annecros

I'm in. Crema, crema, crema. You haven't lived until you have dolloped live cultured crema on a hot taco! This is so American (and I mean "American" in the sense of originating in the America's - both north an south, and including central.) Such wanderers. Portable, includes all the food groups and nutrition, and darn good as well. Tacos this week!

Are you sure they were dried, and not fresh beans? We have grown pintos in the past, and eaten them in the very young "snap" stage and the more mature shell stage, and they are indeed yummy. When we dry beans it is usually for seed storage, and we do store our seed in the fridge even after they are dry. Fresh shelled beans would of course need to be blanched before freezing. I have often wondered why many of these beans, that are so good for fresh shelling, are not sold in the fresh state more often - in the manner of Southern Peas. In fact, I don't understand why fresh Southern Peas are not grown or used more often in the home and in restaurants. There is so much nutrition there, and so much flavor.

Really? Interesting. I would think that "Down the line.." would be akin to "Coming Through" which roughly translates to: "You better figure out where I am and where I am going and get the freak out of the way because these people have been waiting 45 minutes for this plate and they are getting it right now even if I have to run over you and believe me I will." As opposed to "Behind You" that to my mind translates to: "For your personal safety and well being, stand exactly where you are and if possible lean forward a bit or you will die an ugly death."

Was watching a bit of Top Chef (fangirl here, watching reruns) and was struck by the magical results that the words "Behind You" have in the elaborate dance of an operating restaurant. One chef behind the other only has to say "Behind You" in a clear, crisp, definitive voice to make the whole kitchen freeze for a split second while the person moves to another station. Then things move along at a rapid pace, because by gosh we gotta get this food out. Remarkable. Way back in my restaurant days, I remember breaking the "Behind You" rule exactly one time. Then, I "got it" - used it and respected it. Is there any other word or phrase that compares to "Behind You" in either gravitas or effectiveness? I wanted to add, that the only time I called down someone else's child in public, was when a 5 year old stood up in her chair, with a waiter "behind her" with a large tray full of glassware. I got her attention, and told her "No" in no uncertain terms.

hehe, need some seed? I know some people. PM me, and I'll get ya stocked up for next spring.

Reclaimed water is not always gray. I reclaim the water that drips from my AC unit under the high heat in Summer, and it is the equivalent of distilled water. The plants love it, I wouldn't have a problem eating anything watered with it. Wiki says: Now gray water on a golf course? Sheesh, lots of land there, growing nothing but a playground.

Huge fan of Slow Food here - good, hard work being done day in and day out. My concern is with the selection of items for the Ark of Taste. Just looking at the tomatoes: Amish Paste, Ground Cherries, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Cherokee Purple, Djena Lee's, German Pink, both of the Livingston tomatoes, Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter, etc, etc, etc. All are readily available commercially. There are many more varieties out there who really are endangered. Dependent upon a kind soul saving seed and passing along, such as "Linnes Oxheart" - among about a thousand others. "Chapman" - "Wes" - it goes on and on. I've got a back yard loaded with Mississippi Silver Hull Crowders on third leaf stage and more seed in the fridge. I had no idea they were "endangered." I purchased them from a commercial source, but see them listed at other seed sources as well. Pretty common. There are wonderful bean and pea varieties out there that are not commercially available, and are truly endangered. I mean, "Christmas" Lima Beans, or more correctly Butter Beans, are all over the place. Lumping all Southern Field Peas (including Pink Eye/Purple Hull that is as common as dirt) does little to save varieties such as "Green Eye" or "Cabbage" Peas. I just wonder who chooses what goes into the Ark, and if the criteria is endangered, why there are not more really rare varieties listed. There are some out there that are tasty, carry wonderful genetics, and are hard to come by.

I don't know. Are more people speaking out against making things more humane, or are more people speaking out against imposing moral standards upon another person? I don't know. Still trying to suss it all out!

In a very unscientific, and absolutely subjective stance, I think more Oxhearts are going to hit the Farmer's Market. Just a prediction from a person living in an upside down season! Oxhearts are meatier than beefsteaks, and cook down better than paste types - only in my experience. Green when ripe are so two years ago. Pink Beefsteaks are the bomb. Back to the basic kind of thing, and there are many very fine tomatoes that fit that description. Will follow along with great interest.

Not only that, so many big name chefs in the US are from the US, and cooking others "native" food to accolades.

This is a great point, and one that immediately came to mind when reading the article, although you expressed it better than I did. My kids had much more cash in hand than I did. When hubby and I raised children, we had an elaborate scheme of cash incentives that rewarded good grades (A "C" netted nothing, an "A" got ya 5 bucks, an "F" would cost ya 5 bucks) in order to reinforce good behavior. Straight "A's" earned you a $200 bonus. There was also an allowance because they were expected to do a measurable amount of chores each week, including washing dishes and cleaning rooms, in order to "earn" the allowance. It was theirs to spend as they wished, and any gifts for birthday or Christmas belonged to them to spend as they wished, no questions asked. It was very effective. Incentive and empowerment. Now, if one of them purchased marked down "Kidde Mix" from the Halloween bin two weeks later, and sold the Blow Pops for a quarter a piece in a hot market, how could I criticize? Smart. I would never consider it a contributor to childhood obesity. Just would think that the kid was learning about supply and demand in a very personal way. They had way more expendable income than I had. I suspect that other's coming along may have more.

Pompano are in shore and near shore, according to Fish Southwest Florida. but spawn off shore. Three miles out begins the Federal Waters, and according to the habitat, the reefs and beds of turtlegrass in various areas as much as 5 miles out (that I have dived) are well under 130 feet in depth, where they thrive. I've seen them out there. I have never dived deeper than 40 feet. Would that hubby and I were still in shape to scuba! I so looked forward to Lobster mini season every year! I picked up a cheap packet of Mesclan Mix seed yesterday, and will play around with it a bit later on when it is hotter (though we are already in the mid 80s.) I'm not sure that growing them elsewhere and shipping them in would not make a greater impact on the environment than misting green shoots once or twice a day for 10 days or so. SFWMD has us on once a week lawn watering, but commercial enterprises and golf courses that use reclaimed water are allowed to water as much as they like. They have to be inspected. Wettest dry season in 10 years. My lawn never browned off, and I only had to drag the hoses out twice. I usually hand water. The lake is creeping up almost on a daily basis as well, but SFWMD has proclaimed that the restrictions will probably be permanent. The sugar farmers have offered to reclaim water and pump back into the Lake, but the water management district won't have it. Peas have their fourth leaves, my last bin of potatoes has buds, and I am trialing some hot weather varieties of toms I just transplanted up. More beans next week after I solarize a bed. I seem to remember lot's of tomatoes and corn, beans and peas up in your area. Son was born at NAS JAX, and sister lives in Savannah. I used to enjoy the Jacksonville Farmer's Market: Click for JAX Farmer's Market Product Page

It seems that some clever young entrepreneurs in California have managed to circumvent the school systems prohibition on candy on campus: Clcik for story "Students Turn Profits from Candy Sales" From the article: My initial reaction was "Same as it ever was" - after all, I was a child of the 70's and 80's who got away with much more than she should have. So what's the solution? Making a food item forbidden just seems to make it more desirable to the human animal, and not just to kids.

Congrats guys! Sounds like a real hoot! Wouldn't opening up with a review of the first course be appropriate? Perhaps even just listing the techniques learned in the first class, and then building a menu that includes dishes that comprise a couple of the already learned techniques in a new application? You would get some reinforcement of previously learned skills, and opportunity to improvise in creating the menu from a list of ingredients available, and some class interaction and discussion that should break the ice. It would leave an awful lot of unknowns open though, and you probably don't want too many surprises with the limited time you have to prepare. It would also give you a chance to identify areas that the students are not retaining from the beginner class, with an eye towards revising the beginner curriculum and improving it. Don't forget to leave room to work up to your advanced class, and then of course, your "Masters" class!

I don't know Smithy, but if you notice in the video, in the "harvesting" segment, the harvesting shot starts with a person holding cluster type tomatoes up against the bush, and simply rotating her hand to the left with a four or five ripe tomatoes in it. The vine doesn't even resist harvest. One tomato, the vine will hardly notice, but a cluster like that? That doesn't look like a normal tomato vine either. What are those stringy things? Looks like tomarillo to me. Nothing wrong with that, if you want tomarillo. Tomatoes don't ripen, even cluster tomatoes, in that manner. There is a consensus on Gardenweb concerning the company involved, "Gardener's Choice." They also offer a "Strawberry Tree" of all things. Gardener's Choice on Dave's Garden 23 positive ratings, 26 neutral ratings, and 185 negative ratings. The affiliated company, "TomatoGiant.com" is newer, and has received 2 neutrals and 9 negatives: Found here I haven't ordered, and have never done business with this company. I do not know if in fact the "Tree Tomatoes" that they are selling, are in fact a Tomarillo, common name "Tree Tomato" I don't think I will be, either.

Close kin, I think. It is Solanaceae: Click for info Doesn't sound yummy to me - but I am spoiled.

Update on the Micro Greens front - it is going really strong in Florida. There are several small market growers all over the state doing it. It just makes sense. All the seed require a 70 degree soil temperature (ambient temperature is irrelevant) for germination - so we got that year around. There is no requirement for sunlight until the seeds are in the soil (or soiless mix, or hydro) for five days. Five day greenoff in the sun and then harvest with scissors. No specialized equipment unless you intend to go hydro or are in Central Florida for a freeze. In Homestead, or my area, a bit of shade cloth two months out of the year will do the job if things are inclement, like they do with poinsettias. Those weekly Garden Parties are for a very good cause, you know. The volunteers planting trees in Dade County are not so chichi. Now why in the heck would a small commercial fisherman go all the way to the Bahamas for Pompano and hussle them back, when there is a Pompano Fishery in the Federal Waters three miles off the Coast? Not that they couldn't. I've been to the Bahamas on a tournament sized Grady White. A day out, a day fishing, and a day back. Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute Florida lands almost half a million pounds a year commercially, and the landings have actually increased, and the price has gone down, since the entangling nets were outlawed. Should be enough to keep Michael's going. Still being overfished, but it appears to be the recreational fishermen who are the problem, landing 725,000 pounds in 2000. I see no bill fish on Michael's menu. That's a good thing. We've given them up, though they are tasty.

There are varieties referred to as "Tree Tomatoes" or "Climbers" - but it is just silly to imply that one might grow them indoors over the winter. Now if you want to see a real tomato tree: Click Here This vine, growing at Epcot in Orlando, had a harvest of 32,000 tomatoes, with a total weight of 1,151 pounds. By the way, it is thought to be a hybrid, as those that have eaten the tomatoes and saved the seeds have not gotten tomatoes that are true to type. I also understand that they are pretty tasteless, so why bother outside of the novelty? It is of course, brought to you by people who dedicate a lifetime to horticultural pursuits, who also mold watermelons into Mickey Mouse Melons: Mickey Melons A real challenge to mold watermelons into that shape - but if anybody can do it those guys can. Yep, Earl reports about 60lbs for a season per vine, I think? I kept track of one of my Marianna's Peace last season (the first ripe from that plant is my present avatar, weighed in at 17 ounces) and got a 55 pound yield from one vine over about 3 months of harvesting. Will use "Earl's Hole" next season and see what happens. Anne, Tomatovillian

OK, now that I have looked into the production of micro greens from various sources, I am smacking myself on the forehead! It's just first true leaf stage, and they are harvested like 10 to 21 days after sowing! Should be easy peasy, and this is going to be my next little experiment. There are folks in the UK growing them in pure vermiculite on sunny windowsills! I'm sure I can get to first true leaf stage on the turnips, mustard and collards - but have asked advice from others on the lettuces and such. I have purslane growing wild, basil should be no problem, parsley should be no problem, bunching onions. Just worried about items like broccoli, some of the kales, beets, celery, kohnrabbi, some of the Asian greens, etc. On the birds in the tomatoes thing, it is my understanding as well that they don't really care for the tomatoes, but what they are after is moisture. I keep bird baths and stuff about, do not use netting, and only lose about one or two. Mockingbirds are particularly notorious for this - and I have a regular. Although he will take the odd hornworm or two. Like you, I am not picking them off by hand and squashing them flat, though hubby enjoys the past time. I have too much time and my heart invested in my tomatoes to walk out one day and see them munched to nothing! I try to keep my butterfly attractors in the front because of my use of Bt in the veg garden. I even have a very, very naughty juvenile iguana (we should probably exterminate it, but don't have the heart) that grazes on my hibiscus. This Winter's big experiments are Marrowfat Beans and English Peas. The peas should be interesting, and I probably will not be able to pull them off unless it is an exceptionally cool Dec/Jan/Feb. I've purchased "Wando" seeds, which are supposedly the most heat tolerant out there. If I can get fresh garden peas, it will be worth it. Potatoes are pretty easy in bins (wireworm and nematodes here) and a good friend is sending me some South American seed potatoes to trial this winter. I know that growing conditions up there are very different from mine. My eldest was born at NAS JAX 23 years ago. But you guys are able to grow nut trees and stone fruit that I just can't. I can't offer them the dormancy period they need.

I suspect, but cannot confirm, that much of the single item bagging has to do with shrinkage issues. Anything not bagged is huge (case of beer, etc.) and gets a big red sticker. Publix and Winn Dixie both have recycle bins for bags.

Thanks so much guys, you are the best. I am forwarding these suggestions on to my hubby and his team mate who is doing the next couple of weeks in the same area. Keep 'em coming, and it is greatly appreciated. These guys are really under the gun and working hard.

I thought I had seen photographs of Paradise Farms with raised beds? That would be the way I would go. I'll go look for them later. The problem with growing greens in the Summer anywhere is that they bolt (go to seed) rapidly in the heat, and are not as sweet - not that they won't grow. I'm just a hobby gardener, but I grow them about 9 months out of the year. Particularly collards. They make a great crop for rotation. I have been pleased over the last few years to see farm trucks, with local tags, by the side of the road loaded with tons of beautiful, mature collards from Fall to Spring. If the weather has not been cool enough here at the house to "sweeten" the greens, I moisten the leaves and stick them (roots and all for turnips and mustard) in the freezer just until the water droplets freeze. Works very well, and may be the way she is utilizing the coolers. As far as microgreens are concerned, they are only a few weeks old at harvest anyway, and too young to bolt. I've sown turnips, mustard and collards in late July/early August, and got great germination. In fact, they seem to germinate better than the ones I start in January (I have several beds, and rotate crops throughout the growing season through them). Irrigation should be no problem for her in Homestead, especially Summer. You can set your watch by the afternoon rains. The usual rotation I follow down here are shell beans (black turtle, cranberry) and southern peas in the summer. They love the heat and humidity and thrive in our sandy soil. They also fix nitrogen from the atmosphere into the soil, reducing the need for fertilizer, and after picked get turned under as "green manure" which is really good for the soil. Tomatoes I stagger every two weeks, sowing late July through December. To cover the beds between beans and tomatoes, I plant melons, cukes and squash - sometimes green beans. I get free compost from the stables down the road. They are literally giving it away! I've learned a lot of these tips and tricks by talking to Market Growers in the area, and observing the large acreage and what is planted in them in the vast fields to my west. What I can't figure out is the pest control component in organic gardening in this area. Disease is easy, Daconil is organic. I use Bt, also organic, for hornworms and such. But, I still have to spray from time to time for the other critters. What really tickled me was that one chef mentioned that she got "Beef Heart" tomato seed from California at his request, because he "had seen them all over Europe" and couldn't find them here. "Coeur de boeuf" is a generic term in France for Oxheart, but literally translates to "Beef Heart" or "Bull's Heart" of course. Right here in Ft. Myers: Tomato Growers Supply They have a great selection of Oxhearts, and I have grown Oxhearts for years. I picked one (Linnies Oxheart) this morning. They make better sauce than most paste types. I'm guessing she ordered them from TomatoFest in Berkley (and there's nothing wrong with that, I've ordered from them) but I would have gone with some of the more unique varieties that TomatoFest offers if I were going that far afield. Peppers are the easiest - year around. I have a two year old Seranno out there right now, and at the last place I lived I left the six year old Seranno for the new owners.

The first fresh water prawn farm in the continental United States was located in Dade County and was established in 1969. I of course, have no idea where the prawns on the menu are sourced, but do know that the prawns play an important part in keeping the talapia and catfish tanks clean, and the industry sustainable. I'm pretty sure the Key Limes and Mangoes would come from around here, as well. Evidently Chef doesn't know where the prawns come from either: Click for article "Local, Seasonal, Wishful" I think it is unreasonable to expect any restaurant to be able to source every menu item locally - but it is important that they try. And, after all: Thanks for acknowledging Florida's Animal Industry. Beef, in particular, has a 500 year old history in Florida. The ability to calve year around gives Florida a nice niche.

Now, now, I am certain that you, and many other's who know and love Florida, are aware of the various climates, crops, microclimates, diversity, four USDA growing zones, a gulf and an ocean coast, that Florida has the benefit of being able to call "local." Check out this report: Click Here for Overview of Florida Agriculture Vegetables and Melons combined comprise almost a quarter of Florida's Agricultural output. The number is $1,446,654,000. To put it in perspective, citrus (excluded from the above number and a category to itself) rings up only $1,242,029,000. In that Vegetable and Melons category, there is an interesting statistic: Then, if one would just look at citrus as an isolated crop, although Florida produces 67% of US citrus production, it is only 18% of Florida's production. I don't think I need discuss the 2004 Hurricane Season, except to mention the names Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Pompano is a regular menu item. Then there is this topic, citing this quote: I think it is an excellent reason to boast - just in my opinion. On a related note, Cattle and Calves make up 6.5& of Florida's Agridollar, Milk is 6%, Poultry and Eggs 5%. After looking at the facts, it would be difficult to convince me that Florida only produces a couple of fish and tomatoes, and those isolated items are the only thing that Michael's Genuine can boast as "local." Indeed, there are probably several menu items on quite a few menus on at least the Eastern Seaboard, that Florida can claim as homegrown.

We've had the Roasted Chicken - only took about 45 minutes, we enjoyed our cocktails and nibblers - and the prices (as of about 6 weeks ago, height of tourist season) were as reasonable as always. We enjoyed it very much, and appreciated that it was prepared to order. Deviled Eggs and Crispy Hominy - yum. I think Michael Schwartz has done a good job at achieving his stated goal: I was concerned that things would change after all the exposure he got from last season's "Top Chef" - but have been pleased to find it consistent with visits I made before Top Chef. I particularly am pleased to see him feature Florida food stuffs, and do so very successfully. He is very active, and very supportive of Florida Agriculture and Aquaculture, in the buy local and organic philosophy. We like the outdoor dining room. Is it fine dining? No, its not supposed to be - it is supposed to be homemade and delicious. Bistro dining. An hour is a reasonable time frame for a roast chicken at home, and Mom wouldn't "cheat" by pre cooking. I'm sure Michael Schwartz has enough expertise in the kitchen to know what is advisable for prep concerns. Hard to argue with success.