Go Green - In the Kitchen

I admit from the start that I am a fan of the environmental movement. I'm pretty good about the little things - like using the right light bulbs, reusing whatever I can (i.e. the Sunday comics are my favorite wrapping paper), learning more about my own carbon foot print and investing in companies that are looking for alternative energy sources (thanks to my ultra green husband). My early teachers were the Silha family - the head of household being the publisher of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune. It was good for business and good for the environment. In the early 70's, before recycling was in vogue, they taught me to save my old newspapers for the recycle bin. Education played a big part in my commitment, as it does with most efforts to change behavior. So I'd like to do my part now, and help educate others about simple ways to help our planet. Here's to going green in my favorite room of the house.... the kitchen.

Richard Ehrlich's "The Green Kitchen" provides techniques and recipes for cutting energy use, saving money and reducing waste. Here's just a few examples:
1. Use plastic containers and avoid aluminum and plastic wrap whenever possible.
2. Cook for multiple meals (freeze the "leftovers" if you don't want to eat the same thing twice in a week)
3. Compost your kitchen food waste. Here's the best system I know for a reasonable price:
http://www.amazon.com/All-Seasons-Indoor-Composter-Bokashi/dp/B000TKHJAU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1264368145&sr=8-1-catcorr. It's easy, odor free, improves your garden and helps the environment. (Should I mention I work for the company that sells the product?)

Any green kitchen tips of your own? I'd love to hear. We can all go green together.

Wise Women Buy Holiday Hams

It was fitting last week, on January 6, Epiphany, that we finished our holiday ham -- FINALLY. It fed my family and guests for several weeks, with little effort and lots of taste. We had cold ham sandwiches on egg rolls, four-cheese macaroni and ham, grilled ham and manchego cheese on pumpernickel bread (yum!), Navy beans and ham, and bean soup (seasoned with the ham hock). I felt quite smug as I dreamed up yet another way to serve the same old thing again and again.

Epiphany is about offering gifts. Only this time, it was a wise woman who had trudged over to the Honey-Baked Ham store to buy it for me the week of Christmas. Thank you sister Susan! In return, I offer my all-time favorite soup recipe to you, starring - what else - ham. Don't wait for a holiday, though. Serve it to your friends anytime. They'll think you wise and wonderful.

Parkway 600 Wild Rice Soup
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup flour
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
3 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup ham, julienne
1 cup carrots, julienne
1/4 teas. salt
1 teas. white pepper
1/2 teas. curry
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 cup half & half
Cook onions and celery in butter until tender. Add flour slowly to make a roux. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Combine liquids and slowly add to flour mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Cook 30 minutes.

Our Histories Unfold Around the Table

"It's true. Dining tables are part of history." Deep in the heart of The Lacuna (Barbara Kingsolver's latest epic tale), this sentence jumps off the page at me. In the novel, the history unfolding around the table was luminous - Leon Trotsky and Frida Kahlo Rivera discussing the plight of the common people. But history unfolds around simple lives as well, as families and friends gather around dining tables all over the world to share events of the day and forge a connection with each other. Who's to say which one impacts history most?

It is the dining table that draws me to the kitchen. I want to entice people to come together - and food is my favorite way to do so. This holiday was no exception. It has been a holiday filled with conversations, with love and laughter and a bouquet of food and drink - all culminating around the dining table. I am indeed a lucky girl - reflecting on my own history as one year ends and another begins.

So what recipe can I share that reminds me of this time? It could be something fancy and festive to match the significance of the year's end. But I'm a meat and potatoes girl I believe. So I'll stick with the basics. Who doesn't like mashed potatoes? It's a challenge, though, to prepare them for a dozen guests, right before the meal. This has become a family favorite for big holidays - prepared the day before, ready to pop in the oven. One of my daughter's requests. So it will become a part of her history too.

Mashed Potato Casserole (adapted from Southern Living, years ago)
3 lbs. potatoes
1/2 cup melted butter
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 teas. salt
1/4 cup milk (or more, to make the potatoes good and creamy)
Cook, peel and mash the potatoes, adding the butter, cream cheese, sour cream and milk for smooth consistency. Add salt. Put in 9" X 13" casserole dish. Cook at 350° for 45 minutes. Enjoy.