IACP highlights plus Un-Baked Beans recipe
What a conference! The International Association of Culinary Professionals brings together cookbook writers, food stylists, bloggers, photographers, techies, and even armadillos! Most of us swap tips and stories so we can get better at what we do. The armadillos were garnish to remind us that we were in Texas. Read below for conference highlights. Then stir up my super easy recipe for Vegetarian Un-Baked Beans. I've had a craving for molasses since coming back from Texas. These beans hit the spot without heating up the house.
IACP fun: Jim Hightower came to talk about "putting the culture back into agriculture" in his keynote address. The former Texas Commissioner of Agriculture who now calls himself America's #1 populist isn't talking Don Giovanni here. He wants us to see the "free" in "free enterprise" as a verb: "Put tools into people's hands and they will create." He urged folks who love healthy food to set up local speakers bureaus to speak at schools and other places to help balance the speakers from BigAg and BigFood who are already influencing our children.
What does Hightower see as the next hot topics? Water, honey, and honest food labeling.
Men cook! Folks from the Food Network told us at the IACP that over half the primary grocery shoppers now are men. Even more exciting, young men are watching food TV and cooking up a storm. In surveys, young men say that cooking "makes me a more complete person and better able to take care of myself and my family."
Guys love Wildly Affordable Organic. It's got gear like kitchen scales, home chemistry like my homemade produce spray, and hearty spicy recipes like Potato Peanut Curry. Give a copy to Dads and Grads.
Other IACP finds. Read about the first round of great bloggers I met at the IACP, with several good recipes links. More to come!
The USDA's new MyPlate graphic seems much more useful and easier to grasp than the old food pyramid. Cook for Good meals line up nicely with the recommendations, but tend to mix the different quadrants of food. See how MyPlate maps to a hummus wrap.
Most recipes for baked beans use pork for flavor and long slow cooking to thicken the sauce. After talking about the physics of baking with my Taster, who is an engineer as well as a patient man, I tried to capture the creamy richness of baked beans faster and with less work. The quick and easy recipe below makes beans every bit as tasty as the ones I grew up with, using equal parts peanut butter and tahini instead of pork and a slow cooker instead of an oven.
Organic View Radio. Looking forward to talking with host June Stoyer on her Organic View radio show today. Call (917) 932-1068 from 4 til 5 EST to join in. Live podcast, too!
Wildly Affordable Organic Readings and Benefits. Come to my reading at my favorite local bookstore, Quail Ridge Books, on June 23rd at 7:30 p.m. I'll tell sweet and salty stories, tips, jokes. Stay for the signing and try my hummus and Ginger Glazed Carrot Cake. If you are a member of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, come early for the special reception from 6:30 to 7:00, featuring local cheeses provided by Whole Foods Market. Anyone paying full price for Wildly Affordable Organic on the 23rd can ask Quail Ridge Books to donate 20% of the cost to CEFS.
On June 28th at 7:30, I'll do an event with samples at the fabulous Chatham Marketplace to benefit the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.
Thanks for speaking up about the importance of good food whether in the lunch room, at your dinner table, or as part of a speakers' bureau!
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Reader Comments (2)
Oh!I understand!-Maurice Lacroix digital watchesThank you for sharing this
I just finished WAO, and am looking forward to starting your challenge (even though I'm a couple of weeks late).
Slight copy-editing: your "how MyPlate maps to a hummus wrap" link actually points to the recipe for the un-baked beans. I am curious about how the MyPlate actually maps (and I agree, the new format does make it easier to figure out what to eat in the moment), and the recipe is hard to find if someone is skimming for a link with the correct text.