Gotta Getta Goat

Monday Morning Blog


Local Networking Group Offers Support For Goat Enthusiasts

I received an email from Regina Yurkonis inviting me to lunch with her goat networking group.

So off I went to Warrenton to meet with Yurkonis (Doin' 2 Udders Farm - Rixeyville), Kate Wolf (Happy Goat Lucky Farm - Nokesville), Mary Kay Seely (Red Brook Farm - Warrenton) and the newest member of the group, Lisa Phelps (Pasture Prime Farm - Culpeper).

Lunch was at Red Brook Farm, the home of the Seely clan. We sat around the large, family style island in the center of the well appointed kitchen and chatted - everyone talking at the same time. The room was alive with energy.

"Here taste this," said someone as she positioned a crock of cheese in front of me. "No, taste this," said another. "Here, this is the one to try first," said someone else. We were knee deep in cheeses, crackers and chips as a prelude to the coming lunch. The cheeses, of course, were home made, farm fresh goat cheese, each from their proponent's own farm. Chive and garlic, bacon and shallot, sun dried tomato - they were all yum!

"So why do you keep goats?" I asked the group. '

Kate Wolf was first to shoot out her answer. "They are cheaper than therapy!" Her response drew hearty laughter from the crowd.

"I think the milk is healthier," said Regina Yurkonis. "The fat globules are smaller so it's easier to digest and it's creamier, too."

"None of us raise goats for the money," added Seely who also drew a big laugh. "Every body should get a goat."


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Udder-ly Delicious Goat Milk Recipes


Peach Cobbler
Mary Kay Seely and her family make batches of their popular cobbler to give as Christmas gifts. Last year they made 35 cobblers - those lucky recipients!

Makes 1 (9 X 13) pan

2 sticks butter
1 large can peaches (sliced or halves) - drained
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups goat milk

Melt the butter in the pan. Pour in peaches. Do not mix.

In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients together and pour over top of peaches. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until golden brown - about 35 minutes. Scoop from pan into serving bowls and serve hot.


Rosemary and Lemon Chevre Stuffed Pork Loin
Wow your next dinner party with this easy (but extravagant looking) roast from Regina Yurkonis.

Chevre (goat cheese)
Chopped garlic
Dried rosemary
Lemon zest
Salt
1 pork tenderloin

Make stuffing by mixing everything (but pork) together to taste. Set aside.

Slit pork lengthwise through center and open up flat. Pound meat to an even thickness. Spread stuffing over pork and roll up jelly roll style. Tie meat closed. Place onto roasting pan, seam side down. Roast at 350 - 375 degrees till done.


Goat Cheese Spreads
Kate Wolf is famous for her fancy cheese spreads and suggests that you serve them with lots of fresh veggies. "I like to use what I have in my garden," she said. "I grow a lot of shallots which makes a very nice combination with bacon."

Start with chevre (goat cheese). Choose one of the following three blend ins and add to taste: cracked pepper or bacon and chopped shallot or fresh garden herbs and chopped garlic

Lavender Adds Beauty To The Garden And Good Taste To The Kitchen.

Monday Morning Blog



In Virginia, June is the month our lavender blooms spilling its fragrance everywhere especially in our rich Piedmont.

But lavender is much more than just beautiful to look at. It has medicinal properties and culinary applications.

Lavender lifts the spirits, helps eliminate stress, and aids in overcoming illness by boosting the immune system plus it adds a touch of elegance to our cooking.

We don't fully understand the complex, synergistic healing mechanisms of medicinal plants but one day we'll discover the way plant oils interact with the human body.

In the mean time, we can simply enjoy lavender in the garden, in the kitchen and to help us stay well.

Here's some easy ways to bring lavender into the kitchen:


Lavender Sugar
Mix some dried lavender flowers into sugar (For each cup of sugar, use about 1 teaspoon of flower buds or to taste) Put into an air tight container and put it on your pantry shelf to steep. After a couple of weeks, you'll have gorgeous lavender sugar.

Experiment with your lavender sugar in any recipe that calls for regular sugar that might me extra delicious with a touch of lavender (think custard, vanilla cream pie, white grape jelly, apple pie, Sally Lunn bread, lemonade to name only a few). Or save your lavender sugar for your tea or coffee.


Lavender Salt
Crush 1 tablespoon of dried lavender leaves and add it to your salt shaker to add a bit of lavender with every shake. Delicious on grilled meats, winter squash and chilled watermelon.


Lavender Pepper
Add a couple of pinches of dried lavender to your pepper mill. As you grind your pepper, you'll grind a bit of elegance. Great on salad.


Lavender Wine
Uncork a bottle of medium sweet or sweet white wine. Poke 2 (4 inch long) sprigs of washed and dried culinary lavender into the bottle. Replace the cork and refrigerate at least overnight to let the flavors develop. Serve chilled.


Lavender Honey
Add a sprig or two of washed and dried culinary lavender to your favorite jar of honey. Use about 2 (3 inch) sprigs for an 8 oz jar. Use in your tea and on your toast.

Drink Your Antioxidants In A Glass Of Wine

Monday Morning Blog



Raspberries, Strawberries and Peaches - They're Not Just For Breakfast Any More



Horton's award winning wines are a scrumptious libation any way you pop their cork but, my dears, I'm in love with their fruit wines. Yes, their fruit wines.

Oh, I know you wine purists out there are rolling your eyes at me. Real wines are made from grapes like chardonnay, cabernet and syrah not from strawberries, raspberries and blackberries but these wines are different.

These are not the syrupy sweet, home made concoctions that sat on grandma's side board in crystal carafes. No, indeed. These are grown up, sophisticated fruits of the Piedmont that are as sunny and bright as our fields of clover. They are real wines that celebrate our bounty with every gossamer sip.

Chateau Le Cabin is Horton's brand name for his fruit wines. There are nine fruit wines: blackberry, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, pear, peach, plum, raspberry and strawberry.

I like to think of these wines as antioxidants in a bottle although I'm not sure that the USDA would count a glass of Chateau Le Cabin as a daily serving of the required amounts of fruits and vegetables.

"Unlike most fruit wines, these are not candy sweet, but more like serious premium grape wines that are well balanced in acidity and sugar. Grape wine is added to make the wine more complex and food-worthy," said Horton. And so they are.


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Horton Vineyards
6399 Spotswood Trail
Gordonsville, VA 22942

1-800-VAWINEE (800-829-4633)
www.hvwine.com

Can't get to the winery?
Out of the area?
Ask for Horton wines at your favorite wine shop.
Or call Horton to arrange shipping right to your door.

Dishing The Dirt - FA(Garden)Q

Monday Morning Blog


Novice gardeners seem to be really struggling with their gardens this year.

I don't know if it's the troubling times we're living in or if this new generation of gardeners is just more perfection minded but here's the questions they ask us most often:

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I buy healthy looking plants but before I get a chance to get them into the ground, they dry out, shrivel up and die. Help!

Commercially, seeds are jump started under controlled conditions in a sterile potting medium with high levels of fertilizer. The water they're given is often filtered and purified.

The plants grow well but once all the mega nutrients are used up, there's nothing left to nourish them. "Dead" soil becomes rock hard and doesn't hold water. Without food and water, the plant dies. Like a puppy mill, mass produced plants are cranked out fast.

Here's what to do:
Get your beds ready before you buy plants so you can put them in within a couple of days of purchase.

If you've already bought plants but there'll be a delay in planting, take the plants out of their containers and tuck them into a large, holding container or bed filled with a mix of compost and garden soil. Keep them watered.

Chlorinated water is hard on plants but it takes a week for plants to get used to any new water even if it's not chlorinated. Your plants may droop for a few days but should perk up after they've gotten used to your water.

Garden soil, by the way, will naturally filter out chlorine but for potted plants, fill a container with your chlorinated tap water and let it sit at room temperature about an hour before use so the chlorine can dissipate.



Everyone says I should use compost and not synthetic fertilizers like Miracle Grow. What's wrong with Miracle Grow?

Just like humans, plants are what they eat. Think of synthetic fertilizers as fast food and organic matter as slow food.

Fast food will jump start your annuals with lots of show-y color. By the end of the season, the plants will be exhausted and all played out but since they're annuals, you don't expect another season.

Slow food produces strong, healthier plants that will grow more slowly but will produce better in the long run and do better under adverse conditions like drought. Healthier plants are less subject to disease, too.

Cost is another factor. Synthetic fertilizers are very expensive. Organic matter is free or very low cost.



My perennials never seem to make it through the winter even though I cover them. Do I have a black thumb instead of a green one?

You're choosing the wrong plants. Pick perennials with a temperature tolerance to least minus ten degrees.

Our temperature here in the Piedmont usually dips below zero for a few days each winter and that's just enough to kill a plant that's only tolerant to zero.



I desperately want a rose garden but bugs, black spot and hard clay soil are driving me crazy!

Get yourself a Knock Out Rose.

Knock out roses are a new, gorgeous, shrub type rose that comes in red and several shades of pink. No bugs. No black spot and they love our clay soil.

I didn't believe it when a gardening pal cued me in but after years of struggling with roses, I thought I'd give them one more chance before throwing in the trowel. I now have a lush garden full of roses and you will, too!



I know horse manure should be aged before use but how do you know when it's ready?

Horse manure is ready to use when the dry apples (round manure droppings are called "apples") have disintegrated into a crumbly mass.



I'd like to recycle the plastic pots that nursery plants come in and use them to start seeds but I've heard that you shouldn't re-use pots because you might spread disease. Is that true?

This is a myth that must have been started by flower pot manufacturers so they could sell more pots.

There's no reason why pots can't be reused. It's economical and will keep tons of trash out of the land fill.

While it's true that putting a healthy plant into a pot that held a diseased plant will probably spread the disease, if the pot is washed there should be no problem.

Here's how:
Remove the plant. Use the garden hose to rinse out the container (no soap required) then leave it in the sunshine until it dries (at least five minutes - longer is OK). Sunshine is natural disinfectant and fungicide.



I'm looking for a good looking, inexpensive way to label my plants in the garden. Those plastic plant markers are priced right but they look ugly. Nice looking markers are very expensive. Got any ideas?

Get a package of wood shims. A shim is a thin piece of wood that's narrow at one end and slightly wider at the other. Write the name of the plant on the thicker end using a water proof marker and stick the thinner end into the ground.

Shims are inexpensive so at the end of the season you can compost them but frugal folk can wash them off and save them for the following year. Shims are readily available at hardware stores or any where lumber is sold.



People say tilling the ground is environmentally wrong and destroys the soil structure but my ground is so rock hard that I can't get a shovel into it. Is it wrong to use a tiller?


Many people swear by tillers for tough, hard ground - especially our clay.

A small, easy to handle tiller (like Mantis by Troy Built) runs about $350 and is a much better choice than the large, old fashioned tillers that require lots of muscle.

But even with rock hard soil, you can do a lot of wonderful gardening by simply building a bed on top of the hard ground instead of trying to dig it up. Here's how:

Lay some flattened card board boxes, newspaper or even straw flakes over the area you want to plant. (No need to actually build a raised bed planter but you can if you want to.) Put a couple of inches of organic matter (like aged leaves, grass clippings and/or compost) on top. Cover that with a couple of inches of top soil. Repeat organic matter layer then top soil layer. Voila! You're ready to plant.

In the fall, top the bed with a couple of inches of compost. Add more in the spring. Keep adding leaves, grass clippings and compost spring and fall.

Over time, your bed will settle and earth worms will start to work their magic. Eventually, the hard clay underneath it all will be soft and gorgeous but by then your garden will be so beautiful you'll have forgotten all about the clay.

Should you use a tiller?
Take a look at you garden. Decide what will work best for you and how much you're able to spend.

A Mother's Day Brunch That's Easy Enough to Cook Without Mom's Help

Monday Morning Blog


Make this Mother's Day extra special by letting mom snooze while you whip up this yummy brunch in her honor. You and dad can probably manage without a bit of her help.

Be sure to clean up everything before she wakes.
No mom should have to face a messy kitchen on Mother's Day.


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Mother's Day Brunch Menu
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Fajita eggs
Pan roasted red skinned potatoes with garden herbs
Raspberry scones
French roast coffee
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Fajita Eggs
Mexican crepes stuffed with scrambled eggs and cheese them topped with salsa. Ole!

Serves 4-6

8 eggs
3 tablespoons whole milk or cream
2 tablespoons butter (margarine not recommended)
8 flour tortillas
1/2 cup of your favorite shredded cheese (approximately)
2 cups of your favorite salsa
Optional garnish - 3/4 cup sour cream (approximately)

Warm salsa but don't boil.

Whisk eggs with milk or cream. Lightly coat a large frying with cooking spray. Put butter into coated pan and heat till foamy. Add beaten eggs. Cook until set - stirring once or twice.

To assemble fajitas: Put some cooked eggs on a tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese. Roll up and put onto serving plate seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Top each serving with warm salsa. Dollop with sour cream, if desired.



Pan Roasted Red Skinned Potatoes with Garden Herbs
Mom will love these heavenly, stove top potatoes. Choose your favorite herb. Be traditional with parsley or chives or go gourmet with thyme or rosemary.

Serves 4-6

8 to 10 (2 inches in diameter) red skinned potatoes
2 to 4 tablespoons butter or olive oil
A generous sprinkle of your favorite fresh garden herb (washed and well dried)

Scrub potatoes well under tepid running water. Leave skin on but using the tip if a knife, remove any eyes that have started to sprout. Cut potatoes in half. Cut halves into 3/8 inch thick slices.

Put potatoes into a large skillet. Add enough tap water to cover. Bring to a boil on high. Cook till just tender - about 5 minutes. Drain.

Return potatoes to pan. Add butter or oil. Heat on low (stirring only once or twice) until potatoes start to brown very lightly. Stir in fresh herbs to taste and remove from heat. Serve.



Raspberry Scones
Plump little scones bursting with red, ripe raspberries. Dust the tops with powdered sugar just before serving. You can use blueberries, if you prefer.

Serves 4-6
Uses a 10 inch pie pan

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter (softened - margarine not recommended)
1 pint regular sour cream (low fat and fat free not recommended)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup red raspberries (washed and well drained)
Optional garnish - powdered sugar

Position oven rack so scones will bake in center. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan or coat with baking spray.

Using an electric mixer, combine flour, baking powder, salt sugar and butter. Mixture will be crumbly. Add sour cram and mix till smooth. Gently fold in berries being careful not to crush them (a rubber or plastic spatula works well). Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or till nicely browned. Cool slightly and cut into wedges. Dust with powdered sugar just be for serving, if desired. Serve warm.

Treat Mom To Mother's Day Brunch At Airlie!

Monday Morning Blog




What's Airlie?

Airlie is a drop dead gorgeous, environmental research and conference center in Fauquier County just outside of Warrenton.

The fabulous restaurant at Airlie is not open to the public but Mother's Day Brunch to benefit the Fauquier Family Shelter will give you a rare taste of this long standing, hunt country tradition.

Brunch is by advance ticket purchase, only, and part of the ticket price is tax deductible as a donation to the shelter.

The experimental and sustainable kitchens at Airlie are always whipping up the yummy and the unexpected. The staff is young, energetic and cooks their little hearts out.

The huge buffet feast has something for every taste and includes plenty of delicious dishes that just happen to be vegetarian.

You'll feast on local, free range eggs and omelets made to order, crepes stuffed with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, roasted salmon with spring asparagus cream, gilled vegetables, whole wheat pasta with roasted red pepper pesto, slow roasted - cabernet of local beef, salads of organic greens with home made dressings - and dessert, oh the desserts - blackberry cobbler, apple tarts and a host of other tempting, home made treats.

Most of the food served is local with much of the produce coming from their own massive garden and greenhouse. Mom will love it (and you will, too)!


Curious about Airlie?
Out of the area?

Check out their web site: www.Airlie.org


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Mother's Day Buffet Brunch to Benefit the Fauquier Family Shelter
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Airlie Conference Center
11AM-2PM (4 seatings)

Adults $45
Youth (7-12) $20
Children (6 and under) Free

For reservations call (540) 341-0900
Sorry, no tickets will be available at the door.

Plan Your Kitchen Garden With Preserving Your Harvest In Mind

Monday Morning Blog


Now's the time to think about canning tomatoes, drying herbs, making pesto and freezing green beans.

With a little planning, you can stretch summer's bounty through the winter. Not only will you have that great taste of summer but preserving food stretches your food dollar and gives you a sense of security in these uncertain times.

Plant what you want to preserve and in the amounts you'll need. Plan how you'll do your preserving based on the foods you family likes to eat. Preserving food doesn't have to be an ordeal of never ending work.

Determinate tomatoes, for example, are considered better for canning because you'll get a crop all at once. But if you don't have time to can a whole harvest, do a few jars here and there using indeterminate varieties of tomatoes which spread their yield over the entire season.

Green beans are another example. As you're deciding what variety to buy, check their yield. Large yields, all at once may be easier to can or freeze but beans that produce all season will give you smaller yields to deal with at one time.

Herbs give you lots of flavor for not much work. They're easy to grow and you can preserve them by drying, freezing or making flavored oils.

Some garden produce doesn't need anything other than a cool place to keep them garden fresh. Winter squash, apples, potatoes and onions can be stored in a classic root cellar but any very cool room will work just as well. Even a barrel of sand in the garage or a deep lined hole in the ground can be a mini root cellar.

Some vegetables, like carrots, can be left right in the ground and covered with mulch. Whenever you need them, it's just a matter of a trip to the garden.

When planning your garden, plan how you'll preserve your harvest, too.


Rosemary Oil
Absolutely gorgeous for salads, scrambling eggs and brushing on meats before grilling. Try it on a toasted baguette then top the whole thing with sliced tomatoes from the garden. Yum! Rosemary oil is pure heaven and you'll find dozens - if not hundreds of uses for it!

Makes 1 pint
3 or 4 sprigs fresh rosemary (each about 3 inches long - washed and well dried)
2 cups olive oil (approximately)

Put rosemary into a pint canning jar or similar glass container. Pour in oil to cover. Cap jar. Refrigerate several days before using to let the flavors develop. Lasts indefinitely in the refrigerator. Do not store at room temperature.

Karla's tips:
Olive oil becomes solid in the refrigerator. Make sure the jar you use has an opening wide enough so you can scoop out the oil.

Be sure to use a glass container. Plastic is porous if you use it instead of glass (which is not porous) everything in your refrigerator will taste of rosemary.

If you have an extra "storage" refrigerator in the basement or garage (as many people do), you can make up enough rosemary oil to last you through the winter.

Whip Up A Batch of Home Made Easter Candy and Watch Every Bunny's Eyes Light Up

Monday Morning Blog



Remember the home made chocolate eggs that grandma tucked into your Easter basket?

Old fashioned flavors like chewy coconut or peanut butter crème hiding inside her hand formed chocolates.

Turn back the clock and recreate those melting moments with a few quick recipes that will take you home to grandma's

Hand Made Coconut or Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Use semi sweet, milk or white chocolate for the shell then mix or match your filling flavors.

Makes 1 large egg (measuring 5 1/2 X 3 3/4 inches with a volume of 1 1/4 cups)

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (semi sweet, milk or white - divided)
1 recipe Chewy Coconut or Virginia Peanut Butter Crème (recipe follows)

Put 3/4 cup chips into a small, microwave safe bowl. Heat on high one minute. Remove from microwave. Chips will not look melted but will be soft. Do not over heat. Stir softened chips until smooth.

Immediately pour chocolate all at once into the mold. Spread evenly (The back of a coffee spoon works well.)

If the chocolate slides down the sides of the mold, briefly refrigerate the chocolate in the mold (30 seconds to 1 minute) and re-spread.

Wipe away any chocolate that extends beyond the top of the rim. Refrigerate 3 to 4 minutes till hard then put into the freezer for 1 minute.

When chocolate is set, spoon in filling to 3/8 inch from top.

Melt remaining chocolate as before and pour all at once onto filled shell, spreading quickly to cover. Make sure chocolate seals the edges. Return to refrigerator (or freezer) to set completely - 3 to 5 minutes. Invert chilled egg onto a flat surface and pop out of mold.

Fillings

Chewy Coconut

Make this filling in advance so the coconut has time to absorb the corn syrup. If you love Mounds candy, you'll love this!

Stir together:

2 cups flaked, sweetened coconut (the packaged kind)
1/2 cup light corn syrup


Virginia Peanut Butter Crème
Set a timer so you beat this long enough.

8 oz. powdered sugar (sifted)2 sticks butter (softened - margarine not recommended)
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon white vegetable shortening
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon smooth peanut butter (regular commercial type - not fresh ground or natural style)
1 teaspoon salt

Combine using a heavy duty mixer on low then beat on high 4 minutes. Do not under beat.

Welcome Back Spring At the Upperville Daffodil Show

Monday Morning Blog



The Upperville Daffodil Show is a stepping stone to bigger daffodil shows like the ones in Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia. There's a national show, too, but at the Upperville show it's just friendly competition.

It's not necessary to compete, of course, you can just go to see the flowers - and what beautiful flowers you'll see!

Hundreds of bright yellow blossoms in every variety imaginable line table after table. Their sweet scent is deliciously heavy and perfumes the air. It always smells like Easter and daffodils make everyone feel happy.

All amateur growers are invited to exhibit.

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The 46th Annual Upperville Daffodil Show
Presented by the Upperville Garden Club in conjunction with The American Daffodil Society.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
2PM-5PM
Buchanan Hall
8549 John Mosby Hwy
Upperville, VA 20184

No charge to enter daffodils or view the exhibits but donations are appreciated.


For information contact:
Alex Woodson
540-687-6510
alexwoodson@aol.com

or

Diane Ingoe
540-338-5610
dianeingoe@rstarmail.com

Is Your Juice Worth The Squeeze?

Monday Morning Blog



Have you looked at your orange juice bottle lately?

I mean REALLY looked at it?

Some bottled juices are 100% freshly squeezed juice.
Some are made from concentrate.
Then there's bottled juice that's made from part concentrate and part freshly squeezed.

The healthiest and best value is 100% orange juice NOT from concentrate. There should be no added sugar, corn syrup, water, coloring or cellulose.

What's wrong with 100% orange juice made from concentrate?

Nothing if you're buying frozen concentrate.
Adding your own water is a good way to save money.

What's wrong with 100% orange juice made from concentrate is that you're paying premium prices for less than premium juice.

Every time orange juice is processed, it looses nutrition - vitamin C and enzymes in particular. Vitamin C is added back after processing but not enzymes.

When bottled orange juice is made from concentrate, it's been processed twice - once to make it into concentrate and again to pasteurize it after reconstituting and bottling.

Each time food is processed, it looses nutrition.

So when you buy bottled orange juice, get the biggest bang for your hard earned buck. Make sure the juice you choose is worth the squeeze.


Orange-mato Soup
Tomato and orange? You betcha!

3 tablespoons butter (margarine not recommended)
1 small onion (chopped - about 1/3 cup)
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 (14 to 16 oz) can diced or petite diced tomatoes in juice (without sugar or corn syrup)
2 cups orange juice (without sugar or corn syrup)

Melt butter in a medium pot. Add onions and black pepper. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, until onions are very soft (but not brown) - about 10 minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes and their juice. Bring to boil. Simmer on low, partially covered, about 5 minutes to blend flavors. Stir in tomato juice and heat to steaming.

Good Food For Bad Times

Everyday we're hit with more and more bad news about the economy. It's enough to make you want to hide out until it all blows over.

But now's not the time to isolate yourself. You need family and friends around to keep your spirits up.

So gather the clan and still keep a hold on your wallet. Here's how:

1. Buy less prepared food.
Make party foods yourself and save a bundle. Cube you own cheese. Cut your own veggies. Serve home made dips. Prepare soup, salads and entrees from scratch.

2. Plan you menu around sale items.
Be flexible. Buy what's on sale - crackers, meat, cheese, veggies - even the wine or beer. No one will know you didn't pay full price.

3. Make your own dessert.
Purchased desserts are expensive. Think simple. Fresh fruit with orange liquor or a sweet white wine drizzled over the top. Home made cookies. Cobbler. Bread pudding. Baked apples.

4. Serve a meatless entrée.
Afraid your guests will feel deprived? Serve Italian. Nobody ever misses the meat in entrees like eggplant parmesan, baked ziti or ricotta stuffed shells.

Try this gourmet entree. Add a loaf of crusty bread, a bottle of wine and a gooey dessert. Couldn't be cheaper or easier!


Artichoke, Black Olive and Parmesan Whole Wheat Fettuccine
Very nice and very elegant which just goes to show that good taste doesn't have to cost much.

Serves 4

1 (12 -16 oz.) box whole wheat fettuccine
1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic (finely minced - or to taste, optional)
1 (12 to 14 oz.) jar marinated artichoke hearts (partially drained and coarsely chopped)
1 cup pitted black olives (halved lengthwise)
Pinch coarse grind or brandied pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil or parsley leaves (shredded - no stems)
1/4 cup pine nuts, walnuts or sunflower seeds (optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese (not grated or from green jar)

Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Drain well. Don't wash pot.

Put oil, garlic, artichokes, their liquid and pepper into the empty pasta cooking pot. Gently heat to steaming. Add drained fettuccine, basil (or parsley) and pine nuts (or walnuts or sunflower seeds). Stir to coat (a rubber spatula works well). Pour onto serving platter. Pile cheese over top.

F.E.A.S.T. - Serving Up Support

Monday Morning Blog


In a world where dieting and trying to lose weight is the norm, it may seem odd that some people don't want to eat.

Can't eat is probably a better term because people suffering from the eating disorders of anorexia or bulimia don't have a choice. Anorexia and bulimia are compulsive brain disorders - not chosen behaviors.

F.E.A.S.T. (Families empowered and supporting treatment of eating disorders) is a Warrenton, Virginia based, not for profit, international organization that helps in the recovery from eating disorders.

An out growth of the cutting edge book on the subject, Eating With Your Anorexic, F.E.A.S.T provides up to the minute information about eating disorders, promotes evidence - based treatment and research.

"Parents were (once) believed to cause eating disorders but they don't. Parents are the greatest ally in treatment. With a new generation of care we'll see a new generation of recovery."
……..Laura Collins, author of Eating With Your Anorexic.

F.E.A.S.T believes that eating disorders are biologically based mental illnesses and not the result of deep pathology in the patient or trauma within the family.
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Eating With Your Anorexic
By Laura Collins (McGraw - Hill)
http://www.eatingwithyouranorexic.com/

Laura Collins is regularly invited to speak at conferences and has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New York Times, The BBC and NPR radio. Look for an upcoming article about F.E.A.S.T in the Washington Post.


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F.E.A.S.T Informational Community Event
Sunday, February 22, 2009 - 3PM
Lord Fairfax Community College
College St.- Room 203
Warrenton, VA 20187
(540) 227-8518
http://www.feast-ed.org/

Open to the public - Free