Deborah Madison and "duty fruit"

The presentations at the International Association of Culinary Professionals were good to the last drop. On Saturday morning, Deborah Madison (founding chef of my favorite restaurant, Greens, and author of eleven books) led a discussion with Anthony Boutard, owner of Ayers Creek Farm in Oregon, who grows amazing fruit and produce.

Deborah painted a vivid picture of the problem with much grocery-store produce, shipped hard and underripe:

I watch people at the grocery store buying fruit and they never bring it to their nose. They never smell it, just pop it into the plastic bag. It's duty fruit. The government told us we should eat so many portions. It's not because it's a a wonderful, senuous experience.

Anthony talked about how taste varies so much from person to person:

Loganberry: people love it or hate it. You can see it in their faces when they taste them. It's the acidity. The best fruit has the acidity up front.

Kids love acidity; it sparkles in their mouths.

So try giving your kids loganberries, tomatoes, and other acid foods instead of Smarties and Sourballs.

If you want a jumpstart on making your summer as wonderful and senuous as possible, check out Deborah's new book: Seasonal Fruit Desserts from Orchard, Farm and Market. She said she'd considered calling it "Desserts for the Pastry-Impaired." The photos are inspiring and I'm sure that the recipes are as clear and rewarding as in all her previous books. Seasonal Fruit Desserts would be a great Mothers' Day present for a baking mom.

Talking with high-school seniors in Fairfield Iowa

I promised you more on my amazing day in Fairfield, Iowa. Until I got there, I didn't really understand why Steve Boss kept saying, "We've got so much to show you!" But this small, rural town is home to many practitioners of Transcendental Mediation. Driving through the main streets, you'll see many restaurants and stores supporting a sustainable lifestyle. After a delicious lunch at Revelations Cafe and Bookstore, my guide Rose took me to speak to a class of high-school seniors about thrifty, healthy eating away from home and about the options available in life.

What a terrific class! About a dozen healthy, slim young women greeted me at the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment. While their green plaid uniform skirts and the girls-only class reminded me of Catholic high school, the open windows and encouraging quotes on the wall seemed to encourage creativity and exploration. No nuns with rulers! On the way out, they gave me a bag of fresh salad greens from their local CSA.

The community greatly prefers to cook all food fresh, so my Cook for Good style of cooking ahead and making "planned overs" didn't appeal to them. But the rest of the concepts did, and discussed how all the Cook for Good recipes could be made in smaller quantities and eaten the same day. It just takes more time. And as one young lady said, "If it's the choice between eating at MacBurger or eating beans I cooked yesterday, I'll go with the beans."

West Coast at Last!

I'm in Portland now, ironically installed at the Hotel Deluxe, an Art Deco masterpiece that was cheaper for the first night here than the hotel for the IACP conference. I couldn't bring myself to ask the uniformed bellhop to tote my portable kitchen up the lobby stairs, so we had room service last night: delicious but expensive mac & cheese, pretty much the only vegetarian choice and probably intended for the children's menu. My first intended career out of college was to write articles and books about architecture, so staying in old restored hotels is a special thrill. Bertie Wooster and his butler Jeeves would be right at home here, and I bet Jeeves would have negotiated an even better price than I found through TripAdvisor.

In a few hours, I'm going to do a video interview with Andy Fisher, the Executive Director of the Community Food Security Coalition. The CFSC is the major beneficiary of this tour, so I'm eager to hear the latest news from this group of nearly 300 anti-hunger and pro-sustainability organizations.

Great fun & food at sold-out class in Fairfield, Iowa

The most intense class on this tour so far has also been the most fun. Steve Boss convinced me to do an actual cooking class with recipe samples for an evening at the At Home Store in Fairfield -- and I'm so glad he did! We made Double Asparagus Pasta, Spicy Peanut Sauce with Spring Vegetables, and Pears with Cinnamon-Yogurt Sauce. With Steve's great addition of a lentil salad and an appetizer of walnuts and raisins, we made dinner for 25. Since this was a Slow Food event in a community already sold on fresh, seasonal food, the menu featured restaurant-quality dishes you can make quickly on a budget.

One of my favorite comments came from At Home's owner, Rosie: "I expected the food to be starchy and sort of boring, given the budget. But it was so light and delicious. Full of vegetables and fruit!"

Ryan, who runs a local CSA, provided all the amazing local veggies and also good information during the class. Afterward, he asked me about the percentage of the Cook for Good budget that goes to fruit and veg (more than 1/3). He concluded that the Cook for Good budget would work for his CSA subscribers ... great news!

Tomorrow, I'll tell you more about Fairfield, including my talk to a group of high-school seniors. But for tonight, thanks to Steve, Rosie, Ryan, and all the great folks in Fairfield.

Teaching outdoors in beautiful Urbana

Urbana-Champain? Champain-Urbana? One of the participants in my class at the Common Ground Food Co-op told me folks say it either way, but that Chambana covers it all. We had about 10 people on a gorgeous spring day outside the co-op. I was a little concerned about the distractions from the fire station across the street and the occasional Harley in the parking lot, but all went very well. What a delight to be outside talking about delicious food with such a lively group.

A question came up about freezing food as it does in nearly every class. If that's a question you have too, please check out my freezing food primer on the site.

The Common Ground Food Co-op is in a bright & airy space, with spring-green walls and colorful displays of produce and bulk goods. Just eighteen months ago, they were in a church basement on campus, with irregular hours and limited parking. Front End Manager Rachel Hess told me how far the co-op had come in a short time, with regular hours, plenty of parking in lovely Lincoln Square Village, and record-breaking sales month after month ... even through the winter!

What sets Common Ground apart? Rachel told me she is especially happy about the partnership they have with local farmers. The farmers' market is in their parking lot every Saturday. The co-op opens at 7 a.m. so folks can get coffee and use the bathrooms. "A farmer who runs out of basil will tell customers, 'I sold a bunch to Common Ground yesterday. Go on inside and get some.'" She's also glad that, being in a university town, they get a fresh crop of customers every year to introduce to the joys of fresh and healthy eating.

I felt right at home in Chambana and knew it would be a great place to live after following Rachel's advice to get dinner at Mas Amigos. Excellent Mexican food with great service and lively music. I hope to come back soon.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the magical time we had in Fairfield, Iowa, and about today's adventures in Denver.

Sustainable Urbana

I'm looking forward to the Cook for Good in 20 Minutes a Day class tonight at Common Ground Food Co-op in Urbana, Illinois at 6:30.

Before then, I'm going to check out all the terrific local businesses here in Urbana-Champaign. Local magazine Community Concierge ran a terrific article about the local support for independent businesses, particularly arts-related ones: Vitality at the City Square.

I love seasonal cooking and I love towns and cities with distinctive personalities!

Tour heat up! and Anna's on board!

Events are firming up for the rest of the trip! I'll be doing two classes at the People's Co-op in Portland on April 20th and three days of classes and talks in Sacramento. See the main tour page for details.

It's all coming together in part because of my terrific new editorial assistant, Anna Ferguson. She started Friday night, just as she moved to the Triangle area and just as I was leaving on the tour. She's only been here for two days and already making a difference. Welcome aboard, Anna!

Small but enthusiastic class in Lexington, KY

And when I say small, I mean small! But Janet and I had a great time and she said she learned a lot, even though she's already a cook who's not afraid to spend an hour making a good dinner.

The Good Foods Market & Cafe was a very polished and well-stocked co-op, more on the Whole Foods end of the shopping spectrum. They have a terrific hot bar and salad bar.

Great event at Hendersonville Community Co-op

What a great first stop on the western part of the Cook for Good Coast-to-Coast Tour. About 20 people gathered in the charming warehouse/classroom at the Hendersonville Community Co-op for Cook for Good in 20 Minutes a Day. Folks at the co-op set up about a quarter of the warehouse as a classroom and community area with art, colorful posters, and good chairs. After the class, co-op manager Gretchen took me on a tour, showing me the Preserve recycled products made in part from category 5 plastics, such as yogurt cups, that the co-op collects and ships to Preserve at its own expense.

Ryan and his crew in the deli there made us a delicious and colorful lunch: beet salad, potato salad, and a black-eyed pea salad. Made friends with Lynne at the cash register, whose 19-year-old son works at the co-op too. Lynne said her son had been coming to the co-op since he was about 4. What a warm place!

Gretchen invited me back to do more classes, so I'm looking forward to coming back to Hendersonville often!

March prices and spring cleaning

The March prices for the Cook for Good thrifty and green menu plans are up on the website now. The "current" menus and shopping lists are now for spring. Great to see the green prices drop and the thrifty prices rise just a little.

A cooking radio show

I'm listening to Steve Boss and Dylan prepping for his Great Taste cooking radio show just before we go on the air:

"Will the couscous be crispy?"
"Not in that broth."

"Sautee more garlic!"

... later after the show...

What fun! Dylan cooked during the radio show, so there was sizzling and tasting as delicious background music. Steve even sent me a picture of the food, so I've got all the senses going except taste!

Judy Kingsbury, the Savvy Vegetarian, joined us. She shared her adventures in researching the nutritional value of agave.

I'm really looking forward to meeting them all in Fairfield on April 15th.

Open discussion of newsletter.

Open comments on today's newsletter:

Check out the new video on making yogurt, get the new Cook for Good Year Round ebook, find out the latest on the Cook for Good Coast-to-Coast Tour, and make the most of a seasonal treat with the recipe for Double Asparagus Pasta.

Great tour kickoff in Wilmington!

Gorgeous weather, enthusiastic classes, and the friendly folks at Tidal Creek Co-op made the Cook for Good Coast-to-Coast Tour Kickoff in Wilmington a rousing success on Saturday.

Special thanks to Claire Hosmann, Producer/Reporter for WECT Wilmington (Channel 6), who filmed the first class. She also interviewed Cook for Good fan Carol Moore, who came from Goldsboro with her husband for the class (!). See Claire's story here: Eating healthy can be affordable and help local economy.

BTW, the "asparagus tea" in the story is made by steeping the split, woody ends of asparagus in hot milk, then used to make asparagus quiche or pasta sauce. It might be good just served in a tea cup with a sliver of lemon and a few crumpets, but that's not my intention.

Looking forward to the next tour stop, Hendersonville, NC!