Eating From the Ground Up

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Thursday, December 4, 2014 by alana

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I’m in a hotel, which always feels so other to me. I’m here because my friends Eilen and Jay are on tour for the first time since they had a baby, and I’ve coming along to hold sweet Mavis in all the green rooms of New England. So if you’re in one of the cities on the tour, and you see someone with a baby strapped to her pacing and up and down the sidewalk (also, bouncing in a “time to go to sleep” way), singing songs in gibberish, that would be me. Come say hello.

Also, of note.

I have a recipe up on Rural Intelligence this week I’ve been excited to share for a while now. I know cabbage soup doesn’t sounds so exciting, but it is, it is!

Just before Thanksgiving, a tiny named Freida joined our family. She’s our first dog, and my first dog ever.  I like her a lot. It’s a lot like having a baby, except her ears are softer and she likes to tear up rolled socks.

Also, a little while back, Sadie asked if we could do a vegetarian week. She was feeling like she was relying on meat for her happiness with meals, and she wanted to try to be content without it. Joey accepted it stoically, Rosie was very hungry, and Sadie and I loved it. The biggest dinner successes of the week were Mollie Katzen’s Mushroom Popover Pie from The Heart of the Plate (a phenomenal recipe), and a revival of a squash lasagna I cut from the new book ages ago where I layer squash puree with sage butter, ricotta, and kale pesto. Sadie agreed that vegetarian eating is pretty great when we’re still eating lots of wheat and butter. Please no one tell her about the Paleo diet. She might get more ideas.

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I finished my book, again. That’s how this all works- I finish, celebrate, throw all the pages into a box, and then a new round comes again. The book lost its title, but it has a gorgeous cover, so as soon as it all comes together again, I’ll show you how it’s going. Title suggestions are appreciated. Hey, if you name it, I’ll even send you a free book when it comes out (September 8! We have a date!). The title we had was The Homemade Kitchen, so well… you get the idea of where we were going. Let me know if the inspiration strikes.

I got to shoot a few holiday gifting videos with Guido’s Fresh Marketplace. They’re a little silly because I tend to get that way on camera, but they were so fun to work on. I like the teacher gift one the best. (Looking for one? Joey suggests beer, and he’s a teacher, so he knows.)

Oh, and one more thing. Margaret and I have scheduled one more cheese class due to more signups than we can fit in her little guest house. There are a few more spots still open for that new one. More info- here!

Hope you all are having a good week? Sending love from all the green rooms in New England…

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Comments

  1. Karen says

    Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    How about “The HomeLife Kitchen”

  2. Sara says

    Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 5:24 pm

    Book title suggestions:
    The Crafted Kitchen
    The Crafted Larder
    Home Crafted Foods
    Scratch-made Kitchen
    Cooking from Scratch: A Million Recipes To Make at Home (or however many are there)

    Trying to be patient waiting for this book, but it’s hard. I love your first one so much.

    • alana says

      Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 1:52 am

      A million recipes! Maybe the next book 🙂

      Thank you for your suggestions, and your patience, Sara. I promise it’s coming!

  3. Michelle B says

    Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 6:02 pm

    Recipe for the squash lasagna, please!

    • alana says

      Friday, December 5, 2014 at 4:12 pm

      Yes- I promise! I’ll fit it in soon.

  4. Margaret@KitchenFrau says

    Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 11:27 pm

    That cabbage soup idea is absolutely brilliant! Wow. I can’t wait to try it. I LOVE how sweet cabbage gets in soup, and I think it would be a great substitute for the onions – you are so smart. (And I am such a ‘crybaby’ when I’m chopping onions that I am thrilled to have another way to make ‘onion’ soup without all the tears!)

    • alana says

      Friday, December 5, 2014 at 4:11 pm

      Yes- let me know what you think! I’m a huge onion soup fan, but I really think I like this even better. And no tears.

  5. Margit Van Schaick says

    Friday, December 5, 2014 at 3:01 am

    How about “Homemade–You Can Do It!”. How big did most of your cabbages grow? These look kind of petite. If so, maybe they were a little close. I love growing, and eating, cabbage, especially Savoy types.

    • alana says

      Friday, December 5, 2014 at 4:11 pm

      I like that! But I think we’re going to take the word homemade out… just to make it different from the first book. Of course, there’s a lot of homemade in there…

      And yes, these were the last of the cabbages, and they were all little runts. Of course, they were too close together, as I thought I’d pull them all out! But the little ones were even sweeter somehow.

  6. JoAnn C. says

    Friday, December 5, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    I think of your book and recipes as peaceful eating. Not fussy, not stressful, not difficult; just peaceful. Is that weird?

    • alana says

      Friday, December 5, 2014 at 4:09 pm

      Oh, JoAnn- I love that. Peaceful eating. It makes me so happy to hear it comes through to you that way (even if there’s quite a bit of chaos over here 🙂 )

  7. Nylene says

    Friday, December 5, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    I am reading your book now.
    I love it! Very inspiring. I am telling all my friends….
    I make vanilla with Rum, but I am going to try the Vodka.

    I have always wanted to make Sauerkraut, your recipe is so simple, I bought cabbage and sea salt, I have my great-grandmothers 10 gallon crock, but will start with a smaller glass jar.

    I love your simple Down to Earth (how is that for a title?) book.
    The photos are beautiful.

    Thank you for this lovely book.

    • alana says

      Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 1:53 am

      Thank you, Nylene! It means so much to me to hear that you’re enjoying it.

  8. naomi says

    Friday, December 5, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    How about “The Family Kitchen”? subtitled: “more DIY deliciousness, recipes and simple menus from the Homemade pantry.”

    And by the way, I am eating popcorn right this minute just the way you used to make in your hot-air popper!

    Naomi

  9. Tonya says

    Saturday, December 6, 2014 at 12:18 am

    How about Goodness Homemade? I loved your first book. So I’m excited to see this one!

  10. Rachael says

    Sunday, December 7, 2014 at 3:30 am

    September 8th is my wedding anniversary!! You can’t make it any easier for my husband 🙂

    • alana says

      Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 1:54 am

      <3

  11. molly says

    Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at 10:02 pm

    So glad you’re here. Just one more time, for the record. For all of it. Every last bit. Go Sadie. Go Rosie. Go, Alana!

    xx,
    Molly

    • alana says

      Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 1:54 am

      Thank you, thank you, Molly! Your cheers mean the world to me.

  12. Julie says

    Thursday, December 11, 2014 at 11:04 am

    Will it come out early, like, say, on the 4th? For my birthday?!

    So excited, a new book from you! Sadly, I have no title idea…. guess I’ll just have to ask for it as a present.
    (Because you can’t call it: Alana changed my world when my daughter interviewed her and she reminded me that we could make good food from scratch.)

    That video was THE BEST! You are absolutely beautiful, inside and out. (I really want to order some of those Blue Q socks for my adult kids.)

    • alana says

      Friday, December 12, 2014 at 12:27 pm

      Thank you, Julie! And yes, for your birthday! The date is the 8th, so it might have to be your birthday week, but it’s close. And you know I like your title. 🙂

  13. Annalee says

    Monday, December 15, 2014 at 6:18 pm

    How about At Home in the Kitchen for the title?
    Looking forward to your new book!

  14. sarah rodriguez says

    Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at 6:08 pm

    soo many books these days have homemade handmade andsuch in the title, maybe something outside the box to liven it up,,let your kids name it!..how about..Heart of the Home: fresh ideas on real family. dishes or…Love from the kitchen: recipes that inspire peaceful meals and happy bellies:) let me know what you think!

    • alana says

      Tuesday, December 23, 2014 at 1:36 am

      Yes- I like these! Agreed on the homemade issue- that’s pretty much gotten nixed from all sides at this point. So we’ll see where we go with it all…

  15. Elizabeth says

    Sunday, December 21, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    The Simple Kitchen.
    That’s what I thought when I saw the cabbage soup recipe – a few humble ingredients and it’s a meal- yum! I love cabbage soup.

    • alana says

      Tuesday, December 23, 2014 at 1:34 am

      I like this one 🙂


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Instagram post 2337331591407595410_13442450 Sending off my taxes today with intention and prayer that they will be used to support programs for the most vulnerable, and that my little contribution will join with others to help move us towards the country I know we can be. #taxmagic ✨
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Instagram post 2332756427273440195_13442450 So technically you’re not supposed to send food when trying to find an agent, but I did it it. 10 years ago, my granola helped seal that deal, and he insisted I send it to publishers when we were selling The Homemade Pantry (another general publishing no no) That Landed-a woman-with-no-platform-a-book deal Granola is up for grabs in this amazing bake sale, as well as goodies by some of my very favorite bakers (@madeinghent , @raisinporpoise , and @thedooryard to name a few). Oh and maybe my favorite item in there are the magical @susanspungen ginger chocolate cookies I mentioned a few weeks back, made by Sadie herself. All of this is to support the work of @multiculturalbridge , and the order form is up in my bio. Get to it! #bakersagainstracism
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Instagram post 2324845496300301430_13442450 To those who ask here? In Great Barrington? YES. In Great Barrington.
Instagram post 2324091364266290851_13442450 I know there are so many resources out there right now, but I want to share one that’s been really helpful for me in the last several months. There are many seasons of this podcast, but I recommend Season 2 on Whiteness as well is Season 4 on Democracy. #sceneonradio
Instagram post 2322615811734696638_13442450 Black lives matter.
Instagram post 2319329508599466327_13442450 I did not bake these cookies, as I am no longer the cookie baker in this house. But this is the second time that  Sadie has made @susanspungen ‘s Triple-Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies (and also the second time I’ve talked about a recipe Sadie has made from the #openkitchencookbook), and I think these might actually be the best cookies I have ever had. I’m often looking for the perfect ginger cookie and this is it, and I’d also choose it over a chocolate chip cookie (or let’s be honest-any other kind of cookie) any day.
Instagram post 2316311882260313364_13442450 No matter how many rulers and pizza cutters and other magical tools I use, it seems that the straight line will always elude me.
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Instagram post 2311141543964321092_13442450 When I took on a day job a few years ago, I found that the first thing to go was all the homemade stuff I’d been making and writing about over the years. I’m still going out to work most days, but I’m finding now with a full and captive house and more downtime in general that those things I love to make are back. For me, it’s granola, yogurt, bread. Hello, old friends!
Instagram post 2308503311808232748_13442450 All the things in the house pasta: roasted cauliflower, a few sad leaves of kale, one jar of fancy tuna saved for a special occasion (how about Wednesday?), Rosemary, homemade breadcrumbs from the freezer fried in butter, crispy sage leaves, pasta water, salt, so much pepper. Success!
Instagram post 2307412630968777107_13442450 @artbywoodgy made this beautiful thing for me for Mother’s Day. All the veggies are on Velcro so I can plan to my hearts delight.
Instagram post 2306345003953662730_13442450 Happy Mother’s Day to my brave and beautiful mom, who birthed two different humans in such different times in her life. With me she was so young, and she figured it all out just as she was learning how to be an adult. This picture was taken nineteen years later, when she was pregnant again and I was almost an adult myself. Thanks for keeping at it, Mom, and for always showing up with love. ❤️
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Instagram post 2295808104927071821_13442450 A long time ago, Joey talked about his crush on this particular alien-like flower with a good friend of ours. Months later, little bulbs arrived in the mail. We put them in the ground last fall, and now they are everywhere. If that isn’t some kind of magic, I don’t know what is. ✨ (🙏🏻 to @wildflowers1 for the cool vase, too.)
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