My fraternal grandparents had a house on the Cape during my childhood. My summer memories are filled with all things Cape Cod.
So taking my little family back is a dream come true for me. We filled our days with the beach and bike rides to and fro. And our evenings were spent eating seafood and fresh veggies from the same farm I frequented with my grandmother as a child.
The Crow Farm stand has actually been selling veggies since the 1960s in its current location. Not much has changed since I was a kid.
I picked up some corn they were just bringing in from the fields. And a beautiful head of lettuce.
Then we completed the meal with a few of these …
And caught the sunset on the beach.
Thankful for farmstands and childhood memories that have withstood time. And thankful for memories in the making!
The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,571 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,327 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ
For this week’s Farm Kitchen/Get it Together Expert Level Merit Badge, I was a little wary. A little concerned. Perturbed, if you will.
Sharpen all my kitchen knives, and keep them razor sharp at all times?
Sounds terrifying.
Photo by Nóż użytkowo via Wikimedia Commons
I mean, wasn’t I the epitome of safety, the guru of precaution, the wizard of cautiousness, by keeping my knives at the blunt end of the spectrum?
Turns out … not so much.
Actually, a little note from me to you, chickadees, a sharp knife is much less dangerous than a dull one.
Guess I wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
Haha!
When I first discovered that little fact (the one about the knife, not the one about what’s between my ears), I was startled. It just didn’t make sense. But here’s the deal, peeps:
If your knife is so blunt and dull that it can’t even slice a tomato without making Grammy’s famous marinara sauce, then you’re probably going to use a lot of excess force. And excess force, however good for your forearms and biceps, is not so peachy keen when you’re chopping and dicing and slicing and peeling and julienning and etc, etc.
Photo by Knightia13 via Wikimedia Commons
Also, dull knives slip around quite a bit more (probably because they’re gleefully somersaulting away in their fiendish attempts to never mince the garlic) and that’s never a good thing either.
So, color me late to the party, but I’m here now. And guess what I brought? To our imaginary party, I mean?
Sharp knives.
I feel like a ninja.
Photo by Stéphane Gallay via Wikimedia Commons
My tomatoes are sliced to a paper-thin degree, my garlic is finely minced, my apples are quartered and peeled and diced (did somebody say pie?), my bread hasn’t been hacked to death, my roast chicken looks like it was butchered by Julia Child herself, and I am one happy camper.
I’ll never go back to those dull-as-dishwater knives again. I’m a changed woman!
If you’re interested in sharpening up your cutlery, here are a few ideas and methods to get you started on your way to culinary delight:
And hey, don’t be slow in deciding …
Chop, chop!
Today’s recipe is taken from my Glamping with MaryJane book. (Actually, in my book, my basic recipe below ends up with a host of yummy, unlikely ingredients added, but I’ll save those surprises for you until you have my book in your hands!)
And let’s not forget their partner, the homemade graham cracker, which will be part two of this recipe series next week. Don’t forget to check back.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Judith Lickteig!!!
Judith Lickteig (#3926) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning an Expert Level Herbs Merit Badge!
“This year, I am growing all my herbs in pots, which I hope to move to raised beds next year. Three new herbs I am growing are borage, catnip, and peppermint.
The borage flowers are beautiful! I’ve used the fresh flowers and new leaves in salads. Also, the flowers are a pretty blue and star-shaped. I like to freeze the flowers in ice cubes and add the cubes to lemonade or ice water. I’ve harvested some of the catmint for tea and for adding to cat toys. I’ll try to add a picture of one I made. I plan to send a photo of a cat toy and the pattern to the Wildflower Henhouse sisters. I have also included teabags of dried catmint for use as tea or to put in the toys. My son’s family uses a supply of catmint regularly as a digestive and a calming mint tea. I laughed when he told me that once, he drank so much of it that his nose became numb. Ha! I will also send the Wildflowers teabags of my dried peppermint. This is really a great tea for calming stress and insomnia. My entire family drinks it for colds or just calming.”
In our sister city of Moscow, Russia, a local charity is giving its homeless population something unusual … movie nights!
Red Square, Moscow, Russia, photo by Adam Baker via Wikimedia Commons
The Russian capital has over 6,000 homeless people on its 2010 census, but experts say that figure is actually probably 10 times larger. Andrei Besshtanko, deputy head of Moscow’s Department of Social Security, says there are now tens of thousands of homeless people in Moscow, and that only counts people who use Moscow’s official services, which are often impossible to get without an official I.D. and a place of residence.
In an effort to provide a more “mainstream experience” to the homeless, Moscow charity Friends on the Streets provided free hot meals and tea, along with a pre-film discussion of the problems facing people on the streets, at their first film. The movie was set up in a makeshift tent next to an emergency assistance center for the homeless, and the charity plans on providing more films throughout the summer.
photo by waferboard via Flickr.com
“We do our best to treat the homeless as friends, not as objects to be fed and washed,” said project coordinator Natalya Markova in an interview with The Guardian. “Their lives are hard enough as they are, and with projects like this, we try to cheer them up.”
First up was a classic Russian slapstick film, which participants chose themselves. There were about 100 people of all ages in attendance. “They probably often watched such films during [their] carefree youth or childhoods, when everything was okay,” said Markova. Filmgoers will also choose subsequent movie choices.
“For most people, there’s nothing special about going to a movie,” said Besshtanko. “But for those who have spent a year on the streets, it helps them to remember that they’re human.”
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
