The elections kept me so busy that it’s been more than two months since my last food post. I’m starting a new Bleeding Heartland tradition of posting one recipe every Monday.

Black-eyed peas are a traditional southern American food that I don’t recall ever eating when I was growing up in Iowa. I love to cook with them now. They contain a lot of vitamins and minerals and are more digestible than some other beans. I like to substitute them for the pinto beans in any chili recipe (here’s my favorite).

Black-eyed peas are especially convenient if you like to cook your own dried beans. Unlike many legumes, they don’t need to be soaked before cooking. Bring a pot of unsalted water with some peas to a boil, reduce to simmer, and they should be ready to eat or add to a recipe after 45 minutes to an hour.

After the jump I’ve posted my favorite way to eat black-eyed peas. I adapted this recipe from Vegetarian Indian Cookery by Shehzad Husain, a British food writer.

If you’re a gardener or subscriber to a community-supported agriculture farm, you probably have an abundance of zucchini or other summer squash. The classic Fifty Ways to Cook Everything by Andrew Schloss and Ken Bookman has a whole chapter on zucchini. They start with a “basic zucchini mixture” that you are supposed to cook and freeze in 1-cup or 2-cup amounts, for use later in a variety of dishes.

I’ve never been that organized about putting up food, but after the jump I’ve posted my strategies for using up summer squash before it goes bad. You’ll have to click through to learn the secret ingredient of my favorite zucchini bread.

Yellow summer squash of any shape can be substituted for zucchini is any of these recipes.  Most of the time there’s no need to peel summer squash, but you should cut away the ends and brown spots. I prefer to slice the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds, unless you’re dealing with a If you’re shopping for zucchini at the store or farmer’s market, try to pick small ones. The huge ones can be watery or have a woody texture.

This thread is for anything on your mind this weekend. Anyone volunteered for an Iowa Democratic candidate lately?

In honor of the Iowa State Fair, with its multitude of cooking competitions, I want to hear Bleeding Heartland readers’ favorite ways to cook Iowa sweet corn. I don’t ever get tired of eating plain old corn on the cob: shuck corn just before cooking, while bringing a pot of water to a boil, add corn, cover, turn off heat and leave for 5 minutes. If it’s fresh and sweet, it doesn’t even need butter or salt.

If I have lots of ears to use up, I might add fresh instead of frozen corn kernels to my favorite chili or any risotto using summer vegetables. Pureeing a cup or two of corn kernels with the cooking broth is a good way to make risotto creamy without using any dairy products.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian recipe using corn kernels and kohlrabi is also good, although I haven’t made it since last year. Corn on the cob is so much easier.

We skipped the Iowa State Fair parade last night, but we are looking forward to going early next week or maybe this weekend, if the heat breaks. I know it’s not everyone’s idea of a great time (turns out Grant Young is a hater), but I enjoy the things you can’t see or do anywhere else. Here’s what we never miss at the Iowa State Fair:

“Little Hands on the Farm,” where kids pretend to be farmers and sell their crops for a fake dollar that buys them a real treat in the shop.

The Animal Learning Center, where you can see newborn animals and watch chicks hatching.

The animal barns, especially where there are “avenues” of unusual breeds.

The DNR building, with lots of tanks featuring indigenous Iowa fish.

The Ag Building, home of famous butter cow but more important (to me) the place with the best lemonade at the fair. You can buy it at the honey producers’ table, usually on the second level, for about half the price of lemonade at any of the kiosks.

The Bauder’s ice cream truck, usually parked near the Ag Building. Many people swear by the peppermint ice cream sandwiches, but I would go with the turtle sundae or the cookie sundae.

We’re not big fans of the midway, but my kids will probably want to do some of the smaller rides. As of last summer, they were afraid to do the Sky Glider or the giant slide.

I’m definitely taking them to the heritage hill area so they can play marbles and watch people toss horseshoes.

Sometimes my kids want to see the model trains (in a building near the giant slide) or the massive structure made out of matchsticks (in a building near the grand concourse).

We check the schedule for unusual shows. Some years there are frisbee-catching dogs, but this year it looks like they’ve brought in a high dive performer instead.

We are not buying anything fried on a stick. We’ll probably buy one of those cashew or pecan nut rolls to take home and eat later.

I used to like the popcorn with real butter at the kiosk near the grandstand, but last year it tasted too much like movie popcorn–nothing special.

Taking a change of clothes isn’t a bad idea in case your kids get muddy or slip and fall in one of the animal barns. Don’t ever dress kids in something you don’t want to get wet, because they will not be able to resist running around in the sprinklers.

This thread is for anything you love or hate about the fair, or any advice about how to enjoy a day out there. I usually park in someone’s yard on Grand, because it’s a short walk from there to the Grand Avenue entrance near many of the things we like doing. More important, when it’s time to leave it’s a short walk back to the car for tired kids. If you don’t want to pay to park in someone’s yard and you don’t mind walking a mile or so, you may find free street parking way up on Grand. There are also shuttles running to the fair from downtown Des Moines and Southeast Polk middle school out on highway 163.

After the jump I’ve posted the schedule for the Des Moines Register’s candidate “soapbox” and the candidates or elected officials who will be at the Iowa Democratic Party’s booth in the Varied Industries Building.

SUNDAY UPDATE: We spent most of the day at the fair. Huge crowds, which isn’t surprising for a weekend day with highs in the mid-80s. Although we spent a good five hours at the fairgrounds, we never made it to any of the animal barns. Maybe tomorrow.

The DNR building with its giant fish tanks and live turtles on display was a huge hit. Don’t miss this attraction, especially if you have kids. We also loved the high dive show, but the bleachers were packed 15 minutes before showtime. We ended up sitting on the ground nearby, which meant we didn’t get splashed like many of the other spectators.

It’s worth checking the schedule for any unusual demonstrations and shows. The kids loved watching an ice carver create a dragon with a chainsaw outside the Ag Building.

Speaking of dragons, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Todd Dorman while waiting in line at the kiddie dragon ride. What are the odds? There had to be more than 100,000 people at the fairgrounds today.

My kids braved the giant slide for the first time ever. It was faster than I remember, and I couldn’t believe some people were riding down with toddlers.

I highly recommend taking the Sky-Glider down from Heritage Hill (near the horseshoe pitch) to the midway area. Most people want to ride it up to avoid walking uphill, and that was our original plan, but the line for the glider was way too long. We walked up to the high dive demonstration area, and after that show hardly had to wait at all to board the glider. The view riding down is spectacular–you can see very far down Grand.

Anyone else enjoy the first few days of the fair? One of my friends was there on East Sider night (the first Friday of the fair) and said it was packed.

I don’t love the heat, but I love the produce of high summer. Last night’s dinner featured a stir-fry with local onions, carrots, kohlrabi, kale, bok choi, broccoli and Iowa-made tofu. Only the soba noodles and sauce weren’t local.

Usually I make my own stir-fry sauces. One light version is an Asian marinade from Moosewood Cooks at Home. In a small saucepan heat about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup dry sherry, the same amount of tamari or soy sauce, half that amount of rice vinegar or cider vinegar, a tablespoon or two of brown sugar and a few slices of peeled fresh ginger. Bring to boil, stir and simmer for a minute before removing from the heat. I soak the cubed tofu in this sauce, then add it to the rest of the stir fry a couple of minutes before serving. I toss in a few tablespoons of toasted sesame oil at the end too.

I also like to make a variation on the Spicy Peanut Sauce from Moosewood’s Low-Fat Favorites. This can be drizzled over almost any steamed vegetables or added to a stir-fry near the end of cooking. To make it, throw the following in a blender: about 1/4 cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup water, 1 pressed garlic clove, a little fresh chile or dash of hot sauce, 2 Tbsp cider vinegar or rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and about 2 tsp chopped fresh ginger root. Moosewood says to throw in 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes, but I leave those out. If you have extra sauce, you can keep it for a couple of weeks in the fridge (tightly sealed).

Share your own stir-fry secrets in this thread.

Share anything that’s on your mind this weekend in the comments below.

Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Justice jointly hosted a workshop in Ankeny devoted to concentration in agriculture, antitrust issues and market practices. After some controversy over the speakers scheduled initially, more farmers and producers were able to speak during the workshop. Lynda Waddington covered a panel including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. The Des Moines Register covered a session concerning Monsanto’s dominance in the biotech seed industry:

Monsanto has generated controversy because of its leading role in the biotech revolution in corn, soybean and cotton seeds since the mid-1990s. About 90 percent of the corn and soybean fields in the Midwest now are planted with seeds genetically altered to resist herbicides and pests.

“Biotech seeds have given farmers better yields and improved their lives,” said farmer Pam Johnson of Floyd County.

Monsanto, Pioneer and other seed companies license their traits under the auspices of a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing life forms to be patented.

Iowa State University professor emeritus Neil Harl said that Supreme Court decision radically changed the seed business from a collaborative, collegial enterprise among land grant colleges, farmers and companies.

“Before 1980, seed germplasm was considered something in the public domain,” said Harl. “Seed was developed in the field and everybody shared. Now seeds are developed in the laboratory and are patented and licensed.”

Holder said the high court decision 30 years ago wouldn’t block antitrust action, if it was deemed necessary.

“The antitrust authority is there,” Holder said. “The question is what the patent holders are doing with their patents. If they are using it to preserve monopolies, that is unfair behavior.”

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey noted that farmers are spending twice as much on seed as they did a decade ago, but also are getting better yields.

“There is tension about the cost of inputs,” Northey said. “But we don’t want to lose the innovation.”

The food blog Cooking Up a Story published this short backgrounder on “Hybrids and the Emergence of Seed Monopolies.”

The night before the DOJ/USDA workshop, Iowa CCI, Food and Water Watch, the National Family Farms Coalition and Food Democracy Now organized a town-hall meeting to raise awareness of excessive levels of concentration in agriculture. Lynda Waddington was there for Iowa Independent.

Democratic candidate for Iowa secretary of agriculture Francis Thicke has long been concerned about the loss of competition in agricultural markets. He attended the workshop in Ankeny and praised the DOJ and USDA for investigating antitrust issues related to agriculture:

“Antitrust enforcement by the federal government has been ignored for so long that it will take Teddy Roosevelt-style trust busting to bring competitive markets back to agriculture,” said Thicke, who plans to participate in the first of a series of five workshops planned by the two federal departments this Friday in Ankeny. […]

“The effects of excessive market power by a few firms has been studied for years,” said Thicke. “It has been shown that if four or fewer firms control 40% or more of a market, then it no longer functions as a competitive market.” He pointed out that, as of 2007, four firms controlled 85% of the beef packing market, four firms controlled 66% of the pork packing market, four firms controlled 59% of the broiler market, and four firms controlled 55% of the turkey market.

“Clearly we are beyond the point of open competition in our agricultural markets,” Thicke asserted. “When there are so few large firms in a market, controlling firms begin to act in concert whether or not they are directly communicating pricing with each other.”

Speaking of food policy, I heard some good news this week. The Iowa Center on Health Disparities at the University of Northern Iowa has received major grants for two important projects:

The focus of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation grant is to launch an Iowa Food Policy Council, a diverse statewide cooperative to develop and make research, program and policy recommendations for a food system to support healthier Iowans, communities, economies and environments. Over the next year, the Iowa Food Policy Council will conduct a comprehensive statewide assessment of food systems, food access and health indicators.

The focus of the Leopold Center grant is to convene key food security and public health stakeholders from across Iowa who will examine the disparities in food access and health among Iowans. The Food Access and Health Working Group will address programs and policies that increase access to fresh, nutritious and affordable local food for all Iowans, including vulnerable children and their families.

More details on the grants are after the jump. I was hoping Governor Culver would revive the Food Policy Council, but I’m glad another way was found to get this project going.

This blog will always be primarily about politics, but I enjoy writing about other subjects from time to time. In fact, one of my new year’s resolutions for Bleeding Heartland is to write more about food and parenting in 2010.

After the jump I’ve compiled links to posts on those topics in 2009. Some of the diaries were political, others are personal. The link I’m most proud of combined the two: My case against Hanna Rosin’s case against breastfeeding.

Any thoughts or suggestions for future topics to cover are welcome in this thread.

I’m no college football fan, but I was glad to see that Mediacom and Sinclair Broadcast Group reached a temporary agreement on New Year’s Eve so that thousands of Hawkeye fans who are Mediacom subscribers will be able to watch tonight’s Orange Bowl game between Iowa and Georgia Tech.

This thread is for Bleeding Heartland readers to discuss the game. Cyclone fans, please accept my belated congratulations for Iowa State winning the Insight Bowl.

Alternatively, feel free to post any favorite dishes involving citrus fruit. I like oranges and grapefruit so much that I almost always eat them plain. However, I’m interested to hear other recipes for using them in salads, side dishes or desserts. I use a little lemon or lime juice frequently in Indian or Thai cooking, but the citrus isn’t the centerpiece of the dish.

After the jump I’ve posted a recipe for lemon-sesame salad dressing and a cake with lemon syrup that I haven’t made since before I had kids. It’s not even that time-consuming, but making the syrup seems to be one step too many for me these days.

UPDATE: Congratulations to the Hawkeyes for beating Georgia Tech 24-14.

Chanukah’s over, but there’s still time to shop for Christmas presents.

Blog for Iowa highlighted 12 great locally-owned places to shop in Iowa. Many of them feature locally-produced foods and hand-made crafts. For those heading to Prairieland Herbs and Picket Fence Creamery near Woodward, I would recommend driving 10 minutes up the road to Northern Prairie Chevre. Their little store carries items from many other local businesses.

If you want toys, clothes or accessories for babies or small children, try out one of these Des Moines-area businesses:

Simply for Giggles

The Stork Wearhouse

Little Padded Seats

VannyBean Baby Organics

The toy store on the lower level of Valley West mall

After the jump I’m re-posting a diary I wrote last December on no-clutter holiday gift ideas. Another way to support locally-owned businesses is to buy your friends or relatives services or entertainment that they might not treat themselves to or can’t afford.

Also consider donating to a local non-profit that means a lot to your loved one.

Please post your own ideas in the comments.

What do you like for dinner when winter just dumped more than a foot of snow on your house? My first choice would normally be home-made soup, but we’re out of bread, and I just made curried pumpkin soup over the weekend.

We had tomato and olive wild rice casserole, and I’ll be enjoying the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Yesterday I baked brownies while the kids were playing in the snow, and I finally tried my friend’s trick of stirring a can of black beans, pureed, into the brownie mix (instead of oil, butter, eggs or water). They turned out great, and my kids never suspected a thing. Good way to sneak protein and fiber into a treat.

This thread is for any comfort food recipes or inspiration.

Over the weekend I talked with lots of people who attended the Community Food Security Coalition’s annual conference in Des Moines. Good programs in Iowa and other states are encouraging more people to eat food produced on nearby farms. Iowans have long supported our farmer’s markets, but we could be doing more to promote and expand our local food networks.

One step in the right direction would be for Governor Chet Culver to revive the Iowa Food Policy Council, which functioned from 2001 to 2004. (The council’s reports are available here.) Hear me out after the jump.

I watch the Food Network sometimes while I’m exercising, and in the past two weeks I’ve seen Giada and the Barefoot Contessa make risotto on their shows. They both insisted that you “have” to put cheese in your risotto, and I think they added cream as well.

I couldn’t disagree more, so I’m re-posting one of my favorite food substitutions:

To make risotto with no milk or cream, I use a tip from the Moosewood Collective’s Low-Fat Favorites cookbook. In a food processor or blender, combine a cup or two of frozen corn kernels with whatever kind of stock you will use to cook the risotto. This creates a creamy consistency, but without being as heavy as risotto with cream. It’s good for vegans or anyone cutting back on calories.

I like to stir basil pesto into my risotto right before serving, but you can make that without cheese as well.

For the carnivores in the Bleeding Heartland community: on Thursday I cooked a flank steak (local and 100 percent grass-fed) using a recipe from Cynthia Lair’s article on grass-fed beef in the March-April 2009 issue of Mothering magazine. It comes from her book Feeding the Whole Family. You use a little of the dressing as a marinade; the rest is supposed to go on a noodle salad, but I saved it to pour over the leftover meat:

2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 3 Tbsp tamari, 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 Tbsp hot-pepper oil.

It only took a minute to stir together the ingredients, and if you don’t eat meat, you could use this dressing for a vegetarian or vegan stir-fry or noodle salad.

What have you been eating or cooking lately? I am not a big salad eater for most of the year, but I am loving the fresh mixed greens I’ve been getting from One Step at a Time Gardens this month.

I have read a lot about gentle discipline, positive discipline, loving guidance or whatever you prefer to call non-violent methods of setting limits for children. Some of my favorites include the Sears Discipline Book, Lawrence Cohen’s Playful Parenting, Common-Sense Parenting of Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers by Bridget Barnes and Steven York, and Mary Sheedy Kurcinka’s Kids, Parents and Power Struggles.

Several more discipline books are on my list to read someday. At least half a dozen friends have recommended Becky Bailey’s Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline. The website of Attachment Parenting International links to lots of other resources, some of them geared toward special-needs or high-need children.

However, I’ve found that some of the advice that helped me most with discipline issues didn’t come from books about discipline.  

It’s been too long since I posted a food diary. A while back I wrote about my favorite food substitutions. Now I would like your input on favorite shortcuts in the kitchen.

I’m not talking about picking up take-out or eating a peanut-butter sandwich instead of a hot meal. For the purposes of this thread, I am seeking ideas that save preparation time or cooking time when you are making the meal.

After the jump I’ve posted my chili recipe, which incorporates three shortcuts. This won’t win you a prize at the chili cookoff, but it is tasty and highly adaptable to your own preferences or what you have in your kitchen. I’m all for cooking with what you have rather than slavishly following recipes.

I admire Rob Marqusee, whose vision and persistence have expanded organic farming and local food networks in northwest Iowa. I saw on the Woodbury Organics site that he is taking a “local food challenge”:

Rob Marqusee, Director of Rural Economic Development for Woodbury County, will eat only food grown within 100 miles of the Woodbury County Courthouse for the entire month of June 09 (and no meat will be allowed in the diet).

I’m not as ambitious as Marqusee, but I try to buy local whenever possible, to support small businesses and reduce my carbon footprint.

After the jump I’ve posted seven suggestions for people trying to eat more locally-grown food. The first two mostly involve changing the way you think about food, and the others are about how you acquire food.

It’s been too long since I wrote a food post here.

“Eat well on a tight budget” articles are all the rage in this tough economy. I have a few of my own diaries in mind on that topic, but today I felt inspired to write about one of my favorite winter foods.

As you may know, wild rice is not really rice; it’s an aquatic grass that “towers over other grains when it comes to amounts of protein, minerals, B vitamins, folic acid, and carbohydrates.” Wild rice is often considered a luxury food, but if your local grocer has it in the bulk food section, the price per meal may be more reasonable than you think.

You don’t need to soak wild rice before cooking. Just rinse and add to a pot with approximately 2 parts water (or a little less) to 1 part rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until some of the grains have split, about 25-40 minutes depending on the type of wild rice. Don’t wait until all the grains are split–you’ll overcook it. If there is any extra water in the pot, drain the rice before proceeding with your recipe.

After the jump I’ve posted recipes for my two favorite wild rice dishes.

Note from desmoinesdem: I changed the headline after Midwest Mom pointed out in the comments that Anderson-Erickson already uses milk from cows not treated with synthetic hormones. Thanks to Midwest Mom for the comment–apparently the company made the change in 2008.

I saw this news at La Vida Locavore:

General Mills announced today that it has made the commitment to eliminate by August 2009 milk sourced from cows treated with rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin), a synthetic hormone also referred to as rBGH, in the production of its category-leading Yoplait® yogurts.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the National Institutes of Health remain fully confident in the safety of products made from milk sourced from cows treated with rBST in accordance with current guidelines, Yoplait is taking the initiative to change its dairy sourcing strategy to provide consumers with the option to choose a category-leading yogurt with milk produced by cows not treated with rBST.

As Jill Richardson notes at La Vida Locavore, this is big news because Yoplait is by far the largest brand of yogurt to go rBGH-free.

Beginning this summer, Iowans will see hormone-free yogurt in their grocery store’s regular dairy case and not just in special organic sections or health food stores. (Smaller companies like Stonyfield Farms, Brown Cow and Nancy’s have avoided milk produced by hormone-treated cows for years.)

CORRECTION: As noted above, Des Moines-based Anderson-Erickson, a hugely popular source of yogurt and other dairy products in Iowa, went rGBH-free in 2008.

The company prides itself on the quality of its products:

Future expansion of AE’s market share will rely heavily on brand equity. “We believe very strongly in our brand,” says [president and chief operating officer Miriam Erickson] Brown. “The AE name stands for quality dairy products and service. We never skimp on ingredients. AE yogurts contain 5 percent more fruit; we are famous for double-sealing all of our packaging and our unique cottage cheese recipe. We get ‘love letters’ from customers thanking us for making a favorite dairy product. Our goal is to continue to be ‘dairy experts.’ We can do that through continued standards of excellence as well as innovative new products and sales expansion.”

What do you think, Bleeding Heartland readers? Will Iowans stick with AE yogurt no matter what, or will Yoplait be able to increase its market share by promoting its decision to forgo milk from cows treated with synthetic hormones?

CORRECTION: AE was ahead of Yoplait on this issue, so I don’t think Yoplait’s move will affect AE’s market share.

Feel free to discuss your favorite AE product in this thread as well. My brother always wants the old fashioned cottage cheese when he is back for a visit. Before he had to watch his weight, he loved potato chips with AE French onion party dip.

I don’t buy any AE products on a regular basis anymore, because we stick to organic milk, yogurt and cottage cheese.  

It’s the end of January. So far I’ve stuck to my pledge to make soup once a week (through the cold months at least, but I’d like to continue this in the spring and summer–I love soup).

I have substantially cut back on my carbs and dairy intake, which started right after Thanksgiving. I find it easier to eat well on the days I get more exercise, so I’m trying to stick to that routine. Will I manage to fit into my jeans by spring? Too early to tell.

Most nights I’ve been doing well on my resolution to get more sleep. Exercising during the day helps on this front too.

Share your own New Year’s resolutions progress report in this thread.

A lot of people resolve to make changes in their diets in January. This is an open thread for any tips you have on substituting one kind of food for another for any health or ethical reason.

If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, do you have a tip for adapting a recipe you used to enjoy with meat, eggs or dairy?

If you’re trying to lose weight, have you changed the way you cook any of your favorite meals? Some people would rather eat a completely different dish than adapt a beloved recipe that is “too fattening.”

If you have developed a food allergy or sensitivity, have you learned any trick for replacing the foods you can’t tolerate?

Here are a few food substitutions that work for me:

1. I’ve been using strained tomatoes or tomato paste packaged in glass jars in place of canned tomatoes ever since I learned that almost all canned tomatoes, including organic brands, contain bisphenol-A (BPA).

2. I’ve been having oatmeal for breakfast, or yogurt with cereal, instead of bagels. That’s partly because I’m trying to eat less bread, and partly because I’d rather forgo bagels than eat a bagel that isn’t slathered with either butter or cream cheese.

3. To make risotto with no milk or cream, I use a tip from the Moosewood Collective’s Low-Fat Favorites cookbook. In a food processor or blender, combine a cup or two of frozen corn kernels with whatever kind of stock you will use to cook the risotto. This creates a creamy consistency, but without being as heavy as risotto with cream. It’s good for vegans or anyone cutting back on calories.

4. Applesauce or other fruit purees can replace some of the fat in cake or quickbread recipes. Diana Shaw’s Essential Vegetarian Cookbook has lots of ideas on this front. Moosewood’s Low-Fat Favorites has a good spice bread recipe containing prune puree and no egg, which is good to bake for vegans or anyone with an egg allergy.

Final suggestion, which I’ve never tried but a friend swears by:

Dump an undrained can of black beans into a blender or food processor and puree. Add the mixture to any boxed brownie mix (she says this works with any brand). Don’t add egg or oil or water–just mix the dry ingredients in the box with the black bean puree, then bake. This sounds crazy, but I have eaten her brownies at potlucks, and you would never know there are beans in them. She does it to sneak extra protein and fiber into a treat for her kids.

I’ll look forward to reading your comments.

We don’t buy a lot of processed foods, so I wasn’t worried about the major outbreak of salmonella that has been traced to contaminated peanut butter.

Then I glanced down the full list of recalled items, which Jill Richardson posted at La Vida Locavore. It includes lots of popular brand-name crackers, cookies, and other foods (such as Wal-Mart, Keebler and Hy-Vee).

There are even some organics on the list, like certain types of Clif bars (which we have in our cupboard).

Some PetSmart dog biscuits have been recalled too.

Note: the FDA says jars of peanut butter are not affected. This recall applies to other forms of processed food made with peanut butter.

Do not take chances with salmonella.

I’m not planning to post an event calendar this week, because there’s not much going on politically. However, I received this e-mail from the Polk County Democrats and want to help them publicize this event:

Special Invitation to Democratic Friends of Kathleen O’Leary

********

Meet Up & “Gap Fundraiser” to enable Kathleen & escort to accept Inaugural seating reserved for

The 3rd District Presidential Elector

*******

WHERE: Mars Café – 2318 University, Des Moines

WHEN: Tues., December 30th, 5 – 7 p.m.

*******

Share Holiday Cheer & Help Friends Support Kathleen’s Effort to continue Representing 3rd District Democrats

RSVP (not needed)

Can’t come but want to help? Call or e-mail:

Max Knauer mrk@dwx.com (515) 771-4949

I don’t know Kathleen personally, but I plan to help her take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Speaking of inauguration festivities, use this thread to talk about your plans to celebrate. I know some people who were involved in Joe Biden’s campaign are throwing a party in Des Moines.

Obamafoodorama provides the recipe for Abraham Lincoln’s favorite cake and suggests this would be a good dessert to serve at inauguration parties. Obama will be sworn in on the same bible Lincoln used in 1861.

Merry Christmas to Bleeding Heartland readers who are celebrating the holiday today.

And if you’re Jewish like me, remember that Jesus was an important Jewish theologian and reformer.

Here are some holiday links for you.

On the real meaning of Christmas:

A Christmas prayer from pastordan.

Carnacki shares a true story and treasured family memory.

John Lennon sings “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).”

greywolfe359 reflects on Light in the Darkness.

noweasels offers Christmas wishes and memories of small-town Christmas pageants.

Some less-happy Christmas stories:

Millions of children grow up in poverty, and even if they are relatively comfortable as adults, they never forget those feelings of economic insecurity. Last year chuckles1 shared his memories of “The year we stole a Christmas tree.” (The piece is still relevant, even though the presidential campaign angle is obsolete.)

Expatyank lives in Britain, where unemployment and other economic problems are causing the retail sector to implode during what should be the busiest shopping week of the year.

For history buffs:

Daily Kos’ resident historian Unitary Moonbat talks about how Christmas has been celebrated throughout the centuries.

Remember, the Puritans felt Christmas “incited moral degeneracy and so they declared war on the Christmas holiday by passing laws against it in Scotland and England, later in Massachusetts […]”

Other useful Christmas links:

Asinus Asinum Fricat is a chef and native of France. He shares some memories of Christmas in Provence, including recipes for traditional desserts.

The same diarist is a veteran restaurant owner and operator, and offers a Christmas proposal for entrepreneurs out there. It’s about how to set up and run a low-cost restaurant that “will thrive in this severe economic downturn.”

A conservative blogger offers some Christmas cooking and sewing ideas (the muffins look truly decadent).

Daily Kos commenters had lots of good suggestions to add to my list of no-clutter holiday gift ideas.

Eddie C posted a fun photo diary on Christmas in New York City.

Christmas humor:

JeffLieber wrote a funny piece from the perspective of Joseph: I’ve just discovered my wife has been unfaithful.

Asinus Asinum Fricat offers a selection of Christmas jokes (some are Australian and “saucy”). Be sure to read the comments, where many people posted additional Christmas humor. I added a Jewish Christmas joke.

Christmas music:

What do you prefer? Old-fashioned cheesy, like Bing Crosby and Tony Bennett? Childhood favorites like the Charlie Brown Christmas album? Hip adult options like Diana Krall’s jazzy Christmas music?

Deoliver47 shares a bunch of Christmas music videos.

We mostly listen to Chanukah music, but I do enjoy Oy to the World: A Klezmer Christmas.

Share holiday cheer or other thoughts in the comments.

P.S.: It’s the second white Christmas in a row in Iowa, which is nice.

I swear this post is not a reaction to my apparent maleness in the eyes of the Blog Gender Analyzer.

I was already planning to repost this piece on the weekend before Thanksgiving.

One of my favorite bloggers, Steve Gilliard, used to write a lot about holiday cooking around this time of year. When he was in the hospital, many of his readers kept The News Blog going with posts about subjects he liked to cover. I wrote a few guest posts about food, including this one.

Two easy recipes for pumpkin pie are after the jump. One comes from a friend, and the other comes from my tinkering.

Asinus Asinum Fricat is one of very few bloggers who teach you something in just about every piece they write. A trained chef, he writes lots of “food” diaries about various cuisines of the world and occasionally the food past generations ate.

Asinus Asinum Fricat also writes lots of pieces on environmental or health issues, such as this post on the massive “plastic soup” in the Pacific Ocean. Frankly, sometimes I dread clicking on his diaries, because I know he’s going to scare the hell out of me.

That said, I strongly recommend that everyone (especially parents) read a four-part series he recently completed about food products tainted with melamine. You may have heard of melamine last year in news reports about massive pet food recalls.

Unfortunately, melamine has shown up in the human food supply, and so far the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not been as aggressive in dealing with the danger as governmental agencies in some other countries.

Here are the four pieces by Asinus Asinum Fricat:

A Total Ban on Chinese Food Imports Should Be in Place. Now!

Must Read: Tainted Chinese Products Criminal Timeline

From China, with Love: Melamine (This one contains a long list of products that have been banned in other countries; many of them are brands you will recognize.)

Dem. Congresswoman Raps FDA On Melamine Risk Guidelines

The community blog on food issues, La Vida Locavore, is a good one to bookmark and check regularly for articles about food safety.

cross-posted at La Vida Locavore

I decided to start a series on cooking seasonal food. Eating fruits and vegetables when they are in season reduces greenhouse gas emissions from transporting food from across the country or around the world.

More important, fresh food in season tastes better and retains more vitamins. Plus, if you buy directly from a farmer or farmer’s market, you are supporting your local economy.

It’s also more satisfying to eat the first asparagus or broccoli or potatoes or whatever of the season, because you’ve waited months for them.

I belong to a CSA (that stands for community-supported agriculture), and last week I got a large kohlrabi in my box. The easiest thing to do with kohlrabi is to peel it, dice it and add it to any stir-fry dish for crunch.

However, I have found a couple of recipes I prefer. One comes from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, which is so comprehensive that it has four kohlrabi recipes. If you don’t already own this book, you should go out and find a copy.

The other is my own soup recipe for kohlrabi with caraway, which I adapted from a recipe in the New Covent Garden Soup Company’s Book of Soups book.

Adventurous eaters, join me after the jump.

Via Iowa Politics, I learned that the Iowa Democratic Party has created a new website called McCain vs. Iowa:

This website will be strictly issues-focused and will be updated regularly with Iowa-specific information to be used by Iowans as they make their decision come November. Today’s rollout focuses on Senator McCain’s attacks on Iowa biofuels and the Farm Bill. Future rollouts will include issues such as renewable energy, health care, and taxes, to name a few.

Click the link to read the rest of the press release announcing the IDP’s new site.

Meanwhile, Neil Sinhababu, who has also blogged under the name Neil the Ethical Werewolf at Ezra Klein’s place and Kevin Drum’s Political Animal blog, launched a fabulous new blog this week called War or Car? Neil explains the concept:

Welcome to War or Car !

According to Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard public finance professor Linda Bilmes, the total cost of the Iraq War will be over $3 trillion.  That’s enough to buy a new Toyota Prius for every household in America. Here are some other things we could’ve done for the price of the Iraq War.  

You’ll want to bookmark this one, because Neil will be updating it every day between now and the November election. So far, the posts explain how for the cost of the Iraq War, we could have

–covered the land area of Vermont and New Hampshire in gold leaf;

–powered a jukebox since the time of the dinosaurs; or

–supplied the people of Ireland with beer for 1,000 years.

Neil is a great blogger, and this will be a fun site to watch.

I’ve been enjoying La Vida Locavore, the community blog for people interested in food and agriculture issues launched by orangeclouds115 last month. You can find good recipes and advice on kitchen gear as well as the latest news related to salmonella outbreaks, genetically-modified foods, growth hormones in meat and dairy products, etc. I highly recommend you check in from time to time.

The EENR progressive blog, founded by a bunch of Edwards supporters several months ago, is going strong. It’s a good blog to check to keep up with news on some good progressive candidates for Congress, as well as substantive issues that got crowded out on other blogs during the presidential primaries.  

Freeganism.

Do you know what it is? The definition and link to the blog where I learned about it are after the jump. 

Have you learned any new words lately?