Blog

A Special Thanksgiving Shout Out to My Two New Friends

Posted in News & Views, Out & About on Tue, 11/23/2010 - 8:00am by Shari Danielson -

See the photo, above? That’s me in the middle grinning and blushing like a 12-year-old girl going backstage to meet the Jonas Brothers.

But, needless to say, those guys aren’t the Jonases. And though you may not immediately recognize their faces, I’m guessing you’ll need only their first names to know immediately who they are.

The one on the left is Ben. The other is Jerry.

Thanksgiving Outside the Box: Recipe for Fruit and Nut Stuffing

Posted in Recipes on Mon, 11/22/2010 - 8:00am by Leslie Kruempel -

In most cases, I don’t like food that replaces its key ingredients with impostors: tofu “chicken” and gluten-free vegan cupcakes come to mind. But last year when Thanksgiving rolled around, I was in the midst of trying a grain-free diet, and was left to figure out ways to maintain tradition and please my family while avoiding wheat. Stuffing had always been one of my holiday favorites, but if you look at the ingredients list on the box, it can be hard to recognize many of its components as food (partially-hydrogenated soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup, anyone?)

Impossibly Delicious Pumpkin Desserts for Thanksgiving

Posted in Family & Home, Recipes on Fri, 11/19/2010 - 8:00am by Kristin Boldon -

Pumpkins and other squash have been accumulating in my house since early October, so with Thanksgiving approaching, I decided to put them to the use they were intended for: delicious baked goods.

The first recipe below is so easy a child could make it (all right, maybe not a small child) -- I've been making it since I was in middle school, when I found a fast, easy pumpkin-pie recipe that didn't even bother with a crust (which I viewed as an annoying impediment to the pumpkin custard filling). I've been making it ever since.

Back then, I made the pie with canned ingredients. Nowadays the process is a little more involved, but a lot more tasty. A few years back I decided to experiment. I roasted a pumpkin from the Eastside Food Co-op and made my usual pie recipe. I expected it to be less good than one made with canned pumpkin. Turns out I was wrong. I'll never go back.

Brussels Sprouts: Tiny Yet Mighty

Posted in Health, Recipes on Thu, 11/18/2010 - 8:00am by Jill Grunewald -

You say brussels sprouts, I say Brussels sprouts, she says brussel sprouts. What’s in a name? That which we call a rose…a rose cabbage, that is. This is what the Germans call these baby brassicas (“rosenkohl” = rose cabbage) that may be the funkiest and prettiest vegetable you’ll ever see growing. A tall, single leaf-topped stalk supports 20 to 40 buds crammed together like peas with no pod.

Understanding the Farm Bill: What's SNAP Got to Do With It?

Posted in News & Views on Wed, 11/17/2010 - 8:00am by Ann Butkowski -

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to help out at the Midtown Farmers Market in Minneapolis, one of the area markets that allows patrons to use Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly called Food Stamps) benefits to purchase fresh produce. Seeing firsthand how Farm Bill legislation is put into practice was a great reminder of how something as seemingly arcane as the Farm Bill can actually affect our neighborhoods, and of the kind of improvements we can make in the 2012 Farm Bill.

From Vision to Reality: Revisiting The Cornerstone Group's Rooftop Farm

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 8:00am by Kristin Boldon -

Last spring, I wrote about my visit to Cornerstone Rooftop Farm in Richfield, Minnesota, a pilot project of The Cornerstone Group, a real-estate management and urban-planning group, among other things. At that point, they had plans, hypotheses, and growing structures, but not yet any produce.

"Nourish" Provides Inspiration to the Next Generation of Food Revolutionaries

Posted in Books & Media on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 8:00am by Leslie Kruempel -

I’ve heard or read Michael Pollan’s words so many times by now, if we ever were to meet, it’d feel like catching up with a familiar acquaintance. Nevermind he has no idea who I am, and aside from his positions on food and agricultural systems I don’t really know much about the man; he has a conversational and folksy style that conveys what he says is just plain truth, and he’s saying it because he wants what’s best for us.

The New Peace Coffee Shop Combines Fair Trade Ideals with Great Coffee and Food

Posted in Out & About on Fri, 11/12/2010 - 8:00am by Gabriela Lambert -

Earlier this week, when I slipped through the front doors of the new Peace Coffee shop in Longfellow, I had to stop for a moment to take it all in. Despite the fact that I had come on what was only the third day of their “soft” opening, the place had that wonderful feeling of having been there for a long time. My gaze flitted from the beautiful intricate tile floor at the entrance, to the marquis lights on the rough hewn menu board, to the tree mural complete with a sweet little hidden bird nest, to the giant, and I mean GIANT, disco ball and all I could think was Man, this place is cool! Cheery sounds of whirring and clinking drifted from the big u-shaped coffee bar and sun streamed through vast windows, casting swaths of light over people chatting or sitting with their laptops, sipping coffee and looking contented as cats.