“The Holidays,” the ostensibly joyous time period that starts roughly at Thanksgiving and extends through New Year’s Day, makes some people feel happy and fills others with, if not dread, then something that must be patiently endured. My family observed Christmas in a moderate fashion, with a few decorations (scuffed red candles that came out year after year but were never set afire), lights on the house and plenty of gifts under the tree (a real tree), although not nearly as voluminous as the piles under the trees of my lucky friends. But when my mother died in December of 1972, my Christmas enthusiasm died too, and it has never been quite the same. Nevertheless, I can and do appreciate the spirit of togetherness that the holidays inspire. If nothing else, Thanksgiving and Christmas bring families and friends together, for better or for worse. But two unwelcome relatives keep showing up year after year. Two unfortunate cousins of the holiday season, Excess Waste and Consumption, need a talking to. Here is what I suggest we all say to Excess Waste and Consumption this holiday season:

1. Be creative with gift-wrapping. I bet if you looked around the house you could find all kinds of interesting alternatives to long tubes of Santa/Reindeer/Holly paper. One year I wrapped a friend’s gift in paper from a brown shopping bag and did a quick Elmer’s glue and glitter decoration on it. My friend was so entranced by the gift wrapper that he gazed at it for a long time and almost seemed to be happier about it than the gift it enclosed. Other ideas: scraps of cloth, burlap, tissue paper, bubble wrap, newspaper, etc.

2. Disposable plates, cups, and cutlery seem like the ultimate single-use waste, but if you simply must use them because you have a huge crowd coming, use compostible cutlery and recyclable plates and cups. Oryana sells a variety of such disposable items.

3. Not everyone is a member of the Clean-Your-Plate Club, so this Thanksgiving is a great time to start composting. About 25% of food goes to waste in this country, an astonishing figure considering that food banks are running short. Composting won’t fill up stomachs of hungry Americans but it will keep scraps from ending up in a landfill, and if more people and municipalities start composting, we might have a 100th monkey effect and eventually change our wasteful, inefficient, and toxic approach to agriculture.

4. You might have thought that holiday decorations can only be found at Walmart or Target, but they are actually FREE! (Or almost free.)Think pine cones, pine branches, holly sprigs, cranberry “beads”, paper snowflake cutouts, etc. And making your own decorations is much more FUN! Here is a cool article I found with great ideas for
homemade decorations

5. As far as food goes, Buy Local, Buy Local, Buy Local! An abundance of local, fresh foods are still available at Oryana and at the new indoor farmer’s market at Building 50. You don’t have to buy a frozen turkey that traveled a great distance to be on your table. Oryana has Biehl’s (Mancelona) turkeys for sale and I’ve seen other local turkey products in other stores. You can have a delicious meal made from the freshest, local ingredients and support environmentally-friendly growing practices all at the same time!

Do you have other ideas for uninviting Excess Waste and Consumption from your holiday gatherings? I’d love to hear them. Please leave a comment below with your suggestions. And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

We’ve been working hard on our upcoming cookbook, a compilation of recipes from our popular “What’s For Dinner” series where we offer recipes and tastings of easy to make, economical, and tasty dishes, mostly dinner dishes but salads, soups, and desserts too. If you’ve been to the store and stopped by the demo table and sampled a dish that Nancy Schwalm or I made and picked up a recipe to take home, you have an idea of the kinds of recipes in this book. The recipes are organized by the four seasons, and we are working on making the book user-friendly and informative. We should have it available by the first of the new year, but I will keep readers updated on the status of the project.

In other news…

Biehl’s turkeys will be available for pick-up starting this Friday the 20th, with more birds coming on Monday the 23rd. You will be able to pick out the bird you want when you come to the store.

Coming up Thursday, December 10…Member Appreciation Day! It’s definitely worth your while to do your shopping on this day because the store is full of vendors handing out samples of their local products, plus we will have lots of giveaways, including a $100 gift certificate and a $30 lunch at the cafe. But remember that the giveaways are for members only, so this is a great day to become a member!

On Monday the 23rd through Wednesday the 25th, the day before Thanksgiving, we will be offering CURBSIDE SERVICE between 12 and 8 p.m.! If you don’t want to lug your bags of groceries all the way to your car, just ask and someone will meet you in the parking lot with your cart, just like they do at Tom’s.

Place your special orders for the holidays and have Lake Street Kitchen take some of the holiday cooking burden off your shoulders.

Holiday Baked Goods Menu

Holiday Entrees and Sides Menu

Party Platter Menu

Back in August I posted an entry about the dearth of farmers in our fair region offering a cow share program so we can all have access to raw milk. I talked about the antiquated and and uneducated laws in the state of Michigan prohibiting the sale of raw milk at Oryana and all retail outlets, and that the only way to legally obtain it is to buy into a cow share program where you actually purchase (a part of) a cow and pay the farmer to take care of your cow. While visiting the new indoor farmer’s market at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons (Building 50 of old State Hospital) this Saturday, I spoke with Eddie Keim of Grazing Acres Farm. He and his wife Arlene are now offering a cow share program.

Jersey cow

They are still finalizing the details of the operation but you can call them (info below) or visit them at the market on Saturday. (Every Saturday 10-2) They do intensive grazing in the summer and do not use hormones or GM feed for their animals. There will be a one-time charge for the life of the cow (about 6 years average) plus a weekly fee of $12 for the care of the cow. For that you get 2 and 1/2 gallons of milk, which comes out to $4.80 per gallon of milk.

They are considering drop-off points in T.C. and possibly other areas depending on demand. So I hope they will find enough interested people to make it worth their while to make the trip. If enough people sign up then it will be an incentive to find a convenient pick-up site and time. In the meantime, let’s hope that the State of Michigan wakes up and follows the lead of other states like California where you can walk into a store like Oryana and grab a container of raw milk or cream and take it home and enjoy it and reap the benefits of a perfect whole food.

Contact info for cow shares:

Eddie and Arlene Keim
Grazing Acres Farm
18540 50th Ave
Marion MI 49665
Phone: 231-743-0005

Trolling around the internet as I sometimes do in search of writing inspiration I came across some interesting, amusing photos of homegrown vegetables in the U.K. (I googled the phrase ‘organic funny’ and this is what came up!) When gardening technique, weather, and backyard conditions permit, the results can be truly hilarious, as the following photos show.

Mr. Potato Head

It seems like a shame to eat a tuber that’s such a work of art! You could probably sell a potato like that on Ebay…

Tumerous Tomato

 A bejewelled tomato is a lovely thing to behold. I bet the slices made for a unique composed salad…

Carrot Pig

This little piggy said, “Don’t eat me!”

Tomato Bunny

 Awwww…Don’t you just love cute vegetables?

Anatomically-correct Carrot

This one speaks for itself. 

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And then there are some humans who just can’t leave well enough alone. They think they can improve on nature, and I’m not talking about the GMO geniuses who splice tomato and firefly genes to render a cold-resistant tomato…

Square Watermelon

The Japanese are a clever people, creating novelty fruit like this.  I don’t know what the exchange rate is but I bet they  charge a premium for “Fun Fruit.”

I Heart Watermelon

Doesn’t this just warm your heart and give you warm fuzzies? Would make a great Valentine’s Day Gift!

Buddha Pears

Fruit for contemplative souls.

Cuke Hearts and Stars

What will they think of next? If you need another way of saying, “I love you,” to your sweetie, serve up a love salad.

And That’s It Folks! The growing season is almost over here in Northern Michigan, although with many farmers putting up hoop houses, we can still get fresh produce. The Moses/Grigg Farm is supplying Oryana with some fabulous dark purple kale.

Here is a simple recipe for purple Kale:

PURPLE KALE WITH CARAMELIZED ONIONS AND ALMONDS

2 bunches purple kale, washed, stems removed and chopped

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup toasted, slivered almonds

Cook the onions in olive oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed skillet or dutch oven over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add kale and veggie broth, stir, cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes until kale is tender. Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste,  drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with almonds.