Some Things Cannot Be Improved Upon

After two very, very long weeks I just wanted a very simple breakfast. Because I like to cook, there are times (like this one) when I realize that I can combine flavors, amplify or dampen flavors, but I cannot make a flavor. This lovely piece of fruit came in my delivery this week. What did the poet say? "...only God can make a grapefruit..."?

90 Days of Purpose

There is a church in Forest Park called “Living Word Christian Center” that is really unique. The pastor of the church is a doctor, so he has a passion to keep his congregation healthy. Some of our Members belong to the church, so they asked me to come up and speak to them about the benefits of eating organic foods. I was overwhelmed when I saw this group! There were over 100 people signed up for “90 Days of Pupose”. This is a 90-day re-orientation to one’s personal health, covering all aspects of body, mind and spirit, beginning with eating the right foods: organics. Timber Creek Members Mitze, Audrey and Louella (pictured above) had an incredibly organized presentation that touched on food combining, the low-glycemic index and many other cutting-edge concepts.

They asked us to develop a Timber Creek Basket for this group, specifically, and so we did. The 90 Days of Purpose Box ($36.81) will consist of a broad selection of greens, some root vegetables and fruits. Any time you eat an organic fruit or vegetable instead of a conventional one, you are signaling to your body that you are ready to detoxify. Detoxification begins with that first bite of organic food, and the more you substitute organics for conventional foods in your day, the more your body responds. You can change your diet to make healthier choices, but if your changes include detoxifying your body, you can surpass your original goals and enjoy an even more potent level of health.

These unique women and their group of fellow travelers already have an energy that you don’t see every day. We look forward to working with them more and more.

SPINACH -- SPINACH -- SPINACH

Yesterday, I spoke with the Director of the LaSalle County Health Department, an official with Lakeside Organics (where our spinach comes from) and checked the websites of the Center for Disease Control and ABC News.

What I found out was that Illinois was at that moment reporting its first case of E. coli. I also found out that the company found to have produced the contaminated spinach was Natural Selections, LLC in California. It just so happens that this company has a “commercial side” and an “organic side”. This does NOT mean that products are co-mingled; in fact, it means quite the opposite. Organic products cannot be processed at commercial facilities. The commercial side of Natural Selections is the place that the contaminated spinach originated from. The organic side, named “Earthbound Organics” has been cleared of any suspicion.

The spinach the Timber Creek delivers to you is from Lakeside Organics – also in California. I spoke with them and asked them if the FDA or any other government agency had asked them to stop harvesting or to stop shipping their spinach. The said “NO”. So it appears that the government investigators have done their job, and the worry is over. The CDC isn’t quite that optimistic, however, so I have reproduced their latest announcement later in this post. And because the “all clear” has not been sounded by the government, Timber Creek has decided to pull all spinach from our deliveries until further notice.

What we know so far as of 9/18/06 from the Centers for Disease Control website:

As of 1 PM (ET) September 18, 2006, Monday, 114 persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported to CDC from 21 states.
Among the ill persons, 60 (53%) were hospitalized, 18 (16%) developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), and an adult in Wisconsin died. Eighty-five (75%) were female and 6 (5%) were children under 5 years old. Among ill persons who provided the date when their illnesses began, 92% became ill between August 19 and September 5.

The states that have reported cases are California (1 case), Connecticut (2), Idaho (4), Illinois (1), Indiana (8), Kentucky (6), Maine (2), Michigan (4), Minnesota (2), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (5), Nevada (1), New York (7), Ohio (10), Oregon (5), Pennsylvania (4), Utah (15), Virginia (1), Washington (2), Wisconsin (32), and Wyoming (1).

CDC Advice for Consumers

The following is advice for consumers about this outbreak:
• Currently, we are advising consumers to not eat any fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach that are consumed raw.

• E. coli O157:H7 in spinach can be killed by cooking at 160° Fahrenheit for 15 seconds. (Water boils at 212° Fahrenheit.) If spinach is cooked in a frying pan, and all parts do not reach 160° Fahrenheit, all bacteria may not be killed. If consumers choose to cook the spinach, they should not allow the raw spinach to contaminate other foods and food contact surfaces, and they should wash hands, utensils, and surfaces with hot, soapy water before and after handling the spinach.

• Persons who develop diarrhea after consuming fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach are urged to contact their health care provider and ask that their stool specimen be tested for E. coli O157.

• Persons who ate fresh spinach or salad blends and feel well do not need to see a health-care provider.

Milk

Did you know that Timber Creek Farms sells two kinds of milk? They’re not all the same, and Members buy them for different reasons; so let’s take a closer look at each of them...and before we begin, let me point out that ALL of our milks can be frozen for later use!

The first milk in our Dairy Brochure is Dairyland’s Best.

Dairyland’s best is not organic, but the cattle that provide the milk are vegetarians. In fact all cattle associated with TCF products (including beef) are vegetarians, and that’s important because by only eating grains, legumes and grasses there’s no possibility of transmitting Mad Cow Disease through the herd or into the final products. One thing that Dairyland’s Best can certify is that there are no antibiotics or synthetic hormones given to the cattle. Dairyland’s Best is the ONLY large dairy in the Midwest that can make that claim! The milk comes in gallons and half pints (for the kids), and you can get Skim, 1%, 2% or Whole. They also provide us with our Half and Half which comes in ½ gallons or pints, and our Whipping Cream which comes in ½ gallons and ½ pints. Dairyland’s Best also offers ½ gallons of Orange Juice made from purified water.

The second milk in our Dairy Brochure is Wisconsin Organics.

Like it says in the title, it’s USDA Certified Organic. It’s also homogenized. That means that the fats in the milk have been evenly distributed throughout the liquid of the milk and will never separate. Just like regular milk in the store. Wisconsin Organics offers Skim, 2% or Whole in half gallons and gallons. This dairy also supplies us with our Organic Butter and cheese.

Timber Creek also offers a whole line of cheeses including the Specialty Line from Sugar River Cheese Company. Their flavors include: White Cheddar with Chipotle, or with Roasted Garlic and Green Onion; Monetery Jack with Roasted Garlic and Basil or with Jalapeno and Cilantro; or Prairie Jack with Parsley and Chive or with Green Peppercorns. We also carry soy milks, cottage cheesse and sour cream from Organic Valley, so be sure to check them out!

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(**Important Announcement: Lamer's Dairy no longer carries milk from Grass Point Farms**)

Kitchen Tools

Ever since I started doing Moo Cluckety-Cluck Parties for TCF, I've been singing the praises of the OXO Salad Spinner. If you don't have one, you might consider buying one. I got mine at the local box store and this thing is the best spinner I've ever owned. It takes a half-head of romaine at a time and it's really good for cleaning radishes, spinach and other items that tend to keep dirt clinging to them. You can fill up the bowl with the basket inside, swish and brush till they're clean, then dump the water in the sink (or on your plants) and spin them out.

The other thing I just recently bought and really love is a Jack LaLanne Juicer. I've never been into juicing, so it was an out of character purchase for me. On the other hand, I've wanted to get into juicing -- especially for lunch -- because I never seem to have time nor the inclination to prepare anything, and then by dinnertime, I'm famished. (Did I mention I work at home?) My son bought this juicer recently and said, "Mom, it's like having a power tool in the kitchen". He also said it had no problem with carrots. See, I think if you're going to juice, you're probably going to do a lot of carrots, and a juicer has to be able to stand up to that.

So -- my first juicing experience was: 1 ripe mango, 10 strawberries and 3 carrots.

It was HEAVEN!

My next juicing experience was: 15 bing cherries, 4 carrots and a 2" piece of ginger.

Again -- FANTASTIC!!

Tony has just developed 2 new juicing boxes for athletes: Juicing for Jocks ($43.48) and Juicing for Jockettes ($36.81). I ordered the Jockette Box -- not knowing what to expect. HOLY COW I'm going to have a BLAST juicing. I got about 6 pounds of huge carrots, a pineapple, a bag of red delicious apples, at least 3 pounds of baby spinach, a cucumber, 6 oranges, a head of romaine and a head of red leaf lettuce (...I know there was more in there, but I had the juicer running as I was putting things away!)

In our house, we're not big fruit eaters. We love fruit (especially TCFs) but we just dont eat a lot of it. Now I can see we may be running low by the end of the week...due to heavy juicing action. And something strange is happening....

We just got two kittens. I'm really allergic to them, but we live out in the country, and the word has gotten out amongst the chipmunks, squirrels, birds, 13-stripe squirrels, ground hogs, moles and so forth, that our older cat, Spike, passed away. We're overrun with critters!! So we got the kittens as a deterrent. The problem is, while I'm petting them and playing with them, I'm suffering. I've got the usual itchy eyes, runny nose and now a burning sensation in my chest. Well, it's kinda of strange, but my symptoms are going away. I'm still playing with the kittens, and I'm still juicing, but I'm not suffering. I can't say that juicing is fixing my allergies....or can I?

PS: can you spot the kitten checking out the pond?

Summer Parties

Summertime is far from over and so summertime parties are far from over, too. I found that there is an even easier way to prepare munchies for the event than buying a veggie and dip tray at the grocery store:

Enter: The Raw Vegetable Box meets The Chop Chop Chef

Every time I get the Raw Vegetable Box, it's a HUGE amount of veggies that are great with dip! (you can cook them all, too, but that's another post.) Have the Chop Chop Chef cut them all up for you, and all you need to do is make a dip: how about:

2 C Mayo
2 Tb. Tamari or Soy Sauce
you can even add
1/2 tsp. hot sauce

When your delivery arrives, you just arrange the vegs on a tray and add the dip. It's just too simple.

This is my vegetarian granddaughter, Shiloh, who hails from Kodiak, Alaska -- and fresh veggies are her favorite!! She brought them to school on her birthday instead of cake (!!) There was some doubt that the kids would even try anything, but low and behold -- THEY ATE EVERYTHING! (they sure do make them smart in Kindergarten. =)

Saturn Peaches

Did you get those little squashed peaches in your delivery this week? Aren't they strange looking? But have you tasted one? If they're hard, just let them sit out a couple of days. Check them often, because once they're ready -- they're ready! These little gems are the SWEETEST, PEACHIEST peaches you'll ever eat. They have a teeny-tiny pit inside, so they're great for juicing -- but it's difficult to keep them from going straight into your mouth. HOWEVER....the other night I was in the mood for a little cocktail. My latest fave is a Mojito -- and I had an idea: I took 6 large mint leaves (minced) and one sliced Saturn Peach and put them into the bottom of a waterglass. Then I added 2 Tb. of sugar, and using the back of a tablespoon, I ground the ingredients together. Then I added a little club soda and mixed it all up...added 2 shots of light spiced rum, ice cubes and enough soda water to fill the glass....gave it a little stir and WOW !!