New URL!

Hurray! We are now located at www.fieldtofoodie.com, thanks to my amazing sister. : )

National Pancake Day

It's National Pancake Day today! Go get some FREE pancakes at your local IHOP.

My latest try at the Apple Swan

This one came out a little better than my first, but I think I need a larger apple because I can only get 3 wing sections instead of 4.

"Like A Sit Down Restaurant Burger"

I saw this sign at a Hardee's across the street from where I was...

How to Peel a Potato without a Peeler

Cheese Class

Dear Foodies,

Are you tired of eating American "Cheese"? I sure hope so. In fact I hope you've never had the stuff. Did you ever notice how it says "CHEESE PRODUCT" right there on the bottom of the pack?

Actually American Cheese used to be real cheese. It was a blend of Colby and Cheddar cheeses. But now, it's made of... well I can't really find out ; ) I wonder why not...

Anyway, the real reason I'm writing about cheese is, FieldtoFoodie is hosting their first ever class on, you guessed it CHEESE MAKING!!!

The class will be taught by Janet Hurst. Janet is a certified cheese maker through the University of Vermont's Institute of Artisan Cheese. She has studied cheese making in Canada and Israel, too. Her other "claim to fame" is writing. She is a frequent contributor to the Dairy Goat Journal magazine, has had articles published in Mother Earth News, Mary Jane's Farm, Countryside, the Ozark Mountaineer, Inside Columbia as well as other regional and national publications. Janet is now working on a book to by published by Voyageur Press in 2011. This work will focus on interviews with cheese makers across the United States and then recipes for the home cheese-maker.

The overall cost for the class is $100 dollars. For some of you, this may seem to be a lot. But think of the things you will be learning! This is how the sessions break down; The first session is background info and Janet will demonstrate a basic goat cheese, Session 2: Students make the same cheese, a basic goat cheese; Session 3 students make a bloomy rind; Session 4, students make a cheddar or Colby and Session 5 Students make mozzarella.

All this, and you leave the class with printed materials, a thermometer, 2 molds and cheese cloth. So you can walk right out of the class, and start making cheese!

The class will probably be in late April or early May, but even so, I need to hear from you as soon as possible. Shoot me an email @ benjaminserven@gmail.com and put in your reservation for a space in the class. Make sure to tell your friends who might be interested in this class.

Can't wait to here from you!

Benjamin Serven, Foodie

Sugar: The Bane of American Society

Hi Ben,

Do you happen to know the differences and harms/benefits of the various sugars and sweeteners (e.g. high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, honey, fructose, evaporated cane juice, etc.)?

--Seth

Seth,

Great question!

I'll try to answer as best I can.

White (or table) Sugar

White Sugar is the bane of American Society!

Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar just makes you feel better, because it looks healthier.

Corn Syrup

Is in Everything! Soda, Salad dressing, bagels, salsa(sometime), bread, syrup

High Fructose Corn Syrup

This too!

Honey

Honey can be good, but what makes it better is if it is...

Raw Honey

Raw Honey! It loses many of its healthful properties if pasteurized or heated.

Fructose

is one of the most basic sugar forms. found in fruits and vegetables and honey

Glucose

Grape sugar, bloodsugar, corn sugar

Stevia

Is a south african herb. wonderful for those especially intolerant to sugar. You have to use less, but the level of sweetness is much higher.

There are actually about 5 other types of sugars that I know of, but I don't know much about them. Research here we come! : ) I hope these few bits of info are helpful!

Make an Apple Swan

I tried to do this in the center of a platter of grapefruit. My swan didn't come out half so well though...

FDA Agents Invade Amish Farm in PA

Kinzers, PA - At 9:40 a.m. last Thursday, February 4, only a few miles from the scene of the Nickel Mines Amish massacre of 2006, another drama against the Amish began as agents of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came onto the property of Amish farmer Dan Allgyer, without permission, claiming to be conducting an investigation. Agents Joshua Schafer and Deborah Haney, from the Delaware FDA office, drove past Allgyer's "No Trespassing" signs and up his driveway almost to his barn, where Allgyer happened to be outside. Allgyer approached the car, the agents got out and Allgyer asked them why they were there. They produced a piece of paper, asked Allgyer if he was Dan Allgyer, which Allgyer confirmed, asked him his middle initial and phone number, entered the information on the paper, told Allgyer they were there to do an inspection and started reading the paper to him, saying it gave them jurisdiction to be there.

The agents - Schafer did most of the talking - said they had a right to be there because "you produce food for human consumption." Dan asked why they believed that and they said, "Well, you have cows. You cannot be consuming all the milk you produce." They further stated, "If you get a milk truck in to move all this milk you sell milk to the public, therefore we have jurisdiction."

Dan said, "This is a private farm, I do not sell anything to the public."

As they continued to harass him about doing an inspection, Allgyer said, "You can sit in your car. I will call my lawyer." The agents remained standing.

Allgyer called his attorney who advised him to have the agents call him. When Allgyer told them to call his attorney Schafer replied, "You are the owner and you have to speak for yourself."

They pressed him to talk and Schafer asked, "Are you refusing us an investigation? Allgyer replied, "That's not what I'm saying." They kept repeating, "Are you refusing an investigation?"

Allgyer kept saying, "Call this guy" - meaning his attorney.

Allgyer said they must have asked him six times.

One of them said, "Even if you do not say so, you are still refusing an investigation."

Eventually Schafer said, "If you refuse an investigation will you answer some questions?"

Allgyer said, "I'd rather not."

When the agents continued to push him Dan said, "Is that a question?

Sheepishly, they said. 'Yes."

Read the rest of this crazy story here.

Orange Peels?

Did you know orange peels are great fire starters? Find out why here, and find out a few other things that you probably didn't know about orange peels.

The Makers Diet: "Organisms R' Us"

"The soil across the North American continent was exceedingly rich in bacteria and other organisms for thousands of years, and every civilization it supported enjoyed the bounty it produced. After World War II, however, these natural soil organisms were displaced as a result of chemical farming and pesticide usage by commercial agribusiness.

Years ago, the food we harvested from the field was covered with beneficial microorganisms that "became part of us" when we ate the produce. Today, America's soil is essentially sterile. Pesticides and herbicides are believed to be the "total solution" in the natural world. They kill virtually every microorganism they touch, much as our overuse of medical antibiotics has reduced the humans gut into a burned-out minefield, destroying the good guys along with the bad guys.

As we have stated, most people aren't exposed to large enough quantities of microorganisms from our soil, dust, air, water, and foods to achieve optimal health on a daily basis. One exception might be veterinarians who specialize in treating large animals. It is estimated they take in large amounts of microorganisms and animal dung involuntarily (primarily though the lungs) when exposed to large herd of livestock.

One veterinarian in the Midwest spends most of his time tending large herds of livestock--on-site in the barns, feeding areas, and fields. Hies associate noticed he was virtually impervious to the usual strains of E coli and other contaminants in old food and even "chemistry accidents" in the clinic refrigerator. His immune system was like iron, and he very rarely suffered from colds or the usual respiratory complaints, conceivable from his exposure to a wide variety of microorganisms.

For most of us, however, our overly sterile environment, which has virtually severed our healthy relationship to the earth, is seriously weakening our immune systems. And the sterility of our foods isn't helping our immune systems either. We have learned to increase "shelf life" by irradiating or chemically treating our produce and prepared foods to kill microorganisms. These modern, high-tech processing methods used by food manufacturers remove and destroy man of the most important life-giving nutrients in our food."

Garden Plans

Dear Foodies,

On my list of things to do for today, my Mom wrote, "Plan the Garden". It's that time of year...

What am I planting in my family's garden?

Well, seeing that its me planning this puppy, the following:

Herbs

1. Basil

2. Marjoram

3. Catnip (Don't really know why...)

Greens

1. Spinach

2. Arugula (I love this stuff!)

Root Vegetables

1. Onion (One of my favorite vegetables : )

2. Beet

3. Radish

4. Carrots

Peppers

1. Orange Bell

2. Donkey Ear

Vines

1. Rattle Snake Watermelon

2. Snow Pea

3. Armenian Cucumber

4. Lemon Cucumber (These are really good for juggling : )

Tomatoes

1. Big Italian

2. Baylor Paste

3. Red Zebra

We already have existing black berry (thorns and thornless) and blue berry bushes. They are just a little out of control, but that's going to change this year... : )

How about you? Do you have special veggies that you always plant? Anything I'm missing that you think I should have?

Dr. Mercola on Bread

How to Bone a Chicken: Martin Yan