Compassionate Farming

Rat's are people, too, albeit without the large primate brain, but whatevs.

You know by now that I spent some time in college as a "Vegetarian", at the request of my well-meaning but somewhat learning-impaired college buddies. It was fine but not for me, and how could it be? 
The Werewolves of my culture eat a modern diet of brown rice, raw meat, and chicken, over a traditional Arctic diet of seal meat and blubber, with maybe a handful of grains thrown into the mix as a binder, for the type of variety that passes for the very short growing season that is the North Land from whence I sprang, but I digress. I tried it, and I lack the cultural dietary biology that is required to be a weepy hippie. I just can't do it, without significant lethargy and weight gain. 

But, I can say that I did try it, however briefly that was, with secret hamburger cheats monthly, per my Werewolf Lunar Phases. It left me with a pronounced awareness about the types of foods I consume. 
Of course, my over-dramatic roommates coped with college stress through the wide pamphleteering of bunny rabbits with sore eyes from cosmetics, but I had already agreed to it through my security deposit, which was essentially signing off on their cause. Uh, point taken, gentle person. No need for more graphic photos. Since then, I've kept a toe in the water of their culture, through periodic meatless fasting (as is my faith's regular practice through our most holiest times), and for my own sense about keeping up balanced good health, one that I've worked really hard to develop, maintain, and sustain.

I call this "Hippie Dreamland" for its suggested psychedelic super-powers.

I also love "freebies", like any other great housewife on a limited budget, which led me to receive in the mail a series of charmingly produced but somewhat irrational comic books, aimed at recruiting children to "The Cause". Like any good cult, there's some well-meaning intent about considering animals compassionately, and then there's stuff so bat-shit insane, no teacher worth her weight in salt would ever ethically distribute such obvious fucking tripe to her kids. The simple fact is, as much as we all love cute furry animals, most other lifeforms on this planet do not live as long as us, notwithstanding certain Joshua trees in remote desert climes, or giant tortoises that live deep in the cold ocean water, but those are stories for other beautiful days, like this gorgeous Fall one of 2015.

Look, we get it. Don't abuse animals. Treat them with compassion, empathy, and great understanding, to make up for the gap in their consciousness that they did not create. If you can love those lives that depend on you, even without their explicit understanding, it shows the world who you are and what you do when no one is watching. Obviously, if you hit your dog, you're a total pile of human dog shit. Don't do that. Don't mercilessly box farm animals in, starving them unnecessarily and depriving them of sunlight and fresh air. Don't poke and prod at them like they're your fucking personal Frankenstein "Lab of Horrors", just because you feel like you can abuse creatures when no one else is watching, because you're some big swinging dick of a man. There are dicks far bigger than yours out there, and they are watching. Got it? Good!

In the meantime, here's a really great list of ethical farms that "Mommy Marie" (that's me) follows on social media. Enjoy the new world order, friends! I feel fine, don't you? There's no more delusional fantasies about make-believe psychedelic chicken super powers, or strangely human farm animals that trip out on butterflies in the sky, anymore; just the plain simple awesome truth about All of Creation. Join me there, in the here and NOW. We love animals, too.

http://www.bpfarm.org/

http://www.sugarhousecreamery.com/

http://windfallfarm.blogspot.com/

http://www.mountainsidefarms.com/

Your homework, hippie: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnana.2011.00029/full

See it here: http://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/11068/fnana-05-00029-HTML/image_m/fnana-05-00029-g007.jpg

Wholesomeness

http://grimm.wikia.com/wiki/Hexenbiest

It's been remarked to me more than once than I have an air of fresh, good clean health about me, and that's mostly true. Oh, I do have the occasional smoke or alcohol overindulgence when I'm in the mood for party time excellence, but nowadays it's rarer and rarer, because I'd rather produce work in service to you. I am, however, an actual native New York kid, so there ain't much I don't know about, or have not done in the past, or know someone who does it, whether it's illicit or not. 

How do I stay "phresh"**?! I eat real food, a$$hole!

But my healthy appearance does sometimes trick the rather foolish, naive, and unsophisticated suburbanite or out-of-towner (and they are legion in this area) into believing they somehow have the upper hand, because I'm not some triflin' petty piece of sh#t who sweats over what people may "feel" about me (or anyone and anything else), which always amuses me: it's like a truck-sized hole in their persona that this city-traffic driver navigates like she was born to it, because I am. You read that one of my grandparents was a Medallion-owning cabbie, right? Yeah, so like that, kid.

This is called "healthy". It's a box of USDA organic cereal. Hard to do!!

Anyway, I'm also not "all hagged out"; a phrase my Scottish/British ex whose family emigrated to Colorado back in the day coined out of sheer necessity, so that he could accurately describe the low-minded office bitches who prey on union guys like him for ca$h, like some desperate throwback to "Mad Man" days in the city that required the master/servant, boss/secretary dynamic to earn a high salary. 
That is also not me. 

More "weird" stuff like grass-fed milk that's also organic. So strange...

He also called them "Office Cows", for their near-constant bitching about food in the common kitchen area that they graze on throughout the day, because your homemade cookies make them "fat", like it's everyone else's fucking problem that some Long Island yenta* blows her also near-constant diet (greatly assisted by tanning salons, hair extensions, and Boca Ration vacations) to properly maintain said upper hand. You know exactly what I mean because you've been there, and that's New York, too.

More "weirdo" stuff, like ancient Asian foods with ginger to sooth tummies.

So, there I was as an Art Director thrown into the mix, with no makeup on, no weirdo diet, nor overly expensive clothes (Pay retail? In Manhattan? Are you insane?! What turnip truck did you fall off of? This girl goes to "Sample Sales" with her size 6 ass, yo.), or having a total "raging bitch off her meds" attitude, which makes me seem like the glowing healthy town AND country kid I am. I am healthy, it does show, and I'm asked about it so often, I wrote the book on it for you to read. 

Just do what I friggin' tell you to do: SPF applied almost every day (and yes, you do need some sunlight for vitamins. Some, hexen-hag), no anorexia, or "tanorexia", or "drunkorexic" behavior in an office environment, take your prescribed meds, dress appropriately, groom yourself well, eat a decent, well-balanced diet of fresh food that's readily available, get regular exercise, be a decent human being to other humans (in AND out of human form, hexen), and failing all of that? Get the fuck out of my city, town, and/or state. Better yet, get the fuck out of my country, you insane asshole. There, now. Doesn't that feel better?


*   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yenta
** http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Phresh

Flew the Coop

Yep, you read it right: "Backyard Chickens for Beginners" bitches!

I believe in the great educational institutions and huge agriculture of New York state like its' yesterday's news, and it totally is. We've been doin' this a very long time. Every once in awhile, I get a whiff of "Big Agra" out west trying to co-opt our rep as the so-called American Heartland, and here's the problem with that kind of thinking: a semi-arid desert does not a fertile river valley make. It really just doesn't make it. Oh sure, you can artificially prop it up as a competition with the use of freely given government hand-outs, but the thing is, we have all of human history on our side, like the way water flows downhill. It's a part of our nature, and I'd love to have you on board with me.

Special thanks to my peeps at Cornell (my oldest bro's Alma Mater for grad school) for keeping our history alive through these small, local satellite programs that serve as outreach to the community. We need you! And I will be in touch with you in the future about growing chickens for their fresh eggs in my backyard. Can't get more organic than that! Future neighbors, please take note now: hens do not "cock-a-doodle-do" at dawn like a male rooster, so know your stuff beforehand. Thanks friends, and please keep reading.  
You are my audience.

http://rocklandcce.org/ 

http://rocklandcce.org/events/2015/04/07/-backyard-chickens-for-beginners

Edamame Salad

Weekday salad with leftovers.

I bought a bag of frozen soy beans in their pods, known as "edamame" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edamame), because I developed a taste for them in sushi restaurants around the U.S., typically served warm and covered in sea salt. They are surprisingly good, but for a table of one, a whole bag of them grew cold quickly. What to do? 

Some out of them went into batches of box macaroni and cheese prepared with cooked chopped meat and fried onions, an old college staple for budget cooking that's been an on-and-off  but reliable go-to dish in lean times, or sometimes when I'm simply in the mood for it.

As their last day grew near (the pods emitted a telltale fishy odor, and turned greenish brown), I finally used the last of the soybeans in a salad dressed with red wine vinegar, non-GMO coconut oil that I melted stove top, salted and peppered, with a couple of cranks from an Italian seasoning herb blend for added flavor, diced white Spanish onion, a few fresh basil leaves, some leftover sunflower seeds, et voila!

Happy eating, cooks.

Food: Springtime Bounty

Stuffed Eggplant with Chicken Sausage, tomato and onion..

 I've been reaping the benefits of locally grown fresh vegetables for weeks now, taking pictures of dishes that look particularly savory.  
Let's dive in!

Skirt steak with fresh Jersey string beans & boysenberry sauce reduction.

New Jersey is called The Garden State for good reason; they produce an extraordinarily huge selection of very high quality fruits and vegetables, making it a veritable gardener and chef's delight. So, when I see them highlighted at my grocery store (which is a mere five minute drive from the Jersey border), I dive in with all my senses, smelling and sniffing for freshness.

Warm radish and string bean salad with honey glaze.

One week I used green beans in my cooking, the week prior it was eggplant. Think of sustainable cooking like the greatest culinary game you ever played: what can you make with what's available and in season? Try it. You might just come out a better chef.

Mushrooms

Speckled specimen.

I've always loved mushrooms and their shapes. They bring to mind fantastical fairy tales about leprechauns, those whimsical shapes that capture the artistic mind with a naturalist bent. I had a yellow polka dotted, painted wood cutout of a mushroom on my wall as a kid, decor that was sought to match the bright walls. I also loved the scene from Fantasia with the dancing oriental mushrooms. What kid didn't? The very first piece of art I did at Oneonta State (a SUNY school, enough said) was an Alice in Wonderland piece of psychedelia with a giant 'shroom that I put on our front door. It went with the giant tie dye tapestry we bought for about $15 (we haggled with the hippie who went door to door) that hung from the ceiling. We also took a tossed couch by the side of the dorm with no legs, put it on top of a tipped over bookcase, and covered it with a black and white cowhide I bought at a farm goods store in West Texas.

Me and my best friend were the first people to get "written up" (cited for partying) on campus, in the very same dorm her older brother was an R.A., and we're chicks, so overnight we became infamous. Within a few days, the sorority girls from Long Island, in their matching Champion sweats, slouchy socks, and top knot ponytails, wrote nasty remarks about stoners on the drawing, and then someone jacked it. In retaliation, we spray painted cracks about them in hairspray on the mirrors in the common bathroom (our commentary about their dependency on beauty products and their cliched 80s hairdos), and then lit them on fire so they would be visible in burnt scorch marks, a brilliant piece of impromptu performance art that was angry, hilarious, and true, which was our punk ethos at the time. We made the scene, and the best guys around wanted to hang out and party with us, which made us even bigger targets, but by then, we'd already surpassed the dorm in hijinks, so we were golden. It kicked off one of the best, funnest, fruitful, and most stable parts of my life, but more about that in the future. Suffice to say, whenever I see a cute patch of them, I still think the same thoughts: they're funny, sweet, cheerful, happy and also edible, but please don't go foraging without an expert. The difference between an edible one, a trip to Mars, or a slow, agonizingly painful death can be a minute one, so don't do it. If you're interested in mycology like I am, check out some resources on the subject, like this one: http://www.amazon.com/The-Pocket-Guide-Wild-Mushrooms/dp/1620877317/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1382549928&sr=8-2&keywords=Skyhorse+mushrooms.

Mama and baby 'shroom.

There's also a bunch of nature hikes with guides you can take in the area New Yorkers, so have at it you freaks, and I mean that in the best, warmest way possible: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/.

Live life, and prosper.

http://www.pinterest.com/mariedoucette/nature/. 

Food: Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Little sour apples.

I found a recipe for apple muffins on the back of a box of pancake mix. It looked really easy to make (and it was), and I had a few small sour apples on the counter that I had picked from a local orchard. 

The muffins came together great, and those little apples still have some snap left in them, even after baking in the batter. Apples and cinnamon go together like bread and butter, and weeks later, I have a few left in the freezer from the original batch of twelve I made.   

A nice set up for fall right?

Apple cinnamon muffins.

Food fan? Same: http://www.pinterest.com/mariedoucette/food/.

Food: Wild Grapes

Wild grapes.

After walking past these vines for weeks, I finally picked some ripe wild grapes last week, which was a bold move on my part. You never know what people do by the side of a road, but these were on a small hill that I had to climb to pick them, so I figured they were about as organic as you're going to get outside of a expensive organic market.

Wild grapes growing by the side of a road.

I tossed them in with some small sour apples I picked up from a nearby park into a warm steak salad, and it turned out to be the right thing to do: the apples became sweeter upon cooking and so did the grapes, plus they gave off a beautiful red wine color when they sweated with some onions. I love it when a dish all comes together on the fly like that, because I've cracked enough eggs to make a very big omelet. What do you find growing in the wild?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape 

Food: Farming

By now, we've read the articles and seen the news stories about GMO Frankenfoods that threaten our health, and contribute to a lack of biodiversity that is the agricultural form of extinction. Monsanto controls seeds and food production, Tyson muscles farmers through their production schedules, resulting in horrible food factories that don't even feel like farming to the farmers they pay, and the old lady who wants a pear out of season (the same one who clips coupons and haggles for a bargain), is the same person who eats produce that's traveled further than she will ever travel in lifetime, having been flown in exclusively for her consumption all the way from Chile. It's a bizarre mindset that needs to change, and it slowly has.

I've posted items on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Illuminations/371196022892113), with sayings like "Growing food is like printing your own money", and how collecting rainwater is now illegal in some states, to illustrate the growing separation between food production and our day-to-day lives. Do you want to cede that power to a huge business conglomerate? Would they have your best interests at heart? Of course not. Their executives aren't paid to do that like your family doctor is, because they're paid to sell you stuff.

Into the growing debate come visionary doctors who speak out, like Dr. Joseph Mercola (http://www.mercola.com/). It's in this very climate that I've begun to see the land around us as a huge opportunity for change. When I walked by a corn patch growing in front of a modest home last week, it reminded me that I grew up surrounded by farms: the small one next door to our house, my mother's humble garden, the little orchard that used to be part of the farm next door, and fruit trees in such natural profusion, that I still find apple and cherry trees growing right by sidewalks in town (http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/2013/06/nature-edibles.html, and http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/2011/10/fall-harvest.html).

We have a chance to redefine our access to fresh, local, in season and affordable foods by supporting local farms, farmers, and producers through frequenting nearby farmer markets with locally made goods. Which brings me to the next motto that's gathered steam: you have three opportunities to vote every day when you decide what to eat. 
We can't always make the best decisions, for a variety of reasons (economics, availability, poor health, etc.), but thinking precedes action, and by questioning our mindsets, we've already started down the path towards change.

What will you choose to eat today?

Green to go!

Ever on the search for green and affordable products, I decided to try a commercial deodorant I found at a local drugstore that carries a wide range of ethnic imports, which makes it a fun place to explore. I'd read that continued use of baking soda and cornstarch, while very effective for curbing bacteria and odor, could lead to irritation, and such was my case. It felt like itchy razor burn under my arms!

This new product "Herbal Clear Naturally!" satisfied my needs on all levels: completely natural, no aluminum or artificial ingredients, and the price was a deliriously low $2.50, much better than the other popular brands on the shelf that contain harmful chemicals. Score!!

I'd also wanted to try a homemade face scrub idea that I'd read about online, of a lemon half sprinkled with sugar. The exfoliation from the sugar would remove dead skin cells on the surface, allowing the citric acid to zap pours. Well, I had limes in the fridge and brown sugar in the pantry, so that's what I went with yesterday morning before my bath. It worked really, really well as an exfoliating scrub, so if you have a citrus fruit and a gritty type of sugar on hand, go for it! Be healthy and natural on a budget.

Peeled Snacks

Apple to the core!

The first time I found Peeled Organics Fruit Picks, I was in Whole Foods on my lunch break, looking for a low calorie snack. I tried the dried cherries and ever since then, I've been hooked. When I see them in a store, I buy them. Naturally, they are made right here in our happy 'hood of Brooklyn, yo. Have at it!

http://peeledsnacks.com/

p.s.-Those are sugar-free jelly beans in the background for anime movie time later today. Yahooooo!

Cooking with Gas

Springtime Salad

What better way to celebrate spring than with the freshness of a green salad? Made even better for those who train by adding eggs, for that much needed protein boost. 

This composition courtesy of: Boston Bibb lettuce, Italian parsley, organic tomatoes, oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, topped with two fried eggs. Go get 'em!

Cooking with (No) Gas

'Tis the season for Irish Soda Bread. Last year I made two mini-loaves with great results. This year, walking by a farmers market in my hood,
I decided to buy one. The crust is thicker and darker in color than a traditional soda bread, and the breads' texture is different, but the taste is solid. It's got golden raisins, dark raisins, and caraway seeds, which is awesome for me because I prefer a loaded loaf. 

Bread Alone Irish Soda Bread

If you can find anything by the Bread Alone Bakery near you, get it. 
I discovered them first at an organic grocery store near me, and now
a lot of places around town carry their products. I was blown away by the simple deliciousness of their Peasant Bread. There are five ingredients: organic unbleached white flour, water, organic whole wheat flour, sea salt, yeast. All their breads are so fresh and lovely. And no, they do not endorse me. Healthy eating!

http://www.breadalone.com/

Cooking with (No) Gas

yogurt, granola, mint, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg

I bought sprigs of mint this week, so it's my mission to utilize it in as many ways as possible while fresh. Today's breakfast of granola and probiotic yogurt was ripe for garnishing, with honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg, too. Mint brightens food in both color and taste. Have at it!

Cooking with (No) Gas

Breakfast of champions, Marie Doucette 2012

More awesome food, courtesy of my local grocery store. They carry a wide variety of organic selections that are surprisingly affordable. In many cases, the "little guys" doing great things are beating the bigger, less healthy brands. 

Yesterdays' breakfast was a cup of fat free probiotic vanilla yogurt with a quarter cup of Chappaqua Crunch granola and a handful of raisins that I drizzled with honey, then sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. So good! I felt full well past noon, fitting in shopping and a haircut before lunch.  
Happy eating!

http://chappaquacrunchgranola.com/