Take Slow Food's $5 Challenge!

Mark your calendars: On Saturday, Sept. 17, Slow Food USA is asking you and me to take the $5 Challenge - to produce a meal that costs no more than $5 per person. The purpose? Slow Food explains:

WHY: Because slow food shouldn't have to cost more than fast food. If you know how to cook, then teach others. If you want to learn, this is your chance. Together, we're sending a message that too many people live in communities where it's harder to buy fruit than Froot Loops. 
HOW TO GET INVOLVED: Take the pledge to share a meal with family and friends, find a local meal or host your own. If the date doesn't work [for] you, you can still take the pledge to show your support -- and we'll send you $5 cooking tips and updates on the campaign.

What an awesome idea, and it's an amazing time right now to cook with the flavors of the season: peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, early winter squash, greens - the list goes on.

Check out Slow Food's site for more resources on how to host a Challenge meal or create one. And, read more about the event from the press release here.

To my friends and fam: Dinner anyone? To any of my (few) readers, what are your ideas for a meal? 

Today: "'Edible education': A garden grows in the schoolyard"

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1. I guess that I'm on an Alice Waters kick lately.

2. This is just another reason to love Jake Gyllenhaal.

3. And, yes, that is George W.'s daughter. (I scooped her!)

Fresh Air: "Alice Waters: 40 Years Of Sustainable Food"

I want to go to there: in.gredients

I embarked on a plastic-free experiment a few months ago and imagined a place where you could buy good, sustainable food without packaging. Sure, you can certainly buy produce, eggs, dairy and the like at farmers' markets, and co-ops, small health and specialty food stores have their bulk sections and you can always bring your own containers, but even they can generate a lot of waste.

But, my dream has come true, or will, very soon (Fall 2011) in the form of in.gredients of Austin, TX:



What is in.gredients? Here's the story:

We're Brothers Lane - i.e. Christian, Joseph, and Patrick Lane, three brothers who have a knack for innovation + business sense and a passion for promoting sustainable living - plus Chris and Brian, who don’t have Lane blood but share the same passions.
For years we've been finding ways to live more sustainably. After realizing that waste is actually just a human invention, we’ve each started home gardens; we compost, recycle, and more importantly re-use as much as possible, weeding out unnecessary waste. We’ve been able to reduce over half the waste our households generate, with only one major hurdle: groceries.
While we reuse food containers / packaging all the time, we still have to buy more food packaging at the store because it’s unavoidable. While we can use reusable bags for produce and carrying things, we can’t (legally or in a way that’s socially acceptable) get cereal out of cereal boxes or household cleaners out of bottles to take home. Because of this, a majority of the waste and recycling streaming through our homes is unnecessary, since we could have brought our own containers to the store to fill them. Of the 1.4 billion pounds of waste landfilled per day in the US, 560 million pounds is packaging - most of which is used just once, before another package is bought.
These alarming statistics upset us enough to set out to change things ourselves. Our project revolutionizes grocery shopping as we know it. Our goal is to reduce waste by ditching packaging altogether - creating the nation’s first zero-waste, package-free grocery store! The community-oriented store (named “in.gredients”) will (a) sell local, organic groceries, (b) host community events like cooking lessons, concerts, and garden days, (c) feature local artwork, and (d) promote sustainability. Most importantly, we’ll allow customers to fill reusable containers (even ones brought from home!) with their groceries, making waste reduction easy, fun, and convenient! Think of it as Groceries 2.0. (Emphasis added.)

via in.gredients

How awesome! I'm half-joking when I say that I'd move to Austin just to shop here and be a part of this...

If you want to see this project succeed, check out the in.gredients site here, its ethos and how you can help donate to or invest in the initiative.

Getting on the canning bandwagon

Blueberry jam

I finally had a day off to do, well, nothing on Sunday, but for people who know me, "nothing" doesn't exist in my world. So, I canned for a few hours in the morning instead. What I made: Herbed pickles, blueberry jam and more caramelized onion jam (more on this recipe later). Not as enthused as I am? I've written about canning (and my little problem with mason jars) before. Canning, pickling and overall preserving of food is such an important skill to learn. And, I only started putting food up a few years ago, by just watching my friends and reading...a lot. If you put the time aside now by freezing, drying and preserving, you can save lots of money, unnecessary trips to the store later on and make some magical gifts for friends. Also, produce is amazing right now, so why not make the most of it?

And, there's no better way to read up on canning than on a rainy afternoon. Food preserving seemed to have skipped our parents' generations and is now cool again with us youngsters...and a lot of hipsters. There have been countless articles, blogs and books written specifically about the canning revival, but here's some of my favorite resources to help you on your canning quest:

• Put 'Em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton: See my book review from February.
• Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissof: I was a little suspect about this book at first. It was a little too kitschy for me and, on first glance, thought it was trying a little to hard. But, it's now one of my go-to preserving guides. Krissof has organized recipes by season, with beautiful photos, helpful commentary and concise instructions. Even if you're not planning to can, this book provides many alternatives to get the most out of your ingredients and stretch food life, including homemade yogurt. 
• Canvolution + Canning Across America**
• Preserved and Pickled
• Food in Jars: Now I can get my daily fix of mason jars. Drool...

A pretty array of fresh fruit and preserves from Rachel of Hounds in the Kitchen.
(via Food in Jars)

• My Pantry Shelf: I came across this site when I was trying to find a recipe for caramelized onion relish. So good. (Although, does anyone have another favorite recipe? It only made a few pints...)
• Simple Bites: Read up and watch the site's canning series here.

**And, if you're really inspired/are a super nerd, participate in Ball and Canning Across America's National Can-It-Forward Day! Throughout the day, there will be canning parties throughout the country (you can also start your own, if you're so inclined), demos and streaming of canning demonstrations and preserving instructions. Consider also being a part of Can-a-Rama:

Next Sunday marks the kick-off to Canning Across America’s third Can-a-Rama, a week of home canning parties and seasonal preserving nationwide. With the growing season underway in most parts of the country, we hope you’ll join us at the canning kettle once again for a simultaneous show of cans around the country from August 14th - 20th.

My last attempt to persuade you to can: It's really not difficult or scary! Follow directions on existing recipes, talk to friends about what you want to make, and get preserving. Really ripe, delicious and plentiful right now: Peaches, blueberries, watermelon, onions, early tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini...I could go on. Just can!