Community Kitchens Northwest

Seattle Tilth has some new classes coming up that might be great for community kitchen participants or leaders.  Here’s the line up:

Tilth’s New Kitchen Classes: Preserve Your Garden’s Goodies!

Basic Canning 101, Sept. 21, 6-8 p.m.

Pickling and Fermentation, Sept. 30, 6-8 p.m.

Basic Canning 101, Oct. 14, 6-8 p.m.

Pickling and Fermentation, Oct. 21 p.m.

Here’s a link to some wonderful pics from a taste of community kitchens program up north of the border:  http://chowtimes.com/2010/08/29/a-taste-of-community-kitchen/

Colorful carrots

Here’s some great resource information:

We recently added the following resources to our Tools and Resources Database

The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet: A Month of Meals Made Easy By Nanci Slagle. 2008
Community Kitchens Northwest in Seattle recommends this book.  Take a look at their review or visit the 30 Day Gourmet website for information on their latest freezer cookbook.  You can purchase this book online through Amazon, Chapters or Abebooks.

A Complete Illustrated Guide to Cooking With Arthritis – Helping the Physically Challenged Regain Their Independence in the Kitchen.  By Melinda Winner. 2009
As a physically challenged individual herself, Melinda shares techniques for creating mouthwatering recipes for everything from appetizers to desserts, as well as delicious rubs, sauces, and jellies. Each recipe is written for use by anyone, physically challenged or not, and includes an informative section of kitchen terms, culinary resources, and basic tips to help make everyday life simpler.  Cost: $22.99 (print): $13.99 (download).  This book can be ordered through Tate Publishing

Caring About Food Safety (self guided online course)
http://www.hls.gov.bc.ca/protect/food-safety-module/files/home.htm
The Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport recently launched Caring About Food Safety, a 1.5 hour self-guided course about the safe and healthy preparation and handling of food. The course, offered at no cost, is designed to raise awareness about protecting public health by preventing the spread of food-borne illness.  The course is designed for anybody who prepares, handles or serves food to people beyond their immediate friends and family. It will be particularly useful for people whose clients are typically more susceptible to food-borne illness, and for whom there are no mandated food-safety training requirements.  More…

There’s another new ck starting up north of the border.  Canada is on a roll.  From the Herald Tribune here is the news:

Grande Prairie’s community collective kitchen is a go with a test run set for Sept. 8.  Residents will have a chance to cook together and take home meals that can be frozen and easily assembled later on.

“We’re just going to pilot it once and then see how it turns out,” said co-organizer Kristen Henry.  The decision came at a planning meeting at the Montrose Cultural Centre on Tuesday, attended by about 20 people.

The location hasn’t been decided yet and costs will be set after they receive a quote from a grocer or supplier, she said.  But the menu was chosen and attendees will cook Amazing Chicken and a pizza casserole.  “I think in general there’s a lot of people who’ve done communal cooking before and are interested in doing it again,” Henry said. “There’s a lot of people from different walks of life and so individual requirements are different.”  She came up with the idea after visiting a collective kitchen in Edmonton with her sister this summer.  More…

Our own Terrie Irish is teaching a wonderful series of canning classes out in her big barn near Duvall.  Going out to Terrie’s is like a mini-vacation and you will come away with luscious jars of preserves and the knowledge on how to make more. 

Here’s information on her tomato canning class:

This sounds like a weird mystery novel, but the only mystery here is what you are likely to find in commercially canned tomato products…truly scary!  Tomatoes have been referred to as the “workhorse of the kitchen”.  They have been fundamental to the diets of so many yet the commercially available product is a far cry in purity, nutrition and flavor from that salubrious, aromatic, red orb that was the inspiration for so many of our favorite dishes.  Read the facts and sign up with some friends to learn how to put on an annual tomato canning fest or just get it done by your “onesies”.  More…

Here’s great info from Chef Ryan:

Last Thursday, we cooked some amazing food. Lots of new friends showed up to cook with Amy and me, and we all made dishes based around the theme for July, which was the bold use of delicious spices. 

Here is information from Urban Farm Hub on how to make a delicious, creamy homemade yogurt:

I keep saying that making your own yogurt is really easy and some of you have asked how I do it. 

Here are the simple steps:

You can use milk from the store or milk from your animals.  If you use fresh milk from your goat or cow then I do think it’s a good idea to pasteurize it.  I know there’s a ton of debate about this but personally I like to be sure that my yogurt is going to be safe for everyone. 

 More…

We all love salty popcorn and who can resist a good pretzel?  Unfortunately Americans are now eating almost twice as much salt as we should be and too much salt is really bad for your health.   

Here’s more information from the CDC salt site:

Most of the sodium we consume is in the form of salt, and the vast majority of sodium we consume is in processed and restaurant foods. Too much sodium is bad for your health. It can increase your blood pressure and your risk for a heart attack and stroke. Heart disease and stroke are the first and third killers of men and women in the United States each year.

Current dietary guidelines for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. At the same time, consume potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. However, if you are in the following population groups, you should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day (approximately 2/3 teaspoon), and meet the potassium recommendation (4,700 mg/day) with food.

• You are 40 years of age or older.
• You are African American.
• You have high blood pressure.

A CDC report shows that 2 out of 3 (69%) adults in the United States fall into these three groups who are at especially high risk for health problems from consuming too much sodium. Eating less sodium can help prevent, or control, high blood pressure.

Many of the flowers that grace our yards are edible.  They can be used as accents in a salad or as garnish on a main dish.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Purple Chive

Rose petals

Onion

Calendula

Lavender

Blue Borage

From the Urban Farm Hub blog here are instructions on making some great raspberry jam:

Summer is finally here and the raspberries are ripe and ready!  Turning the berries into jam is an easy, almost magical process that brings back the flavors of summer deep into winter.I usually just follow the directions on the pectin package, but here’s a recipe that doesn’t use pectin.   If you try this recipe out, I’d love to hear how it tastes.

  More…