As promised last week, I bought my first Hubbard squash over the weekend, but I haven’t attacked it yet — and the feeling is mutual. It has left me alone, too, so far.

A witty friend who is a superb pie-maker in another Commonwealth sent me some photos (including Kitty With Hubbard, left) documenting his success in taming an alien Hubbard into splendid “pumpkin” pies for Thanksgiving. The images are tiny, but they tell a tale: Human Conquers Hubbard: Perfect Pies Result.

In contrast to Hubbards’ gnarly looks, Washington Post writer Barbara Damrosch awards serious beauty points to butternut squash, another much-loved winter staple. Kitchen Gardeners International received permission and reprinted her 0ctober 30 story, which suggests two types of butternut squash seeds to order for next year’s garden: Waltham, and a new butternut-buttercup cross called Honey Nut, available from High Mowing Organic Seeds.

Photo Credits: MAR - Thank you!

It’s thrilling when excellence, delight, wonder, fun, flavor and Kentucky-ness all meet on one historic street corner in the Commonwealth, as they do at 700 West Main in Louisville. That’s the location for 21c Museum Hotel and Proof on Main restaurant.

All this has something to do with the photo above, too. Lois Mateus, right, generously shared the photo and a Turkey Tale with me. On the left, Proof on Main’s chef Michael Paley holds a prized Bourbon Red heritage turkey Lois reared at Tallgrass Farm in Mayo, Mercer County.

Lois and Tim Peters, her husband, also raise grass-fed goats and Angus cattle sustainably, and use their farm — which is protected by an Agricultural Conservation Easement — as a living laboratory intended “to preserve farmland from random development through conservation easements and to demonstrate that it is possible to produce food of the highest quality, working in harmony with the environment and nature.” Read the rest of this entry »

I have a dear friend and cooking muse who stuffs cabbage rolls from scratch, and has given me a hands-on stuffing lesson. She generously allowed me to post her perfect recipe here. I have made the recipe several times, and it is decidedly worth the effort.

Browsing a library copy of Gourmet over the weekend, I was taken with a beautiful photo of “Unstuffed Sweet and Sour Cabbage.” In addition to the photo, two more things got my attention: I realized I had every single ingredient in my house, and that all but the seasonings and cranberries had come from Kentucky’s earth and nurturing. Second, the recipe promises the flavors of famously slow-to-make-and-cook cabbage rolls in just one hour. One hour is not fast food, but it’s manageable in my kitchen most nights. Read the rest of this entry »

Cooking real food from scratch has always been my delight — even my therapy. When Alice Waters spoke  at the first Growing Kentucky conference about expanding our pleasure and life satisfaction by taking time to seek out and prepare food, and when Barbara Kingsolver described the joy of eating foods from close to home, I was already a little bit warmed up.

I would not have guessed, though, that I would invest as much time as I do now to look for good food and be part of small but elaborate distribution systems. Even more, I would not have imagined how much pleasure I take in knowing more of the people, land and systems that produce my food.

I know not everyone can take the time to hunt down local food sources, and many do not want to. I trust excellent, stable, affordable local food distribution systems are in the works and hope we will enjoy them in the next few years.

In the meantime, we can buy and rely on fine local foods by sharing information with each other, having patience and flexibility, and making our wishes known to each other and to growers. Especially as farmers markets are now closing for winter, you may find you can keep bringing home good local foods if you talk directly with growers and processors. Some of them will make special plans and accommodations, especially if you will buy a substantial amount of their product. You may work this out more easily by sharing with neighbors or family.

Here are some local food sources you may not know about in central Kentucky.

Lamb and beef from Four Mountains Farm at Hillsboro, in Fleming County, Kentucky. 859.333.2257. Friends have recommended Brooke Alexander’s grass-fed lamb highly, and it turns out Brooke also produces beef. Brooke says, “We have about 20 beef animals and about 130 lambs available each year.The only tricky thing about the beef is that it’s good to order several months in advance so that I can make sure to save animals back (rather than sell them on traditional markets at lighter weights).  For example, I may sell some in a special sale in mid-December, and I also have a friend who wants some heifers.  Several people have already ordered beef from this group to be ready in June.  Likewise, the people who are getting their beef in December started ordering this summer.  At the moment, I sell whatever is not ordered on the traditional market, especially when it is expensive to carry the larger animals over the winter with hay supplies tight (drought). I hope to get to the point where I am selling everything off the farm, but it takes advance planning since a beef takes a year and a half to be ready!”

It sounds like people in Fleming and nearby counties have a wonderful option available to them for good lamb and beef. Another meat option is recently established a bit west of Four Mountains.

Lamb and goats from Bluegrass Lamb & Goat in Paint Lick, in Garrard County, with a second processing plant in Mercer County. 859.925.2000. I have just learned about Bluegrass Lamb & Goat from trusted friends, Blue Moon Farm owners Jean and Leo Keene. Leo and Jean grow their own crops sustainably. They have cultivated a network of support for delicious, eco-friendly food and food practices among producers, processors, restaurants and consumers.  Leo is a pioneer in central Kentucky local food distribution — and I benefit often. Leo helps find good foods that are hard to locate, and then works out ways to get the foods and the eater together with the fewest possible food miles involved. Leo can help connect both restaurants and individuals with Bluegrass Lamb & Goat products. Call Leo at 859.328.2401 - and read on for another new local food option that involves Jean and Leo…

Buy local in bulk, with planning. Thanks to a customer who wanted to keep enjoying what Blue Moon offers at the Lexington Farmers Market from April through October each year, Blue Moon is trying out a way to provide customers substantial quantities of foods from a small network of suppliers. Pre-ordering and some waiting is required, so plan ahead. The scale and scope of products is broad, and includes Blue Moon’s own products (garlic, sourdough bread, garlic scape pesto, homemade pasta, and more.) Jean says, “Blue Moon Farm represents Stone Cross Farm from Spencer County (Taylorsville) for pastured pork and beef products, handmade soaps (and around Christmas their own raw milk cheese), Colcord Farm in Bourbon County (Paris) for grass finished beef, Kenny’s Farmhouse (raw milk) Cheeses from Barren County (near Bowling Green), Sunrise Bakery in Lexington for Artisan breads and pastries, plus we have our own Blue Moon products.  All meat and dairy products are A.S.H.-free (antibiotic, steroid, hormone).” A detailed list of products and prices is available. Call Leo at 859.328.2401.

When dealing with growers, producers, farmers, processors - I know you will do this anyway, but just a friendly reminder - make it worth their while. Order plenty. Share, freeze, preserve if necessary. That way, our homemade, jerry-rigged, seat-of-the-blue jean, temporary-we-hope local foods distribution “system” can be good for all of us, until a better system comes through.

Saturday, November 15, 2008: So chilly and wet and windy one wonders why any growers would show up at the Lexington Farmers Market. Yet several had promised they would be there, so I went, too.

Every Saturday I get to sleep in much later than the farmers, and I can always leave if I get too cold or too wet, so for me the Market in bad weather is an adventure. I doubt the growers feel that way. They get up early (I’ve heard 2:00 AM mentioned more than once) and stay through wind, cold, and rain. Most amazing of all to me - they smile and offer a lot of welcome cheer as they serve us, even when we are cold and grumpy.

Here’s a little photo-report on some of what I found this week, late in Kentucky’s growing season. After a stop for Hubbard Squash, watermelon radishes, turnips, sweet potatoes, and fresh lettuces at Elmwood Stock Farm, I moved west along Vine Street to the appetizer and dessert courses — all under one tent.

Susan Miller, on the left in these photos, has delighted hundreds of customers this year by becoming the first local goat cheese producer to sell at Lexington Farmers Market. Her Bleugrass Chevre will be available all winter, thanks to smartly timed breeding, Susan says. She will move indoors to Victorian Square on Saturdays throughout the winter. W&M Market also sells Bleugrass Chevre, and they are open every day. Read the rest of this entry »

The rocky, light brown, clay-ey soil where Mother and Dad gardened in wonderful Wayne County must have just what it takes to grow fine winter squashes. I grew up loving the sweet autumn taste and comforting feel of baked acorn and butternut squash. Once I left the family garden and moved to the city, the first acorn squash I bought at a grocery store stunned me. I could not rescue the tasteless, pale, stringy flesh with any amount of cinnamon, butter, or maple syrup.

The problem with the city squashes may have been poor soil, early picking, or both. Apparently winter squashes vary considerably in taste and quality depending on the soil and situation that nourish them. More on that below.

This fall, excited about discovering Elmwood Stock Farm’s Buttercup Kabocha, I have talked a lot of squash with my kind and dashing younger brother. He called this week to tell me about Pumpkin Pie Popsicles, which sound fantastic. I found an online recipe that uses the maple syrup, cream and spices he described. As our talks continue, I have been working up my courage to buy and try a Hubbard squash. Read the rest of this entry »