Ennis farmers market bounty

After a long, cold Montana winter, any sign of spring is a welcome one.

Today the Madison Farm to Fork Farmers Market in Ennis offered up the green bounty of spring, promises of much more to come.

The market is located in a parklike area, a big improvement over the cement of previous years. It's cooler and a lot more pleasant to stroll on grass beneath shady trees.

But best of all are the offerings of farmers, bakers, and artists. You'll have to visit to see it all. Today I enjoyed looking at stunning woodwork by Paul Smail, who creates custom furniture. I know I'm supposed to get photos of great things like this so blog readers can get in on the joy, but somehow I was so overcome by Paul's handcrafted tables that I completely forgot to take out my camera. When you visit the market, make a beeline for his display and see for yourself. Paul's work will assure you that fine craftsmanship still exists.

I did get photos of food. Of course.

Plant starts of all types provide an opportunity for anyone to have fresh food at home. Everyone has room for herbs.

But if you just want to get food ready to be prepared for dinner tonight, there were several farmers already laying out a wide selection of vegetables. The mother and daughter team from Pony offered radishes, kale, bok choy, herbs, and a whole lot more. See their photo above. Those smiles are genuine -- they love what they do. Daughter Izzy bakes, too.

More treats were on offer from Amanda of Varney Bridge Bakery. She's been at the market for several years and keeps getting better with artisan breads, scones, sausage rolls, and more. Here you see what she described as an Icelandic Christmas treat, large meringues stuffed with cornflakes and chocolate chips.

In my opinion, the best sign of spring in Montana is rhubarb. You'll see it in almost every garden. The soil in the Madison Valley must be spectacular, because this bunch of rhubarb was huge. Plenty to use righta way and then freeze for later.

Farmers markets are now springing up like crazy throughout Montana and other areas of the country. Forget about the supermarket produce section; the weeks-old same old same old will be for sale there in winter. Right now, grab something fresh, and maybe something you've never seen before, from a local farmer.

Madison Farm to Fork Farmers Market

Hwy 287, N of downtown, between Sportsman's Lodge & Madison Foods

May 23 - September 5

Saturday, 9 am - noon

From Beans to Marshmallow Fluffy Stuff

There's an amazing recipe floating around on the Internet that has two ingredients, one always a crowd favorite (sugar) and the other not so much (bean juice).

I found the version I made on Chocolate-Covered Katie, where you will see a lot of attractive fluffy photos and more explanation than I'll add here.

But I do want to give you my experience so you'll know what to really expect. It's never like the pictures, is it?

Here in Montana we eat a lot of beans. The best are made from scratch, but sometimes the canned variety comes in handy. But what to do with the liquid? You can add it to soup or throw it out, but why not make fluffy marshmallow stuff?

For this recipe, first drain a can of garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas. (I used a brand that included sugar and salt, a case of not checking ingredients on the label, which is a topic for another blog. Who the heck puts sugar in beans?) You should have 1/2 cup of liquid. Use the beans elsewhere. I suggest straining the liquid to eliminate any stray bits of bean.

I also recommend putting the liquid in the bowl of a stand mixer. If you're using a hand mixer, draw up a chair and maybe put on a long meditation tape or some pleasant music. If you have a TV in the kitchen, you'll be able to watch at least a half-hour sitcom.

Add 1/3 cup sugar or honey or agave. I'd add an optional dash of vanilla, though I didn't in this test.

On my KitchenAid mixer I started at a medium speed (4). I recommend starting with a high speed (6 or 8) because that will no doubt speed up the process.

At about 10 minutes, the mixture still looked like swirling egg whites, so I upped to 6, then 10 minutes later (still swirling egg whites) up to 8. At this point I was like, "Oh, man, this is ridiculous."

At the 25-minute mark I wondered, "Hey, is that fluff?" I could see streaks made by the wires of the beater attachment, which indicated it was thickening.

Thirty minutes from the start, success!

I was so intent on the fluffing process I didn't think to do taste tests along the way, but I sure dipped into the finished product.

Here's where your experience may vary widely from mine. I like it. In my opinion it has kind of an "off" taste. Not bad, but it makes you realize this is not the real thing. Real fluff is just sweet. If you're used to "healthy" foods that taste way different than the "regular" stuff, you won't be a bit fazed by this not being a replica of the commercial varieties.

Maybe I could have whipped it longer, but I was satisified with the texture, which was soft like thick whipped cream. It is definitely holding up after a few hours in the refrigerator.

I recommend serving it without any comment. After everyone has enjoyed it on a decadent dessert or in peanut-butter-n-fluff sandwiches, then you might reveal the secret. I doubt anyone will care. Paired with another food, you really can't tell this has, um, a secret ingredient.

I feel I could make this again.

I can guarantee I will make it for company. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I share the recipe.

Japanese school lunches

page from weekly lunch menu at Japanese primary school

~ courtesy of Coco&Me ~

Across Montana and in many other U.S. states, schools are planting gardens and using local produce in their meals. But we could learn a lot from Japanese schools about making lunchtime an educational experience.

On the charming British blog Coco&Me, Tamami shared what she learned about school lunches on a recent trip to Japan.

In her blog post about her visit, Tamami dissects a school lunch menu a Japanese friend showed her.

For example, Tamami translates the text in the photo above:

"Cucumber – characterised by crunchy mouthfeel & warty exterior. One of the fresh summer vegetables."
"Pumpkin – Full of beta-carotene. Maintaining properties for healthy eyes & skin. Builds resistance. Lots of vitamin E & C."
"The information on which area the ingredients are produced is publicised on the council homepage."

I encourage you to visit the post to see all the pages of the menu and read Tamami's descriptions and translations.

But briefly, Japanese schools value the opportunity to educate their children about food. Every ingredient in the lunch is itemized, even by weight, and drawings and captions clarify what exactly the food is and why it is important for health.

I was especially impressed by a note at the bottom of the menu.

As I read through Tamami's blog post, I wondered how Montana schools might adapt such a detailed menu to the lunch program.

Could ag classes gather information about where the food comes from, names of ranchers and other food producers? Even knowing that some food comes from far away would be educational.

Could language arts classes write the text?

Could science classes add botanical details?

Could art classes supply illustrations?

Could the school newspaper put it all together and print out a weekly menu to share with students and their families?

There's a lot of creativity in our schools. And I know from my years of teaching middle school that there's plenty of energy and enthusiasm as well.

Students tend to consider lunch the best time of the school day. Why not also make it the most important part of their education, something they will carry through their entire lives?