Working in the media world has opened my eyes to how far some companies will go to have their brands resonate with consumers.  Seemingly broke companies will pour millions of dollars into a single 30-second ad, they’ll hire mega movie stars to cover up the fact that their product is actually pretty lame, and fly halfway around the world to save a couple bucks on production. Basically, while the end product is beautiful, sometimes the ride to get there isn’t always pretty.

So when I came across a recent New York Times article touting that one of America’s oldest brands, Levi Strauss, is using a new advertising campaign to make a positive impact on society, I was pleasantly surprised.  Via their “Go Forth” campaign, Levi Strauss is helping Braddock, Pennsylvania, a town that has faced “decades of economic decline,” get back on their feet.

Beyond shooting the campaign in the town – they’re also using residents instead of models and depicting a realistic working environment in the ads rather than dramatized sets – Levi Strauss will be “donating more than a million dollars over a two-year period to assist Braddock in renovating a community center and further developing an urban farming program,” the article states.

I know, I know. It’s still a big company with a bigwig-advertising firm behind this campaign. And while they are presenting this is a do-good project, I know it’s also part publicity stunt. But at least the stunt will ultimately have an end result with real, tangible results that will benefit an entire town.  Even the town’s mayor, John Fetterman, has publically supported this effort as an “organic partnership” rather than a glitzy marketing campaign. Plus, the results include a program that will help residents learn how to feed themselves and teach them the importance of growing their own food!

The ad campaign start tomorrow, July 4^th, so I guess we’ll see soon enough whether or not the authenticity that Levi in trying to present comes through.

I’m so excited to tell you about a cookbook I just got called The Art of Preserving that’s full of sweet and savory recipes for enjoying seasonal produce year-round. Christina and I tried our hand at jamming last summer and I’ve been itching to try pickling ever since, but I didn’t know where to begin. Alas, this book explains it all!

There’s a section in the back that includes step-by-step instructions on how to can; and every recipe indicates how long it needs to “process”. There are also tips on using pectin (and a recipe to make your own, if you want!). Skimming over recipes like Spicy Peach-Mustard Sauce, Stone-Fruit Chutney and Pickled Roasted Peppers with Garlic left me dying to hit up the farmer’s market, where summer’s bounty is in full swing!

I tried the Pickled Beets recipe last week when I (unfortunately) got some in my CSA box. (Sorry Beets, but I thought your season was over and, quite frankly, I’m sick of you). They are still “pickling” in my cupboard, so I can’t vouch for their taste. But, I can say that the instructions and recipe were really straightforward.

Basically, you boil the beets until tender.

Then you slice up the beets and a white onion and stuff them into sterlized jars.

Finally, you pour in a mixture of vinegar, sugar and spices and process the jars for 7 minutes. The whole thing was totally fool- proof. I’m really looking forward to trying out some of the other preserving recipes and I’ll keep you posted if I come across any winners!

We all know milk does a body good, but did you know some types are better than others? Milk that comes from happy cows (i.e. those who dine on grass instead of feedlots) produce milk that is up to five times more healthy!

According to an article by ABC Science, drinking “healthier” milk can lower the risk of heart disease. The reason is because cows that eat grass produce more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than their counterparts who dine on other foods. Studies show that CLA helps lower the risk of heart attacks.

So grab a glass of (healthy) milk, skip the oreos, and drink up!

*Image compliments of Telegraph.co.uk.

We all know the powers of booze…it helps alleviate stress after a crazy day, facilitates conversation in awkward situations and even encourages dancing/displays of public nudity when consumed at large. But, it turns out that alcohol also plays a legitimate role in the kitchen because it enhances the flavor in food, according to a recent article in Fine Cooking. (If you just thought “duh, what’s your point?”, keep reading – it’s really interesting!)

According to the article, alcohol improves the flavor of food in two key ways: through evaporation and “molecular bonding.”  

Evaporation

Have you noticed when you open a bottle of scotch or port, you can catch a whiff of the alcohol almost instantly? That’s because alcohol molecules evaporate very quickly. So, if you add a splash of booze to a fruit salad, for example, it helps enhance carry the smell of the fruit to your nose more quickly and intensely – which ultimately contributes to a more satisfying dish. Just be careful how much you add. You don’t want the alcohol to make up more than 5% of the dish, otherwise it will tasty boozy.

Molecular Bonding

Another reason alcohol is so amazing in the kitchen is because it “bonds with both fat and water”. Remarkably, some seasonings (like garlic, herbs) only dissolve in fat and other flavors (like sweet, sour, salty) are only soluble with water. So in other words, alcohol is sort of like the bridge between certain flavors and food. A good example of this is when you marinate meat. By adding just a splash of neutral-tasting vodka to a marinade, it will “noticeably improve the flavor penetration of the marinade.”

 The article also debunked a common myth: alcohol doesn’t actually “burn off” during cooking. Depending upon how you cook it, the amount of alcohol retained can be as much as 75% – which may explain why best friend used to get giddy after eating Bananas Foster!!

All in all, it looks like we finally have justification for cracking open another bottle of wine or opting in for the 2-for-1 vodka deal at Safeway. So, honor culinary excellence and drink on people!

When I went online the other day to request a copy of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse for the next installment of our Food for Thought book club, I discovered that the public library has a whole slew of food-focused events happening in the next month.  As part of their Green Stacks program, which they coin a “community research for living a greener life”, they are hosting everything from a meeting on planting a victory garden to fighting global warming from your dinner plate. Bravo SF Library, bravo! Here are a list of the events.

On Wednesday, April 31^st, I’m going to attend an author talk with Novella Carpenter, the mastermind behind the book Farm City. I’ve been dying to read this book for a while now – it’s a memoir about a woman “who turned a vacant lot in downtown Oakland into a thriving farm”. I love learning about local food heroes…and who couldn’t use a little inspiration in turning urban space (hello windowsill garden) into an edible landscape. Farm City is also part of the SF Library’s On the Same Page program, San Francisco’s bi-monthly book club. So it’s on the shelves in MASSIVE volume right now. I got the book a few days ago and have been power reading ever since. Hopefully I can finish it by Wednesday!

Here are the details for the talk:

When
Wed, March 31, 2010
7:00 – 8:30pm
Where
Bernal Heights Library, Meeting Room
500 Cortland Avenue

Move over all you grumpy, fish-netted lunch ladies, ’cause there’s a new cafeteria cook in town. His name is Jaime Oliver and he’s on a mission to transform America’s food system, beginning with schools. Starting this Friday, March 26, ABC documents Jaime on his quest which kicks off in the unhealthiest place in the country: Hungtington, West Virginia. Residents here have the highest rate of death due to obesity.

I caught a sneak preview of Jaime’s new show last night and can’t wait for the rest of the series. It showed a glimpse of Jaime’s first week in the trenches of a local elementary school cafeteria, where he shadowed five lunch ladies preparing breakfast and lunch for the school’s 500 students.

OMG. You would not believe what schools are feeding children:

• Breakfast = pizza + chocolate milk. Yes, pizza!!
• Lunch = Frozen chicken nuggets + mashed potatoes (that started out as powder in a bag) + baked beans (from a can, of course) + more chocolate or strawberry milk (the strawberry milk looked like Pepto Bismol).

Like any reality show, there’s some serious drama in the works. A few of the lunch ladies gave Jaime some serious ‘tude when he suggested that they put aside their amorphous chicken-looking nuggets and try serving the kids some more wholesome, fresh meals. If you tune this Friday, I’m sure you’ll see how Jaime does just that!

Last week, Jillian and I went to the first installment of our Food for Thought book club. The turnout was amazing. Almost 15 girls (and 1 guy, bless you brave man!) got together to discuss the book Stuffed and Starved. It was a great discussion, including thoughts on the strategic layout of our local supermarkets, the trend of defeated farmers committing suicide rather than submitting to big ag companies, and the practice of patenting ideas (a la Google incentivizing employees to patent as many as they can) in the context of Monsanto patenting their seeds.

For the next book club, we are reading Alice Waters & Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee. Considering that Chez Panisse is my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area and Alice Waters is a constant inspiration in my cooking, I’m thrilled to be reading this next. Plus, it’s a juicy chronicling of her life…so a much lighter read than our last month’s pick. Read along with us, and email me if you live in San Francisco and want to join the group!

A few years ago, the New York Times’ Mark Bittman introduced the world to “No Knead Bread“, creating a little culinary phenomenon across the country. People became tickled pink by the idea that you could create beautiful, golden-crusted bread without having to knead dough for an agonizing 10 to 20 minutes beforehand. (To date, Bittman’s article remains one of the NYT’s most popular articles!).

When Bittman helped revolutionize the bread-making process, I think some bakers and foodies snubbed their noses at a bread that didn’t require kneading or some serious arm work. I mean, you’d be upset too if you’d spent years trapped in a kitchen kneading dough to find out there’s a simpler way! A recent article in the New York Times set out to answer the question once and for all: does less work mean better bread?

In his article, Harold McGee “baked variations on the same loaves daily for a few weeks — firm and wet, kneaded and not.” Then he found a professional baker to weigh in. Their verdict: Wet, unkneaded doughs (think rustic, airy breads like ciabatta) do not benefit from extra kneading, but firm doughs (think sandwich bread) do. (It has something to do with strengthening the gluten networks or blending the ingredients…read the article for more deets).

So, I guess whether or not kneading is in your future depends on the type of bread your making. And, since I’m incredibly lazy when it comes to baking, I will be making the airy, rustic breads that require none! Check back tomorrow for my recipe for No Knead Bread with Olives and Parmesan.

(Image from the New York Times.)

I’m obsessed with Sunset magazine. I turn to them for their fantastic day-trip ideas (including oyster eating in Tomalas Bay and off-the-beaten-path hikes in Big Sur), design inspiration for my ongoing home DIY projects, and quick n’ easy recipe ideas that often highlight in-season ingredients. What I usually avoid is the gardening sections. I don’t have much in the way of a backyard, I live in a place where the sun rarely shines, and my windowsill herb garden is the most I can point to when someone asks if I have a green thumb.

Yet, when a PR friend offered to send me the new Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles, I accepted due to my love of the mag and my inner desire to become a home gardener. I mean, it doesn’t get any more “locally-sourced” than eating produce from your own backyard!

One of the things that had stopped me from taking the leap to becoming a gardener is the lack of knowing where to start…but this book makes taking the plunge a lot less intimidating. Info is presented in a super digestible, visually beautiful manner, and includes step-by-step instructions on how to grow every vegetable, herb, and fruit you can possibly imagine (if only I lived in a sunnier spot and could grow persimmons!). It walks you through what you’ll need to get started – from what tools you should have on hand, common pests you might encounter, and how to plant your first seed – and even gives tips on how to arrange your garden for maximum curb appeal. While the info may be bit general for the seasoned gardener, this is a fantastic all-in-one resource for the amateur gardener yearning to let their inner green thumb out!

What are you going to start growing in your at-home garden?

Thanks to my friend who runs the fabulous SF-based HiddenMenu, I was invited to join a newly formed book club called the Food for Thought Book Club. For the first meeting – which is just a few short weeks away so I’m in for some serious power reading — we’re reading Raj Patel’s Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. In it, Patel examines the world’s imbalance of food resources that causes obscene levels of obesity in some parts of the world while others starve.

It has gotten raves reviews from the likes of Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, so I’m really excited to read and report back. Thanks to the original founder, Deana, who was the mastermind behind pulling this club together (and who has a brand new blog called My Garden Plate), should be fun!

A more in-depth synopsis from Publishers Weekly:

“Journalist and scholar Patel (Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform) focuses attention on the unfortunate irony of the current world food situation, in which the imbalance of world resources has created an epidemic of obesity in some parts of the world while millions in the “Global South” endure starvation. Patel addresses the entire system of global food production, distribution and sale, concluding that “unless you’re a corporate food executive, the food system isn’t working for you.” “Record levels of diet-related disease” plague consumers, cruel market realities (and unsympathetic officials) doom farmers, and communities are beset by a supermarket system that provides “cheap calories” while “bleeding local economies. Patel analyzes what can be done, presenting logical recommendations and strategies for individuals-eat locally, seasonally, and ecologically; support local business, workers’ rights, and living wages; create a sustainable food system-though several primary components of his big vision (including ending agribusiness subsidies and corporate farming, and levying a tax on processed foods) are clearly a long way off. Those concerned about global health, social justice and the environment will be aware of many of the issues presented here, but should still find much to learn.”