Season's Tweetings

Image by thedabble via Flickr

'Twas soon to be #Christmas
#SMBMSP
And tweeters were tweeting
Like @NicoleDeB
Plus @AlbertMaruggi
@keithprivette @rickmahn
@sborsch @mitchellhislop
And @arikhanson
@MegCanada tweets @MrChristopherL
@bstemmler keeps filming
@stremcha rings a bell
@chrisnulty and @philson
@leeodden @gregswan
@quick13 @bradwellman
The tweets just go on:
@mnheadhunter @ThreeDeep
And @desaraeV
And @amysbryant and @davidtc
@timbursch @donmball
Tweet @myklroventine
Who RT's @Kayloire
And @audiencemachine
This tweeting could go on
'Til 2010
So unhand your handhelds
And #MacBooks and then
Eat #bacon and celebrate all that you can
'Til #SMBMSP happens again.

Mystery solved

And on the 6th day of Hanukkah

Image via Wikipedia

I made this soup.

And the lord saw it and said it was good.

So that turkey lived happily ever after.

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's......

Image by quinn.anya via Flickr

Making me nervous.

My goose is cooked because my turkey is not. There's an 18 lb turkey in my fridge, the centerpiece of tonight's Hanukkah meal, and I'm scared.

Millions of people have cooked millions of birds and lived to tell the tale. ('tho dead men tell no tales.) Still given my fame as a non-cook, I'm paralyzed as a non-swimmer at the edge of the diving board. How do I know if it's completely defrosted? What do you mean, I have to "tie the legs together with cooking thread"? What's cooking thread? What is the best temperature for roasting? How do I know when it is done? How do I keep it moist? How do I find room in the oven to keep latkes warm?

Oy, the latkes! They're enough of a challenge; I had to try a turkey? What was I thinking? I've already eaten the gelt. I've bitten off more than I can chew.

I'm a fry-baby.

Lest we forget

Paul Krugman reminds us:

Fiscal Respsonsibility = Health Care Reform

Ms. Erree

Image via Wikipedia

Why the loon? Because I must be crazy to live here.
Just a soupcon of snow and cold elevate my threat level to red. Between my Reynaud's Syndrome, my Seasonal Affective Disorder, my fear of winter driving, my propensity for falling (not to mention my tendency to drama) - my personal department of homeland security says WHAT THE H*LL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?*

Yes, we have a "higher standard of living", tho' short-sighted IR politicians are doing their best to short-circuit it. And even with its warm weather, the Lone Star State doesn't hold a candle to the North Star State.

But if I can't get my hands and feet warm; if I can't get enough sunshine; if I have to drive everywhere even in inclement weather; what's the point? It's not going to get easier as I get older. It's hard to imagine my golden age here.

Left out of "Left Out."

The biography I lovingly crafted to match MinnPost's Bonafield bio. Only one is a parody.


Susan J. Berkson was retired by the Star Tribune after a stint as an Editorial Columnist during which she was the target of so much vitriol she feared for her life. She has also written for PBS, the Christian Science Monitor, the Chicago Tribune, the San Diego Union Tribune, the Seattle Post Intelligencer, Minnesota Public Radio, WTTW-TV, TPT, and KARE-TV. Berkson, who attended Princeton University, holds an MFA from the University of MInnesota, and won the Vivian Castelberry Award for Best Columnist from the Socity for Women Journalists. Berkson, who had intended to be a Broadway star, a Nobel Prize winner, and a United States Senator, was distracted by other things. Nevertheless, she founded the Minnesota Children's Health Environmental Coaltion and was instrumental in passing the Parent's Right to Know Act. In 1991, she received the Governor's Commendation for establishing the Campaign for a Violence-Free Minnesota. Her first job was as a nurse's aide at Walters Hospital in Michigan City, Indiana, after which she sold shoes at J.C. Penney.

Thank you, Roz Chast

I can cook, too

Tammy Wong would be proud of me.

Over the summer, Chef Wong of Minneapolis' Rainbow Chinese Restaurant did several cooking demonstrations at the Minneapolis Farmers Market. I helped; not as her sous chef. I just held the microphone and fielded questions, a good use of my skills.

Just as there are famous cooks, I am a famous non-cook. Which hasn't stopped me from the occasional experiment. Tonight I decided on a beef stir-fry using whatever was in the house. This left me with carrots, butternut squash and leftover peas. I did my best to julienne the carrots, then tried to get the peel off the squash. (Bill Roehl was wrong. Everyone does not know how to peel squash.)

It was messy, but bloodless. Into the pan went the veggies, the beef, and finally a soy and oyster sauce blend, thanks to a bottle Chef Wong sent home with me.

"Mom, where did this come from?" my astonished son asked, "It's good."


I don't know. Heaven?

This takes the cake

And hides it, too.

Modern Warfare

Image via Wikipedia

The battle starts early. Nine hours before the first shot is fired.

The soldiers arrive at 3 to gain tactical advantage, 'tho Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 won't be released until midnight.

Pfc. Teenage Son was first on the scene, canteen in hand, ready for the fight.

At least he didn't wear his BDU.

Among the tattooed and pierced at GameStop, that would have offered scant protection.

Allied Command is monitoring the action from Panera Bread, four doors away, where an MRE will be served at 17:00. Pfc. Teenage Son, btw, just dropped in for some R&R, and apparently, a sandwich.

Minnetonka arrives

Image via Wikipedia

Trader Joe's opened today.

Already it's bustling with the well-dressed and well-tressed, all of whom seem to have cool glasses, to boot.

What am I doing there? Is Trader Joe's fair to farmers?

I saw Earthbound Farms broccoli, Michigan apples, Fayge yogurt.

Nothing local.

Have to check with El Dragon at FairFoodFight.

Update:
Baquettes are from local New French Bakery
Honeycrisp apples from Washington State

Jump the ________

Image by Luca Zappa via Flickr

"Mom, it's what kids do in Manhattan," Michael explained.

On a weekend in San Francisco, he'd fallen in love with cable car riding, and wanted to head down - solo - to Fisherman's Wharf.

The night before, he'd made a successful solo return to the hotel, carrying two souvenirs and change in his pocket.

Clearly, he's jumped some gap. Gone beyond spreading his wings to flying.

Support your local farmer

It's not just a bumper sticker.

All you locavores who say you support your local farmers, they need you right now.

Minnesota's record-setting October cold dealt small farmers a double whammy; first, it knocked down some crops, then it knocked out customers. They simply did not come to market during the cold snap. So business for small farmers, who depend on direct-to-customer sales, went way down.

To add insult to injury, the cold snap led people to think the season was over.
It's not. Minneapolis Farmers Market growers are still bringing in beautiful squash, peppers, kale, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, parsnips, ruatabagas, beets, apples, potatoes....... the list goes on and on.
But the season won't. So support your local farmer. Come to the Farmers Market now while the bounty is here. Your farmers have been here for you all season. So come to the market and be here for your farmers.

Evolution of the species

Sorry, creationists. NickColemanonline is further proof of evolution.
One of the best of the old-style, free-swinging newspaper columnists, this former Star Tribune columnist was always at his best unbound and unbowed, and on his own blog, he calls the shots.
And his aim is true.

The Not-so Middle Class

In an interview published in today's Washington Post, TARP watchdog Elizabeth Warren says:

WARREN: Well, I believe that the middle class is under terrific assault. And I don't want to play this as a capitalism issue.
When we compare middle-class families today with their parents a generation ago, we have basically flat earnings-a fully employed male today earns on average about $800 less, adjusted for inflation- than a fully employed male earned a generation ago. The only way that houses could increase or families could increase their household income was to put a second earner into the workforce, and, of course that's now flattened out because there aren't any more people to put into the workforce. So you've got, effectively, flat income in this time period with rising core expenses; housing; health insurance; child care; transportation, now that it takes two cars to get everywhere, two jobs to support; and taxes, because you've got two people in the workforce and we have a somewhat progressive taxation system. So that families are spending a lot more on what you describe as the basic nut.
The third leg to the triangle, and that is families, to deal with this, stopped saving and started going into debt.
And the debt side of where families both spend more money and are made much more vulnerable on mortgages, on credit cards, on check overdraft fees, all this side of it, the credit side of it really means that we have a middle class that a generation ago we would have described as solid, secure, dependable. If you could just get into the middle class, you could pretty much count on a fairly comfortable life and all the way through to a comfortable retirement.
That's been hollowed out. Sure, there are people who are going to make it through just fine, but the vulnerability of families in the middle class has just, it has gone up enormously.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/08/elizabeth-warren-the-midd_n_313798.html

It's a family affair

I've been dragging my unwilling 13-year-old to the Minneapolis Farmers Market despite his adolescent lethargy and his personal aversion to crowds. And yesterday, for the first time, I saw him become part of the farmers market community. My game-plan was to shop and help with a demo. Michael's was to buy breakfast, shop and taste the demo results.

With a "Peace out," he set off with his appetite and $20. I picked up eggs, beets and apples; parked them in the car, and returned to the demo area to find Michael helping with set up. God bless him. Having been coming all season, he knew the players. They knew him, and integrated him seamlessly.

I'd seen this with children of the growers and now its happened with my child.

Last night, we joined neighbors 'round their firepit for a potluck, and I heard Michael offering his "just popped today" kettlecorn and "real hotdogs" from Tollefson's at the market.

It worked. I've made a little locavore.

Gone to soldiers

Michael has reported for duty.

As he galumphed down the stairs in his BDU and combat boots, I thought, "No one in his family would recognize him."

He sprung from the most feminist, artistic mother; the most mild-mannered passive father; from a long line of urban Jewish intellectuals. Yet there he is in buzzcut and camo.

Due to his enormous size, he looks 18 and scary, 'tho he's 13 and not.

He's not going to war, thank god, just Civil Air Patrol Search-and-Rescue Training.

And if he did go to war, I'd have to "suck and up deal", as he instructed me today when nixing my attempt to take pictures.

If this is his calling, so be it.

Headline News

President Obama is in Minneapolis today to give a major speech on health care, the most hotly debated issue in the United States.

This is the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the so-called "Newspaper of the Twin Cities":






Can you find any news about the Obama's speech in Minneapolis?

Go ahead, magnify it. Anything?

This is supposed to be the newspaper of the Twin Cities. Not the sports paper of the twin cities.

Are they trying to carry out their desire to continue "management’s successful efforts to change the widespread image of the Star Tribune from a strongly liberal paper to a strictly non-partisan news source"? Do they think that covering a President who is a liberal might interfere with management' image-changing plan?

You tell me.

Tomorrow

Cue the orchestra.


Parents of America, wait the 10 second vamp then sing along with me......

School finally starts
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that
Tomorrow
There'll be school

Just thinking about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow
And that's cool

When I suffered his days
Of la-zy loafing
I'd think, "September 8th
Can't come too soon! Ohhhhh!"

School finally starts
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar that
Tomorrow
There'll be school

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you, tomorrow.
You're only a day away

We had three weeks between
The end of camp
and this

Too much free time
For teenage boy
And his
Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So thank god school starts
tomorrow
And routine returns for teen
And mom-o
Hip hooray

To morrow, tomorrow
Yes, school starts tomorrow
Just one day 'til we're okay

Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love you tomorrow
You're only a daaaaay a-waaaaay

Great Minnesota Get Together

That's what PR people call the Minnesota State Fair. And every possible angle has been worked by every media person in town, me included

For media outlets like Minnesota Public Radio, KARE11-TV, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Twin Cities Public Television, I've created all kinds of pieces with all kinds of funny and the occasional dab of serious.

But I'd never done a live broadcast from the Fair. 'Til now.

Last Saturday, we broadcast the Fresh&Local Radio Show live from the AM950 booth at the Fair, and it was fun, cold fingers and all. I was jazzed at the idea of having a live audience, although at 8am, the few fairgoers on the grounds were searching for breakfast. (We'll get'em next week with baked goods.) We had lively, well-informed guests: Mary McGuire Lerman from the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, who was a fount of information on late season gardening; Tom Forti of Hibbing's Sunrise Pasta; and, LizMcMann, an expert canner. They had such useful information, and that's what people want, online, in print, on the radio, through whatever channel it comes.

We're doing it again next Saturday, September 5, and our lineup should be equally useful and entertaining. ana Sofia Joanes, the director of FRESH, the movie. Tracy Singleton of Birchwood Cafe. Hmong grower Shur Yang of Morning Fresh Farms. And,finally, Lee Zukor of Simplegoodandtasty.com with the most useful information of all: how to eat Fresh & Local at the Fair.

So before you set off on your State Fair foodapalooza, join us 8am Saturday for some old-fashioned radio at the Great Minnesota Get Together. You'll find us across from the EcoExperience at the corner of Cooper and Randall.

You don't know unless you try

That's what we tell our kids.

So despite my fear of peppers - there was a traumatic pepper incident on my first trip to Texas - I tried a recipe for Salt and Peppers.
I worship Rainbow Chinese Chef Tammy Wong, who created it. Writer Katie Cannon, who tried it, said it was simple and ridiculously good.

At the Minneapolis Farmers Market, I shopped carefully for immature jalapenos. At home, I donned latex gloves gloves before touching those peppers. As instructed, I cut off the top inch to minimize heat and proceeded to stir fry, salt and plate.

Hesitant but forthright, I took a bit. A hooeee! Mouth on fire! Too hot for me.

I tried. And now I have a steaming pile for the compost bin.

Power to the People's Market

For Farmer's Market
in Minneapolis

We won! The Minneapolis Farmers Market is the 2009 Parents Pick for Best Farmers Market in Minneapolis St. Paul. We love our community and we are pleased as punch that they embrace us.

We're not an upscale boutique or a manufactured market. We are the real deal, since we began as a haymarket in 1876. We are owned and run by farmers, who bring the best of the country to the heart of the city. We believe in fresh food for all. We're crowded and noisy. The amenities are few. Nonexistent, in fact. But nowhere will you find more growers with more beautiful produce. And our community; the Minneapolis of all ages, sizes, colors and cultures who crowd the market each weekend; who share so generously with Second Harvest Heartland every Sunday; you are the heart of the market. You give it its real flavor.

And we thank you.

The Unemployables

New on Bravo: The Unemployables

It's the underside of the new economy. The real life stories of the men and women that no amount of job searching can place. Bravo's The Unemployables offers a fascinating window into the competitive, pressure-filled environment of the unemployed competing for their shot at the very few jobs available. The series features seventeen aspiring unemployed people who compete for their shot at full employment and the chance to earn the prestigious title of "Employed." Tonight meet Susan, an over-50 woman coming out of not one, but two dying industries: radio and newspapers. Will she ever find rewarding, full-time employment with benefits again? Should she move to Canada? Watch what happens when Bravo's team of career experts give Susan a brutal re-evaluation and a new career makeover.

Are you Unemployable? We're looking for compelling stories of the long-term unemployed. Send us your stories.

Say no, white!

In Defense of the Minneapolis Farmers Market

In Defense of the Minneapolis Farmers Market

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Great big yum

Image via Wikipedia

No snark today. Just amazing food from Tammy Wong, owner/chef of Rainbow Chinese.

It was love at first bite when a co-worker took me to Rainbow Chinese 20 years ago. The asparagus chicken and dry-sauteed string beans were out-of-this-world. Over the years, I'd return, periodically, but once marriage, motherhood and the suburbs took hold, my visits were few.

So meeting Tammy at the Minneapolis Farmers Market felt like meeting an old flame; and handling audience questions while she cooks is a privilege. I get to watch and learn. What is bitter melon. Hubbard squash. Gai lan. Who grows the most beautiful eggplant. What to do with Chinese broccoli.


And when the cooking is done...........the eating is heavenly. Today when I bit into Tammy's eggplant with tamarind sauce, I fell in love, all over again.

Tweet this

Direct from farm to table

Image by bfistermn via Flickr

Listening to a recording of a July 18 conversation between one of my favorite food thinkers, Nicole De Beaufort and one of my favorite food growers, Bonnie Dehn.
Critical to have them at the same table; the thinker hears directly from the farmers; what they're thinking, experiencing, feeling, doing. Unfiltered. Organic. Unadulterated.

Direct from farm to table.

Am Profood

Image via Wikipedia

Went to the Market this morning in search of my new favorite vegetable, Gai lan.
Searched. And Searched. And searched.
In vain. It's gone. The season's over.

A sigh of sadness and I moved on to what's in season.
Raspberries. Sweet fruit rubies.
And since the season is short, I bought 4 pints.

Which should last a day or two.

Continuing education continues

Image by jesssloss via Flickr

To paraphrase Richard Nixon, I am not a cook.

It was just a few years ago that I first tasted the difference fresh herbs make.

So having absorbed the "most garlic comes from China" lesson, I picked up fresh garlic from Nao Tang at the Minneapolis Farmers Market.

Chopped it, threw it in the frying bang and BingBangBoom! Garlic explosion! I was enveloped in fruity fresh garlic. I felt like I was deep inside garlic itself.

And the taste? That same distance I'd traversed when I moved from garlic powder to dried bulbs? Same quantum leap using fresh, local garlic. Maybe greater.

Continuing Education

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

My on-the-job education at the Minneapolis Farmers Market continues.

Today Andrew Zimmern, host of the Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods, was our guest on a live broadcast of Fresh and Local. What makes a food bizarre? When it is unfamiliar and unexpected. It reflects our environment and our culture; as well as war and peace; love and loss; famine and prosperity.

The most interesting food tells stories, said Zimmern, who cruised the aisles of the Minneapolis Farmers Market and brought back these story-tellers:

- Gai Lan, Chinese broccoli. This, said, Zimmern, was the original broccoli. That the Minneapolis Farmers Market has growers who sell it and shoppers who buy it speaks volumes about how local culture has changed.

-Wild Rice. How rare; how exquisite is hand-harvested wild rice, Zimmern said. Yet in many parts of the world, it is unknown and bizarre. We Minnesotans take it for granted and walk right by.

-Fava beans and Pigeon peas. Zimmern was intrigued by an African farmer selling these lentils. Marinated fava beans are on every table in Italy, he explained. Pigeon peas are integral to African cuisine. And here they are in formerly-Nordic Minnesota.

I took home fava beans, pigeon peas, wild rice, kai lan; a healthy serving of humility and a new way of looking at the market.

reBlog from altitudebranding.com: What Happened To Accountability?

I found this fascinating quote today:

So this post by Whitney Hoffman on the power of “no” stopped me in my tracks. And it made me reflect on the fact that our expectations have changed for what we’re entitled to have and get for free. There’s a fine line between asking for someone’s input or sharing in someone’s valuable content, and taking advantage of someone’s expertise and livelihood. Where’s the line? I’m not sure I can define it (maybe you can?), but I can sure feel it when I see it or experience it.altitudebranding.com, What Happened To Accountability?, Jul 2009

You should read the whole article.

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush

Image by 囧-WQ-囧 via Flickr

As part of my journey to the new (new ways of thinking, eating, living, communicating), I gathered the new knowledge I'd gleaned about mulberries and gathered.

Mulberries. I gathered the mulberries growing wild outside.

Waiting for the third consecutive sunny day, I set a sheet underneath the most heavy-laden branches of the mulberry tree.
Then I shook them.

Now I have a bowl of just-picked, home-grown, 100% organic berries. And I'm going to eat them....................


The fruits of my labors? They're delicious.

Is there an app for that?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

My 13-year-old fact-quoting Asperger's egghead has found an app called Cool Facts.
Which is just that: an unending collecting of cool facts.
Its the last things he needs. He is already a storehouse of arcane trivia, a Jeopardy champ in the making.
With the iPod Touch in his hand, he never shuts up.
What he needs - what all kids with Asperger's need - is as an app to guide them through reciprocal conversation.
Is there an app for that?
There's certainly a market.

An educated consumer is our best customer

Image by livewombat via Flickr

There's a discount clothing store in New York called Syms which advertises "An educated consumer is our best customer."

That's how I feel about the Minneapolis Farmers Market (MFM). I am fortunate to be working on a project for the Minneapolis Farmers Market. It's a project I love, and while I've come to enjoy the MFM, it wasn't until today that I fully appreciated it.

All it took was one trip to the neighborhood coop.

You see, in effort to be economical and "save on gas", I went to my neighborhood coop. It's 10 miles closer, so I thought it a sensible choice.

It turned out to be a foolish, expensive choice that left me feeling dumb, cheated and crappy.


Why? Because the Minneapolis Farmers Market has more variety. Less packaging. Better prices. More value. Not to mention fresh scapes, baby beets, sugar snap peas, all of it fresh picked today.

At the coop, I spent $2.99 for a plastic clamshell of "organic" strawberries shipped in from California. At the Market, the same three bucks would have bought me just-picked Minnesota berries. At the coop, I spent 7.49 for a giant plastic clamshell of "organic" baby greens shipped in from California. At the Market, that same 7.50 could have bought me twice as much, twice as fresh, totally local.

When these things are in season here, why does a local coop even ship them in?

I wasted 70 bucks at the coop. That would have bought me a fortune in good, fresh, local food at the Farmers Market. At the coop, it netted me two bags of overpackaged, overtransported, overmarketed mediocrity.

I'm done with the coop. I'm grateful for this one last trip, though, because it has made me an educated consumer. And Syms is right. An educated consumer is the best customer.

Once you've been to a real farmers market, there's no going back.

To all the Bubbies out there

Image by Brain Toad Photography via Flickr

The real Bubbies.
The Sophies, Muries, Sylvias, and Ettas:

Apologies.

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" have absconded with the word "bubbies" to describe their breasts.
And it's a shande.
Just today I read that Real Housewife Danielle Staub has had her bubbies done. Two times.

This you call a housewife? A balabusta she's not.

And exactly what she's done to the Bubbies? I'll tell you.

She's broken their hearts.

Old dogs, new tricks

Image via CrunchBase

As I've trudged through the mass migration from old media to new, I've trod many paths.

I'm a Facebook failure. Not popular enough.
As a blogger, others are wittier.
As for establishing a personal brand, I have none.
But twittering -- for others -- is a fit.

That's where my ability to clarify conversations shines. Taking useful content. Boiling it down to 140 characters. The years I spent writing ad copy for radio, shrinking messages from :60 seconds to :30 to :15 to :10 prepared me perfectly for tweeting.

For others.

That's the copywriting skill, as opposed to the original journalism or personal branding piece.

I don't have a brand. So my personal tweets have been bland.
But others have brands I can be passionate about. So I am the happy, useful voice of several brands. And that employs my writing, my judgment, my experience, my passion, my marketing, my talent for connecting.

And my sense of fun.

Land of the Lost

Any theater where people sit through this dreadful movie is, indeed, Land of the Lost.

No style. No coherent vision. Not much laughter.

My 13-year-old was elsewhere in the theater, so I sat through it in stunned resignation.

And Will Ferrell? His schtick has been funny in the past ("Anchorman"), but his moment may have passed. It doesn't carry this dreckfest.

MinnPost - Braublog: Mpls.St.Paul mag kills 'Lambert to the Slaughter'

Image via CrunchBase

MinnPost - Braublog: Mpls.St.Paul mag kills 'Lambert to the Slaughter'

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Their loss. Somebody else's gain.

Brian Lambert provides great content: the most cogent media criticism in town.
Funny and incisive.
I'll follow him wherever he appears.
MSP loses. Somebody else gains.