Gifting a Carolina Christmas

Black Friday has come and gone. Personally, I’m not one to lose sleep (and possibly sanity) over saving a few bucks. Last year, I enjoyed shopping from the comfort of home. That’s right, I turned to the Internet. I bought a popcorn popper for my husband from a national chain on Black Friday, but then I went to the Amish store nearby and bought purple popcorn and flavored seasoning salt to complete the gift. This year, I hope to skip the national chains, but I loved the freedom of shopping online—no lines, no parking lots and delivery to my door (often with free shipping). This year I have been introduced to quite a few North Carolina businesses through the N.C. Value-Added Cost Share program, and I think my gift list will include a few specialty items from these growing agri-businesses. The items are local, often edible and many can be purchased online. A few of my favorites are the Farmers Roasted Soynuts (perfect stocking stuffer), essential oil of lavender, organic wine and smoked trout. You can find more N.C. ag-inspired products online at the NCDA&CS General Store, or look for a holiday farmers market near you.

One of my favorite DIY gifts is to assemble a recipe card collection coupled with a dishtowel, hand-knitted dishcloth and a vintage mixing bowl. It’s a versatile gift, suitable for a loved one, a casual acquaintance or a blind gift exchange. This year, The Produce Lady will be my elf and she can be yours too!

Simply visit www.theproducelady.org. Select the recipe tab and download the printable pdfs available for select favorites. Print the recipes on card stock, trim and tie with a festive ribbon. Easy, fun and useful!

I hope you’ll join me this year thinking outside the heat-sealed plastic box for an agriculturally inspired Carolina Christmas. Only 27 shopping days left!

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas from The Produce Lady

A Special Thanks

If ever there was a time to be thankful for friends, family and great food, it’s the fourth Thursday of every November. Thanksgiving, that most delectable of holidays, originated in the 17th century to give thanks for a community’s good harvest. Although good food has remained a centerpiece of the annual celebration, the sources of the food – our farmers, whose good harvests make possible our cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, pecan pie and even hot ham or turkey – more often go unnoticed.

This year we want to acknowledge the farmers and all that they do to feed our families on Thanksgiving and throughout the year. Now that thanks have been given, let’s get cooking!

Time to Eat

Some crops in our home state of North Carolina that are traditional favorites and in abundance locally for Thanksgiving are apples, pecans, sweet potatoes and winter squash. While they please many a palate served as sweet pies, apples, pecans and sweet potatoes can be plated up as appetizers, side dishes or even finger-food snacks.

• Apple Pecan Squash Recipe
• Roasted Sweet Potato Wedges Recipe
• Apple Crisp Recipe (wonderful lower-fat substitute for apple pie)

Watch our Winter Squash video for tips on selecting and preparing butternuts among others. The Roasted Butternut Squash and Fruit recipe is sure to become a family favorite!

Holiday Food Safety

As always, practice food safety! We’d be remiss not to point out that more than 4,000 home fires occur each Thanksgiving, often because cooking food is left unattended. Take these steps to help keep you and your loved ones safe:

• Stay in the kitchen while food is cooking.
• If using a turkey fryer, make sure the meat is completely thawed and dried before adding to oil. Monitor the oil temperature and turn off the fryer if it begins to smoke.
• Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and make sure smoke detectors are on and working.

Have a safe, happy and tasty Thanksgiving! 😉

Roasted Fall Vegetables

Frosty mornings and falling leaves mean fall is in full swing! But just because summer has packed up doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of local produce options this time of year. In fact, you’re likely to find luscious greens in abundance at the farmers market as well as apples, squash, pecans, broccoli and a slew of root veggies.

One of our favorite ways to enjoy this seasonal bounty (and warm up our bellies) is by putting together a roasted vegetable medley. Any combination of vegetables and spices can be used in this recipe. This is a basic technique allowing individuals to experiment with many different variations – have fun and enjoy!

Seasoned Roasted Vegetables
Download the recipe card (PDF)

Vegetables (choose 4 cups of one or more)

Broccoli
Red Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Carrots
Onions
Peppers
Eggplant
Squash (different varieties)
Turnips

Spices (choose 2 to 3 tsp. of one or more)

Chili powder
Rosemary
Cumin
Garlic cloves
Grill seasoning
Curry powder
Chinese 5 spice
Tarragon
Italian seasoning
Sage
Parsley
Cinnamon

Oil (choose 1 tbsp. of one)

Olive oil
Canola oil
Corn oil

Place foil in the pan for easier clean up. Select one or a combination of vegetables and toss with 1 tbsp. of oil and 2 to 3 tsp. of one or a combination of spices. Place on a nonstick cooking pan and roast at 425 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes. Serves 4.

Too many to choose from? Here are some suggested tried-and-true combinations:

• Sweet potatoes: Chinese 5 spice, cinnamon
• Red potatoes: garlic, rosemary
• Eggplant: garlic, Italian seasoning
• Carrots: grill seasoning, parsley
• Acorn squash: cinnamon, chili powder

A is for Apple: Encouraging Acceptance of Fruits and Vegetables with the Help of Applesauce

For new parents, the introduction of solid food is a major milestone — one that we marked several months ago. Starting with rice cereal, we methodically progressed toward fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins; from purees to chunky mashes to bite-sized finger foods. We’re working on a spoon and fork now, which has proven to be quite messy. My son, Luke’s, first foods included sweet potatoes, bananas and green beans. But it was applesauce that became a special favorite.

You see, sometimes new foods, whether for reasons of taste or texture, were met with trepidation. The first couple bites were usually easy, but then he would clamp shut, no matter what sort of spoon airplane antics we tried. Applesauce became our “reset” food. When the new food would be refused, we’d simply shift our attention to the applesauce. After a couple eager bites of applesauce it seemed his palette was “reset” and accepting of the new food again. If he continued refusing the new food, another method was to scoop half a spoonful of the new food and half a spoonful of applesauce together so that the applesauce masked the taste of the new food. Trickery? Perhaps. But it worked and Luke was exposed to a healthy variety of textures, flavors and nutrition.

A half-cup serving of unsweetened applesauce offers 20 percent of the daily recommended value of vitamin C and five percent of the daily recommended value of fiber. I was careful to select unsweetened applesauce since it has half the amount of sugar as the “original” applesauce recipes, which are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.

Making applesauce is pretty

easy as well. For a small batch, peel, core and slice four large, naturally sweet apples. Place in a crock pot with ¼ cup water and cook for six hours. Use a mash with a fork for a chunkier version, or blend in a food processor for a smoother texture. I found the single-serve cups available at the grocery store were convenient for travel and eating out. Applesauce is easy to swallow, but provides more texture than most baby food purees. (Remember: Whole fruit it best for maximum nutritional value, while juice should be avoided due to its high sugar content.)

We have progressed to table food now and Luke seems to like all the healthy foods he’s been exposed to from avocado to greens. And these days his favorite snack is a fresh apple. He only has seven teeth, but tiny bite by tiny bite, he can eat an entire apple to the core.

Go Crazy Over Crocking

About a month ago, there was a blip in the social media sphere. A trio of busy moms who practiced what they dubbed, Crock Pot Mondays, started a Facebook page to share crock pot recipes among friends. They expected the page to garner 40 or maybe 50 “likes.” As of today, the “Crock Pot Girls” page boasts 1.2 million “likes.” The phenomenal response was shocking. Who would have expected that so many Facebook friends were clamoring for crock pot recipes?

(Left to right) Leah Chester-Davis, coordinator of The Produce Lady program, and Brenda Sutton, "The Produce Lady," prepare a crock pot meal during a video shoot.

While roasts and chili may be the traditional crock pot fare, the slow cooking method is suitable for fruits and veggies as well. And I’m not just talking about the potatoes and carrots you throw in with the roast.

Apples are a crock pot favorite, from baked apples to apple sauce to apple butter. As the apples cook, they fill the house with the scent of fall. Or get a little more adventurous and try a side dish of cabbage and apples. The crock pot isn’t just for all day cooking culminating in supper. Warm spiced fruit including peaches, pears and cherries are the perfect complement to a granola and yogurt breakfast. These softer fruits only require two hours on high for crock pot perfection. Of course some crock pots now come with timers to set the start time (for example, to start 2 hours before you plan to wake up) and most shift to a “Warm” setting once the set time and temperature have elapsed.

The crock pot can also cook up a vegetable soup or side dish with ease. Glazed sweet potatoes, stuffed winter squash and even a fresh tomato marinara sauce can cook to perfection in a slow cooker. Creamed corn is a family favorite through the winter (using the sweet corn we froze at its peak in summer, of course), and any leftovers are perfect for vegetable soup. In fact, here’s a tip for a no-fuss vegetable soup:

As you cook those fresh vegetables through the summer and you have leftovers that never seem to get eaten, dump them into a large freezer container. When the container gets full, transfer to the crock pot, add some stock and enjoy a unique soup chock full of summer goodness.