Thought for a Friday
“All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.” – Abraham Lincoln
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Acorn squash recipe from Johnson’s Backyard Garden
Johnson’s Backyard Garden is one of the biggest and most popular urban farms in the Austin area. The farm always sets up shop at Austin’s farmer’s markets, and the JBG booth seems to have the biggest selection of produce compared to others. On Sunday, Aaron and I purchased some JBG veggies, including an acorn squash. I can’t remember cooking this before, and I didn’t know how to prepare the squash. So I was happy to see the farm’s blog recently published an acorn-squash recipe!
I may try this recipe later this week.
3) Recipes, by Melissa Vance, JBG CSA Member
Glazed Acorn Squash with Spicy Onions and Currants
1 acorn squash
Olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon paprika
Pinch cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons dried currants
2-3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Kosher salt and black pepperHeat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out seeds. Cut each half into several lengthwise slices.
Combine squash and a generous drizzle of oil in a bowl and toss to coat. Season with salt and black pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast until browned and tender when pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened. Deglaze the pan with the sherry vinegar and reduce completely.
Add garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, currants, and honey, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are glazed. Stir in red wine vinegar, and season with salt and black pepper. Serve the squash hot, coated with sauce.
Aaron’s delicious tomato-egg toast
Photo by Aaron Morris
A couple of weeks ago I posted about methods we’re using to preserve our tomato crop. We also love eating our mouth-watering homegrown tomatoes raw! Here’s a great recipe Aaron came up with off the top of his head.
Ingredients:
- Succulent heirloom tomatoes
- Fresh basil
- Backyard chicken eggs
- Whole wheat bread
- Salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Chop the tomatoes and basil
- Toast the bread
- Fry the eggs over easy, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste
- Top your toast with the tomatoes, basil and eggs
- Enjoy!
Photo by Aaron Morris
Rick Perry and the EPA
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The Austin American-Statesman published a story yesterday examining this hypothetical scenario: If Texas Gov. Rick Perry runs for U.S. president and wins, how would he change the Environmental Protection Agency? The reporter answers the hypothecial by looking at Perry’s past comments and stances on environmental issues, as well as Perry’s book, “Fed Up!”
The article says:
From his rhetoric and record as governor, one might think that he’d be tempted to dissolve the agency. He has actively loosened regulations in the name of economic development and denied that scientific consensus exists on climate change, ascribing anxieties about greenhouse gases to a “secular carbon cult.”
But on the campaign trail, he is likely to tell a story about environmental accomplishment. He will point to improvements in air quality in the state’s major cities, and he will note that the state leads the nation in wind power. And he will say that Texas has done it by working with industry, not being its adversary.
Rainwater bottlers in Central Texas?
Photo by Scott Lidell on morgueFile (http://mrg.bz/slz5yu)
Recently I was listening to the radio in my car and a story came on NPR about a new local company that bottles and sells rainwater. I thought to myself: Is there a worst place in the world to set up this business? Possibly sub-Saharan Africa. Texas is facing its worst drought in a long, long time. Almost all of the 254 counties have burn bans right now, and politicians have been calling on the public to “pray for rain.”
A couple of days later, the Austin American-Statesman reported on the new company, Agana Rain Water. Obviously the reporter who wrote this story had the same thought as me, and opened with this line: “Getting into the Central Texas rainwater collection business doesn’t seem like the brightest move in the middle of a drought.” The article explains there are three rainwater harvesting companies in the Austin area; but one of them imports bottled rainwater from Oregon. The owner of the new company is unfazed about our drought:
Relying on simple calculations involving average rainfall and roof square footage, Marc Howell , a co-owner of Agana, cheerfully said his company is in fine shape.
“In a normal year, we’d get 31 inches of rain,” he said. “That’s equal to about 3.5 million gallons of rain, or 24 million bottles (at the Agana collection facility). Even half that much and we’ve got plenty.
I don’t think I would hold my breath for that.
Texas industrial plants re-apply for air permits
“The EPA said Tuesday all 136 industrial plants with state-issued permits that do not meet federal Clean Air Act requirements have agreed to apply for new ones,” reports the Houston Chronicle. The EPA rejected the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s “flexible permits” about a year ago, which elicited debate because Texas Gov. Rick Perry and other officials said “the EPA was threatening jobs by forcing permit changes at the facilities,” the story says.
The story outlines the underlying permitting issue:
The [Texas] permits in question require refineries, chemical plants and other facilities to meet an overall emissions cap but allows them to choose how to do so. Federal rules, however, require plants to limit emissions of certain pollutants from each source within a facility.
The single overall cap, the EPA argues, makes the Texas permits unenforceable and allows plants to emit more than similar facilities in other states. But Texas officials say the system cuts red tape and pollution without violating federal law.
The state and industry groups are challenging the EPA in court. That action is pending.
Wild rooster
Photo by Angela Morris
This rooster lives near the Town Lake Animal Center in Austin, where I volunteer helping the homeless dogs. The pretty rooster and some chickens are wild, and they hang out at the shelter for some reason. Maybe they’re eating loose pieces of dog food. The birds have learned the dogs cannot reach them, and they seem cocky about it. They’ll strut along within feet of the dogs’ kennels. It’s funny to see it!
He’s a hard-working man
Photo by Angela Morris
A while back, Aaron rented a tiller from Home Depot and he towed it back to our house using a trailer attached to his bike. I’ve got a hard-working man! Aaron actually prefers riding his bike instead of taking the car. This was a very unusual trip, though, considering he was pulling 200 lbs. He used the tiller to prepare a new garden area in our backyard.
“There is no substitute for hard work.” – by Thomas A. Edison.
What to do with a summer tomato crop
Okay, here’s the dilemma:
Photo by Aaron Morris
We have a healthy crop of homegrown, heirloom tomatoes that all ripen simultaneously. It’s impossible to consume all the tomatoes raw, so we must preserve them before we lose all our hard work. It’s a great problem to have. But we still need a solution.
Solution one: make tomato sauce
Photo by Aaron Morris
Roughly chop the tomatoes, or you can leave them whole if you want to save time. Place oil in the bottom of a stock pot and cook the tomatoes over medium-high heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Puree the tomatoes with a hand immersion blender. Simmer the mixture over low heat until it’s reduced by half, or until you’ve gotten rid of enough water so the tomatoes are the consistency that you want. Now you can store the sauce in mason jars and can it (or freeze).
Solution two: make fire-roasted salsa
Photo by Aaron Morris
Roughly chop the tomatoes. Also chop some peppers: we use a mixture of both red and green jalapenos and serranos, but you’ll have to decide based on the spiciness you’re looking for. Add some garlic and onions, too! Place the produce in a pan and roast them on a low-heat grill for about one hour. Cool the veggies to the touch, peel the skins and remove the seeds. Blend the salsa in a blender with some water, lime juice, salt, pepper and cilantro.Now you can put your salsa in mason jars and can (or freeze) it.
Solution three: can the tomatoes
Photo by Angela Morris
This is a little more complicated, but it’s worth it because you’ll be able to use the tomatoes for any recipe. Immerse each tomato in boiling water for about one minute, and then transfer it to an ice-water bath. Cool the tomato to the touch and then peel off the skin. Chop the tomato and remove the seeds. Now your tomatoes are ready to can.
Canning is a complicated process and it should be the subject of its own post! In the meantime, check out this awesome website by the National Center for Home Food Preservation at the University of Georgia.
Millions of peaches, peaches for me … or not
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Texas peach growers experienced a hard season because of drought, wild winter weather, tornadoes and stink bugs. There will still be peaches this summer, but not as many and each fruit will be smaller. There’s a bright side! “The flavor is going to be great. A dry year makes for a tasty peach; there just won’t be quite as many this season,” Jon Green, the extension agent in Parker County, told the newspaper. Ken Halverso Larken Farms in Waxahachie told the Star-Telegram: “They’re really good this year … When you eat a peach here, it’s going to be all over your shirt.”
Yum, yum, get me some!
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