tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9573185943861658362024-03-05T22:07:06.347-06:00Vesna Vuynovich Kovach: Published WritingVesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-66176693981429065032013-05-02T19:12:00.000-05:002018-05-02T19:45:53.404-05:00How to Make an AT-AT Cake<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp_CSsdq0RxPgis3_v9b290vNtdTfAHVGQaqGL4pTMVoVCD_eLq8999RgicMwBLHCQo8UHR00l4cvIhpDztpvOVkZhC6mhZkUoff15eto1e5U91BU7_W18FJkwb7mQqVa9DKNFTcRihRS/s1600/make-atat-cake-800x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="400" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilp_CSsdq0RxPgis3_v9b290vNtdTfAHVGQaqGL4pTMVoVCD_eLq8999RgicMwBLHCQo8UHR00l4cvIhpDztpvOVkZhC6mhZkUoff15eto1e5U91BU7_W18FJkwb7mQqVa9DKNFTcRihRS/s320/make-atat-cake-800x800.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the ice planet Hoth,<br />the Galactic Empire used manned AT-AT walkers<br /> to crush the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A version of this article originally appeared on eHow.com in the Holidays & Celebrations section.<br />
<br />
All Terrain Armored Transport – or "AT-AT" – walkers are massive tanks in the fictional universe of the Star Wars series of science fiction movies. They resemble giant, robotic beasts because they have four legs and an articulated cockpit that extends from the front of the body of the tank like a quadruped's head. The challenge in making an AT-AT cake is supporting the heavy torso on the creature's slender legs, and creating a head light enough to extend from the torso without falling off. Use cake pillars and make a head out of paper and cardboard to solve these structural problems.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Things You'll Need</h4>
<ul>
<li>2 loaf pans</li>
<li>Corrugated cardboard</li>
<li>Craft knife</li>
<li>Glue</li>
<li>2 C-clamps</li>
<li>Aluminum foil</li>
<li>Cardboard toilet paper roll</li>
<li>Construction paper</li>
<li>Tape</li>
<li>2 craft sticks</li>
<li>2 portions cake batter for a two-layer cake</li>
<li>3 portions white frosting for a two-layer cake</li>
<li>10-by-14 baking pan, or similar size</li>
<li>Black icing coloring</li>
<li>Icing bag</li>
<li>#3 round icing tip</li>
<li>5- or 7-inch cake pillars, 4</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Instructions</h4>
<br />
<ol>
<li>Make the base for the AT-AT's torso. Trace the bottom of a loaf pan onto corrugated cardboard. Cut out the shape with a craft knife. Repeat with a second piece of cardboard. Glue the two pieces together. Clamp with two C-clamps until dry according to the glue manufacturer's instructions. Remove the clamps. Wrap the base in aluminum foil.</li>
<li>Prepare two portions of cake batter for a two-layer cake according to the recipe or mix of your choice. Bake one portion in a 10-by-14 or similar-sized baking pan. Divide the second portion between two loaf pans.</li>
<li>Frost the sheet cake -- the cake baked in the large, shallow pan -- with white frosting. This is the base of the cake and represents the snowy fields of the plant Hoth, where the Empire deployed AT-AT walkers in the movie "The Empire Strikes Back."</li>
<li>Color two portions of frosting for a two-layer cake metallic gray. Stir a tiny portion of black icing coloring into white frosting. Mix thoroughly before adding more. Add coloring until you've attained the desired shade.</li>
<li>Frost the loaf cakes as a two-layer cake, with the larger sides facing inward, using the foil-covered cardboard as the cake base. This is the AT-AT's torso.</li>
<li>Cut and tape construction paper into an oblong box about four inches square on the small sides and 4-by-7 inches on the long sides. The exact measurements aren't important. This is the head of the AT-AT. Cut an opening into one of the small sides. Insert a toilet paper roll to a depth of about two inches and fasten it securely with tape. This is the neck. Tape craft sticks to the front of the head so they stick out like tusks.</li>
<li>Frost the AT-AT head and tusks with gray frosting. Insert the toilet paper roll into one of the small sides of the frosted torso to a depth of about two inches. Frost the exposed length of toilet paper roll "neck."</li>
<li>Cut four holes in the sheet cake the diameter of the end of a cake pillar. Position the holes so the pillars can support the torso. Insert the cake pillars in the holes. Frost the pillars with gray frosting. These are the AT-AT legs.</li>
<li>Carefully place the AT-AT torso and head assembly atop the legs. Get a friend to keep the legs stable while you position the torso.</li>
<li>Fit a decorating bag with a round tip and fill with gray frosting. Pipe short, straight lines, squares, rectangles and dots all over the torso and head of the AT-AT. These are bolts and controls and other robotic features. Pipe rectangles on the head to form the cockpit's eye-like windows.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<h4>
Tips & Warnings</h4>
<br />
<ul>
<li>You may cut a piece of wood to size instead of using cardboard for the torso base.</li>
<li>You may buy a sheet cake frosted white instead of baking the snow field base yourself.</li>
<li>Buy cake pillars at craft or baking supply stores</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
References</h4>
<div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/All_Terrain_Armored_Transport" target="_blank">Wookiepedia: All Terrain Armored Transport</a></li>
<li><a href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Hoveth" target="_blank">Wookiepedia: Battle of Hoth</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h4>
Resources</h4>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30EE4C-475A-BAC0-5D2D29C5D018E9B1&killnav=1" target="_blank">Wilton: Crystal-Look Pillars</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-65916559774264694442013-04-16T19:58:00.000-05:002018-05-02T20:01:09.460-05:00Fast Facts for Kudler Fine FoodsA version of this article appeared on eHow.com, in the Business section.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRZMb_18Y1Ek08NyQOG9adNsD77qaFLZIjcvOe0Itsh3rcK9iHhBU7PjVkoOvdazx6padAkdGX_RRUnxUXudJoDUGgKyGop3ySVEGnMYaRADyZdQJ3A9uOV-AVcT5AQY6c4RF1eewxU0C/s1600/fast-kudler-fine-foods-800x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="389" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRZMb_18Y1Ek08NyQOG9adNsD77qaFLZIjcvOe0Itsh3rcK9iHhBU7PjVkoOvdazx6padAkdGX_RRUnxUXudJoDUGgKyGop3ySVEGnMYaRADyZdQJ3A9uOV-AVcT5AQY6c4RF1eewxU0C/s320/fast-kudler-fine-foods-800x800.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">None of these gourmet items can be purchased <br />at a Kudler Fine Foods location near you.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Kudler Fine Foods is probably the most famous gourmet food shop that's never sold a single morsel of food: nary a wheel of cave-aged Tuscan cheese, tub of cranberry tapenade, nor soy-ink-printed box of hand-rolled, Earl Grey-scented, sea-salt-dusted chocolate truffles. That's because, despite its being the subject of thousands of marketing analyses available on the Internet, Kudler Fine Foods is fictional.</span></i><br />
<br />
<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">Textbook Exercise</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the "Marketing" textbook by Roger Kerin, Stephen Hartley and William Rudelius, a fictional chain of gourmet markets named Kudler Fine Foods serves as an example for study. A variety of hypothetical situations facing the company is posed for students to solve and analyze. Thousands of papers written in response can be downloaded from the Internet.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">Fast Facts</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">The fictional Kudler Foods has three locations in southern California. The first shop was opened in La Jolla in 1998 by one Kathy Kudler, a visionary woman who wanted one spot where she could buy everything she needed to make dinner and believed launching a chain of gourmet markets was the solution. The Del Mar and Encinitas locations were underway within five years, and the quest for the perfect location for a fourth shop is left as an exercise for students.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">Possible Inspiration</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: large;">Josef von Kudler was an influential economist in the Smithian cameralist tradition. In the 1850s and 1860s, his works were standard reading in Austrian universities. Kudler's belief that value is not inherent in goods, but arises from the intensity of people's desire for them, seems to fit nicely with the concept of a purveyor of expensive versions of ordinary food items. Using the name Kudler for a gourmet shop in a marketing textbook may be a tribute to this historical figure.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<header style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h4 style="border: 0px; font-family: "Museo Slab 500", serif; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 500; letter-spacing: -1px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="decoration" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: large;">References</span></span></h4>
</header><section style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><ul class="UnorderedTitleList" style="border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-top-style: dotted; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http:" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #1f7ad7; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">"Marketing"; Roger Kerin, Steven Hartley and William Rudelius; 2006</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://www.jlk-custom.com/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #1f7ad7; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Kudler Fine Foods: Demonstration Site</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ir0g_PW5lAYC&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=kudler+textbook&source=bl&ots=i4cgF6zqjf&sig=5WgvTm5g73h8vqSSgrMzJyx5VEc&hl=en&ei=LLjJTIz3K8K9nAeancgb&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=kudler&f=false" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #1f7ad7; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Carl Menger and His Legacy in Economics"; By Bruce J. Caldwell; 1990</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://www.writingpedia.com/subjects/Strategy-Kudler-Fine-foods.asp" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #1f7ad7; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Writingpedia: In Search of a Paper on Strategy Kudler Fine Foods?</a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/kudler-management-review" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #1f7ad7; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Free Online Research Papers: Kudler Fine Foods: Overview of Management</a></li>
</ul>
</section><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-7742969515517075302013-04-11T19:26:00.000-05:002018-05-02T19:33:12.334-05:00Types of Financial Software Other Than ExcelA version of this article originally appeared on eHow.com in the Computer Software section.<br />
<br />
Excel, a spreadsheet software program from Microsoft Corporation, is so well known that, because it can be used for financial calculations, some might think Excel to be the only financial software available. The truth is that spreadsheets are only one of many types of software used for finance, and Excel is only one of many brands of spreadsheet.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Spreadsheets Other Than Excel</h4>
Spreadsheet programs are computerized versions of the paper ledgers people used to laboriously construct manually, using adding machines or calculators to figure the values to write in the cells formed by the intersection of rows and columns. VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3 were the first commercially available spreadsheet programs, starting in the early 1980s. Spreadsheets available today include Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice Calc, Abykus, Numeric, CleanSheets, Apple's Numbers for the Macintosh and Google Calc, an online spreadsheet to be used through a Web browser.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Bookkeeping and Accounting Software</h4>
Bookkeeping and accounting software helps small business owners track the finances of their companies. Features may include bill pay, inventory, invoicing and transaction entry based on the double-entry bookkeeping system that is the standard debit-asset balancing model for business finance. Programs include QuickBooks, Peachtree Accounting, Microsoft Dynamics, MYOB, Advantage Business Software and many more. More elaborate programs exist for larger companies as well.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Dell.KACE.com</h4>
Personal Financial Software<br />
Personal financial software is designed for managing household finances, allowing users to track transactions in checking and savings accounts, IRAs, 401(k)s and other accounts home users are likely to have. A few examples are Quicken, Moneydance, Microsoft Money, Debtonator and Money Manager, but there are hundreds of different programs.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Tax Preparation Software</h4>
A variety of tax preparation software programs are available to help people prepare their own taxes, or organize their taxes in anticipation of taking them to a professional tax prep service. TaxAct lets you do your taxes entirely online, while programs such as TaxCut and TurboTax are installed on your personal computer. Tax prep software typically gives you the option to submit your state and federal returns over the Internet directly from the program, saving you the steps of printing and mailing returns. The United States Internal Revenue Service provides a free tax prep software program, Free File, for users who can file relatively simple tax returns.<br />
<br />
<h4>
References</h4>
<a href="http://techie-buzz.com/featured/free-microsoft-excel-alternatives.html" target="_blank">Techie Buzz: Free Microsoft Excel / Spreadsheets Alternatives</a><br />
<a href="http://www.apple.com/iwork/numbers/" target="_blank">Apple: Numbers '09</a><br />
<a href="http://dssresources.com/history/sshistory.html" target="_blank">DSSResources.com: A Brief History of Spreadsheets</a><br />
<a href="http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html" target="_blank">IRS: Free File Home --- Your Link to Free Federal Online Filing</a><br />
<h4>
Resources</h4>
<a href="http://www.accountingsoftwaresdirectory.com/Small-Business.html" target="_blank">Accounting Softwares Directory: Small Business Software</a><br />
<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics/default.aspx" target="_blank">Microsoft: Microsoft Dynamics</a><br />
<a href="http://www.taxsites.com/software.html" target="_blank">TAXSites.com: Tax Software</a><br />
<a href="http://www.accountingsoftwaresdirectory.com/Personal-Finance.html" target="_blank">Accounting Softwares Directory: Personal Finance Softwares</a><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-51639397144552673872012-05-02T20:08:00.000-05:002018-05-02T20:25:51.240-05:00DIY Straws<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A version of this story appeared on eHow, in the Hobbies & Science section.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfghPGpfLsB-ZKUWJmE0xcx-gzrFj1YlUretdZrHMyOzmEu6mMUI7rKTZ4pQN-HylVshdbhSd8sslKB_ht0lUSqq6TyutdwOdmbSR-BIR5jw9V4fgk-g36iGLosRP1O-BvAE3efGmuRQu_/s1600/diy-straws-800x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="424" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfghPGpfLsB-ZKUWJmE0xcx-gzrFj1YlUretdZrHMyOzmEu6mMUI7rKTZ4pQN-HylVshdbhSd8sslKB_ht0lUSqq6TyutdwOdmbSR-BIR5jw9V4fgk-g36iGLosRP1O-BvAE3efGmuRQu_/s320/diy-straws-800x800.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Nearly all types of grass will grow hollow stems </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">that can be used as drinking straws.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The natural world provides lightweight, hollow tubes suitable for sipping beverages in the form of grass stems. Humans have been making use of these as drinking straws for thousands of years, as we know from evidence of the ancient Sumerians. Dried grass stems -- straw -- is the model from which man-made drinking straws were first mass-produced in the late 19th century. Drinking straws are cheap and readily available at any grocery, but it can be fun to make your own out of unexpected materials.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Things You'll Need</span></h3>
<div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Growing wheat, rye, bamboo or lawn grass</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Light-duty electrical extension cord</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Hand soap or hand sanitizer dispensers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Plastic, hollow coffee stirrers</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Aquarium tubing, unused</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Hollow licorice sticks</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Instructions</span></h2>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Natural straws</span></h4>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Plant a patch of bamboo, cereal grasses like wheat or rye, or ordinary lawn grass. Most grasses have hollow stem segments that can be dried and used as drinking straws.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Grow your grass until the stems are the length you desire for your drinking straws. This will take several weeks. Alternately, find a vacant lot where the grass is already long enough for your purpose.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Harvest your grass. Use garden snips to cut the grass stems to the length you desire. Cut off any seed heads. Snip off the nodes, the elbow-like joints that separate the stem segments.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Use your grass stems immediately as drinking straws, or, for better results, dry them into straw. Spread out your grass stems in a sunny location outdoors and allow them to dry, or tie them in a bunch with string and hang them in a well ventilated spot. They should be dry enough to use as drinking straws within three to five days.</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Extension Cord Straws</span></h4>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Cut off the ends of a light-duty electrical extension cord. Light-duty cords have two parallel flexible tubes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Make a 1-inch vertical cut along each of the parallel tubes of the cord.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Get a firm grip on the electrical wiring inside one of the tubes by winding it a few times around the shaft of a screwdriver.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pull the wiring out and discard it. Repeat with the other tube.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Cut off the slit portions of the tubing and discard. Use the empty tubing as a super-long drinking straw, or cut it into several flexible drinking straws of whatever length you choose. You can also separate the two tubes and make single-barreled drinking straws.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">More DIY Straw Ideas</span></h4>
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<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Cut aquarium tubing into whatever lengths you desire for your clear, flexible DIY drinking straws. Incorporate these into, for example, an undersea-themed party. Make several 2-foot to 3-foot lengths of drinking straws and place them by a punch bowl filled with light-blue colored punch and toy plastic fish so your guests can sit around the bowl with their straws directly in the punch bowl.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Use plastic, hollow coffee stirrers as drinking straws. Legions of small children have independently discovered these DIY straws already, but that's no reason you can't take advantage of their ingenuity.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Repurpose a hand-pumped soap dispenser into a drinking-straw assembly. Empty and thoroughly rinse a hand-pumped soap dispenser or hand sanitizer dispenser so that no trace of soap taste remains. Fill the dispenser with the beverage of your choice and sip from the nozzle.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Snip off the ends of licorice sticks. Serve these edible drinking straws along with fruit punch at a children's party.</span></li>
</ol>
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<figure class="Module tipsWarnings" data-module="tips-warnings" style="border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 class="Heading2 " style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 500; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="decoration" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Tips & Warnings</span></span></h2>
<ul style="border: 0px rgb(169, 169, 169); font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="tip" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="tipIcon" style="background-color: #fe7201; background-position: 0px -90px; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; float: left; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 18px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">Bamboo will grow in the southern regions of the United States. Wheat and rye will grow just about anywhere in the continental United States.</span></div>
</li>
<li class="tip" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="tipIcon" style="background-color: #fe7201; background-position: 0px -90px; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; float: left; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 18px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;">
</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">Lawn grass cut to the usual height is only long enough to form blades. After a few weeks without mowing, it will form the hollow stems characteristic of grass plants.</span></div>
</li>
<li class="tip" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="tipIcon" style="background-color: #fe7201; background-position: 0px -90px; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; float: left; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 18px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;">
</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">Aquarium tubing is similar in diameter to commercially made drinking straws. It is inexpensive and available just about anywhere pet supplies are sold.</span></div>
</li>
<li class="tip" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-top-width: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="tipIcon" style="background-color: #fe7201; background-position: 0px -90px; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 0px; float: left; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 18px; margin: 12px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;">
</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.6; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">You can purchase empty soap dispenser assemblies from craft and boutique stores and make these into drinking straws, too.</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
</figure></div>
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<section class="Module resources" data-module="references" style="border: 0px; clear: both; margin: 0px 0px 30px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><header style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h2 class="Heading2 header" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 500; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="decoration" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">References</span></span></h2>
</header><section style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><ul class="UnorderedTitleList" style="border-top-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-top-style: dotted; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://www.finegardening.com/plants/qa/grasses-rushes-sedges.aspx" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #f97a14; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Fine Gardening: Grasses, Rushes, and Sedges, Oh My!</span></a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=NBdMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=straw+botany+hollow+grain&source=bl&ots=22Ro-aQTDp&sig=bGOrOGONSi9_G3hcaNI3iz2yXy0&hl=en&ei=gHTUTOTwHs2UnAet4Z22BQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #f97a14; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">"Principles of Botany"; Joseph Young Bergen, Bradley Moore Davis; 1906</span></a></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="title" href="http://perpenduum.com/2008/01/a-brief-history-of-the-drinking-straw-part-1-from-sumer-to-stone/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(169, 169, 169); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #f97a14; cursor: pointer; display: block; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 8px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Perpenduum: A Brief History Of The Drinking Straw, Part 1: From Sumer To Stone</span></a></li>
</ul>
</section></section>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-25171568579021063792011-06-13T19:33:00.000-05:002018-05-02T19:47:28.114-05:00 How to Cook a Hamburger 1950s StyleA version of this article appeared on LIVESTRONG.com.<br />
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In the 1950s people weren't afraid of eating fat, and they didn't have nonstick pans, which weren't introduced until 1961. To cook a hamburger 1950s style, you need meat that's no less than 30 percent fat and a bare-metal surfaced pan. In the 1950s you might have cooked a hamburger in a cast-iron or aluminum skillet or heavy-duty stainless steel skillet. Some cooks used French, or non-stainless, steel, such as those used in restaurants today. Each of these produces a distinctive outer crust. Other 1950s burger styles approximated fashionable ethnic culinary ideas. MSG was a popular enhancer.</div>
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CLASSIC 1950S-STYLE HAMBURGERS</h2>
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Step 1</h3>
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Purchase ground beef that is 70 percent lean and 30 percent fat. Ask your butcher to prepare such a blend for you if it is not readily available. Alternatively, chop 5 oz. suet finely, removing any membrane. Place in blender and blend until finely chopped. Mix in a mixing bowl with 11 oz. very lean ground beef to create a hamburger mixture that is 70 percent lean and 30 percent fat.</div>
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Step 2</h3>
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Mix into the beef 1/4 tsp. MSG, which is sold as a seasoning under the brand name Ac'cent. Use a gentle touch, so as not to compress the meat any more than you can help.</div>
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Step 3</h3>
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Shape into four equal patties, each 3/4 inch thick. Do not compress meat any more than necessary.</div>
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Step 4</h3>
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Heat a bare-metal surface skillet made of cast iron, aluminum, heavy-stainless steel or blue steel until a small droplet of water sizzles immediately when dropped on the surface.</div>
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Step 5</h3>
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Sprinkle 1/4 tsp. salt over the surface of the skillet.</div>
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Step 6</h3>
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Place the patties on the skillet on top of the salt. Cook the patties on the sizzling hot skillet for four to five minutes on one side. Turn them over and cook for another four to five minutes.</div>
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SOUR CREAM OR TERIYAKI 1950S-STYLE BURGERS</h2>
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Step 1</h3>
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Purchase ground beef that is 70 percent lean and 30 percent fat. Ask your butcher to prepare such a blend for you if it is not readily available. Alternatively, chop 5 oz. suet fine, removing any membrane. Place in blender and blend until finely chopped. Mix in a mixing bowl with 11 oz. very lean ground beef to create a hamburger mixture that is 70 percent lean and 30 percent fat.</div>
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Step 2</h3>
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Mix into the beef 3/4 cup sour cream, 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, 2 tsp. dehydrated onion flakes, 3/4 tsp. salt and 3/4 cup corn flakes for sour cream burgers. Alternatively, mix into the beef breadcrumbs from one slice soft white bread; 2 tbsp. chopped onion; one egg, slightly beaten; 1 tbsp. sugar; 2 tbsp. water; 2 tbsp. soy sauce; one small clove garlic, minced; 1/8 tsp. MSG; and 1/16 tsp. ground ginger.</div>
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Step 3</h3>
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Let mixture rest 1/2 hour in the refrigerator.</div>
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Step 4</h3>
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Broil burgers 4 inches from broiler flame for five minutes. Turn them over and broil the other side for five minutes.<br />
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<section class="section" id="articleTipsAndWarnings" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h3 class="subHeader" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Arial Black", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
</h3>
<h3 class="subHeader" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Arial Black", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tips and Warnings</h3>
<ul class="mooList" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thrift shops or online collectible auction sites are good sources of period 1950s cookware. Many modern stainless steel pans are of a much thinner gauge than those made in the 1950s and may burn your hamburgers instead of cooking them properly on high heat; if you're using stainless steel, be sure it is a heavy gauge such as All-Clad makes, or a vintage pan such as a 1950s-era Revere Ware pan. Modern cast-iron pans have a rough interior that won't produce the same cooking result as the smooth interiors of pans you can still find secondhand or as collectibles. French steel, also called blue steel, is available at restaurant supply stores and online.</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MSG is a controversial food ingredient, although scientific evidence for its being a hazard have been inconclusive. Although Americans are less likely to add it to recipes today, MSG consumption has tripled since 1950 because it is added to many processed foods.</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></li>
</ul>
</section><section class="section" id="articleThingsYouNeed" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h3 class="subHeader" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Arial Black", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Things You'll Need</h3>
<ul class="mooList" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For classic 1950s-style hamburgers:</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 lb. 70 percent lean ground beef, or 11 oz. 99 percent lean ground beef and 5 oz. suet</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MSG (optional)</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Skillet</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1/4 tsp. salt</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For 1950s-style sour cream burgers:</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3/4 cup sour cream</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 tsp. dehydrated onion flakes</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3/4 tsp. salt</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3/4 cup corn flakes</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For 1950s-style teriyaki burgers:</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 lb. 70 percent lean ground beef, or 11 oz. 99 percent lean ground beef and 5 oz. suet</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 slice soft white bread, ground into crumbs in blender</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 tbsp. chopped onion</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 egg, slightly beaten</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 tbsp. sugar</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 tbsp. water</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 tbsp. soy sauce</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1 small clove garlic, minced</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1/8 tsp. MSG</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1/16 tsp. ground ginger</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></li>
</ul>
</section><section class="section lsapp_linkset link_set" data-lsapp-linkset="R7" id="articleReferences" style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><h3 class="subHeader" style="border: 0px; font-family: "Arial Black", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
References</h3>
<ul class="mooList" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/21/us/teflon-maker-out-of-frying-pan-into-fame.html" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #0088cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">"The New York Times"; Teflon: Out of Frying Pan Into Fame; William Robbins; December 21, 1986</a></li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.moscowfood.coop/archive/msg.html" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #0088cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">"Moscow Food Coop Newsletter"; MSG: For You and Me?; Pamela Lee; May 1997</a></li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Better Homes and Gardens Meat Cook Book" ; Editors of Better Homes and Gardens Books; 1959</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Joy of Cooking"; Irma S. Rombauer, et al.; various editions inc. 1952</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Anniversary Slovak-American Cook Book" ; First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association; 1952</li>
<li class="description" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Cooking for Two"; Janet McKenzie Hill et al.; 1951</li>
</ul>
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</section></section>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-46121384468489771962010-03-01T09:56:00.001-06:002018-07-01T20:52:13.315-05:00A fork in the road: 14 ways to start eating sustainably<p>A version of this article appeared in <a href="http://www.bravamagazine.com/">Brava</a> magazine, March 2010.<br />
</p><p>By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach</p><p>The journey of ten thousand miles begins with a single bite.<br />
</p><p>Many of us think we need to change the way we eat: that we should eat less processed food, less junk food, less food on the run, and maybe just plain less food.<br />
</p><p>But increasingly, it seems the entire food system could use some serious adjustment. <br />
</p><p>More and more, we’re taking notice of some troubling facts. Too much our food comes from thousands of miles away, so that it takes lavish amounts of petroleum just to get it to our plates. Too much of it is elaborately packaged, generating lots of trash. Too much of it is produced by agribusiness operating on an enormous scale, even as our own Wisconsin family farms continue to shut down. Too much of it is peppered with pesticides and herbicides, and grown in biologically “dead” soil soaked in chemical fertilizer. And too much of it comes from animals that really could be treated better.<br />
</p><p>A lot of people – many of them right here in southern Wisconsin – have been working very hard for decades to change this dismally inefficient, environmentally devastating, unhealthful shape of things. Recently, movies like <em><a href="http://www.foodincmovie.com/">Food, Inc.</a></em> and author Michael Pollan’s bestselling books, <em><a href="http://michaelpollan.com/books/in-defense-of-food/">In Defense of Food</a></em> and <em><a href="http://michaelpollan.com/books/the-omnivores-dilemma/">The Omnivore’s Dilemma</a>,</em> have brought mainstream attention to these issues. Sustainable eating, a phrase being heard more and more these days, is one popular description of the multi-featured groundswell of grassroots response by concerned eaters and growers to all these issues. <br />
</p><p>“I like to say ‘ethical eating,’” says Miriam Grunes, executive director of <a href="http://reap.org">Research, Education, Action and Policy on Food Group (REAP</a>), the Madison-based organization behind efforts like Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch, which brings locally produced food into schools, Buy Fresh Buy Local, which helps forge relationships between restaurateurs and farmers, and the Farm Fresh Atlas, which maps sustainable food producers throughout the state. “‘Ethical’ gets people thinking about all the things we’re talking about a little more quickly, like fair trade. Organic is an important issue, for instance, but it’s not the only issue.”<br />
</p><p>Here in Madison, with the <a href="http://dcfm.org/">nation’s largest farmers market</a>, world-class restaurants that make a point of pride of naming the farms that supply their ingredients, and an abundance of organic and artisanal farms, cheese makers, breweries, bakeries and more all around us, we’ve long been at the epicenter of what many see as a revolutionary movement. In September, when Michael Pollan gave a series of talks here that drew crowds of up to 5,000, he described our town as “one of the important fronts in [the] battle to change the American way of eating and growing food.”<br />
</p><p>Pretty weighty stuff.<br />
</p><p>In fact, it might seem a bit overwhelming, wondering how to start. You might worry: Is this just one more thing for me to feel guilty about not doing right? Do I have to give up my favorite foods? Can I still shop at the supermarket? Can I ever eat out? Do I have to slave for hours in the kitchen? Do I have to start a garden and get dirty? What if I don’t have time to shop at the farmers’ market – and what would I do with the weird stuff I bought there, anyway? And the expense! Will I go broke trying to live on whole, fresh, natural, locally produced food?<br />
</p><p>Relax. Breathe. That’s not what this trip is about. If you want to change the way you eat, some of the area’s sustainable food leaders have shared their insights and advice for making some tasty transitions, one forkful at a time. <br />
</p><p><strong>1.Pay attention.</strong> The first step is just to increase your awareness. Let yourself wonder all sorts of things whenever you shop or order out. Where did it come from? How did it get to you? Who handled it? How did it get to look the way it does? Could your great-grandmother have made this out of raw ingredients? Or does it look like a factory and lots of patented technology is required to make it? Where will the packaging and the scraps go after you’re done with your meal? Let your mind become accustomed to drifting along these directions. Any concrete measures you decide upon will connect naturally and easily to your train of thought.<br />
“When you go to a supermarket, don’t just go in a daze,” suggests Barbara Wright, owner of <a href="http://www.madisonatoz.com/2005/09/dardanelles.html">The Dardanelles</a> restaurant and a past president of <a href="http://www.madisonoriginals.com/">Madison Originals</a>, an association of independent restaurants. “Don’t throw things into your cart in zombie mode. Look around. You might notice, ‘Oh, those red peppers, that looks good to me.’”<br />
</p><p><strong>2. Start small, and make delicious discoveries along the way.</strong> “Don’t try to change everything overnight,” advises chef Leah Caplan, the chief food officer at <a href="http://shopmetcalfes.com/">Metcalfe’s Market</a> at Hilldale and that store’s local-food liaison. “You can start up with one meal a week using ingredients from this area. If on Wednesday night [you] usually have roasted chicken and mashed potatoes with some spinach, come to the grocery store, buy a local chicken, some local potatoes and spinach. You’ll notice a definite quality difference. <a href="http://www.madisonoriginals.com/associates/">Snug Haven</a> grows spinach year-round in hoop houses. This time of year, with the frost, it’s candy sweet. If you taste that side by side with spinach from California or South America this time of year, there’s virtually no flavor to the shipped spinach.”<br />
</p><p><strong>3. Read labels.</strong> Make it a habit not to put anything in your cart until you’ve consciously chosen to accept each ingredient. You can go a long way by choosing just two or three key offenders to avoid, without needing a chemistry degree. Try crossing these two off your shopping list: monosodium glutamate (MSG) – which adds a quality known as <em>umami,</em> or “tastiness,” but also makes you crave more food while deadening your palate – and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a highly refined substance metabolized differently from traditional sugar that’s drawing fire for possibly contributing directly to today’s obesity epidemic.<br />
</p><p><strong>4. Shop for ingredients, not meals.</strong> If you’re concerned about price, this is the best way to turn the equation around to your favor. For instance, if you take microwave-ready lunches to work, the “all-natural” equivalents will be pricier. But if you prepare meals from scratch – say, a chef’s salad, pasta salad or lasagna – you’ll be able to swap in the finest local ingredients and come out even or ahead. <br />
</p><p><strong>5. Learn to cook.</strong> Treat yourself to sturdy pans and quality knives, a cutting board you find beautiful, whatever will make it easier and more enjoyable to create your own fantastic food. “Take some lessons if you’re jazzed by that idea. Get cookbooks, if that’s what you like. There are so many great angles for getting into this,” says Terese Allen, <a href="http://www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/kitchen-pantry/terese-allen/">food editor at Organic Valley Cooperative</a>, who’s written several cookbooks celebrating the pleasures of local food, most recently co-authoring <em><a href="http://www.willystreet.coop/">The Flavor of Wisconsin</a></em>. “Give yourself permission to keep it simple. I like to think in terms of what I call repertoire dishes: an omelet, a pizza, a rice dish, a soup. I can think, ‘OK, this is pasta night,’ and any week of the year I can make a dish using seasonal ingredients. It doesn’t take that much more time to smash some cherry tomatoes in the pan and add some basil leaves, rather than serving something with added ingredients and a shelf life of thousands of years – and sometimes is not all that convenient.” <br />
</p><p><strong>6. Choose local products.</strong> Many Madison grocers identify these. Metcalfe’s has won national awards for its “Food Miles” program locating “anything within Wisconsin or in a 150-mile radius from Madison,” explains Caplan, with signs like highway markets. “For instance, <a href="http://www.capital-brewery.com/">Capital Brewer</a>y is 5 miles.” Similarly, <a href="http://www.willystreet.coop/">Williamson Street Grocery Cooperative</a> names the local farms that grow its produce and labels local items throughout the store. If your supermarket doesn’t highlight local products, talk with the manager or drop a note in the suggestion box.<br />
</p><p><strong>7. Join a CSA.</strong> Purchase a share of a farm’s annual harvest through community-supported agriculture (CSA), and you’ll get a weekly box of fruits and vegetables for nearly half the year. Some programs provide add-ons of local meat, cheese, eggs, honey and fair-trade coffee. “This food is picked within 24 hours,” says Keira Mulvey, director of <a href="http://www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/kitchen-pantry/terese-allen/">Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition</a> (MACSAC), which helps consumers and farmers find one another. “It’s the connection between you and the grower that’s important to us, You get a whole bunch of newsletters with recipes and a little bit of a deeper understanding of what’s going on at your farm, what kind of drama is going on with the animals and the machinery. You can visit and be a part of on-farm events – pesto festos, corn boils. It’s not just a farm visit; it’s a visit to the farm that’s producing food for <em>your</em> family. That’s a fun way to engage with your food.” <br />
If you don’t cook much, “you can split a share” with a friend or neighbor, Mulvey suggests. MACSAC’s cookbook, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/061523013X/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0972121781&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0NATC39051HPKFRKPEYT">From Asparagus to Zucchini</a></em>, will help you figure out what to do with that kohlrabi, or fennel, or whatever unfamiliar treasure might be in season. “The beautiful thing about CSAs is, it pushes you to try things you might not otherwise,” Grunes says.<br />
Incredibly, Physician’s Plus, Dean, Unity and GHC pay you up to $200 in cash when you present your CSA receipt. “That’s a recipe for good health,” Grunes says. Interested in learning more? Visit MACSAC’s CSA Open House March 14 at the Monona Terrace. <br />
</p><p><strong>8. Shop at farmers’ markets.</strong> A cornerstone of the local food movement, this is the place to find food diversity like you’ve never imagined and bright, fresh flavors unmatched by foods bred for long storage life and shipping hardiness. “When my sister had carrots right out of the field, she said, ‘Wow, this is a carrot, but it tastes so much better.’ Even within the simple potato, you can find a wide variety of flavors and textures. You’ll be able to find that typical Russet, but also purple, blue, fingerling, Yukon gold.” says Claire Strader, the farmer at <a href="http://troygardens.org/">Community GroundWorks</a>, an educational facility on Madison’s Northside that includes a certified organic farm producing food for a vendor stall at the <a href="http://www.northsidefarmersmarket.org/">Northside Farmers’ Market</a>, a CSA and several grocery stores. “People might not realize they can find a wide range of food,” Strader says. “Why not go shopping at the farmers’ market first and then swing by the grocery on the way home for everything you didn’t find? You can get meat, honey, eggs, milk, cheese, fish, baked goods there. You’re not going to get Pop Tarts there.”<br />
New to the scene? “Ask to go with a friend who’s familiar with that market, as a sort of tour guide. People have favorite foods and favorite vendors,” Strader says. During the growing season, there’s a market every day of the week somewhere in or near Madison. REAP’s <a href="http://wholefoodusa.wordpress.com">Farm Fresh Atlas</a>, available online and in print, will help you find one that’s convenient to you.<br />
</p><p><strong>9. Cook with friends.</strong> “If you’re working on it together and it’s kind of a social thing, it’s just so much fun,” Allen says. “I have neighbors who are in a vegetarian cooking group, and they make meals for each other. Make it a group thing!”<br />
</p><p><strong>10. Grow something to eat.</strong> “Gardening is my favorite thing to do, but it isn’t for everybody,” Grunes admits. If you want to dip a toe in, “herbs are a great way to start. You can do it in a window box. Just snip off what you need; you won’t have a whole cilantro package going bad in the fridge.” Tomatoes are fairly easy to grow, also, and the payoff is big. “A warm tomato from right out of the yard – it doesn’t get much better than that.” Or any more local.<br />
</p><p><strong>11. Visit a farm.</strong> Make an outing of it. Take the kids; go with friends. Several local farms offer “U-Pick” apples, strawberries, pumpkins and more. “I’ll take a vacation and go to Bayfield and pick blueberries with friends,” says Allen. “I may spend more money to get blueberries that way, but I’m getting so much more out of it. It’s not a dollar-for-dollar item-for-item kind of thing.” <br />
</p><p><strong>12. Patronize independent restaurants serving local food.</strong> Chuck Taylor, president of Madison Originals and owner of <a href="http://www.thebluemarlin.net/">The Blue Marlin,</a> says, “You’re supporting your neighbors” when you choose an indie eatery, especially one that makes food from scratch and deals directly with farms. “The money stays local. It’s not going to a prescribed purveyor or to buy sauces made in some group kitchen somewhere. We would like to see that money stay in the community.”<br />
But do we, as a nation eat out too much? Barbara Wright says, “If you’re eating out because you want to spend time together laughing about things, enjoying each other’s company, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, ever. Even if it’s at McDonald’s.” The problem, she says, is in “disordered eating.” She explains, “People ordering something and bolting it down while on their way to the next thing, shoveling food into their stomachs, that’s the problem.”<br />
</p><p><strong>13. Get informed.</strong> Read books like <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/0143114964/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293653597&sr=1-1">In Defense of Food</a></em> or Sally Fallon’s <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Traditions-Challenges-Politically-Dictocrats/dp/0967089735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293653625&sr=1-1">Nourishing Traditions</a>.</em> Get on the e- mailing lists of organizations like REAP and Community GroundWorks so you can take advantage of upcoming events where you can learn about and enjoy local foods, and even find volunteer opportunities.<br />
</p><p><strong>14. Have fun!</strong> “This is one of the few habits you can change that can be really, really deliciously enjoyable,” says Allen. “You don’t have to give up anything. There’s so much potential and variety in the world of food. The goal isn’t to get to 100 percent sustainable, or local, or seasonal. It’s to add that in. It’s not all or nothing. That’s not life. That’s not what this movement is about.”</p>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-47189671606871705662010-02-04T06:55:00.004-06:002010-03-02T16:01:04.370-06:00How to start eating sustainably?By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine<br /></a>March 2010<br /><br />You've heard the reasons why we need to change the way we eat. The average forkful of food travels thousands of miles from field to table, even when the eater is in the heart of farmland. Feedlot animals are crammed some 50,000 deep, devastating the environment with their waste products, while factory-style agricultural has transformed our plant food supply into what is, practically speaking, petroleum products. Meanwhile, eating locally grown foods and humanely treated, pastured animals, preparing meals from fresh, whole foods, eating at locally owned restaurants -- especially those that serve fresh, local foods themselves -- is good for local economies, good for the community, good for your health and your waistline, good for the environment, good for all the plants and animals involved.<br /><br />So how to get started? Do you have to give up your favorite foods? Do you have to plant a garden and get dirty? Is it going to be more expensive? Where do I get real food, and how hard is it to find? Do I have to learn to cook? Do I have to spend every free minute in the kitchen? Is my new food going to taste weird?<br /><br />Find out in the March 2010 <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a>.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-41714964896329203242010-01-11T07:23:00.007-06:002020-09-16T19:56:43.220-05:00The hidden face of domestic violenceBy Vesna Vuynovich Kovach
In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a>, February 2010
What kind of woman gets herself into an relationship with an abusive man, and stays even after he becomes violent? What do friends and family typically advise her as the entanglement develops? What does an abused woman look like? How prevalent is domestic abuse, and how bad does it usually get?
I was shocked by what I learned when I explored these and other questions for my article, "The hidden face of domestic violence," for the February issue of <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a>. In the article, I present the stories of three Madison-area women who tell, in their own words, how they found themselves enmeshed with intimate partners who beat, manipulated and dominated them, even as friends and family -- and even a university dean, in one woman's case -- saw only the charismatic, assertive men who presented a positive front to the outside world.
To learn more about how domestic violence develops and how you can keep it from happening to you -- or your daughter -- visit <a href="http://www.abuseintervention.org/">DAIS</a> (Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, a Dane County, Wis. nonprofit) or the <a href="http://www.endabuse.org/">Family Violence Prevention Fund</a>.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-74398608339013716412009-05-01T15:25:00.008-05:002010-01-12T10:09:18.198-06:00Growing Strong<span style="font-weight: bold;">Claire Strader, farmer-about-town, brings organic agriculture into the heart of the city</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32MCnP45ssPfy7FzOjERATT7HFjJU8fwiU7-f-kaVLVnCpcJNtzBsxTCsN9Dx-Y2WW420klbk3yPQyhOo24ejG0rt4M2-r4taI8g1AZ_uzvSF9roVf68gG5fy2R6Yb4Mmxf0Wha8PLnr5/s1600-h/2009-09-23+005.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32MCnP45ssPfy7FzOjERATT7HFjJU8fwiU7-f-kaVLVnCpcJNtzBsxTCsN9Dx-Y2WW420klbk3yPQyhOo24ejG0rt4M2-r4taI8g1AZ_uzvSF9roVf68gG5fy2R6Yb4Mmxf0Wha8PLnr5/s400/2009-09-23+005.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425289770355301298" border="0" /></a><br />By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />Around the Table<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">This unpublished article was scheduled to appear in the May 2009 issue of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, which suspended publication for several months in 2009 when it changed ownership.</span><br /><br />Related recipe: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/05/spinach-salad.html">Spinach Salad</a><br /><br />Urban vegetable gardens are tucked away in backyards everywhere. But an entire certified organic working farm right in town? That’s a lush surprise.<br /><br />Welcome to <a href="http://www.troygardens.org/">Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens</a>, a 31-acre site on Madison’s Northside. The five-acre farm produces “well over a hundred varieties of fifty different vegetables,” says farm manager Claire Strader. The farm is just one program among many in this unique organization. “There’s no other development in the entire country that combines farming with community gardening, with prairie and woodland nature restoration, with kids’ gardening, and all the educational programming that’s part of each of those areas, with housing,” Claire says.<br /><br />It was 2001 when Claire rolled up her sleeves, worked with volunteers to clear the land, and planted “some squash, potatoes and tomatoes.” Today the farm generates about $100,000 annually through sales of sprouts and herbs at local groceries, a farm stand that operates Thursdays May through October 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. on the 500 block of Troy Drive, and CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) shares, whereby members receive a weekly box of bounty throughout the harvest season. All 120 shares for 2009 have been sold out since early spring.<br /><br />Claire gained national attention earlier this year when a farming couple in Illinois launched a <a href="http://whitehousefarmer.com/?page_id=119">competition </a>for nominees for the position of “White House Farmer,” in the hopes that the administration would respond to urgings from the sustainable agriculture movement to till up at least a bit of the 18 acres of manicured lawn surrounding the presidential manse. Out of more than 56,000 votes cast for 111 candidates, nearly one in five went to Claire. She won handily.<br /><br />VVK: What does your victory mean to you?<br /><br />CS: It was very exciting while it was happening. I think it’s not so much about me as about this community. In south central Wisconsin, we’re tuned into, we care about the local agriculture movement. When this idea was put in front of people, they got in touch with their friends around the country, around the world, and said, vote for this person – she grows food here. Will Allen [of <a href="http://www.growingpower.org/">Growing Power Inc.</a>], who came in fourth place, he’s from Milwaukee.<br /><br />VVK: What happens now?<br /><br />CS: The <a href="http://whitehousefarmer.com/">whitehousefarm.com</a> group is still working on a packet to send the administration. The Obamas have put a garden in, but I haven’t heard anything about a farm or a farmer.<br /><br />VVK: How did you get into farming?<br /><br />CS: I started out studying biology and genetics, then switched to philosophy and women’s studies. I wanted to think more carefully about how I exist in the world – building shelter, making clothes, growing food. I thought the best way to learn would be to go work for an organic farmer. I worked for a farm run by man and his wife the summer I graduated from Wellesley. He was great. I loved working for him.<br /><br />VVK: What brought you to Wisconsin?<br /><br />CS: I sought out a farm run by women. I wanted to learn everything – to run the Rototiller, to fix things – regardless of my gender. I found <a href="http://lunacirclefarm.net/">Luna Circle</a>, which was then in Gays Mills, and was there four years. We built a straw bale house, dug a well, lived off the grid. Later I went to UC-Santa Cruz for an apprenticeship in ecological horticulture and learned new things, beekeeping, orcharding. I decided that I wanted to work for a nonprofit, to do farming and education. I sent applications all over the country, and wound up becoming Troy Garden’s first employee.<br /><br />VVK: It seems unusual, traditionally, for a woman to be a farmer.<br /><br />CS: One of the things we learn in women’s studies is that agriculture across the world, historically, has been the domain of women when it’s on a small scale. For their own use, or for small-scale selling. I feel like women are a natural fit in this world of small-scale agricultural production, with organics and sustainable agriculture. Men not excluded – there are plenty of men here and across the world involved in it.<br /><br />VVK: I noticed that women were the top three vote-getters – 40% of all votes cast – in the competition for White House Farmer nominees.<br /><br />CS: For me, that does fit in. Also, none of us are traditional family farmers who own a farm. We’re all associated with education and broader mission statements. For me that makes sense as well.<br /><br />VVK: How is the farm, and your job as a farmer, influenced by being part of Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens?<br /><br />CS: I’m not just the farmer, I’m also project coordinator. In the winter my job changes and becomes more internal to our organization -- writing grants, raising money. It’s hard for family farmers to devote a lot of time to education. Fewer farmers are offering internship programs; more are just hiring employees. Because of the nonprofit, we have the opportunity to do that. I really like training future farmers.<br /><br />VVK: How is the current economic climate affecting the organization?<br /><br />CS: Our programs are very strong, like the <a href="http://www.troygardens.org/kidsgarden.html">Kids’ Garden</a>, things people see. It’s much harder for us to raise money for the salaries, the administration. This is true generally for nonprofits, but these days that piece of our organization is being much harder hit.<br /><br />VVK: What’s the most challenging part of your job?<br /><br />CS: Worrying constantly about the financial stability of the organization as a whole. We rely on individual contributions. It’s a lot lot of work to get the word out and solicit contributions, especially right now, for obvious reasons. I work really hard, and it’s tough to worry about financial things on top of all that.<br /><br />VVK: Do you live nearby?<br /><br />CS: I’m about a mile from the farm. I have a garden at home.<br /><br />VVK: What! You farm all day, and then you garden when you get home?<br /><br />CS: My partner, Sarah, pushed for it. We really like having food outside our back door. We have about 12 fruit trees and 40 asparagus plants. I’m experimenting with strawberries and raspberries. We’re ripping out the front yard for more dry beans. We’re committed to not buying any vegetables. Sarah is a woodworker and our next project is to build a solar food dehydrator for leeks, tomatoes, broccoli, all kinds of things.<br /><br />VVK: What’s your favorite crop to grow?<br /><br />CS: Carrots. They’re delicious, they store well, you can get lots of different colors, you can eat them raw or cooked. And they’re not easy to grow. They’re difficult to germinate, and it’s not easy to give them what they need to get that shape. I like that I keep learning.<br /><br />VVK: How about the toughest crop?<br /><br />CS: Corn is really hard for me. I have a lot of luck with popcorn, but sweet corn...! There are insect pests that are very difficult to deal with. I keep trying.<br /><br />VVK: What projects are you working on now at the farm?<br /><br />CS: We’re raising money for a passive solar greenhouse. We’re partnering with the UW for their first hands-on organic agriculture class ever at our land-grant university; students will work at the farm. We have lots of applications for our intern positions, including people who want to come back for another year, people from Michigan and Illinois, and even an applicant from France.<br /><br />It’s a small farm in the scope of things. I’m honored and proud that there are so many people who hear about it and want to be involved.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more.</span><br /><p></p><p></p>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-5674393066717757862009-05-01T13:00:00.002-05:002018-07-01T20:49:44.587-05:00Spinach SaladBy Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />
Around the Table<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;">This unpublished article was scheduled to appear in the May 2009 issue of </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, which suspended publication for several months in 2009 when it changed ownership.</span><br />
<br />
Related article: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/05/growing-strong.html">Growing Strong: Claire Strader, farmer-about-town, brings organic agriculture into the heart of the city</a><br />
<br />
Field-fresh spinach is intense with spring flavor and abundant right now at a farmers’ market near you. If you’re only familiar with the frozen and canned stuff, or even with the bags of wan, imported leaves found on the produce aisle, you must experience this local treasure.<br />
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“Do not discard the stems!” Claire says. “Taste them. They are the sweetest part of the plant. Be sure to include them.”<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Spinach Salad<br />
</span><br />
6 to 8 ounces local spinach<br />
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil<br />
1 onion, sliced into thin half-moons<br />
2 to 4 ounces feta cheese<br />
many kalamata olives, pitted<br />
<br />
Wash spinach. Rip into bite-sized pieces.<br />
<br />
Saute onions in the olive oil until translucent. Pour the onions and the small pool of hot olive oil over the fresh spinach. Top with crumbled feta cheese and kalamata olives. Toss lightly so the spinach wilts just slightly. Serves one for a meal or more as a side dish.<br />
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<p></p><p></p>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-41117867418640741862009-04-01T08:08:00.006-05:002010-01-12T10:07:54.441-06:00Sweet Love<span style="font-weight: bold;">Based in the strength and wisdom of kith and kin, up-and-coming pastry chef Sally Jarrett whips up witty treats and comfort sweets at Restaurant Magnus</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9N1kyOJG-9JXTat7-ABjeVK8I0OURKGWqBd0EzCvV5YxUm6xVE9BjHTwm93z6duDjrNOvKhCjsW8Sezgz1etZve3L64RnRhhzTZcbkuDHvJoMerhI4ml3HoXp-w2TgQC6pRejNHkyw4m3/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 512px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9N1kyOJG-9JXTat7-ABjeVK8I0OURKGWqBd0EzCvV5YxUm6xVE9BjHTwm93z6duDjrNOvKhCjsW8Sezgz1etZve3L64RnRhhzTZcbkuDHvJoMerhI4ml3HoXp-w2TgQC6pRejNHkyw4m3/s400/paragraphs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425122762007357378" border="0" /></a>By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />Around the Table<br />in <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />April 2009<br /><br />Related recipe: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/04/sallys-moms-new-york-cheesecake.html">Sally's Mom's New York Cheesecake</a><br /><br />“You can put a steak in a 500 degree oven and it will be done twice as fast, but a cake will not bake faster,” says Sally Jarrett, pastry chef at downtown’s esteemed <a href="http://www.restaurantmagnus.com/">Restaurant Magnus</a>.<br /><br />That’s the simple answer to something that’s always perplexed me: why is it that, on cooking competitions like TV’s <a href="http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef">Top Chef</a>, contestants get most flustered about dessert?<br /><br />But Sally likes a challenge. As a culinary arts student at <a href="http://matcmadison.edu/">MATC</a>, she found herself responsible for the dessert in a team cooking competition at the annual <a href="http://www.wirestaurant.org/expo/">Wisconsin Restaurant Expo</a>. “We won first place. [It] made me realize that desserts were going to be a significant part of my life from then on.”<br /><br />Now, at just 22, Sally is responsible for making the dizzying array of sophisticated sweet treats always available at Magnus, including an extensive dessert menu that evolves with the seasons, plus a steady, sparkling cascade of specials.<br /><br />VVK: What are some of your favorite creations?<br /><br />SJ: Empanadas are a savory dish; I twisted it around and made caramel-apple empanadas with candied pecans and a spicy cider syrup. Chef Leo [Leonardo Guevara] helped me out a lot with finding a puff-pastry dough that would work with the way I envisioned it the dish. Some were too dry and hard to roll out, or hard to shape around the apples. It was challenging, but worth it.<br /><br />There are so many things you can do with simple ideas, too. Like a cheesecake. Right now we have lemon blueberry, peanut butter with chocolate crust and pineapple rum. All different variations on my mother’s recipe.<br /><br />VVK: Is she sort of your unofficial off-site collaborator?<br /><br />SJ: We call each other all the time and share recipes. We’re always trying new things and bouncing ideas off each other. We’re best friends, especially now that I work at Magnus. She helps me with so many little details, I don’t even know.<br /><br />The first time somebody ordered a personal wedding cake, I’d never made and iced a layer cake before! Mom talked me through it. I had the phone on my shoulder, and she told me how to run the spatula in hot water to make the icing smooth, how to to put the layers together with dowels.<br /><br />VVK: Did she influence your career choice?<br /><br />SJ: She was a stay-at-home mom, always cooking and baking, making jams and jellies. She got the kids involved – peeling vegetables, helping with cookies. Mom always had a huge garden. I remember peeling a lot of apples at the end of every summer. Later she got a job at a bakery and I waitressed there and did a little bit of prep cooking. My mother taught me to work really hard, be responsible, take action, but I didn’t think food would be my career.<br /><br />I went to the UW-Madison for a year, then transferred to MATC, where I found the culinary arts program. It was so different from anything at the UW, and I’ve always been a hands-on learner. I discovered that I had a huge passion for food that I didn’t know about.<br /><br />VVK: Who else has influenced you?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51fFo7sCramS0uIFjkw9e7zLdtmxNPlQ6TcwgvILTO7eQs-FHmUlsOeAYY7DdzD7bh7DpjVHErg2G1hG4WzT9g3QMz7KFGw07D0wVEGd96-gJn5-i0JsFOGju2S90WYwcP9Stoxx_QjYI/s1600-h/graphic.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51fFo7sCramS0uIFjkw9e7zLdtmxNPlQ6TcwgvILTO7eQs-FHmUlsOeAYY7DdzD7bh7DpjVHErg2G1hG4WzT9g3QMz7KFGw07D0wVEGd96-gJn5-i0JsFOGju2S90WYwcP9Stoxx_QjYI/s400/graphic.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425122764161450578" border="0" /></a>SJ: My boyfriend, Darren, whom I met in the culinary program and work with at Magnus. We bounce ideas off each other, and he’s a huge help in keeping me grounded. I think that having my significant other at work -- such a stressful environment -- makes it much easier to relate to each other. We know what each other goes through. I think that makes it easier to be more sympathetic and understanding towards challenges that we face.<br /><br />VVK: What lessons have you learned in your work?<br /><br />SJ: Simple is better. This Valentine’s weekend, when we were really, really busy, I made a cute little arty dessert, very intricate and complicated. It looked like sushi. I made a chocolate dough and rolled it out. I filled it with jasmine rice pudding and tropical fruit dyed purple with hibiscus. I served it with kiwi sauce, like the green wasabi that’s served with sushi. It didn’t sell. The other special that weekend was a warm chocolate cake with peanut butter ice cream. We sold a lot of that!<br /><br />VVK: What’s your favorite thing about your job?<br /><br />SJ: Chef Leo has given me so much freedom to experiment. He’ll order any product I need for the specials I want to do. And he’ll let me fail. My first night, I made a batch of sponge cakes. I didn’t know you have to take them right out of the pan, or they keep cooking. They shrank to half their size! He just said, “You see, you should ask more questions. Well, can you do it again?” I said, “Yes, Chef!” and made another batch that night.<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-88163145346796752752009-04-01T06:32:00.000-05:002010-01-10T09:46:44.987-06:00Sally’s Mom’s New York CheesecakeAround the Table<br />By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />in <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine<br /></a>April 2009<br /><br />Related article: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/04/sweet-love.html">Sweet Love: Based in the strength and wisdom of kith and kin, up-and-coming pastry chef Sally Jarrett whips up witty treats and comfort sweets at Restaurant Magnus</a><br /><br />Sally’s mom, Sarah Jarrett tweaked this recipe for years, not knowing it would someday end up on the tables at one of Madison’s finest dining spots. “It’s something everyone can do at their own home, and a good base for flavorings,” says Sally. She recommends the sweet potato variation --“It was a good seller” -- for “a wonderful, earthy flavor.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sally’s Mom’s New York Cheesecake</span><br /><br />Crust<br />2 cups graham cracker crumbs<br />1/3 cup sugar<br />pinch salt<br />8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted<br /><br />Butter bottom and sides of a springform pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Mix together dry ingredients. Add melted butter and mix until incorporated. Press into bottom of pan.<br /><br />2 pounds cream cheese, softened<br />3/4 cup sugar<br />2 tablespoons cornstarch<br />2 eggs, plus 1 yolk<br />1 tablespoon vanilla extract<br />1 cup sour cream<br />1/4 tsp salt<br /><br />Mix cream cheese smooth with stand or handheld mixer. Stir together cornstarch and sugar. Pour into cream cheese mixture. Mix until well incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, mixing each in well. Add vanilla, salt and sour cream. Mix just until incorporated. Pour over crust. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 F until a toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. To prevent cracking on top, try not to overbeat or overbake, and loosen the edges as soon as you remove it from the oven. “Definitely don't eat it until it's been refrigerated for at least six hours, preferably overnight,” says Sally.<br /><br />Variations:<br />Lemon: Add zest and juice from three whole lemons along with sugar and cornstarch.<br />Sweet Potato: Reduce cream cheese to 1 1/2 pounds. Substitute half the white sugar for brown sugar. Add 3 cups cooked, pureed sweet potato.<p></p><p><br /></p>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-77936934843243903822009-03-01T20:44:00.003-06:002010-01-12T10:09:54.945-06:00Ale Asylum’s Hathaway Dilba<span style="font-weight: bold;">This microbrewery partner gets the beer out the door</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UAmBdPcrOX3TYOSWBmYR2GZTdsZUWERzyyDE6f35fnLzi6Qim65jzXowkb6CZsYzbiWiZI53HiVbdhyphenhyphenn9uAWZJ7ViYNATUsP-xZ7FisNd6mlHqoTtotwlRU-82aCxyh-XiNYZo3nIbAC/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UAmBdPcrOX3TYOSWBmYR2GZTdsZUWERzyyDE6f35fnLzi6Qim65jzXowkb6CZsYzbiWiZI53HiVbdhyphenhyphenn9uAWZJ7ViYNATUsP-xZ7FisNd6mlHqoTtotwlRU-82aCxyh-XiNYZo3nIbAC/s400/paragraphs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424939915651968466" border="0" /></a>By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />in <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />March 2009<br /><br />Related recipe: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/03/south-of-porter-chocolate-cake.html">South of the Porter Chocolate Cake</a><br /><br />In the spring of 2006, a sign reading “Ale Asylum” sprouted in the front yard of one of the low-slung buildings scattered amidst the airfields and shipping depots along the broad corridor of Stoughton Road leading north of town towards the interstate. A brand-new microbrewery and table-service deli was open for business.<br /><br />The four friends planting their life savings in the endeavor knew they were entering a field as crowded as their surroundings were sparse – craft brewing businesses are legion in this part of the Midwest. Now, scarcely three years later, <a href="http://aleasylum.com/">Ale Asylum</a> has become a formidable presence on the local microbrew scene: omnipresent at summer festivals, available in bottles at close to 125 stores and on tap at more than 80 bars and restaurants, all the while serving up booming business at the cozy tap room and eatery onsite.<br /><br />Hathaway Dilba, originally a fashion designer (her line of custom coats, Volante, was featured in this magazine’s premiere issue in 2002) and later a fitness instructor, is one of the Ale Asylum’s four partners, along with brewmaster Dean Coffey, Glenn Schultz and Hathaway’s husband, Otto, a graphic artist.<br /><br />“I had total faith in our product. I had faith in every part of my body,” says Hathaway (friends call her Hath), “but still it surprised me how fast we took off.”<br /><br />VVK: What’s the secret to your success?<br /><br />HD: A lot of it is Dean. He won many awards at Angelic, and he had a following. Glenn plays a significant role. He’s part of our sales force, he’s our face at festivals, he’s brought in other investors and he’s an amazing handyman.<br /><br />Our name is a huge factor. People say, “Did you just say … ‘asylum’?” And alphabetically, our beers will appear at the top of lists at bars.<br /><br />VVK: All your names and branding elements are powerful and catchy – Big Slick Stout, Ambergeddon – with strong logos. Who does that?<br /><br />HD: Otto is is my hero because he can run the business operations and come up with our branding and creative work as well. He was assistant brand manager at Planet Propaganda. One could say that he has the perfect combo of right and left brain.<br /><br />Everything we do, names and labels, have to get approved by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. We had trouble with our slogan, “Fermented in sanity.” We had to point out that it said, “sanity,” not “insanity.” We wanted to name a porter “Disporterly Conduct,”and use handcuffs in the logo. They said no. But our Ambergeddon logo has guns, and that got passed. A lot of our artwork is controversial.<br /><br />VVK: What do you do?<br /><br />HD: Event planning, marketing, cooking and working for events. I love working on the bottling line. The camaraderie of it. It’s kind of like diapering your baby; you want to do it yourself. And you have to move pretty fast! I like putting the bottles in the boxes and seeing them put on the truck. It’s the end result of so many people’s work. I don’t ever want to take it for granted.<br /><br />I’m not involved in the chemistry, which is very complicated. The bottling line is the way I can be involved. I love it. Being the only woman back there, it’s fun. I’ll cook at home and bring in lunch for the crew, or muffins. They call me “Mama Bear.”<br /><br />VVK: How come no full-service restaurant?<br /><br />HD: All the years my husband worked in the restaurant industry, he learned what a pain in the butt a hot kitchen is. He said, “You know what? Let’s just have a pizza oven and a deli.” Saves a lot of money in insurance, too. We figured keeping our restaurant simple was a really smart move, so we could focus on getting the beer out the door.<br /><br />VVK: Have you won any awards?<br /><br />HD: We’ve won a variety of best-of-show awards at area beer festivals. We won a bronze for Madison Magazine’s Best of Madison brewpub in 2007 and 2008, even though we’re technically not a brewpub. We’re a microbrewery.<br /><br />VVK: What’s the difference?<br /><br />HD: Even though Ale Asylum has a bar/deli as part of our business structure, the majority of our sales occur offsite, from beer distributed to area bars and liquor stores in the form of kegs and cases.<br /><br />VVK: How much beer do you guys make?<br /><br />HD: About 375 barrels a month. We go through about 40 of those in the tap room. One barrel equals 2 kegs [125 pint glasses each] of beer. We produce around 65,000 bottles per month. We have about 10 people on staff.<br /><br />VVK: What’s your most popular beer?<br /><br />HD: Hopalicious, an American pale ale. It’s bold in hop flavor without being bitter, which makes it a great beer for experienced drinkers and novices alike. Across the Midwest there’s been a dramatic increase in demand for hoppy beers.<br /><br />VVK: What’s your personal favorite?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92yq7cJIhczZ_0Aveaytz-U13mNs23A9Kz8nASaa9sBsFxzIJmDl2IhD3Z6XV-S9tj9z0fOmGJIvyg6Q0TFO0mQyJnsSPPQ3_-TSiLFg-R1LSQEnlIHrdCP2SS_5da9rkMURahw11Lg43/s1600-h/archiveGraphic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 112px; height: 152px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92yq7cJIhczZ_0Aveaytz-U13mNs23A9Kz8nASaa9sBsFxzIJmDl2IhD3Z6XV-S9tj9z0fOmGJIvyg6Q0TFO0mQyJnsSPPQ3_-TSiLFg-R1LSQEnlIHrdCP2SS_5da9rkMURahw11Lg43/s400/archiveGraphic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424940316942579586" border="0" /></a>HD: I love our Sticky McDoogle Scotch Ale. It’s just fun. It’s got a little kick to it. it’s smooth, and for me it’s got a little curtain of caramel in it. Very popular with women. We supplied the beer for the Arthritis Foundation, a nonprofit gig. There were mostly women there, and the Scotch ale went so fast I had to order more from the brewery.<br /><br />I love the Hatha-Weizen. I love the citrus note – it’s not in your face; it’s not too tart. It goes with everything. My favorite thing is to drink it on the beer patio the first warm night.<br /><br />VVK: That’s named after you – a play on “hefeweizen,” or wheat beer, right?<br /><br />HD: I feel very honored because my husband named a beer after me. I’m both touched and excited because that is my all time favorite beer that Dean makes. I'd be lying if I didn't say that it’s my favorite name.<br /><br />VVK: Do you ever miss the fashion business?<br /><br />HD: Fashion always played a special part of my life, and I have deep respect for the industry. I still follow it. But I don’t miss working in the business. It wasn’t the correct template for me. I’m glad I did it, though, because I never would’ve known.<br /><br />VVK: Tell me about your involvements outside the Ale Asylum.<br /><br />HD: I do philanthropy on the side, which I really enjoy. I’m involved in a group called Womenade of Madison that holds events supporting different organizations that are not so well known. At the Children’s Theater of Madison, I chair the education committee and am the board secretary. I was just invited to join the executive committee of A Fund for Women, and my first gut reaction was, oh my gosh, what a fantastic honor.<br /><br />I go crazy unless I have projects and a lot of stuff to do. I start to have an identity crisis.<br /><br />VVK: Have you always been a craft beer fan?<br /><br />HD: I’m a novice, kind of a beginner beer geek. I’m not on the brewers’ guild like Dean and Glenn. When people are discussing beer while they’re drinking it, I like hearing it. My favorite thing is sitting in our bar and watching someone sip our beer and watching a smile come over their face. I like that moment.<br /><br />I love listening to Dean talk about beers. When he has a beer out, it’s such a special moment. He’s so passionate about what he does – I get excited when he’s excited. If he’s talking to a beer-geek friend, he’ll talk in complexities. To me, he’ll tone it down. He’s really good that way.<br /><br />VVK: What’s the atmosphere at your place?<br /><br />HD: A biker once told us, “I love the décor – it’s like a martini bar, but with balls!” I call it industrial chic. It’s a diverse customer base. One night I saw a motorcycle dude sitting next to a business dude next to somebody who could have been a punk rocker, with tattoos up and down their arm. Older married couples will pop in for a night cap. We have a lot of Air Force guys coming in off duty. They love flying over the place – their landing strip is very close to us. They’ll do wing tips and stuff like that for us when they fly over.<br /><br />We don’t have TVs. We’re very proud of that. We get killed on Packer Sundays and Badger Saturdays. But we don’t want people just staring at a TV. We want there to be discussion, conversations, like the bars of yesterday.<br /><br />VVK: Might you expand into more locations?<br /><br />HD: Right now, no. It would really take away from our focus.<br /><br />VVK: So what’s next for Ale Asylum?<br /><br />HD: We’re thinking about putting up our own grain silo this summer. That will look cool to the pilots when they fly overhead!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more.</span>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-4898353310768404472009-03-01T20:39:00.001-06:002010-01-09T20:49:12.769-06:00South of the Porter Chocolate CakeAround the Table<br />By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />in <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />March 2009<br /><br />Related article: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/03/ale-asylums-hathaway-dilba.html">Ale Asylum’s Hathaway Dilba: This microbrewery partner gets the beer out the door</a><br /><br />“What I like best about this cake is the actual process of making it. It’s easy and relaxing,“ Hath says. “Porter adds a velvety richness that pairs well with the chocolate and spices.”<br /><br />2 cups sugar<br />1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour<br />3/4 cup cocoa powder<br />1 1/2 tsp baking powder<br />1 1/2 tsp baking soda<br />1 teaspoon salt<br />1 teaspoon cinnamon<br />1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper<br />2 eggs<br />1 cup milk<br />1/2 cup vegetable oil<br />2 teaspoons vanilla extract<br />1 cup Contorter Porter, heated just to a slow boil<br />1/3 cup powdered sugar<br /><br />Grease and flour a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Heat porter over medium high heat, removing from heat as soon as it comes to a slow boil. “The trick is to do it slowly and to keep an eye on it. Otherwise you'll have big mess on your hands when it boils over,” warns Hath.<br /><br />Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ground cayenne in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Stir in porter. Batter may be thin. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35–40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely by placing pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, shake powdered sugar over top.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-68952523419925911242009-02-01T20:19:00.004-06:002010-01-12T10:10:56.110-06:00The Education of Anne<span style="font-weight: bold;">How a school principal from Sheboygan learned to cook Sicilian – and run a restaurant</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7cWvtqb1kgCJkOQlx68ef13llRuG9AMykRTRc3FFcCjUWYgdzO4YH8gV2s5pamFMBkkhTT_rMBAVl867jwFsLXoSVQcPW860YpuCB-ioazyfCzukKHgr-Hs82Sohe7HB9qRTn2HRvKxG/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7cWvtqb1kgCJkOQlx68ef13llRuG9AMykRTRc3FFcCjUWYgdzO4YH8gV2s5pamFMBkkhTT_rMBAVl867jwFsLXoSVQcPW860YpuCB-ioazyfCzukKHgr-Hs82Sohe7HB9qRTn2HRvKxG/s400/paragraphs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424933035689000626" border="0" /></a>By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />February 2009<br />Column: Around the Table<br /><br />Related recipe: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/02/rigatoni-mare-monti.html">Rigatoni Mare Monti</a><br /><br /><p>“We are not just following a recipe. We are articulating a family heritage,” says Anne Nause, who does nearly all the from-scratch Sicilian cooking at her restaurant, Sole Sapori, on Mount Horeb’s Main Street, where “the core recipes come from family traditions.” She explains, “Food traditions [within] any culture are similar,” but “they take on the flavor personality of the people who create them. That’s what sets us apart.”<br /><br />Anne cares so strongly about continuing the culinary legacy of this family that she left her lifelong career in education – with a Master’s in education, she had long been a school principal and was working at a central office level, pursuing certification as a director of curriculum when she bought the restaurant in 2003 – to devote her professional life to this cause.<br /><br />But what makes this all the more unusual is that, in the case of this particular German-Norwegian native of Sheboygan, the family in question is not her own.<br /><br />VVK: How did you first get involved with the restaurant?<br /><br />AN: My youngest daughter, Maddy, was waitressing for the Vitales [Sam and Celina Vitale, who founded Sole e Sapori, its previous name, in the 1980s]. She was a gymnast and needed a sub for her shift. She couldn’t find anyone to work for her, so she asked me if I could do it. Since I had never waitressed I was a bit apprehensive. I went with her one night and she showed me around before my big debut. All went well and I was surprised to have people actually give me cash! What a riot – all you have to do is give them food and you get cash. I was hooked. I subbed for her all through her gymnastics season and even picked up my own shift when another waitress quit.<br /><br />VVK: To go from pinch-hitting and part-timing to switching careers – that’s quite a leap. How did it happen?<br /><br />AN: I decided to become a restaurateur because I could see the potential in the restaurant and did not want it to close. It was that simple. Albeit capricious.<br /><br />Celina frequently asked me if I would like to buy the restaurant, but I was passionate about staying in education. It wasn’t until many months later, after Celina and I became quite close, that I heard her speaking to her family in Sicily. Although I didn’t speak a lick of Italian, I knew she was planning to move back. I asked her [about it]. “Ya, ya,” she said, “I go.” I said, “What about the restaurant?” She replied, “I close.”<br /><br />When you live in a small town it’s heartbreaking to see things close. [Back home] there had been a restaurant we used to frequent. When it changed hands the new owners changed the restaurant and it subsequently closed. I just didn’t want to see that happen in Mount Horeb.<br /><br />VVK: What was your training like?<br /><br />AN: I asked Celina how long it would take me to learn everything. She said, “Two weeks. First week I cook, you watch. Second week you cook, I watch” Brushing her hands, she declared, “Done.” Sam and Celina are brilliant. They set up the recipes in a way that made it possible for one person to cook for the entire restaurant without skipping a beat. I would attribute the distinctive flavors of the core Sole recipes to a set of consistent ingredients. To say much more would be letting out the big secret of what is behind the sauces.<br /><br />In my first week, I watched and took notes. It was literally hands on. That’s the measurement system we used: hands, spoons, “glugs,” some, a little. I was just relieved to find out [Celina and I] had the same size hands!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmQ0wewmbBhFOKUkR8t6RYYvC2c5wVMBh2ipwbngPbewXj8s3KHpT0e9sLZvO8WIQKcoLZY-s6lBv3M2N40LWo-mvYbRbR3AT2R6AjTPOepm3w8YYgtpoHSWFS_LVgt1RGhvDKwODcBPj/s1600-h/graphic.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmQ0wewmbBhFOKUkR8t6RYYvC2c5wVMBh2ipwbngPbewXj8s3KHpT0e9sLZvO8WIQKcoLZY-s6lBv3M2N40LWo-mvYbRbR3AT2R6AjTPOepm3w8YYgtpoHSWFS_LVgt1RGhvDKwODcBPj/s400/graphic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424933038893602162" border="0" /></a>VVK: How is the Vitale way different from the cooking you knew before? How has your relationship with food transformed?<br /><br />AN: In my life growing up, I was introduced to lavish-ingredient, multi-course cooking that would take a whole day to prepare. My mom and grandmother were incredible cooks and dinner was a major event while I was growing up. I used to think great food had to take forever to make, and if it didn’t come from James Beard or Julia Child it just wouldn’t be good enough.<br /><br />I’ve always loved to cook, to eat and to interact with food in general. The Vitales introduced me to a whole new way of thinking. Now, I have a hard time following a recipe without translating it into something new. I can look at an ingredient, picture, or recipe and integrate it into something uniquely my own. Cooking is freeing and expressive.<br /><br />VVK: Have you added your own touches to the menu?<br /><br />AN: Some modifications and additions. Some were experiments that were so delicious we had to keep them on the menu. So far we have been very fortunate – our regulars are thrilled with the maintenance of the original recipes and excited about the addition of the new.<br /><br />We make our own garlic crisp crackers for our homemade dips, all inventions of mine. A weekend special I make which people are clamoring to have added to the menu is a chicken sun-dried tomato and roasted garlic lasagna with béchamel sauce. Also just put together a clam and mussel dish – we call it Crostaceo alla Pomodoro – that’s fresh mussels and clams with chopped tomatoes in a spicy garlic wine sauce. It’s beautiful, with the clams and mussels in their shells. Today I’m experimenting with a panettone layer cake with almond paste and a light cherry flavoring in the cream layer. I just like to play around with food.<br /><br />VVK: You’ve done a lot with the interior, too.<br /><br />AN: I definitely wanted the rooms to stay rustic – no straight walls, lots of texture, rich colors for the front room. The back room is more of an indoor “garden room” – lots of windows, lots of plants. The second remodel added space that was formerly vacant, unheated, storage area. We made a small, private dining room with leather-like finish on the walls – dark and intimate, deep merlot with a dark brown frottage finish, with large, dark, wooden tables. We added a lounge with a fireplace and small bar. For the larger banquet room I wanted an Old New York speakeasy feel, cream, espresso, black and white.<br /><br />VVK: How do you like being a business person?<br /><br />AN: I think my enthusiasm and love of the place really does translate to the overall experience. How other people feel about the place – as long as I’m not losing money – is far more important to me than making piles of money and feeling like I’m taking a short cut. Five years ago Sole was predominantly a pizza and spaghetti carry-out business. Now most of our business is dine-in. It’s a place where couples go, where friends like to meet. I’ve even had a few proposals and one small wedding.<br /><br />When the business was small, it was a piece of cake. It’s time to find someone who can take on some of the load. As it is, there is not a single moment in my awake time – unless you count showering – that I’m not working. Accounting, bills, remodeling, cook planning, party planning, ordering inventory, putting inventory away. I do 100% of the prep work: bread, meat sauce, marinara, tiramisu, specialty desserts, appetizers, pizza dough, and pizza sauce. Currently, I also do all the cooking. Name it, I do it. I’m looking for help, so if you know of anyone, call me.<br /><br />VVK: What are the biggest difference between your old career and your new one? What do you miss?<br /><br />AN: I was passionate about education, versus being excited about the restaurant. I miss the feeling that what I’m doing on a daily basis is needed and important to the world. I am glad to leave behind the feeling that I can never do enough to change the world for some children.<br /><br />As a principal, you’re middle management and it can be frustrating. At the restaurant, it is mine. My ideas, my work, my success or failure. I like being able to have an idea and see it to fruition, or modify it as I see fit.<br /><br />VVK What do you love most about what you do?<br /><br />AN: When people go out of their way to tell us how delicious the food is. How surprised they are when they walk down the long hall and are transported to another place, another time and it’s both beautiful and delicious. I love to know that people really appreciate the handcrafted goodness that makes Sole unique.</p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more.</span></p>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-59301420762143457322009-02-01T20:10:00.003-06:002010-01-09T20:33:32.665-06:00Rigatoni Mare MontiBy Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />Around the Table<br />in <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />February 2009<br /><br />Related article: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/02/education-of-anne.html">The Education of Anne: How a school principal from Sheboygan learned to cook Sicilian – and run a restaurant</a><br /><br /><br />Here’s a single restaurant serving of one of the most popular dishes at Sole Sapori. “Shrimp, mushrooms, garlic and fresh tomatoes sauteed in olive oil and served with rigatoni on a bed of fresh spinach.” The shrimp is a quintessentially Sicilian ingredient, and the marinara is a Vitale hallmark. “This is a pure Vitale,” she says. But you’ll have to sub in your own favorite red sauce – Sole Sapori’s marinara is a family secret!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0BzNOtxMG9WtmmtDf2eg895w8gF_vK71f7fHcn1G1h4bZTDGj4jm-cXrWPNoh9xGITct02-0G8pWcGAmlf-CnI1umRQ2ElmM0sw7zGactulmVZ8d5nN1UKqK0Js3qf7xD0UVLjn3kMNv/s1600-h/picture.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0BzNOtxMG9WtmmtDf2eg895w8gF_vK71f7fHcn1G1h4bZTDGj4jm-cXrWPNoh9xGITct02-0G8pWcGAmlf-CnI1umRQ2ElmM0sw7zGactulmVZ8d5nN1UKqK0Js3qf7xD0UVLjn3kMNv/s400/picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424933048539750226" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rigatoni Mare Monti</span><br /><br />Mare Monti Sauce:<br />1–2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil<br />1/2 teaspoon capers<br />1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped<br />2 mushrooms, sliced<br />1 fresh Roma tomato, sliced<br />pinch fresh oregano<br />3/4 cup marinara or pasta sauce<br />5 large, raw shrimp<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For the plate:</span><br />several fresh spinach leaves<br />rigatoni pasta, freshly cooked<br />Pecorino Romano (grating cheese)<br />lemon pepper<br /><br />Heat a small sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add oil, capers and garlic. Sauté for a minute or two to meld the flavors. Increase heat to medium and add mushrooms, tomato and oregano. Cover and cook about 5–8 minutes, or until tomatoes and mushrooms are soft enough to chop with a flat-edge wooden spatula. Add marinara and stir.<br /><br />Meanwhile, line your plate with a bed of fresh baby spinach. Place a serving of pasta atop spinach.<br /><br />Just before you’re ready to serve, add shrimp and cook through until shrimp are pink and done, taking care not to overcook them. Top the pasta with the sauce. Finish with some freshly grated Pecorino Romano and a dusting of lemon pepper. Enjoy!<br /><br /><p></p><p></p>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-91606042000216758842009-01-01T19:32:00.004-06:002010-01-12T10:06:29.381-06:00Jam on -- and on<span style="font-weight: bold;"><p><img src="file:///C:/Users/Vesna/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><img src="file:///C:/Users/Vesna/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.png" alt="" />It’s always summertime inside Lee Davenport’s little glass jars</p></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFG0Y3D7wkYyjHyaj776e-yXCJKLaTHc_n_lq_RC6g60cOwEehSLUrPy7boo6QreNF1ZWYs7-D-9cJ70vGouPHPeMiJf5dIOKknc_15KcN9T7o7EU6jEKkWufriZqLed5hjzcYD6a2daM/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFG0Y3D7wkYyjHyaj776e-yXCJKLaTHc_n_lq_RC6g60cOwEehSLUrPy7boo6QreNF1ZWYs7-D-9cJ70vGouPHPeMiJf5dIOKknc_15KcN9T7o7EU6jEKkWufriZqLed5hjzcYD6a2daM/s400/paragraphs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424934293306372818" border="0" /></a>Around the Table<br />By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />January 2009<br /><br /><a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/01/tabula-rasa-panna-cotta-with.html">Related recipe: Tabula Rasa Panna Cotta</a><br /><br /><br />“You can put it on a shelf and open it in winter and it will transport you back to summer with one bite.”<br /><br />That’s why Lee Davenport makes jam. And jelly. And preserves, conserves, fruit sauces and all those other ways of compressing summer sweetness into a glittering jar of spoonable delight.<br /><br />“You can take some really delicious fruit and make it taste even better,” says the 36-year-old proprietor of <a href="http://pamplemoussepreserves.com/">Pamplemousse Preserves</a>, of her passion for preserving. “I personally can’t think of many things in life as rewarding as turning a pile of raw ingredients into a row of jewel-toned preserves. But maybe that’s just me.”<br /><br />There’s also the appeal of “keeping a dying art alive,” says Lee, who is a New York State native with a B.A. in psychology from SUNY-Plattsburgh. “I like a lot of vintage and old-fashioned things. I like making things by hand.”<br /><br />Around the Table caught up with Lee Davenport once before, in early 2005, when she was running a food cart downtown that featured a creative, from-scratch menu. “It was tons of work and I didn’t really have much of a life the summers that I did it,” Lee says of her decision to move on to Pamplemousse. “Most people who run food carts either have restaurants or it’s a family affair.” Earlier culinary credits include baking at L’Etoile and Sunroom Cafe.<br /><br />Today Lee jams with local and/or organic ingredients -- she even grows her own black currants, rhubarb and tomatoes -- using recipes that call for little or no commercial pectin and far less sugar than ordinary preserves. She sells at farmers’ markets, through her new Web site (<a href="http://pamplemoussepreserves.com/">pamplemoussepreserves.com</a>), and at the gourmet shelves of L’Etoile’s Cafe Soleil, Fork and Spoon, Fromagination and Washington Hotel Coffee Room. Her treats are on the menu at Bradbury’s downtown.<br /><br />This winter she and two fellow market vendors launched a new venture, CSP&B (Community-Supported Preserves and Bakery, accessible through Lee’s website). It’s modeled after community-supported agriculture (CSA), whereby market farms sell shares of their produce, then supply boxes of veg throughout the growing season.<br /><br />“This is like a value-added CSA,” Lee explains. “Our tag line is ‘keeping your pantry stocked with hand-crafted staples throughout the seasons.’” Twice a month CSP&B shareholders receive a unique assortment of bread, butter cake and pastry from Mary White’s Honey Bee Bakery; kraut, kimchee or other fermented vegetables from Andy Hanson’s Kindly Kraut; and Lee’s preserves. “Opening a CSP&B box is like Christmas because of that element of surprise. You don’t quite know what’s going to be in the box, but you’re pretty sure you’re going to love it,” says Lee.<br /><br />VVK: How did the idea for CSP&B come about?<br /><br />LD: The summer I was a cook at Harmony Valley Farm, I read an article about a woman in Minnesota who had taken the CSA concept to the next level by making salad dressings and other prepared foods from things she grew. That summer I went a little crazy preserving the harvest and I thought a CSA for preserves might be a way to make some money doing something that I loved. I asked Andy and Mary to join me because we all needed a way to keep making money through winter when the outdoor markets stop. We all source as many local ingredients as we can, and we can help people eat local year-round.<br /><br />VVK: How has customer response been?<br /><br />LD: People have been wowed by the boxes so far. If things go well, we plan to add other Wisconsin products such as yogurt, honey and kombucha.<br /><br />VVK: What makes Andy’s krauts and pickles special?<br /><br />LD: A lot of people say they don’t like kraut, but they haven’t had kraut like Andy’s, which is a natural, wild ferment. It is a live food, and so good for you. It’s fresh and crunchy. I actually eat ferments as a stand-in for salads in the winter.<br /><br />VVK: How about Mary’s Honey Bee Bakery?<br /><br />LD: The baked goods are made the same day they’re delivered. I think Mary is one of the most talented bakers in Madison. She uses freshly ground flour from Cress Springs, organic ingredients and whole grains. Her breads are always tasty but I love her tartlets the best.<br /><br />VVK: Where do you make the products that go into the box?<br /><br />LD: Andy and I still share a [commercial] kitchen and Mary is currently working out of Sophia’s Bakery. We’re all licensed.<br /><br />VVK: What have some of the box combos been so far?<br /><br />LD: Mary has done a whole wheat bread, cornmeal bread and wild rice bread. Chocolate hazelnut tartlets and apricot bars. Plum cake and apple cranberry cake. Andy had several kinds of kraut and a radish kimchee. I’ve sent tomato jam, black currant preserves, blackberry preserves, raspberry preserves and Summer Fruit Medley. I recently made some pumpkin apple butter and I have lots of cranberries to work with. [When I] run out of local fruit I’ll probably make marmalades and Coffee Caramel using Just Coffee.<br /><br />VVK: Who’s buying, so far?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7V6f6tkJ9cqPQUbBdt3nf1nxf_8ef3rZQP9GIuqjU4ss1v7ICp7LpQ9_YrWDgCMHeNGeb6dEvA4iCQHi9Atonn9F_hSNVNis4LVqZbtWx2YZTbvz67bBeIDFE8t3zqtSwX5UIYJ_7bMs/s1600-h/graphic.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7V6f6tkJ9cqPQUbBdt3nf1nxf_8ef3rZQP9GIuqjU4ss1v7ICp7LpQ9_YrWDgCMHeNGeb6dEvA4iCQHi9Atonn9F_hSNVNis4LVqZbtWx2YZTbvz67bBeIDFE8t3zqtSwX5UIYJ_7bMs/s400/graphic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424934304207858114" border="0" /></a>LD: We each have a little bit of a fan base so most of the early adapters are already familiar with our products and want to keep getting them in the winter months. Before the CSP&B there was really no way to get all these treats year-round.<br /><br />VVK: You tell a wonderful story on your blog (<a href="http://welcometomypantry.blogspot.com/">welcometomypantry.blogspot.com</a>) about a milestone incident that got you preserving fruit.<br /><br />LD: I used to live right downtown on Wilson St. I went out for a jog and found [a fallen] limb full of plums. I took them to Mifflin Coop to have them weighed. I don’t even remember what I made from them, but most likely plum butter. I still have other apple and plum trees that I glean from around town. I have always been a frugal person and I hate waste. This sometimes gets me into trouble because I can’t say no to free fruit and sometimes end up wasting it because I don’t have time to deal with it all. If I didn’t have to work for a living I would start a gleaning organization to work with farmers to get more unwanted produce to food banks.<br /><br />VVK: How much jam do you make?<br /><br />LD: During the busy summer months, I make several hundred jars a week. I spent a lot of time this summer acquiring fruit.<br /><br />VVK: What kinds do you make, and which are most popular?<br /><br />LD: Every season I add more of my own creations like the Elderflower Wine Jelly, and Coffee Caramel. I just like to play around with flavors. [Most popular is w]hatever I happen to be passing out samples of. To try them is to buy them! The tomato jam was the big hit of this summer. I don’t think I had a single person who didn’t like it.<br /><br />VVK: What are your favorites?<br /><br />LD: Pear Chocolate, and Apricots with Pinot Grigio. I had never really liked apricots before I made this. I think that unless you get a perfectly ripe apricot right off the tree, they are improved by cooking. This tastes how you would imagine the best apricots should taste.<br /><br />VVK: What advice would you give someone who wants to give home canning a try, but who might be afraid that it’s too dangerous or complicated?<br /><br />LD: By the Ball Blue Book and get cracking. If you know how to read a recipe, you can learn how to can. I don’t know where this fear comes from. There are so many more things we do on a daily basis that are so much more risky!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more.</span>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-75947195741112757582009-01-01T17:35:00.000-06:002010-01-09T19:44:36.120-06:00Tabula Rasa Panna Cotta with Pamplemousse PreservesRelated article:<br /><a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/01/jam-on-and-on.html">Jam on -- and on: It's always summertime in Lee Davenport's little glass jars</a><br />In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />January 2009<br /><br />Here’s a panna cotta recipe Lee likes to hand out at the farmer’s market because, she says, “it’s simple and elegant and it’s a great blank slate to serve with my preserves.” At the market “I had it paired with rhubarb passionfruit preserves. It would also be great with any of the berry preserves -- Summer Fruit Medley, Trio of Berries, raspberry.”<br /><br />Lee’s version of the classic Italian treat (literally “cooked cream”) is “a little lighter and tangier” with the addition of yogurt.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tabula Rasa Panna Cotta with Pamplemousse Preserves</span><br /><br />2 tablespoons water<br />1 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin<br />2 cups whipping (or heavy) cream<br />1 1/4 cups yogurt<br />1 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />1/3 cup sugar<br /><br />Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl and let stand for 10 minutes or until softened. In a small saucepan, combine sugar with one cup of the cream and bring to a simmer while stirring. Remove from heat. Add softened gelatin. Stir until dissolved.<br /><br />In a separate container (preferably one with a pouring spout, like a one-quart Pyrex measuring cup), whisk smooth the yogurt, vanilla and the remaining cream. Pour in the hot mixture and whisk smooth. Divide among six ramekins, tea cups, or small bowls, pouring 1/2 cup into each. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.<br /><br />Serve panna cotta right in the ramekins or invert onto plates. To invert, set ramekins into a pan of hot tap water for 30 seconds, making sure water doesn’t get into them. Run a knife around the inside edges and turn onto dessert plates. Remove the ramekins. Top with preserves.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-27774566778724884852008-12-01T20:51:00.003-06:002010-01-12T10:11:30.501-06:00It's Greek to Her: Beth Fatsis of Atlantis Taverna<span style="font-weight: bold;">Married into a Greek family, apparel designer Beth Fatsis now runs Atlantis Taverna</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp2gry7eG6dYBeUAEZriCu-cAOPv9nfx8aB91nCAhZG4BZ4NYYxBfVeN-OP7if35FZiv2sHWZKfK6owFD4FV4U0PeTvahtXcIeId8DpftO6R07b5KiKODYXa8CfmQAIDxv5_DzJlMRJkv/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 219px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp2gry7eG6dYBeUAEZriCu-cAOPv9nfx8aB91nCAhZG4BZ4NYYxBfVeN-OP7if35FZiv2sHWZKfK6owFD4FV4U0PeTvahtXcIeId8DpftO6R07b5KiKODYXa8CfmQAIDxv5_DzJlMRJkv/s320/paragraphs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288010604470705378" border="0" /></a>By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />December 2008<br />Column: Around the Table<br /><br /><a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/01/kleftiko.html">Related recipe: Kleftiko, Clay-Roasted Lamb</a><br /><br />Beth Fatsis, co-owner of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.atlantistaverna.com/">Atlantis Taverna</a> in Sun Prairie and Plaka Taverna in downtown Madison, and former operator of the the Athenian Garden food cart on the UW-Madison Library Mall, never expected her life to turn out so Greek.<br /><br />“My first Greek food was trying spanakopita – spinach pie – and baklava during the 70s at a small health food store in my hometown [Chatham, in upstate New York]. I had never seen filo dough before and was intrigued at how thin it was and how expertly it was layered,” she remembers.<br /><br />In 1983, with her brand-new degree in apparel design, Beth headed for Dallas to break into the thriving clothing industry there. She made patterns for various dress manufacturers, created custom wedding gowns and dance costumes, and started a wholesale and retail maternity clothing business.<br /><br />Then, in the mid-1990s, she met Telly Fatsis. He had come to Dallas straight out of college too, around the same time as Beth, to work in the restaurant business. But now, after a divorce, he was headed home to his native Madison, where he was soon to open Cleveland’s Diner downtown. After two years of long-distance dating (“I was in a building lease for the business and wasn't going to break the lease,” says Beth), she moved up here, they married, and the rest is Greek food history.<br /><br />Today, Beth, 47, could vie for a spot on both Top Chef and Project Runway – the famed reality-TV competitions for cooks and fashion designers respectively – and rewrite My Big Fat Greek Wedding from the point of view of a non-Greek woman who joins a Hellenic clan. Of that flick, Beth says, “The focus on food is definitely not an exaggeration. A family dinner can easily be a party for 30 people – and there will still be leftovers.”<br /><br />Vesna Vuynovich Kovach: How did you feel making the switch from fashion to food?<br /><br />Beth Fatsis: I was ready to get out of apparel. It's not glamourous like the magazines lead you to believe. It's hard for the little guy to compete with the big corporations who have access to cheap labor. It became stressful – trying to guess what people would buy, investing money each season and hoping the customers liked your product, [dealing with] damaged merchandise and returns.<br /><br />The restaurant business “looked so easy”– ha, ha – when Telly was doing the breakfast/lunch thing. I wanted to do something new.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWElprwK5uwiXGRkZrYF6nrHF5Z2zpNGqgq5mWb7GFmXF2feVYs5OortIMEDt00-weDL7X_7CyALcybPzpx0-ZU8zda5rKVDpcviZwG0dz6VyG-8w1GwIqH3XK3YP9jIS11PccfrfnXxJ/s1600-h/graphic.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 140px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVWElprwK5uwiXGRkZrYF6nrHF5Z2zpNGqgq5mWb7GFmXF2feVYs5OortIMEDt00-weDL7X_7CyALcybPzpx0-ZU8zda5rKVDpcviZwG0dz6VyG-8w1GwIqH3XK3YP9jIS11PccfrfnXxJ/s320/graphic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288010503458039218" border="0" /></a>VVK: In 2006 you opened Atlantis Taverna. This summer you reopened Cleveland’s Diner as Plaka Taverna. How did you and Telly transition from a diner and a food cart to this more fully realized Greek dining experience?<br /><br />BF: The Cleveland’s space was available [in 1995]. However, it [had been] known as a breakfast/lunch diner for decades, and Telly chose to keep the same theme. He wasn’t ready to plunge into a full-service dinner restaurant with a bar. A Greek restaurant was a distant goal.<br /><br />The food cart was a low-overhead means of expanding the business and getting into selling Greek food. I ran it for five years. I enjoyed the street vending and the people, but the physical work got more and more difficult as I got older. Lifting, hauling, packing, unpacking, hitching the trailer twice a day. The festivals were profitable, but they usually involved 16-hour days of work. A lot of people think that a food cart is a fun sideline business. But it is a business just like any other. You can't treat it like a bake sale. Telly and I wanted to open another restaurant and I couldn't do both the cart and the restaurant.<br /><br />VVK: What makes Greek food special? What do you like about it?<br /><br />It’s healthy, and the herbs blend nicely. It’s typically not hot and spicy. I also love garlic, which is abundant. It can go as simple as a tomato-feta-cucumber plate drizzled with olive oil, or as complicated as a moussaka (eggplant casserole) with all its processes.<br /><br />The Greeks still don’t have the massive transportation system we have in this country, being as mountainous as they are. You will find that a Greek dish will differ according to the region in which it has evolved. Telly’s family is from the Peloponnese region in southern Greece, so most of the cooking at the restaurants reflects that.<br /><br />There is a lot of overlap between Greek food and that of Turkey and portions of the Mideast and Eastern Europe. Populations migrate, empires rise and fall, and food traditions get adopted by different cultures. The recipes generally evolve around what products are readily available in the villages. Olive trees are plentiful, so olive oil is a staple. Spanakopita (spinach pie), dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), moussaka, eggplant salad, kebobs, pita bread – these are some examples of foods found not only in Greece, but in neighboring regions as well.<br /><br />VVK: How do you and Telly work it, running two Greek restaurants in neighboring cities?<br /><br />BF: He runs Plaka; I run Atlantis. We don’t do well together working side by side. We discuss ideas – marketing, menu ideas. But in the end, we each make our own decisions. It’s a lot easier to manage the responsibilities when you only have one restaurant to focus on.<br /><br />VVK: Is there a difference in what the two communities want?<br /><br />BK: Definitely. We sell a lot of gyros and fries in Sun Prairie. We get more families with children, so we also offer burgers and pizza, with a Greek flair, at Atlantis. The Madison palate tends to be more adventuresome than Sun Prairie’s.<br /><br />VVK: What’s the most popular dish on the menu?<br /><br />BF: At Atlantis, it’s probably the Mama’s Homebaked Combo, a combination of the moussaka, the pastitsio, green beans, rice pilaf, and feta cheese. Our falafel and spinach pie combos are popular as well. <br />VVK: What's your favorite dish on the menu?<br /><br />BF: The moussaka. You can taste the cinnamon and cloves in the meat sauce, as well as the fresh parsley. The béchamel (cream) sauce on top is really its own separate entity with a hint of nutmeg, yet when you take a forkful of the moussaka you get the whole combination at once. It’s hearty and filling, and has a pleasing blend of spices. I also love eggplant.<br /><br />VVK: How would you compare and contrast the two spots?<br /><br />BK: Atlantis has brighter colors and lots of foliage. More of what you’d think of when you say “Mediterranean.” In reality, though, the tavernas in Greece are pretty rustic. Plaka is smaller and more intimate than Atlantis. It has a more rustic feel, with the distressed tables and the darker colors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKvz4QhYVhG6-Q_pPaKRx3RVewD7pXcDpwMRH4EnCYCCO59sz35b1yT-DXXcbJSEEpBduyC-3TKo7HlFsIvutczXNQcAhIkGy4annsywYfmSQGIodhtM4YMAOT3kv1BBU57KdQieBpuga/s1600-h/bravaheader.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 94px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKvz4QhYVhG6-Q_pPaKRx3RVewD7pXcDpwMRH4EnCYCCO59sz35b1yT-DXXcbJSEEpBduyC-3TKo7HlFsIvutczXNQcAhIkGy4annsywYfmSQGIodhtM4YMAOT3kv1BBU57KdQieBpuga/s320/bravaheader.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288010503325350610" border="0" /></a>In Greece, we collected menus from several of the restaurants we visited, knowing that we’d want to take elements of those menus and use them here. We also took notes on the décor of different tavernas. Telly’s aunt and uncle used to own a taverna in their village in Greece, a neighborhood place with an uncomplicated menu. The pork kebobs on our menu are named after Telly’s uncle, “Theo Pavlo” – “Uncle Paul.” <br />VVK: The murals on Atlantis’s walls are beautiful. Can you tell more about them?<br /><br />BF: I did all the artwork myself. The real-life villages really do look a lot like the mural: plain <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YIIgzI6cIIRRV1Iq7gkIUzqVLxQXylUaXA8NzdsBZXAbfEJKmkXcbHs6QsB4hOVbURs6OS8BfMjdclfpCMDH3M8x6MuuTFeSD4a42eSbt2akkbC1mCepOdnznERjLlUYdar5M4eKM6hC/s1600-h/atlman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YIIgzI6cIIRRV1Iq7gkIUzqVLxQXylUaXA8NzdsBZXAbfEJKmkXcbHs6QsB4hOVbURs6OS8BfMjdclfpCMDH3M8x6MuuTFeSD4a42eSbt2akkbC1mCepOdnznERjLlUYdar5M4eKM6hC/s320/atlman.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5288011894004484034" border="0" /></a>rectangular buildings without a lot of frills. The style of the artwork is playful, which is the mood Telly and I wanted to create in the dining room. Not too serious.<br /><br />VVK: There’s an element in the mural depicting an episode from your cart vending days. Down at the Library Mall, you had a conflict with a street musician that got into the news. I understand that, after complaints by you and several others, he was issued a noise citation that was eventually overturned.<br /><br />BF: A two-and-a-half hour dose of the piccolo daily is very unnerving, due to the high pitch. Other musicians who got there earlier in the day, were greeted with loud piccolo music played over their music. Employees in the buildings nearby were distracted by the shrill sound. Piccolo Man included in his repertoire the national anthems of Thailand, Greece, and Jamaica, because those food carts all complained.<br /><br />If you look at the mural at Atlantis Taverna, you’ll see I painted a “tribute” to him in my mural. It’s not a compliment to his character. I used a very fine brush and painted a scene inside a church that most people don't even notice is there unless I point it out. It was my way of closing that dispute.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more.</span>Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-67875033817040193862008-12-01T08:55:00.000-06:002009-01-05T21:00:38.895-06:00Kleftiko<span style="font-weight: bold;">Clay-roasted lamb with roasted potatoes and tomatoes</span><br /><br />By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />In Brava Magazine<br />December 2008<br />Column: Around the Table<br /><br /><a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-greek-to-her-beth-fatsis-of.html">Related article: It's Greek to her</a><br /><br />How does Greek-American Christmas dinner look at the Fatsis home? “We have turkey just like most everyone else, but there will also be roast lamb next to it,” says Beth. Americans tend to think Greek food “is all lamb,” she says, but really it’s “only for special occasions like Christmas or Easter. Spanakopita will be on the table, too, and sometimes moussaka or pastitsio (beef-pasta-tomato casserole. There’s usually a bottle of ouzo (licorice-flavored liquor) available for shots. Homemade bread, feta cheese, and a Greek salad are all staples. There’s a whole buffet of desserts, Greek and American both.”<br /><br />This slow-roasted lamb dish comes from the island of Cyprus, and its name, “kleftiko,” “comes from the word kleftes, or robbers,” explains Beth. “Legend has it that Greek mountain-dwelling freedom fighters had to steal their food in order to survive. To avoid detection, they slow-cooked in underground ovens covered in clay. We use a commercial clay roaster, aluminum foil and an oven. It’s especially tasty because it seals the moisture inside the meat while giving it a crispy outside.”<br /><br />If you don’t have a clay oven, says Beth, “a regular covered roasting pan would work. However, a little water – about 1/4" – needs to be put in the bottom of the pan. Add water as necessary if it evaporates.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kleftiko</span><br />Clay-roasted lamb with roasted potatoes and tomatoes<br /><br />2 pounds lamb meat (filets, leg, loin chops, shoulder or rack), divided in four pieces<br />juice of 1 lemon<br />1 tablespoon dried marjoram, finely chopped<br />1 tablespoon dried thyme, finely chopped<br />2 pounds small potatoes<br />1 scant cup olive oil<br />3 large tomatoes, sliced<br />3 bay leaves<br />salt<br />freshly ground black pepper<br />butter<br /><br />Sprinkle the lamb with lemon juice. Mix marjoram, thyme, salt and pepper together and sprinkle over meat. Brush oil over four large pieces of aluminum foil. Lay a piece of lamb in the center of each and wrap. Place the four wrapped lamb pieces in a clay roaster, following manufacturer’s directions for pre-soaking the pot. Cover and bake at 300º F for three hours.<br /><br />Meanwhile, peel and wash the potatoes. Make a few cuts in each. Place in a separate roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour olive oil over them and dot with butter. Place sliced tomato on top of potatoes. Add a little salt and pepper and the bay leaves. About an hour before lamb is ready, put potatoes in oven and roast until golden brown. Serve lamb and potatoes together on a platter.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-4926084314922618342008-11-01T12:29:00.005-05:002008-12-29T19:15:05.921-06:00Earthly Delights: Josie Pradella's TerraSource Chocolates<span style="font-weight: bold;">Josie Pradella’s TerraSource Chocolates promote local self-reliance and are good for the planet, too</span><br />A shorter version of this article appeared in <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br /></span>November 2008<br />Column: Around the Table<br /><br /><a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2008/12/raspberry-truffles.html">Related recipe: Raspberry Truffles</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBwOm4zCEmOZdStJFNrs2ect_jARaNpTBqJW6nMTzZasy2_8cIQhf_3VrLcNyXtyDAnd40Or9ZlyH7m5a1aF87qlWYioCOq5fbcmle_YCd5Kp_p_20FspVvhG4V_EgcyULOGu_-SLSkea/s1600-h/BigPic.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 184px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBwOm4zCEmOZdStJFNrs2ect_jARaNpTBqJW6nMTzZasy2_8cIQhf_3VrLcNyXtyDAnd40Or9ZlyH7m5a1aF87qlWYioCOq5fbcmle_YCd5Kp_p_20FspVvhG4V_EgcyULOGu_-SLSkea/s320/BigPic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277406697668828162" border="0" /></a>Josie Pradella, all grown up and with a serious career as an air management specialist at the DNR, meditated.<br /><br />She wanted to follow her bliss, but how? Which way lay bliss? And then she remembered.<br /><br />Mud pies.<br /><br />“I had an image of a childhood phase I went through that was absolute rapture for me,” she recalls. “Making mud pies and foraging very locally for colorful leaves, flowers and other found objects.”<br /><br />In that meditative clarity, Josie perceived the magical element that engaged that part of her soul that reveled in the dark, the gooey, earthen-rich and natural: chocolate.<br /><br />“I’ve always loved baking chocolate desserts, especially for friends and dinner parties,” Josie says. For years, she had hosted “truffle-making parties for friends around the solstice holiday.” From mud pies studded with leaves and flowers to chocolates filled with fruit purees and tea infusions: what could be a more fitting evolution?<br /><br />And thus was born TerraSource Chocolate Gourmet Chocolates, LLC, specializing in handcrafted chocolates using local fruits and flowers. The business is a comprehensive expression of Josie's values and her point of view: All the ingredients are either local, fairly traded and/or organic: the product line is completely free of animal products; the locally produced boxes are made from plantable paper embedded with wildflower seeds.<br /><br />TerraSource started up in October 2007, and already the chocolates are available at A Room of One’s Own Bookstore, Bunky’s Café, Carl’s Cakes, The Dardanelles, Fair Indigo and Sentry at Hilldale, Jenifer Street Market and Mother Fool’s Coffeehouse, or via the Web at <a href="http://terrasourcechocolates.com/">terrasourcechocolates.com</a>. In the temperate months – but not in the high heat of summer – Josie vends at the Westside Community Farmers Market outside the DOT as well.<br /><br />VVK: What are your chocolates like?<br /><br />JP: Except for the Pecan Praline, all the chocolates have a blended center that combines the major fruit puree or tea infusion with chocolate, so they’re all kind of dense and creamy. Teas to date: Jasmine Green Tea, Masala Chai Tea, and Scarlet Tea.<br /><br />VVK: No plain chocolate, or bar chocolate?<br /><br />JP: No, as other local chocolatiers already do solid chocolates and bars.<br /><br />VVK: You use local products like rhubarb, blueberries and red, black and golden raspberries. What are some others, and how did you find them?<br /><br />JP: I’ve made most connections through the local farmers markets and food conferences. One of my best finds was Carandale Farms in Fitchburg. They grow unusual fruit crops for Wisconsin’s climate, such as aronia and seaberry. These are two super-nutritious fruits. Aronia looks like a cross between a large blueberry and small concord grape – very dark with a more grainy texture. It has three times the anti-oxidant value of blueberries. Seaberry has a mild citrus flavor and is very bitter by itself. It has a gorgeous golden color and seven times the vitamin C content of lemons.<br /><br />In quite a few of my chocolates I use liqueurs and spirits, such as Lemoncella and rum made by Yahara Bay Distillers.<br /><br />VVK: Are you able to buy local products in sufficient volume?<br /><br />JP: As small as I am at this time, yes.<br /><br />VVK: How much of what you use is organic?<br /><br />JP: This question quickly gets complicated. The off-the-shelf products I buy, such as sugar, vanilla and teas, are certified organic, which means that they’ve gone through a formal registration process and are validated by a qualified third party. Often local growers use organic practices but can’t afford to become certified organic. I love working with these growers because their ethics are in the right place and they have wonderful products.<br /><br />VVK: Tell me about the chocolate itself.<br /><br />JP: I source the chocolate from two different producers. One is certified fair trade; the other is fairly traded, which means they adhere to fair trade principles but have not gone through the expense of a certification process. The cocoa comes from Columbia (single origin), Costa Rica, Peru, the Dominican Republic. I blend to get around 70% dark chocolate for my shells, going for some complexity on the palate without being too bitter.<br /><br />VVK: What's your most popular chocolate?<br /><br />JP: Probably the aronia because it’s so different. People like to have a unique experience and it’s fun to be able to do that with food.<br /><br />VVK: And your personal favorite?<br /><br />JP: Pecan praline. Heavenly with the dark chocolate around that nutty center. Great texture! It started out as a caramel, but with the vegan ingredients it became more granular and delectable.<br /><br />VVK: How come you made your entire line vegan?<br /><br />JP: Butter and cream are big in most gourmet ganache fillings. I wanted to offer something delectable to those who have food sensitivities so they can thoroughly enjoy a quality product like everyone else. At this point my intention is to offer only vegan products because it [helps] so many of the animal-free, lower-impact on the planet issues that people are concerned about.<br /><br />By sourcing locally, we also have less impact on the majority world who often starve as they grow cash crops for large companies to export. They can’t eat that stuff and don’t have much land to subsist on. Choosing vegan ingredients lowers much of that impact.<br /><br />VVK: How about bee products?<br /><br />JP: Nope. I use maple syrup instead.<br /><br />VVK: Your business is so green! Tell me about that.<br /><br />JP: I am determined to exemplify what’s possible as a green business: to build local relationships, add value to locally grown products, procure eco-friendly packaging and print, bank locally and use other local professional services such as Web hosting and graphic design, and give back to the local community. My next goal is to offset the carbon emissions from my production, delivery and shipping practices.<br /><br />VVK: I understand you’ve been active for years with organizations that promote environmental responsibility and local commerce and food systems.<br /><br />JP: I co-founded Wisconsin Partners for SustainAbility (formerly the Wisconsin Sustainable Futures Network) back in 1999. Four years ago I helped cofound the Dane County Buy Local Initiative, now known as Dane Buy Local. I’ve been exploring local self reliance pretty fully the last several years.<br /><br />VVK: Do you have a marketing or business background?<br /><br />JP: I wish! I do the best I can with what makes sense to me; then hope the overall message can be refined and condensed for greatest effect. I took several courses at UW-Madison’s business school and have a rough business plan.<br /><br />VVK: What's your favorite thing about what you do?<br /><br />JP: Having the opportunity to converse with people about the eco aspects, then having them just physically enjoy indulging in the product. It becomes a full mind-body experience. The Westside market has been wonderful. People really want to learn about the products they’re buying. Grab ’n’ go is not part of their philosophy.<br /><br />VVK: How about your least favorite?<br /><br />JP: Part of the chocolate-making process involves vigorous shaking and tapping of the molds to coax out air bubbles. It’s noisy and disruptive to an otherwise peaceful process.<br /><br />VVK: How did you learn your craft?<br /><br />JP: Being invited by David Bacco to view his chocolate-making production when he was at CoCoLiQuot, for which I am eternally grateful. Getting a degree from the Ecole Chocolat. Experimenting with recipes and using friends and co-workers as guinea pigs.<br /><br />VVK: There are some other chocolatiers in town. What sort of community is it?<br /><br />JP: My experience, with the exception of David Bacco, has been that other local chocolatiers pretty much keep to themselves. When I approached several to do some research and try to learn about the local market and avoiding pitfalls as a new business owner, I didn’t get very far. That’s unfortunate, because I think we all do better when we help one another. I know I feel honored when someone thinks I know enough about a topic to ask me questions about it, and I want to share the knowledge. This experience is also an important factor in my commitment to make TerraSource as transparent as possible. So I list the partners I’m involved with on the Web site and have a short profile on each of them, along with a link to their Web site if they have one.<br /><br />VVK: What are some chocolate challenges?<br /><br />JP: Tempering is a very exact science to get that nice shiny, glossy exterior. One degree off and the chocolate comes out looking dull or streaky. It’s pretty unforgiving.<br /><br />Another great challenge – some business don’t want to carry product with a relatively short shelf life. Because they have no preservatives or other added ingredients, they only last about two weeks. It’s the filling I’m concerned about keeping as fresh as possible. Right now I’m developing a system to track the dates that chocolates get delivered and to whom, and to stay on top of keeping the stock fresh at the various merchants.<br /><br />VVK: How big is your operation?<br /><br />JP: I’m making around 400 pieces a week. No employees. I do it all!<br /><br />VVK: Where do you make the chocolates?<br /><br />JP: Carl Loeffel, the owner of Carl’s Cakes, is a dear friend and wanted to support my vision of creating this business. He truly has made this effort possible. I’m lucky to have access to Carl’s Cakes kitchen when they’re not doing their bakery production, nights and weekends. Overall, I have the place to myself Saturday afternoons and Sundays.<br /><br />VVK: Regulations prohibit you from using your home kitchen?<br /><br />JP: That’s correct. I’m certified as a food handler working out of Carl’s Cakes’ kitchen.<br /><br />VVK: So what’s next for Terrasource?<br /><br />JP: I’ve gotten a request for a mint chocolate from a market-goer and will be experimenting with that as the next potential flavor. I’m working on more tea infusion flavors. If Carandale or some other grower has more superfood fruits, I’d love to get those into my chocolates as well. A future vision is to work more with edible flowers, such as rose geranium, and get even more creative with green packaging.<br /><br />VVK: What do you like most about chocolate?<br /><br />JP: It’s bliss on earth.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-5229929957209911612008-11-01T05:27:00.004-05:002008-12-29T19:16:23.288-06:00Raspberry TrufflesRecipe from <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2008/11/earthly-delights-josie-pradellas.html">Earthly Delights: Josie Pradella's TerraSource Chocolates</a><br />In <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />Column: Around the Table<br />December 2008<br /><br />Look no further than these simple truffles, with their “dense, yet creamy” texture and “outstanding flavor” for your homemade holiday gift project this year. Josie says, “They make great holiday gifts. Packing and shipping are no problem as long as they’re not being sent to places where it gets hotter than 75 degrees. For those places, I recommend including a freezer pack in the mailer to maintain freshness and consistency.”<br /><br />Want variety? Host a truffle-rolling party, as Josie did for years before going pro. “People would prepare different flavors of ganache [filling] in advance. We’d eat and drink, and then roll truffles and assemble various assortments from among those brought in. Everyone got to take home one or more boxes of hand-made truffles to hoard or share for the holiday.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Raspberry Truffles</span><br /><br />2 cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) berries<br />1/3 cup sugar<br />1 tablespoon any berry liqueur<br />8 oz. semisweet (or darker) chocolate (for filling)<br />8 oz. high quality chocolate, 67% or higher cacao content (for dipping)<br /><br /><br />Press fruit through a sieve to remove seeds. Blend resulting puree and sugar. Heat to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add liqueur. Very gently melt filling chocolate. Stir fruit mixture into melted chocolate until emulsified (completely mixed and appearing homogenous).<br /><br />Chill in refrigerator two hours, then scoop and roll into 1" balls. Very gently melt dipping chocolate. Dip truffles in melted chocolate and let set on tray. Enjoy!Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-9369024308971584422008-10-01T17:50:00.003-05:002008-12-28T07:56:16.778-06:00Eating in Madison A to Z<span style="font-weight: bold;">Blogger reviewers Nichole Fromm and JonMichael Rasmus are crunching through the alphabet</span><br />By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />In <span style="font-style: italic;">Brava Magazine</span><br />Column: Around the Table<br />October 2008<br /><a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2008/12/grandmas-pickled-beets.html"><br />Related recipe: Grandma's Pickled Beets</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFv-6Ff37mA5EPMOJSmYYdAv3XRoMDkpe_upg6Q41XTPj-iYH9CYKv5_1Holio2q-Ft1PBa1CthqGc1k7FkAka_ZUdfgMYrAXA2M0RbnGbDH9zfPLNEMY5ZNS3CzAYbe3O8BoSBYMCWGs/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijFv-6Ff37mA5EPMOJSmYYdAv3XRoMDkpe_upg6Q41XTPj-iYH9CYKv5_1Holio2q-Ft1PBa1CthqGc1k7FkAka_ZUdfgMYrAXA2M0RbnGbDH9zfPLNEMY5ZNS3CzAYbe3O8BoSBYMCWGs/s320/paragraphs.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284838015654194066" border="0" /></a>So a mathematician and a librarian walk into a restaurant, and one says to the other.... No, wait, they’re not at the restaurant. They’re trying to figure out where to go out to eat and they can’t decide. OK. So the mathematician says, “Let’s eat in every single restaurant in town in alphabetical order.” The librarian goes, “I’ll mind the alphabet, but you track the statistics.”<br /><br />Oh, right, and it’s the twenty-first century. So they blog it.<br /><br />The punch line is Eating in Madison A to Z (<a href="http://www.madisonatoz.com/">www.madisonatoz.com</a>), the “dining diary” through which married couple JonMichael “JM” Rasmus and Nichole Fromm –paraphrased above – have been chronicling their meals out since their first entry, A8 China, in May 2004.<br /><br />As of this writing, they’re early in the Ms (Main Depot, Maharani, Maharaja, Madtowne Fried Chicken....). But even through they’re still years away from Zuzu’s, their site, which accepts no advertising, is becoming one of the top resources for restaurant info locally – in a town with one of the most restaurants per capita in the U.S..<br /><br />Fresh, personable and articulate, with just the right sprinkling of humor, the A to Z entries are fun to read, and the discussions that follow in the comments are likewise engaging. Like potato chips, it’s hard to stop at just one review. You can browse alphabetically, or by the letter grades Nichole and JM have assigned (A–F, and Honor Roll) – or even by Coke vs. Pepsi service. And, as Nichole explains, “Many times restaurants don't have a good online presence so our posts are frequently at the top of the Google search results. We get about 300 visitors per day with half coming from such searches.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDnFXR8ajHf0aG_3l9gMhf52nyb5mjh3QrJbAGMfcN9HufpEgd36o1sEqj5DPWfZfw9gSJW6hHoclO8aNdBU0AL6A8emhLD32_3kH7367gdcEmF-txOjV9jH2wE8T8MSipSSclH0r62-M/s1600-h/graphic.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDnFXR8ajHf0aG_3l9gMhf52nyb5mjh3QrJbAGMfcN9HufpEgd36o1sEqj5DPWfZfw9gSJW6hHoclO8aNdBU0AL6A8emhLD32_3kH7367gdcEmF-txOjV9jH2wE8T8MSipSSclH0r62-M/s320/graphic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284838011254506354" border="0" /></a>VVK: How do your professions inform your approach to the Madison A to Z project?<br /><br />NF: Librarianship is more and more about navigating and inhabiting the online world, so being a librarian has been useful for me getting the techie side of things going. It also helps my writing in that it comes naturally to me to be as comprehensive as I can, source my info properly, admit lacunae in my knowledge and fill gaps when necessary.<br /><br />JM is great at maintaining our lists, compiling fun statistics about grades and costs, and figuring tips. He works at the Wisconsin Lottery, where he calculates odds statements and analyzes sales data.<br /><br />VVK: Do you ever eat out of order, and then just adjust the posting date so that the blog stays tidy?<br /><br />NF: Oh no! We never, ever eat out of order for the blog.<br /><br />VVK: How often do you eat out?<br /><br />NF: About six to eight times per month for the project. We rarely eat "off list."<br /><br />VVK: Do you spend more money eating out now than you used to?<br /><br />NF: We go to some high-end places we wouldn't have been able to justify before. But for every white tablecloth dinner there are dozens of coffee shops, which brings the average cost per plate to $10 or so. Very doable when you take into account that this is our primary spendy recreation – replacing movies, bars, Franklin Mint chess sets, etc.<br /><br />VVK: How would you describe your philosophies of food?<br /><br />I live to eat, and JM eats to live. I seek out new things whenever possible. JM is much more utilitarian. The food-as-fuel approach. These were sticking points at the start of our marriage but now they're counterpoints.<br /><br />VVK: I notice you give out more As, fewer Bs, and more Cs than JM.<br /><br />NF: Interesting! I wasn't even aware of my weird U-shaped grade curve. JM hypothesizes that maybe that since I feel more strongly about food, I'm more likely to give high marks to that which I enjoy and low marks to that which I don't, whereas he's more a middle of the road, bell-curve kind of guy.<br /><br />VVK: Who does what for the blog?<br /><br />NF: We tag-team. We both take the photos. I usually write the first draft, then JM punches it up with the funny, and I copyedit. I curate our Flickr photo stream and the Google map of where we've been, and do most of the site maintenance. JM watches our statistics and minds the comments.<br /><br />VVK: Which reviews get the most attention?<br /><br />NF: The negative reviews, unfortunately. But it's true that they're more fun to write and more fun to read. We try to avoid cheap shots but sometimes can't resist.<br /><br />VVK: What kinds of comments do you like and dislike?<br /><br />NF: I love hearing about other peoples' positive experiences. Since we only go to a place once, we can't really be balanced. So it's great if another diner can point out a house specialty, or maybe <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U4vNF7EUBv9fg9zAe7Du0GFGu_B-td954i8KDIvf26ZAAkmsaKdbUFPt7N4fX537iuLwBgMB80nPj2ump4MsPuuJxk5Upow6Hc5BDBnu1qtOVi-vFc34UQK-b5w6RE9T0fG_uB21_dPN/s1600-h/bravaheader.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 138px; height: 50px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0U4vNF7EUBv9fg9zAe7Du0GFGu_B-td954i8KDIvf26ZAAkmsaKdbUFPt7N4fX537iuLwBgMB80nPj2ump4MsPuuJxk5Upow6Hc5BDBnu1qtOVi-vFc34UQK-b5w6RE9T0fG_uB21_dPN/s320/bravaheader.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284838015119328386" border="0" /></a>clarify something we wrote. It's all part of what we hope is becoming a community, a place for people to talk about food.<br /><br />Spam and troll-droppings are our least favorite comments. Trolls are commenters who set out to be rude and ruin the online conversation. Off-topic, off-color insults are rare but they happen sometimes.<br /><br />VVK: How has your approach to reviewing evolved over the four years you've been at this project?<br /><br />I like to think we've gotten better at describing the food such that readers get a vicarious experience. Reading some of our earlier stuff where we basically say, “It was good,” makes me cringe.<br /><br />VVK: Which reviews are you most proud of?<br /><br />I like the ones where we go beyond merely talking about the food, as with Bean Sprouts. [The review included commentary on the ethics and implications of sneaking vegetables into children’s meals.] Whenever we can get a laugh, that also makes us happy.<br /><br />VVK: Have your standards and expectations changed?<br /><br />NF: Our standards (such as they are) have crept up, perhaps, but we try to evaluate a place on its own terms, according to what it's trying to do. That's why a little diner like Cottage Cafe can win our hearts as easily as a special-occasion place like Harvest.<br /><br />VVK: Some restaurants you've reviewed have closed since you reviewed them on Madison A to Z.<br /><br />We think we might have a curse - some of our very favorite places have closed. R.I.P. Allie B’s, Bull’s BBQ, China Palace, Cleveland's, Francois’, Fyfe’s, Gaston’s, Jada’s and Luckenbooth.<br /><br />Some locations are just deadly. Good luck to the new taqueria coming in where Donut Delight, Mediterranean Delight and Bamboo Hut have all come and gone.<br /><br />VVK: What's been your most unusual eat-out experience so far?<br /><br />NF: ChinMi in Verona stands out as the most surreal: a truck stop family restaurant plus sushi, where you have to walk through a convenience store to get to the dining room.<br /><br />VVK: So far, what's your favorite restaurant in Madison?<br /><br />NF: At Bradbury’s I love how focused the menu is. They just do crepes and espresso drinks and they do them very, very well. Ma-Cha has a quiet, meditative atmosphere where you can really slow down and enjoy time alone or with friends. And Kennedy Manor feels like a secret time warp. Upscale yet hospitable, there are regulars around but new folks are treated well, and the food is classic but not stodgy. The whole place has an aura from the 1920s and the food really rewards the trip.<br /><br />VVK: What about when new spots open in earlier letters of the alphabet?<br /><br />NF: If we did not go back [between letters] for the make-up letters, we would reach the end of the project and still have a ton of restaurants to visit, which would be a pretty big letdown. Plus, people want to hear the scoop on new restaurants.<br /><br />VVK: Any alphabetizing challenges?<br /><br />NF: When we started this project the first place on the [Isthmus online restaurant database] was 24 Carrot Café. JM pointed out that would make calling [our site] "A to Z" inaccurate. "Zero to Z," while alliterative, is not quite as catchy. We debated, and ended up alphabetizing numbers as if they were written out, though this is contrary to library filing rules.<br /><br />Another point of contention is initial articles like El, La and Le. I wish I'd thrown my librarian weight around and insisted that we refile the ones with initial articles (and put L'Etoile in the E's, for example). But the restaurants we eat at would not match the dining guide we use and that seems a little capricious when you've already committed yourself to eating in alphabetical order. Six or seven straight Mexican places when we got to "La" was a little much, though.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-24660216840246369932008-10-01T05:50:00.001-05:002008-12-28T07:55:28.453-06:00Grandma's Pickled Beets<a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2008/10/eating-in-madison-to-z.html">Related article: Blogger reviewers Nichole Fromm and JonMichael Rasmus are crunching through the alphabet</a><br />In <span style="font-style: italic;">Brava Magazine</span><br />Column: Around the Table<br />October 2008<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Gm7nnyjPLsmOIwv9w730kxiHTdL4_fcOOVVI4vVd6KsJ4Sc_Pjhebqvn4ExLKleDz6NTugbhuCfTcaEWL0dhQHlaXepjoQ_bv96hWjX2ymDNEHe48SopNy86wW_KZ6ke2LG-047jp2N2/s1600-h/picture.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 147px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Gm7nnyjPLsmOIwv9w730kxiHTdL4_fcOOVVI4vVd6KsJ4Sc_Pjhebqvn4ExLKleDz6NTugbhuCfTcaEWL0dhQHlaXepjoQ_bv96hWjX2ymDNEHe48SopNy86wW_KZ6ke2LG-047jp2N2/s320/picture.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284809362282767650" border="0" /></a>Says Nichole: “Beets seem to be popping up on more and more restaurant menus, which is great for anyone who loves the earthy, sweet gems. My mom gave me this quintessentially "Sconnie" [Wisconsonite] recipe. When her mother in Milwaukee put on a Sunday lunch spread, the beets would be on the relish tray alongside the ever-present ham, Kaiser rolls and potato salad. These refrigerator-pickled beets are also a great accompaniment to liverwurst and onion sandwiches. You can get fancier with this recipe by roasting the beets with rosemary or using tarragon or other spice-infused vinegar.”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grandma's Pickled Beets</span><br /><br />1 bay leaf<br />5 whole cloves<br />1 cup cider vinegar<br />1/2 cup sugar<br />1 bunch farmer's market beets (5-6 large or 9-10 small)<br /><br />Cut off the beet greens, leaving some of the stem. Wash beets, then wrap in a foil pouch or place in a covered baking dish. Roast at 400F for 30 to 40 minutes, until fork-tender. Let cool. Peel. Slice into bite-sized rounds. (Alternately, use drained, canned sliced beets and skip the roasting step.)<br /><br />Place the bay leaf and cloves in a 1-quart glass jar with a lid, and put the beets on top of them. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnQvR485gd0VMY0d4oN1EQxNHST3ubPt2OaPBKluhFiAIyyuhkgE4u3O0jlsVK-MVN-6OWfhgl8FUsYVXBq_-4GNStsRUdPG7IYJesHlGpLnMZjSeJ606v44WPqGMG1TMnd6xdEBeJIHv/s1600-h/graphic.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 218px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGnQvR485gd0VMY0d4oN1EQxNHST3ubPt2OaPBKluhFiAIyyuhkgE4u3O0jlsVK-MVN-6OWfhgl8FUsYVXBq_-4GNStsRUdPG7IYJesHlGpLnMZjSeJ606v44WPqGMG1TMnd6xdEBeJIHv/s320/graphic.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284809363738414146" border="0" /></a>Bring vinegar and sugar to a boil in saucepan, turn off heat, and stir just until sugar is dissolved. Pour vinegar and sugar into the jar and let cool a bit before putting on the lid. They are ready to serve once fully chilled, though the flavor will improve over time.<br /><br />Keep refrigerated. These will last several weeks. Serve on their own, in salads, or as part of a classic relish tray with gherkins, olives, and crudites.Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957318594386165836.post-9241474242999523452008-09-01T18:00:00.000-05:002020-06-26T08:49:13.135-05:00“Do carrots grow on trees?”<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4olCqHSUZRVIg0CwgjXB2pPfmaUccAFqosMJjOzlmkkOPDR6UJBjpkAnp0_o4kx6no4BQ1t0Frzp6nJa0GzJzwp1AtbZu4IEQo5ac1KKk9nNe0Sb5KZSo8-bjMLd9nLNKY0z1ZCdFrTx/s1600-h/paragraphs.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425241381936926226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW4olCqHSUZRVIg0CwgjXB2pPfmaUccAFqosMJjOzlmkkOPDR6UJBjpkAnp0_o4kx6no4BQ1t0Frzp6nJa0GzJzwp1AtbZu4IEQo5ac1KKk9nNe0Sb5KZSo8-bjMLd9nLNKY0z1ZCdFrTx/s400/paragraphs.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 572px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 276px;" /></a><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Raising awareness and bridging the gaps between farm and table: REAP’s executive director Miriam Grunes</span><br />
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Around the Table<br />
By Vesna Vuynovich Kovach<br />
in <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a><br />
September 2008<br />
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Related recipe: <a href="http://vesnaswriting.blogspot.com/2009/09/kale-crisps.html">Kale Crisps</a><br />
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Farmers, chefs, grocers, producers of artisan foods, artists, activists and more<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">—</span>on Saturday, Sept. 20, the <a href="http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/Programs-Events/food-for-thought-festival.html">Food for Thought Festival</a> will unite these diverse groups during its 10th annual celebration of local, sustainable food. Highlights include cooking demonstrations and possibly live competitions, talks including a keynote speech by urban agriculturist <a href="http://www.fieldsofplenty.com/michael.php">Michael Ableman</a>, local bands and children’s activities. The site is, aptly enough, right next to the farmers market on the Capitol Square, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.<br />
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“It’s a really great festival,” says Miriam Grunes, executive director of <a href="http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/">REAP</a>, the local nonprofit group behind the event. “It’s so fun for me to watch hunger prevention sitting alongside environmental activists sitting alongside foodies who just love culinary delights sitting next to culinary historians. It’s an amazing networking opportunity.”<br />
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Since the mid-1990s, REAP (Research, Education, Action and Policy on Food Group; <a href="http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/">www.reapfoodgroup.org</a>) has fought to bring awareness to the environmental, economic, and social issues surrounding food production and preparation, arguing that local is best on all these fronts. Today, with “green” and “locavore” (a person who eats only locally grown food) emerging as buzzwords of the decade, REAP is riding a rising wave of awareness.<br />
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Begun by a handful of volunteers, REAP now employs a staff of four and manages myriad projects including publications, educational programs and foodie events. Earlier this year REAP graduated from its patchwork of home offices to move into a professional space on Wilson Street downtown.<br />
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In her early years with REAP, Miriam squeezed in 25 volunteer hours a week alongside her full-time job at the Biodiversity Project (a national nonprofit located in Madison) and her responsibilities as a mother of two small children. “I really had three jobs,” she explains. Landing REAP’s first paid, full-time position in 2004 allowed her to cut that down to two.<br />
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VVK: How did you become so passionate about sustainable food?<br />
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MG: I’ve always loved being a gardener. Having my hands in the dirt. I stopped eating meat way back in college, having read Diet for a Small Planet. It seemed, there’s something wrong with the way we raise meat. There’s no reason I need this in my life. The hippie aspect, brown rice and stir fries<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">—</span>I always just lived my life that way, not thinking that was going to become my life’s work.<br />
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That moment came when I had kids. I started thinking about the “corporatization” of food, the fact that kids can recognize over 200 corporate logos but can’t identify vegetables. My interest in food and sustainability and health drew me into volunteering with REAP.<br />
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VVK: What’s the climate for the work REAP is doing?<br />
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MG: Right now there’s a perfect storm of awareness from the food contamination scares and soaring prices. Food prices are scaring people, and they should. Food’s been too cheap. Farmers haven’t been paid what they should be. All this is forcing people to ask questions about their food. Where does your food come from?<br />
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Suddenly we’re not having to explain the whys. Now we answer the hows. How do we pay the farmers a living wage? How do we feed everybody? How do we make sure everyone has access to fresh, local food?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMU5YKZr0LY-ZUyQ6Z6jfqOtNsK-Cvkw0OrL2Zd0cx59u1bELweoTIZd0DsRjt4E9Rdo1xbn3TZIH4tYppzViZYRXyFCLYRqINVNZFBDtS4mfu9UTSkIy10xyQ89Yn2D6weeld935sgR-/s1600-h/graphic.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5425241386314756786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCMU5YKZr0LY-ZUyQ6Z6jfqOtNsK-Cvkw0OrL2Zd0cx59u1bELweoTIZd0DsRjt4E9Rdo1xbn3TZIH4tYppzViZYRXyFCLYRqINVNZFBDtS4mfu9UTSkIy10xyQ89Yn2D6weeld935sgR-/s400/graphic.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 140px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 267px;" /></a>VVK: What’s the greatest challenge to REAP’s goals?<br />
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MG: We’ve devolved so far so fast. As recently as 50 years ago there was still infrastructure that supported eating locally. That’s just completely gone.<br />
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VVK: REAP’s newest program, Buy Fresh Buy Local Southern Wisconsin, pairs eateries with local food growers. How is going?<br />
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MG: It’s showcasing chefs’ and farmers’ relationships in a way that tells the story, helps restaurants do more, feel good about doing more, make a profit. We never have to explain to restaurants about why should they buy local, what the point is. They just want to know, “How do I do it?” We have now have over 23 restaurants involved, and we’re adding more all the time. Some say, “I’m really going to concentrate on increasing my local dairy use, because I already have good relationships with produce farmers.” Others say, “I’m going to start with a side dish vegetable.” It’s a lot of opportunity to make incredible impact.<br />
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VVK: Then there’s the <a href="https://farmfreshatlas.org/">Farm Fresh Atlas</a>, a directory of local farmers, dairies, honey producers, orchards and farmers’ markets. It’s so beautifully done and has such a wealth of information.<br />
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MG: People really use it. Farmers are grateful for the marketing tool. The transition we’ve seen in the last few years just wonderful. I remember standing at farmers market, just begging people to take it. Now people virtually attack us! We’ve released the seventh annual edition, and we’re having such a blast with it.<br />
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VVK: What it’s like working with children through REAP’s farm-to-school program, <a href="http://reapfoodgroup.org/farm-to-school/">Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch</a>?<br />
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MG: They’re a little grossed out by the notion that food doesn’t come packaged. There are kids that don’t know that a carrot is a root. They thought it might grow on a tree. You tell them it grows under the dirt, and they’re a little bit<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">—</span>“Eeew!” But when they can get their hands into the dirt and pull it out, the response is immediate. You have to convince them to wash it first!<br />
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You’ve got to get kids back out and experiencing life in all its forms, learning the idea of life in the soil. Through field trips to farms, wildlife restoration. Pulling that all back together is really powerful. Will all these kids grow up to be healthy consumers as adults? We don’t know. But we know that without it, they don’t have a chance.<br />
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VVK: How do you share your ideals with your own children?<br />
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MG: We have traditions of always going strawberry picking in the spring, always going to an apple orchard in the fall. There’s seasonality. Food isn’t just something that comes packaged from an anonymous source. I just try to keep as much balance as possible and hope something will stick. My daughters are now 15 and 11. I just hope they grow to be passionate and kind and responsible and good adults.<br />
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VVK: What kind of food do you cook and eat?<br />
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MG: I cook pretty simply. I belong to a CSA [subscription farm]. My box comes on a Thursday and I have to be inspired by it. The produce tells you what needs to be done to it. I have a great big garden in my backyard and four chickens that lay eggs for us. We have an abundance of eggs from the chickens. That’s great for vegetable frittatas.<br />
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VVK: You live in the city. How do your neighbors respond to the chickens?<br />
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MG: I do have one hen that’s a little squawky. But now the neighbor across the yard has got some chickens, too!<br />
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Each month in her column “Around the Table,” freelance writer Vesna Vuynovich Kovach profiles women who are influential in Wisconsin foodways: cooks and bakers, farmers, teachers, authors, activists and more. “The eternal quest for flavor and form is woven deep into who and what we are. That’s why I love to write about people who love food,” she says.<br />
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Vesna’s work on food and other topics has appeared in publications including Wisconsin Trails, Isthmus, Madison Magazine, Corporate Report Wisconsin, and Dane County Kids. She was formerly editor-in-chief of Erickson Publishing, and was the original editor of <a href="http://bravamagazine.com/">Brava Magazine</a> (then known as Anew).</span><br />
Vesna VKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13064900795747489085noreply@blogger.com0