Bonus points if you know what Lee Marvin has to do with produce!

Dear health-conscious but not self-conscious consumers,

As you know, I advocate buying, growing and eating organic produce.  Although it's more costly than buying conventionally grown produce, I have hope because I reckon the more of us buy organic, the more popular and less costly it will become.

But as I said, it can be pretty expensive!  Sometimes I am torn - forgo eating veggies, or have pesticide-sprayed wax-coated vegetables?  I want to get lots of produce in our everyday diet - in fact, I would prefer that our diet is primarily fresh and home-canned produce.  But if I'm eating conventionally grown vegetables and fruit, that just means the more I consume, the more pesticides go into my body! Especially if you are vegan, vegetarian, or eating an all-raw diet, you are consuming massive amounts of developmental and reproductive toxicants and other yummy side dishes.

My cousin makes a mean vegan potato soup (all organic, of course!)

To minimize my pesticide intake but maximize my produce intake and grocery budget, from time to time I refer to the "Dirty Dozen and Clean 15" list (download a wallet-sized shopper's guide here), a list put together by the EWG (Environmental Working Group).  Basically, they made a list of produce that hold the most pesticides, and advocate buying those organic.  Then, they made a list of produce that holds the least pesticides, which would be the least harmful to eat conventionally grown.

"The fruits and vegetables on "The Dirty Dozen" list, when conventionally grown, tested positive for at least 47 different chemicals, with some testing positive for as many as 67.  For produce on the "dirty" list, you should definitely go organic - unless you relish the idea of consuming a chemical cocktail." (Read the full article here)

I still buy organic (including off the Clean 15) whenever it is possible, because I feel like I would rather support that methodology than the chemical-laden one.  The Clean 15 is really just the lesser of two evils, not necessarily a good in and of itself.

Bear in mind that pesticides aren't just vaguely "bad" for you - some are carcinogens (indeed, some are used to induce cancer in lab rats), can be fatal when inhaled (how good can it be to eat that??), some are neurotoxins, some you may recognize as common poisons (arsenic ring a bell?) some are hormone disruptors upsetting your body's natural chemical balance, and a host of other delightful side-effects to eating your five-a-day.

Dirty Dozen (high in chemical content): 

Celery (64 pesticides)
Peaches (62)
Strawberries (54)
Apples (42)
Domestic blueberries (52)
Nectarines (33)
Sweet bell peppers (49)
Spinach (48), kale (55), and collard greens (46)
Cherries (42)
Potatoes (37)
Imported grapes (34)
Lettuce (51)

The Clean 15 (little to no traces of pesticides):

Onions (1)
Avocados
Sweet corn (1)
Pineapples (6)
Mango
Sweet peas (12)
Asparagus (9)
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant (18)
Cantaloupe (27)
Watermelon (28)
Grapefruit (11)
Sweet Potatoes (8)
Sweet onions

Another partial compromise is when you know the farmer, and you know his procedures; when Miz Carmen and I purchased two thousand pounds of apples during the fall, we spoke with the farmer and discussed our options.  He had an orchard that was mostly organic, but had been sprayed just a few times over the growing season.  We opted for those apples, in the interest of saving several hundred dollars on our bulk purchase.

Demystifying the PLU label: 
I learned this from Raw Food/Real World (a delightful, healthful cookbook): If you are in the grocery store buying fresh fruits and vegetables, look at the little round sticker on your produce. There will be a 4 or 5 digit PLU number on it.  Learn what that PLU number means!

a) Organic b) Conventional or c) Genetically Modified?

When the PLU is ...

5 digits beginning with the number 8: it is genetically modified
5 digits beginning with the number 9: it is organic
4 digits: conventionally grown

a) Organic b) Conventional or c) Genetically Modified?

a) Organic b) Conventional or c) Genetically Modified?

As a last rule of thumb - if you can, buy local produce!  The less it has to travel, the fresher it probably is.

And as a last rule of toe, often produce isn't necessarily certified organic, because certification can be very difficult to obtain; however, they can still be more pesticide-free than conventionally grown produce!  Whenever possible (for instance, at a farmer's market), get to know the farmer, and ask about his methods and even what he uses to spray his crops, if he does spray.  We're not here to be in a certified club, we're here to learn about how to protect our bodies.

We all do our best.  Let's try to stay as informed as possible, so our decisions will be the best we can possibly make with the resources we are given!

Cheers to good health,

Mrs H
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For more fun: Look up pesticide levels in food here.

Handy Kitchen Tool

Dear housewives and other people in the kitchen which can and often does include men and children and the occasional parrot,

This is a handy housewife helper tool that I found at an estate sale.

It is perfect for saving bacon grease; just pour the hot grease in the top, it strains out the solids, and then stash the tin in the fridge.  It will be moderately clarified, and ready for use when you want it.  I don't know if you can find them for sale, but it sure is handy.

If you haven't seen Ralph Kramden's get-rich-quick scheme for selling the helpful housewife happy handy, you should avail yourself of the next opportunity; it has one of the classic improv scenes in old comedy!



Hopefully, your kitchen escapades turn out a little better than theirs did ...

Here's hoping!

Mrs H
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Oven-Baked Bacon

My cousin taught me the trick of freezing cooked bacon for quick breakfasts (and salad toppers, potato toppers, sandwiches, or whatever).  Since there are only two of us living here right now, we don't go through enough bacon to let it sit in the fridge, raw, until we use it all up.  So this method enables us to have bacon on hand for eating, and quick preparation, without spoiling.

Additionally, this is the method I use to cook bacon because it gives me hands-free in the kitchen, produced a finer bacon, and doesn't splatter me or my stove with grease.

1. Preheat oven to 375 - 400 F.  Lay the bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet with rims.  Bake for about 5 minutes, then rotate the pan.  Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the bacon looks almost done.  Remove from the oven before it's completely cooked.  (If you are just going to eat the bacon, bake to completion and then skip steps 3 and 4.) 

2. Lay the bacon on a paper-towel lined plate to cool.  Pour the grease off into a jar or helpful housewife happy handy bacon grease saver tool like in the photo above.  Refrigerate or freeze grease for later use.

3. Once the bacon is cool, put into plastic bags or containers and freeze.

4. When you want a piece of bacon or two, throw it in the pan with your eggs or microwave under a paper towel for about one minute.

Note to self!

Dear faithfuls,

I was talking to my grandma last winter about reading through the Bible in a year.  What she said has stuck in my head as a benchmark of inspiration for Scripture reading.

"Oh yes!  I love reading through the Bible every year.  I always wait until January to start at Genesis again, and I usually finish by about February.  Then I get to focus on word studies and specific books of the Bible."

I've never finished the 66 book canon in two months.  In fact, it seems like it's always been a challenge for me to just try and finish within a year.  But I have new heights of readership to aspire to now!

I love the Scriptures, and I love keeping them visible in my home - especially in the kitchen - so that I can read them while I work and clean, and memorize them and meditate on them.

Most of them are handmade, verses that I especially loved in my devotions or from a sermon; but a few are beautiful frames.

They are an unspoken testimony to anybody who enters our house that we serve the Lord, and His presence is made known in our home.

Researchers say that the average American sees some 30,000 messages a day - advertisements, magazine covers, bus panels, billboards, the back of a cereal box, a commercial on TV.  We all long deplore these overwhelming inundations of worldly messages, but (aside from turning off the TV and the computer!) we should do everything in our power to combat these more negative images by lifting up the One who is the Author of everything pure, and good, and worthy.

Like a new cuss word heard in a movie or a poorly chosen image from a magazine can pop into somebody's mind any time during the day so, too, the wholesome Scriptures that I see continually throughout the day arise in my mind many times, unbidden, to remind me of His truth and how I should act in my every day.

You can put them everywhere!  In drawers, in cupboards, on cupboards, on the wall ...  When we have our own home, I will be excited to stencil them on the walls!

Are you going to read through the Bible this year?  Do you have a favorite program you follow?

How do you choose to keep the Scriptures in your mind throughout the day?

Racking our collective minds for more ideas,

Mrs H
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The Official Doughnut of Louisiana

Thanks for reading this post, I'm so excited to visit with you!  

After you've gleaned all the good information you need, visit our new blog platform at www.farmandhearth.com to read even more fascinating tidbits from the kitchen and the fields. 

Dear ya'll,

Who knew a state could have an official doughnut?  Does that mean that to be a true resident you need to eat it every day?  Might be time for me to move to the Big Easy (emphasis on the BIG!)...

Beignets are a traditional deep-fried doughnut, sometimes filled, sometimes powdered with sugar, sometimes glazed, sometimes savory, always delicious.  They are the state doughnut, and the primary export of the famous Cafe du Monde, a coffee stand on Decatur St in New Orleans.

I've only visited New Orleans once, and I didn't stop by the cafe; but since my sister just returned to her school there after Christmas break, it seemed appropriate to post this recipe in honor of her!

Enjoy coming up with fanciful glazes and toppings ... the possibilities are quite, quite endless.

Mrs H
twitter.com/_mrs_h

beignets with maple glaze (recipe below)

This recipe is from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking (one of my most-abused oft-used well-beloved books!).

Yeast-Raised Beignets 


Beignets
3/4 c water
2 cups (8 oz) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup half-and-half (I used milk with no ill effects)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 cups (8-1/2 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

5 to 6 cups vegetable or peanut oil for frying

See below for glaze and dusting ideas

To make the dough: Pour water into a mixing bowl.  Add the whole wheat flour and let the mixture soak for 30 minutes to soften the bran in the flour.

Beat the half-and-half, egg, butter, sugar and salt in a small bowl.  Stir this into the flour mixture.  Add the yeast and all-purpose flour, and mix until a soft dough forms.  Knead for 6 to 8 minutes.  Cover the dough with greased plastic wrap and let rise until it has doubled in bulk, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured work surface.  Knead out any stray bubbles and let rest for about 5 minutes to relax the gluten.  While you roll out and shape the beignets, start heating the oil to 365F.  You should have at least 2 inches of oil in the pan.

To shape the beignets: Roll the dough out to a rectangle roughly 12 x 20 inches and 1/4 inch thick.  Use a flour sprinkled bench knife or bowl scrape to keep the dough free from the kneading surface.  You may need to throw a bit of flour underneath from time to time to keep the dough from sticking.  With a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into the size squares you want your beignets to be.  Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rest while the oil heats.

To fry: Once the oil is hot, slip in 4 or 5 beignets at a time and cook for about 1 minute before you flip them over.  Let them cook another 1-1/2 to 2 minutes, flipping them back and forth so they brown evenly. Sometimes they won't want to turn over because they puff up so much!  Use your spoon to turn it and gently hold it in place until the underside is brown enough.  When the beignets are done, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel, or on a cooling rack set over a rimmed baking sheet.

Toss with powdered sugar, cinnamon-sugar, or the dusting of your choice; or,

Mix 2 cups (8 oz) confectioners' sugar, 1/4 cup water, coffee, or milk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, lemon juice, or 2 tablespoons warmed honey.

For my maple glaze, I mixed confectioners sugar with maple syrup until it made a runny glaze, and dipped and rolled the beignets.  Set them on a plate so the glaze can firm up.

Roll in a very thin chocolate frosting ...

The dough is rich and tasty enough that you could serve them plain!  Or, use a frosting bag to pipe in jelly or some other custard, chocolate, or fruit filling.  If you have any other tasty ideas that you enjoy, post them in the comments!

A flathead isn't necessarily a screwdriver

Dear amigos,

Have you seen Toy Story 3?

In what is quite possibly the best scene in the film, Mr. Potato Head goes 2-D!

See him move here.  It made Mr H and I laugh so hard the first time we saw it, his mom got me the Mr and Mrs Potato Head set for Christmas.  It was a big hit with my little sister, who asked me to bring it over to Mom's house every day.  

I love homemade tortillas - few things are better than a hot, steaming stack of tender, paper-thin homemade tortillas.  Store-bought tortillas don't even compare (you knew I was going to say that!).  You can eat homemade ones plain for a snack, but eating a store-bought tortilla plain would be disgusting and unappetizing.  

I've made a lot of tortillas and the key seems to be in the rolling and in how long you cook them; to get good ones that aren't as thick as pita bread, roll them excruciatingly thin.  To get dough that will roll more easily without shrinking, use all or part bread-flour, or add gluten.  To get tortillas that aren't as hard as a frisbee, follow the cooking instructions below.  Learn from my mistakes and my many wasted tortillas!! 

I like both whole wheat and white flour tortillas; I've included a recipe for both below. I got the first recipe from a good friend.  The second one is a conglomeration of her recipe and a recipe I found online.  Don't be concerned that the ratios between the two aren't exact.  For some reason they work this way.  

Tip: If you want them to be perfect circles, lay a plate over your rolled-out piece of dough (it will probably be shaped like Africa or a heart or something, never a circle) and cut around the dough.  I've never done this, so I don't know if it's possible to reuse the trimmings of the dough.  Probably not.  Probably would be way too tough to eat.  

Tip: If you get into a good rhythm, you can roll a tortilla while the other one cooks.  It takes a few tortillas to get the moves down.  

Bonus: Taco seasoning recipe here

Bonus: If you use all-vegetable shortening, it will be vegan

Keren's White Flour Tortillas (makes about 10 - 12)

Mix together:

3 c. all-purpose flour (use all or part bread flour)

1 ½ tsp. salt

3/4 tsp baking powder

Cut in until the texture of oatmeal:

Almost 1/2 c. shortening (I use hardened bacon fat - waste not!!)  

Make a well in the center and stir in: 

1 ¼ c VERY hot water (just barely not boiling)

Dough: Knead together until dough is smooth and doesn't stick to your fingers.  Shape into lump. Let rest for ten minutes, bowl covered to keep heat in.  Resting relaxes the gluten. This makes it easier to roll!  

(This is the whole wheat dough)

Shape: Rip off a ball (about 1/10^th) and recover dough to keep heat in (if it cools, it will be very difficult to roll).  Mash it between your hands to get started; then roll the ball flat and thin – VERY THIN; put on a dry (not oiled) hot frying pan.  If it's too thick, it'll be like a slice of bread! 

Cook: As soon as tiny bubbles appear - about 10 seconds- flip it over (I use my fingers, you could try a fork if you wanted) and let it cook for another 30 seconds.  Remove from the heat and put into a dish or pan with a lid, on a plate under a towel, or in a tortilla warmer.  If it cooks too long, it'll be hard!  And putting them in a closed container allows them to steam; otherwise they will probably still be crispy even if you cook them perfectly!  

Mrs H's Whole Wheat Tortillas

Mix together:

1 cup bread flour

4 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat bread flour

2 teaspoons salt

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Cut in until the texture of oatmeal:

1/2 cup shortening or hardened bacon fat

Make a well in the center and stir in: 

1-1/2 cups VERY hot (almost boiling) water

Dough: Knead together until dough is smooth and doesn't stick to your fingers.  Make balls the size of golf balls, 1-1/2 to 2 ounces each.  Put in a sealed container (Tupperware, Pyrex with plastic wrap) and let sit for one hour or up to eight hours.  Letting whole wheat dough sit allows the flour to hydrate; whole wheat takes longer to absorb than white flour.  

Shape: Mash it between your hands to get started; then roll the ball flat and thin – VERY THIN; put on a dry (not oiled) hot frying pan.  Make sure you roll it impossibly thin, unless you want tortillas as thick as Mr Potato Head.  

Cook: As soon as tiny bubbles appear - about 10 seconds - flip it over (I use my fingers, you could try a fork if you wanted) and let it cook for another 30 seconds.  Remove from the heat and put into a dish or pan with a lid, on a plate under a towel, or in a tortilla warmer.  If it cooks too long, it'll be hard!  And putting them in a closed container allows them to steam; otherwise they will probably still be crispy even if you cook them perfectly!  

Homemade tortillas will keep for about a week or so in a sealed container; they'll mold quickly though, because they're not loaded down with preservatives.  So if you have too many to use right away, I would suggest freezing them. 

Tortillas can be time-consuming to make, but they are so delicious!  Make a party out of it! 

Here's hoping we don't end up eating monkey chow, 

Mrs H

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Hibernation skills: In which I keep track of time

To the gentle reader and others observing,

I don't know how the weather is where you live, but here in the Pacific Northwest it's cold.  Not bitterly cold, not deathly freezing, just cold and frosty and very winter-like.

It hasn't been as drizzly and miserably rainy as it sometimes is; just frosty with the occasional tantalizing snow-dusting.  This morning, while Mr H was out doing his morning training, I walked to the Public Market to pick up milk and cream.  The weather is perfect for brisk, hilly walks!  I enjoyed some of the lingering Christmas decorations our neighbors had up.

I even found a lucky penny!  The Public Market is next to the marina and the Navy base, so there was a sharp wind from the bay as I rounded the corner.

Now that I'm back home, I've got a full day of projects waiting for me - more turkey broth to can, bread dough to put in the fridge to rise overnight, chowder to make.  I started the task list rolling by making some taco seasoning.

I keep track of all my tasks for the day at my "control panel" - a corner of the kitchen that I have the luxury of using to store my notebooks, cookbooks, and tablets throughout the day.  I was inspired to make this useful space by the head chef of Windsor Castle!  He has a nook where, during state dinners, he keeps his menu and task lists in order.  I figure a man's home is his castle, so I might as well run our small household as shipshape as the Queen's.

To keep track of day-by-day duties, I use The Time Keeper, designed by Starla at Well Kept Life.  Every year, I browse through stack after stack of calendars to find one well-suited to my needs - each day needs a space large enough to write plenty of tasks, and I would like to have a few pages for notes, lists, and phone numbers.  This last fall, I read through a few reviews of the Time Keeper calendar and decided to give it a shot - ordering it sight-unseen!  A definite first for me, who usually spends twenty minutes reading each calendar determining if it's The One!

I couldn't be more pleased with my new calendar.  It has plenty of space for each day, notes and grocery list pages in the back, room for phone numbers and addresses (I wrote a bunch of family addresses into the large Notes section), and a month overview at the beginning of each month.  Starla has also included encouraging verses and quotes at the beginning of every week - "A kind face is a beautiful face."  "Contentment is the soil in which true joy thrives."  "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in Him.  Nahum 1:7"

I also use a smaller notebook throughout the year (it has no real timeframe - when it fills up, I get a new one!) to write notes for canning, jot down recipes and recipe ideas, do calculations for produce, and keep a running list of kitchen tools and books to keep an eye out for.  We used it on our recent road trip to track our mileage, and sometimes Gary steals it and adds notes for me.  :)

These are all very useful time-management techniques for me (some of you are trying to imagine writing things down - you techies with your Netbooks and Iphones are probably wondering when I'll advance to the 21st century).  However, the most important book I use to order and direct my daily steps has already been written - all I need to do is read it.

Pondering life together,

Mrs H
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Taco Seasoning

I got this recipe from Miz Carmen, who got it from Allrecipes, to which it was submitted by Bill Echols

Find a recipe for tortillas (whole wheat or white) here

1 tablespoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon paprika

1 – ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Have a huge family?  Making taco beef for a party?  Freezing batches of seasoned meat?  

To sedecuple the recipe (multiply it by 16), and make 16 ounces of taco seasoning (2 cups): 

1 cup chili powder

4 teaspoons garlic powder

4 teaspoons onion powder

4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

4 teaspoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons paprika

½ cup ground cumin

5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sea salt

5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon ground black pepper  

Adjust the ratios as you like to make it more to your tastes; do you have any good ideas of other spices to add to this mix?