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Update on the move

April 3rd, 2009 · General

You haven’t heard much from me, and following are my excuses reasons.

Did I mention I was moving? Well I was, and I have…to an office that’s not in my house. It’s a big, perhaps crazy, move given the economy, but I feel good about it. Here’s a photo of moving out of the home office, and in my new office. Yea!

homeoffice At home (eek!)

newoffice Not messed up yet

Not only is it not in my house, which has been my primary work domain for (gasp) 20 years) but it’s also in a suite of offices with old friend Lynn Byczynski, of Growing for Market fame, who’s also moved from her home office. Double yea!

Meanwhile, I’ve had a book proposal I’m working on and am modestly hopeful of getting a contract, and I decided to upgrade the software on HomecookingRevival.com, which has been a headache. It involved making adjustments beyond my technical abilities—or beyond my patience, at any rate. It’s almost back up to speed, and should be a positive improvement in the end, but in the short run, well…headache and crabbiness.

So…that’s what I’ve been doing. I decided to post this separate from the next post I’m about to write which, I’m happy to report is about food!

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Now’s the time to learn food preservation

March 24th, 2009 · Food preparation, local food

umextension

Although you can learn about canning and other preserving methods when the bounty is flowing, it’s easier to learn it in the off-season. Happily, the University of Missouri Extension offices in the Kansas City area are offering a series of classes on:

  • Water-bath canning
  • Pressure canning
  • Freezing & dehydrating
  • Pickling

Not all classes are available at all locations, but if you think you’re interested, here’s the announcement (PDF). Thanks to the Kansas City Food Circle and its bulletin board for bring it to my attention. I couldn’t find the announcement on an MU site, so I have made it available here.

I might add that the KC Food Circle is having its 11th Eat Local Exhibition of Farmers on two dates:

  • 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, this Saturday (March 28) at the Shawnee Civic Center, 13817 Johnson Dr. in Shawnee, Kansas
  • 9:15 am to 2:00 pm, Saturday, April 4, at the Roger T. Sermon Community Center, Truman & Noland Rd., Independence, Missouri

Details on on the Food Circle site.

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Milk labeling bill passes; there’s still time

March 23rd, 2009 · Food in the news

Did you hear the one about the Kansas House approving a bill severely restricting dairies’ ability to tell consumers that they don’t use recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) on their cattle? No?

iwigbottleNo surprise. After the pro-drug lobby failed a year ago in the Kansas Senate, it apparently tried last fall with the state Agriculture Department. I’m not sure where that one stands, exactly, but the ag department’s proposed rule drew hundreds of letters and dozens of witnesses against it. (Read the Topeka Capital-Journal report.)

Never one to say die, the pro-drug crowd got a bill (HB 2295 - PDF) introduced in the House this spring, and evidently the timing was good. With people busy worrying about high-profile issues such as education funding, a House committee passed the bill on March 13, and the otherwise slow legislative process moved quickly. The House passed the bill on March 20, last Friday.

Meanwhile, nary a word of HB 2295 in the Topeka Capital-Journal, The Kansas City Star or the Wichita Eagle. The New York Times noted it, proof in some circles, no doubt, that this whole labeling issue is some elitist Eastern conspiracy.

The bill puts an undue burden on producers who don’t use rBGH, also known as recombinant bovine somatotropin hormone (rBSH) or Posilac (the Monsanto brand name) by requiring, in addition to disclaimer text on labels, ”an affidavit or any other documentation deemed necessary to support the claim that the milk is from cows not supplemented with rBSH” to be available to Ag Department inspectors.

truefoodnetwork

Two bits of good news, though:

  1. The bill isn’t yet law. Opponents can still try to stop it in the Senate or, if it passes there, the governor’s office.
  2. It doesn’t apply to organic milk, which by definition wouldn’t allow use of the hormone.

You can read the Legislative Research Department’s explanation of the bill. You can sign up for the Center for Food Safety‘s True Food Now action alerts. You can contact your state Senator. Again.

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Yes, it’s time to speak up—again—on rBGH

March 18th, 2009 · General

Looks like our Kansas lawmakers again are wasting taxpayers’ time and money but seeking legislation to shelter dairies that use recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to boost milk production.

We’ve been here before. Enough already. Tell your lawmakers. The Center for Food Safety makes it easy.

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Bierochs provide change of pace, taste of tradition

March 16th, 2009 · recipes

bhalf

What do you do with ground beef when you don’t want hamburgers, meatballs, meatloaf or tacos? I suppose you could make shepherd’s pie or some such. I instead made bierochs (also spelled bierocks).

This traditional food—a bun stuffed with a beef-onion-cabbage mixture—is familiar in rural Kansas, especially those settled by Volga Germans, according to some sources. It also seemed like a nice change of pace on a chilly afternoon.

I essentially followed Bob Dole‘s recipe. Yea, that Bob Dole. He contributed his recipe to the book I wrote for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius‘s second inauguration. (It’s available at the Kansas State Historical Society if you are interested.) Like many traditional recipes, it was a little sketchy, but my bierochs turned out great.

Maybe you’d like to try.

Bierochs

  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • Butter
  • 1 pound hamburger
  • 1 medium cabbage, shredded
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 recipe yeast dough
  1. Brown onion in butter in skillet; add hamburger and brown. Steam cabbage in separate pan in butter just until done. Add cabbage to hamburger mixture. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Roll dough out 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 6-inch squares. Place 3 tablespoons hamburger mixture into each square. Pull 4 corners together; pinch edges firmly. Place in greased pan, pinched edges down
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Serve hot. Bierochs may be wrapped in foil and frozen. Makes 6 servings.

bwrapped One roll

bsheet A sheet of rolls

A few notes

I browned the hamburger by itself and drained it. Then I stir-fried the onion in a tablespoon or so of butter in a skillet, added the cabbage, covered the pan, reduced heat to low and steamed until tender. I added the ground beef and about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper to the cabbage mixture.

My bierochs weren’t exactly of uniform size, and I put more like 1/4 cup filling into each roll—and still had about 1 1/2 cups (or more) of filling left over. Guess I didn’t use the right recipe yeast dough! I got nine rolls out of the recipe.

If you make bierochs, tell me how you assemble them and how big a bread-dough recipe you use, maybe in terms of cups of flour in the dough.

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Roundup: Kansas culinary and other wonders

March 14th, 2009 · Roundup

cuisinesm

Kansas culinary wonders. Know any? If so, nominate them for inveterate Kansas promoter Marci Penner’s Eight Wonders of Kansas Cuisine competition. I’ll bet the eventual winners will include the Hays House (Council Grove), Brookville Hotel (Abilene) and Anchor Inn (Hutchinson; no website that I could find, but Keith Stokes’ site will work). What do you think? Maybe Rosedale Barbecue (KCK; Stokes again)? The Cozy Inn (Salina)? Surely is a lot of heavy eating at all those locations. (Salina Journal)

Milling Wild Oats. The recent settlement agreement with the FTC and Whole Foods may result in the sale of the former Wild Oats location at 43rd and Main streets in Kansas City, Mo. Can’t recall its name before it was Wild Oats, but it’s been selling “natural” and organic foods there for decades. (KC Business Journal)

Springfield style. I wasn’t aware of the Chinese/Springfield, Mo., style of cooking until now. (New York Times)

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