If all goes well, Eva and I will slip over to Dallas in a few weeks to see the documentary film Food Fight. Being a member of the local Slow Food chapter has some benefits. The film was released last year in Dallas and now returns. It looks like something that will be both interesting and educational. I will let you know after we see it.

Video Clips from the documentary

Home Page for Food Fight (Be sure your speakers are on. There is a great song on home page)

Press Release from Savor Dallas
"Savor Dallas and AFI DALLAS are presenting a free screening of Food Fight, director Chris Taylor's acclaimed documentary that studies the American food system and how a group of California activists and culinarians in the 1960s and 1970s launched the movement that made organic and sustainable agriculture a part of the American and international food experience today.
 
Premiered at the AFI  DALLAS International Film Festival in 2008, Food Fight shares how the legendary Alice Waters, founder of the world famous Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and her colleagues, created a food chain outside of the conventional system.  This approach to a pesticide-free and seasonal agricultural market connected chefs with independent organic and sustainable growers to provide the fullest-flavor produce, proteins and ingredients for their fine-dining destinations.  The unintended by-product of this movement was the creation of a broader demand for organic ingredients among chefs, and then from the American consumer.  
 
Also featured in Food Fight is organic food leader and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck and his work in raising the standards for American cuisine and consumption by making organic and seasonal ingredients a mainstay of his world famous menus.
 
"Alice Waters is a remarkable woman and chef with incredible vision and passion," said Jim White, co-founder of Savor Dallas, celebrating a fifth year as Dallas' premier culinary event featuring the best in food, wine, spirits and the arts. "We are so happy to give foodies who missed this film last year at AFI DALLAS a chance to experience this great culinary story.  If you eat, it's important to you." 
The screening of Food Fight will take place at The Angelika Theatre at Mockingbird Station on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.  Attendance is limited for this free screening. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis by email .
 WFAA-TV Channel 8 film critic Gary Cogill, who also hosts Good Morning Texas,  will interview director Chris Taylor for the audience following the screening.
 The local chapter of Slow Food International and Dallas Farmers Market Friends will be special attendees of the screening."  

Eva is off visiting the Enkelkinder and its very quiet on the farm tonight. It is times like this that I listen to music and read, I rummaged through my private stock of CD's as if they were fine wine and stumbled upon two of my forgotten favorites by The Velvet Underground. For a band that only made three albums, they left some legacy on modern music. In the 60's and early 70's, most of us were too busy having fun, growing up, protesting and such to realize how really good the music was then. Now as we gray and are much older we and our children appreciate it much more.

The two I like best are Sunday Morning and Pale Blue Eyes. I dare you to listen to Pale Blue Eyes and then not hum it for some time after.

Sunday Morning

Pale Blue Eyes

Richie Unterberger shares his thoughts on The Velvet Underground.

"Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan. It was the group's lot to be ahead of, or at least out of step with, their time. The mid- to late '60s was an era of explosive growth and experimentation in rock, but the Velvets' innovations — which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual kinkiness into rock lyrics — were too abrasive for the mainstream to handle. During their time, the group experienced little commercial success; though they were hugely appreciated by a cult audience and some critics, the larger public treated them with indifference or, occasionally, scorn. The Velvets' music was too important to languish in obscurity, though; their cult only grew larger and larger in the years following their demise, and continued to mushroom through the years. By the 1980s, they were acknowledged not just as one of the most important rock bands of the '60s, but one of the best of all time, and one whose immense significance cannot be measured by their relatively modest sales. Their colorful and oft-grim soundscapes were firmly grounded in strong, well-constructed songs that could be as humanistic and compassionate as they were outrageous and confrontational. The member most responsible for these qualities was guitarist, singer, and songwriter Lou Reed, whose sing-speak vocals and gripping narratives have come to define street-savvy rock & roll. Reed loved rock & roll from an early age, and even recorded a doo-wop type single as a Long Island teenager in the late '50s (as a member of the Shades). By the early '60s, he was also getting into avant-garde jazz and serious poetry, coming under the influence of author Delmore Schwartz while studying at Syracuse University."

Even Andy Warhol got into the act and designed their first album cover which in itself became a classic.

Chef Eva will take you on a culinary tour of south Louisiana in her class Cookin’ Cajun for Mardi Gras.

Having spent my college years in News Orleans, I have wonderful memories of the festive time of Mardi Gras.  This is also known as fat Tuesday and is the last day of feasting before fasting for Lent. I loved the carnival atmosphere, many parades, festive costumes and balls, and especially catching of coins and beads tossed off the floats.

Food and drink are paramount in celebrating Mardi Gras.  This cooking class will blend two great south Louisiana cuisines: Cajun and Creole.  These two types of cuisine are intertwined, yet different.  Creole food is more sophisticated reflecting the elegance of historic New Orleans.  Cajun food, on the other hand, is more country and has been handed down by the Acadians since the late 1700’s.  Both cuisines have their roots in the French, Spanish and Caribbean influence on coastal Louisiana with a robust taste and intense flavor.

The principal food of Mardi Gras is a Louisiana Gumbo using ingredients that were easy to obtain for country folks (sausage, seafood, chicken). King Cake, also known as Twelfth Night Cake, is traditional for the social conscious citizens of New Orleans.  The cake dates from the 1870’s and features a hidden token that represents the Christ child.  The finder is said to have good luck for the coming year and is obligated to host the next party.

Our class will start by making a Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo and the New Orleans King Cake.  After we get these started, we will focus our attention on a Spinach Salad Vermillion, Chicken Fricassee with Creole Rice and Artichoke & Crab Gratin.  There will be some hands on participation in this class.  When the menu is complete, we will retire to my 1850’s dining room and enjoy our meal. 

February 21 - 10:00 AM - $70

Chef Eva's next cooking class is February 7 (Saturday) here at the farm. Cost is $65 and the class starts at 10:00 AM.

Do you think certain foods make you or that special person in your life more romantic?  After researching extensively on the validity of aphrodisiac foods I came to the conclusion that it is thoroughly mind induced.  But, who cares!  It’s just a matter of stimulating those senses that enhance the proper mood you desire.  This can be achieved by a romantic setting of candles, and low light, fine dinnerware, flowers and food that looks and tastes seductively. Not the least, a nice wine that warms and relaxes.
 
From the Greeks 2,000 years ago to 18th century romantic writers, there has been lists compiled that suggest certain foods have aphrodisiac qualities.  Some of these are almonds, anise, arugula, asparagus, avocado, cardamom, chiles, chocolate, ginger honey, figs, oysters, pine nuts and wine.
 
We will test the theory for ourselves by warming our senses with an Oyster Rockefeller Bisque followed by Arugula Salad with Honeyed Pine Nuts and Goat Cheese.  If that’s not enough, we will continue with Pork Tenderloin stuffed with Prosciutto, Figs and Gorgonzola Cheese.  This will be complemented by Asparagus with Cardamom Butter.  To seal the deal, desert will be Chocolate Anise Pot de Crème.
 
By the time this class is over, you will be an expert and ready to prepare this special menu for a special Valentine evening.

January 20 brings forth a new era in America and a time of hope for the world.

"This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.
And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.
"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess." Barack Obama, Denver 2008

To me, nothing could be more appropriate than recalling John Lennon's Imagine to celebrate this day.

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Lyrics: Imagine

I have been an avid listener and supporter of public radio (and television) for longer than I care to remember. Some time ago, NPR added a segment called This I Believe. It gave opportunity for ordinary people to share their values and philosophies with others. It is a take off of a program of the same name in the early 1950's by Edward R. Morrow of CBS Radio. I do not believe I have disliked any of the short 4-5 minutes segments I have listened to. The presenters are unknown and distant to me yet they seem like close friends talking just to me. Their concerns and values are often my own and they have dreams as I do.

Often I am feeding cattle hay at Rocky Branch in the late afternoon when NPR Evening Edition is on and I get to hear This I Believe without having to log on to the internet to listen to a missed program. Earlier this week, they had on a most interesting and enlightening segment; Inviting the World to Dinner. It was the story of a fellow from Louisiana that lives in Paris, France who invites 50-60 people every week for Sunday dinner. People he has never met. He has been doing this for 30 years. His web site shares much more on his very interesting life and there is a clip from a film about him.

Over dinner that evening Eva and I re-listened to his story and many of the others including those from the 1950's. It is amazing how little has changed over time. In Jim Haynes short dialogue there are a few points that transcend time. "Tolerance leads to respect, then love or at least acceptance". "My roots cover the earth....We should know each other.... Our lives are all connected".

In early January Gina Parosa shared a story about Pathways of Desire. If you have never run across this expression, then I will not spoil it and let you listen to her story. Her piece is very different that Jim Haynes, but they both capture human thought and understanding that transcends every story in This I Believe. Maybe if the world and our nation were more like our story tellers it would be a different place.

Take a moment and spend some time listening to others. I think you will enjoy the experience. Try it with your eyes closed.

There are several miles of hiking trails on the farm including a steep primitive trail to the top of Greer Mountain. The winter views cover 20+ miles on a clear day. The White Oak trail falls under some excellent examples of mature White Oaks. At Sid's Place you can sit on a log and have your quiet time in a very secluded beautiful place.

Our farm is a member of the Texas Organic Farmers & Gardner's Association. The logo below is for their annual conference in February.

It stuck me as being very wholesome and really captures a farmer with a family owned farmed. I really like it. What do you think? Feel free to write a comment?

"All's misalliance. Yet why not say what happened?"

From Epilogue by Robert Lowell

Around the Greer Farm we are accustomed to sharing our space with a most unusual fowl.

If you could roll back the into time it would not be an uncommon sight to see on each farm homestead free ranging birds that look like Adam and Eve had something to do with designing them. Perhaps evan a cave man. Prehistoric looking French Guinea fowl were welcome guests. They roamed around eating bugs (fire ants) and sounded alarm when strangers were near with a strange noise.

La Pintadera Hatchery in Quebec says these are "ancient birds native of South Africa from where they spread all over the continent, excluding desert regions, up to the Mediterranean sea. For a long period of time, the guinea fowl, and its eggs, was one of the main dish of the Africans. It can explain why this bird is more resistant to hot weather than the chicken."
 
"In a natural environment, the guinea fowl is monogamous. The female usually lays 12 to 20 eggs. During broodiness, the gregarious male jealously protects the females. It is hard to distinguish between the male and the female since they both have the same plumage."

"If a predator happens to pass by, the guinea fowl runs so fast, it's as if it wasn't touching the ground at all. It can also fly several hundred meters. The guinea fowl eats seeds and weeds and grows fast. It stays on the ground all day but likes to perch when the night comes. The guinea fowl is able to hear unusual noise or movement coming from far away, it then starts to scream very loud. That is why it is also known as the farm-yard sentry. If the guinea fowl is kept in a reserved clump or outdoor, it can become turbulent and even quarrelsome. Therefore, it keeps its nervous and hasty natural temper when raised in the wild."

We got our first birds ten years ago that were already grown. We did not have a clue what to do with them so just opened the cage and let them out. They immediately flew off into the woods never to be seen again. We have since learned that if you import them, you have to get them used to you and your place before release. It is best to start with chicks.

Our next attempt was more successful. We bought chicks a few days old from Horaney's feed store in Longview and raised them into a cage until almost grown. These did well, but our yard dogs did not like them roaming around outside of the chicken yard. Most, over time, were killed. We finally taught the dogs not to chase them and kill them.

Guinea's have strange reproduction habits. Several hens lay their eggs in the same nest. The nest is usually in some obscure place that you would never easily locate. The hens and males take turns sitting on the eggs. I have seen up to 30 eggs in a single nest. In any case, the ones that survived the dogs had babies. That got us on the road to a successful flock.

Over the years we have had as many as forty and as few as three, but every year a new clutches are born. You look out and it looks like large bugs scurrying across the yard, but its day old chicks. They are very small. Guinea fowl are good guardians of their chicks, but terrible parents. If there is a lot of dew or rain they do not try to keep them warm and dry. They just continue on their normal way and the chicks die off one by one due to exposure and lack of care. Some years we would capture the little chicks and place them in a cage with a mature fowl (never sure if it is a male or female) and raise them until they can take care of themselves. While the chicks are in the cage, the flock hangs around outside it and squawks attempting to protect the babies.

Last year we got down to four birds. Not sure if we had any females, I worked with a friend and we obtained fertile eggs, hatched them out and had a clutch of fifteen to add to our flock. I was surprised to one day see lots of small birds on the front lawn and realized our own birds had raised a clutch too. Of this group, seven lived to maturity.

For six months, the birds raised from the fertilized eggs lived in the barn and stayed in the chicken pen. No matter what I did they would not join the yard fowl. Yesterday I was in the yard and suddenly all fifteen took flight and went over the fence into the trees. they watched to yard fowl below them and after a time swooped down and joined them. I have no idea why they waited so long to join the flock or why it suddenly happened, but the kids have left home finally.

If you are curious what they taste like, its similar to pheasant. The meat is all dark and very moist with lots of flavor. You can buy it at Central Market in Dallas for about $20-$25/bird or you can raise your own for maybe $3-5 to maturity. We did a taste comparison a few years ago between a store bought bird and one we raised. Ours was by far the best tasting. If it was not so difficult to raise them, they would make a great addition to the variety of food you have. I am sure they are very healthy and a good addition to your diet.

If you want to raise your own, start with chicks when its warm enough outside for you to be comfortable in a T shirt.

Several have asked why grass-fed beef is more expensive that grain-fed feed lot beef. Basically it is because of the longer time it takes for the cattle to mature. If you ship off your calves after six to eight months to a feed lot, you do not have much invested. Our cattle are close to 24 months old at harvest.

We do offer grain finished beef, but ours is NOT the type you get out of a feed lot. We only feed grain for a few months and it is given in limited quantity. The bulk of our grain finished cattle's diet is still grass. The combination will give you more marbling, but it also retains the natural flavors grass-fed beef has.

The article below discusses the difference in grain-fed and grass-fed.

From Food.Recentrunes.com
Grain-fed and Grass-fed Beef: A Meditation
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy is a very scary term, I mean even the X-Files has an episode based on it. It basically turns your brain into Swiss cheese.
And it has been two long years since the appearance of US Beef on the sweltering shores of Singapore. Even though the ban was lifted (in a limited way), the local steakhouses have bought up so much beef that it took a while to clear those stocks.
It’s also been a while since the Dead Cow Society met for the prevention of BSE to other people. Such is our selfless charter.
But why the madness over US beef? All this talk and anticipation has made me very curious about the mystique of beef.
It’s all about taste. Beef, US or otherwise, comes, broadly, in either grain-fed or grass-fed. Both give distinctively different tastes. Grass-fed beef is gamey and the flavour is not as intense as grain-fed beef. And unless it is aged well, grass-fed beef can be tougher than grain-fed ones.
The good news is that a recent study in The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the meat of grass-fed livestock not only had substantially less fat than grain-fed meat but that the type of fats found in grass-fed meat were much healthier. Grass-fed meat has more omega 3 fatty acids and fewer omega 6, which is believed to promote heart disease; it also contains betacarotine and CLA, another ”good” fat.
Grain-fed beef is sweeter and more intense because it contains more fat. It is the preferred beef for a lot of people.
Unfortunately, grain-fed beef from feedlot cows is also very unhealthy because of the higher levels of saturated fat. However, that’s not the most terrifying thing about it.
Feedlot cattle are basically cattle who are weaned off their mothers and grass and are placed in pens and fed grain. This fattens up the calf rapidly and tremendously.
There are many side effects to this practice, most of them bad. This is because corn is not a natural food for cows. Cows were meant to eat forage, but foodlots make them eat grain.
This causes a lot of problems such as feedlot bloat. Cows create a lot of gas which is usually expelled, but when on a diet low in roughage and high in starch, a layer of foamy slime that can trap gas forms in the rumen. The rumen inflates like a balloon, pressing against the animal’s lungs. Unless action is promptly taken to relieve the pressure (usually by forcing a hose down the animal’s esophagus), the cow suffocates.
So listen to your mom and eat your vegetables else you fart. A lot.
Moving on, a corn diet can also give a cow acidosis. Unlike that in our own highly acidic stomachs, the normal pH of a cow’s stomach is neutral. Corn makes it unnaturally acidic, however, causing a kind of bovine heartburn, which in some cases can kill the animal but usually just makes it sick. Acidotic animals go off their feed, pant and salivate excessively, paw at their bellies and eat dirt. The condition can lead to diarrhea, ulcers, bloat, liver disease and a general weakening of the immune system that leaves the animal vulnerable to everything from pneumonia to feedlot polio.
A feedlot cow does not live more than 6-months. A sustained feedlot diet would eventually “blow out their livers” and kill them. As the acids eat away at the stomach wall, bacteria enter the bloodstream and collect in the liver.
Enter the antibiotics. Its use reduces the gas and helps to prevent liver infection. However, it is acknowledged generally that such a practice led to the evolution of “super bugs” which are resistant to antibiotics.
A distinction should be made between clinical and non-clinical uses of antibiotics. Clinical usage is to help sick animals get better whereas the other is to promote growth. Therein lies the paradox: antibiotics is administered to feedlot cattle to treat the sick animals who become sick because of what we feed them.
A less concerned person may note that it’s all for the greater good of mankind. After all, US Corn-fed beef tastes sublime.
Well, apart from BSE, the other worrying thing about grain-fed beef from feedlot cows is Escherichia coli 0157 or E. Coli 0157. This is a new strain of intestinal bacteria that was isolated in the 1980s and it is acid-resistant. Ingesting E. Coli microbes can be fatal.
Here’s the scare: most of the microbes that reside in the gut of a cow and find their way into our food get killed off by the acids in our stomachs, because they are originally adapted to live in a pH-neutral environment. But the digestive tract of the modern feedlot cow is closer in acidity to our own (because of acidosis), and in this new environment acid-resistant E. Coli 0157 have developed that can survive our stomach acids and go on to kill us.
Increasing the acidity of a cow’s gut with corn, we have broken down one of our food chain’s barriers to infection.
There are other impact such as environmental ones, yet why are we still doing this? Basically it’s the price. Grass-fed beef is more expensive as grass-fed cows take longer to “harvest” and corn is very cheap. Besides, everyone likes corn-fed beef.
But how cheap is corn-fed beef actually? Is it worth it? So long as the mass market demands it, there will be no stopping.
It is commonly said that we are what we eat and for me, the thought of consuming beef that consumed grass that consumed sunlight is getting more and more appealing.