When it comes to meals, there should be one hard and fast rule scorched into the handle of every wooden ladle: Stew should never be boring or bland.  Never.  Stew, by its very nature, celebrates the beauty and flavor of each ingredient.  Ratatouille, in my opinion, is the perfect stew and the ultimate  French Provençal comfort food.  Rich, satisfying, fragrant, and ratatouille is post-holiday diet friendly because it is low in fat and calories.

Ratatouille is traditionally served in the summer because the farmers markets are overflowing with tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, and eggplant.  Even though it is mid-winter in Alaska, I stumbled upon eggplants packaged in threes and stuck in the produce bargain bins for quick sale at the local Fred Meyer.  Also in the bargain bins, were slightly wrinkly soft bell peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes ideal for a same-day meal.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  An unexpected mid-winter summer treat = instant happiness.

Ingredients:

• 2 generous tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small yellow or white onions, chopped (or one large sweet onion)
• 2 eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 large green, red or yellow bell peppers,
  seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1.5 lbs ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded
  and coarsely chopped
• 1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil

Directions:

Wash and rinse the zucchini and eggplant, then sprinkle with sea salt or Kosher salt.  Let it sit for 30 minutes or so.  Meanwhile, prepare the onions, bell peppers, and garlic.  Saute the onions, bell peppers, and half of the garlic in hot olive oil.

Waxing poetic about my son’s very first trip to the beach is a very easy thing for me to do.  The Florida coast is particularly dear to my heart because some of my happiest memories take place on those smooth sandy beaches with the surf tugging at the shore and rushing over the toes of my giggling infant son.

In the midst of winter, it’s the perfect time to plan your dream vacation to the Sunshine State.  Do you want a photo taken with Mickey Mouse with Epcot Center in the background, to tour the Everglades by boat, or to swim with a dolphin?  Do you desire nothing more than to feed lettuce to a manatee or see a real live crocodile?  Perhaps you ache to wander the rooms in Hemingway’s house and meet the descendants of his famous polydactyl cat or enjoy a Cuban pulled pork sandwich while playing dominoes at a cafe in Miami.  Do you dream of reading a book in a hammock strung between two swaying palm trees with the warm sea breezes gently whispering through the leaves above you?  Are you ready to go scuba diving one day, golfing the next, and then spend the following day enjoying Universal Studios or wandering Little Venice?  Goodness! The possibilities are endless!

This giveaway has two winners and is sponsored by Thomson Holidays.  Aren’t they just terrific?  I mean, not only do they specialize in booking all-inclusive vacations so that you and your family may enjoy the ultimate vacation — then they go and hook you up with this dandy giveaway. To participate in the giveaway (giveaway ended) click on these words:find out more.  Then cruise and peruse their website.  Search an imaginary vacation on their site for any location in Florida for any time in the future.  In the comment section of this post, place a link to your dream vacation from Thomson Holidays!

Winners to be announced Friday December 21, 2012.  Congratulations commenters #2 and #11.  Random.org selected you to each win $25.  Unfortunately, my screenshot function is not working otherwise I’d have nice screenshot pictures to post.  I’m sorry!  More giveaways to come.  Promise!  Thanks for participating, everyone!  -Lacy

Who doesn’t love free stuff?  This book is so charming and is one of my son’s favorites.  Two lucky people will win copies of “In My Den” by Lorena Siminovich.  Want to put your name in the hat?

The colorful die-cut pages of this irresistible board book are tons of fun for little ones.  Give this book as a gift to the child in your life or just keep it on hand for guests visiting over the holidays.

Here’s how to enter the giveaway: post a comment in the comment section of this post telling me your plans for the holiday season.

Want to increase your chances?  I will add your name to the hat again if you share this post from our Facebook page to your Facebook page.

Winners to be announced on Thursday November 22, 2012.  :-)  

Congratulations, ladies!  Please email me with shipping instructions.  lacy@razorfamilyfarms.com

As a child, I never understood how Brussels sprouts got such a bad rap.  I had no knowledge of the overcooked bitter foul soggy blobs of gray grossness which served as the beginning and end of most people’s acquaintance with Brussels sprouts.  Trust me, they are incredible when made properly.  Buttery, flavorful, and visually appealing — Brussels sprouts perfectly compliment any main course dish.  Try this recipe. I dare you.  

Before preparing this dish, be certain that you are starting out with quality sprouts.  Brussels sprouts grow on a sturdy stalk and wrap themselves around it in a helical manner which I find quite beautiful.  Some grocers sell them still on the stalk and I advise buying them in that manner, if at all possible.  Should you decide to grow them in your garden, wait until after the first good frost to harvest for maximum sweetness and flavor.

Recently, a friend informed me that her grocer no longer carries Brussels sprouts because they do not sell.  I fear that many American farm and produce stands may do away with so-called specialty items like Brussels spouts, broccoli rabe, Jerusalem artichokes, celery root, kohlrabi, and fennel for similar reasons.  *sigh, sigh, and sigh*  These marvelous vegetables are packed with nutrients and anticancer properties.  Brassicas (Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.), in particular, contain  indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells.  So, for goodness sake, once you find some: take them for a test drive.  Back to the recipe!

Ideal sprouts look like tiny, firm, and compact green cabbages.  The outer leaves should have a waxy blueish quality which gives way to bright green layers.  Do not buy or consume if they are yellowed, squishy, soft, wilted, warm (they should be chilled), or smell strongly of cabbage.  I’m not kidding around.  Please, please, please be careful in your selection.  Once purchased or harvested, promptly prepare the sprouts or freeze them.  If canning is the plan, I advise turning them into kraut.  After removing the sprouts from the stalk, you have 3-5 days to use them before they turn into utter muck suitable only for compost bins or slopping hogs.

Before cooking, cut off the outer leaves from the sprouts, slice off the stem, and cut a small X about 1/8 inch into each stem-end.  Bring a kettle three-quarters full of water to a rolling boil, then toss in some salt and sugar.   Add sprouts to the kettle and return to a boil, allow to cook for about 5 minutes.  They should be a brilliant green.  Drain, rinse under cold water, and then let them sit in the colander.

Now, chop up some pecans (1/2 cup chopped pecans per every 2 lbs of Brussels sprouts) and toss them in the bottom of a hot dry frying pan over medium heat. Stir frequently so that they are evenly toasted. Add a 1/2 cup of butter or ghee and once it is bubbly toss in the sprouts, coating them thoroughly. Add salt, freshly ground pepper, nutmeg (freshly grated if possible), and a dash of lemon juice. Cook for 5 minutes. Serve promptly.

Notice the color?  The pictures don’t do them justice.  They look absolutely gorgeous on a plate beside some roasted carrots or gracing your holiday buffet/sideboard.  If you don’t have access to pecans, feel free to use almonds or hazelnuts and be certain that you prepare enough for good-sized portions.  Expect to get four servings out of every two pounds of fresh Brussels sprouts.  Bon appétit!

When we first told our friends in Georgia and southern Alabama that we were moving to Alaska, they all asked us how we would ever survive the winter.  We asked ourselves the very same thing, to be honest.  How does one survive (much less thrive) for months with very little sunlight in temperatures as low as -70°F?

My Aunt Judy moved from rural Virginia to Talkeetna, Alaska before I was born.  She’s spent the last thirty-plus years in this amazing place whose seasons force its residents (human and nonhuman alike) into a sort of manic-depressive cycle.  As the sunlight hours begin to dwindle and the temperature drops, she would catch up on her reading lists & knitting projects.  The winters were for planning her garden, writing short stories, and painting.  The focus shifts inward.

After breakup, the rivers begin to flow and the Alaskan residents come to life.  The focus shifts outward.  There is a collective feverish attitude of not wishing to squander a single second of sunlight indoors.  There is a current of excitement and were it a film, the background music would be just about anything by Corinne Bailey Rae.  My aunt would write me letters describing her readiness to cast off the winter (having moved from tranquility to restlessness) and move all of those seedlings outside to begin soaking up the sunlight of the lengthening days.  By summer, Judy found herself reluctant to sleep because she knew the sun was shining.  Compelled to make the most of every sunlit-hour, the residents take to the trails with packs, set sail on the glacier-fed salmon-filled waters, and spend hours tending their garden patches with rows of giant cabbages.

We arrived in Alaska just at the tail-end of an abbreviated fall.  All around us, people were preparing for winter with final moose-hunting expeditions, storing the last vegetable harvest, obtaining & stacking firewood, and spending their dividend checks on supplies to last the coming winter.  Josh and I were right there with them (minus the dividend checks, of course), buying insulated pants, thermal underwear, layering systems, boots, and sock systems.  Everything is a “system” here.  Sock system.  Coat system.  Liner, glove, and mitten system.  You get the idea.

Then, it snowed.  And snowed.  And snowed.  The world around us became so still and lovely — a reverse-snowglobe effect — which is incredibly calming.  Tranquility becomes contagious.  As the temperatures dropped, our friendly neighbors vanished into their cabins with wisps of fragrant woodsmoke serving as the only proof of their existence, mushers could be seen on roadside trail practicing for upcoming dogsled trials, and then the Chena River froze over becoming a highway for snowmachines and cross-country skiers like a modern winter Currier & Ives lithograph come to life.

Now, we embrace the calm and quiet joy.  We begin to plan for Josh’s after-military life which will be upon us in a few years and, perhaps most importantly, we embrace the Alaskan koviashuvik in the comfort of our cozy dry cabin with our handsome bright-eyed son.  We point to the ravens, fox, and moose right outside of our ice-framed windows and delight in his excitement.  As his breath fogs the glass, we draw hearts and smile out into the snowy frozen birch forest before us.