Food Politics

The Green and The Gold–Plus Jimmy Crack Corn

18 June 2011 by Jean Johnson
It started when Linda stayed in my 2 room b&b over the weekend. I made Polenta Waffles that are always a hit. Linda went on to the next leg of her vacation, but as so often happens, I'm on a roll. That's how it happens when you're a basically lazy, ...

Peasant Food Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This

19 May 2011 by Jean Johnson
One bowl meals. It's how to turn gorgeous food out on a dime. A dime of both time and money. In this case, there were leftover French lentils and quinoa in the fridge--so into the bowl they went with some jarred roasted red peppers, a pear from the season's end, and ...

Organic Valley Has My Attention–And My Business

4 April 2011 by Jean Johnson
I don't hawk products on this site--or even court advertisers. But Organic Valley has won my heart. Here's why. First off, notice their milk carton--not just the usual about our health and tastes, but a nod to the mama cows getting out to pasture. What a concept. Just like it ...

Quiche for the Holidays

27 December 2010 by Jean Johnson
Quiche is reliable since it's just a custard with goodies in it that sets up no problemo. Also it's great served room temperature, so is perfect for something like a New Year's buffet. Shrimp Quiche Here's one I did for Christmas with wild prawns that I boiled first, sliced in half ...

I’ve Seen the Grocery Cart and the Damage Done

15 December 2010 by Jean Johnson
A line I co-opted from Neil Young but so accurate when you think about it. The food industry and the grocers the pushers and us peasants hooked on their grocery carts. Pushing them around the stores in mindless dazes, clutching at things in crinkly packages. Sure that just one ...

From Pizza Quik to Nine-Grain Cereal…

14 December 2010 by Jean Johnson
The exclamation point is so over-used these days, but in the case of this title, it is warranted. That's because in both instances, the food industry--conventional and natural--wants to incite excitement. We will be getting a real deal, they imply, if we take a fast track to pizza with their ...

Are You a Grabber? As in Paper Towels?

27 October 2010 by Jean Johnson
There's been more traffic than usual around the hacienda lately. One thing I've noticed is that I can almost tell how hip a person is to eating in a savvy manner by how non-grabby they are with the paper towels. Case in point: this roll of towels has been on the ...

Lasta-vera Frittata with Blue Corn and Hopi Memories & Music

20 October 2010 by Jean Johnson
Yes, I know the lastavera doesn't quite work since vera means spring in Italian. But hey, it's close, and it conveys so well the idea of using vegetables the fall harvest brings through the door. A few posts ago I was lastavering with a grain salad. This time it's with ...

Why Hippie Cook?

10 October 2010 by Jean Johnson
On a recent Facebook thread, someone said, "if what you do--cooking from scratch with garden produce--means being a hippie, I'm all for it." The writer had apparently dismissed the counterculture of the Sixties--hippies--as a group of free loaders mainly interested in drugs, sex, and rock & roll. And why wouldn't ...

Freezing French Cut Green Beans & Happy Birthday to John Lennon

9 October 2010 by Jean Johnson
I don't have a cake to offer on behalf of John Lennon's 70th birthday. But I think if the man were here he'd welcome my French cut green beans with knowing look through his blue tinted granny glasses. Honest food from my no chem garden. A celebration of harvest. Putting ...