Sorry, no real post today.  But here’s an awesome cookie recipe if you like chocolate.

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

To celebrate, I bought myself a new Sigg.  Originally it was because mine is getting kind of beat up and Gilt was having a sale, but turns out it was probably a good idea anyway.  Kind of ironic, especially since my mom got me my first one in reaction to the Nalgene-BPA scare a few years ago.

Campus is currently swarming with high school seniors as today marked the beginning of Admit Weekend for prospective freshman (or Pro Fros, as we call them).  It’s hard to believe that just two years ago I was one of the small, nervous, scared-looking kids I’ve been seeing all day going to and from class.  OK, so not all of them are that small, but they do share a sort of bemused air that is only pronounced by the name tags they get upon registration.  And the fact that they all travel in packs.  Or herds, rather, like lost little lambs.  It’s cute, really.

Time really flies, though.  I’m almost done with my second year, meaning that I only have 6 weeks left to declare my second major.  Yikes!  My only hope is that I don’t end up as jaded as the other upperclassmen I know.  But as I’m not pre-med anymore, I’d say the chances of me being able to enjoy my two remaining years are pretty good.

But anyways, in addition to Earth Day, April 22 is also my friend’s birthday.  I always see her munching on bananas with peanut butter in the dining hall, so when I saw this on TasteSpotting I knew it would be perfect.  Thanks to Laura of L. Brooks Cooks for posting!

I’m only including the cupcake recipe because I found the frosting to be a bit disappointing.  It called for cream cheese in addition to butter and peanut butter, which totally overwhelmed the taste of the latter.  Somewhere on here I have a decent recipe for peanut butter  frosting that doesn’t involve cream cheese, which I would recommend.

Banana Cupcakes (credit to Bon Apetit, April 2010):

• 1 1/4 C all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 small, ripe bananas, peeled
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a muffin tin with liners.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas and mix with vanilla and sour cream until smooth.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and egg yolk and beat until blended.  Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with banana mixture.  (Begin and end with flour mixture).  Beat just until blended each time.

Spoon into prepared muffin tin.  Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 20 minutes.

Let cool before frosting.

Yields 12 cupcakes.

“When about 16 Years of Age, I happen’d to meet with a book written by one Tryon, recommending a Vegetable Diet.  I determined to go into it…My refusing to eat Flesh occasioned an Inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity.  I made myself acquainted with Tryon’s Manner of preparing some of his Dishes, such as Boiling Potatoes or Rice, making Hasty Pudding, and a few others…”

Who knew he was a vegetarian?

Within the selections from the autobiography that were required reading, Franklin never explicitly stated why he adopted the so-called Vegetable Diet, but from the context of this particular passage it seems that he was trying to save money in order to buy more books.  Regardless of his reasoning, I was pretty excited when I read this because I often feel as though vegetarianism (or any other alternative diet, for that matter) carries this stigma of being part of some new age, hippy mentality.  I’m not sure who Tryon is, but clearly the Vegetable Diet has a much longer tradition than people realize.

One of my favorite anecdote’s in Franklin’s work, however, was the episode in which he reasons himself into becoming a pescetarian, mostly because I sympathized with his internal struggle.

“I believe I have omitted mentioning that in my first Voyage from Boston, being becalm’d off Block Island, our People set about catching Cod and haul’d up a great many.  Hitherto I had stuck to my Resolution of not eating animal Food; and on this Occasion, I consider’d with my Master Tryon, the taking every Fish as a kind of unprovok’d Murder, since none of them had or ever could do us any Injury that might justify the Slaughter.  All this seem’d very reasonable.  But I had formerly been a great Lover of Fish, and when this came hot out of the Frying Pan, it smelt admirably well.  I balanc’d some time between Principle and Inclination: till I recollected, that when the Fish were opened, I saw smaller Fish taken out of their Stomachs: Then, thought I, if you eat one another, I don’t see why we mayn’t eat you.  So I din’d upon Cod very heartily and continu’d to eat with other People, returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable Diet.  So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do.”

Poor Ben.  Can’t say I blame him; fish are pretty tasty after all.

Also, if you don’t like cilantro, it’s not your fault.

It’s hard out there for a vegetarian – in Texas, that is.

I recently returned from a weeklong trip to San Antonio for the women’s NCAA Final Four tournament, where we lost to UConn in the championship game.  But as I’m not a huge sports fan, I’ll just stick to what I know – food.

It was quite the inauspicious start when, on the flight from San Jose, we were served sack lunches containing two sandwiches: roast beef and ham.  Really, chartered service?  You disappoint me.  I tried going for the garnishes, first the sliced tomato and then the cheese, but sadly the latter was tainted with the flavor of animal flesh.  And even though we stayed in a hotel right on the River Walk, which seemed to be quite the gastronomical hub, pickings were rather slim.  While I probably could have ordered salad at all the restaurants we dined at, I’m not a rabbit; I need some variety here and there.  Good thing I’m not vegan anymore.  I’m fairly certain I ate more seafood while I was there than I have in the past six months.

I’d have to attribute the most memorable dining experience to Dicks, and not just because everything on the menu contained some kind of animal.  You see, I initially thought it was somehow a branch of the fast food joint from my hometown, but no, the restaurant is so named because the servers are mean to you.  Well not mean, per se, but just…dicks.  Our server wasn’t actually that bad but the bouncer who carded everyone before they were seated was pretty douchey.  Instead of stamping under-21-year-olds, he wrote and drew pictures on their hands.  I got a large “19,” with one numeral per hand.  In permanent marker.  Vestiges still remain.

On a happier note, we returned to some nice Nor Cal sunshine, which inspired today’s recipe.  It’s basically a giant scone made in a round cake pan, layered with strawberries and whipped cream.  Yum.

Beth’s Very Berry Shortcake (credit to Birthday Cakes by Kathryn Kleinman):

For the shortcake:

• 2 C all purpose flour
• 4 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold
• 1 C heavy cream or milk

For the whipped cream:

• 2 C heavy cream
• 3 T sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract

• 2 pounds strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Stir to blend.  Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.  Add the cream or milk all at once and stir to blend.  Knead gently in the bowl for less than a minute to form a soft dough.  Divide dough in half and lightly press into cake pans.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool slightly before removing to wire racks.

Toss berries with sugar so that syrup forms.  Arrange half the berries over the bottom layer.  Place second shortcake layer on top.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the whipped cream and beat until soft peaks form.  Spoon the whipped cream over the shortcake.  Garnish with remaining berries.

Caution: the following recipe is only for those with a serious sweet tooth, and an equally serious disregard for nutrition in the face of pure buttery, chocolatey, sugary, and coconutty deliciousness.  Sound good?  Read on.

My friend Cady turned 20 today, and when it came time to pick a recipe I couldn’t help but feel that I always make the same kinds of things.  Blame it on the overall dearth of special baking equipment and ingredients in the pantry that is my dorm room, my laziness, or perhaps a combination of both, but I wanted to branch out a little to something a bit more exotic.  OK, so admittedly these no-bake bars aren’t that exciting, but they are incredibly easy to make and quite tasty.

So what is a Nanaimo Bar, you ask.  It consists of three layers: a chocolate, graham cracker, and coconut crust on the bottom, with a somewhat custardy filling, topped with a thin layer of chocolate.  Oh, and it’s served chilled.  The origins of the Nanaimo Bar are slightly ambiguous, but according to Cake Spy it all began with a Nanaimo woman in Canada some fifty years ago who developed the recipe for a magazine contest.  My mom used to make these quite a bit when I was a younger, and to this day I am quite partial to them.  Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve made the bars myself though, which surprises me because the recipe is so simple.

Apparently now there are different variations, but below is the original and “official” one, courtesy of Cake Spy.

Nanaimo Bars:

For the crust:

• 1/2 C unsalted butter (European style – I actually splurged on this but my tastebuds aren’t discerning enough to detect any difference)
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
• 1 C shredded coconut

For the filling:

• 1/2 C unsalted butter
• 2 T and 2 t cream (I used coconut creamer since that’s the only thing I had)
• 2 T vanilla pudding powder
• 2 C confectioners’ sugar

For the top layer:

• 4 oz semi sweet chocolate
• 2 T unsalted butter

To make the crust, melt together the first three ingredients in a double boiler.  Add the egg and stir to cook and thicken.  Mix coconut and graham cracker crumbs in.  Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 inch pan.

For the filling, cream together all ingredients until light and fluffy.  Spread evenly over crust.

To make the topping, melt chocolate and butter together on stovetop or in the microwave.  Let cool before spreading over filling.  Chill until top layer is set.

Yesterday we spent the morning working in the garden at East Palo Alto Charter School with a non-profit called Collective Roots.  It was pretty much the same deal as Edible Schoolyard, minus the Alice Waters aspect, so I won’t go into too much detail.  In true foodie fashion, we also blew the remainder of our budget on lunch and dinner – the former at the local Three Brothers Tacos and the latter at Tofu House.  And this morning, as a closing activity, we paid a visit to the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco, which is where the photos were taken.  Unfortunately the farmer’s market component isn’t open on Sundays, but it was fun to walk around the more permanent vendors, which included Scharffen Berger, Ciao Bella Gelato, and Acme Bakery.  It was pretty swank so we did more gawking and sampling of goods than actual purchasing.  One of these days I hope to be able to afford to do all my grocery shopping at a place like that…

Looking back on the past week, I’m really glad I participated in Food for Thought.  I got to bond with a lot of people who I probably wouldn’t have even met otherwise, and even though the farm work and gardening wasn’t always easy, being outside and connected with nature was a great way to de-stress and get ready for a new quarter.  Most importantly, though, it was an incredible learning experience.  I now have a much greater understanding of small-scale farming, the challenges of being organic and sustainable, the importance of integration of food knowledge into school curricula, and how to have better food practices, to name a few.  It frustrates me that as a student living on a school dining plan, I am very limited in my capacity to, in Michael Pollan’s words, “vote with my fork,” especially since there’s a very long road ahead in terms of reforming the way we eat and how our food is produced.  But having met many passionate people who are involved in the movement against industrial agriculture, I am optimistic.

So as I reconvene with my friends and settle back into my school routine, I can’t help but think to myself that I’d take chopping down cover crops and meeting the people who produce the food that keeps us alive over Cabo any day.  A spring break spent learning about social and cultural issues and how to effect change is a spring break well spent.

Our first visit was to Live Culture, a for-profit consulting firm dedicating to helping foodies produce good, sustainable, and delicious value-added products in an economically viable manner.  After feeling slightly disheartened by witnessing firsthand the difficulties that non-profits and small organic farms face, it was nice to see that there is, in fact, money to be made in producing quality food. With that said, Live Culture’s founder, Anya, made it clear that the company primarily deals with producers operating at a premium price point because, in her mind, given the current sociopolitical climate surrounding food and agriculture, it simply isn’t feasible to come up with a holistic solution that melds social justice with environmental justice.  So for right now, Live Culture mostly helps with establishing regional distribution of sustainable prepared foods because, as Anya noted, the organic movement thus far tends to focus on farming without much of an intermediate between these raw products and consumers. Given that the majority of food organizations we’ve visited are very much agriculturally-based, I see her point. Also, Anya emphasized that Live Culture’s goal is not to turn their clients into huge national franchises, but rather to capture local markets, which is very much in tune with her Slow Food background.

Talking to Anya was very enlightening because, as someone with lots of experience in the field, she had a lot of interesting perspectives and a wealth of food knowledge. For example, when asked whether Live Culture works exclusively with organic producers, Anya said no, because in her mind organic tends to emphasize the “wrong” things (i.e. types of fertilizers versus animal confinement). Instead they like to encourage going biodynamic, which in addition to being internationally sanctioned, is a more holistic approach because it factors in sustainability.  Additionally, Anya pointed out the dichotomy between local and seasonality.  Citing a recent conversation she had with a melon distributor, a “local” product can potentially be one that was grown in Guatemala and shipped to California…as opposed to going from Guatemala to Florida and then to California.  (Wasteful, much?)  Essentially labeling is used very effectively to distract consumers from the truth, so generally it’s better to buy what’s in season, as it is more likely to have been grown locally.

Following our visit to the Live Culture office, Anya led us to a nearby farmer’s market – one of twenty that occur weekly in Oakland.  Sadly, I did not have my wallet, so I had to make due by sample-hopping.  (Not going to lie: I’ve probably consumed at least $20 worth of almond samples).  We briefly spoke with the manager of the market, who admitted that some of the growers are not quite as local as they’d like (some, I think, come from as far away as Fresno).  Apart from the obvious environmental cost, it’s also a drag for the grower as they must sell more produce to break even (or profit, as I hope is the case).  As we wandered amongst the vendors, I was pleased to note that not only was it pretty crowded with shoppers, but also that there was quite a bit of diversity.  Most farmer’s markets that I’ve been to seem to cater to a more elite crowd, but this particular one attracted people of all races and socioeconomic status.  Good food can be accessible after all!

The best thing to do, according to Anya, is to: “spend more time and less money.”  Go to farmer’s markets.  Talk to people, and ask them about their products and their practices.  The bottom line?  Know your food.

Today we made our way over to Berkeley to visit the Center for Ecoliteracy and the Edible Schoolyard, one of its pet projects. The former is located in the beautifully sustainable David Brower building, a mecca for environmentalists. (Our two trip leaders, both seniors, joked that before we left they would go door-to-door handing out resumes). Though the group’s focus, as the name suggests, is on ecology, food is one of their biggest concerns. One issue they’ve been very active with is promoting better food and nutrition in schools. After hearing a lot about how farmers want to effect change, it was interesting to get the perspective from the policy side. One disheartening tale we heard from the Center was that in order to cut costs, many schools have ceased to certify their kitchens to cook food – instead they just dispense prepared, processed foods from a central kitchen that is then heated up and served at individual schools. A cost-effective method, yes, but not very beneficial to students’ health. The really sad part is that there are many growers who would love to have their produce go to their local schools, but can’t because they aren’t certified to prepare it. Another vicious cycle, it seems.

We managed to end the day on a more positive note by visiting the Edible Schoolyard at nearby Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. Started some 15 years ago by the famous Alice Waters, it’s one of the most successful garden education projects in the nation. Not only is there a one acre plot for students to work on, but there’s also a well-furnished kitchen so that culinary skills are also integrated into the curriculum. After touring both areas we got to work preparing some beds, where we were joined by a couple of eighth grade boys who I was extremely impressed by not just because of their maturity and how cool they were (let’s face it I was super nerdy and awkward at that age), but they genuinely valued having the garden.

And I can’t end the post without a shoutout to the plethora of good eats that Berkeley has to offer. Specifically Eci ice cream and the Cheeseboard. (We wanted to go to Chez Panisse but alas it was beyond our budget).

It’s time for dinner so I’ll leave you with some pictures…

After a brief lunch break we headed off to Salinas to visit Alba, a non-profit organic farm that helps newbie farmers get started by training them and leasing them land for seven years before letting them go off and start their own farms. What made this visit special was that Tony, our tour guide, gave us some pretty personal accounts about some of the Alba growers – that and the fact that we got to nibble on a flat of “defective” and yet delicious strawberries. I was particularly impressed that several of the farmers are actually teenagers who come work the fields after school. Talk about responsibility; there’s no way I could have balanced academics with being the breadwinner of the family – definitely not when I was in high school and probably not even now either. We got to talk to some of the growers (in Spanish because all the ones we met were Hispanic), and the pride they take in their work was obvious. (I’m convinced that the food tastes better when the people who produced it care about more than making bank). Also, as my school buys a significant amount of produce from Alba it was great to actually meet the people who grow it.

Once our Alba visit was over, it was back to Santa Cruz to crash at Cesar Chavez House, a local co-op. I don’t know how to begin to describe Chavez, except that it definitely epitomizes what a co-op is. Perhaps the best example I can give is the instruction sheet that was posted by all the major entrances/exits of the house: what to do if police are at the door. The mantra is, “I do not consent to a search of this house or its rooms,” just FYI. The people were very friendly, but I think everyone was glad we only had to stay there one night.

This morning we awoke early and headed off to Veggielution, an urban garden/farm project in San Jose. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard the phrase “urban garden,” but sure enough it was a sizable plot adjacent to some highway overpasses. The story behind Veggielution is that it began with a couple San Jose State students who wanted a place to garden. From four satellite backyard gardens, it eventually got centralized to its present location, several acres of unused land owned by the city. We got some work done weeding, harvesting, shifting compost and such, and got to talk to several of the staff members. It could just be that Veggielution is so new, but it seemed to us that the people we talked to seemed a bit frazzled and perhaps in-over-their-heads. The enthusiasm and the passion was evident, though, so I expect it to continue to grow in the future.

Our final destination of today was Pie Ranch in Pescadero, so named because of the land’s triangular shape, and because they grow a number of key pie ingredients. The ranch is owned by a couple, both graduates of CASFS’ internship program, whose vision was to establish an educational farm. Apparently they do this by working with a number of school groups. It was a bit unclear to me how exactly the farm functions, in terms of where the produce goes, but I appreciated how organized (and sustainable!) their farm practices were. In addition to crop rotation, they use cover crops and animals very effectively a la Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm. I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get to eat any pie (alas, their on-site produce/pie stand is only open on weekends), but we did get to harvest and clean eggs. My list of farming skills just keeps on growing…

I’ve really enjoyed my time visiting farms thus far, and I can honestly say my appreciation for both farming and farmers has increased exponentially. Nancy, co-owner of Pie Ranch, commented that many people get discouraged from farming because they go into it for the wrong reasons – namely for money’s sake. What it really comes down to, or what it ought to, is a passion for food. I think that’s what has made this trip so fulfilling so far – that I finally feel connected with what I eat. Hm. Maybe someday I’ll have my own farm…

Below, some pictures of Chavez and Pie Ranch.

We met yesterday morning at one of the co-ops on the row before departing for the local California Avenue farmer’s market. The goal: to purchase ingredients for dinner. I’d forgotten how much fun farmer’s markets are. My personal favorite part are the samples; it’s like Costco but better because the food isn’t sketchily over-processed. When I was younger I thought that farmer’s markets were somehow less “legit” than supermarkets because everything was sold in outdoor booths sans packaging and price tags. But now I see that supermarkets are what we ought to be wary of since they lack the transparency of farmer’s markets, where the people who sell the goods generally had a hand in ts production. And farmer’s markets are such happy places! It’s sunny and there always seems to be a plethora of cute children and dogs running around.

The downside is that farmer’s markets are ultimately a luxury . Buying locally and/or organically tends to be more expensive, a fact that was definitely reflected in the demographic of shoppers. Of course this could just be a characteristic of the locale; I’m very curious as to what we’ll see when we visit a market on the other side of town later in the week.

After the farmer’s market we visited our school’s community farm, which for me involved a lot of firsts. Firstly, the walk from the co-op to the farm took us through parts of campus that I’d never seen before. Secondly, I had never been to the garden itself. Thirdly, while at the farm we did some work weeding, planting, etc., which I had very little prior experience with. Contrary to the Seattle stereotype, I’m usually not a very outdoorsy person, but I found the farm work surprisingly enjoyable. Not to sound really cliche, but even in the few hours we spent there I felt connected to the land, which increased my appreciation for my food. As we worked we listened to Sarah, the school’s Farm Educator, who talked about sustainable agriculture. Having been involved in the movement for well over a decade, Sarah had a lot of interesting perspectives on food. For instance, she favors bioregionalism (emphasis on local and sustainable) over organic, a shift I’ve found myself increasingly tending towards. Organic, as Sarah said, is not necessarily sustainable, and in my opinion it’s largely been tainted by the economis interests of big business.

As of now, the farm is too small to supply the dining halls in a significant manner, but it does provide the goods for the school’s weekly produce stand as well as for smaller catering services. According to Sarah, the administration is currently in talks to expand the farm from it’s meager 2 acres to a spacious 10 acre plot. Goodness knows we definitely have the land to do it. The goal, of course, is to become more sustainable by producing more food on campus. But even so, we’ll always be limited in that students expect certain products that can’t feasibly be grown here, like bananas or processed breakfast cereal (I’m a Lucky Charms fan myself). There’s a fine line between sustainability and people’s expectations, I guess.

Oh well, one step at a time, right?

Here are some phone pictures from the farmer’s market. I took some using a camera, but those will have to wait until I go home this weekend.