Soffritto Sister Diaries | A Fremont Garden Tasting - Chermoula

The Summer, this garden tasting, Terri's trip... it's pretty far away now, but at the same time, everywhere for me. 

I don't know when I'll see you again in person Terri, and that's what's so hard about finishing this Summer garden tasting series together today. 

I finished our video this morning after you sent me your completed blog. It was so hard and so wonderful at the same time. The true essence of the mullies isn't it? So hard to jump in but so worth it in the end. Terri's blog today was so beautiful! It made me cry... again.

AND now we are celebrating! The most anticipated garden tasting recipe is finally here! 

TERRI'S CHERMOULA! 

Thanks for being so patient with us and we sure hope this tastes as good in your kitchen as it did in our Fremont Community Garden that beautiful, hot day. Terri and I know it will be a new family table favorite!

Enjoy hopping over to Terri's delicious blog for the recipe and please feel free to tag us if you make it for your family table on Facebook or Instagram. We would love to see all the fun you're having with your beautiful food - You inspire us too!

Until we meet again, I'll be keeping up our shenanigans "on the line" - AND thank heavens for Facetime!!! #Supersunite!!!

To the mullies we go...

XoxoL

ps

Cheers to Jamie's Food Revolution for forever connecting us!!! Jamie is up in Canada this week talking to supermarkets, charities and politicians - anyone who will listen - and I'm excited about the good signs coming out of the meetings. In watching his message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, I found that he also sent a message to President Obama too! I tweeted to @JustinTrudeau yesterday directly on how I think he can help lead the North American Food Revolution -  Why not? We have nothing to lose and everything to gain... well... except for our countries' waistlines and our childrens' health -----------> JOIN US.

pps

"Everywhere" is a song I fell in love with after watching the movie "Practical Magic" back in the 90s. I bought the soundtrack and played this song over and over... Today, I believe in lots of practical magic in the kitchen. The song begins with the random quote: "Most women and children can perceive higher frequencies of sound than most men." Terri, you and I connect on another frequency and we have found BIG MAGIC together... the kind I thought only happened in the movies:) MUAH!

Soffritto Sister Diaries | A Fremont Garden Tasting - Lemon Zucchini Ribbons

 

Zucchini noodles are one of my favorite things to make and eat. And it was certainly one of the favorite dishes at our Fremont Community Garden tasting event! Garnished with garden flowers and pantry item staples from Mundelein's very own Corner Health Foods Store it was truly a work of edible art!

I hope you enjoy Terri's beautiful Lemon Zucchini Ribbon recipe today and we hope you are inspired to eat a little more from the garden each week - "More guts more glory" I say!

Feel free to tag us in your zucchini ribbon creations on Facebook or Instagram - We'd love to see what you make - it lights us up to see YOUR plates!

Zoodles up Terri!!

To the Mullies we go,
xoxoL


ps

After I bought the above zucchinis from the Prairie Farm Corps stand at the Libertyville Farmer's Market, we powered down some of dear Jared's Nomad Food Company pies today... man were they good. And the Aqua Frescas?!?!?  Pure raspberry, farm honey and lemon balm heaven in a jar.

Soffritto Sister Diaries | A Fremont Garden Tasting - Sage Sea Salt

Terri and I are so excited to begin posting alongside each other today! We'll be sharing a series of blogs about our Summer of 2016 adventures together nice and slow...

Just how we think you should cook a beautiful soffritto.

Mixing fresh herbs with sea salt was something Terri taught me a long time ago and it's simply wonderful. We hope you enjoy using this simple, beautiful technique to spice up your recipes too!

Enjoy and hop on over to my soffritto sister's blog so you can make some too!

Terri's Sage Sea Salt in a Jar

Stay tuned, there will be more recipes to come from that wonderful morning at Fremont Community Garden - Thank you again for having us Alicia!!

To the Mullies we go,
xoxoL


ps
Don't be afraid of recipes with european measurements:)
20 grams = 1.5 Tbsp
I love this handy conversion website.

The Soffritto Sisters | A Fremont Community Garden Tasting Event

These were the pictures I took last May as I shopped alongside my "Soffritto Sister," Terri Salminen at her favorite farmer's market in Amsterdam. I am so excited to pick her up at the airport TODAY.

And I'm thrilled to announce we have a super fun garden event planned this weekend! 

Terri and I will be visiting garden manager Alicia Dodd and friends at The Soffritto Sister's Garden Tasting Event (Facebook event page) on Sunday July 24th from 10:30am-12:30pm during normal volunteering hours to help inspire YOU to grow, prepare and eat your beautiful raw garden produce. 

We are keeping it SIMPLE:) Terri and I will prepare a few raw, simple and delicious recipes for you to enjoy samples, recipe ideas, cooking tips and more! What underutilized, beautiful produce and edible flowers can we inspire you to cook with? We'll be creating dishes straight out of the garden for everyone to taste - We can't wait to meet you! Our recipes will be posted on the Food Revolution Lake County Facebook Page (to save paper of course!) and also given to the community garden recipients. 

All are welcome to this FREE, kid friendly event. 

The Fremont Township Community Garden is a multi-functional garden space that provides produce to the township food pantry clients and low income seniors and provides opportunities for enjoyment and learning for the entire community. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to cook at the garden! For more information on volunteering opportunities with the garden manager Alicia Dodd (she is INCREDIBLE!) or anything else, visit www.fremontgarden.org and/or their Facebook page here.

I can't wait for our Summer 2016 adventure in Lake County to begin! Local farmer's markets WATCH OUT... Our plan is to shop for good local food and cook our little fannies off together! (Hmmmm I think I better delete some content off my phone to make room for all the pics and videos we're going to take!)

And Terri, I'm kinda sad you won't have to push me around everywhere this time:) But thanks to the inspiration you gave me in the Netherlands, we will have our own BIKES to get around on this Summer!!!!

Vroom vroom.

To the mullies we go...

xoxoL

inspiring eaters at dakotah's indoor farmer's market

i had some major butterflies in my stomach last week.  for i jumped out of my kitchen for the first time and got my feet wet cooking with induction while talking to strangers.  with a successful peterson garden project's cooking class under my belt + a night of cooking greens on my new portable induction cooktop, i was ready to take another 1st step and cook up some vege inspiration at dakotah's indoor farmers market!

do you like to eat sautéed greens? 

my kids & chris would still say "not reeaaaaally" (but i make them eat a few bites anyway).  i cooked up 5 rounds of sautéed greens last saturday and i'll be cooking up even more next weekend for dakota's farmer's market shoppers.  

so how did it go?  the majority of the market goers were definitely wary... but after they tried one bite, everyone finished their cup!  NOT.A.ONE threw the rest out!  (and i gave them the a-ok to toss it if they didn't like it!)  i turned a ton of people ON to these delicious lovelies and i felt like i won the lottery each time.  i brought 100 recipe cards and only brought 5 cards back home!  my favorite moment was when a mother daughter pair approached and the mother said, "oh, she'll ever try that, she hates greens." perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps a little out of defiance, the 18 year old picked a cup up, took a tiny bite and said,  "this is not terrible... wow.  ok, now don't get me wrong, i'm not going to eat an entire plate of this, but i can do this amount!"  and she finished the cup.  the mom took a recipe card home and i'm crossing my fingers they might cook it up together again soon.

one step, one bite, one new recipe to work into the kitchen mix per week.  a perfect place to bring the 52 new foods cookbook and talk about cooking and eating better together in the food revolution!

the village homesteading mundelein group runs our fremont township community garden and there are a ton of greens and other produce still available and getting sent to our lake county food pantries. since the broccoli, brussel sprout, kale and turnip greens harvest is abundant (and not as popular at the pantries), i get to cook these lovelies up and inspire people to eat them!  

it's my new saturday hangout while chris takes the kids to ymca basketball games all morning (yes, he coaches all three of their teams).  sports + real food = team shifdog.

dakatah, you've cooked up something wonderful for our fair town and i'm thrilled to be gathering with you and the other wonderful vendors and community members to help #growmundelein.   

to the mullies with sauteed greens + bbq

1 T olive oil or coconut oil

1 onion sliced thin

2 garlic cloves sliced thin

1/2+ c vegetable stock

1 lb washed greens (kale, collard, broccoli, brussel sprout, turnip, beet, spinach, rainbow chard...)

splash of apple cider vinegar

sea salt & pepper

BBQ sauce (make your own or buy one like holcomb hollow's with clean ingredients!)

Optional additions:

1 can cannillini or white beans

nitrate/antibiotic free bacon or sausage

tomatoes

mushrooms

sesame seeds (pair with a korean bbq!)

red pepper fakes

honey

be creative and add in your own with gumption!

remove middle stem/rib from greens.  dice stems like celery.  heat oil over medium heat and add ribs + onion.  sauté until onions become translucent and begin to caramelize (5-7 min).  add garlic and sauté for another min until fragrant (add tomatoes and/or mushroom here too.  sauté until juices have released).  add greens + stock + s&p and cover pan.  turn occasionally and cook for 5-15 minutes depending on toughness of greens (kale, collard, broccoli and brussel sprout greens take 5-10 additional minutes to wilt, so add these first before the more tender greens like spinach, chard, beet and turnip).  once all greens are wilted and still vibrant in color, add a splash of apple cider vinegar and stir to incorporate.  season to taste.  adding meat?  cook meat first in pan, then set aside and follow recipe.  need a bean fix?  add last, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for additional 5 minutes. plate with your favorite bbq sauce and dig in.  use local/organic ingredients whenever possible:)

i super love my new mobile cooking toy!!

xoxoL

community garden gathering - prosser career academy

jennifer spitz answers a question during the post screening discussion.

i attended a prosser career academy high school foot patriots screening on friday!  over 200 international baccalaureate program students filled the auditorium for an ecology club community garden presentation, food patriots screening, chipolte luncheon and discussion.  i tell you what, there is nothing better than feeling more inspired and more educated than when you arrived... i run after that.

prosser's staff and students simply blew.me.away.  it was amazing to watch the evolution of their garden project that started with the food patriots student engagement program.  after going through the program a year ago with her students, marnie ware, a food patriot and biology teacher at prosser, took the bull by the horns and began creating something truly special with her prosser team.  it takes a TON of work, a true gathering of do'ers to bring these inspired ideas into reality.  students' real food brainstorming and the collective desire to change school food started a groundswell of food education and activism.  here is their video which was created a year ago:  after climbing a fence into a vacant soccer field, students voiced their hopes and dreams of a community garden into film and these "seeds" will now be taking root just a few weeks from today!

my jaw is still on the floor.

i hope you take the time to read marni's amazing blog post... i adore her every.single.word.  

i am learning so much about the good food movement in chicagoland.  will allen of growing power visited prosser a few weeks ago.  growing power's vision is to "inspire communities to build sustainable food systems that are equitable and ecologically sound, to create a just world, one food-secure community at a time".  he spoke to the students, congratulated them on their amazing project and shared how gp's organically grown carrots will be used by chicago public schools (cps) this year - how incredible is that?!

two year ago, i was not aware of these programs.   "real food", "food systems", "gardens" and "groundswells" were words that swirled around me without connection.  a whole new universe has opened up to me and i could not be more excited and grateful to be a part of the food revolution going on all around me.  the journey that began with my family's real food change is ever evolving... grow baby grow.

huge thanks to jennifer, jeff, marnie and the other prosser staff members for filling my brain and heart with such insightful and powerful sparks that have become a part of me.  your school and energy lit.me.up and i feel so fortunate to have met prosser's food patriots.  i can't wait to come back and get your dirt under my fingernails!

little do my kiddos know, but we'll be volunteering this spring, summer and fall to help cultivate our fremont township's community garden.  i can't hardly wait!

happy monday everyone... it's gonna be 50 DEGREES TODAY!!!!

melt.snow.melt

we have some gardens to grow!

xoxo



ps

i made this rockin recipe on saturday and it blew my husband back to his beloved ireland.  i'm having leftovers for lunch today:)

make it:  guiness stew with dumplings

mullies notes:
subbed a gluten free dark lager for the guinness
used organic, grassfed beef
subbed gf flour
omitted cheese