While I haven't been here much these days, you can find me in several other places on the web:
... on KQED talking about rising food costs, and what Michael Pollan and Alice Waters said that bothered me.
... on Serious Eats as the San Francisco writer for their national farmers market series (I will be posting about once a month).
... on Twitter mostly twittering about what I'm eating and cooking.
... on Flickr working hard on my 365 day project (about 100 days to go!)
With the chaos of the holidays, I didn't get a chance to tell you that I posted my Top 10 Tastes of 2007 on Bay Area Bites. It was a year of delicious tastes, and I hope to have equally wonderful bites this year.
And today, I wrote about Marin Roots Farm, a new booth at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' market.
Oh, and if you haven't had a chance to read the Eat Local Challenge piece called "Shut up and Eat?" it's worth checking out.
Happy Tuesday, all!
The Eat Local Challenge blog has been nominated in two categories for the 2007 Food Blog Awards:
You can vote in these categories and many others at the Well Fed Network. Voting is open through Friday, December 14th, 11:59 pm EST.
While I founded the Eat Local Challenge blog, I always feel a bit strange getting the credit for the site. It's grown into something that's so much bigger than me. The authors at the site have gone a long way to help the general public realize that this is a nationwide movement that can be practiced in a moderate, manageable way. So that's why I was extra proud to see our little site listed among the best this morning. Thanks for voting!
Reason #19,739 that I love this series of tubes? I posted this photo on Flickr a few days ago and was really curious about what the right-hand side of the billboard said. A lot of signs in this style can be found around Vietnam, and they usually have words of encouragement on how to be a good citizen or something else encouraging and pro-Communist party.
So I knew that it was a Vietnamese government-related sign, but since it had to do with food I was very intrigued. I sent it to bad-ass blogger, Graham at Noodlepie, he asked his readers and I had my answer really quickly.
The letters VACR on the billboard refer to Vietnam's program to rebuild agriculture. The acronym stands for fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, livestock and rice.
If you enlarge the photo, you'll see that the section on the right shows durian, jackfruit, roosters, corn, fish and some other fruits. One commenter's translation of the sign is as follows:
phat trien = improve
giong lua = rice plant
can an trai = tree bearing fruit
va = and
vat nuoi = raised animal (?)
chat luong cao = good quality
I wrote a post on Tuesday at KQED's Bay Area Bites detailing my first impressions of SPQR. I don't often do formal restaurant reviews, so this one is called "SPQR: A preliminary report." In the words that I used on my flickr page, "Go. Go Now." I have a long history with A16, so the fact that I had to try SPQR within days of its opening probably isn't a surprise.
Speaking of Flickr, I've been slowly going through the Vietnam trip photos and posting a couple a day. The photo above is one that I posted this week. Nine months after the trip, I am finally feeling like I can start to digest parts of it and talk about it. It took that long to not be completely overwhelmed by that amazing trip. So I've been writing a small amount about my impressions with the photos. You can see it all in the Vietnam Collection of my Flickr. You can subscribe to a feed of my Flickr photos using this link.
Also, if you read this site through an RSS reader, you may not notice the site's new look. I am happy to have new digs. Thanks for everyone who weighed in months ago about the new look. I chose a design that will allow me to swap photos in and out of the banner fairly easily.
I'm thinking it's time to retire the beets theme of this site. If you want to have a say in my next blog theme, check out my sample banner possibilities and comment on flickr. The banner look & feel may change a bit as I set in the type, but I'd be interested to hear what theme you like best.
And remember, I'm not as creative about changing my banner as Cookie or Dooce. I've had this look for about 1.5 years, I believe, so whatever you choose is most likely going to stick for a while.
Look what happens if you google "grandma". A picture of my grandma Lupe, from an old post, comes up. You should have heard my aunt trying to explain this to grandma a couple weeks ago. She had to start by defining the Internet, then by defining Google, and on and on.
Culinate is having a fun contest where a blogger will be sent to Napa for a grilling class at COPIA. And I was nominated. Would you go vote for me? The exciting thing about the contest is that by voting, you are also entered to win the contest - they are sending one blogger and one reader to Napa.
Thanks!
I was tagged for the "5 Things" meme by Mary from Jalapeno Girl. Though I am known among my friends as being the blogger who doesn't participate in memes, the stars aligned, and I decided to actually participate for once.
#1. In second grade, I was asked to stay in from recess because I'd eaten spaghetti for breakfast.
The first thing you should know is that I was a geek of a kid -- never was in trouble at school, and was pretty much a bookworm for my whole childhood. I was in second grade in Mrs. Hopkins class at Lake Arrowhead Elementary. She was teaching a nutrition segment about the importance of a good breakfast. Mom always fed us breakfast, but it was usually leftovers. She didn't buy into the sugary cereal hype, and I never liked pancakes or anything like that. So I'd eaten spaghetti with red sauce. Mrs. Hopkins asked us all to say what we'd eaten for breakfast that morning before we were dismissed for recess.
Girl 1: "Waffles."
Mrs. H: "Great! You're dismissed."
Girl 2: "Cereal."
Mrs. H: "Good, Girl 2, you can go to recess."
Me: "Spaghetti."
Mrs. H: "Please stay in from recess, Jennifer."
I was humiliated as she lectured me about the importance of a good breakfast, and the fact that spaghetti was NOT a good breakfast. My mother promptly went down to the school the next day and informed the teacher that spaghetti was, in fact, a good breakfast. I was never held in from recess again, and continue to eat unorthodox breakfasts.
#2. I can't stand entrees that are sweet.
Though I have mellowed about this rule a teeny bit in the past few years, I generally hate when my entrees taste sweet or syrupy. Desserts I love. But there is nothing more irritating than biting into an entree you expect to be savory and getting a mouth full of sugar. My gradual acceptance of this lately has come from the realization that, when it is well executed, there is sometimes a reason for a bit of sugar in a dish. But sugar content in entrees is so often poorly executed that I basically have made a hard and fast rule. Teriyaki sauces? Sweet and sour? Sweet dressings? Sugary squashes or other root vegetables? Keep me away!
#3. I have convinced a legion of my friends' children that my name is "Cool Jen."
It started twelve years ago when my friend Joanne's son was an infant. I decided to do an experiment with him and would hold him on my lap and point to him and say "Jack," then point to myself and say "Cool Jen." Over and over. It worked. Even though they are both old enough to realize the truth, Jack and his brother call me Cool Jen to this day, along with many other children who I have since manipulated.
#4. My clumsiness has been well documented, but here's something that sent me to the injury clinic last year that you don't know about:
I was getting dressed in my bedroom, my legs got tangled in my jeans, and I fell with my head against my dresser drawer! I had to go in for a gigantic bump on my head and possible concussion. I also broke my arm in eighth grade by running out of the locker room and around a corner, right into the hard stomach of one of the toughest girls in school. I knocked the wind out of her, fractured my arm, and was harassed by her and her friends for the rest of the year.
#5. I am a HUGE Bruce Springsteen fan.
Listening to Tunnel of Love as we speak. I happen to be the only person my age I know who likes Bruce Springsteen as much. In fact, when I scored tickets to a concert years ago, the only person I could find to go with me was my friend's 40-year old husband. I had a blast at the concert -- me and the baby boomers.
If you're interested in being tagged for this, email me. Otherwise I am not going to tag anyone.
I am pretty fastidious about my Bloglines feeds. Much more so than my little blog roll over there on the left. I am constantly deleting blogs, adding blogs, and reorganizing the links. Once I made my feeds private, I felt free to delete some blogs that I am expected, as a good food blogger, to read but don't really love.
Here are some blogs that I have added lately. Some of them are old and wildly popular, and some of them are brand new or a little more under the radar.
Monster Munching. A Southern California restaurant review site with an emphasis on Orange County Asian foods.
Noodle Pie. A blog about food on the streets of Saigon, Vietnam.
Lucullian Delights.
This was my find of this year's Food Blog Awards ... I know that I'm the last person on earth to "discover" this blog, but I'm glad that I have.
Food on the Food. This blog has made me laugh out loud more in the past few weeks than any other. Special thanks to Cookiecrumb for bringing this blog to my attention.
Organic Schmorganic. An upstate New York farmer writes about food issues.
Food Vagabond. I found this lovely blog when the author left a comment here, and I'm glad I did!
Sticky Rice. Hanoi food news, restaurant reviews and street food docudrama.
Eating Asia. Reading this blog over the past few months has helped make my photography better
Local Forage. A blog with a focus on nutrient-dense traditional foods.
So what are your new finds? Isn't it time to spread a little link love?
There's one day left to bid on the amazing Menu for Hope III event, which has already raised over $40,000 for the U.N. World Food Programme.
Sam has done and outstanding job keeping all of the West Coast prizes together, but today she went above and beyond the call of duty. See today's post to find out the odds of winning each prize - something that a numbers geek like me really loves to see. Of course, the odds will change throughout the day, but it helps to see what prizes need more bids.
(What did I bid on? UW50, UW43, and my long shot: UW48)
You have until tomorrow at 6 pm PST to put in your bids if you haven't done it yet!
Only a brief moment today, so I will leave you with links to some things that I am enjoying reading on the net.
Carol Ness was at Terra Madre and has been covering it with some great articles. Her article today discusses our Bay Area chefs that were in attendance, and their experiences. It's worth a read.
More links about Terra Madre:
You may notice a new banner over on the right announcing the 100-Mile Diet Thanksgiving. I'm personally participating to some extent, and the Eat Local Challenge site is a coalition partner in this challenge.
Finally, I'd like to leave you with a couple non-food related links. They deserve special recognition because they really brightened my week.
I have had a blogger-crush on the sparkling Andrea from Superhero Designs and Superhero Journal ever since I saw her speak at BlogHer in June. She's a talented writer, a compelling photographer, and I am wearing one of her lovely jewelry creations as I type. Her post this week entitled "Connections" really struck a chord with me (and obviously with the 72 people who commented as well), and you'll enjoy reading it.
Sfist has brought a cartoonist into the group, and given today's comic, I can't wait to see more. Check it - it'll probably make you smile.
I posted about the Mountain View Farmer's Market today on Bay Area Bites. I am really enjoying this farmers' market series as it gets me out of my normal farmers' market cycle, and I have been able to find some fun and exciting new markets.
In other news, I received an email today announcing that Percy Schmeiser is going to be in the Bay Area in a couple weeks. If you saw The Future of Food, you may remember Schmeiser as the farmer from Canada who was sued by Monsanto.
All programs begin at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6 p.m. Cost is a $10 donation (except for UC Berkeley, which is free), and no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
For more information, check out the CCOF website.
And ... why don't I leave you with a photo today? A couple of weeks ago, I went to Pt. Reyes with some good friends and this picture (along with the Halloween spiders) is from that trip. It was a bittersweet trip for me for a ton of reasons, but it was a beautiful weekend and I got some ok pictures.
I'm off to LA for a few days (quite a few, actually) so you can look forward to a few posts from there. See you tomorrow!
"You aren't updating your blog enough" a friend told me via IM last week.
I know, I know. I have millions of excuses and most of them are actually quite legitimate. But I'd love to get back in the habit of posting more often.
So as a way to give myself a blogging kick-in-the-pants, I am going to participate in National Blog Posting Month. The amazing Mrs. Kennedy from fussy.org is challenging bloggers to post every single day during the month of November. And there's prizes for doing so!
If you are a blogger, will you consider joining me? Looking at the list I don't see much representation from food bloggers yet. And if you are a blog reader, can you commit to checking out participating blogs and commenting as you can?
Thanks, and I am looking forward to November!
I want to start this post by talking for a moment about the Eat Local Challenge. You will be getting more information in the next few days, but just a reminder that it's in May. As in 12 days from now. We have had a ton of interest, both here and on the Locavores site, and I am very excited to be trying this out in the springtime. To brush up on the Eat Local Challenge, see the announcement post from last August. The challenge will basically be the same this year. You set your rules, and do what you can during the month to consume as many locally-grown products as possible. For a great summary of the challenge, please see Jamie's post on 10 Signs Like This.
May in San Francisco is usually the time of spring peas, strawberries, fava beans, and cherries. Due to this years incredible rains, however, none of us are too sure what we are going to be eating in May. I am still getting Red Russian kale and butternut squash from my CSA, so it's anyone's guess. I wrote a post today for Bay Area Bites that I'd ask you to read if you care about farmers and what this season is doing to their crops. Short end of the story: It doesn't look great, and no one is sure how bad things are yet. We should all do what we can to support our local farmers during this time.
Switching gears a little, you may have visited the site of Patrick and Holly called Letter from Hen Waller. I have it linked on my blogroll there on the left. I first started reading their blog a while back when they were living in Berkeley. They are dedicated to reducing their ecological footprint, and do this by growing their own food, biking as many places as possible, and raising chickens for eggs and meat. Add to this the fact that they are both compelling writers, and you can understand why they have one of my favorite sites out there.
Patrick and Holly moved to Portland in the past six months, and I've been enjoying reading about their new adventures there. Holly wrote a great post this weekend describing their trials and tribulations with trying to get a permit to raise chickens (in Portland you can have three without a permit, but more than that and you have to apply for a permit and notify your neighbors). They were met with some stiff opposition from their neighbors and really had to consider whether this was worth the fight. They decided to do anything they could:
We choose to raise chickens in the city as a part of our convictions. We raise them to deepen our connection with the natural world, by practicing animal husbandry. We raise them to enjoy nutritious wonderful eggs from chickens raised in a good, healthy environment, in the sun, hormone- and antibiotic-free. We raise chickens to help maintain breeds of birds that are not raised in factories, so that when, inevitably, disease devastates the factory breeds, some hardier breeds will survive, to provide stock for meat and eggs for all people. We raise chickens to create a more integrated environment on the land we occupy, using animal fertilizer, not petroleum-based inputs, to grow food that we eat, and the plants that make a space beautiful and healthy to live in.
We believe that we can no longer afford to live in a strictly ornamental world, and cannot continue to be an increasingly flaccid and parasitical people. We live in a world of increasing social and economic crises that promise only to become worse with the accumulating impacts of global warming and peak oil. Patrick and I have chosen to live in a way that reduces our ecological footprint, wherein we seek to live as locally as we can. We support local food producers. We live our lives within a radius that we can cover by bicycle. And through raising chickens and gardening the small amount of food we do, we seek to learn and develop once-common skills, and to reconnect with the plants and animals that nourish us.
To read the rest of the very interesting and inspiring and also quite sad story, visit Letter from Hen Waller.
If you have read this blog for any period of time, you know that I write relatively few recipes for being a food blogger. The last time I posted an actual, honest-to-goodness recipe here on Life Begins at 30 was ... uh ... November 2004, and that wasn't even my recipe!
I don't want to break my record now, which is why I've posted my latest recipe on Bay Area Bites instead of here. I hope it's an entertaining post, even if you aren't into Indian Spiced Peanuts, as it talks about my cumin-hating family and why cumin-containing foods are crossed out in some of my cookbooks.
This post is also to serve as a reminder to those of you who asked for one (Jane) that tomorrow is the next in the Berkeley Food Politics Lecture Series: GMOs Among Us: The Biopolitics of Genetically Engineered Foods. I won't be able to make this one, but am going to try my best to attend the rest of the lectures. I went last week, and it was very interesting. The format is an hour-long lecture, and then about 10-15 minutes of Q/A. Berkeley students then get to stay for longer Q/A session with the speaker after that. Arrive early to find parking and get a seat. Let me know if you have any questions, and if anyone attends tomorrow I'd love to hear about it!
I have been at the Eco-Farm conference this week! It has really been amazing to hear the stories of farmers who are making big changes in this world. The general vibe and enthusiasm for farming that I have seen is completely invigorating and fun to be around. I'll have lots more to talk about in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, check out this article. I saw Anna Marie Carter speak yesterday, and she blew me away. She is doing astounding things in Watts, California and we need to know her story.
This is my mom, Olivia. Those of you who read comments on the blogs of my friends Shuna, Sam and Cookiecrumb may know her as "Jen's mom."
I think it all started when I was visiting mom a few months back. It was early in the morning and she was still in her pajamas. I went in to say hi to her and she excitedly told me, "I left a comment on 'I'm Mad and I Eat' and she wrote back!". I had a knot in my stomach as I realized my worlds were colliding, and I looked over her shoulder to read a rather benign comment about the royals coming to the Pt. Reyes farmers' market.
There were several things about this that cracked me up -- I knew that mom looked at blogs every once in a while, but I didn't know how regularly she was reading some blogs. Also her handle - "jen's mom" - as if I am the only "jen" on the planet. I often comment on blogs as "jen," but I only feel I can do that because I include a link to my blog which makes it obvious which of the many (many many) jen's I am.
The next time I saw one of mom's comments on a blog was in the litany of get well wishes that Fred received on Sam's blog when he wasn't well.
Fred! Mystery solved! I just took a peek at what you've been eating! "BRAT diet for you," says an American mom, "Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast"....just kidding. I'm jealous. Be better. Sam, caregivers give better care when fortified with French wine.
Happy ending to you both.
I was innocently reading through the comments and realized that the advice for a BRAT diet sounded familiar. By the time I read the advice to Sam to drink wine I didn't even have to read the handle to know that my mom had struck again.
Around this time, I noticed a real shift with mom. She would insert bloggers' names into regular conversations with me. Whenever we were talking about blogs, she would have a little piece of paper and take notes on new blogs I was telling her about. "Did you see what happened to the Food Whore and that Bridezilla," she would ask in the same breath as "have you called your grandparents?"
"How do you find these blogs?" I asked her one day. "From Food Porn Watch, of course." She admitted that she is hooked on many of them and astonished that so many blogs feature such compelling writing.
The coolest was when I received a note from her the other day. She included a quote -- not from Walt Whitman or from Shakespeare or the Bible ... but from Shuna:
We preserve people by making the dishes they taught us. Dishes they loved, were proud of, gave us permission to start making when their hands stopped working. Sharing food with others is about tradition. About a desire to reach in and pull close. About re-remembering. Closing our eyes and taking us there.
I am really glad that she is a part of this blog world. I love that she reads the same blogs that I do, but brings her own perspective to the posts. I love that she noticed the amazingness in Shuna's blog post about cooking and intentionality, while I read it and loved it but moved on quickly and forgot about it in my backlog of bloglines feeds. So if you ever receive a comment on your blog from the vague handle "jen's mom" just know that it's my mom and she is having so much fun reading your blog.
Friend and fellow blogger Jeanne mentioned on her site today that she is a finalist for this month's "Cook the Cover" contest hosted by Gourmet magazine. She entered her "Black and Tan" cookie recipe. If she wins, she gets to go to the Gourmet Institute in New York!
Will you please go and vote for her (select the text that says "click here and vote")? In Jeanne's words:
Well, color me black and tan! I'm one of three finalists for this month's Cook the Cover competition at Gourmet Magazine! I know can you believe it? I can't, really I can't. It's brilliant.
Some of you will remember this as my entry into this year's IMBB/Cookie Swap. On a complete whim I decided to enter them into the publication's monthly reader event. I was certain that my entry would be one of hundreds if not thousands of possible entries.
So here's what I'd like to ask--because although right now as of 7amPST I am in first place with 40% of the voting. However we all know one should never rest until the work is done. After all the Linzers are right on my tail. I need your support through a daily vote! Simply vote by going to here and click on the text next to the big photo that reads--"We've chosen our December finalists." Click the the first entry to activate your vote for my recipe entitled "Black and Tan."
The winner's recipe will be published in a future issue. There's also an all expense paid trip to the Gourmet Institute in New York City. Do I get to meet Ruth? Do I?!
Ohmigawd. Ohmigawd. Breathe. Breathe. Please vote daily! THANKS! Winner is announced on January 18--my parent's 42nd wedding anniversary.
Congratulations to Emily who won the prints that we offered up for the Menu for Hope raffle. Emily lives in Santa Cruz. Her husband is a chef at Soif Wine Bar - check it out if you're ever in the area.
This was such a fun event -- it raised a whopping $17,101.32. Thanks to everyone who participated.
I picked up this fun end-of-the-year post from Gina at Cauldron Ridge Farm. You just find the first few lines from the first post of each month in 2005. It's a fun year-in-review method.
P.S. You may notice that I *finally* graduated to my own domain ... www.lifebeginsat30.com ... this may mean that you need to re-set your rss feed. Everything else should be working - let me know if you see anything amiss.
January
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that this day finds you safe and happy with all of your loved ones in safe locations. This week in particular, I am just so conscious of where all my friends and family are and whether they are safe...
February
I am having a love affair lately ... with San Francisco. I don't know if it's the weather, or the vibe of the people in town right now, but I just can't get enough of my city (I called it that the other day and Jason said, "Hey, it's my city too!"). The sunrise in the morning has been fantastic, with the downtown buildings surrounded by pink from the dawn...
March
The two of us are like chickens with our heads cut off these days -- make that organic, free range chickens with our heads cut off. Work has priority around the house lately, and we are both up to our eyeballs with different projects (a very very good thing, but difficult on our schedules nonetheless)...
April
This is my friend Jen. She and I have been friends since the first day of junior high school in 7th grade. Even though we both grew up in Southern California, she now lives in Sacramento, so we are able to see each other fairly often...
May
How do you like my new look...
June
Breakfast Canned Garbanzo Beans, Eden Foods, Indiana Hard-boiled egg, Corning, California (see Food Tracking, Day 2) Coffee from La Bou in Sacramento, roasted in San Francisco...
August
Lenndevours has a timely Wine Blogging Wednesday Challenge: Drink Local, Real Local...
October
Some of you may remember that I posted in July about the fact that Jason was starting a new diet at the request of his doctors: a limit of 25 grams of fat a day, and no alcohol. Thank you to the many many people who have asked me since that time how it's going, how he's doing, and who have given recommendations...
November
Earlier this week, I posted about a dish that Jason made called "Chutzpah". Well, I received an email from his mom after posting that said "No, not Chutzpah, it's Hutspot!". This is a dish that Jason remembered from being a child, and by the time he told me (and I wrote it down) I heard Chutzpah...
December
I had drinks with Jeanne the other night (Ottimista Enoteca -- I was happy to try out a new place, but for my money I would much rather have a glass of vino at Nectar or The Hidden Vine)...
Wow - I am behind in my blog reading. There are a lot of interesting things going on out there. Here are some:
> Barbara is talking about Jamie Oliver killing a lamb. It probably doesn't surprise you that the author of a post entitled "Meat Comes from Animals: Deal with It, or Eat Vegetables" has an opinion about the Jamie Oliver incident.
> Seven Spoons. Hello? Am I the last blogger on earth to find this site? A fun new find -- it's gorgeous and engaging.
> Jennifer at Cookin' in the 'Cuse is going to eat locally through the end of the year. In Syracuse. New York. Where it's cold. Very cold.
> Kate had a great post today about organic vs. local.
> Do you know that Tom Philpott is writing for Gristmill? A month ago (yes I am that far behind), he wrote a great article about working conditions on California's organic farms -- reminding me that the issue of modern agriculture has so many aspects to it.
I was tagged for the 23rd post meme at an interesting time: This week is the two-year blog-birthday of Life Begins at 30. Two years ago, I was just a naive thirty-year old who decided to find a place on the Internet to keep track of my adventures ... it has been a fun two years. I feel like this blog has really evolved in that time into something that I am pretty proud of. And without sounding too cliche, the blog community that I have become a part of overwhelms me on a continual basis - you all are great, and uplifting, and supportive, and smart - I have learned so much from you!
Anyway, on to the meme (tagged by Jeanne):
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas...
5. Tag five people to do the same.
"Every ingredient was fresh and unadorned."
I love this quote (from this post) because I often think of the beginnings of my blog as being very random, and without much focus. But this quote really made me realize that even at the beginning, when I thought I wrote about nothing really, I was still focusing on fresh food. Also, of course I love a quote that reminds me of a perfect breakfast I had with my boyfriend in Tuscany!
Thanks, all, for hanging with me through my randomness. I know I haven't posted much in the past couple weeks, but there's a bunch of stuff waiting in the wings. I wrote this for Bay Area Bites today, if you're interested. I don't know that I will always mention when there's something posted there -- I post every other Tuesday, though.
On a random note, I have a whole day to myself in Sonoma on Saturday. I have to drop Jason off in Glen Ellen, and then the day is mine. Would love suggestions, especially if they involve specific farmstands or markets. There are markets on Saturday in Calistoga, Healdsburg, Napa Downtown, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa (Oakmont and Veteran's Memorial) -- is there a specific one I should attend?
(Oh, I didn't tag anyone for the meme. If you want to be tagged and haven't been, let me know!)
I have so much to talk about and not enough time to do it in! I owe you all an Eat Local Challenge wrap-up, and have some other posts in the works. Hopefully I will get to this soon. Today, however, I am feeling sick sick sick -- some sort of a cold or something.
It was an exciting week around here last week as kottke mentioned my "10 Reasons to Eat Local" post. That was all it took for the post to be mentioned here, here, here and here (Yes, that's in Croatian!) among other places. Fun! Just to give you an idea of what that meant -- I received more hits last week that I received my entire first year. I hesitated to mention this because I didn't want to seem like I was bragging, but I feel that some of you who have been around since the early days when I didn't know what I was doing might be interested.
I have started writing for Bay Area Bites, which is a blog hosted by our local NPR affiliate KQED. When you get a chance, check out my first post about CSA's.
I have mentioned Bitter Greens Journal on this site before, but if you have not read Tom Philpott's blog, you really must do so now. In his banner, Tom states "This blog will serve as a running critique of industrial agriculture, a clearinghouse for info on sustainable farming, and a working manifesto for a liberation politics based on food."
Tom, a farmer from North Carolina with a gift of writing, started a column some time back called "Roundup, Ready" -- a play on Monsanto's genetically modified crops which are resistant to their herbicide Roundup. His column talks about news of the day in the industrial agriculture world.
Last week, Tom received a letter from Monsanto asking him to cease use of the title "Roundup, Ready" calling it trademark infringement. His brilliant reply can be found here. Go, Tom!
Have you been over to World on a Plate lately? Jeanne is attempting a Herculean food feat: writing about each region of France's food as the Tour de France passes through it. It's a great way to read some trivia about the race while reading up on all foods French. As you click through her posts, ask yourself how a woman with a full-time job is doing this AND watching the Tour de France. She comes home from work and writes her post (sometimes, as in yesterday's post, this involves cooking or baking), goes to bed around midnight, and then is up by five to watch the tour live! Now that is commitment.
Stage 11 & 12: Hills & More Hills
Stage 14: Basque-ing in the Mts.
Today is the two year anniversary of the opening of the Oakland Farmer's Market at Kaiser Permanente - an all organic farmer's market held in the parking lot of the Oakland Kaiser. This market was the brainchild of Dr. Preston Maring who realized that a hospital location with thousands of employees a day was the perfect location to host a farmer's market. Bring fresh food to where the people are ... and see what happens.
I had the opportunity to see Dr. Maring speak yesterday at the Great Valley Center Conference, and his story is truly inspiring. He saw an opportunity and took it. Now, two years later, there are approximately 20 farmer's markets being held at Kaiser Permanente's nationwide (including two in Hawaii), with an estimated 30 open by the end of the year. Not only this, but Kaiser has announced that it will work toward bringing sustainable and local foods into their hospitals ... that would be an extraordinary step in the right direction.
The thing that I love about this is that it wasn't some big committee that originally decided that the entire institution would move in the direction of a campaign promoting fresh and local food - it was just a guy who wanted a farmer's market in his parking lot. Now he is travelling and attending conferences and talking to other large institutions about making the same changes in their structure.
Dr. Maring is a fantastic example of the fact that one person really can affect change in this world. He reports that most of the people attending the Kaiser farmer's markets have never shopped at farmer's markets in their life. And he is just as concerned with the farmers -- he pays a lot of attention to giving the farmers a lot of "bang for their buck" and is really proud that the farmers report much success at these markets.
It's a small market (8 booths, I believe) but if you are nearby and have the opportunity, please stop by and tell the market folks happy birthday!
Friday Fresh Farmer's Market
9 am - 2 pm, Fridays
Oakland Medical Center
3033 MacArthur Blvd
Secondly, a big happy birthday #1 to Sam at Becks and Posh. Anyone who knows me has heard me talk about what a great blogger Sam is ... she is a huge addition to the San Francisco food blogging community, and has an entertaining and informative blog to boot. She recently started the fantastic Food Blog S'cool which is giving food bloggers a forum to discuss technical and general issues relative to blogging.
The new banner came from this shot of beets, taken at the Eatwell Farm booth this weekend. I can see how you all guessed rhubarb or chard ... the color of the stalks was really brilliant.
Congratulations to my mom, Olivia, who was the first person to answer the question correctly. She will be the proud owner of this book.
As an aside, the last banner that I used was also courtesy of Eatwell ... it was this picture of calendula drying on the farm for their salve.
How do you like my new look? I will offer a copy of Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket to the first person to correctly guess what the banner was before it became blurred and modified in Photoshop by Jason.
Jocie over at Brownie Points is a blogger after my own heart. Check out this fantastic mug that she created. Now everyone knows what they are getting for Christmas this year!
I feel like I cleaned out a closet, when all I really did was clean up my Bloglines feeds. I have so many blogs that I like to read in my spare time, but my Bloglines list was creeping above 90 and I was coming to dread opening it up at the end of the day. So, I was pretty strict with myself and deleted 43 feeds.
I thought you might be interested in some of the blogs that remain on my list. You all know the usual suspects, but here are some blogs that you may not know about that I find interesting. Many of them have nothing to do with food.
Four Seasons. Have you checked out this blog yet? It is only a couple months old, but already the folks at Four Seasons are becoming a crutch for me for finding out the news about local and sustainably grown foods. They are from the Northeast and are doing a great job keep on top of the news.
Whine and Cheese. This site is like my gossip rag. I love reading it the day after The Amazing Race to read what people are saying.
Crazy Us. I first found this site through Dooce but find it to be an outstanding blog on it's own. Beth chronicles her life with two kids in Utah, along with really great pictures. And her kids know who's in charge of the world!
Snarkspot is the blog of author Jennifer Wiener. Interesting insights.
Always Curious. I go here every morning for my photography inspiration of the day. Charlie is quite popular among photobloggers, but if you only pay attention to food blogs you may have never seen him.
Greendigit is a blog that focuses on reviews of natural food products.
What about you? Do you have any hidden gems that I may not know about?
Thanks so much to everyone for their supportive comments and emails last week regarding my blog freak-out. It really touched me that people were moved to make such wonderful comments. I am slowly getting back on track with blogging regularly. I think that you will see some changes in the near future to this blog, but for the moment have committed to being a one-blog gal, even if that means that this blog sometimes veers a little off course.
Thanks again ... you all are such a supportive bunch!
I am having a bit of a blog crisis. I realized this when looking at the number of posts I have written in the past few weeks, and how it has dwindled.
Call it the 18-month (!) itch, but I am struggling with the discipline required to keep this blog focused. In the past few months, I have made a concerted effort to have most of my posts relate to local, sustainable food choices. But where does that leave the rambles?
For instance, I would love to be able to post the story about how Jason reprogrammed our remote control so that it takes pictures with his D70 instead of making the television work. Or about how stoked I am that Chris Noth is going to take over half of the Law and Order: Criminal Intent from the ... guy ... withthelong ... pauses .... in .... his speech - Vincent D'Onofrio. Or about how it is such a sham that Freddy and Kendra won The Amazing Race last night instead of the nicest couple ever - Kris and Jon. Or about how the window I look out of while working has a view looking east into the San Francisco skyline, and how the color on the buildings changes minute by minute, hour by hour - and how I wish I could just gather all my friends and loved ones here and have them understand exactly how amazing it can be.
But I don't feel like there is room for all that in this blog. I feel like I have set it up to be a blog with a specific goal in mind, and I feel like readers come here expecting to find something along those lines. So I am considering a couple options, including spinning this blog off into two -- one that would allow for my randomness, and would help to keep the other blog focused.
I don't know. So I am asking you to excuse my crisis for a bit longer, and hang in there with me ... I have plenty of blog posts waiting in the wings that just have to be polished up and posted.
Sites I have been reading:
the hungry tiger. I really enjoy this blog - always interesting posts and tempting recipes.
U.S. Food Policy. An new blog with a food economy perspective. (via someone else's blog ... I can't remember who! If it's you, let me know so I can credit you)
Blue Bottle Clown College. One of the guys over at Blue Bottle Coffee Company has started a blog with stories about working for the best coffee company in the world. In case you missed it in the Chronicle, BBCC is opening up a coffee kiosk in Hayes valley ... on Linden Street (b/w Hayes and Fell, west side of Gough)
What I have been cooking:
White Beans with Black Kale and Savoy Cabbage, Local Flavors, Deborah Madison
Meatloaf from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook
What I have been reading:
Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket by Brian Halwell. Halwell's argument for buying locally grown goods is sound and makes complete sense. I suggest this book to anyone who is either on the fence about buying locally, or who needs more backup information in order to talk to others about buying locally.
Nothing to do with food:
This is an article about why Alias is such a great show.
I am currently listening to this new album by Tegan & Sara, and it is fantastic.
Today is the last day to vote in the Food Blog Awards. Life Begins @ Thirty has been nominated for Best Food Blog - Food Industry. Please vote today!
I always love the miscellaneous categories in trivia games and shows. The "Grab Bag" category, or whatever they call it, on Jeopardy is always full of very random questions and facts.
Time has been fairly short this week, so I apologize for the quick posts. Here are some quips about things I have been thinking about but haven't had time to write complete posts about:
Life Begins @ Thirty nominated in the Food Blog Awards. This blog has been nominated for "Best Food Blog - Food Industry", which I couldn't be more pleased about. Of all the categories listed, this is the one that I am most excited to be recognized for. The new year will continue to bring you more facts about the food industry, sustainable and local buying, and more farmer's market reviews. Please vote today!
One last chance for local gift buying. The Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market is holding a special Christmas eve market on Friday, December 24 from 10 am - 2 pm. According to the newsletter, the following farms are planning on attending: Allstar Organics, Bariani Olive Oil, Bulldog Cactus, Captain Mike's Holy Smoke,
Downtown Bakery, Eatwell Farm, Four Sisters Farm, Galaxy Granola, Genuine Exotic
Melons, G.L. Alfieri Farms, Happy Boy Farm, Hare Hollow, Hidden Star Orchard,
Highland Hills Farm, Iacopi Farm, Juicey Lucy, Lagier Ranches, Loulou’s Garden,
Marin Gourmet, Moua Farm, Nash’s Olive Oil, Nick Sciabica and Sons Olive Oil,
Redwood Hill, Star Route Farm, The Pasta Shop, Torosian Farms, and Twin Girls
Farm.
Corporation-Friendly Laws outlaw Seed Saving in Iraq. This is an issue that I have been reading quite a bit about, and am outraged over. Essentially, new legislation put into effect by the new Iraqi government with guidance by the U.S. is outlawing the centuries-old tradition of farmers to save seeds. The reasons for this are supposedly many - from making Iraq friendly to big business (ie., Monsanto and other large seed companies) to making the Iraqi crops more exportable. What it will do is make the Iraqi farmers completely dependent on patented seeds that are being thrust upon them by big business. Keep an eye out for stories about this or read more about it here.
Forget about taste, Florida says, these tomates are just too ugly to ship. Unlike the smooth, round baseball-size tomatoes usually shipped from Florida from mid-October through mid-April, the lush, vine-ripened UglyRipes have what the industry calls a "cat face," full of uneven crevices and ridges. The Florida Tomato Committee, a trade group that controls sales and shipments of round tomatoes, has determined that the brand does not meet its standards for shape, lack of blemishes and other defects. "The marketing order has nothing to do with taste," said Skip Jonas, the committee's compliance officer. "Taste is subjective."
Kate at The Accidental Hedonist is hosting food blog specific awards. Yay!
A couple of weeks ago, I made the decision to not ask for votes for the Does My Blog Look Good in This awards publicly on my site, and missed first place by one (!) vote. So this is the official announcement of the Food Blog Awards.
You can nominate your favorite food blog in any of the categories below. You nominate by adding a comment to the related category. The nominations close on 12/19.
If you are considering Life Begins @ Thirty for any nominations, please note that this site began in September 2003 and is not eligible for Best New Blog.
Happy nominating!
Best Overall Food Blog
Best New Blog
Best Group Blog
Best Post
Best Non-Blogging Food Site
Best Site Design
Best Food Blog - Writing
Best Food Blog - Recipes
Best Food Blog - Humor
Best Food Blog - Photography
Best Food Blog - Wine, Beer, and other Spirits
Best Food Blog - Chef
Best Food Blog - City
Best Food Blog - Theme
Best Food Blog - Food Industry
Best Food Blog - Restaurant Reviews
Life Begins @ Thirty is the proud 2nd place winner of the first "Does my blog look good in this" photo contest! Thanks to all who voted.
My friend R and I were at Chez Panisse Cafe last night. She is from Southern California, but has been in the Bay Area for several weeks. The meal was a last hurrah, as she is leaving to go home this week.
So it's Chez Panisse and it wouldn't be a surprise if we were to see someone famous there. R and I went to college together in an area where there are tons of celebrities, so we are old-hat at spotting them and then acting non-chalant.
We were waiting at the small bar upstairs for our table, and a large-ish group walked in the door. R's eyes widened. "I think they just said Six Apart," she whispered to me. Ever so slightly, I turned and saw Ben and Mena, the founders of Six Apart, the company that created TypePad and Moveable Type. They were just being seated at a large table.
Here's where the story gets pretty geeky, friends (as if it's not already). You would think that we had seen Prince Charles. We were totally excited about seeing a table of people from a company that we both hold in such high regard. We were seated at our table by this time and discussing what we should do about our sighting. Ignore them? Go by and say hi? Take a picture? We finally decided on a perfect solution: We wrote them a note. R wrote it on the back of a Chez Panisse postcard and it said something to the effect of "Dear Six Apart people, congratulations on the new release. We love it (actually we drew a heart here). You are our celebrity blogger sighting of the week. You rock (yes .... we did write you rock)! From two loyal Type Pad bloggers."
We called over a server. "Do you see that table that is over by the entrance? Please take this note to them, and don't tell them who it's from!" He obliged. So there we were, at Chez Panisse, mecca of the food world, passing notes. Another server came by. "They loved your note and want you to come by the table." The bad-secretkeeper first server had told her who we were.
So as we left, we stopped by and said hi like the stalkers that we were. They were all very nice and seemed happy to meet a couple of fans. It was a great geekdom celebrity sighting. Oh, and the food was great too - but that's for another post.