Saturday past, I went to a mid winter
festival sponsored by the CSA my daughter is associated with, which
was held at the historic Flushing Meeting house.
I've been to other Flushing CSA events, and this time, (as in the past) I contributed items to the fund
raising raffle (this time, some framed food prints... one set of 3
small prints; chard, asparagus, and carrots) , and a pair of prints
with a selection of root vegetables and another with a selection of
carrots)
I am not a member of the CSA—(my
neighborhood is filled with many greens grocers) but I think CSA are
a wonderful idea.
One reason I went was for the
spices—The CSA tries to work with other local vendors that supply
local and/or organic foods and the result was a number of organic food suppliers participated.
John Bowne HS representatives were
there—Bowne HS has an agricultural program, and raises life stock
(and fresh vegetable) –and offers local free range chicken eggs for
sale (of course, a dozen came home with me!)
And a local apiarist was
there, with local honey (and the local winter meant honey production
was going on right up till Christmas (2015)--I've purchased honey
back in the spring—I don't use a lot of honey in my cooking, so my
4 oz bottle is still half full--but is great when I became sensative to local pollen and was reacting to local pollen..
There were an assortment of home made
jams and preserves (nice but a bit to pricey for me...I made jams and
preserves when I lived in the house and while they are so much better
than commercial productions... $10 for half pint was just too much
(in my opinion).
For me, the highlight was the spice
ladies They are sisters in law, and both decided on being stay at
home mothers once they had children. They, like my daughter, were
concerned about GMO (not many spice are GMO) and about pestisides,
and additives. Did you ever read the labels on your spice containers? So many spice have
“yeast extract” and salts, (simple salt and more complex ones
like MSG,) and “anti caking agents”--and some of these are made
from GMO's.
Their goal was to buy organic spices
and mix up their own blends. Like any obsession, things grew. Some
of the spice they wanted were only available in bulk—and even when
you are from an ethnic background that enjoys spice food, bulk can be
more than you can readily use.
So they shared --between themselves,
and then with family, and then a business was born!
My parent were Irish—and spice are
not much part of Irish cuisine, Salt, pepper, mustard and cinnamon
make up the bulk—Occasionally caraway seeds--(in breads) but my
mother didn't like caraway, and not much else. So learning about
spices, and using them, has been an adult occupation.
I've come to love Indian foods—years
ago, it was simple premixed yellow curries (which I still use) and as
time went by, I learned to use and mix up my own “curries”--some
very mild, some a bit hot (very hot is not part of my food prep!)
some green, some red, all with a range of spices. Chinese golden curry is a
staple, and Red and Green Thai curries are not unknown (these are
used sparingly—they are often at the far range of heat, for my
taste. But I am still a novice when it comes to many ways to use spices.
But the spice ladies (who are properly
known as Spice Tree Organics) have a huge selections of blends—from
organic taco spices, to curries, to falafals, and sweet chia
blends—which they used for making cookies. Everything for
seasoning soup to nuts and every thing in between. I got a small
selection to start—and on their web page, a collection of recipes
that will make my life a bit spicier.
Spice Tree Organics is the only vendor that sells mail order--If it wasn't, why not make spicing up your life a resolution?
(The opinions expressed are mine, and I was not, (and will not) be compensated in any way,except for the pleasure I have using these spices)
