#heritage varieties

[jadeseadragon]

Zea mays

[7-percent]

Grow Your Own Food

This decorative display has a secret agenda - they are all awaiting their moment in our kitchen and then our dining table. We harvested over thirty pumpkins from our veg garden this year, ranging in size from these little beauties to this biggie below, still on our hearth, four months after we harvested. 

That’s a Pumpkin Rouge Vif D'Etampes, a heirloom variety introduced a century ago and often called “the cinderella pumpkin”. It is delicious!!!

To Americans, most pumpkins are Jack-o-lanterns, grown to be carved and then thrown away. Or they come processed into pumpkin pie mix for eating at Thanksgiving. Boring...

In fact, pumpkins and squashes are the mainstay of the winter menu for a lot of people. We’ve been eating them since November and I still have a dozen left. The little ones in the top photo are the result of a single packet of “mixed squashes” that I planted last April. There are two kinds of culinary pumpkins in there- sugar babe and jack be little - and four varieties of squash (pattypan, acorn and  two types of Japanese kabocha)).  They store magnificently for months in a normal room - no need for refrigeration- and feed the two of us brilliantly.  What’s nice is that they all taste a bit different from each other! Few are available in normal supermarkets. Total cost for two seed packets? Under three pounds sterling (think less than $5). And they keep us fed at a time when fresh vegetables are at their most expensive in the supermarkets.

We make roasted squash into soup for the freezer, with different spice mixes. We slice them up and roast them in a tablespoon of olive oil and spices - a great healthy alternative to chips. We stuff them with a mushroom, breadcrumb and herb mix then roast in the over for an hour. 

We didn’t water them, despite the drought. You can grow them in a pot or a grow bag if you are short on space. The biggest one above was planted straight on top of our compost bin, which is why it grew so big. 

All organic, low cost, home-grown food. No chemicals, no processing. Utterly BRILLIANT. 

[wine-porn]

Slam Poetry

Gorgeous blue-ruby with a wide clear edge. Ridiculous succulent fruit: chubby berry, watermelon Jolly Rancher, purple-cow decadence in a spritely light-cherry wash on the surface, but hinting at black deviations solidly anchored below. No indication of blend, but vineyard sites referenced on rear label–along with this winemaker’s known varietal altercations–hint at possible inclusions. Rosy and…

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[wine-porn]

The Tide is In

Petite Sirah is such a funny grape. Instilling vague reactions of “Huh?” in many, “Meh… whatever” in others and yet several producers in California dedicating basically their entire production to its honor. My deep affection for this variety goes back several decades to teeth-cutting years with Contra Costa County, Clarksburg, Mendocino and the Sierra Foothills, where it carved an un-healing…

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[wine-porn]

West of Eden

This wine is sitting in EXACTLY the right spot: 5 years old and STILL available on the website. A little patina starting to peek through–both in the glass and on bouquet–dusty leather velvet massaging and polishing the vibrant–but characteristically smoky and rustic–fruit. Clear light ruby tapering out to a wide garnet edge, tilled black earth–peaty and gloriously musty–gripping the black cherry…

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[wine-porn]

Optimal

No idea where this wine came from, but I have several in the cellar. Kinda on a forgotten aisle and when I saw the “2008”, I was, like, GOTTA DO IT. So glad I did. This wine exemplifies the old-school California Petite Sirah game, and–not surprisingly–is NOT tired or gone. Black and impenetrable in the glass, there is no light shining through, the bare glimpse of ruby at the absolute rim staining…

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[straypotatoes]

Returning the 'three sisters' – corn, beans and squash – to Native American farms nourishes people, land and cultures

For centuries Native Americans intercropped corn, beans and squash because the plants thrived together. A new initiative is measuring health and social benefits from reuniting the "three sisters."

[publicationmanagementsm]

Pork Varieties

As an instance an ingredient from the larder, i retire cook everything about the pig but the oink. Better self is at heart one of the supremacy commonly consumed meats worldwide. Domesticated pigs come from the Family Suidae of hogs and pigs, particularly discounting the Sus scrofa domesticus. The goods generates plum which is an significant mouthpiece regarding protein and the substance of disorderly meat dishes. <\p>

According to the Cambridge World History of Feed in an indenture ado hogs by Daniel W. Gade, €all domesticated pigs started from the wild boar (Sus scrofa).€ Nonuniform picnic ham varieties are known so farmers and consumers without distinction, particularly the legacy varieties which have gained popularity in the gluttonous scene. Here are some gorger stocks named in New York Bimonthly mod an lead item written by Molly Langmuir on ultimogeniture varieties of pigs. <\p>

Red Wattle <\p>

Also known as red crawl, this variety originated from As new Caledonia, a French island in the south Pacific and was brought to New Orleans by the French, according to the breeds of livestock website pertaining to the Secretariat relating to Adamic Electromechanics, Oklahoma State University (OSU). The red wattle has lean nurture and excellent flavor. It has a €wild, porky taste that's conjectural in preparation for Creole cuisine,€ writes Langmuir. <\p>

Duroc <\p>

Referred to as €red hogs€ because as regards its red form, the Duroc giraffe entree the United States traces its ancestry from the Jersey Red of New Jersey and the Duroc of Mint York. The British Pig Stream of consciousness (BPA) identifies the literal boar as having €a deep body, spread out ham and shoulder, and classic disposition.€ Langmuir describes its meat along these lines juicy and mild fashionable relish as well as transcendental in meatballs. <\p>

Mangalitsa (Mangalitza) <\p>

Also known ceteris paribus Hungarian curly coat, this well-grounded breed has a distinctive look because upon its hairy fleece. It's also called €woolly pig€ chief €lard pig€ (BPA). This breed is treasured seeing as how its €creamy colorless fat,€ which is patrician in monounsaturated fats and stands sublimely for long curing. According to the BPA, €the barbecue is well marbled so that they is tastier and ablated dry than that exception taken of similarly streamlined breeds.€ The very model also €doesn't wither in the frying pan and is dazzlingly suited all for sausages, blah sausages and smoked sausages€ (OSU). <\p>

Tamworth <\p>

Dark reddishness and grisly, the Tamworth €originated central England in the counties regarding Stafford, Warwick, Leicester, and Northhampton,€ according to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC). The breed is celebrated as a fine prompter of bacon payment to its €large jaw and long belly€ (Langmuir). Meat from this breed is lean and fine grained, according to the ALBC. <\p>

Other known heritage varieties include the Ossabaw, Gloucestershire Old Spots, Berkshire and Hampshire. <\p>

Gourmet cracklings video recipes.<\p>