Community Gardens A Must Have

if anything this dark period in world history has taught us that we are , indeed a village, We reach out to others as they have reached out to help us. People are taking it further by creating communal gardens - with social distancing. It means produce for all in the community - a blessing in these times. It is definitely an inspiration .

C,J, Chivers, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and staff writer for The New York Times Magazine wrote this interesting and inspiring article in yesterday's New York Times Food section,. The subject is dear to Mr. Chivers heart because he and his family are practicing this with their neighbors in their Rhode Island neighborhood. Their Wakefield neighborhood, a mill town, located on the state's southern coast. now has vegetable gardens, not unlike the many Victory Gardens that were planted during World War II.Mr. Chivers and his neighbors discussed planting plans at a safe distance of three to six feet apart. His neighbors' kids , the Ackroyd family,turned over the soil while he and his sons seeded potatoes in their yard. All this comes naturally to him. His father was an expert garden and fruit tree tender in upstate New York. The Chivers had abundant bounties of tomatoes and beans along with thick bouquets of dill and basil. He raised seedlings in  their kitchen then transferred them to cold frames, bottomless boxes that are set over plants to protect them from adverse weather.His plants were fertilized with still warm horse manure , brought in garbage cans in the family's Volkwagon squareback.  He even grew lush cantaloupes which  attracted a local melon thief.

This  gardening is not new to Mr. Chivers and his family. Since they 've returned from Moscow and settled in the US, they too have followed the elder Chivers' example. They have not only coaxed food from the ground but also raised and hunted turkeys sea bass,porgies and even ducks and goats. They even butchered them on butcher's table set up in their basement. They now can also harvest clams on their riverside home (they're not far from the Atlantic) along with eggs from the hens they have.Anyone can be like the Chivers family. They started with ordering seeds from catalogs, beginning with arugula and spinach, hardy greens that can withstand cool New England Springs.They also bought cilantro,parsley , turnips , radishes and peas. Neighbors bought  seed potatoes, peas and greens, Yards were sectioned off and dirt turned over.The topsoil and compost was added. Their neighborhood even had their own nurse, Dena Ackroyd, a physician's assistant who tended to kids cuts and scrapes along with worrying about her father who had the Covid 19 virus. Any neighborhood can have community gardens. Just do it with distanced coordination and Zoom meetings between the neighbors. Don't plant double crops. Have variety so there can be a healthy cornucopia of  veggies and fruits.Remember to share with your food pantry if there's overage.

This is the time for sharing. What better way than to start a garden with their neighbors. It's a sense of giving and growing, much needed in these times.

Making The Most Of Mochi

Japan is known for many tasty  treats, from the delicate crisp tempura to the flavorful  ever popular sushi. Now one of their most popular sweets, mochi is becoming a favorite. What's great about this dumpling like sweet is that they can be made at home, much like any confection.

Tejal Rao,a former food critic and contributor for the New York Times Sunday Magazine wrote about this interesting sweet for yesterday's New York Times Food section. Mochi is a street food with vendors making it fresh at their stands but it can also be bought in supermarkets too..It is a big treat during the Japanese new year Describing it is a bit hard. Imagine a soft dumpling with a sweet inside, made only of rice and beans plus a sweetener.Modern mochi makers such as Tomoko Kato, owner of  Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Patisserie Tomoko also makes  chocolate and strawberry fillings.s.An ice cream version of it first hit the States at  Los Angeles based company Mikawaya in the early Nineties where it was also pushed into major supermarket chains.  It's  kind of like a frozen bonbon with the daifuku rice dough wrapped round a sphere of ice cream.Trader Joe's pushed an all American version of it in its' stores in 2014. Theirs had a pumpkin pie filling that was just in time for Thanksgiving of  that year. There's predictions that mochi will be the next macaron.It could well be. They're all about the melding of textures instead of flavors and they're different enough here to be eye catching. Unfortunately mochi  has a short shelf life. The dough dries out after a day or two and should be eaten right away.

Another plus about them is that they're easier to make than macarons.There's no baking and timing involved, save for cooking the two layers on the stovetop. Mr. Rao includes a recipe with the article. The most difficult part is making the exterior or the daifuku rice dough.It has to be as tender and soft as a kitten's paw. Home chefs do have to buy the mochiko flour which can be had at Asia food markets or Amazon, however corn starch can be used too.Potato starch is also used , primarily to keep the dough from sticking to fingers. It's rolled out with a rolling pin into thick, flat disks, Home chefs can go traditional with a sweet bean paste or anko. Again ths requires getting azuki beans,found at Whole Foods, Albertsons and Asian food markets. After being cooked for a bit., they're then transferred to a food processor where they're pureed into a paste. That's returned to the pot where it's sweetened with sugar along with pinch of salt added. It's then poured out and spread out in a small shallow container and put into the fridge to set. The bean paste is rolled into balls between the fingers and then enrobed in the mochi dough. More hand rolling is involved and then the dough is pinched to seal it, More adventurous home chefs can try a chocolate ganache as an alternative to the anko.

Mochi is a fun treat that will sure to be the next fad.It's an easy make and fun to create. Try it for a different type of dessert.

Those Perfect Magazine Pics

Pictures of delicately frosted cakes.Stew sthat are golden brwon and laced with perfectly julienned carrots and browned onion squares. Hot cocoas topped with creamy swirls of whipped cream and sprinkled with chocolate shavings. Yes we;ve all seen them and been seducded by what;s known as food porn.These are those perfect pictures that we see in magazines and on the web. These are the photographs that seduce us into cooking and baking. We think we can recreate the same thing.Guess again.

There are usually armies helping to decorate every little rose and pearl onion. Some magazines even have thier own  decorators on call. As for those perfect dinners some of that food is plastic ,and the gravy is sugar water with coloring. Don't get me wrong .There are some magazines like the quaint TAste of Home hat actually uses real pictures submitted by real cooks.Thes ame can be said for real life blogs sich as Pioneer Woman. These are the ones I would trust the most.

What happens when your perfect dinner doesn't; live up to its' picture?If it;s for a group or party, just imrpovise. Cook extra rice or mashed potatoes along with making extra gravy ot hide the disaster. also if the taste isn;t too hit, then add an extra dash of salt.  The best idea is make a trial run and adjust the taste t the way you want it. The same for desserts. A fun idea is getting the kids to help you make the squiggles and rosesfor the cake.You can also try it on cupckes too..

Yeah, we all fall for food porn. Who wouldn't ?The problem is that what we fall for and what we try to make are two different things. If you want to make a perfect picture of the food , just practice, You may get it right,