I want to TA for this class at Harvard:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/dining/20Harvard.html?_r=1
I just read through their syllabus and one of their labs. They had a lab making a molten chocolate cake and measuring the heat transfer (specifically, they found out the coefficient of heat diffusion within the molten chocolate cake). Though, I wonder if it changed depending on what phase it was in?
Anyway- I want to TA for the course. Anyone know how to get me in?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Best Beer Bread
I hate commuting to Lowell. I only have 3 more weeks of it after this one... then school begins again. I've had a great internship, but I'm so over driving. It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get home on Tuesday, the day I had planned to cook dinner for my family (who are my housemates...).
So I got home in a terrible mood, which is really not like me. I wanted to make lentil burgers and biscuits (didn't have time for the yeasted breads) in honor of Aaron's pickle batch that just finished. I began to make the biscuits (I don't remember what I put in) and realized after adding the liquid that i forgot the salt. I added it in, but I didn't want to over-mix the dough, so in the end product the salt was patchy (to say the least). Though my housemates still loved them (thanks for all the support!), I felt like I wanted to do better. I saw a beer in the fridge and that's when I knew: beer bread.
Now, I hadn't made beer bread in a while, and I rarely make quick breads. It's much less forgiving than yeast breads because you have to get the ratios correct so you don't mix it too much, ruining the texture. I looked in Molly Katzen's book to get a basic liquid/flour ratio, and came up with this recipe which I found absolutely amazing. I'm going to share it now:
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c corn flour
1/2 c white whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1/4 sugar
1 t baking soda
Mix all these things together, then add
1/2 oil
and coat all the dry ingredients with the oil- like you do making pie crust or something like that. It should get to cookie crumb texture
Then mix together
2 eggs
1 c beer (I used a really tasty porter and then got to drink the rest :)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined, but not more than that.
Cook at 350 F for about 35 minutes.
Enjoy the best beer bread ever!
So I got home in a terrible mood, which is really not like me. I wanted to make lentil burgers and biscuits (didn't have time for the yeasted breads) in honor of Aaron's pickle batch that just finished. I began to make the biscuits (I don't remember what I put in) and realized after adding the liquid that i forgot the salt. I added it in, but I didn't want to over-mix the dough, so in the end product the salt was patchy (to say the least). Though my housemates still loved them (thanks for all the support!), I felt like I wanted to do better. I saw a beer in the fridge and that's when I knew: beer bread.
Now, I hadn't made beer bread in a while, and I rarely make quick breads. It's much less forgiving than yeast breads because you have to get the ratios correct so you don't mix it too much, ruining the texture. I looked in Molly Katzen's book to get a basic liquid/flour ratio, and came up with this recipe which I found absolutely amazing. I'm going to share it now:
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 c corn flour
1/2 c white whole wheat flour
1 t salt
1/4 sugar
1 t baking soda
Mix all these things together, then add
1/2 oil
and coat all the dry ingredients with the oil- like you do making pie crust or something like that. It should get to cookie crumb texture
Then mix together
2 eggs
1 c beer (I used a really tasty porter and then got to drink the rest :)
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined, but not more than that.
Cook at 350 F for about 35 minutes.
Enjoy the best beer bread ever!
Blueberry Jam
So this summer has been way busier than I would have liked. Between all the traveling (so many people getting married...) and my commuting to work, I really haven't had the chance to do all the projects I would've liked.
But I did go to ME last week (family vacation) and I got to pick blueberries and then I made about 6 cups of jam. It was super yummy.
I believe I used:
10 c berries
1 or 1.5 c sugar (I used Pamona's Pectin that isn't sugar dependent for setting)
1/4 c lemon juice
The amount of pectin listed on the packaging
I just followed the directions on the pectin, which involved mashing the berries (I used a food processor) and then cooking them for a bit. Then I put them into the canning jars and boiled them for 5-10 minutes. It was really easy and I was done in an hour with everything (OK, not all the cleaning up).
Thank Gd I had a vacation in ME! Thanks Mom!
But I did go to ME last week (family vacation) and I got to pick blueberries and then I made about 6 cups of jam. It was super yummy.
I believe I used:
10 c berries
1 or 1.5 c sugar (I used Pamona's Pectin that isn't sugar dependent for setting)
1/4 c lemon juice
The amount of pectin listed on the packaging
I just followed the directions on the pectin, which involved mashing the berries (I used a food processor) and then cooking them for a bit. Then I put them into the canning jars and boiled them for 5-10 minutes. It was really easy and I was done in an hour with everything (OK, not all the cleaning up).
Thank Gd I had a vacation in ME! Thanks Mom!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Municipal Composting
Just wrote this article for New Entry as well. It's about composting in a city like Boston.
Ever wondered what happens to all the food you don’t eat out at a restaurant or what you throw out from home? Chances are the wasted food goes to one of the many municipal landfills. Once in the landfill, the food slowly anaerobically decays, creating methane, and trapping all the nutrients and resources used to grow that food in a wasteful abyss. Organic waste is the second largest component of our landfills and landfills are the largest emitter of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. (Check out http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/03/21/the_case_for_mandatory_composting/ for an interesting article about Boston municipal composting).
And all the food that American’s waste adds up. 30% of the food grown in this country is wasted, and 75% of that food is wasted in restaurants, homes, or the retail sector (over 50% in homes and municipal sector). So how can you play a part in decreasing this waste, making sure nutrients stay inside a usable cycle? The first thing, of course, is to work on not wasting as much food. Only take the amount of food on your plate that you will eat, and save the rest as leftovers. Try not to buy more food than you will eat just for it to go bad in the refrigerator.
But nobody’s perfect. We’re all going to have food waste whether we’re trying to decrease it or not. But composting can help us keep our natural resources out of the landfills, ensuring more sustainable nutrient cycles and making sure the food decays aerobically (producing carbon dioxide and water, two much more benign green house gases than methane). In addition, to you folks that garden or have nice house plants, you will be producing your own garden amendments to improve your plants health and soil.
However, composting can be challenging when we live in urban areas. Many of us don't have a yard, our yard may be small, or we may have neighbors who worry about the odor and possible four-legged creature infestation. Lucky for humans, we’re a very innovating bunch and people have come up with many creative ideas in order to compost in their small backyards or even inside. (Check out the MA Department of Environmental Protection's website on composting to learn more about the basics of good composting http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/compgnt.htm).
The easiest way to compost if you don't have a yard is to vermicompost. With this method, you adopt red wiggler worms as pets and feed them your leftover food waste. They eat it and poop out soil. All you need is a plastic storage bin, newspaper clippings, and some worms. Sommerville sells starter worm kits for $25. Other resources can be found at (http://www.urbanhomesteadersleague.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/UHL-broadside-1.pdf). A major drawback to this method is that the worms are slightly picky eaters and you can't compost all your organic waste.
Another way to compost in very little space is to get a barrel composter or compost tumbler. Though expensive, these mechanical compost turners are very easy to use and don't take up that much space. Once you buy it (or build it if you've got construction savvy), you simply keep adding your organic waste with a mixture of some sort of brown material (such as leaf clippings) and turn the handle in order to aerate and mix the compost.
You can also use a modified garbage can structure for composting in the city. If you build it yourself, use a hammer and nails to punch holes in the bottom, sides, and lid of the garbage can. Compost turning tools are available at hardware stores that work very well for turning the organic waste inside the barrel. These barrels may also be available through your municipality for discounted prices. They also come with the guarantee of being "rodent proof." See the MA DEP for details (http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/compgnt.htm).
A more traditional way to compost is to have a three bin system (http://ceplacer.ucdavis.edu/files/350.PDF). An important aspect of composting is keeping a good temperature to ensure proper microbial decay. Though this is influenced by a number of factors such as the carbon to nitrogen ratio, the moisture content, and the aeration, it is also important that your compost pile be at least a cubic yard for good heat build up. However, as a single family (or even single person) in the city, it is unlikely that you'll produce this much organic waste. To get around this problem of thermal mass, you can build just one cubic yard bin and divide it into 4 partitions. You can treat it similarly to a three-bin system's rotation, but you'll use less space and need to add less organic material for a healthy pile.
As you can see, there are many solutions for composting even when we live close to our neighbors in the city. We can all play our part to reduce green house gases, landfill size, and keep nutrients in a usable cycle.
I didn't actually answer the basics of a good compost pile in this article (ie good C:N ratio, good aeration, good moisture, good temperature, etc) so for more information I highly recommend The Rodale Book of Composting.
Ever wondered what happens to all the food you don’t eat out at a restaurant or what you throw out from home? Chances are the wasted food goes to one of the many municipal landfills. Once in the landfill, the food slowly anaerobically decays, creating methane, and trapping all the nutrients and resources used to grow that food in a wasteful abyss. Organic waste is the second largest component of our landfills and landfills are the largest emitter of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. (Check out http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/03/21/the_case_for_mandatory_composting/ for an interesting article about Boston municipal composting).
And all the food that American’s waste adds up. 30% of the food grown in this country is wasted, and 75% of that food is wasted in restaurants, homes, or the retail sector (over 50% in homes and municipal sector). So how can you play a part in decreasing this waste, making sure nutrients stay inside a usable cycle? The first thing, of course, is to work on not wasting as much food. Only take the amount of food on your plate that you will eat, and save the rest as leftovers. Try not to buy more food than you will eat just for it to go bad in the refrigerator.
But nobody’s perfect. We’re all going to have food waste whether we’re trying to decrease it or not. But composting can help us keep our natural resources out of the landfills, ensuring more sustainable nutrient cycles and making sure the food decays aerobically (producing carbon dioxide and water, two much more benign green house gases than methane). In addition, to you folks that garden or have nice house plants, you will be producing your own garden amendments to improve your plants health and soil.
However, composting can be challenging when we live in urban areas. Many of us don't have a yard, our yard may be small, or we may have neighbors who worry about the odor and possible four-legged creature infestation. Lucky for humans, we’re a very innovating bunch and people have come up with many creative ideas in order to compost in their small backyards or even inside. (Check out the MA Department of Environmental Protection's website on composting to learn more about the basics of good composting http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/compgnt.htm).
The easiest way to compost if you don't have a yard is to vermicompost. With this method, you adopt red wiggler worms as pets and feed them your leftover food waste. They eat it and poop out soil. All you need is a plastic storage bin, newspaper clippings, and some worms. Sommerville sells starter worm kits for $25. Other resources can be found at (http://www.urbanhomesteadersleague.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/UHL-broadside-1.pdf). A major drawback to this method is that the worms are slightly picky eaters and you can't compost all your organic waste.
Another way to compost in very little space is to get a barrel composter or compost tumbler. Though expensive, these mechanical compost turners are very easy to use and don't take up that much space. Once you buy it (or build it if you've got construction savvy), you simply keep adding your organic waste with a mixture of some sort of brown material (such as leaf clippings) and turn the handle in order to aerate and mix the compost.
You can also use a modified garbage can structure for composting in the city. If you build it yourself, use a hammer and nails to punch holes in the bottom, sides, and lid of the garbage can. Compost turning tools are available at hardware stores that work very well for turning the organic waste inside the barrel. These barrels may also be available through your municipality for discounted prices. They also come with the guarantee of being "rodent proof." See the MA DEP for details (http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/compgnt.htm).
A more traditional way to compost is to have a three bin system (http://ceplacer.ucdavis.edu/files/350.PDF). An important aspect of composting is keeping a good temperature to ensure proper microbial decay. Though this is influenced by a number of factors such as the carbon to nitrogen ratio, the moisture content, and the aeration, it is also important that your compost pile be at least a cubic yard for good heat build up. However, as a single family (or even single person) in the city, it is unlikely that you'll produce this much organic waste. To get around this problem of thermal mass, you can build just one cubic yard bin and divide it into 4 partitions. You can treat it similarly to a three-bin system's rotation, but you'll use less space and need to add less organic material for a healthy pile.
As you can see, there are many solutions for composting even when we live close to our neighbors in the city. We can all play our part to reduce green house gases, landfill size, and keep nutrients in a usable cycle.
I didn't actually answer the basics of a good compost pile in this article (ie good C:N ratio, good aeration, good moisture, good temperature, etc) so for more information I highly recommend The Rodale Book of Composting.
Aging Farmers
Who do you think of when I say the word, “farmer?” For many of us who grew up in this country, an image not unlike that of Old McDonald comes to mind- white, male, and middle-aged. In the
Should we be worried about this aging population? Children of farmer’s are moving to the city rather than choosing to farm. Who will be left to farm our native soil? Though the census shows young farmers decreasing in number, there are a number of new farmers entering the scene who are making quite a splash. At least once a week, I find myself reading a new article about an innovative agricultural project in a school garden, on an urban roof tops, or on traditional farmland run by young people. More often than not, these farmers are committed to sustainable agriculture, healthy food, and food justice.
However, if you haven’t been born into the farming industry, there can be many barriers to entry. Land is expensive, many farmers require second jobs to pay the bills, and there’s a lot to learn in order to be a successful farmer. The USDA has recognized these challenges and is addressing them in various ways. More farmer loans issued by the Farm Service Agency are targeted toward beginning farmers. They have also made available $17 million in new grants through the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program for state and local governments, non-profits, and academic institutions to design education, training, technical assistance and outreach programs to help beginning farmers. In addition, networks such as Greenhorns and the National Young Farmer’s Coalition offer support systems for beginning farmers. There’s even a conference for Young Farmers put on by the
Locally there are opportunities sprouting up for young people that make farming into a viable job and even career. The Food Project has farms throughout
So should we be worried that our farmer’s are getting older? Perhaps. After all, these are the people that grow our food. However, it seems that with the right support, a new generation of farmers can emerge that is hard working, committed to sustainable farming, and makes healthy food available to more people.
end of June Update
I haven't posted in a really long time because finals and then summer and it was all very crazy. I went on a bike trip to ME, I went to CO, I made steamed Chinese buns (thanks Zach for taking me shopping in China town), I've made bagels again (keep forgetting to cut them like a mobius strip, but that will be a blog post soon), and my garden is going nuts, which is awesome.
In the meantime, I have this really cool job as a technical assistant for new farmers at The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. It is making me realize that I'd love to be an agricultural extension agent when I'm done with school.
So I wrote an article on new farmers that I'm going to post here. I may also start posting my notes from the field that I'm writing, and you may also see an article or two on composting.
In the meantime, I have this really cool job as a technical assistant for new farmers at The New Entry Sustainable Farming Project. It is making me realize that I'd love to be an agricultural extension agent when I'm done with school.
So I wrote an article on new farmers that I'm going to post here. I may also start posting my notes from the field that I'm writing, and you may also see an article or two on composting.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Sour Dough Bagels
This is where it all began. Well, only my recent sour dough obsession. At the food conference this past winter I took a sour dough bagel making class the last day (right before I learned how to prune fruit trees... what a cool conference!). I got a starter from a woman from the bay area who told us that this starter was in fact the San Francisco sour dough starter- something about lactobacillus sanfracacensus... or something.
Sour dough rises bread dough with a mixture of yeasts and bacteria (they both eat sugars and produce gas. The sour flavor comes about because the bacteria also produces stuff like lactic acid and acids are sour). While it is possible to make your own sour dough starter, I had tried this in the past and never got a particularly active one. The one this woman gave us was amazing and it is so strong and fast and I love working with it!
I've gotten quite good at making bagels, so I decided to sign up to make them for our final class in Community Food Planning (if I can figure out how to load attachments, maybe I'll give you all access to our urban agricultural assessment guide to Boston). People in the class loved them. I'm glad I got so much positive reinforcement, because it being finals time, I've been totally overwhelmed and lost some sleep in order to make these. But it was worth it. My room mate Kate came down in the night after I finished baking them. The two of us were in heaven. Crispy outside. Chewy inside. Sour/sweet/balanced amazingness of a flavor (maybe someday I'll take a class in food writing...).
For the recipe:
4 c organic whole wheat bread flour
2 1/3 c lukewarm water
1 1/2 c starter*
1 T sea salt
1/3 c veg. oil
1/3 c maple syrup or barley malt syrup (I've used both; this past time I used barley malt- it's not as sweet)
*you refresh you starter twice for this- start 16 hours before you make bagels and feed it once. Then 8 hours before hand take a T of that starter (discard the rest) and mix it with 2 c flour and 1 c water. Half of this is used in the recipe, half is saved in the fridge.
Process:
- Mix the flour and the water with your starter in a bowl (not metal) and let it rest for 30 minutes (it's super gooey).
- Add the sea salt and mix it thoroughly (2 min). Add the oil and the syrup and mix for another 5 minutes (super gooey!). Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
- After a rest, begin to knead the dough by turning it 20 times and then letting it rest again for 20 minutes. Do this cycle of kneading and resting an additional 5 times (though sometimes I do less if the dough seems particularly active or if I'm low on time...).
- Portion the dough into 12 pieces and shape
them into rounds to let rise 1 hour. - Boil a pot of water and preheat oven to 425ºF. Poke a hole in the rounds (bagel means bracelet, but you don't need to have a hole quite as big to fit around your wrist... but you could). Place the bagels in the boiling water (rolling boil is important- at high altitudes add salt to get to a higher temperature). The bagels will float- cook them for 1 or 2 minutes on each side. Remove
with a slotted spoon and transfer to a clean cookie sheet. - Prepare a second cookie sheet with parchment paper for the baking. When the bagels are cool enough to be handled, dip them in a plate of seeds and then put on your parchment paper cookie sheet (or on a preheated baking stone). Cook the bagels for 20-25 minutes. Check on them to make sure they're browning evenly.
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