Last week the House and Senate Agricultural Committees amended and passed their respective versions of the 2013 Farm Bill. The 2012 Farm Bill, which was never passed into law, had many programs to support young farmers, conservation efforts, and access to healthy food. Because an extension of the 2008 Farm Bill was passed instead, the 2012 Farm Bill was scrapped and many of these programs were removed. This coming week, the Senate will begin debating the 2013 Farm Bill. Now is the time to contact your legislators about your Farm Bill priorities!

First, you want to develop your stance. If you’re not sure where to start, here is the National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition’s policy platform:

• Create jobs and spur economic growth through food and farms.
• Invest in the future of American agriculture.
• Enhance our natural resources and improve agricultural productivity.
• Drive innovation for tomorrow’s farmers and food entrepreneurs.

You can advocate for broad platforms like the ones listed here or for specific initiatives like FSA Credit for Local and Regional Farmers or Microloans for Beginning and Veteran Farmers. For more information on specific amendments, see http://sustainableagriculture.net 

Once you have an idea of what you want to say, read these five tips from Chabot College. These will help you write a powerful letter and let your voice be heard.

1. Be personal. A mailed handwritten letter is more meaningful and attracts more attention than an email.
2. Be concise. One or two paragraphs should do the trick.
3. Request specific action. Make a specific request in your letter. Be clear about what you want.
4. Be courteous. Rude comments will make you look unprofessional. You can be firm while still being courteous.
5. Sign your letters. Include your name, address and telephone number. This ensures that your representative will be able to respond to your concerns.

Find your representative and voice your requests for the 2013 Farm Bill.

Oh, and furthermore, I plan on doing this sort of thing time and time again, deviating from the recipe every time. As with most things in life, experimenting until you find that sweet spot is essential.

Okay, here are all the pieces of equipment I used:

• 2 five gallon food-grade buckets
• 1 lid for a bucket with a small hole cut out on top for the airlock (any local home-brew shop should cut this for you)
• A rubber stopper and airlock
• A syphoning hose
• Iodine BTF sanitizer solution
• one-step cleaning solution

Here are the ingredients: 

• 2 packets of “Red Star” champagne yeast
• 1 pear with cinnamon, nutmeg, and honey
• 4 gallons of apple cider
• 1 liter of cranberry juice
• ~3/4 lb of brown sugar

Okay, now let’s rock and roll.

Step 1: Clean your buckets, lid, and airlock with one-step solution. This is of the utmost importance. If there’s one thing to fear in this process, it is that your brew equipment will have the smallest amount of bacteria and entirely destroy your brew after weeks of waiting.

Step 2: Sanitize your buckets, lid, and airlock with the iodine sanitizer. Also very important.

Step 3: Now dump all your juice into one of the sanitized buckets. I cut a pear and warmed it over the stove with honey, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Then I threw the pear slices into the bucket too.*

Step 4: Next, throw in your yeast and stir. Now, it is an option to rehydrate your yeast before adding it to the brew. This means that you add the yeast to a bowl/cup of warm water (about 95 degrees F) and allow it to sit for about 15 minutes before you throw it in the bucket. I did not rehydrate it first, but I would recommend that you do. Next time I’m going to because I believe it will make the yeast more active and willing to interact with the sugars.

Step 5: Add sugar, and stir until it is dissolved. I added about 3/4 lb of brown sugar this time around. You can add a little more, like 1lb, but I wouldn’t add more than that to a 5 gallon batch. The first time I did this I added way too much sugar, and the cider came out very alcoholic, but it had a consistency between syrup and cider. Remember that juice has sugars of its own, so don’t overcompensate with an obscene amount of additional sugar.

Step 6: Now seal the lid on top of the bucket and plug up the hole with the rubber stopper and airlock. I always add vodka to the airlock, because you do not want to add something like isopropyl alcohol to it, because it could leak into your brew. If vodka leaks in, that just means your brew will be a little more alcoholic. Remember to store your brew in a place that will stay at a temperature between 60-70 degrees. So your house should be fine as long as you don’t live with a really coldblooded or hotblooded roommate.

Step 7: Waiting, the hardest part… For a batch this size I let it sit for 3-4 weeks. It’s easy to tell when the fermentation process is done because your airlock will cease to bubble. Around week one and two it will be bubbling like crazy, and then slowing down after that.

Step 8: Siphon your whole buckets-worth of booze into other containers. This is called racking. You should re-rack into your second bucket (as long as it’s cleaned and sanitized too), and then siphon it into your containers. This will help get rid of all the sediment at the bottom of your brew. To siphon you must put the brew batch on a higher plane than your empty containers, and then start the flow by sucking on the end of the hose. Then let gravity do the work! I simply used the old juice containers after I sanitized them.

My final product (drum roll):

Plenty to share

Many will agree that leavening these sumptuous loaves with wild yeast is much more an art than a science, but since the introduction of commercially produced and isolated strains of Active Dry Yeast around the turn of the century, homemade bread baking is becoming a few hours’ process rather than one of several days.  This week, I decided to embark on a wild yeast bread leavening journey to recapture this art for myself.

All I knew when I started was that yeast occurs naturally on grains and in the air (San Francisco’s air has famously delicious yeast, for example), and when left sitting out for days, the yeast ferments the dough, creating a wonderful sour flavor–no commercial yeast needed, just flour and water.  My guide for this process was King Arthur Flour’s helpful sourdough starter recipe, though I did not follow it exactly (I rarely do that, actually…).  It emphasizes exact measurements by weight while I am more of an eyeballer with my cooking, and I used tips from many different recipes.  After talking to fellow bakers and doing some googling, I’ve learned that everyone has their own method of making sourdough bread, and some families/bakeries have had the same starter for generations!  This guide details one way to make a sourdough starter that, if maintained, can last hundreds of years! Wow.

Materials:

- A big bag of unbleached white flour–I used Bob’s Red Mill because it’s made here in Oregon and has a jolly bearded man on the front
- Water–preferably filtered, and definitely non-chlorinated, you don’t want to kill the yeast!
- A mixing bowl
- About five days

Start with 2 cups whole grain flour and 2 cups water.  (One source said whole grain flour is good to use for the first feeding cycle only because it helps give the yeast an initial push? It might not matter but I’ll take it.)  Mix together and cover with a dry towel–the yeast need to breathe.  Let the bowl sit in a room temperature place, at least 68 degrees F but preferably 70, for 24 hours.  My house is quite cold so I wrapped my little yeast babies in a scarf to keep them warm:

Not much may have happened after the first day, depending on the season and the vigor of your yeast, but you may see some bubbles and expansion after the first day.  I saw quite a bit; I guess my yeasts are fighters.

Now here’s the trick: after mixing out most of the bubbles, remove 1 cup of the mixture and discard it.  Then add in 1 cup of new white (unbleached) flour and about 1/2 cup of lukewarm water, and mix it into the remaining starter.  This is called feeding the starter.  Discarding is necessary because, in the words of King Arthur Flour, “unless you discard, eventually you’ll end up with The Sourdough That Ate Milwaukee – too much starter.” Also, the pH stays balanced when the volume remains the same.  And, controlling the volume “offers the yeast more food to eat each time you feed it; it’s not fighting with quite so many other little yeast cells to get enough to eat.” Cooking is so interesting.

For the next two days, feed the sourdough starter once every 24 hours, keeping tabs on its progress. You should see more bubbles each time.  After the third day, begin feeding the starter every 12 hours, or as close to 12 as your schedule allows.  Remember: art, not science.  Once the starter doubles in size and bubbles immensely in 12 hours or less, your little yeasts are all grown up and your starter is ready.  For me, that was the end of day four. After feeding it once more, it’s time to bake!

Freshly fed:

After about 10 hours:

Yay! I made my own sourdough starter with wild yeast!  I can now keep a 1/2 cup of the mixture in the fridge pretty much forever, feeding it regularly. Learn how to maintain a starter here. (Note that ‘equal parts’ is referring to weight, not volume, which would be 2:1 flour:water.)

Check back soon to see how my bread turns out! While you’re waiting, you can watch this neat History channel documentary about the history of bread, as well as browse Slow Food UO’s bountiful recipe box!

Sources:
History of Bread, Food timeline, Red Star Yeast

Chia seeds can absorb up to nine times their weight in water. When soaked in a liquid they begin to form a gel-like substance, which is why they are perfect for making a delicious pudding snack. I love experimenting with different chia pudding recipes. Once you understand the basic chia to liquid ratio, you can begin making your own creations as well. With its lovely frothy consistency and subtly sweet flavor, this Banana Cream Chia Pudding recipe is definitely one of my favorites.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup almond milk or water
1 large banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 to 2 tbsp raw honey (I prefer a lighter sweet taste and usually use only 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp chia seeds

This recipe is a breeze to make. Begin by mixing all of the ingredients except the chia seeds in a blender on medium speed until completely combined. Stop blending to add the chia seeds. Next, add the chia seeds and mix on low for five minutes or so until the texture begins to become frothy. Store the pudding in the refrigerator for at least an hour or leave it in overnight if you can. This will allow the seeds enough time to absorb enough of the liquid to develop the right consistency.

That’s it! You can top off your pudding with slices of banana and cinnamon if you’d like. This Banana Cream Chia Pudding would pair wonderfully with some tasty pumpkin bread and, though I’ve never tried adding cacao powder to this recipe, I’m sure that would also be delicious. I’m going to try that next time–banana chocolate chia pudding, anyone? Mmmm…  If you have any ideas for tasty chia seed pudding creations, please let me know! I love trying new recipes.

Appetizers
Brie en Croute
Baguette with Artichoke Dip and Spinach Dip
Pomegranate and Citrus Salad with Spicy Jalapeno Vinaigrette Dressing

Entrees
Roasted Cider-Brined Pork Loin
Cedar Plank Fire-Roasted Salmon
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Fried Sage Beurre Noisette

Sides
Brown Sugar Glazed Winter Squash
Green Bean Amandine
Cranberry Wild Rice Pilaf
Roasted Potato Medley

Desserts
Candy Cane Cheesecake
Orange, Chocolate and Vanilla Cream Puffs
Pear, Chocolate and Pomegranate Mousse Cups
S’more Pops

Drinks
Eggnog
Hot Spiced Cider
Hot Chocolate

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is! I can’t wait for tomorrow.  Full menu here.  Write a comment below to enter yourself in our drawing for a meal ticket.

Professor Geraldine Moreno-Black
Photo Credit: http://pages.uoregon.edu/gmorenob/

Here at the University of Oregon, Slow Food UO has the privilege of having Geraldine Moreno as the chapter’s faculty advisor. Moreno has worked at the University of Oregon since 1974 conducting extensive research projects as well as feeding the minds of several students from all majors. Her focus is on human biology, nutritional and medical anthropology. I recently had the unique opportunity to visit with Professor Moreno about her studies, research, hobbies, and family background. I even got the inside scoop on what food will be on her table this holiday season!

Before studying human nutrition at Cornell, Moreno conducted research on the food consumption of monkeys.  She continued her focus on food related studies; however, leaving the monkeys behind, she began her focus on humans. Moreno has done research in Indonesia, Thailand, Ecuador, and the United States ranging from topics of patterns within food insecurity, consumption, and diet.

Moreno is also currently working on a Child Obesity Prevention Project for the Oregon Research Institute, along with conducting a Tray Photo Project. The Tray Photo Project is a study on the decisions children are making about food. After taking several pictures of trays within seven school cafeterias, Moreno analyzes their decisions based on grade level and gender. She expresses the obstacles of the changes within school lunches their policies. Many of the schools have changed from an serve-based system to a offer system, increasing the student’s ability to choose the food they want for lunch. One observation that Moreno has made is that  the older children get, the more inclined they are to create a salad from the salad bar – the younger children choose more finger foods and less lettuce from the salad bar, which is available by choice. Still many children do not choose very much from the salad bar at all.

Apart from her impressive research, Moreno enjoys taking clay and textile classes here in Eugene. She finds joy in cooking and loves to collect recipes and cook books. Moreno also expresses the delight she has for Marteenie, her fifteen year old Terrier mix.

Moreno comes from a large family. Her love for food stems from the nostalgic memories of her family gathering together and sharing food. “We were always together and we always ate,” Moreno says with a smile full of delight. This act of enjoying food established the interest of a food community for Moreno at a young age. She now is married to her husband Edward and has two daughters, Tovah and Simca. They all share a love for cooking and baking; a hobby which her daughters specifically enjoy in the form of entertaining and experimenting.

Like all Slow Food participants, Moreno is already gearing up for the holiday season. She plans on making a special brussel sprout dish for Thanksgiving with her family. When the sprouts are sautéed, the recipe consists of oil, onion and garlic. When in season, she adds tomato to the mix. If the sprouts are steamed, the ingredients consist of butter, lemon juice and caraway seeds. Moreno also looks forward to the traditional Hanukkah meal of Latkes: potato pancakes consisting of potatoes, flour, and egg.  (Yum!) Here is a recipe for your own Hanukkah Latkes from Kosher Food: http://kosherfood.about.com/od/hanukkah/r/han_latkas_pot.htm

This Winter, Professor Moreno will be teaching a 4-credit course entitled Gender Issues in Nutritional Anthropology (ANTH 465/565) at the University of Oregon.  The course will explore connections between agriculture, gender, medicine, diet, nutrition and economy, just to name a few. It will also focus on how humans think about, use, and consume food. For more information on the courses Moreno teaches, visit http://pages.uoregon.edu/gmorenob/courses.html

The winner will receive:
A HI-carbon stainless, fully-forged, 8 inch chef’s knife donated by Keith from Cook’s Pots and Tabletops. This knife is a staple in any cook’s kitchen.

How to enter:
It is easy to enter, just email us (slowfooduo@gmail.com) your family recipe and the reason why it’s special to you.  Include your full name and email address.  If you need inspiration, check out some of our Slow Food recipes.

We are accepting entries from now until December 15th.  Results will be announced on the website by December 20th so remember to check and see if you have won.  By entering your recipe in this contest, you give us the rights to use it as we see fit on our blog and other promotional material. We are looking forward to trying your delicious family recipes. Good Luck!

[contact-form]

As pumpkins began appearing at local stores, I started fantasizing about all of the exciting ways I could begin incorporating pumpkin into my recipes–pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin chai, pumpkin bread. Then I remembered grub goal number thirteen from our blog post, 21 Grub Goals of the Slow Food Blog Team. This fall, I decided to challenge myself to create a raw pumpkin pie recipe from scratch.

When it comes to preparing raw food, I’m quite confident in the kitchen. If you understand the basics of raw food recipes, you can easily dream up your own creative concoctions. I knew that a basic pie crust for raw pies was a balanced combination of raw nuts and raw medjool dates. For the filling, I knew that I would need some coconut oil, which is solid at room temperature, to hold it together while it’s being sliced. As for the pumpkin and the other ingredients that I incorporated into the filling, I used my intuition as well as my taste buds to determine the appropriate amounts. The finished product was exactly what I hoped it would be–delicious.

Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups hazelnuts
12 pitted medjool dates

Pie Filling:
1 15 oz. can organic pumpkin (uncooked)
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
4 pitted medjool dates
3/4 cup raw milk of your choice (I used homemade almond milk)
2 tbsp raw coconut nectar
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

I used 15 oz. of uncooked, canned, organic pumpkin in my filling. You can also experiment with cutting your own pumpkin to use in your pie. The pumpkin pie spice I used was from Mountain Rose Herbs’ culinary line, Epicurean Organics.

In a food processor, begin the crust by blending 2 1/2 cups of hazelnuts until the texture is crumbly, not powdery. If you’d like, you can use any nut of your choice. I choze hazelnuts for their slightly buttery flavor. Next, add the dates and blend for several minutes until the nuts are evenly combined with the dates. Use coconut oil to lightly “grease” a nine-inch pie dish and press the crust mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom and sides of the dish. You will probably have some extra crust that you can use later to sprinkle on top of your pie slices or on top of another dessert of your choosing. When you’re done, place the finished crust in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Wash the food processor bowl and thoroughly dry it. Combine all of the ingredients for the pie filling, in no particular order, in the food processor until completely smooth. The filling should be slightly thick, but thin enough that it will pour easily into the pie dish. Take the pie dish out and scoop all of the filling into the pie pan. Place the pie in the freezer for at least three hours before you serve it. My estimation is that it will keep well in the freezer for about a week. I wouldn’t store it in the refrigerator because the filling will likely become soft and unmanageable. Also, you’ll want to make sure that you set the pie out to let it thaw slightly at room temperature before you try to cut it.

I finished off my raw pumpkin pie slice with bits of the crust topping and some of the pumpkin pie spice used in the filling. The pumpkin pie spice I used is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice from Mountain Rose Herbs–a local herb, spice, and tea company. I’m certain you can find a similar pumpkin pie spice at your local grocery store, or you can even make your own blend with a combination of spices from the bulk section.

However you decide to embellish your delicious pumpkin pie, make sure to let me know! I’d love to hear from you with any suggestions or ideas. As for me, I’m going to go finish off the last slice of my pie and sip on a cup of coffee while I finish my homework. Happy autumn, everyone!

Author of Wild Fermentation, which has been called the DIY fermentation bible, as well as The Art of Fermentation and The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, Sandor is a DIY food activist who believes that eating fermented foods increases the biodiversity of microorganisms in the body, which is extremely beneficial for a healthy body and spirit.  Wild fermentation is “a way of incorporating the wild into your body, becoming one with the natural world,” he says on his website, and it has been practiced for thousands of years, from cultures in Asia, Europe, South America, everywhere.

You don’t want to miss this presentation about how fermentation works and why we should keep such an ancient, healthful practice alive.  See you there!