{grains brains challenge} A Scone of One’s Own

Grain Brains Challenge: A recipe challenge to help you get whole grains into your mouth, not just your kitchen. I never had a scone until I was in college. First week of school the Dean of Students sent out hand-written invitations to the freshmen class, instructing us, in groups of 25 or so, to attend an afternoon…

{FSC Podcast} Episode 11: Northeast Grains

FSC Contributor Amy Halloran takes on an a podcast journey to explore the Northeast grain system. Amy’s series on scaling up the northeast grain system provides a wealth of information and serves as an incredible introduction to the world of local grains, and in this episode we continue that conversation. Grains are often left out of the locavore…

{Grain Brains} Parmigianino Millet Chicken Soup

A recipe challenge to help you get whole grains into your mouth, not just your kitchen. +++ It’s winter, this old house is cold, and my bones need a bowl of chicken soup. Nothing warms the soul like an elixir of pullet. I usually make chunky veggie chicken-soup, skipping rice or noodles. I don’t like…

{Grains Brains Challenge} Black-Eyed Pea Fritters

A recipe challenge to help you get whole grains into your mouth, not just your kitchen. +++ My friend Amy has been on a grain trip for the last few years, a pretty wild ride from what I’ve seen. Through it, we’ve been talking a lot about our baking habits, her love of pancakes and grains and…

{Grain Brains Challenge} mixed flour crepes

Editor’s Note: We’re starting this week off with a BANG! I’m pleased to announce that Amy is completing her ‘Scaling Up the Northeast Grain System’ series with next month’s FSC Podcast dedicated to the topic. For her next series, Amy is partnering with her close friend and cookbook author Alan Richardson. They have created a challenge for themselves:…

{edible gift} Cornmeal Rye Pancake Mix in a Jar

If anyone loved me as much as I love pancakes, they’d give me Twelve Days of Pancakes, starting with the perfect griddle and ending with the funnest flours. Luckily, I already have all I need in that department, but if you want to prove your love via pancakes, here are some hints. The perfect griddle…

{scaling the northeast grain system} Fall Plantings & Rotation

When I first started gardening, I couldn’t imagine planting anything in the fall. Sure, I knew about tulip bulbs, but I thought of putting them in the ground as winter storage, kind of like keeping your sweaters safe from moths in summer. I couldn’t wrap my head around plants that didn’t follow the path of…

{the northeast grain system} Kneading Conference

The Kneading Conference brought me back to Skowhegan, Maine a couple of weeks ago. I was excited to see the event that fueled the Somerset Grist Mill. I felt like I was going to meet the author of a book I loved. Would I like the writer as much as I liked the book? Or…

{communty sharecropping} A Homemade Wheat Thresher

We have been growing wheat for three or four years in our community sharecropping plots.   Wheat is not hard to grow and not all that hard to harvest although there are some pitfalls.  The hard part is removing the teeny wheat berries from the inedible straw and glumes that surround them, which is called threshing. …

{scaling up the northeast grain system} The Harvest

If it weren’t for my friend Howard, my wheat would still be in the field. When I got home from vacation last Saturday, I found a message that the wheat was ready. Howard had toured my plot, and found the grain passed the crack test. When the wheat is ready, the seed should feel hard,…

{Northeast Grains System} wheat in the ‘hood

Now that the wheat we planted really looks like it might become food, I’m beginning to dread its harvest. I feel like the Little Red Hen’s friend, ready to hide until there’s dinner. Even though I’m the one who convinced my family we should plant our new lot – behind our house in the city…

{Scaling Up the Northeast Grains System} Maine Grains

Editor’s Note:  Our first ‘Community Voices’ contributor Amy Halloran is back with her 2nd installment of ‘Scaling Up the Northeast Grains System’, her investigation into local grain production past and present. This month she brings us her exciting trip to Skowhegan, Maine. You can read Amy’s first post here. -Christina +++++ I went to Maine…

{community voices} Scaling Up the Northeast Grains System

Editor’s Note: I am so happy to announce we are starting a new contributor-stream on FSC; Community Voices. These contributors will be monthly and are the voices in our local food community; whether it be a local chef, writer or swapper. First up, writer, teacher, wife, mother, urban homesteader Amy Halloran. I first met Amy…

{the new year} A New Garden

{Our main garden in quiet rest} After the big fall harvest my garden, my husband, and I am ready for a break. We begin to put most all things outdoors to rest, batten down the hatches, and embrace winter. Our minds take a respite during the month of November and December from gardening but once…

{Experiments with Grain} Kasha Three Ways

Last Spring I stopped eating wheat for a few months.  During that time, to cope with the absence of ever-familiar wheat, I started broadening my grain repertoire.  I’ve tried to keep it up since then and this week I challenged myself to figure out roasted buckwheat, also known as kasha.  I was pleased to see…