Slow Food URI

WE HAVE MOVED TO WORDPRESS!!!!

2011-09-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

We have decided to move our blog to wordpress.com. The link so you can follow us for the most recent updates is http://slowfooduri.wordpress.com/!

Many Many LEMON CUCUMBERS!

2011-08-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! August is slowly coming to a close and so is the garden. Cate, Charlotte and I all met up at the garden last week to pick some produce and chat. There were SO MANY lemon cucumbers! We couldn't even pick them all! I went home with a huge bag full... not sure what to do with 20 pounds of cucumbers. Then Charlotte suggested making pickles. If you have ever cut into a lemon cucumber, you would see that it has more seeds than cucumber. So I decided to make and can cucumber salsa instead. This way all of our slow food members would be able to enjoy the vegetables from our garden in September. At the first meeting I plan to crack open a jar of salsa and serve them with chips. :) See recipe and canning instructions below.
Picture of Lemon Cucumbers

Recipe for Cucumber Salsa

Ingredients:
7 quarts cored, chopped tomatoes (you can peel them if you want)
4 seeded, chopped green peppers
5 cups chopped onion
4 cups peeled, seeded, chopped lemon cucumbers (or use regular cucumbers)
1/2 cup finely chopped, seeded, jalapeños (optional)
3 tablespoons oregano leaves*
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro*
2 cups bottled lemon juice
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients (oregano, and cilantro) in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Add spices and simmer for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Ladle hot salsa into pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner: 15 minutes

See you in September!
-Maria

Garden Update

2011-08-10T10:29:00.001-07:00

Hay Hay Hay everyone!

Happy August. Our produce has been pretty much coming to an end here in the SFURI garden, except we do have: tomatoes, hot peppers, squash and pumpkins! I pulled out all the carrots and ate a TON of turnips and radishes. I also ate our heirloom lettuce, green beans, lemon basil, dill, cucumbers, massive zucchini and yellow cucumbers. It has been a great summer in the garden! Today I also went and picked some of the native corn that was growing and I might grill it tonight! See all the photos of our garden and produce below.

Anyways, just wanted to say this is my last blog post for a while since I will be studying abroad in Costa Rica this fall, but I will be back come December and I'll hop right back on the SFURI train. In the meantime, be looking to our fall events (turkey processing, our annual Thanksgiving dinner, maybe a pickling workshop, food day, and maybe some volunteer farm work!)

Adios my friends and see you soon!

-Cate

Our garden!

Heirloom spotted romaine

Zucchini vines and corn.

Carrots and some green beans!

Garden at the URI Watson House

2011-06-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hurray!!! We finally got a garden at URI! We all rounded up at the Watson House behind the library to get the garden started during exam week which was a great break from the studying. About 10 of us were there to turn the soil, add manure and plant seeds while cracking jokes and enjoying each others company. We planted tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, zucchini, winter squash from seed. While the started cantaloupe, carrots, radishes and heirloom speckled lettuce from the green house were planted right into the ground. A few weeks after planting, Cate and I went back to work on the garden and a few radishes were already ready for picking! Cate was so excited she ripped it out of the ground and sunk her teeth into it(see picture below). I took a few home and put them in a fresh salad. Can't wait for more veggies to come! Check back later for more updates! -Maria

2011 Food and Justice Summit

2011-04-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Sorry, I know this post is really overdue. Katya, Nona, John, Monica and I ventured to Northeastern University to attend the Northeast Food and Justice Summit February 26&27. We had a ton of fun! It was a really great way to connect with other youth concerned about the same issues as us and to see what other high schools and universities were doing to change the food system on their campuses.

Malcom X Grassroots Movement Soul Food Workshop speaker

There were a bunch of workshops to chose from the first day. I went to one about local food procurement on college campuses, where I learned about what schools in Canada are doing to eat within a 100 mile radius. I then went to a workshop on soul food, and after that I met Hnin at her Eat-In workshop, the youth programs coordinator for SFUSA.

The Clover Foodtruck

Chickpea Fritter from Clover.

We ate amazing meals the whole time, and met lots of awesome people. You can find more photos here.

John: "I want real food because....."

Cate: "I want real food because..."

If you ever want to go, they have one every year! Such an inspiring weekend. Great to know there are others out there that care about the same issues we do.

-Cate

Campus Consciousness Tour

2011-04-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

On April 7th 2011, Slow Food Teamed up with The Campus Consciousness Tour. This tour was founded by Reverb, a non profit organization that provides outreach education on sustainability and fair trade. It was founded by environmentalists Lauren Sullivan and her husband Adam Gardner. Along with the Campus Consciousness Tour, Reverb also has other project called the Green Music Tour. Check out their website http://greenmusicgroup.org/ for a short clip on what they are all about.
The Campus Consciousness Tour follows bands and musicians promoting, and educating fans on protecting the environment by making small lifestyle changes. They came to the URI Ryan Center last night touring with Wiz Kalifia and Slow Food URI was lucky enough to volunteer with the tour! We set up shop in the Ben and Jerry's booth which was promoting Fair Trade products. Fair trade means the farmers who harvest the products are paid a fair price, and are treated with respect. Ben and Jerry's is currently working on making all of their products fair trade. Right now they buy Fair Trade vanilla, coffee, chocolate, and a small amount of sugar for their Fair Trade ice cream products. When purchasing Ben and Jerry's ice cream look for these flavors and the Fair Trade stamp on the carton: Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate Macadamia, Milk and Cookies, Coffee, and Heath Bar Crunch. Our job at the Ben and Jerry's booth was to educate students on fair trade and let them spin the wheel to win a free pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, some cool sunglasses, hats or a music download card. We had a great time and hope the tour comes to URI next year!
Eat some slow Ben and Jerry's!
-Maria

If You Are What You Eat, Then I Am Not Sad

2011-03-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

I USED to be a vegetarian. I put "used" in caps because once you see the following pictures you will be amazed by the transition I have made. I never really had an epiphany. It was more like a gradual realization. Not eating animals isn't going to stop animal cruelty. Some of the animals produced for food are not even treated cruelly. Animal cruelty will stop the day we start supporting small, local farms where the animals are treated with love and care, rather than the large, corporate CAFOS where animals are kept in sickening, appalling conditions that rip your heart right in half. If you don't believe me, research it.

Anyways, here they are. The photos from our November Turkey Processing (better late than never 'eh?)

If you can eat it, then you should be able to understand what it takes to get into your mouth. That's what we are all about here at Slow Food.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Kahlil Gibran:

"When you kill a beast, say to him in your heart: By the same power that slays you, I too am slain, and I too shall be consumed. For the law that delivers you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand. Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."

Go slow.

-Cate

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-02-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

These cookies are a fave amongst the Slow Food URI group. Who doesn't love pumpkin? Better yet, who doesn't love chocolate and pumpkin together in one delicious cookie? We served these bad boys during our meeting last night and I walked away with an empty container. We are providing the recipe so you can make them at home. If you wanna keep it as local as possible, you could substitute the 1 cup of canned pumpkin for 1 cup of (peeled and mashed) butternut squash. Butternut squash is available throughout the fall, winter and early spring at the farmer's markets.

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Enjoy!
-Maria

2011-02-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

Peanut Butter Hummus

Okay, I know what you're thinking: has she lost her mind?
But honestly, I can't get enough of this stuff. It all started when I was listening to NPR one morning on my way to class. The program was about food cultures, and they were exploring the culinary uses of everyday foods. Naturally, peanuts (or more specifically, peanut butter), a staple food, was one of the things they discussed, and let me tell you; they ripped that poor little pb&j we all know and love to shreds!

Who knew that peanuts are used in stews, as creamy sauces, and even ground to make peanut porridge? That got me thinking (thinking about food is not hard for me). Tahini, a sesame seed paste with a similar consistency to peanut butter, usually lends body to pureed chickpeas in hummus. So, with no one around to convince me it was a bad idea... I had to try it & so should you. It's easy, economical (a lot cheaper than buying tahini), healthy, and quite flavorful.

Peanut Butter Hummus

1 15oz can of Organic (preferably) chickpeas/garbanzo beans with liquid reserved
2 heaping tbsp of Organic peanut butter (I like Woodstock Farms, unsalted smooth for this)
1/2 head of roasted garlic, about 4-7 cloves (local if possible)
OG Olive Oil
salt to taste
cumin (optional)

Roasted Garlic:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
Wrap a head of garlic in aluminum foil and roast for 20 minuets.

Hummus:
Meanwhile, drain juices from chick peas and reserve 2-3 tbsp for later use.
Put chick peas in the food processor until smooth.
Add peanut butter. Mix until a ball-like form is made.
Add roasted garlic. Process again
Add olive oil and 2 tbsp of reserved liquid and mix until the hummus thins (be careful not to add too much, but just enough to separate the ball).
Once separated, add salt and more liquid to taste.

Ta-dah! Enjoy the hummus with roasted root vegetables and onions, scooped onto a salad, spread on warm pita bread with olives and feta, or plopped on some warm quinoa.

Let us know how you like it!

Slow Food Dreamz

2011-02-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome back for a semester of Slow Food URI fun! To get your mind thinking about the Spring Season, we want to tell you about our dream this semester. By the time URI celebrates Earth Day on April 21^st, we want to have a truck farm. What is a truck farm?... It’s a garden, in the back of a truck! Slow Food URI has been asked to join in with a coalition of Farmers, the movement is called Truck Farming. The trucks are used for educating young children, families, and consumers about where their food comes from. We want to have our very own Slow Food URI truck, so if you have any ideas…EMAIL US! We would love to hear from you. Also, visit the truck farming link to get more information.

On another note, we want everyone to know we will be meeting at the coffee shop in the Memorial Union every other Thursday starting February 10, 2011 at 5:00pm. We also bring some free local food for everyone to enjoy and we will try to post the recipes on here.

-Maria

uri@slowfoodusa.org

Roasted Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

2011-01-09T20:09:00.000-08:00

We will now be posting recipes to make eating locally even easier! For this time of year, apples and butternut squash are popular food items at the farmers market. We have posted a recipe allowing you to enjoy these two foods together in a soup! What could be better than a yummy and hot soup to keep you from freezing this winter?

Roasted Apple & Butternut Squash Soup
1 ½ lbs. (1 large) butternut squash, peeled & seeded
1 large granny smith apple, peeled & cored
½ large red onion
1 Tbl. mild curry powder
1 cup water
1 cup apple cider
olive oil
salt & pepper

3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Preheat the oven 425 degrees. Dice the squash, apple and onion into 1 inch cubes. Evenly distribute the cubed ingredients onto a sheet pan. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes or until tender.

Scoop the roasted mixture and any juices into a large stock pot with the curry powder, water and cider. Pulse the mixture with an immersion blender until desired texture is achieved. Try to avoid over blending. If it’s like baby food, then you’ve over blended. You might need to add more water if the mixture is too thick. Cook the soup over medium heat for 10 minutes to allow the flavors blend and is the desired temperature to serve. Season with salt and pepper and a small amount of heavy cream to taste. Makes roughly 4 cups of soup. Authors Note: If you don’t own an immersion blender, ladle the vegetables and water into a food processor in two batches. Pulse each batch until smooth and pour it into the stock pot. Continue with the rest of the directions.

*This recipe is from culinarycory.com

Enjoy!

-Maria

2010-12-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Happy holidays and new year! Hope everyone is enjoying themselves and eating lots of food that is good, clean and fair. I mostly wanted to post this entry because of the cool pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner (see above.) Ain't we cute?

Oh! And this is soon, but on January 30, Pat from Pat's Pastured (where we got our bird) is speaking at Food for Thought (Where Alyssa works!!!) in Wakefield. He is going to do a small presentation about his awesome Farm. It takes place at 3pm and is open to everyone. If you have never been to Food for Thought before it is in the heart of Wakefield right next to the Breakfast Nook and across the street from Belmont Market. Make sure you check out their selection too- a ton of local organic goodness!

Aaaaand I just found this on the farm fresh website. A local food forum....and its FREEEEE! http://www.farmfreshri.org/about/localfoodforum.php

It takes place on Tuesday Feb. 8 in Prov and is from 8:30 to 2:30. I know most of us have school but...c'mon....its freee! I might go so contact me via email if you wanna come. You also have to register first.

And one last thing. The Northeast Real Food Challenge Leadership Training in Boston! I went last year and I'm DEF going again. Check it out! http://realfoodchallenge.org/nefoodjustice2011

It's the weekend of feb. 25th and its SO MUCH FUN and its only $25 for housing and food for the entire weekend! If you wanna go TELL ME! I'm driving my big blue van up and 6 other people are welcome to hop in with me! It is a great tool for those wanting to rev up the local food movement.

Anywho I hope you all a gnarly holiday break sledding and skiing and whatnot and see you this semester!

And as always, email us about ANYTHING!

uri@slowfoodusa.org

PEACE

-cate

2010-11-22T08:36:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and happy thanksgiving! We here at SFURI had an eventful and amazing weekend!

On friday we did some window decorating in the union. If you have not gone by to see the window you should go check it out- it is across from the eye place in the union on the ground floor. We had so much fun drawing with paints and thinking up ideas. We drew some piggies, veggies, and of course some snails pulling a sled! Caute!! Here is a pic I took with my phone:

Nice huh?

On saturday, guess what we did? We killed turkeys!!!!! It was VERY interesting to say the least. We got to Pat's Pastured farm on Fort Getty Jamestown around 9am after stopping at the ever delicious and local Village Hearth Bakery. We were joined by our amigos from the outing club who met us there, and then we got to work! Our tasks included, catching the turkeys, hanging them up, killing them, de-feathering them, gutting them, bagging them, and weighing them to be put in the freezer. Everyone there was so knowledgeable and nice. Here is a gross pic:

I will upload more pictures soon- I am old school and use a disposable camera and it takes about a week to develop. Everyone there was so knowledgeable and nice. After a couple of hours of hard work we were done, and in return got a fresh turkey! Alyssa, John and I then stopped by Windmist Farm which is owned by one of my best friend's family to pick up our donation of eggs and cider for our Thanksgiving dinner the next day. Thanks Windmist! Then we hit up the NK farmer's market in our turkey clothes as smelly as ever to pick up some Watson Farm ground beef and some tasty veggies. I also got some Narragansett Creamery Cheese!!! MmmMMM!

Sunday was a day of mucho cocinar! After going to a turkey frolic on Hodgekiss Farm for a little bit in Jamestown, I headed to Alyssa's house to do some good ol' fashioned cooking. Alyssa had been cooking the turkey since 10 am and boy did it look good! Nothing is fresher than a turkey you killed with your own two hands the day before! I had already made some carrot soup from the night before, and Alyssa and I cooked swiss chard and beef stuffing, buttercup squash muffins with dates and walnuts, roasted squash and pumpkin seeds, fresh cranberry sauce, ground beef with leeks and onions, and then we were joined by our friends Slow Mo and Quick Mik to make some butternut squash pie and some squash slices with maple walnuts. Mik also brought a crap load of mashed potatoes donated from Sosnowski Farm. Then it was time to head to Eddy Hall to meet up with everyone else for the dinner.

The dinner was a huge success. Like I said before I'll upload pics when they get developed. Some cool dishes we had were fresh oysters from the Matunuck Oyster Bar (Thanks Mason!), pumpkin fondue, some delish mac and cheese, bruschetta, apple cole slaw and TONS more. I of course brought my boyfriend and roomates, because food is meant to be shared with the people you care most about right? That is what Slow Food is all about! I wish you all a safe and warm and tasty Thanksgiving. I hope you take some time and slow down to appreciate at the beautiful things in life! :)

-Cate

Carlo Petrini you are my hero!

2010-10-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

This past Friday, October 8th, 2010, Cate, Maria, and I took a little road trip down to Yale to see the one and only founder of Slow Food: Mr. Carlo Petrini. This was an extraordinary experience as we were privileged to listen to this presentation, first delivered in beautiful Italian words by Carlo and then in English by his translator. It was an absolute honor to sit in his presence among other activists, listening as he spoke about the dynamics of our food system and how we can achieve good, clean, and fair food within our generation. Carlo is an amazing thinker and speaker; the way in which he presents his ideas fills you with the empowerment to make positive changes immediately. He recognizes the need for gradual improvement but also focuses upon the multifaceted nature of the food system, touching upon the interconnectedness between social, economic and environmental aspects involved. Despite language barriers, cultural discrepancies, and religious beliefs, Carlo says, we are all connected through food. Food is a universal language we all speak and therefore, must be regarded as a sacred entity. This attitude is the heart of the Slow Food movement, and the first step we must take in order to reestablish a relationship with our food, our environment, and essentially, our health. I certainly cannot do justice to the beautiful ways in which Carlo spoke about Slow Food, but I can attest to the feelings of inspiration and utter joy I left the Yale auditorium with that night. Oh yeah, did I mention we met him???? After the three of us gave him a standing ovation, I shot up from my seat and ran towards Carlo. I wanted nothing more than to shake the hand of this man with my most sincere gratitude. Luckily, there was someone near us who spoke Italian and she translated for us as we stood face to face with Carlo. He shook our hands with delight as we told him we were from URI's student chapter of Slow Food, embraced all three of us, and even posed for a picture with us. Carlo Petrini, you are my hero.

Welcome Back Fall 2010

2010-09-18T18:27:00.000-07:00

Hey Slow Foodies!! I love this time of year because of the beautiful colors on the trees, but I also love the fall season because it is harvest month. Tis the season for pumpkins, squash and apples which you can pick up at your local farmers market...or better yet, go pick them fresh at an orchard! I hope you had a good summer and are ready for some Slow Food fun! We are excited for another year and have some awesome events coming up. Our first meeting is Wednesday September 22nd at 5pm in the Union...not sure what room yet. We will have some kind of slow food for munching on while we discuss these up coming events. Bring some excitement and any ideas of what you might want to do this semester and we will see you then!! HAPPY FALL!

The Story of Stuff and The Story of Bottled Water

2010-05-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what it is about these informative films....but they just make me so angry!! I do not understand these corporate companies...the only part I "understand" about them is they try to make money as fast as possible and will do what ever it takes. Even if that means destroying the environment, putting workers at risks, putting themselves and other consumers at risk. The list could go on. If your not sure what I am talking about I encourage you to watch the 20 minute clip of The Story of Stuff and then watch The story of Bottled Water. Theses clips can be found at thestoryofstuff.com.

Farmers Markets!!

2010-05-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Help support your local farmers of Rhode Island and visit markets throughout the state. Go to Farmfresh.org to find one near you! When you buy food at the farmer markets, you are showing major supermarkets that you prefer to buy local food. Local food is sustainable for the environment in that the food was not shipped from across the US or from another country...when we can grow it right here! I encourage you to at least visit one farmers' market if you have not already done so and feast your eyes on bright, colorful and wholesome food!

Local 121

2010-04-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Our last meeting for the end of the semester will be celebrated with good food and a movie at Local 121. Details below. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 27

Fresh - the movie

6:15 pm, $12 with dinner buffet

Earth Day 2010

2010-04-23T17:24:00.000-07:00

Earth Day April 22nd 2010 was an AWESOME day. Students, faculty and the community gathered to celebrate Mama Earth!! The sunny and beautiful weather was accompanied by cool music and the chatter and excitement of everyone gathering together. We set up shop next to Food for Thought and immediately starting unpacking the Organic Fair Trade Chocolate from Theo, which drew in a crowd. Some were brave enough to try the Spicy Chili flavored dark chocolate. The ultimate goal of Earth Day was and still is to get as many people as we can to sign our petition to get good, clean and fair food on campus. We want good tasting, nutritional, and local food delivered to the University of Rhode Island. Are you with us? Hey, if you are a vegetarian this means there will be more food available than salad and cereal!! We will take this process one step at a time...show URI Dining that there IS a demand for good food! If you missed us on Earth Day and support our petition and want to sign it then email us at uri@slowfoodusa.org. Better yet, if you want to be in our club and help us defeat the fake chicken being served on campus then let us know at uri@slowfoodusa.org and we will add you to the mailing list. Happy rest of Earth Week and STAY GREEN!