This is an actual recipe from an actual book. A friend of mine from the Oregon Extension Women’s Studies May Term found this recipe in our cabin the year I was a student there. It proved to be an excellent piece of performance poetry.

Enjoy reading it.

If you decide to make it, I hope you enjoy that, too.

Pork Cake

From the Willing Workers of the Oskaloosa Christian School Treasured Recipes Cookbook.

1 lb. ground pork (75-80% lean)

3 c. sugar

1 c. coffee

tsp. soda dissolved in coffee

1 large tsp baking powder

1 large pinch of salt

3 ½ to 4 c sifted flour

1 ½ c nutmeats

1 lb raisins

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cloves

Mix all together and bake in tube pan, bundt pan, or 2 loaves.  Bake according to directions for fruit cake that comes with your stove.

There is a certain paradox in my kitchen. One is that, despite my strong local food convictions, sometimes I make assemblage recipes. And, boy, are they good.

After Christmas, I had a lot of marshmallows. I also had leftover s’more supplies from our fall adventure to the South. And the chocolate bars had a certain recipe that I had considered trying.

Last weekend I tried them and determined that these should probably be made illegal unless one plans on sharing them with others–preferably a large group. I actually stood over the pan with a spoon and it was there that I determined the illegality of this concoction. (Justin was gone for the weekend.) I did decide to take them to work and my colleagues loved them.

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2-3/4 C. sugar (I recommend using the smaller amount, though the original recipe calls for the larger amount.)

1 egg

1 t. vanilla extract

1 1/3 C. whole wheat pastry flour (or white flour, but you can boast about the nutritional density if you use whole wheat)

3/4 C. graham cracker crumbs

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

5 Hershey’s chocolate bars, preferably Special Dark (or even better chocolate, about 7.5 oz.)

3 C. mini marshmallows

Heat the oven to 350. Butter an 8″ square pan.

Beat buter and sugar until well blended in a large bowl. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking power and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Press half of the dough into the prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

Arrange the unwrapped (duh!) chocolate bars over the baked layer, breaking as needed to fit. Sprinkle with marshmallows; scatter bits of remaining dough over marshmallows, forming the top layer. Bake 10-15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. (Or not.) Cut into bars if you want to do things right.

I’m not posting much in January because I’m teaching an intensive course at Calvin College.

I’m teaching about food, of course, and I’m really thankful that I am because as I continue to review the material–books, films, essays–I’m reminded why I’m so committed to the issue of local food. Why does local food matter to me? Because people and communities matter. And the lives of our communities are highly influenced by whatever food culture we have.

We watch a number of documentaries in the class, including The Real Dirt on Farmer John, the story of Farmer John Peterson and the CSA Angelic Organics.

Students write reflections on two of the four films (their choice) and I was particularly touched by Elizabeth Clousing’s. I’m reprinting her reflection here–with her permission, of course. I hope you find it as encouraging and inspiring as I have. (It’s also a little sad.)

Reflection on The Real Dirt on Farmer John

This film had many of the same ideas we have been reading about and discussing in class. One of the main ideas shared in both this film and class is the importance of the CSA. Eat Well really focused on how being a part of the CSA can be beneficial to both parties involved. Simply reading about how a CSA farm works would not have given me the amount of understanding I now have. Seeing it played out in a film was very helpful. It was great to watch all the city people start to realize the amount of work that goes into their food. I think they really came to appreciate good quality food and how much work goes into it.

This film had many ups and downs scattered throughout it. For me, the most hopeful part of the film was seeing the interns enjoy everything the farm had to offer. It may seem crazy to most people to become a farm intern and live on the land in a hippie sort of life style, but watching them brought me a lot of joy. It’s not for everyone, but I would really enjoy doing something like this. I think it’s very important to have some connection to the land and know where everything you’re putting in your body came from. Having the interns on the farm reminded John of how things used to be back when he was in college. It brought me joy to see art, music, and the connection with the land combine together. Both the interns and people from the 60’s seemed to live in harmony with each other and the land, leaving behind their busy lives and all the problems that accompanied them. I realize this style of living can not go on forever but I have some desire for it. I have a desire to feel more connected to the land I live on along with being able to express this connection through art and music.

There was a scene in this movie that showed a man talking about how small family farms were disappearing. Speaking only a few sentences about this nearly brought him to tears. I hate to admit it, but watching him struggle through talking about this almost made me cry. This man reminded me of my hard-working grandpa. Although my grandpa only made it through the eighth grade, he is one of the wisest people I know. He grew up in the Netherlands and quit school to work on the farm in order to produce enough food for the rest of the members in his family. He started his own dairy farm in New York after moving to America. The farm is still there today, and is now owned by my uncle. All of the cows had to be sold because they could not make enough money. Big companies have left many of the surrounding farms vacant. These were all of my grandpa’s friends who were almost like family. I had even met and talked to some of these farmers. My mother tells stories about shaking hands on Sunday mornings. Most farmers had lost a few digits as a result of farming accidents. Thinking about these things on more of a personal level really makes you realize the importance of supporting small farms.

I have seen my grandpa speak of the farm as this old man did in the movie. There is so much passion and longing behind both of their eyes. I wanted to hear more after this film. I had a desire to learn more about the types of things my grandpa grew and raised. After class was over, I walked to my grandpa’s apartment and he told me many stories and was very excited I was a part of a class like this. He has always talked about how sad it is that kids these days don’t even know what tomato plant looks like. At the center of all of these stories was hard work and dedication.

I was listening my favorite band, mewithoutYou, while writing this. The newest CD is all about living in the land and a few songs are even specifically about farming. One of my favorite lines, “We all well know, we’re gunna reap what we sow,” brought on many reflective thoughts. The things we do now or the seeds we plant are going to affect what happens in the future or what grows from that seed. Giving organic food importance now will really help future generations and the choices they make concerning what they eat and grow. If we don’t get a move on it now, all of the small farms and farm families will be gone. It will be very hard to get these back. Sowing a good seed by investing in these organic foods is going to reap a brighter future for others.

And here’s another article that got knocked out of our Christmas letter . . . Justin and I wrote this one together and had a lot of fun doing it.

For the past two years, Michigan has taken a lot of bad rap. The former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, was charged with all sorts of things including perjury, misconduct, and obstruction of justice. The foreclosure rate here continues to be one of the highest in the nation.

And — no matter what the economic climate — we still get a heck of a lot of snow every winter. For two of the five years we’ve lived here, we’ve received almost record-breaking amounts.

However, it’s not so bad in West Michigan (besides the snow). The political and economic climate is so different on this side of the state, Justin has developed a new slogan urging western secession based on the traditional way Michiganders use their hand as a map. Except this western secession is called: “Split the Mitt.” Make a Spock-like hand sign and look at the top of your hand. This is our symbol. Why should we split the mitt? Let’s look at some of the five greatest things about West Michigan:

1.    ArtPrize
ArtPrize is an open art competition in Grand Rapids with the largest monetary prize in the world (for an art competition). This past fall was the inaugural ArtPrize event and it will be held again in 2010. It was so much fun to wander around downtown Grand Rapids and see beautiful, inspiring, odd, and just-plain-bad works of art. The best bit of personal trivia about ArtPrize? It is planned and run by the same people who also run an organization I used to work for in our early days here in Grand Rapids, Spout.

2.    A Smoking Ban — finally
Actually, this ban affects all of Michigan, so your lungs can be thankful in Detroit as well. Just last month the state legislature passed a workplace smoking ban. We’ve been waiting for this for five years. When we first moved to Michigan, someone asked, “What do you think of the state?” “Everyone smokes here and there are a lot of chicken bones on the sidewalk,” I said. This ban may help change things a bit in regards to the smoking, but probably won’t help with the chicken-bone thing. (It’s not that bad, actually, but I’d seen more than I was used to in Vancouver. In Vancouver there were never any chicken bones on the sidewalk.)

3.    Local Food Economy
We can get local — and usually organic — dairy, eggs, meat, honey, vegetables, and fruit almost all-year around. And it’s often cheaper than what we can purchase at the grocery store for the same quality. This is one of the best things about West Michigan and something I could go on and on and on about–as I do regularly in this blog.

4.    LEED Certified Buildings
The U.S. Green Building Council runs a program called “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED). Buildings that have a certain number of green initiatives— including roof gardens, high efficiency HVAC, rain gardens, locally made furniture, and a proximity to local transportation — can become LEED certified. And what does this have to do with Grand Rapids? Well, metro Grand Rapids has more LEED certified square footage per capita than any other city in the United States. This includes the art museum, Calvin’s nature center, a Hyatt, and one of our favorite restaurants, Marie Catrib’s.

5.    Home
Despite both of our vagrant days, West Michigan has become home. Even when we visit Joy’s parents in Northwest Indiana (a little over two hours away), we breathe a sign of relief when we pass the state line back into Pure Michigan. Sure, the roads are bumpier, but there are fewer billboards and it’s really, really pretty here, even with all the snow.

Every 2 years (or so) Justin and I send out a Christmas letter. This year, I wrote most of it and Justin formatted it. Somehow, once I finished, my verbosity showed itself in five pages of text. I thought, “Justin can format this down,” but (and I should know this) you can’t put ten pounds of sugar in a five pound bag. When he was finished, it was still four pages. “No one’s going to read all that!” I said, so we cut out the annotated bibliography.

So, here it is…our top 10 recommended books from 2008-2009. Mine are out of over 80 books and they’re the ones I’d most widely recommend to all sorts and ages of people. I’m not sure about the details of Justin’s, but his list includes some true tomes. (i.e. Good reading which can double as a cockroach killer!)

Justin Recommends:

Justification by N. T. Wright (Biblical studies, 2009)

One of the best living biblical scholars answers his critics. Justin also blogged about this on his book blog earlier this year. Read the full review here.

Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined America’s Elite by D. Michael Lindsay (non-fiction/cultural studies, 2008)

Just a few decades ago there were few Evangelicals at Harvard, on Wall Street, in the halls of Congress or in Hollywood. This book details why and how Evangelicals have made inroads in these key culture-shaping areas.

Fading Feast: A Compendium of Disappearing American Regional Foods by Raymond Solokov (non-fiction, 1998)

Have you ever had a real Indiana persimmion? How about moonshine? Local oysters? Solokov is tireless and entertaining in his accounts of regional specialties disappearing at alarming rates.

The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland (fiction, 2007)

Every Coupland novel is a must read for Justin, due to their strong Vancouver content–but this one was superior to many of his recent efforts.  A bored former executive punches the clock at Office Depot and works on a novel that is discovered by curious co-workers. And they actually like it.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (fiction, 1996)

Justin loves big sprawling novels. Whether Irving’s Owen Meany or Duncan’s Brothers K, Justin appreciates the sheer bloody-mindedness that finishing these books require. Thus, though he hasn’t finished it yet, he can recommend the first 350 pages (out of 1000+) as the best book he’s ever read on competitive tennis and Quebecois secession.

Joy recommends:

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller (memoir, 2009)

What does it take to tell a good story? And, more importantly, what does it take to live a good story? When Donald Miller is approached by two filmmakers wanting to make a film from his bestselling book, Blue Like Jazz, Miller starts asking himself these questions and finding surprising (and sometimes depressing) answers. I was the lucky writer chosen to write Relevant’s study guide to this book.

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler (memoir/essay, 2007)

Have you ever had to eat alone? What did you eat? I reviewed this collection of personal essays here and also wrote an article in response to it. This book is thought-provoking and entertaining.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (memoir/cultural studies, 2007)

Once a year, I have the wonderful responsibility of teaching a Developing a Christian Mind course at Calvin College. My course, entitled “What’s for Dinner?” examines attitudes and practices related to contemporary eating and how it intersects with the Christian life. This Kingsolver book is one of my textbooks and it’s a student favorite. “Don’t stop using this book!” they evaluated this past January. I won’t.

Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright (theology/Christian life, 2008)

The Apostles Creed affirms the resurrection of the body. In this book, Wright examines the current language surrounding death and dying and how it conflicts with orthodox theology. This is a terrific, well-written book about the kingdom of God and Christian hope.

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt (young adult fiction, 2007)

Gary Schmidt is an English faculty member at Calvin College; I was lucky enough to take a course with him this past spring. This book intersects themes of junior high life in the 1960’s, family relationships, Shakespeare, and what it means to become an adult. It is a wonderful book for young people—and adults—alike.

Justin and I hope you find a book or two on this list that you’ll read and enjoy. Happy holidays, everyone!

This recipe is a classic I go back to year-after-year during the winter. It’s easy and usually I have the ingredients on hand. However, if I don’t, it’s easy to substitute some vegetables for others. I’ll leave it to you to figure out what to substitute, but if you try something really interesting, please leave a comment so that other readers may use your great idea.

1 T. oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 potato, peeled and cubed

1 t. dried Italian herb seasoning (or 1/2 t. each basil and oregano)

1/4 t. each salt and pepper

4 C. stock (vegetable or otherwise)

1/2 C. green lentils

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1/2 C. each frozen peas and corn kernals

2 T. tomato paste

1 1/2 t. lemon juice

1/2 C. shredded cheddar or grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

2 T. minced fresh parsley, or 2 t. dried (If it’s winter and all you have.)

In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Fry onion, garlic, and celery until the onion is softened. Add herbs, salt and pepper, and potatoes. Add stock and green lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add carrot, peas, corn and tomato paste. Simmer until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in parsley and lemon juice. Garnish with cheese (if desired.)

Makes 4-6 servings

A note about soups: Soup making is an art, not a science. Always taste the soup before serving. You may need to add more salt, depending on your taste and what kind of broth you used. You also may want to add other things. If a tomato-based soup is too acidic, add a little honey or brown sugar. If it’s bland, add some more herbs or pepper. “To taste” really means just that–fiddle around until the soup has a taste you like.

This is the time of year when there’s a lot of leftover poultry hanging around. Maybe you stuck a little extra turkey in the freezer after Thanksgiving. Maybe you cooked a chicken. Maybe you just love soup. If you fit into any of these descriptions, this dish is for you.

Or, you could just plan to make it the day after Christmas, if you’re having poultry. I made this the day after Thanksgiving and it was a hit. It was also easy, which made it a double-hitter.

Poultry & Potato Soup

2 C. cooked poultry, diced

1 small onion, minced

2 carrots, peeled (if not organic) and sliced into coins

4 regular potatoes, peeled and diced

1 t. seasoning (Yes, I know this is a weird requirement. I just use whatever seasoning blend I happen to have on hand. If you don’t have a blend, make one with sage, thyme, rosemary, etc.)

1 T. butter

2 T. flour

8 C. stock, made from the bones of the poultry, if you so desire

Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot. Reserve 1 C. for thickening. Add the onion, carrots, potatoes, and spice mixture. Simmer 30 minutes. In a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour to create a roux. Add the reserved cup of stock slowly and stir until smooth. Pour back into the soup pot slowly, stirring as you do . The soup won’t be thick, but it will have a nice body. Add the poultry and simmer until the potatoes are done and the meat is heated through.

Several years ago–and I’ve written about this before–I got a bee in my bonnet to learn how to make Indian food. That year, I received two Indian cookbooks for Christmas. One, The Spice Is Right by Monica Bhide, is organized by menu (which I don’t particularly like) but it still has some great recipes.

My favorite recipe has been a go-to for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This cranberry chutney/sauce recipe is so good, you should never ever buy canned cranberry sauce again. Unless, of course, you try this and don’t like it. But I don’t think that’s possible.

The primary unique ingredient in this is garam masala, a spice blend staple in Indian cooking. Did you know that authentic Indian recipes don’t call for curry powder? But they do call for garam masala. You can buy it in the spice section of most grocery stores, but you can also whip up a batch yourself.

There are plenty of recipes for garam masala all over the internet and they all call for different spices/quantities, but here’s an easy one to try. Buy your spices at bulk or health food stores or Indian groceries not grocery stores. You’ll save a lot of money and the spices will probably be fresher.

Garam Masala

3 black cardamom pods

3 green cardamom pods

1 3″ connamon stick

8 whole cloves

4 t. cumin seeds

Dry roast the spices in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Allow to cool. Grind in a spice mill or clean coffee grinder or morter and pestle. Store in an airtight jar. Makes about 2 T.

Now you can make

Cranberry Chutney

1/2 pound fresh or frozen cranberries

1 C. water

3/4 C. sugar (More or less, to taste.)

2 t. cinnamon

1 t. chopped walnuts

1 t. ground ginger

1/4 t. ground cloves

1/4-1/2 t. garam masala

In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, water, sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, ginger, cloves, and garam masala. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and mash the berries with a potato masher. Let cool completely and store in the frigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Makes: 2 Cups. This is really easy to double; just increase the quantities.

Wow, it’s been awhile. My November schedule was completely booked. First, I finished costuming the fall production at Calvin College. Then, Justin and I went on a lovely vacation to the South where we had some terrific food experiences.

One of the most unique was a serindipious visit to Logan Turnpike Mill, a local mill just outside Blairsville Georgia. It was a cold, rainy day. Justin & I had just finished hiking to the top of Brasstown Bald, the hightest point in Georgia. (Click here to see the webcam view from the top of the mountain.)

On our way back to Blue Ridge, we passed a mill. We turned around and went back.  There, I purchased five pounds of grits, five pounds of cornmeal, and five pounds of three-grain pancake mix. The miller rang me up at the register. He said they try to get their corn and grains as locally as possible. “Right now, I’m grinding corn from South Carolina,” he said. “It’s been too wet in Georgia to harvest corn.” He was right.

It’s all good, but the cornmeal is out of this world. And you can order it directly from them; they ship it out the next day.

Logan Turnpike Mill explains on their website why their flours are so good:

“Our stone grinding process utilizes the whole grain. Nothing is removed. We also grind at a much lower temperature than the high-speed roller mills used today in commercial milling. Keeping the grains cool does not destroy the heat sensitive nutrients and makes for a much more flavorful and healthy product.”

This is why freshly ground grains must be kept in the refrigerator or the freezer; the oils will go rancid.

This is probably also why you may not like cornmeal that much. Most of what is sold at the grocery store is not whole and has not been kept cool. Good cornmeal is slightly sweet and it tastes kind of good to put a little on your finger and eat it. Industrial cornmeal is gross. Yes, even Bob’s Mill brand.

What will I do with all my Georgia-local grains? Well, I’ll be posting some ideas for awhile. The following is a favorite of mine. I’ve tried a lot of different grits for this recipe–and even polenta in a pinch–and it’s all worked out, but high-quality grits are definitely a better choice. I have a lot of grits casserole recipes, but I’m keen on this one because it doesn’t use up all the milk in the refrigerator nor does it call for sausage. Feel free to substitute whatever cheeses you have on hand. Pretty much anything (as long as you like it) will work.

Northerners need to learn to eat grits. Grits are like porrage, only they are eaten with savory accompaniments–salt, pepper, cheese, sausage. My dad says that the first time he tried grits at his southern college (he’s from Ohio), he thought it was cream of wheat and he put sugar on them. It works, but it’s not authentic.

These are.

Puffed Garlic-Cheese Grits

2 T. butter

1 T. + 1 t. minced garlic

4 C. water

3/4 t. salt

1/2 t. black pepper

3/4 t. dry mustard powder

1/8-1/4 t. ground red pepper

1 C grits, uncooked

1 1/4 C. shredded sharp Cheddar (In Canada, they call “sharp cheddar” “old cheddar”.)

1/2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 t. cream of tartar

Dash hot sauce. Or more.

Lightly butter a shallow, 2-quart casserole dish (such as a square Pyrex pan). Set aside. Preheat oven to 400.

Melt 2 T. buter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Saute’ garlic until golden. Add water, salt, and blck pepper; bring to a boil and stir in mustard & red pepper. Gradually, stir in grits; return to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Note: some grits will cook much faster than this. Keep watch. You’ll know when they’re done.) Remove from heat and stir in cheeses and egg yolks. Transfer all to a large bowl; set aside.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add hot sauce and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into grits. Pour into prepared casserole pan. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes until grits are puffed and golden. Serve immediately. Give this recipe to those who ask for it.

OK, this could also be called “Pasta with Kale and Sausage” or “Pasta with Kale and Bacon” or “Pasta with Collards and Sausage,” but you get the idea.

This is, seriously, probably one of my favorite dishes ever. Justin and I make it often. You can use fresh or frozen kale or collards, so it’s pretty-much a year-round dish.

For the pasta, we’ve used long and thin (linguini or fettuccini) or short and squat (penne or rotini). I like to use whole wheat pasta, but Justin prefers traditional white pasta. Of course, whole wheat is better for you. Try to buy a more expensive brand of whole grain pasta. I’ve heard the cheaper brands compared to cardboard, and it’s true.

For the bacon or sausage: don’t skimp on quality. In Grand Rapids, it’s pretty easy to get local bacon or sausage at the Fulton Street Farmer’s Market. Cheap grocery store bacon is plumped up with water, so paying more is definitely worth is. You get more meat and flavor. If you’re cutting down on cholesterol-high foods like bacon, don’t ask me if turkey bacon or soy bacon works. I don’t know. I probably will never try it, but if you do, leave a note so that other readers can know if it worked or not.

Pasta with Collard Greens and Bacon

Serves 4-6 (more like 4 if you’re not serving anything else)

10 bacon slices or 1/2 lb. bulk Italian sausage

3/4 C. pine nuts

1/4 shallots, finely chopped, or onions if you don’t have shallots

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 t. dried hot pepper flakes

2 T. olive oil

3 lbs. collard greens, stems and center ribs chopped finely, leaves chopped

1/4 t. salt

2 C. water

1 lb. dried pasta

1 lb. tomatoes, fresh or canned

1 C. Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings, made with a vegetable peeler from a 6-8 oz. wedge

Cook the bacon or sausage in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp (for bacon) or cooked (for sausage), about 5 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 3 T. bacon fat from pot. Add pine nuts to pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer nuts with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain and season with salt.

Add shallots and collard (or kale) stems to pot and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add oil and half of collard greens and cook, stirring, until slightly wilted, about 1 minute. Add remaining greens and salt and continue to cook, stirring, until greens are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes more. Add water and cover pot, then simmer greens, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 15 minutes.

While collard greens are simmering, cook pasta according to the package instructions until al dente.

Drain pasta in a colander. Add drained linguine and tomatoes to pot with greens and cook over moderately high heat, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Season pasta with salt and pepper and serve topped with bacon (or sausage), pine nuts, and cheese shavings.

Don’t tell your cardiologist.