Parades, Pizza and Poultry

Whole Communities represents as cows for the 60th Annual 4th of July Parade -- in Warren, VT.
Otis is also present.

so, the title says it all....

except for this:

To the best yodeling dish crew -- You rock!!!

In other news ... Those previously posted Pizza balls turned out to be a huge success.
I cranked out 18 pies for the final retreat night.
A list of ingredients to make your home pizza nights creative and fun.
Homemade tomato sauce
BBQ Sauce (I have a secret recipe)
roasted garlic
apples, bell peppers, tomatoes,Sauteed shitake mushroom*, caramelized onions*, fresh chili peppers, fresh basil, kale, spinach
Bacon, sausage, ham (any ol` porker won't do) -
Vermont Cheeses -- Cabot Cheddar, Vt Butter and Cheese Feta and Chevre, Maplebrooke Mozzarella


Meet Wren and one of the new baby chicks. In about 6 months, this little Chickie will be laying delicious Knoll Farm eggs.
Now that I have stolen your attention with a chick and pretty little Wren, I will briefly preach about consumer responsibility to support local agriculture. It is essential that we, with our purchase power, put our money back into the communities that feed us. There is no excuse to continue supporting mass corporate driven "food" systems. Having spent most of my life in Oklahoma, I am totally aware of the difficulties in finding farmers growing food and not GE CORN.
I managed to find a little market in my home town selling free range eggs, and a farmer on the side of the road selling veggies -- though he honestly stated that he did spray small amounts of pesticide for insect control -- he was still selling LOCALLY GROWN produce...which you certainly cannot find at Wal-mart. My dad, with his extremely busy schedule manages to plant a little garden with tomatoes, peppers, asparagus, etc...and I think it's one of his most cherished escapes from the daily grind (except listening to me ramble about spoon carving and tattoos). Also, he sends me the peppers --which I turn into my own
"Ass burnin` Hot Sauce".
I will definitely have plenty more on this topic, as the purpose of this blog is to inform my readers, demystify the art of culinary to some degree, and bring food back to the communal table of family and friends.


*Easy and Delicious toppings-
The following are two examples of flavor packed ingredients to add to any dish.
Mushrooms
2 Cups Shitake (or any) Mushrooms, destemmed and sliced
2 T fresh thyme
2 T fresh minced garlic
1/4 C white wine

In a hot saute pan, drizzle a bit of vegetable oil (I recommend grapeseed or sunflower), before oil starts to smoke, add garlic and cook until it starts to brown. Add mushrooms and thyme. Allow to cook on high heat, stirring or tossing constantly. Add white wine and reduce. Season with salt and pepper.
Caramelized Onions
2 onions, sliced
10 Cups water

Heat a saute pan until HOT. Add onions. Do not stir them, just let them cook until browning. Add 1/2 cup water to release browning from bottom of pan. Cook until water is reduced, add another 1/2 cup. Continue cooking onions without stirring, adding water as it reduces. Caramelize them to your liking and remove from heat. Wow, that was easy.