From Plant to Plate

Comfort Me With Carrots

Forget about diamonds on Valentine's Day - carrots are a girl's best friend!

My garden lies buried under 19 (or is it 20?) inches of snow after Chicago’s Blizzard of 2011. I’m inside, looking out.  Recovering from recent knee surgery, I feel like a tiny seed in its shell (mine being the house), trapped and biding my time until I can emerge and start growing (or going) again.  Resting, waiting, and re-reading Ruth Reichl’s wonderful memoir, Tender at the Bone, and wishing I had her book Comfort Me With Apples on hand, my mind turns to…carrots. A picture taken last fall of two carrots that grew entwined hangs over my desk and I remember also, that Valentine’s day is coming soon.  What is love and comfort, anyway?  What is the sharing of hearts all about?  Being a foodie, of course, one thing that comes to mind for me…

•  3 Comments
• Photos (3)

From Plant to Plate

Feast on Fennel

An organic delivery of fennel prompts a healthy salad recipe.

My gardening buddy Beth has been getting organic fruits and vegetables delivered for years.  I’ve thought about it, but, like a lot of things in my life, never actually got around to doing it. Last fall, however, a young girl out canvassing the area for Organics Delivered knocked on my door and I signed up to start receiving produce from them. Every two weeks they fill a reusable tub with enough delicious, organic fruits and vegetables to feed our family of four. When the bin arrives, it’s like opening a surprise package. It’s always exciting to see what’s inside.  This time we received apples, bananas, blueberries, mangos, oranges, pears, avocados, broccoli, butternut squash, celery, eggplant, lettuce, onions, potatoes, spinach and—fennel…

• Photos (3)

From Plant to Plate

From Freezer to Bowl: A January Soup Recipe

Clean out the freezer of last year's vegetables, make some soup and start dreaming about this year's garden.

It’s January. The holidays are over. The kid and the husband are back in school and back to work, respectively. I’m like a kid on the first day of summer! I’ve got the house to myself. I’m going to clean and organize—I’m going to get it right this year, for sure. I’ll start by organizing my seed catalogues. I’ve thrown out last year’s, but wait, the new ones are arriving, new recipes and story ideas are popping up and clips are collecting.  I thought I was organized and here I go again, unraveling. Ask me in February how that project is going. Right now, I’m going to clean out the freezer of last year’s vegetables instead.  Hmmm, what to make?  My version of minestrone soup. It’s perfect for a cold winter day, and you can really throw just…

• Photos (1)

Bagpipes, Bonfire Usher in Shortest Day

Hundreds gather in the forest preserve to celebrate the winter solstice.

Nearly 200 people gathered around a towering bonfire Sunday, while the sound of bagpipes filled the cold air. The event at Somme Woods Forest Preserve was both a celebration of the winter solstice—which takes place Tuesday—as well as an opportunity to rid the forest of invasive species by means of fire. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Friends of the Forest Preserves, and the North Branch Restoration Project sponsored the annual gathering. Northbrook resident Steve Packard, a steward of Somme Prairie Grove, welcomed the group and spoke about celebrating the end of the 2010 celestial year. "The lighting of the fire is a powerful phenomenon," he said.  "We encourage you to pick up a stick and invest in it your worries or troubles…

• Videos (2)

From Plant to Plate

Green Beans, Potatoes and Leeks, Oh My!

Local author makes potato leek soup out of October's harvest.

"Live within your harvest." That's the message I read regularly on my way to the community garden behind St. Peter's Church. As I drive past the signboard in front, I can't help thinking about the larger implications of the metaphor written on it.  I think of our country and the turbulent economic times we have, in essence, created for ourselves. If our country had been living within our harvest, perhaps we would not now be plagued with recession that is affecting so many of us.  I think of my own credit card bill and wish I had not been quite so greedy! I also think about similarities to The Great Depression; to the flimsy structure of the stock market and its crash in 1929, to the farm practices that damaged the soil and led in part to …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)