Worms

The worm lady (I do not think she would appreciate me calling her that)called on Sunday for me to pick up my worms and I was so excited. I went to her home in Lancaster and she gave me a coffee container with little hole on top of it filled with 500 worms. I couldn’t wait to get home to put in the worm factory. I shredded some lettuce so they would have some food for when I brought them home. I get home open the coffee can and put the worms in… that was it…. There was no excitement and there hasn’t been any since. The worms eat very little. I am not ever sure if they are eating the lettuce because they the lettuce looks like the shredded newspaper. The worm lady did give me some food – it looks like wood shavings – she told me it is a left over product from some type of sprits that someone made. The directions did say put the food in the corner and I didn’t put the lettuce there, I guess the reason might be so you can identify the food to see if they are eating. I check the worms every other day, I see a few of them move and that is pretty much it. It will be a week tomorrow… I promise I will keep you posted of any changes.

Composting ?

I have thought about composting through the years, but last year I have been thinking about it much more. Three reasons have me thinking so much about composting…. 1. The Community garden where I volunteer.2. The Buffalo garden walk.3. I do not have lot of money keep on buying good compost and soil. The Community garden has beautiful, unbelievable, great compost that they purchase each year and the gardeners all have beautiful gardens that produce much better than my garden. My dad also has a very nice garden that has a ton a produce and treats his garden with good soil and other items each years. I want my garden to produce like both my dad’s garden and the community garden. The garden walk as been around since 1995 and last year was my first time visiting these beautiful gardens. The gardens were extremely motivating to me. Once again my gardens do not like any of the gardens from the garden walk. I am pretty sure by now it sounds as my gardens look terrible, they don’t. My gardens are not bad… that are a work in progress and I am a novice and I have higher expectations. I do know another way to achieve this goal would be to retire from my full time job and cut back of my many projects, unfortunately early retirement is not an option. The other reason is I just do not have the money to buy great soil and compost… If I owned my home- I would considered it an investment, but I do not, and I do have to share some of the garden space. I have bought soil and mulch at this point, but I wanted to find a cheaper way of doing this and I want to make sure I have the good stuff. So that brings us to composting…. So far a bought a few items and have read a lot on the subject and yet I feel like I know nothing. This past summer I bought a little stainless steel compost bucket from Bath Body and beyond for about $30.00. You keep this on your cupboard or underneath and put your non oil and non meat kitchen scraps in the bucket. The bucket doesn’t smell, it has some type of filter on it. So I thought I would save my scraps and dig a hole in the ground and start composting that way. This is a very good way of composting but the problem I ran into was you really can’t plant anything where you dig the hole for the season as everything needs to break down. Since my yard is not that big, this is not that great of an option for me. I did do this method three times but I run out of space to put the kitchen scraps. You also have dig a hole 12 inches deep so you do not end up with rodents and other animals including pets digging up the scraps. Twelve inches deep didn’t seem that deep but when I was digging holes on hot summer days I was not loving it. After that experience I read that I could make a compost bin with a garbage can. So I ran to the store and bought a $10.00 outside garbage can to dill holes in it. The season was coming to an end, so this never did happen. I am not sure that I am going to go that route yet…. . I did find a place to put it , if I decide to do go this way. In the meantime I have been looking at worm factory composting. They run about $100. And are found in many of the garden catalogs and on Amazon. I was going to wait until after Christmas maybe after the income tax refund comes back to buy this. I decided that I really wanted to do this. After telling my garden friends about this at the Christmas party, my friend Joe said you can have mine. He got a bad case of fruit flies and when he first bought it about 4 years ago the worms escaped. So last week I went to his house to pick it up. I also met a woman who sells red worms in Lancaster, so I called her on Monday to order 500 worms. She is supposed to call today so I can pick up the worms. I feel that she might not call because I think it might be to cold for the worms. She was telling me that her worms do not really eat this time of year because it is cold. At first was so happy about this the Worm Factory but the more I read these worms are going to be more like pets and pets require work. Do not get me wrong pets are great but I can barely maintain my two gold fish Shit and Crap that I have for about two years. So since I have a previous used Worm Factory it didn’t come with a direction manual. So I have done research on the internet. Today I have started to prepare my worms’ home. Based on my research I have put some wet news paper on the bottom of the first tray and then I have covered with shredded junk mail. I have not put any food inside because if the worms are not going to eat there is no need to have rotting food around. When I was dreaming of this worm factory, I thought I was just going to throw in my kitchen scraps, but the more I read the worms like their food cut up into small pieces, REALLY ! See the worms are going to be more like pets . So now the wait, is the worm lady going to call me this weekend? Or do I need to wait until March… Or to I bring back the Worm Factory to my friend Joe? The photo's above are of one of my gardens and the tops of the Worm Factory.

Back on Track I Hope.....

December also brought me a terrible stomach flu which lasted a little bit longer than a week and knocked me off my A game for about two- three weeks. I had getting sick and having to slow down, but often I think it is the universe speaking or maybe yelling at me to slow down. It like if you do not want to slow down on your own I am going to knock you on your ass and make you slow down. So far 2012 has been great, I feel I have slowed down – but maybe that’s because it is January….. It is my goal to start working smarter and not harder…. I will keep you posted. I have been doing a bit of shopping these days… I keep finding all of these bargains and I have been spending my hard earned money, today I was in Springville and I stopped at the Tractor Supply Co, it is a place that I have always wanted to stop by and check out. I do like the place; I guess they have a lot of canning supplies in season. I found these great boots to work the garden. The boots will be great for spring when it is very muddy. My parents bought me garden shoe for the summer months.

A great gift!

It has been almost two months or longer since I have last blogged… I guess the Christmas Season just got away from me. I had a few parties at my house to celebrate: Garden Committee, Friends, and Grider Market Friends. At my Market pantry, my farm family made and gave me a beautiful wreath. I loved it. It was very fresh and smelled like pine. It was so much nicer than the ones from Home Depot or Tops. I still have it up, but I did take the Christmas decorations off.

November came and left....

I have no idea where November went.... It was a great month and I had some many things to blog about but I was out there living it and not finding the time to blog.... The end of October I spent a lot of time going to different farmers markets, the last Saturday of October I went to four markets in one day. I took lots of pictures and I had so much to say, but no time to blog about it. I think the second weekend in November I went to Cleveland for the weekend. The reason for the trip was to go to their big Food Show, this was the second time I went. It was pretty good. We got to see Guy from the Food Network do a food demo. We did wine and beer tastings. The beer tasting was amazing,it Belgium Beer and they give you pretty much the whole bottle for a tasting, needless to say I had a pretty good buzz. So this Food Show is a bunch of vendors selling their stuff- pretty much a revolving around food. A lot of rubs, hot sauces. The local grocery store had a potato leek soup and sweet potato pancake food demo. The soup was pretty good. They had a little farmers market as part of the show too, that was pretty good I bought some tea. The show is huge. So the really strange part is that... Cleveland has this really big food show every year in November and now they are going to have the show twice a year... one in Spring and one in Fall, but we couldn't find a good place to eat the entire time we were there. A friend of my told me that there were no good places to eat in Cleveland over the summer. Now this was my second time there and the as much as I wanted this friend to be wrong - he was right. I watched the Food Network one day a few weeks ago and they had a polish restaurant and a soul food place that they featured. Both places looked great-but we had no luck. We went to the polish restaurant and the line was out the door and there was not a seat to be found, so we tried the soul food place. Mind you, I did my research before I left Buffalo. We put the address in the GPS and Booth (GPS) took us through the ghetto to a place where the restaurant was closed and looked like it has been closed for sometime. I think it might be hard to please people from Buffalo when it comes to food- we have some many great places to eat. The best thing about this trip was a visit to the market place, wow this place was so cool... It reminded me of the Broadway market but 2000 times better.They a ton a vendors selling produce although none of the food was local. The really great part was the other section- they had a ton of meat butchers, homemade pasta, favored popcorn, ethnic food, olive oils, cheese and bakery's.We bought lots a great fresh and tasty beef jerky and Kishka ( a polish type of meat). The place made me think a of much larger and nicer Broadway Market. The market was located in the downtown area across the street from Penseys Spice ( which is going to be a topic of an upcoming blog posting).

So before the trip to Cleveland, I hosted a buy local wine and cheese event with a local farm family. So I am Pres. of this committee called Erie Niagara Nutrition Committee and we need to have a fall event, so I thought hey lets have a potluck night where everyone brings either local wine and or local cheese. We have so many winery's in Western New York- Finger Lakes, Lockport area and Fredonia area. I only know of two local cheese makers in the area- Yancey Cheese in Corfu and Blasdell Cheese in Blasdell. There are others but not as close.The guess speaker was one of the farmers from the Grider Street Market and the Clinton Bailey Market.

The Farmers had a great time speaking and brought some items to sell. I think it was fun night !

Just before the trip to Cleveland I received this phone call- to do a cooking demo with this other Kelly for 25 people at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, it sounded like a challenge but I was to eager to take it. So the flyer went out... Cooking Healthy with Kelly and Kelly ! So my caller bought me and Kelly a chef hat and it went from there. So the plan was to have 5 tables with five people at each table with all the cooking supplies and food to make four dishes. Everything the group made would go home with them. After they are finished cooking,we would serve the same dishes they made, but I made them the night before. This was a big project for me, I would wake up in the middle of the night on many occasions trying to think how I was going to make this work. I was working with a good group and that is why I think I took the challenge- or maybe I need my head examined...Friends and Family would say that I need my head examined ! So the dishes were :

Okra and Tomatoes

3 slices of turkey bacon- cut into small pieces

2 garlic cloves minced

1 small onion diced

2 cans of diced tomatoes 14 oz. cans

1/2 of water

1 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of frozen okra

1/2 teaspoon of red crushed pepper

1 tablespoon of sugar

Cook bacon,then add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.Add tomatoes, sugar,water, salt and crushed pepper.Stir well and simmer for 20 minutes. Add okra and cook for 10 more minutes.

Serve over brown rice

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black eye peas and Kale Soup

INGREDIENTs

· 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

· 1 large onion, diced

· 1 large carrot, sliced

· 1 stalk celery, sliced

· 5 cloves garlic, (4 sliced and 1 whole), divided

· 1 teaspoon. thyme

· ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste

· 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

· 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

· 1 small bunch of kale leaves tough stems removed ( can use collards)

· 1 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, rinsed

· 2 slices cooked turkey bacon, finely chopped

·

PREPARATION

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring, until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add sliced garlic, thyme and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add bacon and cook for about 5 minutes. Increase heat to high and add broth, tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in kale, reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens are tender, 5 to 10 minutes. .Stir in black-eyed peas and cook for 5 minutes longer.

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TWICE-ROASTED SWEET POTATOES WITH CHIPOTLE
Twice-baked sweet potatoes get mixed with a spicy-smoky chipotle butter that balances the sugar. Look for similar-sized sweet potatoes so they'll cook at an even rate. To make ahead, stuff the potato halves, cover, and refrigerate up to one day. Set out at room temperature as the oven preheats to take the chill off.

Ingredients
6 medium sweet potatoes, unpeeled (about 3 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 finely chopped chipotle chiles, - do not add the juice from the can
1 teaspoon adobo
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small onions diced in very small pieces

1 teaspoon of salsa

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pierce potatoes with a fork; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until done. Cool slightly. Cut each potato in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a \-inch-thick shell. Combine potato pulp, butter, chiles, adobo, salt and onions, salsa, paprika and mix well.. 3. Arrange potato shells on baking sheet. Spoon potato mixture into shells. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes or until hot.

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Winter Salad

( serves 4 People)

2 heads of romaine lettuce

¼ chopped walnuts

½ cup dried cranberries

1 small container of crumbled blue cheese

Blueberry balsamic vinegar

Clean, cut or tear apart lettuce. Put lettuce on four salad plates, sprinkle nuts and dried cranberries to each plate. Pour a small amount of vinegar in each plate. Sprinkle crumbled blue cheese on each plate and serve.

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For the most part everything turned out great... the only problem we had was we kept blowing fuses with all five electric frying pans, five crock pots, coffee maker, microwave and a speaker system. This event was the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I tried each recipe and made changes before the event. The Friday before I made all the dishes for 30 people and prepare the food for all the demos- such as opening cans of soup stocks, tomatoes, measuring out spices , cleaning produce. This was all after Thanksgiving ( Thank God , my mom only asked me to make a apple pie for Thanksgiving). and I did go to the Bonton at midnight for Black Friday. I have been shopping Black Friday for about 25 years ! ( wow I am getting old).

I think all the guests from the Cooking Demo-had a good time and enjoyed themselves and all the great food. I do know I am not going to answer my phone when a certain person calls me, at least until the year is finished ! After completing the class, a friend of mine asked me if I am an outcome person or the process person.At first I thought I was a process person- thinking about all the things that happens along the way with this challenged. The process is where all the lessons are learned- where we laugh cry and scream, but I think I am a outcome person, because the end product was the part that drove me to work through challenge and achieve the goal.

Earl's Diner

Earl's diner is a great place to find homemade pies, it is located on Rt.16 in a town called Chaffee about an hour outside of Buffalo. Take the 400 to the end, which will take you to Rt. 16. The first time there was about 8 years ago when I had my nephews in town from NYC, it was our half way place on the way to Rushford Lake. Earl's is a very different place where you drink out of canning jars and the tables are cowboy legs. Its a very county friendly place. I love their chicken wings... a wing with a nice breaded coating dipped in Franks Hot sauce and butter. It is our meeting place for the girls I use to work with at Head Start , once again a half way point.

When I go there on weekends in the fall , we often have to wait for a table. Earl's has also been on the Food Networks Diner and Dives. The last time I was there was in October and I went twice in one week. I went on a Monday to meet a friend and had some Chicken wings and then I went on the following Saturday and had the best ever coconut cream pie. I am not really a person who orders out pies, I am often disappointed because I know my mom and I often make pies taste better. I really need to try to duplicate this pie. I crust was just ok, but the cream and the topping was very good.

Pumpkin and Chicken Farm

The weekend before Halloween my friend and I go to the town of Concord to pick out pumpkins, buy maple syrup, chicken pot pies and wing dust. This is a great fall ride down the 219 looking at all the trees turning. We have been buying our pumpkins from Wendel's Chicken Farm for the last 6 years. I met the owner of the Farm when I served as a board member on the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County, Marty Wendel served in the board with me for three years and then he continued to serve as the board president for the next three years. Not only is Marty a good board member he runs a great chicken farm and pumpkin patch. On weekends during the summer and fall you can buy chicken dinner and eat them there or take they home. The dinners are very good. What my friend and I love are the chicken pot pies. They are frozen and cost $4.00 and they are the whole meal. Marty always tell me that its a complete meal with the pot pie and a salad, but let me tell you the pot pie is about all you can eat, sometimes I have to the left overs in the fridge for another day. Its a great bargain a full meal for $4.00 and they are made locally. Marty is working on getting the pot pies in the stores, he mention the Lexington Co-op as being one of the store that will carry them. As for the wing dust, I really have no idea what it is, I guess it is some seasoning but my friend always buys it when we are there... After we go to the farm we stop at Earl's - its part of the tradition... So guess what Earls is going to be the next post.