I love this time of year. But first things first. Happy birthday, Susan Planck! We all celebrate you, Mom. A year ago we planted hellebores with soft pink blossoms in giant stone urns …
Author: Nina Planck
Small Farm is a vivid green from all the rain, with splashes of salmon from the flowering quince, intense pink on the redbud …
Intergenerational Storytelling for Women is a hot trend, with new groups like HoneyRoot, Moxie!, and Generation Women popping up. For a friendship to flourish, Shasta Nelson, the author of “Frientimacy,” says three things are needed: one, it’s positive. You feel good! Two, there’s consistency. You see her regularly. Three, there’s vulnerability – you feel safe when you’re with her. At Hidden Roots, we have all three. Read all about it in the New York Times, or visit Hidden-Roots.com to learn more about NYC circles for quiet, authentic storytelling. Follow me on Instagram. Photo by Todd Diemer on Unsplash
Raw milk incidents are falling due to (perhaps) better handling by farmers and dairy — so says a new study. I recently enjoyed giving a guest lecture at at Rutgers University in New Jersey as part of a freshman seminar course entitled “Traditional Organic Food and Farming Systems.” The professor teaching the class, Joseph R. Heckman, Ph.D., published a study about how raw milk is getting safer and more popular “Recent Trends in Unpasteurized Fluid Milk Outbreaks, Legalization, and Consumption in the United States” I encourage you to read it and I encourage you to drink raw milk! The lovely red barn…
At forty-two years old, I lost my mind and soul. With three young children, a wonderful husband, and work I loved, I lacked for nothing. But I was a slave to my daily drink and I knew it. A morning meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous gathered daily in a church across the street. As I took our oldest to school each morning, the friendly people gathering outside after the meeting seemed to call to me, and I longed to speak to them, but I was not sure I could say, “I’m an alcoholic,” the one act I thought would be required.…
Julian, who turned eight on October 24, asked for a “small party at home,” with lots of creepy decorations. He started naming individual guests and planning every material detail on October 1, and it was my goal to say yes to everything I possibly could. (I am not naturally inclined to the ghoulish and have a natural horror of candy.) That meant lots of gourds and pumpkins (real) plus fake cobwebs, spiders, cockroaches, tiny bats, tiny rats, etc. In the Room of Horror were four mason jars, just big enough for 7- and 8-year-old hands to slip into, in order…
“I am a Decatur, Georgia, fan.” This is what I learned on Saturday August 30 at the 9th Annual Decatur Book Festival, the largest independent book festival in the US, where I made White Chicken Stroganoff with Dill and talked about Real Food. I met wonderful eaters and interesting authors. Books I plan to buy: “Shotgun Lovesongs” by Nickolas Butler, “Bedrock Faith” by Eric Charles May, and “I Can Hear You Whisper” by Lydia Denworth. And one architect who has the modern eco-style down pat: William Carpenter, at Lightroom Studio. Meanwhile, at the farmers’ market, I ate organic peaches, Savannah-grown ginger…
So silky, so nutritious, so lightly-sweetened, it can be breakfast, snack, or dessert. Julian and Jacob helped me make this one last night. Half the batch goes in ramekins in a water bath, and the overflow makes a thin layer in this shallow crockery. Those are vanilla pods (soaked in brandy) and a star anise peeking out. That morning, I took the pan to New Amsterdam School for a parent-teacher-lobby treat. This classic recipe, which I got from Patrick Lango of White Cow Dairy, and he got from The Gold Cookbook (and I adapted for the The Real Food Cookbook) calls for milk, eggs, maple…
Says Last Chance Foods, “It’s the high season for cool, slushy drinks. Nina Planck, author of The Real Food series, says her fermented watermelon basil cooler illustrates one of her key principles: when she processes food, she does it in ways that enhance nutrition, flavor, and shelf life.”
I was happy to see CleanPlates.com featuring a recipe from my new cookbook and I especially like that the writer discussed the health benefits of my Fermented Watermelon Basil Cooler. Perfect for a hot day in June like today.