jumping the gun

I have two little trays of seedlings trying their darndest to move up in the world. This photo is already out of date as they’ve been making great strides with a couple of days out in the sunlight (as opposed to sitting on the dining room floor hoping for the sun to make it through the window).  There is the threat of frost until early/mid May up here, so we’re just teasing the plants with the sunshine right now…

This is where many of the seedlings will end up, next to last year’s herbs that sit in pots on our back porch.  They will also get to enjoy the morning sun on my new stone patio!

And with spring comes the need to start grilling pizza.  Even though we’re still wearing sweaters and it’s dark as we’re trying to decide whether the pizza crust is completely burnt, we’re so happy eating that charcoal grilled pizza.  And thus the conflict of summer begins – there is so much great food out and about in Columbia County, but with fresh herbs and a grill, I can’t hardly tear myself out of our backyard to eat!

still thinking about maple syrup

I don’t want to use all my 2009 batch maple syrup all at once, but I love the excuse to try new recipes! Above you’ll see the Maple Walnut ice cream and below the rather-healthy Blueberry Maple muffins:

Blueberry Maple muffin

eggs – oeufs – huevos

We’re not here to talk about cholesterol.  The jury is still out on that issue.

I started buying cage-free eggs a couple of years ago as I (finally) learned the industrial process behind the perfect white eggs found in the supermarket.  Of course, I’ve learned that it’s all still rather bureaucratic regarding the definition of cage-free and free-range (does a door simply need to be open to count as cage-free?)  As the farmers market in Hudson has expanded, more and more vendors have been bringing really free-range eggs to market, mostly brown eggs but other colors as well, and even some guinea eggs.  These eggs are amazing as the yolks are orange – I actually can’t make vanilla gelato with the eggs from the farmer’s market because yellow gelato is just weird.

This morning I read that McDonald’s may be considering going cage-free.  While I haven’t eaten in this establishment for years, not even for their fries (it was reading Fast Food Nation  or watching Supersize Me that did it) - I think this could be another good thing in our world of food.  Although it makes me think of Walmart being the biggest seller of organic foods.

Until our markets open up again, you can find local-ish and/or cage-free eggs in the Upper Hudson Valley: Feather Ridge Farm all natural eggs from Elizaville and Giroux’s Poultry Farm eggs, available at many of the large chain grocery stores, and Tello’s Green Farm eggs available at Tello’s Green Farm Latin Food in Red Hook.  There may be more local healthy egg options out there – they are definitely worth searching for.

I’m eating mine with biscuits and bacon tomorrow morning…