I read FoodWISE (with a nice selection of paper towels used for my sheep as a setting) on being informed and making good decisions—one of which has to do with social distancing, needed now more than ever: https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/virus-taking-stronger-hold-in-us-other-populated-countries/ and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/26/more-young-people-infected-with-covid-19-as-cases-surge-globally
Category: FoodWISE ideas
Milk, cheese, ecosystem
It’s quite wonderful to milk our own sheep and make fresh milk cheese—in our animal ecosystem of sheep, chickens, cats. Our animal ecosystem (Sheep and kitty) Far right: Barred owl
Gorgeous cheese, freshest milk, “native” cultures
Gorgeous cheese—it’s cheesemaking time again! Kilele (mom of triplets, Francis, Leo, Clare) and Sufu (mom of singleton, Big Agnes) are producing beautiful milk—high in fat and protein. The milk is ripened with cultures, and some whey saved from the previous batch of cheese. Coagulant added, later cut into curds, and eventually whey separated to reheat…
Beautiful vegetables
Taking a little time from research and writing, beautiful vegetables are a must-have. if we all can agree on one thing, it’s eat more veggies! Here, cabbage and beets…other root veggies. Gentle roast, not scorch! True also for the pizza, dough from La Fiamma, mushrooms grown in our house. For more, see my FoodWISE (https://gigiberardi.com/foodwise-3/#book).
The best sautéed mushrooms and leek soup
Different vegetable dishes, but oh, so good—sautéed mushrooms and my friend’s Leek Soup. There’s umami flavors and strong garlic in each, for sure. The mushrooms were quite special—ordered from Cascadian Mushrooms (highly recommend this) and blooming in our house…then cooked in butter. The Leek soup was out of this world—gently, not overcooked, garlic and salt….
Spring lambs…regenerative farming from cheese to wool
It’s lambing season again, part of the journey of regenerative farming, from cheese to wool. And, a whole lotta love all the way around in helping it to happen. The intrepid Miel is in retirement this year, so we have Sufu, and her lamb #289 (name to be determined), born March 13 of this year,…
My favorite restaurant food (ever): Spinach Greens, Italian Greens!
Especially when I’m travelling, including staying in Italy, my favorite food to order is spinach greens (even if they’ve been frozen)—with a little olive oil, salt, and cheese (my preference: my own parmesan)…and maybe some garlic, it’s a completely satisfying meal. Recipe for “Italian greens” is on p. 184 FoodWISE!
Fiber-packed bread—coarse, home-milled flour
One sure way to have fiber-packed “real” bread (actually, fermented) is to make your own. I write about this in my book, FoodWISE, and share how I used to make (and freeze) 20 small loaves a week. I’m back to making bread, and this time with home-milled wheat berries grains (white and red wheats). I…
Shout out to ace-student and food writer Ian Lewis
Ace-student and food writer Ian Lewis has just published a story on Big Picture agroecology. You can find it here: https://www.theplanetmagazine.net/fall-22-sound/sounds-like-regrowth It addresses many of the questions in my book, FoodWISE—the same questions many of us have about how to choose the right foods for us and for the planet. Enjoy the read. Bravo, Ian….
Monastery cheeses: Trappist, Ale-washed
Branching out into monastery cheeses—with our sheep milk.* Besides the famous Bethlehem Cheese from the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut, there are a number of Trappist cheeses I am working on. this first experiment was a delight—aged with regular washings of ale, frequently turned, and resistant to the pesky cheese mites (so far). The…