The Sharing of Food

A dinner of gifts

Whole grain bread wrapped for friends

Hi Steve and Winnie,

I recall sometimes when we would meet up in Bar Harbor you would bring some hot cross buns from your favorite little bakery in Ellsworth.  And, you were always taking casseroles and hot dishes to some of your meetings where you would have a pot luck first.  There is something special about the sharing of food.  At our Easter gathering on the ranch, one of my favorite things is the variety and tasting of all the side dishes brought by family and friends.  More than ever I appreciate the gift of food.  To come home from the hike and see a bag or box near the front door with vegetables or fruit is always a happy occasion.  My friend W. even brought a chicken the other day!

Do you remember me mentioning recently the man, William Coperthwaite, who lived so simply on the coast of Maine and wrote a book about it?  He tries to make most things by hand, and of course his life is very unusual and inspiring.  He had a great saying about the making and giving of things.   He says, "What if our attitude toward things changed?  What if they could not be bought but only given? . . . The object given might be burned or lost or broken, but the finest part of the gift would remain."  The other night I realized the items on my dinner plate had been mostly given to me.  My neighbors R & C gave me some beets, our farmer friend J. came by with the Brussel sprouts, and my other neighbor B. gave me some eggs -- I grew the little carrots.  Anyway, it was nice to look down at that plate and realize what was there.  I usually give bread away on each baking day -- I like to do this.  I'm not sure why, but I got in the habit of putting quotes on the bread bag -- one of the quotes is the one up above by Coperthwaite. These small gestures are part of what I love in my community.

Thinking of you.  Donna

The Wheat Harvest

Harvesting the Sonora wheat


Whole wheat bread


Biscotti made with Sonora wheat



Hi Winnie and Steve,

I told you there would eventually be news about the wheat harvest -- well, that time has come. The Sonora wheat is being harvested this week. Only another day or two of cutting is required. Compared to large agribusiness our yield is quite small, but it is very satisfying to know that 6,000 lbs. of Sonora wheat is stacked in the barn. The old 1950's Allis Chalmers combine which belongs to Pie Ranch needed repairs for this season. It's been in our shop barn over the winter to get it up and running -- talk about a team effort! About the time Gene and other helpers would throw up their hands at what appeared to be an un-fixable problem, someone would drop by the ranch who knew the solution.

The Sonora wheat which is a soft white wheat is really well-suited for pastry use -- pie crust, nut breads, and the biscotti in the photo. It has a lower protein content than the hard red wheat which is more suitable for bread. This harvest is bound for Mission Pie in San Francisco -- this is the urban partner of Pie Ranch. Sometimes I do use Sonora wheat in bread and add a bit of wheat gluten if I do so. The harvesting of the wheat on these sunny days awakens an archetypal feeling -- maybe deep down we recollect a time of more self-reliance and our ancestors harvesting grain. In the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book it states that in the past, "Just about everything people ate, wore, slept under and sat on was produced at home. Everyone took part in the producing and everyone knew he or she was needed." A small effort at producing some food sometimes feels like a nice antidote to the modern pace.

Thinking of you. Donna

Chard -- the long distance runner

Bright Light chard

Chard and rice salad

   thinly sliced chard

   Wehani rice

   black beans

   apricots

   red bell pepper

   vinaigrette

Hi Winnie and Steve,

Remember when you used to drive to the little grange hall outside your town to pick up your box of vegetables each week?  I think that must have been one of the earliest stages of people getting involved in CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).  I'm glad I like chard a lot because I have it in my CSA box and in my garden.  I think it's one of the best vegetables for a beginning gardener like me.  When the dark green of the chard is mixed with other colorful elements, it is especially beautiful.

I read a book that reminded me of the dedication of those who raise food for us -- like Blue House Farm down the road from me where I get my CSA.  A good story is found in "The Orchard" by Adele Crockett Robertson.  She is forced by circumstances, including the Depression, to try and save a family apple orchard in order to survive.   When Roosevelt came on the radio to tell the nation that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself", Adele was sitting "all alone in the cold house, hungry, discouraged, with a cellar full of unsold apples that was to keep the wolf from the door," and felt a "thrill of hope . . . a sense of inevitable victory." I almost feel like we celebrate her victory with the return of the small family farm.

Thinking of you.  Donna

First bite of tomato

Black beans from Pie Ranch

Black bean and barley stew

   black beans

   barley

   sauteed onions

   tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, cumin

   chard

   fresh tomatoes topped with olive oil

Hi Winnie and Steve,

I recently finished a book about a very unusual man in Maine who has dedicated his life to living very simply.  First of all, I knew the simplicity aspect would be appealing to you. Secondly, he lives very near where Steve was born on the north coast of Maine.  There is not even a road to his house!  Actually, it is a yurt.  You either walk from town on a path for 30 or 40 minutes, or you can canoe to the shore in front of his yurt.  He wrote a book about his thoughts and philosophy which I find so interesting.  The book is "A Handmade Life:  In Search of Simplicity" by William Coperthwaite.  One thing he says is, "The main thrust of my work is not simple living -- not yurt design, not social change, although each of these is important and receives large blocks of my time.  But they are not central.  My central concern is encouragement -- encouraging people to seek, to experiment, to plan, to create, and to dream. If enough people do this we will find a better way."

Our friends at Pie Ranch gave us some black beans.  I keep them up on my hutch near the kitchen table since I love the look of them.  Also my dear friend, and yours, L. came by with the very first tomatoes I had this season -- yeah!  Her daughter J. grew them in a personal little plot of her town's community garden.  Can't get better than that.

Thinking of you.  Donna