Edible Antics - Having Fun With Food

Flood of '08! - Wisconsin Farmers Assess the Damage

On June 11th, Dan and Catherine Kleiber watched their neighbor motor boat across the field where the Kleibers' corn had been growing the week before. The neighbor's road was flooded, so driving his fishing boat across the Kleiber's field to a car parked at his brother's-in-law farm was his only way to work.

Dan was heading to work to, but instead of cultivating corn and soybeans on their 480-acre farm in Waterloo, WI as he normally would this time of year, Dan was rescuing livestock, moving fences, and pumping water from the basement of their house. Twelve trucks arrived to empty Dan's silos of corn before the Crawfish River could lap at their base. In less than a week, the Kleiber's house became lake-front property and fish swam in their corn fields. Nearly 70% of their crops died. Dan and Catherine's farm is one of hundreds of farms that lost crops in the historic rains deluging southern Wisconsin in early June.

The flood of '08 has reduced the Kleibers' 2008 income to what they can earn on the crops remaining, plus what they'll get by selling their farm-raised pork, chicken, beef, and goat meat at a twice weekly farmers' market. Currently the Kleibers raise 6 beef cattle, 23 hogs, and 700 chickens on a 5+-acre pasture which the flood has reduced to 1/2 an acre. Dan says it's too late in the season to order more livestock and raise them before winter sets in. What he's got will be it for the year.

Unfortunately, Dan's situation is the rule rather than the exception for southern Wisconsin farmers. That's why the Wisconsin Department of Agricultureis urging people to help farmers through this crisis by buying their meat and produce at local farmers' markets.

To learn more about the flooding and see before and after pictures of the Kleiber farm, click on continue reading.

Dining in Madison, Wisconsin - A Capitol Lunch on the Square

Here's my dad sitting at the Brocah Irish restaurant on Main Street across from the Wisconsin state capitol building. Dad lunched on a salmon sandwich and fries, and I on a chicken breast sandwich and side salad, - our all-American food in an all-American city.

Down the block, men and women on their noon-hour breaks similarly dined at tables of restaurants that spilled outside on to the capitol-square sidewalks. Other folks bought their lunch from one of the numerous food carts .  Their choices of cuisine were diverse, - Asian, African, Indian, Mexican, Latin American, and of course, Chicago red hots. Food in hand, some returned to work, while others sat on benches to eat in the blue-sky air and sunshine.

Several times I watched passerbys pause to chat with seated diners. Old friends and acquaintances exchanged smiles and handshakes, tidbits of news, and then waves of good-bye as the passerbys continued on. The diners' smiles lingered as they returned their attention to their food. Friendliness lingered in the air. 

The mellow-scene took Dad by surprise. For the past 45 years, Dad's been practicing law in the downtown Chicago loop. The loop's outdoor-lunch scene is frenetic. Throngs of people dressed for air-conditioning not summer heat pour on to the handful of cement plazas. They stake out a 2-foot-square spot on a bench, stone wall or step and eat their lunch. On odd corners, street musicians entertain, but their personal music is drowned out by the cacophony of car horns, traffic-cop whistles, and bus engines. The dull rumble of stop-n-go traffic reverberates off densely-packed buildings.

But here Dad was in Mad-Town, - the seat of Wisconsin's government, home of one of the world's best universities. Yet the sidewalks and streets were congestion-free. People walked, cars and buses drove, but space permeated. Sunlight and breezes swept through the capitol square, connecting sky to lakes. Dad laughed in glee that just one street off the square no traffic light or police officer's hand directed our crossing. We were free to walk not just where we wanted, but when we wanted.

Woman Meets Grill; Trout Steams!

Women have been cooking food over open fires for millennia. So why is it that grilling today is considered a male pastime? Possible answers:

A) Despite several thousand years of attempts, women never got the hang of it and gave up.

B) Men like to cook but their wives won't let them mess up the kitchen so they go outside to mess with charcoal, fire and ash.

C) Once a woman becomes a mother, she has no time to stand around and watch a chicken turn brown.

My bet is on C), which leads to the question, 'What in the world is she so busy with?' Well, aside from bandaging flesh wounds, mediating property disputes, and generally battling entropy back into its corner, she is also pre-occupied with preparing vegetable side dishes. Essentially, she's transforming plant parts into food because if she didn't no one else would. We would all die of heart disease by age 10, and the human species would be lost forever.

I formed this rather dire prediction after learning that during the week my children and I were out of town, my husband stood in a grocery-store check-out line and noticed that his cart contained only beef, pork, and sausages. He considered the absence of greenery, but was content with his menu plan as it was.

Thus it is no surprise that one night he delivered the grilled meat to waiting guests and proudly beamed, "I cooked dinner tonight." My eyes scanned the green salad, corn on the cob, crispy potatoes, and rolls.

"And what are all these?" I silently wondered, "Appetizers?"

Well, last night I took a stab at grilling. My husband wasn't going to be home for dinner but an old friend, Wei-Ching, from Taiwan was coming. I had planned a Wisconsin meal of pan-fried fish, coleslaw, swiss chard, corn bread, and rhubarb cake. I prepared everything ahead of time except the fish and greens, and the greens were waiting to be steamed in a pot when Wei-Ching arrived.

It was a gorgeous summer afternoon, and we went outside to play. By the time I was supposed to fry the fish, I'd lost motivation to spatter my kitchen with grease. I wanted to stay outside. So I decided to grill.

Lighting the fire in the large, round Weber was easy. We have one of those fire-starters that you fill the top with charcoal, stuff crumpled newspaper into the bottom, and light the paper on fire. I know some men have a thing about wanting to light a fire with only one match. Well, a match box holds at least a hundred matches. The way I see it is that more matches mean more wood is beneath the charcoal which means the quicker the charcoal turns gray. So in regards to that 'one match' bit, I ask in which stage does efficiency count? - getting the fire lit or getting the charcoal gray?

While waiting for the charcoal to catch, we returned to the kitchen to prepare the 3 whole trout. First step: Off with their heads! Eyes on my plate give me the willies.

Making Wedding Plans? - Tips on Serving and Drinking Beer at Wisconsin Wedding Receptions

June is the month for weddings, - or at least it's one of the months for weddings. June is also the month for beer-drinking, - or at least it's one of the months for beer-drinking.  And since beer will be served at most wedding receptions and weddings are perhaps the most planned parties one can attend, it is important to consider plans for the serving and drinking of beer.

First, key points to serving beer:

If your wedding is in Wisconsin, plan to serve a lot of beer. This point was stressed by my Wisconsinmade.com co-worker who for this blog post requests anonymity. She recalled her Wisconsin cousin's wedding which for some strange reason occurred in Minnesota. In preparation, her uncle had requested five barrels (kegs), but the establishment owner said, "Oh, you'll never need that many." The Minnesotan only supplied four. By 10:00 pm the beer was gone. The Wisconsinites continued to party, but none-the-less, they remember the wedding as the one in which they ran out of beer.  If you do not wish your wedding to be so remembered, remember to supply a lot of beer if your guests hale from Wisconsin.

Offer a variety of beer/ale types. If you and your friends enjoy cheap beer, then you are lucky in the wallet, though sadly poor in gastronomic pleasure. Go ahead and get kegs of cheap beer, but for those guests who wear t-shirts saying "life's too short to drink cheap beer" be sure to have bottles of quality micro-brews on hand. My co-worker is also the source of this tip. She says cheap keg beer gives her a headache, causes bloating, and... well, some symptoms are private.  Midwestmicrobrews. com lists 70 Wisconsin micro-breweries. Check out the site to find a brewery near you. If you do get kegs of the good stuff, be sure and let your guests know so they stop looking for the bottled brewskies.

Match the quality of the glassware to the quality of the beer. Cheap keg beer tastes sw(e)(i)ll  in plastic cups. The better the beer the more important it becomes to serve it in an appropriately-shaped glass. In a beginner's guide to beer-drinking etiquette several beer connoisseurs describe what shape of glass in which to serve beers, ales, lagers, Stouts, etc. They also advise the temperature differences at which different styles of beer should be served. These writers seem highly experienced in the art of beer-drinking. It is probably best to follow their advice so your wedding guests, enjoying the full flavor of their beer, enjoy the full flavor of your celebration.

Next, key points to drinking beer:

Although a glass should always be offered with beer, not all guests will desire to use one. This is O.K. Considerations of beer quality and appropriate glassware aside, a guest's decision whether or not to drink beer from a glass may be more motivated by gender and age, than by the beer's taste. Insights into this issue are had by viewing film from a 1948 wedding in Blanchard, Wisconsin.

How to Teach Pre-schoolers the Alphabet: Let Them Mangle Muffins with Marshmallow Monsters!

Tuesday, June 10, Last day of School:

3:10 pm: 8-year-old Lauren jumps off bus shouting "Yippeeee!"

3:20 pm: Lauren moans, "I'm bored."

Wednesday, June 11, First day of summer vacation:

Conscientious mother considers strategy for luring children away from TV without igniting insurrection.

Mother suggests, "Let's play the alphabet game! We're up to 'M'. We can make Muffins!

Children stare glassy-eyed at enthusiastic mother who recognizes that muffins are a minimal motivator.

"How about we make Marshmallow Monsters?" - A faint sparkle returns to children's eyes. "How about we let the Marshmallow Monsters attack the Muffins!?" - NOW, they're interested, - at least enough to get off the couch and enter the kitchen.

We called 5-year old Dave's best friend 5-year old Jack and his mom to join our party. Jack brought over 'M' things: Macaroni, a Monkey, and Magic Markers. While they played outside, I made oatmeal cherry muffins. When the muffins were done and the rain began, the children assembled at the kitchen table to construct the Marshmallow Monsters out of marshmallows and toothpicks. They colored them with the magic markers and I stuck macaroni into the arms so the monsters could have claws.

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Then the Muffin v.s. Marshmallow Monster war commenced. The moist Muffins were no match for the mighty Monsters. Some muffins were eaten, while others were mutilated and mangled. One Marshmallow Monster died when pierced by multiple toothpick swords. The mothers watched with slight shock as their sweet children delighted in the brutal madness and mess. And to think I had lured them away from PBS's "Reading Rainbow" to play war games with food. I'll have to mull over the sense of that move.

Anyway, the pre-schoolers did have food fun with an alphabet game, and they now know the sound 'M' makes. After we cleaned up the mess, Lauren showed Dave and Jack how to write upper and lower case 'M's. I put away the few remaining muffins which were enjoyed at breakfast the next day.

Click on 'continue reading' for the muffin recipe and to see more pics of the our Muffin and Marshmallow Monster war.

Promoting Wisconsin Milk - Controversy or Celebration?

Recently, I wrote a post in response to the Food Blogga's blogging event to raise awareness of osteoporosis. Calcium consumption is critical to preventing the disease and milk is the food with the highest calcium content. That's why my mom daily fed me milk and I daily feed my children milk. Milk is the only food we will run out to the store for at 9:00 at night. Yet, Saturday I realized that I take milk for-granted.

On Saturday, I went to the celebration of milk at the Cows on the Concourse events at the Dane County Farmers' Market on the Square in Madison, WI. While I watched children pet dairy cows on the steps of the state capitol building, I talked with the "Moo Experts", members of the dairy industry who volunteered their Saturday to educate Wisconsinites about the vital role milk plays in human health and the health of Wisconsin's economy. "Milk is such a staple food," I said, "Why do you have to promote it?" Their answers surprised me. And this morning when I was doing some web research to verify the moo experts' comments, I was shocked.

How to Get Rhubarb From the Garden to the Dessert Table: A Quick, Easy, and Delicious Recipe!

"A garden isn't much of a garden unless there's a few rhubarb plants somewhere in the back corner," writes farm-woman Darlene Kronschnabel in her Seasons in a Country Kitchen Cookbook. True. Each of my successive gardens has nurtured at least one rhubarb plant. Rhubarb is a hardy, easy to grow, perennial (comes back every year) that neither deer, rabbits nor voles enjoy. In fact, people wouldn't enjoy it either if we didn't prepare it with LOTS of sugar. But once the sugar is poured on, WOW - Look Out! Here comes a spicy, tart, sweet flavor unlike any other! Unfortunately, rhubarb is seasonal. As Darlene says, "It's a country-style, spring tonic."

Darlene gives several farm recipes using rhubarb: Rhubarb-strawberry cobbler, rhubarb-pineapple custard kuchen, rhubarb ambrosia betty, and fresh, rhubarb sauce, to name a few. I was going to make her rhubarb cake, but found I had so much rhubarb that I opted to make the more rhubarb-intensive rhubarb crumble. I told myself that the crumble is healthier. But don't be fooled that I'm really considering health. I just want more RHUBARB!

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So, here are the recipe and pics for Darlene's Rhubarb Crumble. It's easy, fast to make (15 minutes prep, 40 minutes baking), and REALLY GOOD.

• Non-stick spray coating (Note: I don't like non-stick spray coatings, so I do what Wisconsin farm-woman and restauranteur, Helen Myhre, recommends. I coat the pan with a very thin layer of melted butter and then sprinkle flour on top of the butter. Food doesn't stick, and I think it tastes better. It may not be as healthy, but I'll work off the extra calories in the garden.)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups cut-up rhubarb

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with non-stick spray coating (or butter & flour the pan). In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, rolled oats, flour, butter, and cinnamon; stir until well blended. Arrange rhubarb in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle sugar mixture over rhubarb. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until rhubarb is tender and surface is lightly browned. Serve warm with cream or ice cream. Makes about 6 servings.

Life Stages of Father's Day Gifts - What To Give Dad This Year?

A dad is one of the hardest people to get gifts for. Why? Because if a dad needs something small and relatively inconsequential, he'll never mention it. The family is more likely to hear about the grander toys a dad desires - such as a boat, car, stereo equipment, golf clubs, etc., all of which are usually out of the price range of most devoted offspring.

So what gifts do offspring give a dad on Father's Day? Reflecting on this question, I realize that Father's Day gifts go through life stages. Whether or not fathers go through life stages, I haven't a clue. But their Father's Day gifts definitely show a progression.

New fathers often get apparel sporting cute slogans, such as 'World's Best Dad", "Super Dad", "You can't scare me, I have a daughter", or "I'm (insert child's name)'s Daddy". The particular slogan and clothing item selected thus reflects the new mom more accurately than the new dad. But most dads don't mind, and will wear it anyway. Many even like it.

When the child has grown sufficiently old enough to receive an allowance from dad, Father's Day gifts take a marked turn south in quality, but leap upwards in sentiment. The scribbled, stick-figure pictures on construction-paper cards are attached to overly-wrapped, drug store purchases. For years, my dad got English Leather soap and aftershave. Originally, he may have mentioned to my mom that he liked the brand. Little did he know that he would be awash in English Leather for the next 10 years. My friends gave their dads dime-store ties, and hardware store work gloves and grill brushes.

Meanwhile, my 30-something mother was giving her dad a better-quality tie, book, or shirt. And by the time I was 30-something, my dad was getting those too. "What a GREAT shirt!" he'd declare. And we were all pleased that he liked this shirt's subtle stripe which distinguished itself from last year's subtle stripe.

But as years pass, offspring slowly give up the ruse that one more shirt really makes Dad's day. That's when gift certificates become a popular Father's Day gift. After I gave my dad his first Father's Day gift certificate to a book store, my mom said he really had a fun time with it. "He so rarely goes shopping for himself," she told me, "He enjoyed slowly browsing through books and picking out ones he wouldn't otherwise have purchased." Great. The next few years of Father's Days were covered. Dad got gift certificates.

But then more years pass. The family home is chocked so full of stuff that no one can even account for all that is there. Yes, it's a lifestyle, - the American lifestyle. And I think Father's Day is an American invention. At this stage, my mom urged me to give consumables, - gifts like food, plants, and golf balls. I consider books on current politics in this category too. So now Dad gets these (well, maybe not the plants.)

What's the next stage? - I can't answer that yet. But the range of possible Father's Day gifts in the current stage is enormously broad. In our world of Internet shopping, I can send Dad books and food he's never even heard of. I'm good to go for lots more years, and I hope Dad is too!

Graduation Party Side Salads - Advice to Graduates - One Cook's Recipe for Success

It's graduation season, and we're going to a couple of graduation parties. They're picnic-type parties, so I started thinking about healthy side salads. The appropriate graduation salad should not be one of those fill-you-up, but are nutritionally-empty, ice berg lettuce salads. No, the graduate should start life's new path with a full-garden's-goodness-in-a-single-bowl type of salad, - one of those variety-of-veggie salads that energize brain, body, and soul. I wanted to make one of those.

But where to begin? I remembered a quote from Gerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, "I can tell your future, just look what's in your hand," which the cook translates into, "I can tell your supper, just look what's in your cupboard."

Last week my cupboard/refrigerator featured middle-aged broccoli and a 1/2 bag of pre-peeled mini carrots which, thanks to technological preparations, and similar to many middle-aged women, appear perpetually young. Plus, some pine nuts still reclined in the cupboard. But a salad consisting just of these offers only a glimpse of the glorious future befitting a graduate. To the Store!

In the veggie aisle, I quested for color, flavor, and variety, - foods to express my creative energy. My tongue suggested jicama - that sweet, white radish. But my eyes didn't see any. So my brain told my hands to pick up a daikon radish. (Life by committee. - It happens.)

I had never knowingly consumed a daikon radish. Neither had one been heartily recommended to me. At hand was new territory, but this radish path was already questionable. The sticker on the daikon read use within one week, which really means the purchaser should have eaten it yesterday. I bought the radish anyway, not letting the fear of imperfection impede me.

My imagined salad now consisted of green broccoli florets interspersed with dots of orange carrots and white radish. I'd throw in those pine nuts, too. Materials gathered, I was on course to manifest my vision.

1st step - I consulted cookbooks. I sought guidance from more experienced cooks who had already traveled the picnic, veggie-salad path. I compared over 2 dozen recipes. None exactly matched my vague idea, but some informed me of appropriate additional ingredients and proportions.

Thus educated, I heeded others' advice regarding blanching the broccoli. Now, if I have ever blanched anything before, I don't remember. To me, Blanche is a tragic heroine waiting tables in a forgotten, roadside diner, or perhaps, she's a copy-typist in a basement cubicle of a branch office of a multi-national corporation. Or maybe she's just someone Tennessee Williams made up. But she's anything but vibrant, green broccoli. So, did I blanch the broccoli correctly? I don't know. I dropped the florets into boiling water and when they were bright green and before they got mushy, I took them out. Perfect? - who's to say? - Adequate? - why not?

On to the carrots. The vision said to shave the carrots. They're so small that practicality said dice them. I diced them. And the daikon radish? The vision said large, round slices. I tasted the radish. It was slightly bitter, so I diced it too. Bitter is always better swallowed in small bits rather than large bites. - Remember this, if you haven't learned it already.

Then I mixed the veggies and realized something was missing. I diced 1/2 a red onion. - The flavors complemented each other pretty well. I was satisfied so far.

On to the dressing. I still had those pine nuts. Like a personal idosyncracy unable to be overcome, these pine nuts seem to go where I go. They were destined for the salad. But pine nuts taste better when toasted. So I heated 2 Tablespoons of peanut oil and 1 teaspoon of pure sesame oil in a skillet. I poured in the 1/2 cup of pine nuts and began to saute them. Some recipes had recommended fresh ginger as an ingredient of veggie salads. So I diced a Tablespoon of ginger root and added it to the browning pine nuts. I also pressed in 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of red pepper flakes. My simmering creation would be flavorful, with a touch of spice.