Book Review: The New Bread Basket by Amy Halloran

I can remember the moment a fresh local ingredient changed my life as a consumer. It was an apple, sampled from the tree during an excursion to Indian Ladder Farms in Altamont, near Albany in upstate New York. Besides being crisp and juicy, the apple’s flavor exploded and then lingered on my tongue, like nothing I had ever experienced. It led me on a path to eating almost exclusively from farm stands, farmers markets, and CSAs: fresh and local became a guidepost.

Amy Halloran’s aha moment was an oatmeal ganache cookie bar made from oats and wheat grown near where she lived in upstate New York’s Rensselaer County. She set out to find the source of the flavor and fresh grainy taste. The New Bread Basket, How the New Crop of Grain Growers, Plant Breeders, Millers, Maltsters, Bakers, Brewers, and Local Food Activists Are Redefining Our Daily Loaf (Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, Vermont, 2015) is the outcome of her quest to investigate the regional grain revival happening in New York State and New England.

To read the full review and other great stories, visit KnowWhereYourFoodComesFrom.com

Into the Landscape

I don't know why it took me so long to start painting outdoors. I love landscapes, but most often these days I experience them from the car. I take tons of photos and have been using them for reference for  a couple of yours. Still, I knew I was missing something besides mosquitoes, sunburn, and ticks. I needed a push to get started and signed up for a Plein Air painting workshop with Debra Bayly from the Arts Center in Troy. In the week leading up to the class I found my collapsible easel and toned some canvas boards in various shades of ocher. I managed to fit all my gear into a giant IKEA bag and was ready to meet the small band of intrepid painters at Peebles Island in Cohoes, NY. 

Maybe it was the perfect non-humid summer weather. Maybe it was the big old trees with pools of cool shade or the water around the edges of the landscape with 19th century industrial buildings, bridges, and boats -- but I felt like I was in the midst of an Impressionist painting and my brush responded accordingly. I really like these little paintings and I'm looking forward to seeing where this new path leads. 

Welcome to the new Farm Share Studio

When I started this project, I had a few paintings and a lot of questions. Was it possible to exclusively eat locally sourced food? Who were the people making my food? What was the best way to handle these fresh, new ingredients? How could I help surface this trend in the Capital region of upstate New York? And then, at a more personal level, would I be able to make art that mattered to me -- and others -- without getting bored or distracted? In a world of sadness, could I make art that would make people smile?

The food questions, quite honestly, have been answered by others more qualified than me. I'm a pretty good home cook, but I use the internet like everyone else to find out how long to cook an heirloom chicken or what to do with unusual fruits and vegetables like quince and kohlrabi. I now have favorite farmers at the Schenectady Greenmarket and e-mail subscriptions with other, smaller farm entrepreneurs. The information is out there and I wasn't doing a great job keeping up the blog because it didn't feel like I was adding anything new.

So, from now on, I'm going to focus more on my art. I'll share what's new... and maybe some of the things I'm struggling with. I'll try to post updates on shows and events. You can also see what's going on by following Farm Share Studio on Facebook and Instagram. I'll continue to donate 10% of all my sales (less tax and commissions) to the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy, the American Farmland Trust, and the Agricultural Stewardship Association. I'll also continue to look for ways to bolster our local markets and community.

Book Review: What DO Philosophers Eat?

I’ll admit to skipping over the philosophy section when browsing bookstores. On the book buffet, philosophy sits there next to seitan or black-eyed peas – virtuous, yes, but surrounded by more enticing, tastier options. But Philosophers at Table, On Food and Being Human (Reaktion Books, London, UK, 2016) by two American professors of Philosophy, Raymond D. Boisvert of Siena College in the Capital Region of upstate New York and Lisa Heldkeof Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter, Minnesota is a welcome surprise.

To continue the buffet metaphor, this book is kale salad with quinoa, sweet potatoes, and pepitas — bright and packed with ideas but readable and not densely written. The authors set out to challenge the common separation of soul and body, a central theme of modernity with roots in the Enlightenment. It’s a big project in a small book packed with sparkling prose and new ideas.

Philosophers at Table allows us to see food as a way to restore the connections within ourselves and between others. You can read the review at the wonderful website: KnowWhereYourFoodComesFrom.

Landscapes for Landsake 2017

One of my favorite art shows of the year is the Landscape for Landsake show to benefit the Agricultural Stewardship Association in Washington County. It takes place at Maple Ridge near Cambridge, NY from Saturday, October 7 through Monday, October 9. Half of all artist proceeds benefit this great organization, which directly supports farmland conservation in Washington County, NY.

To celebrate my participation I've decided to offer a 20% discount on all my original paintings on my ETSY.com site during the month of October. During the sale, I'll donate half of sale proceeds to the Agricultural Stewardship Association. Please note that unsold paintings from the show will be relisted on October 10.  

Mysteries Buried in the Kitchen...

It's been awhile! But though I haven't been posting, I have been busy. I'll update my paintings soon, but in the meantime, here's a book review I did for a wonderful site: KnowWhereYourFoodComesFrom. I recently helped the publisher clean up expired links and was amazed at the depth and breadth of local food coverage. Looking for a CSA near you (even if you live in Bozeman, MT)? Check. Traveling and want to find a good farm-to-table restaurant or farmers market? Check. So I was thrilled when asked to contribute a book review. 

Reviewing Sasha Martin's memoir, Life from Scratch, was a joy -- starting with the very first page. She's an engaging writer with a passion for food. She writes a successful blog, globaltableadventure.com, which started when she decided to expand her horizons in middle America and cook a meal a week from every country in the world. But though the memoir that grew out of the blog, it is much deeper and more meaningful. It became an intensely personal exploration of childhood trauma, confusion, and loss. You can read my review HERE.

Field Notes

I live in a picture-postcard village, surrounded by a patchwork of agricultural landscape bordered to the west by fossil-laden, steep cliffs of Devonian limestone. The softly rolling land below the cliffs was once the edge of glacial lake, whose ground is a slurry of smooth round rocks encrusted in hard clay. Nevertheless, the region was settled by German tenant farmers in the 1700s and the fabric of history is still preserved in Dutch barns, small farms, and family names. Though the area seems to be turning inexorably into real estate, it is still possible to ride and walk through open countryside, much as people did in the nineteenth century. 

This painting is of chicory encroaching on the fields of a sheep farm on Meadowdale Road in Guilderland, New York. I love the color of chicory, its stiff, yet random growth pattern, and the fact that the flowers bloom early today and then fade, before reblooming tomorrow.

For some time I've been wanting to start painting landscapes. Having my small food paintings off site for a couple of months has given me the clean slate I needed in the studio to start working in a new direction. The painting will be shown at the Albany Center Gallery members' show from January 6 to February 17, 2017. The opening reception will be January 6 from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. 

Heirloom Recipes from Pleasant View Farm

Since I started eating closer to home, I've had a great time getting to know the farmers who grow my food. I've become more curious about the history and, I suppose, anthropology of local food. After finishing Everett Rau's memoir, Stand Tall, I still stop by to chat with him and his wife, Peg, in their hilltop farmhouse. During one of our visits, Peg brought out a treasure trove of  handwritten cookbooks from her mother, grandmother, and grandmother-in-law, along with her own box of recipe cards, which she began the year she married Ev. 

My hands trembled when I opened the old notebooks, carefully turning their food-stained pages, brittle with age. Determined to preserve them, I carefully scanned the notebooks and cards and sat with Peg as she regaled me with stories of Grange dinners and favorite family recipes. At 93, Peg doesn't cook anymore, but she is passionate about nutrition and can still recall the first time she tried many of the recipes in her collection.

Heirloom Recipes focuses on a handwritten cookbook begun by Everett's grandmother, Sarah Ogsbury, in 1891. We know the year because she used a complimentary journal from a thread company that is stamped with the date. Throughout the book is elegant ink penmanship from Sarah, who was a teacher, interspersed with clumsier pencil recipes from young women. The girls' writing is in several different hands, presumably her daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. When Peg found the book in a drawer after she married Everett, she also found newspaper clippings, which she pasted, as if in a scrapbook. She says she never saw her mother-in-law, Margaret, use the cookbook, because Margaret had "all the recipes in her head." 

The second half of the book features  a selection of favorites from Peg's own recipe box, including many of her mother-in-law Margaret's that Peg wrote down while they cooked together. 

Bump's Apple Sauce Cake

"Bump's" was the daughter of a family friend who married Everett's cousin. She got her nickname because she was so clumsy. This recipe was saved in both Margaret's cookbook and Peg's recipe box, so I figured it was a real treasure!

One of the best parts of finishing the book is having time to try some of these vintage recipes. Most of the old recipes lack cooking instructions, so it's often useful to back them up by googling vintage recipe sites. This applesauce cake was pretty straightforward. To save a step, we purchased homemade applesauce from Indian Ladder Farms near Altamont. The lard came from the baking section at Hannaford supermarket. We made a half-size recipe to test and cooked the cake in an 8" square cake pan for about 25 minutes. The result was moist and spicy. When I took a couple pieces over to Ev and Peg they said it reminded them of their early married days. 

In the BeeHive

It's been a busy late summer and autumn! I participated in three outdoor art fairs, and the Landscape for Landsakes Exhibit in Cambridge, NY. I'm happy to say my studio walls are empty for now, which gives me an opportunity to look ahead to future work. You can find my large asparagus painting at the Saratoga Arts Member Show until January and everything else can be viewed at the Hive in Schoharie, NY. The show is running now through the end of December. I'll be there on December 10 from noon to 5 p.m. as part of their annual Open House, so stop by if you're in the neighborhood! 

The Hive is one of my favorite gift-giving destinations in the region. Theresa has assembled a carefully curated mix of antiques, vintage, modern, industrial, organic, handcrafted, local items.  I love her upstairs art spaces and always find something to buy in the Book Room. A big supporter of local business, Teresa welcomes you with a cup of custom-blended tea or coffee and freshly baked organic treats. It really is worth a drive (and I say that not just because she's an early supporter of my art!). Most of my paintings are also on display in my Etsy Shop. You can get a closer look and then contact me or Theresa to purchase through the Hive during the show (the ship!). 

Landscapes for Landsake

Landscapes for Landsake is an inspired fundraiser that brings together first-rate regional artists, patrons, and the community to celebrate the agricultural landscape in a beautifully restored barn near Cambridge, New York. Artists donate 50% of their sale price to the Agricultural Stewardship Association, which has conserved nearly 17,000 acres of farmland in Rensselear and Washington Counties over the past 25 years. I was thrilled to have five of my paintings chosen for this very selective show. 

Landscapes for Landsake takes place at Maple Ridge, 172 State Route 372 in the hamlet of Coila, just west of the Village of Cambridge. The show opens on Saturday, October 8th from 12 to 5 p.m. with a wine and cheese reception. Admission is $5 per person. The gallery is also open from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday and Monday free of charge.  

First asparagus of the season. 11x14. 2016.

But Is it Organic?

Before signing up for our CSA, I imagined a Lucy Show in the kitchen, where I was stuffing all manor of recipes with zucchini, just to be overrun the following week with eggplant or tomatoes. While cooking from the CSA basket does take some management, it's mostly fun googling the week's vegetable combinations to find new recipes to try. The Fox Creek assortment is fairly pedestrian (no exotic greens or asian roots) which leaves me free to experiment on new things at the farmers market.

One nagging question I had, though, came from a fellow shareholder who's had a lot of health problems and asked if the vegetables from Fox Creek were organic. Hmmm. Because they hadn't mentioned organic, I decided to find out. 

The U-Pick garden contains herbs, flowers, and cherry tomatoes.

I picked a beautiful Saturday to drive out to Gallupville and take advantage of the U-Pick garden, which is part of my CSA membership. While there, I ran into Raymond, who explained that Fox Creek did farm using organic methods but that they hadn't applied for certification. I was reminded of a passage in The Omnivore's Dilemma, where famous-farmer Joel Salatin said that, given a choice, you should start with local food rather than big-box organic. If you buy local, you can always stop by the farm and simply ask about their farming practices. Plus you get to take flowers home!

Community Calling

I got an interesting appeal from our CSA, Fox Creek Farm, right before we went on a long vacation. Back now, and I wanted to bring it up to the Farm Share community and get your thoughts. Our friends at Fox Creek Farm sent along a link to an article in the New York Times: When Community Supported Agriculture is Not What it Seems.  I must say that I've generally been supportive of more ways to shop local. There are many folks whose schedules or lifestyles don't lend themselves to the routine of CSA pick-ups and organizations like FieldGoods allow them to enjoy fresh local produce "on demand." 

What the NYT article points out is that these new ventures are not really CSAs, though they use the language of CSAs in marketing. In fact, they're venture-capital-funded distributors that contract for produce from family farms. While they do provide a new outlet for family farmers, the farmers assume a lot of financial risk added to the inherent weather risks of farming. Fox Creek reports that with the rise of these alternatives, that their subscriptions have been stagnant after a period of robust growth.

It struck me, listening to all the presidential campaign rhetoric, that while globalization is demonized for declining wages in America, there's been no mention of the rise of huge internet corporations for erasing whole categories of work and community. The beauty of a CSA is that you establish a direct relationship with the folks who are growing your food. You get to help out in the harvest if you want. You get to watch their kids grow up. You get to contribute to the health and strength of the community you live in. 

In their latest newsletter, I saw that Fox Creek Farm is offering a 30% discount on mid-season sign-ups. This seems like a great way to check out their produce. They have a lot more pick-up locations than I realized. Pick up times are 4:00-6:00 p.m. If you're interested, you can e-mail them at  foxcreekfarmcsa@earthlink.net or find a pick up location near you on their website at www.foxcreekfarmcsa.com. 

Pick Your Own

I haven't been posting in the blog recently because I've been painting a lot. Between painting, scanning, color correcting, social media, managing my Etsy Shop, and framing, there hasn't been much time for anything else! You can see some of my recent paintings if you scroll down to the end of my painting gallery.

I made these little strawberry paintings to enter into the Saratoga 10x10 show. Finished size of entries must be 10x10" and they should sell for $100 each. The image size of each is 5x5" with generous painted borders. They're painted in oil on specially treated 100% cotton rag paper. It's a new technique for me -- working backwards from a frame size, and painting on paper.  I also used the two Pantone colors of the year -- Serenity and Rose Quartz. The result is sweeter than my normal backgrounds, but I think it suits the subject. What do you think?

These paintings will be on display at the Saratoga Arts Center, 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY from July 9 - August 26. After that, they'll be available in my Etsy shop. By the way, my shop is closed until July 25, because we're going on vacation to Japan (yay!). You can follow our progress on Tumblr.

Fleeting Flavors

There are few foods I’ve encountered that are as polarizing as humble rhubarb. Its sharp puckery taste, like cranberries, requires mounds of sugar to tame. Though beautiful when freshly cut, the sleek red and green stems cook up into a pea-green mush that has all the eye appeal of split pea soup.

But after a winter of little but apples and pears, I was ready for fresh local fruit and decided to figure out ways to eat rhubarb. When the sign went up at the farm stand down the road, I stopped in to buy an early bunch. The fresh-cut bunch of rhubarb was $2.50. It’s an honor system but the cat is keeping an eye on things!

In one of my many farm share projects, I’m scanning and documenting Peg Rau’s treasure trove of handwritten cookbooks from the early 1900s. Everyone has a recipe for rhubarb pie. This one is from 1911.

Recipe from Peg Rau's grandmother's cookbook, written in 1911.

Early recipes don’t include cooking instructions, so I searched around on line to find cooking times for fruit pies, but stuck to the ingredients as written. Let’s just say the results were less than successful. The filling was a super-sweet gooey mess, but nevertheless I loved the tangy rhubarb flavor and decided to wait for strawberries.

Everyone’s raving about strawberries this year and I’m lucky to know a farmer who grows them organically. We’ve been going through a couple of quarts a week on yogurt, in oatmeal, fresh out of the box, and yes, painting them. As we’re getting toward the end of the early berries I decided to try some tarts. I don’t eat a lot of sweets so I figured that strawberry rhubarb “pop tarts” would be just the thing. After merging a couple of recipes from the web, here’s where I ended up:

Strawberry Rhubarb "Dumplings"

Ingredients

• Makes 16 tarts
• 1 cup strawberries, cleaned and washed. Larger berries cut in half.
• 1 cup rhubarb, outer strings removed with a potato peeler. Stalks sliced lengthwise and then chopped into ¼” dice.
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 2-crust store-bought pie crust
• 1 whipped egg

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Take pie crust out of the refrigerator and let it rest for 10 minutes
• Cook the strawberries and rhubarb with sugar on low heat for 10 minutes.
• While cooking, roll out the pie crust on parchment and cut into 3 1/2” rounds.
• Strain the sauce and put a dollop of strawberry-rhubarb mixture in the center of each round, leaving a half inch or so.
• Brush the un-filled area with egg, fold the disc in half and press down the edges with your fingers, followed by the tines of a fork. Brush the tops with egg and poke them with a fork to allow steam to escape.
• Smitten Kitchen recommends that you place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking. Not sure why, but I did this.
• Cook for 25 minutes and cool on a rack when done

Though they would have tasted better with buttery homemade pie crust, these were pretty tasty. A little burst of sweet-tart flavor, leaving you wanting another.

A dollop of strawberries and rhubarb on 3.5" rounds. I should have strained the juice better!

Crimped and poked. Ready for the fridge.

Cooling on a rack. Yum!

Happy Strawberry Season from Farm Share Studio!

First Farm Stand of the Season

Route 146 is a busy state road that runs past my house into Altamont. There are houses strung along its length, interspersed with old fields, thickly overgrown with briars and small trees. About a month ago I noticed the sap buckets, and then the mason jars started appearing. On Easter Sunday morning I finally had time to stop at the first farm stand of the year. 

Many think that eating local is more expensive, but at $4.00 a pint, this syrup is a bargain compared with the grocery stores. I left my offering in the plastic zipper bag and went home to have pancakes.

No lines!

Thanks Schoharie Valley Farms

Did you hear those spring peepers? If so, it’s time for the big farm stores open! The Carrot Barn in Schoharie has finally transitioned from weekend hours to a full time operation. To celebrate, I joined Ev and Peg Rau and about seven little Girl Scouts in Schoharie on Saturday to sign our new book, Stand Tall, and sell cookies. There was an antique show going on the village, which drew a lot of customers into the store.  I was happy to meet Richard Ball, who somehow manages to combine the running of a large, successful, farm with his duties as NYS Commissioner of Agriculture – and remaining a pivotal presence in this community.

Peb and Everett Rau signing books at the Carrot Barn in Schoharie.

I knew I was entering a sacred space when I caught a whiff of freshly baked cider donuts mingled with new potting soil as I opened the door. Ev and Peg were holding court in a little room between the greenhouse and the shop. Many old friends stopped by, but we were all moved when a woman mentioned that she was buying the book for her heart doctor to thank him for caring for her husband who had recently passed away. It turned out that he is the same doctor who nursed Peg through her recent bout with congestive heart failure.  It’s wonderful to see Ev’s book travel from hand to hand, adding new links to the web of gratitude.  

The Carrot Barn identifies all the produce grown by them. Look at those potatoes!

Winter is a tough time if you’re committed to eating local food in upstate New York. Outlets shrink and most of what’s available has been stored from the fall. This is reflected in the Carrot Barn’s current offering, so I like that they have a broad spectrum of produce from other sources to complement their local offerings. You could do your weekly grocery shopping here. Everything is labeled as to origin. You know that you’re buying their potatoes or carrots – but that the asparagus and lemons have come from somewhere else. They have a fantastic selection of local pastured beef, along with local eggs, milk, and butter. And of course, potted plants and home cooked cider donuts! All this is intermingled with a well-chosen mix of cards, books, and prints of local farms.

Schoharie Valley Farms’ Carrot Barn is located on Route 30, just outside the Village of Schoharie.  They’re open daily March through December from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

They have a bakery, coffee shop, food market and greenhouse. 518-295-7139.

Against the Odds

When the first proof of my new book with Everett Rau arrived, I took it over to the nursing home to show my father. Somehow the images of early farming pierced the fog of his Alzheimer’s and he said, “I think I’m going to enjoy this.” As word spread that I had actually written a real book, members of the staff sat down and began to read – every page – and then look at me like I was a magician or alchemist. 

First order just arrived today. Can't wait to take them over to Ev!

After years of being the client, it’s been humbling to be the creator. For a year and a half, I visited Ev’s farmhouse kitchen once a week and he narrated stories of his childhood with stunning clarity. I transcribed the tapes and shaped them into stories, which he patiently reviewed. I spent a lot of time on internet research and with local newspapers to fill in gaps in his memories and to place his stories into context. Ev’s parents embraced the Brownie camera, even as they struggled to pay other bills, so we have a rich documentary history of early years on the farm.

After 96 years in a small town, Ev has an astonishing number of friends and acquaintances. Nevertheless, a book like this is destined for a small publishing audience. Though I'm used to working with teams of really smart people and fabulous designers, I decided to do the whole thing myself – from start to finish. I produced the book through CreateSpace, an on-line publishing service that prints with Indigo presses. Along the way I taught myself Photoshop, InDesign, and the gnarly world of tweaking photos for print. I learned that, among other things, I’m a lousy copyeditor – as I found a few glaring errors in what I thought was my final proof! I also gained a new appreciation for on-demand publishing . . . . No inventory. . . . No upfront costs. And experienced its limitations . . . . Every printing is different. . . . Don't they have quality control?

But though I’m a little shy of sharing the results with my exalted designer friends, I’m so happy to bring Ev’s story to the world. As a child of peripatetic parents, I’ve always been fascinated by those who choose stay in the place where they were born. In many ways Ev’s story is typical of his generation, as he dealt with the wave after wave of changes that shook the twentieth century. Yet his dogged connection to the land and ability to conceive of ambitious new projects well into his nineties is an inspiration to me and, I hope, to others as well.

Stand Tall: Against the Odds by Everett Rau and Laura Shore is available on Amazon.com and through the CreateSpace web store for $20.99. To keep the price down, I've chosen not to sell through book distributors but hope to sell directly to our local bookstores.

Are Cows Really Worse than Cars?

I was talking with a friend yesterday, who was admiring my paintings of fruits and vegetables.  His family had been cattle farmers and he mentioned a couple of things about beef that I found surprising. 1) Yale's food service claims that sourcing beef from New Zealand has a smaller carbon footprint than sourcing locally. 2) During the latest round of climate negotiations he read that giving up beef would have the biggest impact globally on climate change.

Worse than cars, I wondered? How is that possible?

I found a good post by David Suzuki that includes the source of the New Zealand idea and also explains why increasing consumption of factory farmed beef on a global scale is a dangerous trend: Food and Climate Change

I'm not a beef booster, but since switching to all-local diet in a northern climate I've come to appreciate the value of animal protein between November and May!

I guess, like anything, the real answer is, "It depends." Many farmers around here have a lot of hilly, rocky soil that has been denuded of trees for generations. Grazing is an appropriate use for the land and provides beef and lamb that is low in fat and high in nutrition. 

Factory farming, corn-fed cattle, and cheap processed foods seem to be the real culprit. They're bad for our bodies and bad for the planet. Perhaps Yale's food service could partner with regional farmers -- and as a result provide a market for sustainably raised protein? 

Showtime!

So happy that my paintings are on display at the Hive Gallery at 321 Main Street in Schoharie, NY. My produce "portraits" are a tribute to the Upstate New York farms and farmers who work so hard to supply our family with beautiful, fresh produce throughout the growing season.

The show features oil paintings, giclee prints and cards and will go through the end of July. Please stop by for the opening party on Saturday, June 27 from 1 - 4 p.m. 

10% of artist proceeds will be donated to the American Farmland Trust "No Farms No Food" campaign.

Superabundance

These days it seems we have a superabundance of everything. Too much cold in winter. Spring days that are too beautiful, because too dry. And now too much rain. In the rolling glacial plain where I live, the old farm families are leaving their land. Too many rocks. Too much work and too many worries. Fields where cattle and sheep used to graze are now covered with too many small trees and weedy shrubs in dense thickets. 

Yellow willows. ©Laura Shore 2015

This painting is from a photograph I took in New Salem in January 2011. My mother always looked to the bright yellow willows and red saplings as a sign that winter would turn to spring. I made this painting this winter in her memory.