 5 to 7 cups, at a cost of more or less a dollar at the high prices. Add in my rice and veggies and I can have a darned good "gourmet" meal at home for a few dollars. The heck with eating out, except that what happens to the rice and other ingredients in that wood-fired oven is rather magical. And I've got to learn how to make the ginger dressing. And then I'm there.

For now, I wait for heirloom beans to be dry and ready to buy.

Today a Rainbow, Yesterday a Sun Shower, What's Next?

I know that this post might not seem like it has anything to do with food or eating but it, of course, does. I love rainbows. Seeing them seems almost like a miracle to me. They are always there but don't often show themselves. Well, vegetables seem to me to be another type of miracle. You can take one seed and produce an entire plant, that yields multiple fruit, grains, nuts, beans -- whatever happens to be growing. Now, this is obviously an entirely different animal than a cow, goat, pig, chicken or even a human being. How on earth can one seed carry so much potential?


It boggles my mind. And that's what rainbows do for me -- give me a new perspective. And yesterday when there was a brief sun shower but not a cloud in the sky that was interesting. Thankfully I was in Petaluma, a small city, and there were other people who were also looking skyward to see where the water was coming from, otherwise I might have been completely baffled.


And my rainbow today occurred when there is no rain, just a large cloud and then sun's rays from which it could reflect. All this as our harvest season winds down, and I have tomatoes, figs and peaches drying in the dehydrator. I'm savoring the last of the green beans, summer squash and eggplant. The wonders of nature are inspiring but especially the vegetables.

Why Sauerkraut? And other probiotic questions.

I read an article yesterday that in a poll of 1000 people in the US only 15% had any idea of what probiotics are, and my guess is that many have heard the word but are still unsure of what these living marvels do.


This means that there are far too many people who just don't know that eating live food can make a difference in their life. (But that's because so many Americans eat food that's way beyond dead -- processed beyond recognition.)


Probiotics help populate your gut with beneficial bacteria -- the stuff that's supposed to be there, that sometimes gets wiped out by antibiotics or GI disturbances. Also, there are prebiotics, which help keep your system healthy, in beans, whole grains and other vegetarian foods.


The other day I made sauerkraut. It is incredibly easy to do. And today I am eating some delicious pink kraut, that didn't cost me $10 per pint, which I just verified at the store today. Mine cost me $2.50 for the cabbage and I ended up with 2 pints, which is quite a savings. And where shall I spend what I've saved, I keep asking myself.


But back to the kraut. I did not grow up eating this stuff. And, in fact, since I don't eat hot dogs or sausages, which is what I think most people do with sauerkraut, I have to find other ways to use it.


One of the best, to my taste, is to mix it with cooked brown rice and vegetables. It's best if there's ginger or hot peppers in the mix. The cool and sour of the kraut, is a great complement in this simple-foods dish. I must admit that I first had something similar at Cafe Gratitude which was called The Macro Bowl (but of course, it had a name something like I AM LOVED or GRATEFUL).


A daily dose of sauerkraut will likely help keep your system populated with the good guy bacteria. And it will keep you healthier. If you want to know more about making sauerkraut and other fermented foods, check out http://www.wildfermentation.com/. Sandorkraut tells all.

Here's to your health and the health of your gut. Isn't that where your intuition lies?

More People Eating Soy and More New Products

A report that showed up in my inbox has all kinds of statistics about how more Americans are eating soy. It appears that a lot of the information is coming from a study done annually by the United Soy Bean Board. And guess what there mission is? To get people to learn more about, and eat more, soy.

A 2008 study by the International Food and Information Council (IFIC) reports that people are changing their eating habits to improve overall well being (69%), lose weight (69%) or improve their physical well being (64%). Many of them are eating more soy foods in an attempt to do this.

It sounds fine in theory, except the soy that isn't organic is genetically modified and most people are not getting soy in its whole form. They are eating many of the 2700 new products that have been introduced into the marketplace from 2000 to 2007. These are processed foods. And you've read before what I think about processed foods -- they are not as good as foods in their natural state, and never will be.

So, if you are seeking out soy, seek out tempeh, edamame, miso, tofu or lightly processed soy milk. Avoid foods that contain soy protein isolate or other processed soy products. And always buy organic soy. Read labels, or choose mostly foods that don't contain labels. Don't be duped by the United Soy Bean Board or anyone else.

BTW, IFIC referred to above, is an industry trade group. They will not necessarily present unbiased information. I try to take a good look at the issue and give you my best perspective.

Spicing It Up -- Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone

The saying is that if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Well, this post is about spicing things up in the kitchen. And sometimes it's going to get hot and sometimes it'll get messy and sometimes ugly and downright not-too-tasty. But if you don't try new things, you'll miss that experience, however it turns out in the end.

Just the other day I was the presenter at an all day workshop. My goal was to teach the people working at the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) office in Napa about whole grains, seasonal vegetables and fruit and soy, especially tofu. The way that I did this was through talk, tasting and cooking.

What I discovered is that some people have a narrow range of tastes and flavors that they are used to eating. But also, many people are willing to try new things if they are presented. They are not likely, though, to go out of their way to try them without prompting.

This is where The Veggie Queen comes in. I encourage people to try things that may seem foreign and have them become part of their everyday eating. A number of the participants at the workshop kept asking me about adding salt. I tend to cook without adding a lot of salt. I use a lot of spices and herbs for flavoring. I teach people what they are and how to use them. It opens the door to a new world of flavors.

Today I baked some tofu with my latest favorite herb blend Organic Vegetable Rub from The Cape Herb and Spice Company. These herbs come from South Africa. I know that it's far away but they know how to do it there. I will be selling them in my next email newsletter so sign up now at my website http://www.theveggiequeen.com/ so that you can get the info. I often have exclusive offers only for my mailing list.

Baked Tofu with Organic Herb Blend

• 1 pound extra firm tofu, squeezed, cut into thin slices and then triangles (makes 30 or so)
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (optional)
• 1-2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar (unseasoned)
• 1-3 teaspoons herb blend (or your favorite spice mix)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Use a 9 X 13 glass baking dish.

Put the tofu triangles into the dish. Drizzle the sesame oil on top, if using. Drizzle the tamari on top of the tofu, along with the rice vinegar. Sprinkle with the herb blend and let sit for 5 or more minutes, but not longer than 15. Turn the triangles over.

Put into the hot oven for 10 minutes. Turn the triangles again. And bake another 10 minutes or until the triangles are dry and a bit crispy. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove tofu and eat as is, use in sandwiches, added to grain salads or in stir-fries.

c 2008, The Veggie Queen, http://www.theveggiequeen.com .

Think of spicing up your life every day. It's OK to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Remember, it will only be NEW once.

The Vegan 100 List

The Vegan's 100 list was compiled by Hannah of Bittersweet . I found out about it from http://whatimcookingnow.blogspot.com/. Hannah states " News travels pretty fast in the blogosphere, and the latest craze that’s been showing up on food blogs far and wide has been The Omnivore’s Hundred, a list of 100 foods that all omnivores should eat at some point in their lives. Well, I like the idea, but obviously that sort of thing just doesn’t fly with me. Instead, I present to you my revised list, The Vegan’s Hundred instead!

Everything here is either naturally free of animal products or can be veganized, and just like the original, these foods vary from the every day to extraordinary, delectable and disgusting. They’re simply all of the things that, in my opinion, any vegan foodie should definitely sink their teeth into at least once. (MY note, I am not sure I agree as there are some things that I've had once and it was one time too many. For instance, number 1 on the list -- natto.) My Vegan 100 list would look a bit different but, that's just me.

1. Natto


2. Green Smoothie


3. Tofu Scramble


4. Haggis


5. Mangosteen


6. Creme brulee


7. Fondue


8. Marmite/Vegemite


9. Borscht
   
10. Baba ghanoush


11. Nachos


12. Authentic soba noodles


13. Peanut butter & jelly sandwich


14. Aloo gobi


15. Taco from a street cart


16. Boba Tea


17. Black truffle


18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes


19. Gyoza


20. Vanilla ice cream (try So Delicious Coconut Milk Vanilla)
    
21. Heirloom tomatoes


22. Fresh wild berries


23. Ceviche


24. Rice and beans


25. Knish (I grew up in New York)
    
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper


27. Dulce de leche


28. Caviar
    
29. Baklava


30. Pate (you've got to try mine with walnuts, mushrooms and lentils)


31. Wasabi peas


32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl


33. Mango lassi


34. Sauerkraut (Making some right now)


35. Root beer float


36. Mulled cider


37. Scones with buttery spread and jam


38. Vodka jelly


39. Gumbo


40. Fast food french fries (Not in 20+ years)


41. Raw Brownies


42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans


43. Dahl


44. Homemade Soymilk


45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (Not often enough)


46. Stroopwafle


47. Samosas


48. Vegetable Sushi


49. Glazed doughnut


50. Seaweed (almost daily)


51. Prickly pear


52. Umeboshi
    
53. Tofurky


54. Sheese (I'd like to but haven't seen it)


55. Cotton candy


56. Gnocchi


57. Piña colada


58. Birch beer


59. Scrapple (as a child one time -- GROSS)


60. Carob chips


61. S’mores (not a fan ever)
    
62. Soy curls


63. Chickpea
    
64. Curry


65. Durian


66. Homemade Sausages
    
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake (more fried things, yuck)


68. Smoked tofu (especially good when tea smoked by you)


69. Fried plantain


70. Mochi


71. Gazpacho


72. Warm chocolate chip cookies


73. Absinthe


74. Corn on the cob


75. Whipped cream, straight from the can


76. Pomegranate


77. Fauxstess Cupcake


78. Mashed potatoes with gravy


79. Jerky


80. Croissants


81. French onion soup


82. Savory crepes


83. Tings (WHAT?)


84. A meal at Candle 79 (I"D LIKE TO GO)


85. Moussaka


86. Sprouted grains or seeds


87. Macaroni and “cheese”
    
88. Flowers


89. Matzoh ball soup


90. White chocolate


91. Seitan


92. Kimchi


93. Butterscotch chips


94. Yellow watermelon


95. Chili with chocolate


96. Bagel and Toffuti Cream Cheese
    
97. Potato milk


98. Polenta


99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee


100. Raw cookie dough

Jeff Novick Entertains at McDougall Advanced Study Weekend

Today I had the chance to listen to my fellow Registered Dietitian, colleague and friend Jeff Novick as he presented at the McDougall program to a group of about 100 very interested people. Jeff is very funny. And he also provides a lot of useful information.

His talk today was on label reading and why you want and need to avoid processed and packaged foods. He explained that most of what you read on a label is a lie, and it is really your responsibility to learn how to judge a product. His rules were simple, and I won't repeat them in case you get the chance to hear Jeff speak. I don't want to ruin your fun or his.


The one thing that he did discuss that I want to echo is about sodium in the diet. He provided the following statistics:

• 77% of the sodium in your diet comes from processed and restaurant food


• 12% occurs naturally in food


• 5% is from what you use in cooking


• 6% is added at your table

So you can see that eating at home cooked food and adding a bit of salt is just fine. One of my biggest complaints about eating in restaurants is that the food is too salty for me. I'd rather undersalt and then add a sprinkle on top, where you can really taste it.

I am going to be carrying a line of seasonings in adjustable grinders that contain salt and seasonings. They are perfect for boosting flavor in a big way.

Eating real food at home is the ideal way to get what you need nutritionally and for taste.

Considering Blackberries

Throughout the summer I think about blackberries because they grow wild where I live. They are an amazing plant with a good defense. You likely know the saying that the best offense is a good defense. Well, blackberries have it down.

I see the green berries forming early in the summer, and watch the vines grow long and thorny. Then when the fruit is ripe, the vines get incredibly unruly and tangled so that picking the berries can be a painful affair. The vines snake across the path and even up into trees -- they are good at movement for something without legs.


There are 2 kinds of blackberries that grow here -- one is large and the other is small. And when they are ripe, they are equally as delicious. When they're not quite ripe, and picked by mistake, they are both sour. They're always full of fiber which means that they have seeds although when dead-ripe and almost falling off the plant, the berry seems to just melt in my mouth. This is the exception, not the rule.


Some of the best berries are hard to get to or hidden high in a tree. I'm short so they are a challenge to pick but worth it.

And as I worked on this blog post, I came across a link to a rat study recently done on black raspberries and their anticancer effect http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/mediaroom/press/article.cfm?ID=4214. That fruit likely contains the same kind of antioxidant activity as blackberries. So eat them up, when you can easily get to them.

Victory Garden Means Something Different to Me

Those of you who read this blog probably know that I walk my dog Bear every day, along a creek trail that backs up to homes. I see many backyards along the way. What I most notice is what's growing: who has a pear tree, where the figs hang over the fence, where to find the most succulent (and clean, if you know what I mean) blackberries and who has a nice garden.

This year I noticed a few gardens in particular. One of them used to be spectacular in its bounty but that was a few years ago. This year I saw just one squash plant, and it seemed to take over. I now see that it is a giant pumpkin-like squash possibly growing as a Harvest Fair entry.

A couple of yards down they plant a garden yearly. Usually there are a couple of tomato plants that shrouded by a PVC cage and plastic early in the season. These plants grow quickly as their home obviously traps heat and keeps them from the frost. This year I saw that the garden also has a summer squash, a number of flowers such as dianthus and a peach tree bearing fruit.

In the yard directly adjacent to the small garden, there was a lot of activity early on with raised beds, large pots, drip irrigation pieces and more. The garden got all set up, the plants looked great and I was certain that this garden was going to thrive, as it was so much lusher than the neighbor’s was. (BTW, I don't think that they actually see each other or their yards due to a large fence between them. This is California where this is common.)

I had tomato envy as I watched daily as their plants grew large, green and strong. However, sometime in the summer, when I saw large red tomatoes in the small garden I saw plants in the other garden start to die back. Now, the raised bed garden is in shambles and seems quite disregarded.

And all of this brings me to my little raised bed garden -- hardly a Victory Garden (which is more of what my mother has) except for me. I’m thrilled to harvest the fruits of my labor. This year it's strictly tomatoes as my two cucumber plants died, and I had to pull out the nasturtium that adopted aphids that hopped onto my tomatoes.

My tomatoes seem to be doing fine except for some attacks by critters who want to claim them as their own. It will be the battle of the wills and wits to see who ends up with more fruit. I am still waiting patiently for the first ripe tomatoes to arrive and it seems as if they will this week. I always hope to have them by the end of August but not this year.

If you live east of the Rocky Mountains, you are lucky, as your summer garden doesn't need watering but mine does almost daily, especially if it is hot, as we don't get summer rain. Despite that, I like to grow what little I can, and just participating in the process is the victory for me.

Seasonal Recipes -- Sometimes Just Talk

Eating in season is an art and science that is easy to adopt if you shop locally, or grow your own food. So it irks me when chefs, cooks and recipe developers say that they do seasonal recipes yet it's obvious to me that they don't.


I realize that different vegetables grow in various places at different times but if I am not mistaken, it's still summer and it's the season of tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, summer squash and corn, just to name a few. Why push the fall vegetables such as winter squash or sweet potatoes on us now? We can wait, and so can our bodies.


When it's still hot out, we need lighter foods than when the weather turns cooler. For now, let's enjoy the fresh-dug, new potatoes to get our earthy starch.


Sticking to what's in season is a practice that I take seriously, just like daily exercise or a yoga routine. It's not for show or fluff, it's real. When you eat closer to what nature offers, you might find that you feel better.


I think that people are looking for more energy, hence the proliferation of energy drinks and coffee houses. Heck, it really comes from your food and lifestyle. But that's enough talk, I'm off to make some fresh salsa with tomatoes from my garden, along with locally grown onions, garlic, hot peppers and cilantro. Next to gazpacho, it's the essence of the season for me.

Santa Rosa Farmer's Market Cooking Demonstration

I spent Saturday morning doing a cooking demonstration of tomato and eggplant sauce which I called Salsa di Pomodoro e Melazane as it would be in Italian. It was great fun and I got to speak to a lot of people. It was the annual tomato festival at the market where people get to taste a host of heirloom tomatoes. The dish takes only 3 minutes at pressure in the pressure cooker, tastes fresh and delicious, and all the ingredients came from Santa Rosa.


A woman named Ann from Pasadena found me on the Relish Culinary website and wanted to come see me. Her friend in Santa Rosa has lived there for 22 years and never made it to the market until she urged him to go. I cannot imagine not going to the market for 2 weeks, let alone years.


Later in the day I attended a LIFEE (http://www.ecoleader.org/) picnic. A colleague who is in this year's class said that when she first moved to Santa Rosa she went to the farmer's market because it gave her a place to feel connected.


With Slow Food Nation almost upon San Francisco, I am sure that there are many people who are thinking about their connection to their community and the food associated with it.

As I've said before, food is the language common in all cultures. When you break bread (or other food) with people it changes your relationship. This is likely why people like to socialize at events that involve food.

And the summer is a great time for it. Then again so is the rest of the year. You can still catch me doing cooking demonstrations and classes this year at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmer's market and other locations. Check my website http://www.theveggiequeen.com for more details as they become available or sign up for my email newsletter on my site.

Here's to great cooking.

Bread -- The Staff of Life

I don't often have to look too long or far to find something to blog about. Today, it's bread and the cost of food.

I ran into my favorite Alvarado Street Bakery delivery guy this morning at my favorite local market Community Market, and we had a discussion about the cost of food, as I stood in front of the organic pasta which suddenly shot up to more than $3 per pound.

Jerry said that many years ago he used to cringe when he compared the cost of Alvarado Street's all natural, sprouted wheat breads to other brands but now, Alvarado Street is at the lower end of bread prices.

We went on to discuss the mark up that some big stores (think regular supermarkets) are making on their bread sales. While the bread was $3.99 a loaf at Community Market, it is often found in the higher $4 range at the supermarkets. The difference goes into the coffers of the market and that higher price often helps offset the loss leaders such as the buy 10 for $10 and the buy one, get one free deals. Think about that.

We also talked about the fact that some white, and not very good for you breads, are around $4 a loaf. What has the world come to?

Those who have read my posts know that I am not hot on bread but when I do eat, I want to choose a brand such as Alvarado Street for a number of reasons -- their bread is made from organic sprouted wheat which is better for you than just whole wheat flour, and they are local, at least to me.

Next time you buy bread, think about who and what you are supporting. Maybe it's time to make a big pot of brown rice, quinoa or some other whole grain.

The Global Flavor Market Worth 7 Billion Dollars

According to Cargill, one the big villainous multinational corporations (do you hear my cynicism?) the global flavor market is worth $7 billion. I was a bit overwhelmed when reading this factoid, which was associated with an article about how some researchers in Italy discovered a flavor compound that somehow simulates mushroom in another plant.

I honestly had no idea about how a researcher goes about identifying a flavoring component in a flower or plant but obviously it is worth the search if you find a good one -- it's a big score.

The following was reported in the Food Navigator:

Distilling the aerial parts of Melittis melissophyllum subsp. melissophyllum (Lamiaceae), a member of the mint family, yielded “extremely high amoun[s]t of the mushroom-like aroma component 1-octen-3-ol (43.6-54.2 per cent)”, according to findings published online ahead of print in the journal Food Chemistry.

Now, I am quite thankful that the Food Navigator delivers such news because I don't often read the journal of Food Chemistry although I am sure that I would find it a good nap- or bed-time read. Although, I can get a bit geeky about the scientific side of food and perhaps I'd really get into it.

In any case, I think that I shall stick with the natural flavors in food by eating them just the way that they are. One more reason to stick with food as it exists in nature. I don't have to be part of the economic incentive for scientists to track down "natural" flavoring agents. I often wondered where they came from and I now I know at least for one of them. Don't you wonder why can't we just use mushrooms to get a mushroom flavor? I do.

Another Beef Recall: Whole Foods is NOT exempt

I wonder how many beef recalls need to happen before people realize that eating conventionally raised beef is a bad idea. It's a bad idea, in the same way that eating mass packaged produce is -- there is just too much risk. And somehow the idea that if you bought the stuff at Whole Foods it was going to be pure, is now turned on its ear (or somewhere else).

The latest recall is for 1.2 million pounds of beef that came from Coleman's Natural which had assured Whole Foods that its product was just fine. It turns out that they processed their beef at Nebraska Beef Ltd. which had a recall of 5.3 billion pounds just over a month ago. The reality is that considering the amount of beef eaten, very few people were affected by the E. coli. But truth is, you don't want to be one of them. Either give up beef or buy it locally, from people you know.

I make this point repeatedly -- know where your food comes from, and know the people that grow it or raise it. Doing that will keep you much safer from the danger that exists in the world on a daily basis, especially with something as sensitive as food and your body.

Food safety is a serious matter, and you have the power to do something about it. Buy local, buy organic and make friends with your farmers.

Cucumber Show and Tell

It's so much fun to do show and tell with adults. I just had the chance to do that with 7 kinds of cucumbers that I brought just for that purpose. Let's see if I can name them here:

1. Armenian


2. Striped Armenian or painted serpent


3. Suyo long (Japanese)


4. lemon


5. New Zealand (whitish yellow)


6. Pearl (white)


7. pickling

I, of course, could have also included an English cuke and a regular supermarket type, or a Greek if I had been at the previous Saturday market to buy one. So I guess that I could have gone as high as 10 different cucumbers. And if I had my Amira growing this year, or the Indian type that I grew last year, it could have been even more. Amazing, I think.

After the cucumber show and tell, I got people to taste a delicious purple kohlrabi. One of the people told me that she'd seen the kohlrabi before but thought that it looked weird so didn't want to buy it. Now, she'd changed her mind.

I so enjoy having people try a new-to-them vegetable, turning them into converts. Those are wonderful a-ha moments. And I am sure to have many more in the future. I hope that you will, too.

Summer Fruit is So Yummy

I am sure that I have been blessed as I have had the opportunity to pick great fruit all summer. It started with cherries and has progressed through apricots to nectarines, peaches and plums. I just wish that I had more freezer space to accommodate the riches of fruit that I have received.

To combat the lack of freezer space, I have been cooking some of the fruit with great results. 2 of my latest, greatest accomplishments have been apricot ginger butter and plum ginger butter. They are simple to make and delicious on their own or mixed into savory dishes such as my Sweet and Sour Squash, which I will be making for a cooking demonstration this evening.

To make the fruit butter all you do is cut up the fruit and put it in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. My 4-quart Fagor pressure cooker works well for this (without its pressure lid). Cook over medium heat. Use a microplane grater and add ginger to your liking as the fruit cooks. Add sweetener to taste. I use agave syrup which is a low glycemic index sweetener that may be almost as sweet as sugar but doesn't give you that fast blood sugar rise. The agave is much more expensive, though.

I cook the fruit until it gets thick. And then it's done.

When it's plum season, there are lots of plums and this is a great way to use them. You could potentially add some spices to the plums, if you like. I haven't tried that yet.

Once the fruit is put into glass jars, you can can the jars to seal them in a boiling water bath for about 10 minutes. I won't go into the canning process but will say that I like to do what is called small batch canning. I might do 4 to 6 half-pint jars at a time, and that's all. It's easy to do and helps me use the fruits of my labor. Yes, I do pick the fruit myself.

If I did all this in a certified kitchen, I supposed that I could sell it but for now, I will enjoy it myself. And during the holiday season, what's left will become special gifts. This year, people might really be in luck. Need to get picking again...

Honarary Vegans at Family Camp

I am one of the vegan cooks at family camp up in Mendocino at the Woodlands. I don't take credit for the menu although I often have input. Katie and I have developed much loved recipes at camp like the one that we have for vegan coconut macadamia cookies. I don't keep the recipes, yet they come back year after year in Katie's trusted hands.



While there are likely just more than a handful of "real" vegans at camp, there are a group who sign up for vegetarian food, which is mostly vegan, because they say that the food is better. We had a new camper this year who saw the vegan offerings and asked if she could go vegan for the week? Of course we said because we usually make extra vegan food.


One of the meat-eating campers suggested that instead of having the vegans come into the kitchen serving line (versus having food on the table), that we put vegan or vegetarian food on the table and have the meat-eaters come into the kitchen. There is debate over whether that would be wise. Some think that too many people would be getting up for their food. I'd like to think that some people are inherently lazy and would just eat what's in front of them -- vegan or not. There may be only one way to find out -- Just Do It.


One year, though, we had an all-vegetarian meal for our special meal. Many people liked it but some hard-core meat-eaters complained. Others didn't enjoy the meal because it had a Middle Eastern theme and might have been too unusual for some palates.

Hopefully the fond memories of vegan camp food will translate to more vegan eating experiences at home for our honorary vegan campers.

The Veggie Queen Comes Out of the Woods

Back to civilization today and the "real" world where I had to drive, shop and interact with people outside of camp. The good news is that there was a new farmer at the market in Sebastopol. The farm is called Three Ox Farm. Nice looking stuff. The woman of the couple, Bernadette, introduced herself and said that she met me years ago. That's easy to believe. The odd thing though was the prices that were listed ended in 99 cents which is what you generally see at the store, not at the farmer's market. Also, the price for kohlrabi was way too high. If I wasn't using it for show and tell later in the week, I wouldn't have bought it as $2 for a small one is beyond the acceptable price point for me.

They did have a specialty garlic called Music which once inspired a Greek moussaka take-off for me that I called Musica. I bought two heads and those were only $5 per pound, or something like that. I try not to pay too much attention to the prices and just buy what looks yummy but occasionally the price gets in the way.

I had a good time at camp, even though I worked in the kitchen 2 1/2 days out of 6. I still managed to get down time and do some crafts and reading. I planned to write more than I did, which was not much at all.

The best part of being away was the dark and quiet, and my little screened-in cabin by the creek. When I awoke during the night, I could hear the creek burbling and it was wonderful for lulling me back to sleep.

Now it will be back to work for me. I guess that I've already done that, shopping for classes this week. It's getting to be the time of year when everything exists locally -- eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, green beans, summer squash, tomatillos, snow peas and more. Gotta go cook now that I've made myself hungry.

You can find The Veggie Queen's cookbook The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment on her website at http://www.theveggiequeen.com.

Sign up for Jill's newsletter there, too.

Registered Dietitian Jill Nussinow blogs about pressure cooking at http://pressurecooking.blogspot.com.

The Veggie Queen Goes to Camp

You've heard that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well, the same thing goes for Jill.

So every year in July I take a week and go to family camp back in the woods in Mendocino at a magical place called Mendocino Woodlands. I stay in a rustic screened in cabin which I share with my husband and/or son, or some combination of the two of them. This year my 15-year old son Shane will go with me, while last year my husband Rick went.

The joy of going to camp is just being away with no strict schedule, other than meals which are optional. RIGHT! I do eat at every meal.

We (I am part of the kitchen staff and have been every year that I've gone to camp which is at least 8 now) make great food. In fact, the food at our camp is a big deal. We use fresh ingredients, all made with love and care. And here's the best part: we have vegan options at every meal. Now, how cool is that?

The bad part about the vegan options is that often we have meat-eaters who want in on the action because our food can be more appealing. Some campers become vegan for the week, and sign up as such so that they are assured the "good stuff".

So, I won't be blogging for at least a week while I trek through the woods, do some cooking and get rejuvenated. The timing is always perfect because it's less than a month before my junior college classes start. And my fellow campers are incredibly interesting people who love engaging in heady conversation, and sometimes just being and acting silly. It all works for me, especially nap time, whenever I want it -- well, not in the kitchen, of course.

I hope that you take the time to enjoy your week.

Nature's Treats While Walking the Dog

I get up and walk my dog every morning when I am at home. I love the ritual of doing it -- most of the time. I walk no matter what -- cold, hot, rainy, windy, sunny, foggy or anything else. I'd have to say that I most enjoy walking the dog when we both have our needs met.

This morning was a perfect example of that. Bear wants to sniff, take care of bodily functions and eat as much oat grass as he can find. I, on the other hand, want to get a bit of exercise, observe nature and forage for wild fruit, and eat s much as I can get my hands on while walking a dog.

Today was glorious as it's a bit overcast, which is much better than 80+ degrees at 7 a.m., and cooler. Before we even hit the creek path, I had picked a ripe blackberry (notice the restraint here -- just 1 blackberry), followed by an unctuous ripe fig from a tree that I affectionately refer to a "my fig tree", which just happens to be on someone else's property and hangs on the side of the fence that I can get to. Now, if I were only taller I could get more figs. And, if I didn't have the dog with me, I could really stop and pick. But 1 ripe fig was absolutely wonderful, and a good way to start out.

As Bear found one of the few patches of green oat grass,, I spied a small, ripe, dark red wild plum which I picked and ate. Delicious. But Bear did not want to leave his oat grass eating and move on. I said, "Bear, I think that you are more into eating grass than I am into picking fruit." He was now chewing on dead grass. But then, I realized that he was done with grass-eating and I would continue to consume small amounts of fruit throughout the walk, as I found it: a few more blackberries, a yellow wild plum, a pinkish wild plum and then the path ended. So, my fruit escapades were done.

Throughout the walk, I reflected on nature's abundance and how we need to appreciate it. It became apparent to me that eating refined sugar is not a good option when you can eat real fruit and have it be so satisfying. I do eat foods containing sugar occasionally but they just don't compare to what our mother has to offer. Please keep this in mind.

And if you get a chance to walk a dog, have a good time while you're doing it. It could change the way that you see the world. It has for me, and for that, I thank Bear.

this isn't about me: Cezanne's Carrot: “The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution!”

this isn't about me: Cezanne's Carrot: “The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution!”

You will find me, The Veggie Queen, and my website mentioned on this blog. I just love the quote and can only hope that the day is coming soon although, I suspect that a ripe tomato would more likely set off a revolution but any vegetable revolution, or evolution, will do.

At Work on My Next Book -- Pressure Cooking

I have started working on my next book which is about Green Cooking in the Pressure Cooker. I had a working title and a proposal for it, but those went out the window, along with the data on my computer. So now I get to start fresh. Maybe that's part of the title -- FRESH. I'd love to hear what you have to say about this.


One possible title was The Veggie Queen Cooks Green in the Pressure Cooker or Cooking Green with The Veggie Queen: Using the Pressure Cooker. At this point, I'll just keep writing.


I have some recipe testers lined up. I am debating about using recipes from you, and not just my own. Any thoughts?


The basic book will have about 100 recipes for making all kinds of whole food vegan basics such as vegetables, grains and beans. I am also going to do an advanced version for those people who already know how to use a pressure cooker and want to do more complicated recipes.


I may be biting off more than I can chew but because it's healthy stuff I know that it will be easily digestible. I am going for simple with this book -- getting the info into hands without worrying too much about how pretty it looks.



If you've got any great ideas, I'd love to hear them. Anything special that you'd like to know?

The Veggie Queen Makes More Raw Pie and the Delight of Ripe Fruit

Since the local cherry season has concluded, my next raw pie is likely to be nectarine or peach. Today I bought the slightly bruised fruit, which means that it's really ripe and ready to eat, to use for slicing, freezing and making more raw pies. Funny how the fruit was in fairly decent shape when I bought it but by the time that I got it home in my plastic bag inside my big farmer's market bag, it was kind of squishy. So, I had to do a lot of quality control to be sure that the fruit was still edible. OMG, it was so good that I think that I ate a lot of it in the process.

What I want to remind you is that your food will never taste better than what you started with, and this seems to be most evident with fruit. You cannot likely purchase really ripe fruit at your supermarket so find a farm stand, a farmer, farmer's market or CSA that can provide ripe fruit in season. It can't be beat. You don't even have to make raw pie with it.

But if you want to make the pie you can get some almond flour from Angie at http://www.nutnother.com. Imade a small pie and used 1 cup almond flour and 2 tablespoons agave syrup. I mixed it and pressed it into my pie shell. I then made cashew cream. Don't ask for specifics at the moment, at my computer is still indisposed. Top with the fresh fruit and a drizzle of lemon juice (which was unncessary with the cherries as their cut sides were down). I would also like to try this with halved apricots.

I have go now as I am getting ready to drool on the keyboard. Oh boy, do I love summer fruit.

Raw Cherry Pie, Vegetarian Summerfest in Pennsylvania and A Crashed Computer

As I prepared to leave town, I had an abundance of cherries so I made raw cherry pie. You would see the photo here but my tale of woe, in Pennsylvania, is that right before my talk on Mushrooms as Medicine (wish that you could protect computers with mushrooms), my computer was attacked by a virus. But back to the raw cherry pie.

I made a crust with almond flour and agave nectar. Next I made a raw cashew cream with just a bit of vanilla extract and orange zest and spread that inside. Next came the sliced, pitted raw cherries with the cut side down. And that was it. It looked beautiful and tasted great. And I really did take a photo but that has disappeared into the ether, at least for now.

I headed off to Johnstown, PA on a Tuesday night and arrived very early Wednesday morning. But my suitcase took a detour to Phoenix and Omaha (now why would you want to go there? I asked). It arrived at 2 a.m. 1st lesson learned -- always pack what you might need for the rest of day in your carry-on bag. I survived just fine, as I bought a toothbrush.

Everything seemed to be going great at the conference, which I will post about separately later, until Saturday when the aforementioned computer crash occurred. And still, it's not been the end of my life -- just a big bump on the current path.

People ask why I'm still smiling when a big chunk of my work (My mantra now involves the words "back up") seems as if it might be nonexistent? My answer, "What are my other choices?" So, I am smiling and enjoying life to the best of my ability. And I am very able.

Another Company Gobbled Up -- Say Goodbye to Larabar

It is with great sadness that I just read that the company that makes Lara bars was acquired by the organic arm of General Mills. I am not one who embraces corporate acquisition as it tends to put profit motives ahead of good, wholesome and pure products. I could be wrong but I am skeptical. And I truly have embraced Larabars despite the fact that they are incredibly calorie-dense. Even with that said, I must say that the bars have more than once come to my rescue as I travel.

I, in fact, have a few tucked away in my carry-on bag right now as I head out to the East Coast for Vegetarian Summerfest. When you are traveling, you never know when or what you'll get to eat, so...

I can only hope that since Lara herself will still work at the company, she will insist that they treat her namesake with respect. We shall see.

More on Cherry Picking

I met motivational speaker Tom Mitchell, Ph.D., who co-authored The Winning Spirit with Joe Montana, this morning at the farmer's market just as I was ready to leave. He is a former basketball coach and explained that cherry picking has something to do with a defender hanging back and making an easy play. Thus, cherry picking is when it's easy to get to the cherries. And I definitely had that happen with my cherries yesterday. The picking is the easy part -- the pitting, freezing, drying and canning take more work and planning. But I am still thrilled that I got to do it.

Now, to get to work on that raw cherry pie. I'm pretty sure that I decided to do it with some cashew creme as the filling in the nut crust.

And I am going to try out a new appliance that I received recently -- hint -- it has to do with pressure cooking. All good stuff but not as much fun as standing by a tree cherry picking.

Cherry Picking Home Grown Humor

I have been picking cherries with my friend Ellen a number of times in the past week. Most enjoyably we spent a couple of hours doing this just a few days ago and then for another hour this morning. This morning's picking on Ellen's neighbors' roof yielded about 40 pounds of cherries in a hour. (Wow. Thanks Ellen.)

I can't think of a better way to connect with your food than by picking it with your own hands. There is something about the repetitive motion and the silence in the fields, punctuated with the sounds of buzzing insects and birds, that brings you back to your primal self. I have said it before and I repeat it, "I am a gatherer, and I love it."

I also enjoy dealing with the fruits of my labor and figuring out the best thing to do with surplus. The choices are eating fresh, cooking, canning, drying and freezing. For many things, eating fresh is best but eating too many cherries can be painful. What I mostly do is freeze them but drying would be good, too, although I must get a dehydrator. Think that I will look for one on Craigslist or Freecycle.

Today I am going to make raw cherry pie with an almond agave crust. Yum, yum. (If it turns out great, I will share the recipe in my next post.)

On a completely different topic, this morning I went to buy something for the potluck for the last day of school for my son. I paid by credit card and the young woman laid a napkin down on the glass case and said, "These slips are funny and it's easier to sign them like this."
I said, "Not ha ha, funny, right?"
She replied, "No, they have no sense of humor."
"You obviously do," was my retort.
She shot back, "I grew it myself."
"That's really good," I said, as I fumbled for a dollar to put in the tip jar. Humor like that is priceless but the dollar would have to do.

You know how much I love the connection with growing things, and you can't beat home grown humor, or fruit for that matter.

Tomatoes -- Eat Local, Buy Local, Grow Your Own

As a follow-up to the tomato announcement of last week. The Progressive Grocer reports:

Salmonella Tomato Outbreak Spread to 16 States

Latest word from FDA is that retailers should only sell cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine, no matter the source.

The government agency said consumers should not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless they can be sure the tomatoes are from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, or Puerto Rico.

FDA told consumers to contact the store where they bought the tomatoes to confirm the products’ origin. “Consumers should continue to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home,” FDA said. FDA said its recommendation do not apply to cherry, grape, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, from any source.

FDA recommends that retailers, restaurateurs, and food service operators not offer for sale and service raw red Roma, raw red plum, and raw red round tomatoes unless they are from the sources listed above. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, may continue to be offered from any source.

Since mid April, there have been 145 reported cases of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Saintpaul nationwide, including at least 23 hospitalizations. States reporting illnesses linked to the outbreak include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Salmonella Saintpaul is an uncommon type of Salmonella. (End of their report.)

This is just another reason to know where you food comes from and know the people who are growing it. Or grow your own.

Everyone needs to learn how to grow at least one plant. And if it could only be one, then a tomato is a great start. Especially in light of this recent disturbing news.

FDA Issues Tomato Warning -- Grow Your Own

I just read that the FDA issued a warning in New Mexico and Texas for tomatoes because there has been an outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul, a more unusual strain of salmonella. The report which I read on Food Navigator News says, "Since late April, 57 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in Texas (24 persons) and New Mexico (33 persons). Patients range in age from 3 to 82 years, and at least 17 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported", said the US CDC.

They aren't sure if the salmonella is linked to a grower, a packing plant or is geographical. What I'd recommend, as usual, is that you grow your own tomatoes or buy them from someone that you know. Shop the farmer's market when possible. So if there's a problem you know that you can go to the straight to the source.

My guess is that there won't be problems. Remember that buying from the industrial food chain seems to be part of a recipe for disaster. And likely, you will have better tasting tomatoes, the closer that they are grown to home. Out the back door may be best but if not, get them from someone you know who is close by.

Summer tomatoes -- oh, joy.

Bean-Eaters Will Rule the World

These economic times are more than a bit trying. In an effort to help the environment, I got a diesel car 5 months ago. Since then the cost of diesel at the pump has gone up more than $1.40 per gallon, the price of gas just a few years ago. So, money savings need to happen somewhere. And since I spend a great deal of my money on food (as human fuel), this is where I am learning to be even more economy-minded, as well as ecologically-minded.

For me, the best ways to do that are to eat low on the food chain, buy in bulk, sustainable or organic, and local, and cook in the pressure cooker. It's possible for me to do this with beans.

And since it's spring, the fava bean comes to mind. I was at the farmer's market the other day and someone was buying 4 large fava bean pods. I was quite amazed as there might be 1/4 cup of beans in there. She explained that she doesn't like beans. To that I responded, "Bean eaters will rule the world."

David, of Crescent Moon Farm, whose partner Jill is the farmer, said, "We already do." And while I am not sure about that, I do know that if you want to save money on food, turn to beans as a big part of your diet.

My local sustainably grown beans are expensive at $5 per pound or more. The interesting thing about that is that when you figure out the cost per 1 cup serving, it is often less than $1, which is often hard to achieve with animal protein.

And if you've read what I've written about the latest Carnegie Mellon study, if you switch to eating vegetarian just 1 day each week, it's the equivalent of eliminating 1160 miles of driving each year.

I like to make big batches of beans and store them in my freezer so that I only need to cook once for many meals. Just the other day I made a vegetable dish in the pressure cooker in 3 minutes and at the end added my frozen, cooked Hidalgo (must mean super yummy in Spanish) beans. It was very filling and really delicious.

Beans in the pressure cooker, especially the heirloom (older) varieties, cook quickly. I always presoak with a quick-soak, and the cooking time ranges from 4 minutes at pressure for pinto beans to 14 minutes at pressure for garbanzo beans. Soy beans take longer but I rarely cook them.

Most beans cost less than $2 per pound. You can easily make a big pot of vegetarian chili or lentil soup for less than $5 and feed yourself and your family well. I want you to become one of the people who rule this world. So, eat your beans today.

Mother's Day for The Veggie Queen

Unlike many other people around these parts (Northern California), I usually wait until at least Mother's Day to plant my small garden. I've found that when I do it any sooner, there is likely to be a frost and the plants often don't make it.

So, I patiently wait.

This year for Mother's Day we decided to do something different and attend the breakfast held for the Timber Cove Volunteer Fire Department. My mother-in-law, son, husband and myself were to travel up the coast (of CA) to Plantation.

Unfortunately my MIL didn't feel well so she stayed home. My teenage son decided that was reason enough to not go, so my husband and i went. I figured that there would be a hundred or so people willing to make the drive.

But I was wrong, there were about 300 people in all who were there. I actually even ran into people that I knew from more locally -- this is a good 1 hour plus drive, to a very beautiful spot. And most of the people took the time to go.

The food was completely uneventful and nothing to bother writing about. But they gave out cute little corsages and pinned them on the mothers. They had sparkling wine, delicious strawberries and an array of incredible rhododendrons to see, labeled with their names in a rainbow of colors.

When we got home from our adventure, I planted a cucumber and a tomato. My son made me a card that I will forever treasure, as simple as it was. He included a "slave labor" coupon in it to be used as I see fit. Hhhhm, I'll have to cook up some ideas and pull one out of my hat.

Earth Day Week -- The Veggie Queen Speaks Out

OK, this may have been my busiest week of the year with 9 events within 1 week, with 4 cooking classes in less than 48 hours. But boy, was it fun. Although this has not been a great spring for vegetables, so far, I still had an abundance of beautiful produce to show off.


On Wednesday, the day after Earth Day, it was pouring here. Before that, it had been freezing and frosting every night so say goodbye to some strawberries and asparagus (but not all) for a while.


On hand were asparagus, fava beans, green garlic, Spring onions, baby beets, sugar snap peas, a variety of herbs, and many varieties of lettuce from La Bonne Terre Farm in Healdsburg. Marie and Bert Villamaire grow amazing lettuce. I had varieties at my disposal such as the incredibly deep red Merlot, Oak Leaf, Speckles (a red-tinged) butter lettuce (a cousin to Freckles, a spotted romaine-type), and a few others that I cannot recall. I also had wonderful arugula from Healdsburg and my very own dandelion greens.


Additionally, I got my hands on some special Nebrodini Bianco mushrooms from Gourmet Mushrooms here in Sebastopol, CA. They are their newest cultivated wild variety and I must say that they are pretty spectacular. Some of these dense and meaty white beauties weigh 3 ounces or more. They remind me of GM's Trumpet Royale but they are even better. So, it's been a big week of cooking, sampling and turning people on to new and delicious foods, and the pressure cooker.


I did a cooking demonstration at Medtronic, a local corporation, that employs a lot of engineers. The pressure cooker definitely got their attention. They kept wanting to look at the lid and see how it works. It's an amazing piece of cooking equipment. I'd like everyone to get one, just so you can see how it can change your life -- at least in the kitchen.

And then I went on to do 2 more cooking demonstrations for another 70+ people, one for the Sonoma County Culinary Guild and the other for The McDougall program. Some of the same dishes, some different.

And I ended the week signing my book in Calistoga in Napa Valley, to raise money for a music festival that happens each summer. The event I did is called Kitchens in the Vineyard. All I know is that I sold a number of books, and it was brutally hot. It took a few hours of drinking copious amounts of water to recover fully. Although the next day I was so tired, I was sure that I hadn't really recovered.

After eating lots of greens, including my own tender little dandelions from my wonderful dandelion garden, I felt renewed and ready to go on, with less pressure this week -- in many ways.

Vegetarian Adventure Travel

I think that anytime you travel, it's likely to be an adventure -- there's always the possibility for something to happen. And this week with all the American Airlines flight cancellations, there are probably more adventures than usual.


It didn't affect me in my travels but I've had other things. I arrived at the airport for a 6 a.m. flight at 5:28 and they closed the baggage check-in. Granted the airport has 1 ticket counter and only 1 flight at that time but I had the issue of liquids in my bag. Luckily the guy behind me said that he'd carry my extra bag through security.


Then it turned out that he didn't have his correct boarding pass so he had to get out of line, with my liquids, in hand and get the pass. I knew he'd come back because his wife had already gone through and they were on their way to Oaxaca, Mexico. And he did return.


Other than two women sitting behind me drinking beer at 6 in the morning and talking and laughing raucously, the flight was uneventful. And that's a good thing.


And most of my day went the same way until I realized that I couldn't sleep in the afternoon although I needed a nap. (It didn't feel that way as my head bobbed during a dietitian's talk with the lights dimmed.) So I went for a walk.


As I headed out the door so did a tall man. We walked together and he introduced himself as Keith but with an awfully strong Aussie accent. He said that he was going to go for a walk, and I said that I was, too. So we walked down Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. Ugly area right near a strip club and nondescript fast food joints and office buildings. This was his only time in LA. Ugh.


I told him that he needed to get a cab and go to the beach-- Marina del Rey, Venice or Santa Monica. Keith was in LA just overnight because his American Airlines flight had been cancelled. He is in the Australian military and on his way to Virginia.


We had a good chat and he explained the economic state of affairs in Australia. We talked about fast food, and there's plenty there, along with kids who aren't so active. So be on the lookout for obesity in Australia.


At the very first light we came to Keith was confused about whether or not he could cross the street. It was green our way, so I said that it was fine. As I stepped into the street, a young man driving a BMW, busy on his cell phone, almost hit me -- as close a call as I've ever had. But we kept on walking, and I guess being tired made the incident not so big for me.


Keith asked if I'd like to take he and his buddies on a taxi tour of LA. And believe me, I wanted to but I am going out to eat at House of Vege in Lomita for dinner with others who want to eat vegetarian. If I hadn't helped set up the dinner, I would have gone with Keith and his friends -- as a friendly American thing to do. I am sure that he understood.


As for the vegetarian adventure travel -- anytime I go, it's an adventure but I am actually taking a small group to Umbria, Italy in September. If you'd like to check it out, take a look at http://www,bluone.com/. You can bet that it will truly be an adventure, because I know that every trip is.

The Veggie Queen Spreads Her Wings

While travel can sometimes be exhausting, it can also be an adventure. And those of you who know me, know that I love an adventure, which is party why the world of vegetables is so exciting.

These days you can get out in the world (at least the cyberworld) without leaving your cozy home by using the computer. You can now find my writing at http://www.vegfamily.com and http://www.boomercoffeehouse.com. I will also be writing for more consumer publications for the rest of year.

Fellow blogger and yoga practitioner, Jenni, wrote about my book The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment on her Hugger Food blog http://huggerfood.blogspot.com/2008/04/veggie-queen.html. She was only the 2nd person to notice and alert me to a mistake in one of the recipes -- the directions for the Roasted Asparagus, Potato and Mushroom Salad are really for a Beet and Asparagus Salad with citrus vinaigrette. If you are one of my lucky email newsletter readers you now have the corrected recipe for the recipe in the book. I think that next month I will send out the Beet and Asparagus Salad.

Last night in my Salads and Salad Dressings class at Santa Rosa Junior College, the students made their own recipes. About one quarter of the class chose beet salads. I find that fascinating.
One of my students used a pressure cooker for the first time to cook whole small to medium beets in less than 15 minutes. She said that it wasn't nearly as scary as she thought that it would be. In fact, it was easy. Hopefully I have another pressure cooking convert.

The Veggie Queen on the Subway

I am no stranger to New York City (Manhattan) as I grew up in New York, on Long Island. "The City" as we called it, was a big part of my teen years. I missed some school because the lure of it and riding the train was too strong, and classes were too boring to waste my time. As I was mostly an A student, I figured that I'd learn more from the adventure of NY than I would in a classroom.

One thing that I didn't do much of was ride the subway. It was pretty grimy then and you never knew what danger lurked. Besides, I love to walk so I did that as much as possible. Also, the subway can be very confusing to figure out, so why bother?

Well, on my most recent trip to "The City", I was instructed by my friend Fran to take the express train out of Penn Station. It was only 2 stops to go meet her. That was very easy. Buying the ticket to get on the subway proved to be a bit more difficult.

I learned that a one pass card is only good for 2 hours. So when I returned to the subway after meeting with Fran, with my pass in hand, it had expired. Then I tried to buy another pass (while I was in a hurry) and the machine didn't work. So I asked the woman in the glassed-in booth about it and she sent me to a different machine. I bought the pass and it didn't work. So that very nice woman let me through a special gate that was being blocked by a homeless guy's stuff. He got angry and called me names as I rushed to get on the subway.

In my haste, I forgot to notice if I was getting on the express train. And I did not. So, a number of stops later I arrived at Penn Station, a bit anxious, only to find out that I had to exit the station and go across the street and back in to catch my train to Long Island.

It was all an adventure, and I must admit that it was not nearly as much fun as it was when I was a teenager. But then again, the only way to pay at that time was with money or tokens. Now you need to "dip your card" which is a strange way of saying, "swipe your card". But maybe in New York, swipe is not a nice thing to say. In California, it's just fine. And we don't have a subway, so it seems that I am safe.