Culinary Adventures with Camilla

This week, I picked up a bounty of heirloom tomatoes from one of my favorite farmers, Jamie of Serendipity Farms . But, I realized that twenty pounds isn't really that much when you cook them down into chutney and sugo. I definitely should have ordered more. As in twice as much. Oh, well. Next time. Each summer, we can tomato sauce, make salsa, and do whatever else we can to preserve the summer's tomato haul. This year, the Enthusiastic Kitchen Elf asked if we could make tomato chutney. Done... Ingredients make 4 pints of thick chutney or more if you prefer it thinner 8 pounds organic heirloom tomatoes 1 organic white onion, chopped (approximately ½ to 1 C) ¼ C garlic, chopped (approximately 8 to 10 cloves) 1 C organic dark brown sugar ¼ C maple syrup 2 C apple cider vinegar 2 T salt 1 T ground ginger 1 T ground cumin 1 t ground cinnamon 1 t ground hot paprika ½ t ground cardamom ½ t ground pepper Procedure Core and quar...

I wrote this for the WE Cooperative CSA newsletter this week and thought I'd share it here, too. All of these terms are ones I hear, but I was never sure of their exact meaning and implication for my food. Here's what I found... We read and hear a lot of different terms in regards to our fruits and vegetables - heirloom, organic, hybrid, and GMO (genetically-modified organism). I thought I'd give you a brief run-down so you can begin to decipher what it all means...and why you should search out some and avoid others.  Let’s take a look at a few definitions so we can better understand what an heirloom seed is compared to a hybrid or genetically modified seed. Heirloom 'Heirloom' - like your great-grandmother's brooch or your great-uncle's cello -  generally refers to something passed down from generation to another. Heirloom seeds are from a plant that has been passed from one generation to another, cultivated and preserved because of its value. The...