sweet treats

whats with the time away?! i have been so busy. and when i'm not sleeping, i'm rehearsing and when i'm not doing that i'm either working or going back to my script to work some more on the text. needless to say, i've opted-out of late night meals (i ain't no Julie Powel cooking my way through Mastering The Art of French Cooking with a death wish and a desire to gain 20 lbs), so i'm really only snacking on raw veggies and a piece of bread w. peanut butter here and there...there's been no time to cook. sadly. i wish i could...give me a week or so and i'll be back on point. i'm excited to play around with summer dishes. i read this article in the NYTimes a few weeks ago about making meals that keep you out of a hot kitchen (ie. doing a lot of prep - a lot is an exaggeration - before you start cooking) which is totally calling my name. so much so, that i actually bought a tin of sardines the other day whilst at the grocery store! i cannot wait.

i've not talked about it before - but i love honey. i like to use it as a sweetener in my coffee and i wish i made myself bake with it more. i could eat raw honey, the kind that is thick and pasty, by the spoonful.  one of my friends from college owns a farm with her husband and sister-in-law in williamsport, ohio called Honeyrun Farm. 
its pretty amazing. its awesome, rather. its so inspiring to know that jayne, becky and issac are doing something they love. they are working the land and providing wholesome food for themselves and those in their area. so very inspiring. i mean...it really is awesome. i go to the farmers market maybe every-other-weekend and whenever i go, i just want to be behind one of those farm stands and talking to everyone about the produce, herbs, flowers, bread, whatever was made by this farm.

well, jayne was nice enough to send me some of their black locust honey...its awesome. its really light and smooth and it so clear. i think its clearer than most honey i've had in the past. its this light golden color, it reminds me of a toe-headed little child on a warm august day. the flavor is really clean and simple and floral. they grow their own flowers and i can only imagine they bees adore them all! their bees probably say things like, "the barnes' flowers are to die for, Herb, you really should try them the next time you go on a pollen run."

what i'm really trying to say is a) go to Honeyrun, and if you're in the area, literally...go there. b) support your local farmers. they're the ones who know how to do things right. we're a civilization that is living off the land in all the wrong ways. we're wasting and consuming far too much and not understanding how to properly use the little land that we have left. the farmers - they know what and how to do. we should learn from them. we should all figure out how to be more self-sustaining. for those of you in the NYC area, here is a map and schedule of all the green markets throughout the city. do this. i promise you'll love it.


i almost forgot! i made crockpot veggie chili...i haven't tasted it yet, but i have it for lunch today, so i will give a full review. here's what i did though - so freakin' easy.

1 large (i think ours was too large) white onion
1/2 green bell pepper
6 garlic scapes


chop these puppies up, toss them in the crock pot (i used - i think - a 4Q crockpot, i wanted more room, so perhaps don't think as large as i did). next, take a can of pinto beans, a can of kidney beans, a can of black beans (we used this black bean/bacon/soup stuff), a can of fava beans, a can of corn, a whole can of tomato paste, a 28oz can of chopped tomatoes (we used whole peeled roma and chopped them ourselves, you can also use crushed...it all depends on what you like, i like a lot of texture in my chili hence the whole peeled), 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, a little salt, a little pepper and a cup of water. mix it all together, put the lid on and let it sit (med/high) for 8ish hours.  ours stewed for probably 12 hours. it was so easy. it made A LOT of chili. i will let you know what i thought after lunch.

xo