Last-Minute Green Zebra

Seattle has the Chinook book; the Bay Area has Green Zebra.  Green versions of the usual coupon books for meals, activities and services, they contain offers mainly from locally-owned businesses.  And those expire on December 31 - so I'm giving the Zebra a last browse.

2008 was a year for cooking at home rather than eating out, with some notable exceptions (a fabulous meal at Venus in Berkeley, for instance).  But as it winds to a close, and the economic downturn threatens businesses of all sizes, I feel increasingly compelled to put the dollars I can spare into local ventures that support the health of my community.  Not a huge raw food fan, I nonetheless plan to try Burlingame's Que Seraw SeRaw.  Who knows?  It may be my next food epiphany.  

A few other local bistros and markets made the cut, too; but the biggest enticement is the CoolEatz coupon.  It offers "a bowl of seasonal soup made from local organic ingredients" at any of Jesse Ziff Cool's restaurants.  I have only been to the Cool Cafe at Stanford's art museum so far.    Trying tapas at the jZcool Eatery or splurging on an upscale dinner at Flea St. Cafe both sound like magnificent ways to get ready for 2009.

The Perfect Hostess Gift

During the holidays (whichever ones you celebrate that involve going to other people's homes), the question of what to bring the host or hostess always comes up. Flowers are a popular standby; and wine is a common fallback. But why not invest the same effort and expense in something local, hand-crafted, and nicer than you would buy everyday for home? Something like a small round of Harley Goat Farms chevre, for instance.

We made the pilgrimage to Pescadero (CA) this summer, and bought a stock of gorgeous fresh cheese selections. At a grocery store, the purchase would have overwhelmed me; but there near the coast, watching the happy goats in their field, it felt like a worthwhile investment.

The pleasant store staff assured me that the chevre freezes well; so I laid my fears of wasting any aside and indulged (the tasting samples are wicked enticements). One particularly beautiful round went into the freezer; and I we didn't think about it much until it surfaced in October. By then I knew which special occasion it was for - Thanksgiving. I appreciated so much not hosting the supper this year that I wanted to bring something really delightful. And it fit the bill.

Gluten Free Pumkin Pie

This year's Thanksgiving pumkin pie was ambitious for two reasons: using real local pumpkin for the filling, and making the crust gluten-free.

Of the two twists, the first was easier and more successful. I simply split the sugar pumpkin in half with a cleaver, gutted it with a knife and spoon, and turned the halves dome-side up in a baking pan with a half inch of water. Then I baked them til soft, and scooped out the brilliant orange flesh for mixing in the food processor with the usual ingredients.

The crust warranted a test run, and could have used two. The first try involved only two ingredients: gluten-free ginger snap cookies and butter. It came out a little too sweet and too oily; and the exposed edge burnt. Despite all that, it was pretty yummy. The second try cut some of the butter and added tapioca flour. It performed well as a crust, but didn't taste as complementary with the filling. On number 3 - and there's bound to be one - I think we'll just dial back the tapioca flour, and maybe add some crushed almonds.

Thanksgiving for Christmas

Every year, I make a mental plan for getting through the commercial Christmas season (that is, the day after Halloween until mid-January). Usually, the way consumerism overwhelms the spirit of the season - and the way it dominates the airwaves and public space we all share, whether we credit the birth of Baby Jesus as special or not - makes me want to simply leave north America for a few months. Even then, though, I know the deeply ingrained drive to buy useless stuff for friends, family and acquaintences would follow me, gnawing at my sub-conscious. What I really want is to celebrate Christmas the way I do Thanksgiving.

No matter where I am or who I am with, Thanksgiving includes:

• Spending hours with loved ones, visiting, and relaxing
• Remembering and actually doing something to help our neighbors
• Reflecting on all I am grateful for, and expressing it out loud
• Sharing the experience with old friends who have become family over time
• Making room at the table for new friends
• Creating a meal that weaves our traditions together
• Taking a walk in the autumn air

The best of Christmases have felt just like Thanksgiving, but with a few presents added. So this year my plan is to skirt the edges of the shopping mania, write my thank-you's to friends and family far and wide, and create great meals with the loved ones on hand. There will be a few small gifts and stocking stuffers, but mostly time shared. And for New Year's? More of the same. Might as well ring in 2009 with hope and gratitude.

Great Pumpkin Seeds

The giant pumpkin weighing contests are over, as are most of the festivals - but not the corn mazes, or the displays of future jack 0'lanterns in stores and roadside produce stands.

I don't know if I'll decorate my little pie pumpkins, or just leave them on the front porch until the day after Halloween (Dia de los Muertos). Then I will surely gut them, chop them up and roast both their insides and their flesh.

Roasted pumpkin seeds are one of my favorite healthy snacks. The pie will follow closely behind.

Fresh Bread: Gluten-free Glory

Well, the simple blood test let me rest assured that I don't have celiac disease - but it didn't tell me why I feel so much better keeping 90% of wheat and related glutens out of my body.  Or what we should do about the carbs we love the best: bread and pasta.

Both of us grew up with the rare pleasure of home-baked bread; but the bread machine had been tucked away in storage for years.  Since baking (even with a machine) is not my forte, I do helpful sous-chef tasks like picking the rosemary, getting three eggs out to warm up, stirring the sourdough starter, and of course, expressing gratitude.  Basha does the rest, with the help of three guides:  memories from her grandmother's kitchen; a gluten-free baking pamphlet a friend copied in the days before many books on the topic were available; and a copy of Bread Machine Magic.

Each loaf comes out a little different, but delicious every time.  The warm yeasty aroma fills the house while we putter at weekend chores; and cutting a hot slice (as soon as the loaf is cool enough to cut) is irresistible.  Eggy yet light and moist and chewy, with a lovely golden crust, this bread in no way resembles the gluten-free doorstops sold in groceries.  With a little restraint, a loaf lasts us a week.  

Turkey Day on the Horizon

Looking through the materials I picked up at West Coast Green a few weeks ago reminds me - I better think about ordering a turkey. If you want one that is organic, kosher, or heritage, a little extra planning is called for. In my case, the most important factor is that the big bird led a decent life, preferably outdoors, pecking in the grass and procreating naturally.

Unfortunately, as I learned from reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, less than 1% of the 400 million turkeys eaten in America each year are the bird we imagine a turkey to be. The single breed raised by industrial-style 'agribusiness" have had flying, foraging, and mating bred out of them. They live their lives in big sheds (if you open a door at one end, the USDA lets you label them "free range"), existing strictly to become meat.

At the conference's tradeshow, I ran into Jason Diestel staffing a booth for Lyngso Garden Materials. He had buckets of mulch and compost on display, including some made with manure from his family's turkeys. Diestel Turkey Ranch calls their birds "range grown" because they spend their days outdoors in the Sierra Nevada foothills, coming in from the pasture to sleep safely in their turkey houses. Unless I can find as happy a bird raised closer to home, I'll be roasting a Diestel this year.

Laurie Colwin

A friend gave me a gently-loved paperback copy of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, now several years ago. I tried it on for size, but didn't absorb it well on the first go; and so I shelved it for another day.

In the meantime, I started writing regularly about food, and also reading a variety of food blogs. And my food focus shifted, from anything interesting or yummy to a richer diet of slow food topics - local eating, seasonal harvests, organics produces, pastured meat and dairy, fair trade. Less quantity, more quality.

When I picked the book up again, I found it delightful and engaging. I kept turning it over to glean from the back cover profile something about the woman behind the words. The list of novels all sounded promising; but my mind kept getting stuck on the last sentence, "She died in 1992."

So finally I did what this marvelous writer could not do during her pre-internet lifespan - I Googled her. And not too surprisingly, her works remain well-read and her loyal following continues to grow. I won't repeat the regrets of various commenters in blogs and print articles, but will add one: I wish she were still with us, and blogging. It would be such a treat to read a short bit from her every so often, enjoying a peak into her treasured domesticity. It is hard to fathom that her body and mind are gone from our world, when her voice continues on so clearly.

Ah! Rain

We heard the oddest sound last night -  tick tick tick, tap tap tap.  Stepping outside, that inimitable ozone smell struck my nostrils - rain!  Has it been 5 months?  6? Longer?  

Much as I love our long dry season for all its other benefits, I know the plants adore water from the sky.  It may carry with it some trace air pollutants; but at least it has no chloramine (our local version of chlorine).  

This important difference made me look closely at the rainwater catchment systems being demo'd at West Coast Green last weekend.  One system includes a filtration cover for your roof gutters, to eliminate some pollutants from the rain itself, or your roofing materials, before capture in a fairly standard rain barrel.  Surprisingly, not many of the wide variety of commercially available rain barrels were on display.  The most popular this year, displayed at the green building conference's showhouse, is called the Rainwater Hog.  Unlike most cylindrical models, it looks more like a giant brick in shape, holds 50 gallons, and can be oriented one of three directions, stacked with additional units, or chained together (one barrel's overflow runs to the next).  Having ruled out a rain barrel in the past for my current home, I am now very likely to rule rainwater catchment back in. 

Autumn Harvest

Even though farmer's markets here have an unusually long season for produce I think of a summer-only (strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, tomatoes), I find myself drawn now to the bounty of autumn.

Maybe the shortening days are sending my body a signal - "grab some yams for breakfast - you need the beta-carotene" and "spaghetti squash - there's a great gluten-free way to put something healthy under that lycopene-rich red sauce you love." So I listened. One tomato for a late-season plate of caprese (with the home-made mozzarella and the dwindling fresh basil). One red pepper for my black bean - corn - red pepper salad. A couple ears of corn - to cut the kernels off the cob and freeze for winter use. And the rest? All the comfort veggies of autumn - yams, sweet potatoes, baking potatoes, and a surprising array of squash types.

Soon the pumpkins will be ready, and again this year I'll try roasting the seeds and using the flesh for pie (sounds spooky enough for me).

Local Seafood

In contrast to Thursday's meal at McCormick's, today's fish dish could actually be called local.
This morning our neighbor-friend offered us two rock cod filets, caught yesterday near the Farallones. We ate then tonight with quinoa and a salad.

Not only was the cod caught in-season with a hook and line; but for the fishing party it came with a gorgeous day on the water and a humpback whale sighting. That might just be worth getting up at 4am for.

Supper at McCormick and Schmick's

The first night of reporting from West Coast Green, we capped off a hectic day with a healthy dose of brain food (fish) at McCormick and Schmick's in San Jose. We walked over from the Convention Center, waited without reservations for less than 10 minutes (not bad, on a Thursday night), and plunked our tired-but-wired selves down in a dim, quiet side room of the main dining area.

As seafood restaurants go, McCormick's does an excellent job of providing fresh choices, with a new menu each day. Wild catch are noted, as are choices approved by any of the safe seafood certifiers. But their interest in freshness and a sustainable catch are definitely driven more by consumer demand than by an environmental orientation. Some of the fish is flown express from far-off shores; so fresh in this case is not equated with local. And a fair number of the menu selections are caught or produced in ways harmful to marine ecology, or simply over-fished already. So I did feel a bit as I would visiting a steakhouse serving mainly feedlot beef, with a few grass-fed options.

The mixed wild seafood grill (salmon, crab and an MSC-certified Chilean sea bass ) was beautifully plated, and entirely delicious.

Covering West Coast Green, Live

Live blogging at West Coast Green is an endurance event; and day one has gone well.
We started the day with a good breakfast - baked yams, and black tea. Lunch was tuna with tortilla chips, gluten-free cornbread with cheese, and a nectarine. At the conference, we carried Clif Bars and Mojos just in case, and re-usable water bottles. Bananas and Dagoba chocolate kindly set out to share in the press room held me over til dinner; but my blood sugar did dip by 6:30 pm when the last sessions wound down and the tradeshow floor closed.

For dinner, we restored ourselves at McCormick and Schmicks, a few blocks walk from the San Jose Conference Center. Lots of fresh fish well-prepared, with plenty of veggies. Skipping dessert would have been a good idea; but we were celebrating a fabulous day.

West Coast Green, while billed as a green building event, is really more about sustainable development overall than simply the construction aspect. The imperative of a healthy food system is by no means ignored by the designers, policy makers and other professionals, and activists. When we've consumed as much of this amazing buffet as we can, there will be lots to digest for months to come.

Gardens as Green Building Features

Green roofs are very popular these days - mainly the thin layer of sedums to catch and filter the first bit of rain that lands on a building. While these may be the simplest to build and maintain, green roofs can do much more. Chicago's city hall, for instance, has a mini-prairie, a haven for local raptors. Friends on Whidbey Island built a full kitchen garden into their earth-bermed not-so-big house.

Today Treehugger ran a long article today about the green walls on 11 buildings (some built, and some just in design phase). One even involved growing food.

At West Coast Green tomorrow, I'll be on the lookout for green roof (and wall) examples that feed as well as green. That and everything else I can soak up will be live blogged on a site dedicated just to this huge green building event.

Al Gore at West Coast Green

When I first started this blog, I had just seen An Inconvenient Truth; and I was thinking much more seriously about local food as a route to sustainability. The more I learn, the more I understand that link. And how it fits with community design issues.

Depending on who runs the numbers, our globalized food system accounts for 20-33% of carbon emissions. It runs either 2nd or third, but always in the top three with transportation and buildings (their construction, operation, and eventual disposal). So it makes great sense that Al Gore is headlining this Saturday (Sept 27, 2008) at West Coast Green in San Jose, CA.

Gore will probably focus on energy efficiency, renewable materials, and other key links to carbon emissions that green building practices address. Other speakers - and their are an impressive cadre of them appearing over the conference's 3 days - are more likely to hit on nuances of green building's connections to the food system. Sessions on garden design and ecology, greywater systems, and community design draw the link out, and will help attendees think about issues like how to create food security as a factor when we design personal living spaces and community commons.

Heading to West Coast Green

For a change of pace, I am going to a major green event that is not explicitly about food. West Coast Green happens again this weekend, running Sept 25 - 27 in San Jose. I missed it last year, when other responsibilities kept me from indulging my taste for green building. It's a truly dynamic field - so much innovation, constantly in development. Rather like the perpetual remodeling of kitchens, the new homeowner's vice.

No matter how recently a kitchen has been re-outfitted with shiny new appliances, flooring, counters and cabinets, this is the room most likely to be gutted and re-designed by a house's new owners. So I am hoping to see a number of green building principles being demo'd, particularly on Saturday (when homeowners can attend for only $20). First, salvage and re-use. Second, energy efficiency through design and conservation first, new technology second. Third, non-toxic materials made from renewable stock, sourced if not locally, then regionally.

Can an overhauled kitchen still be considered a green kitchen? Depends on what you have to start with, and build upon. I'm hoping to catch what the author of the Not So Big House, who has expanded her arena to the Not So Big Life, might have to say about the re-making of already workable spaces. Should be interesting.

Lion's Mane Mushrooms

A funny thing happened on the way to Slow Food Nation 2008. Emerging from the Civic Center BART stop, we found ourselves in the midst of an excellent farmers market. Apparently, it happens there twice a week; and despite its proximity to the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, it draws plenty of shoppers. Well-stocked with both standard seasonal produce and some rare finds, this market is clearly a community asset.


After feasting on a first-of-the-season Gravenstein apple from Hooverville Orchards, we found a stand selling nothing but mushrooms. In additions to the predictable picks like portabellos, they had one variety that I have never seen before. Called Lion's Mane, these irregular golf-ball size fungi look a bit like cauliflower, but fuzzier. They had been brought up from Moss Landing by FarWest Fungi. With the vendor's suggestions for getting them home intact and cooking them, we carried them about all day, finally popping them in the fridge overnight.

The next day we sauteed them in butter, brushed off and sliced - but not wet-washed (a common no-no with mushrooms). They browned nicely, keeping their meaty texture without losing much liquid or breaking up. In taste, they compare most closely to chantrelles - really yummy. They go especially nicely with light-flavored dishes, like a simple omelet or pasta.

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Home-made Mozzarella

Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle made cheese-making sound like so much fun, I bought a copy of Ricki Carroll's Home Cheese Making, got even more inspired, and ordered a variety of basic supplies. (My version of the $64 tomato? Could be.)

The bonus prize nobody mentioned is that making cheese is magic - true alchemy! 30-minute mozzarella seemed the best recipe to start with - quick, pretty simple, and yielding a key ingredient for our favorite summer dish (caprese). We read the instructions and also visited YouTube, looking for demos. The best one we found was about 5 minutes, not too polished, and was the only we could find using the microwave method for a small batch.

We expected the point where the hot curds turn into a shiny ball of cheese that you can stretch like taffy, roll into little balls, or even tie into a knot to be the highlight - but no. The coolest part was painstakingly heating the pot of milk (nice, fresh Clover milk from happy pastured cows not far from our home) and seeing the conversion of liquid into curds and whey. It's nearly indescribable - so I plan to make my own short video. Then no one will be able to resist being able to witness this revelation for themselves (or at least, if they resist, they'll know what they missed).

Out to Pasture: Slow Food Nation 2008

Wow!
Slow Food Nation was lovely - and we only experienced parts of it. Tomorrow I'll upload the photos and start the posts on individual topics; but tonight there's just a lot to digest. From the Civic Center Plaza, some of the highlights for me were:

• Being car-free in the City all day
• The whole Victory Garden
• The use of straw for walls and benches in public space
• Best use of a portable storage unit (as the information booth)
• Tasty bites for sale and as free samples in the Market
• Window-shopping all the Slow-Food related books I must someday soon read, and perhaps even own
• The Gravensteins just picked, and the farmers who sold them
• The nearby farmers' market, overall
• A divine bite of Harley Farm goat ricotta
• My first taste of raw milk
• The valet bike parking corral
• The compost display
• Great use of the 3-bin system (landfill, compostable, recycling) for a waste-free event; and the scant litter from a huge public event
• Being in the midst of so many diverse folk celebrating Slow Food

Post-note: where was the music? [The spendy concerts were at Fort Mason, yes; but I'm used to a small bit of live music at farmers' markets. Perhaps the organizers wanted to minimize conflict with the Soap Box speakers, a nice eclectic mix of short presenters in the Garden.]

Deep-Fried Fuel

I am saved from watching too many cooking shows mainly by my lack of cable service. So I have not seen very many episodes of "Organic Living with the Hippy Gourmet." Mostly they have seemed to be more travelogue than culinary art; but the rerun I caught this weekend was an exception.

In addition to the usual guest chef, this episode featured a guest host, with the two linked thematically and geographically. The chef from Kitchen on Fire prepared solely deep-fried foods: tortilla chips, wonton strips, tempura vegetables, and banana fritters. The guest host kept up a nice, witty patter, showed enthusiasm for the fry oil's use as a diesel car fuel, and hauled off the used oil to do just that. Two of San Francisco's homegrown sustainability champions - KOF and Veg Rev - got positive exposure; and I worked up a mean jones for some fried snacks.

Lunchbox Envy

Every time I bring my lunch to work in my Laptop Lunchbox, another co-worker wants to know where to get one. Designed much like a bento box, this lunchbox comes with a User's Guide. The authors provide impressive facts on the trash generated by school lunchrooms, mainly from kids' food packed in single-serving disposable containers (67 lbs per child, per year). They also discuss nutrition, shopping tips, and instructions for preparing foods to pack in the lunchbox. For those wishing to transition from processed foods with lots of waste to fresh foods with nothing left behind but compost, the box and book combo makes a great resource.

For an adult with a larger appetite (bigger servings or frequent grazing, like me), the smallish compartments can be challenging. On the plus side, the short, flat profile fits better in a shared office refrigerator than most tall lunch bags.

I use mine a couple times a week, sometimes alone and sometimes with another container on the side. When I run low on inspiration, I consult the User's Guide; and suddenly I want sliced apples to snack on, or a veggie stir fry, or one of the many other good ideas offered.

Back deck Caprese

As Sunset's One Block Diet experimenters point out this summer, eating locally doesn't get much more adventurous or satisfying than home-grown. On their grounds, the equivalent of one city block, they have room for some edible landscaping, a beehive, garden patches with an abundance of produce, and even a coop and yard full of happy laying hens.

My space for a victory garden is limited to some containers and a small shared patch on land. But from these, we are celebrating summer with caprese salads several times a week. The basil is thriving in a pot on the sunrise-side deck, planted there after I found organic basil sold with intact roots at the San Carlos farmers market. And the tomatoes are happily growing upside down, hanging in special planting bags from posts off the side of the house. There they enjoy plenty of light, shelter from afternoon winds, and radiated warmth from the house in the late afternoon.

What's missing from the local list is home-made mozzarella. After learning from Barbara Kingsolver about "the Cheese Queen" and buying a copy of Ricki Carroll's Home Cheesemaking, I'm just dying to try my hand at 30-minute mozzarella. When the supplies arrive by mail (even the artisanal cheesemakers here order from Ricki, it seems), I'll pop out to the store for some Clover milk, made from honest-to-gosh pasture-roaming cows that live up the coast from me. And then we'll party like it's 1899.

Armenian Striped Cucumbers

When would you find a treasure like Armenian striped cucumbers in a grocery store?

They are the sort of vegetable you dream of growing while poring over seed catalogs in the dark of winter.

I found these at the farmers market, brought across the Bay from Modesto by Payne Farm, a family farm with organic certification. Apparently they are too busy farming to put up a website; but the California Department of Agriculture shows them as planning to grow two tons of these beauties, on a mere quarter acre.

The cukes are just one of many produce types on the summer harvest list for the farm; and the quantities of the varied produce really demonstrate how abundant bio-diverse small-scale agriculture can be. And if I decide in the dark of winter that I want to try them in my own yard, you can bet the Paynes will share their growing tips with me.

Where the Buffalo Roam

I am often mistaken for a vegetarian, because I don't eat much meat and will pick a veggie entree at most restaurants, even when meat is offered. Really I'm just a squeamish omnivore - learning about factory farming (from Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and others)ruined my appetite for most chicken, beef, and pork.

Which is why I was so pleased to find bison for sale at my local cheap grocery. Burgers and fries are a weakness for me; but with wheat off the table (a story for a different day) I'm getting by just fine with the occasional plate of bison burger on a gluten-free roll, with a side of sweet potato oven fries.

Although I did find a package of "grain-fed bison" once (why? why?!), most bison are range-raised, naturally hormone and antibiotic free. Some ranchers do finish them briefly on corn in a feed lot; but mainly they spend their lives outdoors much as they did hundreds of years ago, before being driven nearly to extinction. Back up to about a quarter of a million across north America, they roam under supervision, helping restore ecosystems while grazing.

In addition to being more sustainably raised, bison are leaner than beef and have less cholesterol as well. And as long as you don't overcook the meat, it serves up juicy and full of flavor.

Fair Trade Chocolate on the Cheap

On my way to the farmers market today, I stopped at Grocery Outlet to get cash back and whatever incidental treasures I could find. I'm not sure how grocery liquidation works; but the story I tell myself is that when first-line groceries can't move their goods quickly enough, and when manufacturers can't distribute as much as they'd planned, these places snap up the overage. Then folks like me cruise the aisles, scoping out deals. There's a ton of twinkies-and-white-bread stuff there - but it's also good for organic shopping on a budget.

Today I found Alter Eco fair trade chocolate bars for 50 cents each. Yep. Not two or three dollars a piece, but two for a buck. No member card required, no bulk purchase. Just basic clearance. Sadly, they only had a milk chocolate variety; but I bought one for a friend and will keep my eyes out for other flavors next time I hunt and gather there.

Traditional Foods Taste Better When You Eat Them With Your Hands

Visiting the San Carlos farmers market, a vendor's offer of salmon heads for $1 a pound brought back fond memories of sharing food and community where some of the finest wild salmon is harvested - Alaska.

A few years ago, I had the chance to attend a Tribal environmental conference in Sitka, Alaska. Our hosts, the Sitka Tribe, were generous and hospitable, true to their traditions. I really felt at home, from the moment we arrived and were greeted at the airport to the day I left (sad to leave a business trip, for the first time ever). The first night of most guests' arrival, the Tribe welcomed all comers with a ceremony, "the warming of the hands." One highlight was supper, including fresh herring roe harvested from the local waters and shorelines. It brought delight to guests who were raised on it, looking forward to that April delicacy the way I look forward to heirloom tomatoes in July.

Fishermen (and women) from generation to generation, our hosts offered a bounty of fish. One day this included salmon heads, split and roasted on a baking sheet in the oven. The Alaska natives sitting near me compared notes on the preparation, making appreciative comments. One woman turned to me and said with quiet authority, "Traditional foods taste better when you eat them with your hands." And darned if she wasn't right.

How do we build bridges between cultures, if not by sharing the foods we are raised on? How do we begin to understand each others lives and values, if we don't touch - with our hands, not our intellects - the sources of our lives?

Shh! Don't Tell Them It's Dog Food

We came upon the Merrick line of dog food by serendipity, while dog-sitting for a pup that came with her own chow supply. "Grammy's Pot Pie" seemed unusually swank, made from chunks of chicken meat, potatoes, snow peas, and apples. Little did we know how extensive the line was, until one day when the cat food cupboard went bare (I just wasn't paying attention). Rather than feed the cats just dry food, I opened the big can of wet dog food up and spooned a couple tablespoons into each cat bowl. Then I smashed the dog-sized chunks up, for a feline aesthetic. And both the alarm kitty (it's sunrise! wake up and feed me!) and the nonchalant one were delighted.

Pleasantly, this canned food doesn't smell like the mush most companies make for cats. It smells like cooked stew, ready to be re-heated (for a human). Everyone including me preferred it; so off I went to the Feed and Pet Supply store and looked for a cat food version. They did have it, alright - but only in the little bitty cans. So I held the cans side-by-side and compared ingredients, including fat, ash and key nutrients. Pretty darn close (a bit more fat in some of the dog choices; but there are enough to stick with the lower-fat options and still have variety). So I stocked up, and haven't looked back once.

Now my favorites (I mean their favorites) include Wild Buffalo Grill, Mediterranean Banquet, Senior Medley (they are 12, after all), and Thanksgiving Day Dinner. I keep plenty in the pantry, because frankly, we don't keep that much canned food for ourselves in the house. If we have a disaster, we'll go through the fresh stuff and the freezer pretty quickly. And then we may just arm-wrestle over who gets Grammy's Pot Pie.

Diet Pepsi vs. Iced Tea

I love iced tea; but for years my diet Pepsi addiction has caused me to neglect it. I drove my frugal self to Costco to buy the 36-packs, only to find that the more I had on hand the more I would consume. And every time I went out to lunch and ordered iced tea, I felt so well indulged. But at home and work I grabbed that aluminum can instead of brewing a pitcher.
This summer I decided to reverse that trend. Why?

First, it's a little embarrassing to be seen with a can of soda always in hand when everyone knows that healthy food is your passion. They see the contradiction right off. And what can I say, except nobody's perfect ? (and I never did aspire to be Greener than Thou, thank Gosh)

More importantly, I had an niggling fear about the long term effects on my health. The phosphoric acid in colas is hard on the body's calcium supply; and with osteoporosis in my family, I need to take calcium, not give it away. Also, what about drinking from aluminum everyday? Don't those cans get heated in the trucks, just like the cookware we don't use anymore for fear of Alzheimer's? I can't find a credible answer on that issue; but I love my brain and want it work well even after my teeth are nubs and my bones are brittle.

So I did what I often prescribe to others who would go green - made it easier to do the right thing than the wrong thing. I stopped stocking sodas at home or work, and started making iced tea in the morning, to drink with lunch and an afternoon snack (I could make it later in the day, if I bring in some decaf bags). I have really enjoyed a tall, icy cup on demand; and the switch has also plugged a small leak in my wallet. (A couple bucks on tea bags will see me through a whole month.) Only once in the last month have I felt an overwhelming urge to find a vending machine and blow a dollar on 12 ounces of carbonated, flavored water. And you know what? It wasn't all that.

Keep the Cat off the Solar Oven

. . . and other solar cooking tips.

My initial forays into using solar energy to cook dishes on my deck have met with some mixed success. Seems that learning to use a solar cooker to its best advantage is like learning to use any new cooking equipment (a wok, a propane grill, a blender. . .).

Rather than make my own cooker, I started by borrowing one, a commercial Sun Oven. Like most models, it offers its own variation on the basic design - dark box with glass lid and reflectors. My first try, a strawberry rhubarb crisp, came out so well I tried it a second time. Even better!

In contrast, my first try at baking ratatouille flopped. I started too late in the day; and temps in the box were enough to warm the dish but not cook it well.

Reading the handy guide and excellent cookbook, Cooking with Sunshine , is getting me over the learning curve. The recipes are tailored for the way solar cookers work; and the tips must be followed for reliable results. Already the time-of-day rule and the tight-cover-to-keep-steam-in rule have shown themselves to be true. And, fortunately, the cat is not interested in napping anyplace that hot and shiny.

Solar strawberry-rhubarb crisp

Both key ingredients are abundant at the farmers markets this season; so I've been perfecting my strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe.

Twice now I've cooked it on the deck in a borrowed solar oven. The fruit cooks really well; but the topping doesn't really crisp up. Still, it ends up delicious without heating up the house.

For the Fourth of July it makes a great energy independence dish.

Potluck Pride

As LGBT Pride Month winds to a close, I wonder: is there an identifying food of the LGBT community? A rainbow flag of cuisine? Perhaps wedding cake, lately.

But then again, not everyone is rushing to the altar. There simply is too much diversity within this multi-faceted community - no one "lifestyle" (despite the common, inappropriate application of that word), no one ethnicity or class background, no shared academic track, no single sport, no one common link except a shared struggle towards equality.

And that is enough, most days, to create community. To build community, we share stories, music, sports, food. Nearly every gathering I have attended - whether social, religious, athletic, or political - that involve queer folk and food, has been a potluck. What other way of breaking bread together lets everyone bring something that expresses who they are (too busy to cook; a natural gourmet; vegan; carnivore; Irish; Filipino; etc) and at the same time ensures that there is something for everyone? Now there's a food culture that I can be proud of.

San Carlos Farmers Market

I try to be loyal to my local farmers market, I really do. I want it to flourish. But this week I needed some produce on a Thursday; and on my commute home I kept passing "Hot Harvest Nights" sandwich boards. So I side-tracked to San Carlos and checked out their market.

Wow. The city cordons off a good section of the main street, block-party style. A long line of stalls, back-to-back and facing the permanent storefronts along the sidewalks on either side, offer an amazing bounty. It rivals the West Seattle market!

Several vendors offer baked goods, from artisan breads to decadent desserts. Several stalls feature or include fresh cut flowers, or even potted plants. If you don't want to eat al fresco at one of the thriving restaurants on the main drag, rotisserie chicken and fresh, hand-made tamales are available to go. Only one vendor offered farmstead cheeses - but what lovely cheese it is (goat as well as cow, and hard cheeses as well as soft spreads). And one vendor provided a mix of locally caught fish and imported Alaska salmon (an exception to the California-only rule, I guess). But the produce really is the star at this market. Easily half the vendors are organic farmers; and the competition is healthy among all the stalls.

Fortunately for my wallet, my transportation limited my carrying capacity. My Zapino electric motorbike has space under the seat, and a rack on the back. Stowing my bounty - three baskets of organic strawberries, a bunch of celery, two bunches of organic basil (roots intact), two small avocados, three fingerling bananas (in-state grown!), and two ears organic sweet white corn - took all my spatial relations skills and a bungee cord. The organic sunflowers, with their three-foot stalks, had to be zipped into my riding jacket, poking out at both ends.

Next Saturday I vow to return to my home market, faithful to the vendors who give up a weekend day to bring fresh produce to our neighborhood. But I may stop on my way home on a Thursday again, too. I'll just have to eat more wonderful local food.

Outdoor Dining in the Smoking Section

With 800 fires burning in California, the whole outdoors smells like smoke. It's strange, in a place that allows cigarette smokers to light up in so few places.

Along with the tragic consequences of the fires, there are more mundane ones, like staying indoors for exercise (I knew that gym membership could still make sense in the summer). And not grilling outdoors. We could - but why add to the haze?

Instead, I borrowed a Global Sun Oven. Long a proponent of solar cooking, I have saved boxes and plans for the make-your-own solar cooker models. This weekend, I hope to set up the commercial oven and test it against the cheap and cheesy one I'll make myself. I am jones-ing for another round of ratatouille, and also some strawberry-rhubarb crumble. And while the sun bakes them for me, I'll be off to the gym, washing the smoke out of my hair.

Celiac? We'll see

For years I've had experiences I just attributed to allergies, anemia, blood sugar . . .

Like most symptoms of celiac (a condition where the person lacks an enzyme to digest the protein of certain grains, called gluten), they are easy to write off as something else.

• Why do my hands sometimes feel like I have arthritis, when I show no other signs? Why does that soreness and stiffness come and go?
• Why do I feel fine til bed some evenings; and other evenings feel overwhelming tired, sluggish, achy, irritable and like I can't think?
• Why do I have mornings after enough sleep when I just can't get into gear, even after black tea?

I never heard of any of these symptoms connecting to celiac until I happened across an article featuring a food blog, Gluten Free Girl. I went and looked from curiosity, and found great recipes that celebrate joyful cooking and sharing of healthy food - my kind of food culture. And some medical basics, the authors own story, plus anecdotes about others. That combination of recognizing myself and thinking, 'wow - I could enjoy eating this way' made me willing to dump denial and get tested for the antibody that indicates a likelihood of the condition.

And then came Sunday, with its increasing raft of unpleasantness (all of the above). By late afternoon and after 3 serious servings of wheat (toast x2, waffles x2, and a pupusa), I could barely hold my head up and walk around the house, much less finish a coherent sentence. It really feels like being drugged, beaten up, and heckled. A lost evening, sleep with anti-inflammatories, and a difficult Monday morning at work, trying to keep enough focus to be productive. Right then I started figuring out what I could eat without gluten. And the rest of this week has been, if not perfect, really good.

So we'll see what the blood test says, what my doctor says, and where I go from here. High hopes!

Slow Food Day

In the media, a slow news day is a bad news day - nothing exciting happened. But for a cook, a slow food day is good news. Today was a perfect example.

For breakfast, we made fruit smoothies with local organic strawberries. Organic Earl Grey tea and crumpets topped with cream cheese and locally grown cucumbers accompanied them.

Having used up the remnants of last week's farmer's market treasures, we headed into town for this week's market. Arriving home hungry, we made Caprese from fresh basil, local tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella (from someplace in California). With a bowl of creamy guacamole made from local avocados, chips and a glass of sun tea, we felt well- fortified for afternoon chores .

For supper, we grilled lake trout locally caught by a neighbor, with a regionally produced, Meyer lemon -infused olive oil on the outside and herbs from the pots on our deck (summer savory and Italian parsley) on the inside. Local asparagus grilled well on the upper rack; and multi-grain pilaf boiled quickly on the stovetop. A green salad with goat cheese, dried cranberries, almond bits, and julienned local fennel made the perfect first course. And instead of a California wine, we enjoyed a light, crisp hard pear cider made in Sebastapol.

Not everything today was raised within 100 miles of home; but seasonal and local foods, prepared at home and shared with friends, were the highlight of the day all day long. Long may the Slow Food Movement reign.

A Greener Sunset Weekend

Sunset Magazine hosts a Celebration Weekend each year at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California. We attended today for the second time. As usual, there were tours of the test kitchen, access to the beautifully landscaped grounds, tented stages with seating for lectures and demonstrations, dozens of vendor booths, and more than enough sunshine.

This year, a discernibly deeper green tinge permeated the event, both driving and responding to consumer demand for more environmentally friendly products and services. In addition to Sunset's standard practices such as discounts for transit riders, bicyclists, and shuttle users, notable new green elements included:

Healthier food samples. No instant pudding this year - Kraft's high fiber snack bars, cereals, crackers and even cheeses (an 'active' line, with probiotic fiber added); Safeway's salads, carrots with cucumber feta dip, and a light dessert of chocolate bits with fresh fruit made return visitors of many happy grazers.

On-site food waste collection. Most samples were served on paper (napkins, cups, trays) or with compostable plastic (the corn starch forks). Well-distributed throughout the grounds were clusters of clearly marked receptacles, one for recyclable bottles and cans, one for trash, and one for compost. Eyeballing the contents, it appeared that visitors got it.

A stronger emphasis on succulents, drought tolerant species, and native plants, both at the lecture stages and the demonstration gardens.

An "eco-lounge" stage, with speakers on topics such as What is a Carbon Footprint?, Compost, Solar 101, and Eating Locally.

More vendors of specifically green products and services, such as Ecofabulous, Terrapass, Solar City, and Branch (sustainable design). Most of them had booths in the far corner by the eco-lounge; but a few were sprinkled throughout the more traditional vendor areas(eg, Numi Tea and Akeena Solar).

Sponsor Chrysler worked hard at marketing its vehicles as green, exhibiting a new hybrid, a flex-fuel vehicle, and a concept car (electric with a fuel cell backup) in addition to its regular minivan and sedans.

Sunset offered an organic cotton T-shirt and a bamboo fiber cap, both as contest prizes and as event merchandise (at a large discount, comparing the event price to comparable retailers).

City chickens in the demonstration garden pecked happily in the dirt, with a sign previewing their appearance in the August magazine article, "The One-Block Feast."

My favorite green feature, however, was not new or newly packaged as eco-friendly. The California Artisan Cheese Guild provides a free tasting gallery each year with samples from some of the finest small cheesemakers of the region. Today's selection included Three Sisters Farmstead Cheese's Serena (as nutty and intense as a Dutch beemster); Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company's Original Blue; Cypress Grove Chevre; and Harley Farms goat cheeses. Nothing says sustainability to me like the best of the Slow Food movement.

Fruit Smoothies: Three Tips

My favorite weekend breakfast treat is a fruit smoothie. Over the years, I have discovered a few helpful techniques:

1. Not all frozen fruit has to come from the store. Last summer, the local strawberry harvest was so bountiful, I asked the farmers market vendor how to freeze them. Easy: cut off the tops; wash, slice if necessary; freeze on a metal tray; and pop them in a freezer bag til needed.
2. Use a good blender. I used a lovely old Vita Mix until recently. The Kitchen Aid blender we had in storage is much quieter and more powerful, getting chunks gone quickly and cleaning up easily.
3. Save some for later. My normal batch uses one whole fresh banana, with non-fat yogurt and two types of frozen fruit. It serves two generously, or three adequately. When I make a batch for just myself, I pour half into a sturdy glass cup that a rubber lid fits onto, and freeze it. About an hour before I want to eat the saved portion, I take it out to defrost, and stir just before drinking it. The frozen version does not make a good dessert, but will return to proper smoothie consistency.

My next trick? Learn to make my own yogurt.

West Seattle Farmer's Market

Americans abroad make a big deal of visiting the markets in European towns - they seem exotic to us, with their open-air stalls of fresh produce, artisanal products, and actual growers staffing them. After visiting dozens of farmer's markets in the States, I still sometimes feel like a traveller to the modern Old World. In Seattle this weekend, I experienced that sensation again.

The West Seattle Farmer's market may the most upscale one I have shopped to date, in any city. Geographically it is unassuming, filling a not-so-large parking lot. But the offerings - oh my! Perhaps not having a kitchen I planned to cook in made me overlook the gorgeous produce (except the fiddlehead ferns and the wild mushrooms). Or perhaps I am just not accustomed to seeing Mangalista pork, fresh pasta, jams from unheard of berries, artisanal cheeses, free range eggs from ducks as well as chickens, and so much more all in one small space. Not to mention the fresh organic breads, the fresh pastries, and the asparagus and goat cheese strata. It was like wandering the aisles of the best gourmet store ever.

Would I shop this market every weekend, as I do the one in my own neighborhood? Actually, no. My tastes run more to the pedestrian. I go to stock up on as much produce in as great a variety as I think I can creatively use without wasting any. And sometimes I'll add in a jar of local honey, or a pastry, or a small container of that amazing artichoke parmesan dip that mercifully bears no nutrition label. If I had so much bounty available in the meats and dairy and hand-crafted condiments, eventually I would splurge. It must be a testament to the food culture of West Seattle that so many recherchez goods can be sold week after week to the same core group from this neighborhood.

Popsicle Weather

86 degrees F indoors, with the ceiling fan on. Cats shedding in clumps. Soap melting in the shower stall. Who wants to eat, much less cook?

Popsicles!

Suddenly I carved them, icy and fruity. But not enough to run to the store for a box of sugar water on sticks.

I had a freezer, didn't I? Seems like we used to make our own popsicles, when I was a kid (pre-internet).

So I got onto the net, and searched for "homemade popsicles." My, how fancy they've become! So many nifty plastic molds to buy.

But I had cranberry lemonade, ice trays, and toothpicks at hand; so that's what I worked with. I filled the tray, laid the sticks in askew, and waited for them to freeze. Voila! Popsicles.

Make any Dish Healthier

My golden rules for healthier eating:
1. Add veggies
2. Share

Last night's supper reminded me how often and easily I apply these two rules.
It was hot, and I didn't want to bake or use the stovetop. So I threw together a salad, and then scrounged the fridge and pantry.
A box of Trader Joe's Satay Peanut Noodles called my name.
This dish is packaged as a to-go meal, with just noodles and sauce in a microwavable box. One person can scarf it down in a few minutes, for 600 calories, 6g saturated fat, and almost no fiber.
But I prepared it as I usually do, dumping it into a bowl and then stirring in whatever veggies I find in the crisper. Last night it was green beans, broccoli and zucchini. Then I heated it, split it into two big bowls, and shared.
Voila! We each had a little over 300 calories, 3g sat fat, and a decent amount of fiber and phyto-nutrients.

Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich

Don't say "eewwh" before you try it!
My friend Robert Swanson introduced me to this weird and wonderful combination when we were eight or nine years old. Til then, my favorite combo was peanut butter with chocolate chips (courtesy of my-friend-Alice). I was skeptical too; but I had eaten weirder stuff on a dare - and he seemed to genuinely like the sandwich he was happily munching away on.

To make:
Spread peanut butter on two slices of bread (something semi-good, like one of those multi-grains pretending to be healthy but really only a notch above the squishy white breads.)
Place slices of bread and butter pickles onto one slice of the bread, and top with the other.
Cut and eat.

Sweet and crunchy, the pickles aren't that different than apple slices. Try it yourself, and then have fun testing the adventurousness of your friends and relations.

Mother's Day Tea Party

A true garden tea party calls for floppy hats, sundresses, tiered serving trays, and fine china. But it is possible to feel just as finely treated without the elegance. This morning we decided to host the get-together in the afternoon, called a few friends and relations, looked in the fridge, and declared the planning done. I didn't even vacuum.

All the tea was appropriately luv-ly, from the chrysanthemum-blossom green tea to the Yunan Extra Fancy. The cups were an unmatched assortment, some little tasting cups (Japanese), some Russian or English china. We used 4 of the 5 pots we own, and one large glass jar (to watch the tied tea leaves unfurl into the chrysanthemum flower.

The nibbles were simple, based on odds and ends in the fridge and pantry. Crumpets with cream cheese and cucumber slices, of course. Tuna and avocado on thin-sliced bread with crusts removed. Olive bread toasted and topped by egg salad, and alternately with hummuss and bits of roasted red pepper. And doughnut holes. Traditional? Hardly. Yummy and fun? Spot on.

Sunset's Celebration Weekend

Sunset Magazine hosts a public event each year - quite an extravaganza, actually. In addition to getting to wander the bucolic grounds of the publication's headquarters, there are workshops, speakers, kids events, vendor booths, free samples of food and drink, and even live music. The entry fee is minimal, and frequent shuttles from nearby corporate parking lots are offered to cut down on driving hassles. Bike parking, with discounted entry, is also offered on-site.

Last year the weekend was held in early May. The weather was idyllic, the crowds moderate and good-humored, and the local event conflicts few. We stayed five or six of the eight hours (10 am to 6pm), and left tired but happy. This year Celebration Weekend happens June 7 and 8, from 10am to 5pm each day. Tickets have gone up to $12 ($10 seniors, and children under 12 free); but transit, bike and shuttle discounts still apply.

If you live within easy access to Menlo Park, it is a relaxing way to enjoy a one-day local vacation. Do take sunscreen, and easy to carry layered clothing.

Happy Birthday, Alice!

Noted book artist Alice Austin celebrates another year of creativity today.

Most of Alice's art books draw from her experiences of daily life. And much of that experience centers around food. Works reflecting this focus include the classic "Coffee" (1999), "Milk, Butter, Eggs" (2004), "Meatball Math" (2005), and "Dance of Six Dinner Plates" (2006).

My favorite? Of these four, probably Meatball Math. I love the recipe to make all 1408 (a year's worth for her family) at once. And the way it stands three-dimensionally, and then folds flat into the silhouette of a house. Elegant and whimsical, in one.

Her full collection of books deals with birth, death, and many of the events big and small within that cycle. My favorite shifts depending on what's happening in my own life at the time, in the way that art always speaks to us differently as the lens of our experience changes how we view it. I am drawn to "Red, Yellow, Blue" when I feel happy and reflective; and to "Tides" when loss touches me. But who or what I think of when I see them changes each time.

A few works in her book collection can still be purchased; but many have been taken by individual collectors, museums, and universities. A good sampling can be viewed at her website, along with examples of her paintings and sculpture.

Bon apetite, Alice! May your work continue to feed you, as it nourishes us.

Strawberry Toast

The first strawberries of the season are not the most succulent, just the most pined-for. I rushed mine home from the farmer's market Saturday, and did two things with them immediately:

1. Took them out of their list plastic baskets (set aside to give back next weekend) and dropped them dry and unwashed into quart containers (re-used yogurt vessels, with tight lids). A farmer taught me last year that they will keep up to three weeks this way. Last summer a few even did, when I put them out of sight by mistake.
2. Made strawberry toast, one of my favorite-est healthy snacks.

To make:

• Lightly butter a nice slice of chewy whole-grain bread
• Layer it with thick-sliced fresh, local strawberries
• Sprinkle with either brown or turbinado sugar
• Place in the toaster oven til the bread crisps and the sugar melts

A Locavore's Dream Come True

The Bay Area must be one of the easiest places in the country for an aspiring locavore.

Today my local farmer's market opened; and I went mostly to see what could possibly be in season. In the grocery, most of the produce like red bell peppers is coming up from Mexico; so I figured there would be some root vegetables and winter greens - not much else.
What a surprise! There were only six produce stalls; but I could have made many meals from them, without sacrifice. I saw: artichokes, asparagus, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, mixed salad greens, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, chard, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, 3 types of mushrooms, zucchini, sweet peppers (red, yellow, orange and green), long neck squash, brussel sprouts, tomatoes (not so nice looking), old apples, cilantro and a few Asian herbs I couldn't name, strawberries, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bok choy, and radishes. Not all of it was organic; but quite a lot was.

I budget my farmer's market visits like a trip to Las Vegas - I only take what I plan to spend. For $18, I picked up 2 gorgeous bunches of asparagus, 3 lovely artichokes, 1 bunch (6) of baby bok choy, and 3 quarts of strawberries. I learned that asparagus has been in season for 6 weeks already in the San Joaquin Delta; and that the season is less than half over. Of these items, all were hoped for, but only the bok choy was expected. I can't wait to see what comes into season next! And next week, I'll take two bags with me, and more money. It's a gamble I'm sure to win.

No More Crude in my Food

Today I watched the documentary Crude Awakening. It did a good job of instilling a sense of urgency about how unprepared we are to deal with life "after the peak," when the little bit of oil still available becomes very, very expensive. Along with all the things we take for granted, like car travel and food. Food?!

The film did not spend time letting individuals know what they could do to gain greater self-sufficiency through a low-carbon lifestyle now (the lovely footage of Amish horse carts notwithstanding). It's purpose may be to get us to demand political action, which surely is needed. But I would have liked to see some get-off-your-ass-and-act case studies. You know, people growing their own food or using farmers markets, otherwise becoming locavores, choosing organics for food and clothing, and giving vegetarian meals a chance now and then.

None of these things alone, or even cumulatively, will create more oil - but they do give us practice living with less, and help focus us less on despair and more on answers. For myself, I find I'm much more likely to demand support from my leaders if I know what's possible, rather than just what's wrong.

Nettle Tea

Is it just a placebo effect, or does my daily dose of nettle tea really help my allergies?

Sometimes hard to tell, when I'm also using Zyrtec, Flonase and a sinus wash every day.

But according to my Herbal Teas book, nettle has a 'moderating effect on allergies'. And I'm willing to buy that.

At least it tastes good, especially with a little lemon. I split my 'dose' by brewing one big cup at night and drinking half before bed and half in the morning before work.

Did I mention it's also a diuretic? That means I really can't oversleep anymore. Thank goodness I can breathe ok when I wake up.

Green Egg Salad (No Ham)

Easter was especially fun this year - it was all about the eggs!

Although free-range eggs recently hit $3.00 a dozen here, we bought a lot. After waffles, everyone was ready to dye a few. They came out beautifully; so naturally we hid them up in the vegetable garden, where a real bunny would forage.

The only child among us searched diligently among the swiss chard, cabbages, rhubarb and nasturtiums, finding most of them. Only one went to the dog, who amazed us all by rolling it with her nose to break up the shell before eating the hard-boiled egg.

But last night I was faced with packing lunch, and making use of the colorful bounty. So naturally I shucked a few and whipped up a batch of egg salad. The green bits looked very festive; and since they matched my fingerprints it didn't seem odd to see them in my sandwich.