Blog Post
Top Chef Steph Video and Interview!
by erin
You found a bonus game code! It's DINNERWITHCHARYBDIS
Whether you were lucky enough to attend the cooking demo and talk by Bravo TV's Top Chef Season 4 Stephanie Izard last month - or if you missed it - take a listen to our exclusive podcast interview with Top Chef Steph. Fans of Top Chef will enjoy hearing about what it's really like to be on the show (is Padma really that gorgeous in person?). Stephanie shares her memories of Ann Arbor during her time at the University of Michigan (the ONE thing she craved was a chipati from Pizza House!) and of course we talked about food and cooking! Listen up!
You can see the video of her talk and demo in our AADL video on demand collection.
Blog Post
Healthy Food for Healthy Kids
by battlem
How can you make healthy meals for the family without busting your budget? Are there snacks out there that are nutritious for the kids that they will actually eat? Staff of the Washtenaw County Extension Services Food and Nutrition Program will be at the Malletts Creek Branch on Saturday, April 25 from 10-11:30am to answer these questions and more!
Busy families will learn quick and easy ways to make balanced and nutritious food choices that are actually tasty, using all of the food groups. Proteins, carbohydrates, and fats all play a key role in keeping our bodies healthy and active. A food demonstration will also show just how quick and easy it can be. Join us for Food for Families: Keep your Kids on the Right Nutritional Track!
Blog Post
University of Michigan and Tart Cherries
by Stewart
Dr. Sara Warber of University of Michigan Integrative Medicine researched the benefits of eating tart cherries and found that the Antioxidants may help with heart disease and inflammation. This is one of the topics discussed at the Experimental Biology 2009 meeting in New Orleans.
Read more about Michigan cherries and check out a consumer's guide to dietary supplements and alternative medicines.
And here's a story about cherries for the kids.
Blog Post
Vacations to Enrich Your Life
by darla
On our new book shelf here at the AADL you can pick up a copy of The 100 Best Worldwide Vacations to Enrich Your Life, written by Pam Grout & published by National Geographic. The author's intent, as she states in the introduction, is to alter your idea of what vacation is meant to be and offer you the potential to change your life. The experiences are divided into four categories: arts and crafts getaways, learning retreats, volunteer vacations, and wellness escapes. Even if you can't afford some of the fabulous ideas set forth in this book, it's still enjoyable to read about them. Consider a three-day mahout (elephant wrangler) training course in Thailand. Spend a month working for African Impact, a lion rehabilitation center in Zimbabwe. Master the art of blending scotch at the Glengoyne Distillery in the Scottish highlands. Ride horses to Machu Picchu's sacred sister city, Choquequirao, Peru.
The trip that caught my attention is run by COBATI (Community-Based Tourism Initiatives) in Kampala, Uganda. Instead of a typical African safari package that does little to benefit the locals, COBATI homestays offer the amazing opportunity to stay in small, rural villages and learn about the real Uganda. Visit banana plantations, stay with midwives, learn beekeeping & mushroom growing, attend community weddings, visit flower farms and see homesteads with Ankole longhorn cattle (indigenous to Uganda for at least seven centuries). Interested? Visit www.cobati.or.ug or head to the library for a copy of this unique travel guide.
Blog Post
Homebrew time!
by Liberry Shortstack
Saturday at 2pm in the Malletts Creek program room, Ann Arbor Brewers' Guild member Jeff Renner will be presenting a variety of basic homebrew tips, as well as advice for experienced brewers. In case you'd like to do a little reading on your own, either before or after Jeff's presentation, check out the Complete Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian, a book referred to by many homebrewers as the "Homebrew Bible." Since summer is one of the best possible seasons (in my opinion) to enjoy a pale ale, you might want to learn how to make your own. Terry Foster's Pale ale: History, brewing techniques, recipes can help guide you through your first batch. And if you're a first timer for whom this all seems like a whole lot of mess, John Palmer's How to brew: Everything you need to know to brew beer right the first time might help you demystify the process. Cheers! Here's to your health!
Blog Post
Vegan Soul Kitchen
by manz
Eco-chef Bryant Terry’s newest book, Vegan Soul Kitchen: fresh, healthy, and creative African American cuisine, is a real treat, with some unique and tasty dishes to get your mouth watering. What is nice about this book is that each recipe has recommendations for music, films, books, and/ or art that accompany each recipe. So not only can you make a hot dish of cajun-creole-spiced tempeh pieces with creamy grits, but you can throw A Love Supreme by John Coltrane in the CD player while you’re cooking or eating it. With black-eyed pea fritters with hot pepper sauce (click to preview recipe!), fried green tomatoes with creamy celeriac sauce, and wild style salad on your dinner menu, you're sure to get a crowd. This is a truly original and inspiring cookbook. For more recipes by Terry, try Grub: ideas for an urban organic kitchen, which he co-authored.
Blog Post
Find out where your food comes from! Eat local, stay healthy!
by Liberry Shortstack
With the recent scandals over food safety, knowing who produces your food and how it's produced has become ever more attractive. Many Ann Arborites, myself among them, eagerly await the return of the growing season and the Kerrytown Farmer's Market. Stone-Buhr, a major flour and wheat supplier in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho has introduced Find the Farmer which allows you to enter the lot number on your flour bag to find out which farm it came from. You can ask questions, see a list of producers and profiles on each, and access the Find the Farmer Blog. The New York Times caught the story and places Find the Farmer within the larger context of food safety and companies' accountability for safe production practices.
If you're interested in stretching your green thumb(s), Project Grow might be an organization to get involved with. You can volunteer your time, or even pay for a garden plot of your own.
And if you'd prefer the local vegetables, without the work, a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) might be the thing for you. While some CSAs require a certain number of work hours, others function more like a co-op. There are several CSAs in the Ann Arbor/Washtenaw area.
Blog Post
Everyone Has To Eat
by manz
Everyone Has To Eat is one of many
Open Space Technology (OST) events happening on the UM Campus this week. Local Food Summit members are eager to continue discussing local food matters in Washtenaw County. Everyone Has to Eat "is for anyone interested in discussing a wide range of topics related to local food production, consumption, preservation, sustainability, and justice.” The agenda for the meeting will be set by those participating. Bring ideas, questions, techniques, strategies, and answers. Bring your ears, wisdom, heart and mind for this important dialog.
Tuesday, March 24 | 6:30-10pm | 1024 Dana Bldg School of Natural Resources & Environment UM Central Campus
Blog Post
Sap to Syrup -- Doing it Yourself
by Caser
You can't beat the taste of real maple syrup on hot, crispy Belgian waffles, especially on a cold winter morning. If you've ever wanted to give your mouth that Vermont-fresh taste without the store-bought price then the Saturday, February 28 program, Sap to Syrup -- Doing it Yourself, at the Field Operations Building of Ann Arbor's County Farm Park is just what you've been waiting for. From 1-2:30 pm, Faye Stoner will be discussing methods of identifying maple trees, tapping the trees, and boiling the sap into syrup. The program requires registration beforehand, so be sure to let them know if you're planning to go. Can't make the event but still want to tap that delicious drizzle? Check out some AADL items on all things syrup: The Maple Syrup Book, Sugaring Season: Making Maple Syrup, or the Newbery Honor book, Sugaring Time.
Blog Post
Think local food
by Maxine
Interested in learning about local food and gardening resources or becoming more self-sufficient in your own food production and consumption? Then check out the new website of the Local Food Summit. The site features a calendar of gardening and food related events sponsored by such local organizations like Growing Hope, Leslie Science Center and Project Grow. The site also provides discussion forums on everything from books on farming, food issues, "edible" schoolyards and a local foods exploration group. As the weather, hard to believe, gets warmer, check out our great collection of gardening books including some on local food issues.