Violet Syrup and Other Wacky Uses

Fellow Upstater Jenn at Frugal Upstate has a wonderfully fun post about what you can do –edible stuff — with the inconspicuous little violet. It’s really nice to know that I REALLY can go out to graze and get nourishment!

And look at my yard, just RIPE for the picking!

Seriously, I’ve heard of narcissus as an edible plant, and dandelions, and even burdock (the root). But this is a first for me on the violets. I love the ice cube idea!

Jenn has a nice recipe for Violet Syrup. If I can find some discount honey, I’m going to try this.

Before the flooding, my daughter and I were thinking of making an herbal garden for exotic teas. But I think we’ll probably put it off this year, since the yard is still a mess and I’ve been overwhelmed with work (and she, too). I’m very disappointed– I wanted to share all the neat recipes and experience with you all. But next year.

In the meantime, you can guess what we’ll be doing. Grazing on the violets! I wonder if it works like colonetix…. hmmmmmm

Food Sovereignty: Can It Be Done?

It’s a sign of the times, to be sure. States and communities are chafing under the domineering thumb of the federal government. This story caught my eye:

Food Sovereignty: Freedom from Regulation? From the Food Safety News:

With some fanfare, Sedgwick, a town of about 1,000 residents, passed the Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance unanimously at a town meeting. In essence, the ordinance says food grown, produced, or processed locally is exempt from any federal or state laws that require food sold to the public to be prepared in licensed facilities open to government inspectors.

…Can they do that?

The short answer is no. The slightly longer answer is that the declaration raises issues of the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives federal law preeminence, and a state’s police powers to protect the public welfare through regulations such as building codes or environmental safeguards.

Well, despite my Northern roots, I fully believe in states’ rights. Sure, the Constitution is the law of the land… but heck not even the feds are keeping it, only when it favors their side. There’s nothing in the Constitution that gives the federal government the authority to control and manage the food supply in the country, no way. And the Bill of Rights (10th amendment) gives the states the right to manage affairs that are not enumerated in the Constitution. Not to mention that the feds should be doing a HECK of a lot more inspecting all that foreign food supply rather then slapping Aunt Martha for her banana bread she sells at the auxiliary club.

Nonetheless, the federal government is pretty powerful…. to thwart even their unConstitutional grabs for power can have dire consequences. They just may send in the OxyElite Pro Force or something, lol!

But if the town really wants to make things in their community more “home grown” without federal agents picking through their banana bread, maybe they could change their tactics. Hone in on the “food sold” part, as is stated in the story:

federal or state laws that require food sold to the public to be prepared in licensed facilities open to government inspectors

What if the town made all local food exchange a barter system? You know, Aunt Martha’s banana bread for Old Charlie’s eggs. Do those transactions fall under food safety laws? It’s not like anything is being sold…

Or how about community gardens? Share and share alike?

You know, part of the problem with all these laws and regulations is that Americans don’t interact within communities anymore. There’s a cold distance between folks, and the government has become the intermediary. Towns that don’t like to live like that need to realize this– you just can’t kick out government intervention, you HAVE TO BOND together in communities like the olden days. And bonding may mean that you GIVE things away and volunteer and share. It’s the money transactions that spur the regulations, I’d think.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts. I study history, especially social history– how people interacted with each other in the past. One of the reasons for America’s greatness was the closeness of the community. But today, who even knows their neighbors?

Farmer’s Markets For Me This Year

I’m leaning towards skipping a vegetable garden this year. I’m quite discouraged about the yard after the flooding (again). You can read all the reasons here at my old house home improvement blog, I really don’t want to go over it all.

So I think I’ll be relying on farmer’s markets this year. I’m not terribly enthusiastic about it… there are no farmer’s markets in my local area (so it requires traveling, which is not terrible), and I’ve noticed that prices there are not much lower than the supermarket prices (but the farm food is fresher). Still, I can always make our visits an adventure for the kids and a way to get out of the house away from the work. I think we’ll enjoy it. We’re DEFINITELY going blueberry picking in July. My kids have been eating tons of blueberries, which I buy frozen in the store. $10 a bag! The store should be sending me Paper Culture thank you cards for all the money they are getting from me. Sheesh. So we’re going to pick fresh berries like mad, and I’m going to freeze all our pickings.

 

More good news is that my apple tree is blossoming like mad this year. We had blossoms last year, but a nasty frost killed them and we got no apples. I pray we get a good crop this year.

I also picked up some discounted blackberry vines from WalMart. They look a tad sickly. :S Here’s hoping I can just plug them in the back garden and get them to grow. I love blackberries.

How about you? Do you have any plans for the summer gardens? I had such high hopes of a massive veggie garden, and an herb garden, and grapevines and berry bushes… but I don’t even know if I can tolerate living here anymore. We experience devastating flooding all too often. I just don’t know.

Four Foods on Friday #145

I know, I know! Another FFFF meme! But they are so exciting and fun to do! I missed out on several weeks, due to flooding problems here and then a nice vacation. If you are interested, the previous FFFF meme had a fun question– reminiscing about hospital food, woohoo. Images of old ladies in starchy Marcus nursing uniforms rose up… thank God I haven’t experienced it in a long time!

But this week is about high school. That also seems like a million light years away. High school—- how well do you remember eating in the cafeteria? I was an odd student– I avoided eating in school as much as possible. I’d rather skip lunch and sit in my wooden locker (lockers were open in this school) and read or study. I don’t know why, I just never liked eating in public and I did not like the crazy atmosphere of the cafeteria. Once in a while I attempted eating there, but I always felt uncomfortable.

Name four things you ate in the high school cafeteria.

1. Pizza, if I could muster the courage to eat it in there. The pizza was rather bland, though. But it was one of the most popular menu items.

2. Chocolate milk. Well, I didn’t eat it. I drank it.

3. Hot dogs. The hot dog was one of the few foods that were not bland. Why is cafeteria food SO bland? What do they do (or not do) to make it so tasteless? Anyway, hot dogs were better.

4. Apple cobbler. It was canned apples, warmed and covered with a sugary cinnamon struesel topping. It wasn’t the best cobbler, but it was always the best thing on the menu when it was served.

So how about you? What things do you remember from high school? Me, I’d rather not remember school. I didn’t like it– GLORY BE the day I was free!

Four Foods on Friday #144

I’m back from a week’s vacation (my first one in 23 years!), so my head is a little dopey from all the driving we did. Next time, I hope I do a LOT less driving. Ugh, and all that traffic and construction! I am weary of detour and exit signs, you betcha. Until next year, of course.

Anyway, instead of laying in bed all day like I feel like doing, I decided to try and jump into my normal routine as much as possible. What better way to do it than with a meme?!

Name four things you’ve eaten in a hospital and share if they were tasty or not so good.

I like this question. I wish I could answer it! I have only stayed in hospitals when my children were born, and the last one was born well over a decade ago. And after childbirth, any kind of food looks amazing and anything you do is not remembered very well. So…. I’ll do my best with the very little I can remember…

1. Pudding. I think it was pudding. It was good. Can’t remember if it was chocolate or tapioca.

2. Jello. YUK. I hate Jello, and this stuff must have been scraped off someone’s shoes. It was rubbery, tasteless, and chewy. :-p

3. Breakfast. I usually don’t eat breakfast, but in the hospital I was always so hungry for it. The “porridge” was terrible, even with heaps of sugar added. The toast was cold. But the OJ was good.

4. Tea. I’m mostly a coffee drinker with an occasional cup of tea. Coffee affects babies, so I had to skip it and go with the tea. It was too strong.

The best part of the time spent in the hospital was when the husband brought in a McDonald’s hamburger and fries.

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