Vegan Challenge Update: A Blackberry Binge

Is there some kind of technical glitch with this diary? (4.00 / 2)

Joanne's comment is showing up for me on the left hand side of the page (under new comments) but not when I click "Discuss" from the front page.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 13:42:36 PM UTC

Never mind, she says sheepishly (4.00 / 3)

I see that there are 2 blackberry diaries.

Blackberries around here are pink and hard. With the weird weather we've been having, there's no telling when they're actually going to ripen.

I just hope I get some before the birds do. :)

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 13:45:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You know, (4.00 / 3)

I was worried that the starlings would get all the cherries on our tree. I'm planning on eating some, but selling most of them - I still have loads of cherries from last year in the freezer.

I see that, at least as of a couple days ago, there weren't many that were bird pecked. Harold and I were talking about it and he told me there's a small hawk hunting in the front where the fruit trees are. It's bigger than a sparrow hawk, but now big enough to take a chicken, and sounds like a sharp shinned hawk - we used to have one that like to trap the starlings in the laurel hedge that used to grow where the big artichoke plant is now. I sure hope he/she catches enough to stick around....

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 14:54:21 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm seriously considering fedexing you (4.00 / 4)

some of my blueberries!!!Looks to be a bumper group this year...I will also have tons of blackberries and some wineberries..Any word on your book tour???

Are you getting enough protein??

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by: LeeN @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 16:04:09 PM UTC

Yep, I'm doing just fine :) (4.00 / 3)

Book tour - I'm posting dates for things on the site http://www.recipeforamerica.org as I figure things out. I can't remember where you're at. So far I have solid plans in PA, NY, OR, and WA. I'm trying to figure out my CA, IA, IL, WI, and LA plans, and I'm considering adding more cities but need to determine whether it'll be VT and MA or TX.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 16:37:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Considering the nature of what you're doing, (4.00 / 3)

isn't D.C. an essential visit?

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by: count @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 16:54:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It'd be great (4.00 / 2)

but I'm on a very limited budget.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 17:09:18 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

yes but (4.00 / 3)

you're soon going to be a millionaire because your book will be successful.

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by: count @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 17:56:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'd be very happy to be a thousandaire (4.00 / 3)

and it's not quite certain that's gonna happen.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 19:47:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Come to Canada! (4.00 / 4)

Perhaps you'll be so successful with this book tour that you'll have great funding for the next!

Influential, mainstream journalists in Canada that would cover this stuff would be George Stroumboulopoulos and Wendy Mesley (both of CBC).  

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by: madfoodskills @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 23:36:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Me, too! (4.00 / 1)

My not-so-well-hidden fantasy is to escape to Vancouver, BC ASAP...

:)

Coming soon to a Philadelphia near you!

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 23:46:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm near Weavers Way... (4.00 / 3)

outside Phila,,,So I will plan on seeing you on the 6th..Are u staying with Natasha?

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by: LeeN @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 17:10:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I hope to see Natasha (4.00 / 3)

and I'm talking to a friend @ Weavers Way about an event for Philly.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 19:48:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I was hoping you would say that.. (4.00 / 4)

if there's anything I can do let me know...I'm about 10 minutes away We picked the closest suburb so we could stay members. Now that I am a widow, I will probably move back to Mt Airy once I sell the house I hated moving its such an incredible neighborhood..A little My Airy history..the food coop is an institution in Mt Airy

Mt Airy is a neighborhood within the Philadelphia city limits. Its about a half an hour from downtown Philly. It was always mixed racially. But in the 60s following urban migration trends, white folks started moving to the burbs.When redlining started (see below for redlining), the Rabbi of the only synagogue  and the Pastor of one of the churches, went door to door together and asked people to not panic and move. The synagogue is still there, which is really unusual for urban synagogues to stay put as congregants moved. I once read that Mt Airy has more inter racial couples than any other neighborhood and its really gay friendly.

http://www.encyclopedia.chicag...

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by: LeeN @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 20:24:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Let me know if you want any NYC (4.00 / 2)

info or have any time to kill. I know I'm not the only Gothamite round these here parts, but I'd be happy to take you foraging in Central Park. :)

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 18:02:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

oh neat! (4.00 / 2)

I'll be hanging out w/ my publisher and w/ Eddie C while I'm there. Should have free time 8/10 during the day I think. Let's definitely keep in touch.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 19:48:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

my email's in my profile (4.00 / 2)

and I have some vacation days that would otherwise go unused. Email me as the date gets closer and we'll firm things up.

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 20:07:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

coconut milk in coffee (4.00 / 4)

The experiment of using coconut milk in coffee, for the vegan challenge, is a tale of woe. Or not. I say "or not" because, far as I know, the purpose of using milk or half-and-half in coffee is to smooth off the rough flavor edges from cheap or improperly roasted coffee. Coconut milk does this, and does not add any flavor of its own to the beverage.

I used Goya canned coconut milk, in which calories are 90% from fat. If the white part of coconut milk is essentially all coconut oil, I would think hot coffee should melt the oil and it would become practically invisible. What actually happens is that I get a grainy dispersion, as if I had used curdled dairy. Looks gnarly, but tastes OK. My verdict is mixed: if drinking black coffee is really difficult for you, and you don't mind the appearance, coconut milk might be worth a try. It's not a magic solution, however.

One reason for the grainy dispersion is that, unlike dairy, coconut "milk" isn't well emulsified, and Goya doesn't add chemical emulsifiers.

When coconut milk is allowed to sit for a while, a white layer consisting of coconut oil and water rises to the top. In my Goya sample, this is about 2/3 - 3/4 of the volume. It is coconut cream. DO NOT BUY THE GOYA PRODUCT CALLED CREAM OF COCONUT, WHICH IS NOT COCONUT CREAM. Goya coconut cream is a chemical stew based on the coconut water from the center of the coconut. Straight from the can, it resembles hard sauce, but it turns white after refrigeration. For coffee, it is a mild sweetener.

Goya cream of coconut ingredients:

coconut juice
sugar
polysorbate 60
salt
citric acid
mono and diglycerides
propylene glycol (antifreeze)
alginate
sorbitan monostearate
guar gum
locust bean gum

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by: count @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 17:54:49 PM UTC

Eww! (4.00 / 4)

Curdled milk lookalike coconut milk sounds funky indeed! :) I usually drink my coffee black (fair-trade, organic, dark and strong) so I'm no expert and I'm lactose intolerance so I've never known how good cream is in coffee! But I do use the coconut milk when I have it around to make it taste sweet, slightly coconutty, and creamy. It makes this small frothy layer on top just like an espresso has foamy layer.

I use Thai Kitchen Premium Coconut Milk. I usually get the organic version and it's ingredients are only coconut milk, water and guar gum.

What are people's feelings about coconut in general? It's saturated fat but some experts swear by it for it's weight loss properties.  

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by: madfoodskills @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 19:47:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

foamy layer (4.00 / 2)

The most I used was two teaspoons per mug. I suppose if I had used more I would have achieved a foamy layer - perhaps my appearance problem would go away if I used more? Good thought. Other experimenters take note.

I tasted the milk by itself, and the settled cream by itself, because a commenter in another thread objected to the taste. I can't discern any taste at all in the Goya brand. Although it changed the coffee flavor profile as noted, I didn't get a coconut flavor in the coffee.

Goya brand doesn't include guar gum, which might be an emulsifier (I'm not sure), which would asssist dispersion.

Saturated fat. Hmm. I know the conventional wisdom, for sure. And I'm perfectly in love with nut oils, olive oil, and other other unsaturated vegetable oils. Perhaps I can be accused of a head-in-the-sand attitude, but I am sceptical of the epidemiological evidence. Nobody did trials or studies until after hydrogenated toxins were already firmly established in our food supply, and I'm not aware of any trials that included only naturally unsaturated fats such as coconut oil, dairy, and cocoa butter.

You know that phrase "partially hydrogenated"? It's there because, in the early studies about whether to allow hydrogenated toxins into the food supply, allowing the chemical reaction to go to completion gave a product that killed people (or whatever animal test subjects were used). A decision was made arbitrarily, that is to say without substantiation, that a partially hydrogenated product would be OK. We now know that it isn't, although the government still allows it in our food.

Upshot is, i avoid trans fats like the plague it is, but I enjoy naturally saturated fats with a clear conscience, and nary a heart palpitation.

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by: count @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 21:16:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

avoiding trans fat (4.00 / 3)

The problem with avoiding trans fat is that I didn't find out about it until relatively late in life. I'm of the generation that mushed plastic bags of white goo to spread the yellow color around, during the WWII butter shortage. My mother was the world's best pie maker, and she used Crisco in the crust. Etc. Who knows how much damage I did to myself before I wised up?

I worry about that sometimes. Not much I can do about it, though.

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by: count @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 21:21:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Sorta related... (4.00 / 3)

I was talking with my mother the other day, and we got to talking about chemical exposure, in our foods and elsewhere, and she said something like - "well then again, my mother (my grandmother) has been exposed to it all her life, and she's still going strong at 85".  

I was like "true, but just think - if not, she'd probably be 200 by now!"

I sometimes think I must be distantly related to Yogi Berra, heh...

Coming soon to a Philadelphia near you!

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 21:42:48 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thai (4.00 / 2)

I went to the store intending to get that. It has disappeared, however, and now Goya is the only brand offered by that particular store.

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by: count @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 21:24:36 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thai Kitchen (4.00 / 2)

I just bought some Thai Kitchen coconut milk from a different store, $2.49 for 14 ounces. This is 120 calories per 2 ounces compared with 93 per 2 ounces for the Goya product. Guar gum is a natural emulsifier, according to the label. This can of Thai Kitchen is not liquid, and I walked home - 15 minutes at 85 degrees F.

This product is very different from the Goya one. There is no dispersion or appearance problem when it is used in coffee. Again, I don't find a coconut taste - are my taste buds beyond their expiration date?

So, you vegans and wannabe vegans, feel free to try this. You won't get a mess that tastes terrible or looks bad. The worst thing I can think of is that it won't do the job you want it to do - it is nothing like dairy milk, except that it's white. Looking at this from a chemist's perspective, it seems like you would get pretty much the same effect if you added canola or olive oil to your coffee. Don't trust my speculation, though - I've never tried that.

Speaking of olive oil, a couple of nights ago we had dinner at Woodberry Kitchen, the locavore restaurant I mentioned in another thread. They make their own wonderful ice cream in-house - for dessert, I had a rhubarb tart with the best strawberry ice cream I've ever had, and the lemon ice cream was pretty good. (Why have one dessert when you can have three?) The server said they offered olive oil ice cream for a while last year, and it was good. O Rly? I remember one time last year when I tried their red beet ice cream, and that actually was good.

What am I going to do with all this leftover coconut milk? I think I'll try making a chocolate pot de creme. If that fails, I'll use it for its God-ordained natural purpose - curry, or maybe korma.

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by: count @ Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 00:11:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

By the way, when I initially thought using coconut milk (4.00 / 2)

seemed like such a good idea? That was because I didn't know what it was.

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by: count @ Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 00:31:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Same here on the berries... (4.00 / 3)

Same here on the berries - I got all crazy after seeing all the new berries at the market on Saturday, picked up a pint each of raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries.  And a pint of cherries.  A lot to eat on my own!  Especially since I'm not usually much for fruit, except when it comes to marionberries or grapefruit.  I could live on those two things, heh...

I was also going to pick up some strawberries Saturday at the market, but realized that would be nuts.  So I passed on the strawberries last weekend. :)

Skipped the gooseberries again, too.  Still haven't tried them, but I think I will sometime over the next two weekends.  Might as well, just to try it!  I might end up loving them, who knows?

Still got asparagus up this way, I'm gonna roast some as part of dinner tonight.  

Had a quick and easy (and good!) veggie sandwich for lunch, basically just threw some of everything I had in the kitchen last night onto a roll, and took it with me for lunch today - cucumber, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, sea beans, walla walla sweet onion and some tahini on a fresh kaiser roll from an organic bakery 'round the way.  Damn, that bread smelled good!  If I wasn't lazy, I would also have chopped up a clove of fresh garlic and thrown that on, too - but I am lazy...

Having some raspberries right now.  I haven't tried a cheese-free pizza yet, think I may do that tomorrow.  Olive oil base w/ spinach, sliced tomato and mushrooms.  Don't have enough tomatoes to do a sauce (will next week!), otherwise I'd probably do a margherita-style pizza, just without the mozzarella.

Have one head (bulb?) of garlic left right now, thinking about roasting it.  I roasted a head of garlic once, and it was an epic fail.  That was years ago though, and now I think I'm ready to try again.  Heh.  I think the aforementioned roasted asparagus, along with some mashed new Yukon Gold potatoes w/ roasted garlic and maybe some emmer sounds like a good dinner for tonight? :)

Coming soon to a Philadelphia near you!

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 21:32:15 PM UTC

If you have some onions around... (4.00 / 2)

pureed deeply carmelized onions make a fantastic vegan pizza sauce. Just put a chopped onion or 2 in a thick bottomed pot with some of that Oregon olive oil and a wee pinch of salt and saute on med-low heat until they're dark brown, stirring occasionally. Takes about 20-25 minutes, but you don't have to hover as long as you don't turn up the heat too high.

You can also throw in a clove or 2 of garlic and/or 1/2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar for the last few minutes. Just don't let the garlic burn. Puree and spread on your pre-cooked dough, then top with lots of veggies (par-cooked if necessary) and put under the broiler for 5 minutes or until the veggies are starting to brown.

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 22:40:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dang! Meant to pass along this link too (4.00 / 2)

Fool-proof way to roast garlic

Since you're doing this the vegan way, my suggestions for the poaching liquid, in order:
1. soy milk; or
2. veggie broth; or
3. water

I wish I knew half what the flock of them know
Of where all the berries and other things grow,
Cranberries in bogs and raspberries on top
Of the boulder-strewn mountain, and when they will crop.
--"Blueberries" by Robert Frost

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by: wide eyed lib @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 22:53:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Oh, wow! (4.00 / 2)

Thanks!

I would have never thought about the poaching step.  I'll use water.  Last time (my epic fail), I think I just basically cut off enough to expose the cloves and roasted just like that in a pan.  Didn't bother to peel the outside, wrap in foil, or anything.  I got maybe two usable cloves' worth out of the whole thing...

I'm confident it will work for me this time. :)

Coming soon to a Philadelphia near you!

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by: JayinPortland @ Tue Jun 23, 2009 at 23:02:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What to do with all those berries? (4.00 / 3)

Berry Chocolate Brownies of course! Mine are baking in those little vintage individual casarrole dishes. I may slice them in half and make ice cream sandwiches out of them before I make the finishing berry glaze/topping {grin}

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by: nycstray @ Wed Jun 24, 2009 at 00:59:00 AM UTC