Anna Blume

Calabacitas Guisadas estilo Michoacán con Chorizo Arroz Blanco The queso fresco: Keswick's feta. Variation on one of Diana Kennedy's recipes inspired by something read once in Rick Bayless, using fresh cilantro instead of epazote which means there was a nice, fresh accent at the end instead of the funky depth the latter would have imparted at the beginning of process when cubed summer squash is stewed w chopped onion before lid is removed and a blended sauce of roasted, charred tomatoes, charred serrano and fresh garlic is mixed in and all is cooked until most of liquid leaves the pan. I fried up a crumbled chorizo separately and added that, too. Rice? Grated carrot is nice touch, alone, without recommended peas.

And so?

Anyone willing to lend me a set of bells to fasten to me shins? Send us a PM, love. Not sure of time, but during the farmers market this Sunday, Morris dancers from Canada should be hopping and ripping hankies through the air to secure fertility of the crops.

^ I understand re fruit and perceptions of what does and doesn't go w lattice; its advantage is that all that direct heat pretty much guarantees an un-soggy pie. It's pretty w apple and quince on T-day. I like lperry's recommendation a lot, especially when it comes to the bottom crust. The things about both top and filling: baked/roasted fruit's different from sautéed, and the juices from a bubbling filling seeping over the top crust and gelling there is something you look for w a homemade pie, so tweaking does seem in order. Thing is, if you bake the top crust separately and you've used lard plus (do try the cider vinegar and bkg powder, too) to make it flaky, it is going to be fragile and apt to crack when pressed.

Edited since I couldn't find information sought, though I'll still note that Peruvian-style rotisserie chickens are sources of greater concern.

Sounds fabulous! And while I wish I had some of bookluving's stock instead of the carton I picked up at WFM at the end of a day replete w IT issues, I have to agree that in the wake of summer, the day's one for simmering sorts to stand facing the stove and the steam. I adore fresh shelling beans (Sand Hill Farm might still be selling them at Penn Quarter on Thursday), though I wanted to transform the fagioli all'uccelletto (Zuni Café recipe) made w last week's batch. Turned them into a soup w leeks, mirepoix, celery root, kale, parsley, and a single, but significant chorizo sausage whose principal ingredient was raised humanely and well fed on a small West Virginian farm by a DR member whose wife is a vegetarian. So to that trio who set up at the edge of a farmers market on World Farm Animals Day and offered to pay passers-by $1 were they to watch a four-minute video designed to put one off the consumption of meat, forever: there are other alternatives to the diets and practices you condemn.

Post-family tradition, Rose Levy Barenbaum taught me everything I needed to know about pie and crust that Martha didn't. What I modify: sub 2 or even 3 T lard for butter, no more. (Cedarbrook will not be at Dupont tomorrow.) RLB is the source of favorite advice: a touch of apple cider vinegar and generous pinch of baking powder in pastry. Let it chill & rest as disk in fridge; when rolled out and crimped in pie plate, freeze it before baking. Lots of cc's of Martha's OLD, early book on pies in DC public library, though I don't know if your local branch has reopened yet. She's got great advice for making lattice pattern on top. I like to cover the lattice strips w decorative shapes cut from pastry scraps, use an egg-based glaze and turbinado sugar, but of course, you can create a deadhead template for your irregular scraps instead of maple leaves or go w something streuselish. Filling: a little lemon juice or pomegranate molasses. Or brandy. Mix in dried apple slices from Quaker Valley. Since you're such a frog, do an apple custard tart instead. My bookmarked links: RLB's recipe and her own website. Ruhlman Soggy-Pre-empt. I'm also a fan of Regan Daly, so here's this: Apple pie.

Yes, Zora, I know and I imagine the blogger, the author of multiple cookbooks, knows that, too. I hear you. Me, too. Some cultures use celery leaves to stuff dumplings, pasta or savory pastries. Mario Batali uses celery leaves as an excuse to yell at journalists from The New Yorker who are writing a book about him and happen to throw them out when asked to chop the stalks. Hey, it's just different and you might find different uses for it, if NOT for bbq sauce . Me, I just wanted to try something new and so I did.

Julia Child famously said she hated health food. I wonder what she would have made of Heidi Swanson? Me, I got over my skepticism long ago and turn to her site a lot when I am not sure what to do with finds at the market or bins in the bulk section. Having purchased a gorgeous bunch of organic celery from New Morning Farm ($3 which is a bargain for one of those foods that is usually grown w lots of pesticides), I decided to try making her homemade celery salt, using residual heat from oven after roasting. I like the results.

Mushroom barley soup done, barley cooked separately to add bowl by bowl. Next: Judy Rodgers' fagioli all'uccelletto w fresh shelling beans. Just roasted the last of my enormous standard red tomatoes w garlic slivers to improve flavor before adding them to the pan.

^That very afternoon, I had purchased a couple of lbs. of marrow bones for similar reasons. My goal was just to have enough stock for a mushroom barley soup, so I used the broth leftover from simmering fresh shelling beans (yeah!), threw in some leek greens, dried porcini bits and among other things, a dollop of sautéed tomato paste and both the skin and core of a roasted tomato.

Turkey thigh burger w red onions and tzatziki Sylvester's succatash w fresh pole lima beans and herbs Honeycrisp apple

"The Excrement Poem" by Maxine Kumin.

No, not today only. Oct. 6 next. However, the lamb guy (Springfield) seems unable to find a new farmers market sales asst., so he is not coming back for the foreseeable future. In his place, this new farm will be coming every other week. Kenny has quail and chicken eggs and pheasant he processed on the farm where the birds are raised, inspected by Maryland's state agriculture (and approved). He can only sell it frozen, so baby steps. We ain't Europe where you can see the birds hanging by their feet, feathers intact at the market...and given food safety legislative patterns it looks like we're not going to get there any time soon. The farmer also raises a number of European heritage breeds of chickens that cannot cross state lines for sale since they are not USDA inspected. From what I hear, chefs can place pre-orders of anything this guy raises, but I don't think we the common people have that privilege. This venture to the farmers market in D.C. is new for KCC Farm, so the people who run it need to investigate regulations further, but it's Kenny's understanding that he has to limit sales to eggs and pheasant.

Got game? KCC Farm does. Today!

Promoting the benefits of plant sterol is simply a way that manufacturers find they can sell their margarine. It's a way to counter the stigma margarine developed when consumers started to avoid partially hydrogenated vegetable oils out of concern for their health. Replacing the argument that a product is bad for your health with the desire for the healthful benefits of that product is the point. Simpler: buy real foods w plant sterol such as olive oil, almonds, whole wheat, legumes. Nina Planck (not always reliable on science and totally into provocation, but she's echoed by others) argues that whole milk from pasture-grazed cows that has not been subjected to extreme temperatures of most homogenizing processes actually helps lower LDL cholesterol, so I wonder if she makes a similar claim about real butter, fat saturated or not.

The last of a supply of dried canary beans destined for minestrone w bacon and roasted tomatoes

Whole-wheat buttermilk cake w Italian prune plums and figs

And for those of you who are even lazier and as ignorant as I was until I clicked the link, the acronym stands for The American Institute of Wine & Food, founded thirty years ago by Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and others as a non-profit for the sake of improving gastronomical life in this country.

I can't vouch for how "traveled" the concept seems, but I was planning to say that it was a bit too much an offshoot of the Mexican-style fast food of Chipotle, down to the corn. Those who came up w the idea for this experiment might consider ways to make the place a bit more distinctive since choices in constructing one's bowl are not all that different from what you get in line at Chipotle, except for the fact that an elimination of dairy means lower fat content. I realize that a national franchise cannot offer the diversity of the menu at Teaism and limited options make sense, but, I don't know. Soup bowls in cold weather would be nice. The beef looked delicious and was--the other protein options did not look appealing at all, especially the meatballs late on a Sunday afternoon. I wish one could build a bowl w more than one vegetable and the first feedback here suggested that was an option. Since the place wasn't busy when I went, my wish for half portions of eggplant and long beans was honored and I am glad. The eggplant was not too spicy to consume, but the heat quickly overwhelmed the green curry sauce, both of which were really, really good. Most fast food doesn't taste this good; Nando Peri-Peri offers the closest comparison for me and the latter costs twice as much and has slipped in quality over time (minimal portions, blah sides that don't contain ingredients on menu, etc.) During its first weeks Shophouse makes use of local, seasonal foods in ways that distinguish it from other inexpensive options in the neighborhood. I don't know if these virtues will be retained in other locations or for the long haul, but the promise is there. I'd change the name, too. Sounds like a bargain place for home goods and hardware and puns just aren't the best source for names.

When I logged in today, I was told there was no new content because the last time I had logged in was a minute ago. That wasn't true. I had just turned on my computer and hadn't visited any sites, nor had I read anything on the site without logging in. My cache was clean. The only cookie before logging in was from google. I've mentioned this "problem" [annoyance, really, not a big issue] at least once or twice before. This was the first time I noticed that the board decided I had visited only a minute earlier.

I heard that the very cool hunter, fisherman slash forager whose blog provided my favorite venison recipe, Hank Shaw, is sadly ill and so the Chef at Market event I was eagerly anticipating is cancelled. Everyone, take care of yourself so you don't get sick, too. Eat kale! There should be some at the market along w deconstructed grape jelly (concord grapes) at Quaker Valley and maybe figs at Country Pleasures. Last of the peaches are surprisingly not all that bad (at least not mealy) and there still should be green beans at one or two places before all the dark hearties take over the world. So grab some groceries and then head around the corner to check out Shophouse for lunch where there really were long beans opening week since Nate Appleman was buying food at market last Sunday and Tree & Leaf was selling some. (Next Step Produce sometimes carries them, too.)

Temporary Move tomorrow & the Saturday after that & the one after that, too! September 17, 24 & October 1 Markets will be held in the parking lot on corner of Georgia and Colesville in front of Panera Bread, known as The Gateway Plaza. 9 AM to 1 PM. Bring your dogs, but only if they're smallish since it's a tight fit. As you probably know, Evensong's Julie is selling her poulets rouges and Groff's Julie promises bacon.

Downtown Silver Spring. There's AFI and Ray's and otherwise a lot of sad, pathetic retail. Borders just emptied. Pier 1 just emptied. Move the Marshall's from City Plaza to those spaces, expanding it to accommodate domestic wares from the chain's Home stores and then kick everyone out of City Plaza and build up EatItaly in tiers.

I got to meet Diane Kennedy here today, escorted by Joe Raffa. Very charming. Cool, especially since I was so disappointed not to be able to go to her talk at the Archives.