Even the dogs are doing it!

Our Green Table usually has three hungry pups circling around it looking for goodies. The pictures of my cuties are under The Granola Bar tab. As you can tell,  Annie, Lilly and Stuart are good eaters, for sure. Last week for First Thursday and to boost my polls around here after being gone, I made up a batch of Pupcakes and they were my taste testers. All three loved 'em.

The quality of dog food is really a concern and it is hard to get a good food all three will eat. And so, to even things out nutritionally for them,  I have started to give them frozen green beans for "treats" as well as little cubes of baked sweet potatoes. These have been a big hit! I cut the green beans up into about half inch segments and they think they have a treat straight from the Ritz. Give 'em a try. My vet is all for them, too...like us, pups need more veggies and fiber.

Screaming Fit

I have had this quote hanging above my desk for a long time. It sums up a lot...

Had the government asked me about the new My Food Pyramid, it would have had a very different make-up and shape, seriously. But, don't get me started on the Food Pyramid...let's talk about something pleasant instead.

As a kid, I was allergic to cow's milk and yet, despite that setback, I somehow managed to stoically power my way through a lot of ice cream. Go figure. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? As an adult, I still adore ice cream and consider it a must for happy, peaceful living. So much so that when our kiddos were little, I made homemade ice cream a lot...with an "old-fashioned" hand-cranked freezer. (White Mountain still makes the best freezer BTW). Nothing like licking ice cream right off the paddle to make the day extra happy, extra peaceful! And, while I don't make it any more, I sure do like to eat it.

Recently I began trying a couple of dairy-free "creams" and was not very excited over them until this one...with a brand name of "Purely Decadent", I was very hopeful.

I love it! This flavor is really good and I am a big fan of all things coconut anyway...oil, water, milk...and use these coconutty things in cooking a lot. While coconut milk is the base here, it does not scream "coconut". The dominant flavors in this creamy delight are mint and chocolate. And, you know that song, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"...well, I have found a good screaming fit. I am going to try out some more of their flavors and add them into my stash.

Sea-ing what I can do

I love the sea and have found some of my most peaceful and inspirational moments there. The sea has a beauty and a life that captivates me. Not just because I am a Pisces either. As a little girl and the daughter/grand-daughter of salty sailors, I grew up around water. Leaving it was painful. I would load up bottles of sea water and tuck them into secret places in the car and hope my parents wouldn't find them. I also tried once to hide a bucket of live scallops and hermit crabs, but after a long drive back to our home in Pennsylvania, the smell gave my sea treasures away. I used to jump the waves and pretend I was Flipper. I had a mermaid club. I tried to convince my grandparents that I had to go to camp on a sailing ship. I still dream of studying marine biology. 

I cannot even put my head around the BP disaster. Never having gone to the Gulf Coast beaches, I can only imagine their beauty and the lives that the people and animals have built on their shores. I have thought about what I can do because I am in part responsible for this tragedy. The answer...I am already part of the solution in a small way and will continue to do more and share it on this blog. In every way, from the foods that I eat, to the skin and body care products I use, to the energy I consume, I am looking at ways to lessen my personal dependence on petroleum. Maybe others will join me and find what I am doing helpful.  Maybe they have ideas to share to help me do better and together we can do more. How we live matters now more than ever.

The biggest thing I am doing, becoming vegetarian, has been a huge adjustment for me. I am a big eater, not a nibbling kind of gal and meat was a big part of my plate and palate. Now I know what giving it up will mean, fuel-wise. It takes 50 times more fossil fuel to produce a meat-centered diet versus a meat-free one. 50 times.

I am also on the lookout for as many personal care/beauty products as possible that are petroleum-free (see Lip-smacking Good post from yesterday) and I am making every effort not to use as much energy as I once did. I am not going to use the air conditioner in my car this summer. I love finding shops that make and sell vintage goods...recycling a beautiful story to be enjoyed again. There are more things I am doing, too...I came up with my own checklist, "What One Person Can Do". That's the goal...doing my part to help the beautiful story of the land and the sea endure to be enjoyed again and again.

Seeing Red(dings)

It seems that I really live in two states and still have so much to share about the "sweet people I meet" and so I am heading back into a "New York state of mind" for this post.

I have been coming to Shelter Island since I was a year old. My grandparents built a house there that both they and then my parents lived in. I grew up with local food and a love of rooting out the most tasty. My dad always said I was part ferret. During my grandparents' days, we went to favorite farmstands for fruit, veggies and honey, got our fish from local fishermen and chickens and ducks from local farms. In the 50 plus, plus years since those days, thankfully not much has changed and mom and pop businesses still prevail and most of the farmstands my grandparents went to do, too.

My dad also started a large community garden years ago and he and my mom and their friends always swapped crops and had a fabulous harvest dinner every fall with all their goodies. Now that Dad is gone, Mom still frequents the local farms for most of her produce. The whole east end of Long Island, especially The North Fork, is a food basket...one stocked with everything totally fresh and local, from honey to fruits and veggies, delicious wines, fabulous breads, fish, chicken, duck, eggs and anything else your tastes desire.

Shelter Island is especially lucky to have a market, Reddings Market, that does most of the collecting for you...giving everyone more time to enjoy the beach and the water. Reddings has the most amazing, the most delicious assortment of local foods I have ever seen and tasted and an atmosphere that makes me feel like I am in someone's kitchen, and one with a harbor view to boot. Reddings is warm and welcoming with a whole collection of succulent aromas and food that is simply delicious. And, not only do they support local farmers, fishermen and food producers, they also help you grow your own by stocking a wide variety of seeds from http://www.seedsavers.org/ which is a fabulous project itself!

Sadly, I left this year right as the season opened and as the store got into full swing but I was there a few days to enjoy their fabulous homemade gelato, apple and rhubarb pie, farro with roasted tomatoes, curried quinoa and sesame soba noodle sides, and get a cooking lesson from Matt. See, that's what I mean...sweet people everywhere, never too busy to help. I had noticed quite a fleet of fishing boats in the waters off my parents' beach and wondered what was "running". The answer: fluke and Matt taught me how to prepare this fabulous local fish. Turned out just like candy if I say so myself! And no wonder...read about Matt and Ann on their website, http://www.reddingsmarket.com/. I got a lesson from the best!

While fluke is not available here and I am back to my vegetarian ways, I can reconstruct my favorite salad at Reddings, the roasted beet and goat cheese salad. It is perfect for a richly flavored summer meal. The secret is in roasting the beets...really deepens the flavors to a whole new level.

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Wash an assortment of small to medium sized fresh beets. I love to mix the golden, red and striped varieties. Splash with some olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt or herbs of choice. Roast at 350- 400 until fork tender, about 30-45 minutes. I don't peel them but you can if you like.

Take a generous handful of mesclun or arugula, the freshest you can find. Add chopped, roasted beets, crumbles of creamy goat cheese and a good handful of toasted walnuts. Dress with your favorite vinaigrette or this one:

Orange Vinaigrette
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons light olive oil
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine orange zest, juice, vinegar and 1/8 teaspoon sea salt in a bowl. Let sit at room temperature 20-30 minutes. Whisk in oils and season to taste with more sea salt and some fresh black pepper.

or this one which you can make along with the beets

Roasted Garlic Dressing
1/2 cup peeled fresh garlic
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon white miso
1 tablespoon or more minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Put peeled garlic cloves in a baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil and bake about 25 minutes or till golden in a 350 oven. When cool-ish, put garlic cloves in a blender. Save the oil in the roasting pan for other dishes. It is delicious.  Add 1/4 cup water, vinegars, miso, thyme, pinch of grated nutmeg, sea salt and pepper and blend til smooth. Add more water if you want a thinner dressing. Refrigerate any leftover dressing. 

I am going to eat my salad tonight and remember this sunset and the deliciousness at Reddings. Hope you have had a good day!

An Outrageously Sweet Day

Today would have been my dad's 87th birthday and it is so nice that a mention of him appeared in The Shelter Island Reporter yesterday. A couple of weeks ago, there was a reception at the Shelter Island Library for Dad...officially dedicating "Charlie's Bench", the outside reading bench that sits (and is well sat on already!!) in a grassy little nook and officially unveiling the wonderful picture that hangs in honor of Dad in the library's nautically-themed reading area downstairs. Both are affectionate tributes to his love of and service to the library and it is especially nice that the painting is by his good friend, Peter Waldner. My pix of his art isn't the best, but Peter's work of art and his studio are!

My dad loved the library, I mean loved it, and I didn't quite "get it" until after he was gone and I found myself drawn into the community the library creates. Yes, there are tons of books and other goodies there, but it is the feeling when you walk through the door that makes every trip there special. I owe much of the peace and support I found during the last couple of years to those wonderful, friendly people at the library. I cherish his library card because I know now it was one of his most prized possessions.

After the reception, I drove Mom and her friend Agnes around the island and actually came upon a couple of places and sights they had never seen before and some others that were very familiar.

As "girls" of any age will do, we cut loose with some serious girl talk and chatted about everything from the fabulous lip color Agnes had on, to books we were reading, new sights we were seeing and, of course, to foods we were eating. With me and Mom both in the car, that conversation is going to happen! I mentioned how great it was that the reception had LOTS of cookies...Dad's favorite munchie... and that was the cue Agnes needed to give me this recipe. If she says they are outrageously good, that is more than good enough for me! 

Agnes' Outrageous Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (organic if you can)
1/2 cup peanut butter (organic if you can)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg (local is best!)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Beat sugars, butter and peanut butter, vanilla and egg until creamy. Mix in flour, oats, baking soda and salt. STir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonsful 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes until light brown. Cool one minute and grab one. Make about 2 dozen.

The whole day was sweet and this pix sums it up...