Eating Floyd: Wow! All I hear are crickets!

Nope, I haven't disappeared, just working through a major life reorganization! The holidays are approaching so there will be gifts to be made and new dishes to try out for the upcoming feasts.  In the meantime, I think there will be Halloween cookies and candied apples showing up soon!

courtesy Country Living

Preserving Floyd: Pressure Canning Meat Class 9/14

I'm ironically following up the last post with an invitation for you to join me this Saturday, September 14 2013 for

Pressure Canning Meats

How do you guard against losing that freezer full of meat when the electricity goes out?
Want to have meat ready to add to other ingredients for quick meals?
How can you take advantage of meats on sale at great prices?

Pressure can it!

Learn how to safely preserve your meats in a shelf stable jar. Pressure canning can be used to preserve game, domestic meats, poultry and fowl, and fish. Ground meat, cubes and meat strip techniques will be covered.

Class is hands-on. Students will take home a jar of canned meat. Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes. An apron is suggested but optional. Class size is limited so please register early.
Date: Saturday, September 14
Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA 24091
Time: 1:00 pm-6:00 pm
Fee: $25 in advance, $30 at the door, space providing.
To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514 or hfpcac at swva.net. Please make checks payable to Rebecca Shannon. Payment may be mailed to 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091
 

Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Feeding Floyd: Pink Slime is Back!

From the state that decided to punish drivers with a $64/year tax for trading in their gas guzzlers for a more responsible higher MPG hybrid fuel vehicle comes this little gift for your school-age children:

PINK SLIME IS BACK IN VIRGINIA SCHOOL CAFETERIAS

Oh sure, they call it "Lean Finely Textured Beef" but remember, what it is really, is the meat scrapings off the bones of thousands of cows, mixed together and treated with ammonia, then slurried to create a product that looks like this:

This LFT beef, or ammoniated Pink Slime, is then mixed with ground beef as filler in order to "stretch" it or make it appear to be more 100% ground beef than it actually is.  This is the stuff that is fed to your kids in school and it doesn't even come up to the quality and safety standards used by fast food restaurants like McDonald's (source).

So, one more time everybody, grab your ankles and say WOO-HOO!

Thank You, Virginia!

NOT!

Preserving Floyd: Attention Fermenting Folks!

Got an email from Brian Moss at the SustainFloyd model farm.  He has 2nd quality organic red cabbage for sale at .50/lb

Brian says, "I did make some sales..... to a kraut maker a while back. Heard that it worked out really well for him. The heads are super dense, and the color holds up great through the fermentation."
Contact Brian at 252-558-5636 or bmoss18 at gmail dot com.

Also, Farmers' Supply in Floyd just got in a full line of Ohio Stoneware crocks, weights and lids, including these really sweet fermentation crocks:

I'm trying really hard not to run down there and snag one for myself!

The root crops, cabbage family crops, and other fall fermentables will be hitting the farmers' markets soon.

get ready...get set...

FERMENT!

Cooking Floyd: Soup for Summer

Even though we've had some wonderfully comfortable summer days lately the heat and humidity still show up to remind us that fall temperatures are still a ways away.  You know.  When all you do is walk down to the mailbox and the sweat beads up and rolls into your eyes?  Those are days when I just don't want to cook or eat anything hot.  I want a chilled soup other than gazpacho.  This one came in the mail from a website called Tasting Table and since it was one of those days, I had to try it.

It's a keeper.

Cooking Floyd: Nectarine Salsa and Sweet Chili Glazed Salmon

The nectarines are amazingly good this year!  Sweet, silky, juice running down your chin good!  We've been greedily slurping them down one after another but I paused recently to note how tasty they would be as a salsa.  With salmon.  On a bed of greens.  Mmmmmm....

Teaching Floyd: Classes Are Back On Track

After a brief break to get my sh*t back together, classes are resuming with the Home Food Preservation & Culinary Arts Center.  Thanks, everybody, for your patience.

And Zack, out there somewhere in northern VA who called last week about the wine vinegar class, I got your email wrong and it bounced. Please email me at hfpcac at swva dot net and I'll get your info to you!

With no further ado, the class this weekend is:

August 17: Dehydration 101

Dehydration is one of the easiest of food preservation methods. Learn the basics for drying fruits, vegetables and jerky using a dehydrator or oven. Kids and adults love snacks like dried apples, tomato and kale chips, and fruit leathers. Here they are, guilt-free! Discover how you can make your own paprika, garlic powder, and other spices!  Class is hands-on. Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes. An apron is suggested but optional. Class size is limited so please register early.
Date: Saturday, August 17
Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA 24091
Time: 1:00 pm-5:00 pm
Fee: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, space providing.
To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514 or hfpcac at swva.net. Please make checks payable to Rebecca Shannon. Payment may be mailed to 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091
Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Next up is:

August 28: Preserving Herbs

Store herbs in all kinds of ways- they all have their uses! We will be making herb pastes, compound butters, dried herbs, pestos, and frozen herb cubes and discussing the advantages of each.  Class is hands-on. Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes. An apron is suggested but optional. Class size is limited so please register early.
Date: Wednesday, August 28
Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA 24091
Time: 6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Fee: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, space providing.
To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514 or hfpcac at swva.net. Please make checks payable to Rebecca Shannon. Payment may be mailed to 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091
Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Teaching Floyd: Class Cancellation

The class scheduled for this Saturday, August 3:

Roll 'Em Easy: Summer Rolls, Dolmades, Lettuce Wraps, and Cabbage Rolls

has been cancelled.

Sorry for the inconvenience and the class will be rescheduled at a future date.

Thanks.

Foraging Floyd: Peaches and Chanterelles

Our sweet little patio peach tree was loaded with little gems this year.

They were just this >< close to being ripe

Eating Floyd: Classes, Harvesting, Preserving, and the 2013 New River Valley Fair

July has been busy, busy, busy.  Not so much in the garden because for the first time ever since I've lived here we've had too much ongoing rain.  When the warm weather crops flowered it rained and the bees were unable to pollinate as well as they should have so a lot of people are noting that the small green fruits and veg are dropping from the plants.  As it kept raining blights, molds, and mildews came on.  But of course even though the veg and fruit are stunted from the rain, the weeds love it.  When don't the weeds love it?  And since it was difficult to not sink over the tops of your boots in the muddy beds the weeds have had a hey-day.  But all-in-all people are still managing to bring crops in, the farmers markets have some good looking stuff, and I've been buying in, supporting growers who do it better than I do.

Here's what I reaped this month:

Braggin' Rights.

The individual winners from the New River Valley Fair 2013 can be seen on the Canning Competition Winners page.

And then there were classes taught...

Teaching Floyd: Two Upcoming Classes

There are two classes coming up in the next week starting with:

July 13: Small Vegetable Fermentations

Make your own sauerkraut, kimchi, crock pickle, hot sauce or other fermented delight. Learn the basics of this age-old method of food preservation. Class is hands-on and participants will make and take home their own two quart fermentation jar.  Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes.  An apron is suggested but optional.  There are two spaces left in this class.

Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA  24091

Time: 1pm-5pm

Fee: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, space providing.

To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514 or hfpcac at swva.net. Please make checks payable to Rebecca Shannon.  Payment may be mailed to 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091

Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.


                                                                           And

July 17: Nut Butters and Bean Dips

What! You’re still buying that overpriced peanut butter and hummus from the grocery store?
Come learn how to make tasty and nutritious homemade nut butters and bean dips at home for a fraction of the price. Create flavors with the additions you chose and none of the additives you don’t want. We will make classic peanut butter and hummus and then take them to the next level! These dips and spreads make great sandwich spreads as well as appetizers and light meals.
Class is hands-on. Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes. An apron is suggested but optional. Class size is limited so please register early.
Date: Wednesday, July 17
Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA 24091
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm
Fee: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, space providing.
To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514 or hfpcac at swva.net. Please make checks payable to Rebecca Shannon.  Payment may be mailed to 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091.

Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Cooking Floyd: It's Ice Cream Season!!!

Into late fall and through the winter I forget how wonderful homemade ice cream is.  I suppose it has something to do with the chilly weather although I love ice cream year round.  I did make pumpkin ice cream and cinnamon ice cream for Thanksgiving but mostly I'm happy with a double chocolate caramel Magnum bar.

But summer's in full swing and the fruits and berries are rolling in so I thought I'd kick off with an ice cream that has no summer fruit in it at all - Thai Ice Cream!

Preserving Floyd: Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Spreads

Join me this Saturday, June 29, for

Jams, Jellies

& Other Sweet Spreads

 

Jams and Jellies capture the essence of fruit for winter enjoyment. Find out how you can put summer’s fleeting flavors in a jar! Topics will cover various pectins and sweeteners, definitions of various kinds of sweet spreads, different methods of cooking a sweet spread, safely customizing tested recipes to make a spread uniquely yours, and troubleshooting. Class is hands-on and participants will take home a jar of jam. Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes. An apron is suggested but optional. Class size is limited so please register early.
Date: June 29, 2013
Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA 24091
Time: 1pm-5pm
Fee: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, space providing.
To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514 or morwenatswva.net. Please make checks payable to Rebecca Shannon.  Payment may be mailed to 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091
Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Eating Floyd: New Class Schedule Is Posted!

The series of preservation and cooking classes hosted by the Home Food Preservation Center and "Eating Floyd..." have been a rousing success!  Classes have been full and participation has been lively.  Already there's been demand for repeats of some of the classes and those will be scheduled again in the future.

Today the new schedule with more exciting classes has been posted!  Just click on the HFPCAC Classes tab at the top of the page. 

Cooking Floyd: I Need A Gyro

We like gyro sandwiches: spicy seasoned ground lamb strips, fresh onions, tomatoes and lettuce, tangy tzatziki sauce, all piled on a soft pillowy pita.   Unfortunately what we mostly get is greasy mystery meat, wilted veggies, some kind of runny white liquid on a dried out flatbread that cracks into pieces when you pick it up.  So I've been on a quest for a few years to make what we know a gyro can be at home.  I think I finally did it!

Eating Floyd: Oh, Julia!

Keep On Cooking - Julia Child Remixed

Preserving Floyd: How Do You Solve A Problem Like Vidalia

I think it was a fundraiser but maybe not.  All I know was I got offered a 25 pound bag of  genuine sweet Vidalia onions straight from the farm in Vidalia, Georgia.  Not Vidalia-type onions but the real thing.  I've never had them before and often wondered about all the fuss but yes, Vidalia onions really are special.

They are really perishable too.  These are not your storage variety onion.  These are eat 'em  now onions!  But 25 pounds?  Oh yeah, that would've been some onion ring binge but it would've killed us so here's what happened instead.

Eating Floyd: Once Upon A Time...

... the USDA Knew the Right Thing To Do.

While looking for vintage images for posters I came across these government posters encouraging Victory Gardens and food preservation.  The posters just precede WWI and continue up to WWII.  After that as far as active encouragement from the government goes there's just... crickets.  So yes, these posters gear toward a war effort but it is amazing and ironic how pertinent they are to the current movement toward sustainability and control over our food sources and content.

Cooking Floyd: Winter Squash, Spinach & Goat Cheese Lasagna

A little of both, please! A bit of winter and a bit of spring.

 Winter squash and leafy, green Spring spinach!

It's cold enough to crave a bit of winter comfort food yet we are impatient with our slow spring and want new fresh greens.  There were a couple of containers of winter squash puree left in the freezer, odds and ends of cheese in the fridge needing to be used, and... a whole bag of new spinach!

Preserving Floyd: Make Your Own Vinegar Class

Please join me on May 15 to learn how to

Make Your Own Wine Vinegars

It’s easy to save money and make your own red and white wine vinegars at home.  Don’t throw out that unused portion of wine- turn it into a tasty vinegar!  Learn how to flavor vinegars with herbs, fruits, and spices.  Find out how to pasteurize vinegar and bottle it for gifting.  Various home made vinegars will be available for sampling.  As an added bonus find out how to make my in-demand Maple Vinegar!  Participants will take home their own “vinegar mothers”.  Please wear comfortable closed toe shoes.  An apron is suggested but optional.  Class size is limited so please register early.

Location: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St., Floyd, VA  24091

Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm

Fee: $20 in advance, $25 at the door, space providing.

To register contact: Rebecca Shannon at 540-745-8514

Payment may be mailed to or dropped off at 153 Gracie Lane NW, Floyd, VA, 24091

Please remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Husbanding Floyd: New Girls in Town

Anita was moving to her new home around the same time that our flock got decimated.  Since our girls were gone and she couldn't take hers with her a few of her hens (she had around 60!) moved to our coop!

Anita's hens are truly free range.  They've been out foraging and flying all their lives although they do know what a coop is for and come back to it at night.  "Born Free" is they're theme song.  Other descriptives might be "wild" or "feral".

Preserving Floyd: New Classes Added to the Schedule!

Eating Floyd is now sponsoring preservation and culinary classes in addition to those offered by the Master Food Volunteers program.  There have been requests for classes that fall outside of the MFV program and after brainstorming with some folks I've decided to jump in feet first and begin a curriculum for the Home Food Preservation and Culinary Arts Center.  This first year I (and others) will be teaching out of local Floyd venues but the plan is to (hopefully) be housed in a place of our own by the fall of 2014.  At which time it will officially become the Home Food Preservation and Culinary Arts Center @ ShannonCroft (our little piece of Floyd heaven)!

See the list of added classes after the jump.  For the full schedule click on the Preservation Classes tab at the top of the page.

Cooking Floyd: Cookie Notes

Virgina's Blue Ridge Music Festival held a pre-festival benefit concert last Thursday at the Floyd Ecovillage's Celebration Hall.  Natasha Shishkevish of Natasha's Market Cafe catered the reception and asked me to provide cookies.  Here are some of the results.

Husbanding Floyd: The Dark Side

Remember these guys?

Well, they've had a really rough winter/early spring and yesterday disaster struck.

Cooking Floyd: Mediterranean Potluck

April has been a hit-the-ground-runnin' kinda month so far.  We started it off with a Mediterranean-themed potluck.  I was a little worried that people might be intimidated until I looked at a map and saw just how many different countries and cultures had a coast on the Med!  Something for everyone!

One of our non-cooking friends solved the dilemma by going to the olive bar at Krogers, corralling a deli worker and giving her the directive, "If it's Mediterranean put it in a bowl!" thus contributing a nice collection of gnoshes.

I took the opportunity to try a new method of roasting lamb as well as making enough dolmas to satisfy a crowd.  But what surprised me most was the almost immediate decimation of a simple grilled eggplant platter.

Preserving Floyd: Updated Class Schedule

I had to switch a couple of classes in order to rent appropriate kitchen space but everything is now in place and confirmed.  I look forward to seeing y'all soon!

 April - June Food Preservation Class Schedule

APRIL

April 13: Planning to Preserve - Topics to be discussed are: Tracking what your family consumes and preserving those things; What is or isn't worth the time/expense of preserving; Realistic goals for preserving; Different methods of food preservation (canning, freezing, dehydrating, root cellaring); Costs of preserving and storing food; Amounts to grow/buy in season and approximate yields; Keeping it safe.Location: Jessie Peterman Library, 321 W. Main St., Floyd, Va
Time: 11am - 1pm
Fee: Free

April 27: Home Food Preservation Safety - This is a prerequisite course for all home food preservation classes.  Topics to be covered are: Common food-borne pathogens; Basic sanitation and safeguards against bacterial and cross-contamination; Proper temperatures for food preservation and the role altitude plays. A receipt will be handed out to those in attendance at the close of the class and must be presented upon future registration for home food preservation classes.
Location: Jessie Peterman Library, 321 W. Main St., Floyd, Va
Time: 10am - 12 pm
Fee: Free

MAY

May 18: Home Food Preservation Safety - This is a prerequisite course for all home food preservation classes.  Topics to be covered are: Common food-borne pathogens; Basic sanitation and safeguards against bacterial and cross-contamination; Proper temperatures for food preservation and the role altitude plays. A receipt will be handed out to those in attendance at the close of the class and must be presented upon future registration for home food preservation classes.
Location: Montgomery Co.: St. Michael's Lutheran Church, 2803 Merrimac Road, Blacksburg, VA
Time: 10am - 12 pm
Fee: Free

May 25: WBC 101: Basics of Water Bath Canning - Learn the basics of safely canning high-acid foods in a boiling water bath.  Topics to be covered are: Basic jars, pots and utensils; What is a high acid food; Adding acidity to foods; Problem solving; Recognizing a product gone bad.  Class is hands on.  Participants will prepare, pack, process, and take home a jar of a high-acid food.  Please wear comfortable closed-toe shoes.  An apron is suggested but optional.  Prerequisite for this class is completion of the Home Food Preservation Safety Class. Class is limited to 15 participants.
Location: Montgomery Co.: St. Michael's Lutheran Church, 2803 Merrimac Road, Blacksburg, VA
Time: 1pm-4pm
Fee: $15 in advance, $20 at the door space providing.  Contact the Floyd Cooperative Extension Office to register at 540-745-9307. 
Payment may be mailed to or dropped off at the office at 209 Fox St NW, Floyd, VA 24091.  Remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

JUNE

June 1: Basics of Water Bath Canning - Learn the basics of safely canning high-acid foods in a boiling water bath.  Topics to be covered are: Basic jars, pots and utensils; What is a high acid food; Adding acidity to foods; Problem solving; Recognizing a product gone bad.  Class is hands on.  Participants will prepare, pack, process, and take home a jar of a high-acid food.  Please wear comfortable closed-toe shoes.  An apron is suggested but optional.  Prerequisite for this class is completion of the Home Food Preservation Safety Class. Class is limited to 15 participants.
Location: Floyd Co.: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St, Floyd Va
Time: 1pm-4pm
Fee: $15 in advance, $20 at the door space providing.  Contact the Floyd Cooperative Extension Office to register at 540-745-9307. 
Payment may be mailed to or dropped off at the office at 209 Fox St NW, Floyd, VA 24091.  Remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

June 15: PC 101: Basics of Pressure Canning - Learn the basics of safely canning low-acid foods in a pressure canner.  Topics to be covered are: Basic jars, pots and utensils; A pressure cooker is not a pressure canner; What is a low-acid food; Problem solving; Recognizing a product gone bad.  Class is hands on.  Participants will prepare, pack, process, and take home a jar of a low-acid food.  Please wear comfortable closed-toe shoes.  An apron is suggested but optional. Bring your pressure canner dial gauges for calibration. Prerequisite for this class is completion of the Home Food Preservation Safety Class. Class is limited to 15 participants.
Location: Floyd County: Farm Bureau, 335 E. Oxford St, Floyd Va
Time:1:pm-4pm
Fee: $15 in advance, $20 at the door space providing.  Contact the Floyd Cooperative Extension Office to register at 540-745-9307. 
Payment may be mailed to or dropped off at the office at 209 Fox St NW, Floyd, VA 24091.  Remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

June 22: PC 101: Basics of Pressure Canning - Learn the basics of safely canning low-acid foods in a pressure canner.  Topics to be covered are: Basic jars, pots and utensils; A pressure cooker is not a pressure canner; What is a low-acid food; Problem solving; Recognizing a product gone bad.  Class is hands on.  Participants will prepare, pack, process, and take home a jar of a low-acid food.  Please wear comfortable closed-toe shoes.  An apron is suggested but optional. Bring your pressure canner dial gauges for calibration. Prerequisite for this class is completion of the Home Food Preservation Safety Class. Class is limited to 15 participants.
Location: Montgomery Co.: St. Michael's Lutheran Church, 2803 Merrimac Road, Blacksburg, VA
Time:1:pm-4pm
Fee: $15 in advance, $20 at the door space providing.  Contact the Floyd Cooperative Extension Office to register at 540-745-9307. 
Payment may be mailed to or dropped off at the office at 209 Fox St NW, Floyd, VA 24091.  Remember, the only reservation is a paid reservation.

Cooking Floyd: Trencherman Thai

When I was cooking at the Valiant Trencherman one of my favorite dishes on the menu was Thai chicken.  Spicy hot with a little sweet, I never tired of it and twenty years later I still make it at home.

In fact, I'm so enamored of the flavor of the marinating paste that I'm tempted to try drying and powdering it just to see what happens!

Cooking Floyd: Anchovy Vinaigrette and Green Goddess Dressing

I've spent most of my life steering clear of fish on my pizza: NO ANCHOVIES!!  I used anchovies in stuff but always considered it the "spice that grows in the sea".  I'd use a couple tiny filets out of a can but then the rest would sit in the fridge for months until I threw it out.  As a child I loved Green Goddess salad dressing.  As an adult I was always bummed that I couldn't make it taste like I remembered.  It always somehow fell flat.  I just figured out the missing flavor is- Anchovies!

It's interesting how our taste for foods changes.  Black olives were right out for me until just a few years ago.  Then I tasted Cerignolas and now I can't get enough.  Anchovies were disgusting until I had better quality ones studding a Magarita pizza made with totally top quality fresh ingredients.  Now I crave the little buggers.  I've also noticed that my new favorites/formerly icky foods are both high on the umami scale.

Gardening Floyd: Everything Old Is New Again

I've been attending a Pocket Farming course sponsored by SustainFloyd and it never ceases to amuse me that the methods my grandparents used on their farm decades ago are being reassigned fancy new names, being repackaged, and "sold" as innovative new techniques to really squeaky new farmers.  Like "Biodynamic Farming".  Really?  The timing of my grandparents chores and farming events were often based on moon phases and celestial influences from starting seeds and breeding livestock to harvesting, butchering, and haircuts for my Mom and her six siblings.  It wasn't weird, most of the farm families around them did it too.  They had a connection with their farms that went beyond just a place to live and ground to make a living from.  Now it's got a fancy new name- Biodynamic.

Michael and I went out to Blue Valley Organic Farm, SustainFloyd's model farm, last Saturday mostly to see how to set up contours for plowing but also to watch another old technique made new again: plowing with horses.

Cooking Floyd: Decorating with Gum Paste

Shana and I took a short course in decorating cakes with gum paste flowers and sculptures this week.  I'm not much of a one for baking cakes and for this class we were actually supplied with a quite tasty cake by the instructor.  I'm always interested in new ways to decorate cookies and gum paste offers interesting options that royal icing doesn't.  Penny, the instructor, also demystified fondant and offered up her recipe for a fondant that tastes as nice as it looks!

Cooking Floyd: Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Creams

Ok, so it's not really cooking.  But that's cool because not only does this taste great, kidlets can make it nearly on their own with just a bit of supervision. All that's involved is a microwave.

Cooking Floyd: Happy Valentine's Day!

Gardening Floyd: A Reason to Get Up in the Morning

Sunrise over the Lower 40

Cooking Floyd: Making Coatings Stick

This is one of those things where you wonder why you hadn't figured it out years ago.  Here I was trying to use plain old egg wash to make stuff stick to other food stuffs when I should have been using whipped egg whites!  No more delicious coatings falling off into the pan!

Whip an egg white to a soft peak.  Pat dry and season whatever it is you're coating (in this case a salmon fillet).  Dip in the egg white and then press into the coating mixture (in this case sesame seeds but finely chopped nuts worked great too).  Place encrusted side down in a medium hot oiled pan until browned.  Then flip and finish on the stove top or in a hot oven.

Cooking Floyd: Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk! That's how I remember the pronunciation.  The 3 Stooges' Curly's way of laughing.  nya-OH-key.  Gnocchi!  Gnocchi are an Italian dumpling traditionally made with cooked starchy potatoes, flour and sometimes an egg, then boiled and sauced.  The beauty of gnocchi is that they are a blank canvas.   You can add all kinds of things to the basic recipe from spinach to cheese, herbs, spices and more.  I have two half bushel boxes of sweet potatoes squirreled away so I chose to make mine from our Beauregard variety.

By the way, if you're planning on growing sweet potatoes next season, the time to start your slips is NOW!  Slips are expensive and sometimes hard to find.  I started mine last year from grocery store sweets with great success.  Click here for directions.

Back to Gnocchi.

Cooking Floyd: Caldo Verde - Portuguese Potato-Kale-Sausage Soup

1-18-13  Ok, not the most auspicious start to the New Year.  That flu turned into bronchitis.  Still doing antibiotics, still coughing, but definitely doing better.  And the computer went down.  After Michael did a diagnostic and then another 2 hour diagnostic with some tech guy in India, HP had us send the tower to them somewhere in Indiana.  Thank God it was still under warranty because the mother board was fried.  So we're back online and-  oops....

1-19-13  Power's back on and we're back online *again*.