What's Up Duck?

The very first challenge of the year for all of us Charcutepaloozers was to make duck prosciutto. Since there were a few of us that were a little slow on the uptake, we were still allowed to jump on board the charcutepalooza train as long as we did so before February 2nd (if I remember correctly).  Us late comers just had to make the duck prosciutto by the end of the year and post about it. Hence the reason why we are now into our fourth challenge and I'm posting about the first one.

Duck prosciutto is an easy peasy sort of a thing to make. A good place to get your "feet wet" as it were, with the whole charcutiere thing.  All it requires is duck, salt, white pepper, cheese cloth, and an acceptable place to hang it until it's ready. I acquired my duck from Schaffer's Meats in the West Shore Farmers Market. I bought two whole breasts, one of which I made for dinner for my family since they had never had duck. The other one I turned into prosciutto...

To say I was excited does not really do justice to how I felt. I have always loved duck, I have always loved prosciutto. Both bring back fond memories from my childhood. So obviously if you put the two together it should equal heaven. I sliced off a sliver as soon as it was done and popped it into my mouth....BLECH!!!! Not because I hadn't made it properly, because I had. It was more like I had stuck a ducks butt in my mouth. I ran to the trash and spit it out, then I lunged for my glass of wine and tried to erase the taste of it from my mouth. Here's what I think happened, when you salt cure something you are leaching out the moisture in it. By doing this two things are happening: 1) you are preserving the meat, 2) you are significantly concentrating the flavor. Apparently while I am a fan of the flavor of duck, I am not a fan of the flavor of DUCK. I know I just made the moderators of charcutepalooza cringe a bit, but stick with me here. It is OK for me not to like everything I make. Failure in the kitchen is what allows you to be successful in the kitchen. Now, you need to understand something about me. I am a believer of the theory that anything  can taste good if it is prepared properly. So while I might not be a fan of duck proscuitto by itself, that doesn't mean I won't like it if it's combined with other sorts of deliciousness. So off I went on a food adventure.

I have a soft spot for comfort foods. I especially love grilled cheese sandwiches. And in these late winter/ early spring doldrums I find myself in that area of thinking a lot as I'm planning our meals. I combined a few of my favorite things and came up with: 

Open-Faced Duck Prosciutto Sandwiches with Roasted Grapes

(serves one, but can be multiplied to suit your needs)



Ingredients:

• 2 slices of Olive bread, toasted. (I used a recipe out of a cookbook I have but otherwise I would have made the one in this link)
• Goat cheese (I used the one with garlic and herbs in it)
• Duck prosciutto, thinly sliced. Enough to cover the top of the sandwich.
• Pickled peppadew peppers, sliced
• Balsamic glaze, I used Crema Di Aceto Balsamico Di Modena (this is optional as it is a specialty ingredient, but it really brings it together)
• Grapes
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place however many grapes you want to eat on a cookie sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil and put on salt and pepper to taste.
3. Meanwhile, in an oven-proof skillet over medium heat cook the prosciutto until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon. Leave about 1 tsp. of duck fat in the skillet.
4. Take the  toasted olive bread and spread goat cheese on it. Follow with the peppadew peppers and the duck prosciutto. Place in the oven proof skillet so the bottom soaks up and duck fat that has rendered from the prosciutto.
5. Place cookie sheet with the grapes along with the sandwiches in the oven-proof skillet into the pre-heated oven. Cook about ten minutes or until the grapes have split and blistered.
6. Drizzle the sandwich with the balsamic glaze and serve warm.

This mellowed out the duckiness of the prosciutto into something I now love. I have made it twice already and am planning on making it again next week too. It is rustic and upscale at the same time. And if you have never had roasted grapes, you must. My mom (thanks mom) gave me the recipe after Christmas and I had been holding out on trying it until I came up with something special to go with it. This was absolutely that "something special". Plus the whole thing takes about 20 minutes to make from start to finish. So you see it really is all in the preparation. You can turn an epic failure into an amazing success.

A Tale of Two Meats

The Charcutepalooza challenge for the month of March was brining. For this challenge we could choose either pork chops/a whole chicken or making corned beef. I personally didn't understand why I had to choose one or the other, so I chose both.

I am not unfamiliar to the process of brining. I have used it before on turkey and pork tenderloin with fantastic results. If I can remember and have the time I always throw together a brine to let my meat soak in it for awhile. Brining is a method that cooks use to make meat moister and more tender prior to cooking by using a combination of water, salt, sugar, and whatever herbs and spices you care to add. After allowing the meat to sit in the brine it is removed and cooked as normal. The difference between a meat that has been brined vs. a meat that hasn't is all in the texture and the ease of cutting into it. Meat that has been brined is more supple than other meat. It's a very simple way to improve the meat that you prepare, to turn that dry flaky pork chop into something your family will request. So let's get to the brining.

Chapter One: Rubbing it in Charlotte's Face

When I went to pick up the five pounds of center cut brisket for the corned beef I looked through the case to find their pork chops. The only ones I saw were thin cut - not what I wanted. I asked if they had any thick cut chops. The guy behind the counter said "Sure, hold on a second". He disappeared into the refrigerated room and reappeared carrying an entire loin in his arms. He flicked on the saw and asked me how thick I wanted them. I love that farmers market. So out I skipped with my son in his sling, my daughter holding my hand, five pounds of brisket, and three 1 1/2 inch thick cut pork chops in a bag swinging on my arm.

Pork is versatile. I usually serve it with some sort of a creamy mustard sauce or with some sort of fruit sauce. Either way is good. This time I wanted to do something different. I had this idea for a sort of  Italian pork chop. I'm probably still dreaming of that baked gnocchi with pancetta that I made the other week, but in any case this is what I came up with and I hope you like it.

Pork Chops with a Pesto Cream Sauce

(Serves three but can easily be increased)

Ingredients:

• 3 bone in thick cut pork chops (1 1/2 inches thick, if you please)
• the brine (We'll get to this in a minute)
• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup olive oil (this is the time to break out the good stuff if you have it)
• 3 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated. Or a little more if you feel so inclined.
• 1/2 cup of light cream

Directions:

1. The night before you plan to have this meal, prepare the brine. The brine I always used was just salt and water. I would use a ratio of 1 1/2 Tbs. salt per 2 cups of water. Make sure you use enough water to submerge the meat, and let it sit over night. In Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn it is basically the same ratio of salt to water, as well as some sugar, fresh sage leaves, juniper berries, garlic, and black pepper. In their book you only brine the chops for six hours instead of overnight. I prepared the brine the night before, and then let it cool in the fridge until the next morning. Then, I put the chops in the cooled brine and let them hang out together in the refrigerator for the next six hours. An hour before dinner, I pulled out the chops, rinsed them, patted them dry and then let them sit uncovered in the refrigerator until I was ready for them.
2. To make the pesto, combine the basil and the garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse them until they are very finely chopped. Add the salt and the pine nuts and pulse until they are combined. While the motor is running s-l-o-w-l-y pour in the olive oil until is emulsifies in the processor and the pesto turns a light green. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the butter until well combined. Set the pesto aside. Cook's note: This will make more pesto than you need. I know, such a shame. But the good thing about pesto is you can freeze it and pull it out on another night for a quick meal that will remind you of summer. I actually make my pesto in early fall and freeze it in individual containers so I can enjoy it in the dead of winter. So for this particular meal all I had to do was defrost one of my little servings.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat an oven proof skillet that has been just ever so slightly coated with canola oil over medium high heat. Sear the pork chops on each side (3-4ish minutes per side). Once they have been seared transfer the skillet to the oven until an internal temperature of 130-140 degrees has been reached. When they're done pull them out , transfer them to a plate and let them rest for five minutes.
4. Meanwhile heat 1/3 cup of the pesto you made with the light cream until combined and heated through. You may decide you want more or less cream depending on how strong of a pesto flavor you want.
5. Pour the pesto cream sauce over the pork chops and serve with a grain and a vegetable for a complete meal.

For my grain, I came up with a pancetta pine nut stuffing and served some broiled asparagus as the vegetable. What can I say? I'm a stuffing kind of a girl. Here is the recipe for the stuffing:

Pancetta Pine Nut Stuffing

Adapted from Epicurious
(serves six)

Ingedients:

•  3/4 lb. loaf of sourdough bread, cut into small cubes (about 9 cups)
• 1/2 lb. pancetta chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 3 ribs of celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh sage leaves, chopped (or 1 tsp. of dried sage)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1 cup raisins or currants
• 2 1/2 cups turkey broth, or chicken stock
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Scatter bread in a single layer on a large baking sheet and toast, stirring once or twice, until golden and dry, about 15 minutes. Transfer bread cubes to a large bowl.
3. Cook pancetta in a 12 inch skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, 12ish minutes. Add butter and heat until melted, then add the celery and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 12 minutes. Stir in sage, salt, and pepper and cook one minute. Add pancetta mixture along with pine nuts and raisins to the bowl containing the bread. Whisk together the stock and the eggs, then stir into bread mixture until well combined. Transfer to a greased baking dish.
4. Bake, loosely covered with a buttered sheet of foil (buttered side down) 30 minutes at 400 degrees, then remove foil and bake until the top is browned, 10-15 minutes more.

Chapter Two: A Day in the Life of Corned Beef

Corned beef is very easy to make. All it requires is the brining liquid, the pickling spice mixture, a very large pot, and some time. I followed the directions laid out in Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.  This included their recipe for pickling spice, which had black peppercorns, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, red pepper flakes, allspice berries, mace, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, cloves, and ginger. It looked a little like this:

It smelled a little like mmmm. After five days of letting my center cut brisket sit in the brine/pickling liquid, I put it in another pot with more pickling spice and water, and simmered it for three hours until it literally broke apart with a fork. Yum.

I decided to try the corned beef three different ways to see which one we liked the best. We liked them all, so I have no choice but to share them all with you. We had each of these for dinner but they could easily be made for breakfast, lunch, and then dinner depending on your mood.

Breakfast:
For the breakfast meal I made a corned beef hash . The recipe comes from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine but can also be found on her website. I had made this meal once before, and everyone liked it, so I wanted to try it again with my own corned beef.

Corned Beef Hash

(Serves four)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 baking potatoes (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 1 onion, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
• 2 Tbs. prepared horseradish
• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
• 8 oz. thinly sliced corned beef, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch wide strips
• 1/4 cup of heavy cream (I used light cream)
• 4 eggs

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large (12 inch) non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; cook, turning often, until golden, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Add onion; season with 1 1/2 tsp. salt ( I find she usually uses too much salt so I always cut the amount in half and check it for seasoning before I serve) and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Cook, stirring often, until potatoes and onions are browned, 5 minutes.
3. Add bell pepper, horseradish, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until peppers are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in corned beef and cream until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to low. Break 4 eggs, one at a time, on top of hash in skillet; cover, and cook just until whites are set, about 10 minutes. Use a spatula to divide among plates.

As I said before, I made all of these three dishes for dinner. But all you need to do is cut out the salad, and you have a fantastic breakfast. This is one of those recipes that is good without me messing with it, so I left it "as is".  In the original recipe the egg part is optional. In my eyes it is not an option. When the yolk floods into the hash it is a truly wondrous thing, and I wouldn't make this meal any other way.

Lunch:
For lunch how about a nice Reuben sandwich on homemade rye with some homemade thousand island dressing, some sauerkraut from the local farmers market, and some homemade potato chips on the side?

Reuben Sandwiches

(Makes four sandwiches)

Ingredients:

• 8 slices rye bread (I made mine in two loaf pans but you do what you feel is right)
• butter, softened
• sauerkraut
• Swiss cheese
• thousand island dressing (I did not use the egg in the dressing. Instead I put it on top of the salad. I also omitted the red pepper because I wanted the dressing to last for a bit in the refrigerator so I was cutting out anything that might cause it to spoil. Oh, and I cut the recipe in half, too)
• corned beef, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Butter the outside of your rye bread. Spread the thousand island dressing on the inside with the Swiss cheese. Next, layer the corned beef, followed by the sauerkraut.
2. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium and pan fry the sandwiches as you would a grilled cheese sandwich.
3. Serve immediately with warm potato chips and a side salad for a complete meal.

I realized when I went to make this meal that I was out of canola oil. So frying the potato chips was out. I turned to the internet in a last ditch effort to find some sort of baked potato chip recipe. While I did find one and made it I do not recommend it. They were...OK. If I am going to go to the trouble of making potato chips at home I will stick to the tried and true potato chips by Alton Brown. We have found that using Yukon gold potatoes gives the best results. Truly though, if you have never tried making potato chips, you should. Fresh, warm chips are so good!

You might have noticed that I did not include any amounts in the sandwich ingredients. Sandwiches are versatile; maybe you like a lot of one thing, but not so much of another. Quantities should be left to the maker's discretion.


Dinner:
Hungry for dinner? One of my favorite things to do for a cold night dinner is take a simple protein and serve it alongside a huge platter of roasted vegetables. It's easy, makes the house smell incredible, and you only need to shop for what looks good at the grocery store. This is my kind of comfort food. So I will give you the list of what I bought, but really, you can just get whatever your little heart desires.

Corned Beef with Roasted Vegetables

(Serves four-five)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Corned beef, sliced
• 1 lb. fingerling potatoes, washed and dried
• 1 bunch yellow beets
• 1 large red onion
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut the greens off of the beets. Place the beets on a piece of foil and drizzle them with olive oil. Wrap the foil into a packet.
3. Toss remaining vegetables on a large baking sheet in 1-2 Tbs. of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Move the vegetables to one side of the baking sheet and place the packet of beets in the empty space.
4. Roast vegetables for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they are fork tender. Open the packet with the beets and use a paper towel to rub off the skins.
5. Place on a platter with the sliced corned beef and serve.

This was the first meal I made when the corned beef had finished its three hour simmer. Otherwise, you will need to reheat the meat. It was perfection. I would make any of these meals a hundred times over.

I'd say this month's competition was a meat-filled success. My family is very happy with me right now. They are begging for more bacon and gobbling up corned beef whenever my back is turned.  My daughter Naiya said that she couldn't imagine being vegetarian, and we are all anticipating what will be on the menu in April.

Pancetta, Bacon's Italian Cousin

This is too late to count as a blog entry for Charcutepalooza  however that doesn't make it any less delicious. I have to admit that after I tasted the bacon I was slightly disappointed in myself for cutting the pork belly in half so that I could make pancetta as well. That is no longer how I feel but let me show you how I went from this:

to this:

I have decided to prepare the meats as suggested in Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn and then either adapt or create a recipe to use them. For the pancetta the book suggested that I use garlic, the salts, dark brown sugar, black pepper, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg, and thyme. I rubbed them in and let the pancetta to be, cure in my refrigerator.

I had read in several blogs about how hard it was to roll the pancetta so that it was air tight. This can cause all kinds of little beasties to accumulate on your pancetta. Apparently some are OK and some mean you have to abandon your beloved pancetta in a trash can. There is a second option to rolling your pancetta in the traditional fashion which is simply to hang it flat. While I did consider this I knew that the closet competitor in me was going to end up rolling it.

With the help of my husband and a couple of attempts I achieved an airtight roll (but I kept my fingers crossed anyway).

I trussed the roll many many times as tightly as I possibly could. This is where it gets cool (no pun intended). My Aunt has a house with a traditional cold cellar in it. It's pitch dark, always humid, and maintains a constant cool temperature. So with her permission I headed over with my pancetta to be, and hung it from the rafters for the next two weeks.

It's a sketchy thing to just walk away from a raw piece of meat hanging in a dark room and plan on eating it after two weeks. But hey, it's gourmet right?? Right... Needless to say I went over and checked it every couple of days to make sure it wasn't turning into a cold cellar science project. After two weeks the pancetta had become firm and had not grown a fur coat so I brought it back home. After cutting the trusses off I planned some meals and cut into it.

The meat had gotten darker and firmer but my pancetta to be, was now PANCETTA

The roll was absolutely air tight the whole way through (YES!). This is the part where I pat my husband and myself on the back. It smelled so good. I decided the best way to showcase it was in some baked gnocchi.

Here is the story that made me decide to make baked gnocchi. My husband spent several months in France during his college years. While there he visited many of the European countries, including Italy. While in Italy one fine sunny day with a perfect blue sky he found himself walking down some nameless back ally. All of a sudden there was a smell. I picture him lifted off his feet like the Loony Toons Characters used to be. I know this dates me but you have to remember those scenes. The smell came in on a cloud and drifted up his nose, motioning for him to follow. It was so good that gravity lost it's hold on him and he floated down the ally after the smell. It brought him to the door of a small restaurant with a little Italian nonna carefully making pasta by hand. Mesmerized he watched her. She handed him a bowl of simple gnocchi with tomato sauce. He took a bite and closed his eyes, he was in food heaven. When he opened his eyes he was standing out in the alley with the bowl of hot, fresh gnocchi in his hands. He turned around and the shop had vanished. Sitting where the door had once been was a stray cat cleaning it's paws.

What? It could have happened like that!

There are some foods where the memory of it is so strong that no other remake of it will ever match up with what you have in your mind. For me it's a couple of cookie recipes that my mom made. When I think "chocolate chip cookie", there is only one that I'm thinking of. This gnocchi is my husbands chocolate chip cookie. However, I am also a fan of gnocchi, and his story (although he might tell it differently) makes me want gnocchi. That is why I decided on baked gnocchi.

Unfortunately I can't conjure up my inner nonna, because I don't have one. I am Polish, German, and English. So while I might be able to summon a babcia, oma, or nanny and whip you up some nice schnitzel or dumplings when it comes to the cuisine of Italy I am on my own. To be perfectly honest I've only made gnocchi once before. I have a lot of trouble with that fork roll to get those characteristic gnocchi markings. But there is nothing like fresh pasta. It puts the store bought crap to shame. Besides, practice makes perfect, right? So here is attempt # 2

I figure if I do it about a thousand more times I'll be able to do in my sleep. The problem with this particular recipe is I just sort of threw it together. I can my own tomato sauce in the summer so that's of little use to you now. If you want top notch tomato sauce in the dead of winter that's the way to go about it.

So here is my recipe as best as I can give it to you:

Baked Gnocchi with Pancetta

(serves six)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. fresh gnocchi
• 1 16 oz. jar tomato sauce
• 1/2 lb. pancetta (cubed)
• 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
• 6-8 oz. fresh mozzarella chopped
• Parmesan cheese (about as much as you like)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the gnocchi until it floats on the surface. Drain and place in a bowl.
3. In a saute pan over medium heat brown the pancetta until the fat has been rendered and the meat is slightly crispy. Once the pancetta has cooked remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add tomato sauce to the rendered fat and mix the two together until the sauce is heated through.
4. Take some of the sauce and toss it with the gnocchi until the gnocchi is coated thoroughly. Place the gnocchi in a baking dish.
5. Layer as follows: scatter the pancetta on top of the gnocchi. Then dollop the ricotta across the top. Next ladle on the sauce over everything. Finally layer on the mozzarella and then the parmesan.
6. Place in pre-heated oven and cook until cheese is melted and browning slightly and the sauce is bubbling along the sides. Allow to cool for 5ish minutes or as long as you can bear. Serve hot.

Fresh out of the oven

Being thoroughly enjoyed at the table

I have to say that it felt pretty incredible to have made the gnocchi, the pancetta, and the tomato sauce for this meal. Thankfully I was able to pry what wasn't served away from my family so that we can enjoy some leftovers. I'm no nonna but my husband was still happy. He said that dinner was the highlight of his day :) And in the end that's why I make meals like that.

         

Fowl Play

This past weekend we had some friends over for dinner. They are a wonderful family that attends our chapel. The whole family is great. They are quality people. The wife is one of these truly down to earth, genuine women whose presence is naturally uplifting. She came in gave me a hug and handed me a gift. Just because she came for dinner. Some people do that and it seems hoity toity, like it was the proper thing to do darling and so of course they did it, they would do that for anyone. But not her. It's a simple way of showing that she cares and is thankful to be able to spend some time in fellowship with you. It's from the heart. And she doesn't make you feel badly that you didn't get something for her. I put the gift down to open later as we were about to sit down for dinner and she said they had also brought us a dozen eggs. Now , you have to understand that I have wanted a chicken coop for about three years now. I have been doing research and paying attention. I've been bringing it up with my husband every now and then but not too much. So when I heard they had chickens I was totally into that conversation. I didn't even think to look at the eggs. After dinner the husband asked if I had seen them yet. Did I mention that I should have looked at the eggs? I opened the carton and...

I totally should have looked at the eggs. Are you kidding me?! I knew that some breeds layed different colored eggs. We've all heard Martha dear talk about her fabulous chickens, but I'd never seen them in person. I'd never held them in my hands. Beautiful. My husband knew what was coming next.

I do have legitimate reasons why we should have our own chicken coop, or at the very least know someone who does and might have extra eggs for sale. I guess the part that really upsets me personally is how the food industry has turned our food into a product instead of produce. Through this practice animals have lost their ability to be animals. We have lost a little humanity and a lot of nutrition that has been replaced with genetically modified animals, antibiotics, and growth hormones. Now a days if you are buying you eggs from a grocery store they aren't coming from Fred the Farmer they are coming from places like this:

Or this:

This is how they spend a couple of years. After which they are slaughtered because chickens stop producing eggs as much after the second year. They are fed hormones and antibiotics in their grain to make them grow faster and to keep them from the diseases that surround them. The chickens are stressed from being in such close confinement and with so many other birds, this causes aggressive behavior. To stop the chickens from hurting each other they get their beaks blunted.

There have been studies done that have shown a significant difference in the nutritional quality between eggs from one of these factories vs. eggs from chickens that are free range and cared for.

If you are buying commercial chickens for eating they may not be in restricted cages but their lives are no better. They sit in their own feces because they have been genetically modified to have bigger breasts and thighs and are given growth hormones that greatly increase the amount of meat on them to a point where their muscles can't support their own weight. Being exposed to the ammonia from their waste frequently causes burns to their legs and gives them respiratory issues as well. They are bred to be the fattest fastest growing birds so the manufacturers can turn a quick buck. It takes six weeks to raise them to be butchered where a regular chicken takes eight to twelve weeks.

It's sad, and it pisses me off that money is more important than integrity. I wonder if they eat the eggs and chickens they produce for the masses.

Understand that I'm not being judgmental of anyone that buys their eggs or chicken breasts at the grocery store. We all do the best we can for our families, and lets face it all that organic fru fru stuff is expensive! I have a food budget that I have to stick to to feed my family and I just can't afford to buy everything that has been organically produced under the sun, with love and good vibes and what not. So what do I do when I want to give the best to my family? How do I make the grocery list fit the food budget? It's hard, and a lot of people don't have the time or the space for it all. I always buy our milk, our eggs, and our meat organically. I just fit it in the budget. I've been told out of all of the things those are the most important. In our family we also have a garden which helps cut our food budget corners. This year it's going to be a bit bigger because we just bought our first house and now own a 1/4 acre that we can do with as we please. I got all our seeds this year from Baker Creek. They are all heirloom seeds. It saved us a lot of money. I can and freeze as much as I can fit on the shelves so that we have plenty to get us through the winter. As far as meat goes, we just don't eat it that much. I get our meat from farmers markets so that I know the source and that means two things; the first is that it's more expensive, the second is that means we can't afford to eat it as much. Granted this year we are eating more since I'm involved in this Charcutepalooza

I can't help but think how nice it would be to have them out there clucking away in the morning while laying their eggs. I think the children would also benefit from seeing where their food comes from. In the meantime I am enjoying the gorgeous eggs our friends brought us this past weekend. Lily loves picking out which color egg she wants for breakfast, "I want the blue one mommy".  I'm really not some crazy crusader but I like to be informed in my decisions ya know?