Food Traditions of the Season

We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, April 2, at the Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m. for another Pathfinder Produce market, which features the freshest fruits and veggies around.  Our friendly market staff is eager to assist you with your purchases and we cheerfully accept VISA/MC/Discover as well as SNAP payments and personal checks.

The following is a guest blog by Development Assistant Martha Spiegel:

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Easter is this Sunday, and the eight-day celebration of Passover begins at sundown on Friday, which means that many families and friends will be gathering to observe their traditional services and ceremonies. As is often the case with religious holidays, food plays a central role.

In preparation for the observance of Passover, Jewish families remove all “chametz,” or grain products, from the home and replace them with those made with matzo meal. In addition, a traditional Seder meal is prepared which includes matzo ball soup (a personal favorite), brisket, and an apple dish called charoset.  This dish is made from chopped apples, is typically spooned on top of matzos, and symbolizes the mortar that the Jewish slaves used for constructing buildings in ancient Egypt.  I’m sure this combination of fruit, nuts and honey is much tastier, however! You can find a recipe here at the Fine Cooking website.

While Passover Seder menus tend to be fairly consistent from house to house, Easter menus can vary widely.  Ham, lamb, or a pork or beef roast may be the central focus, and sides are made from a wide range of ingredients. I try to find at least one new menu item to try on my guests, and this year I will be making a Chickpea, Avocado and Feta Salad.  In addition, I’ve decided to serve a selection of other healthy salads, including a layered green salad and my grandchildren’s favorite fruit salad.

Potatoes are likely to be common to both Easter and Passover tables. One particularly festive presentation is Accordion Potatoes. While it is slightly time consuming to slice them just right, the rest of the preparation is very simple, and these potatoes look special on a holiday plate.

Whatever your traditions are, thankfully many of the items needed for your holiday dinners can be found at Pathfinder Produce! Come to the market this Thursday—I will be there myself, gathering fresh ingredients for my Easter table.

Until next time, be well!

Martha

Getting Ready to Garden

We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, March 26, for another tasteful Pathfinder Produce fresh fruit and vegetable market, held at the Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m.  We wish to thank all our patrons who made last week’s second anniversary celebration a great success.  **** A few weeks ago, our Vocational Program participants and Otsego Academy students worked with Brian Belknap, our garden consultant, on planting the beds at the Button Greenhouse with seeds for spinach, lettuce, and other greens.  Mr. Belknap, the Food Service Director at Edmeston Central School, is a great believer in adding greens to nearly every meal, whether they’re fresh, steamed, sautéed, or added to tasty smoothies for an added nutritional boost. Walking through the greenhouse recently, I noticed the little plants have really taken off and I’m looking forward to purchasing some greens once the staff and students start harvesting them.  I’m sure everyone is getting ready to plant the larger beds in the 5210 Hoop House too; it looks like the structure made it through the tough winter just fine, and it shouldn’t take too much work to get the beds back into prime condition. On the other hand, my own garden is a different and sad story.  The three four-by-eight raised beds remain under a covering of snow, and last year’s sunflower stalks remind me of the work that needs to be done.  I know it’s time to replace the untreated wooden plank frames (they refuse to hold together and some of the wood is well-rotted), rejuvenate the soil mix, and maybe develop a hoop house of my own to control the weeds that are my annual nemesis. Of course, I could also take a new direction and try something I saw in an old Mother Earth News publication I saved.  The article is called “How to Make Instant No-dig Garden Beds” and offers several methods:  The first is to simply open small planting holes in the lawn sod and insert starter plants (EASY); another method is to buy 40 lb. bags of soil, strategically place them in the garden, and add drainage slits around the perimeter of each bag.  The author, Barbara Pleasant, suggests cutting off the tops of the bags and putting in your starter plants, and then mulching around the young seedlings.  Tomato plants require one bag each, according to the article. Yet another option is to use old hay or straw bales for planting.  My dad has done this a few times with potatoes, and had some nice results especially as the spuds come out absolutely clean.  Author Pleasant says these bale gardens require a lot of water, and may need some liquid fertilizer, but that they also attract earthworms, which are highly beneficial.  More details on this method are at www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/straw-bale-gardening.html.  (Straw bales are preferred over hay bales, as they tend to not have as many weed seeds). Bales can also be used to outline a traditional bed filled with soil, especially if you want a larger growing area.  Or, if you’re creating a permanent bed, you can outline your garden beds with non-rotting plastic planks, untreated landscaping ties, or even decorative masonry blocks.  (Be prepared for some sticker shock with the plastic or masonry options). Until next time, be well, and we hope to see you at Pathfinder Produce! Lori

Thoughts on WDSD and Mediterranean Diets

This week's Pathfinder Produce market will feature a special celebration in honor of the market's second anniversary and the observance of World Down Syndrome Day (3-21) just a few days early.  We hope that you'll be able to join us at the market this Thursday, March 19 from 2 to 5 p.m.

To thank our loyal customers, the market will extend a 5% discount on purchases and offer several door prizes.  The market staff will be preparing several tempting recipes for sampling (see below), and at 3:21 p.m., we'll be ringing the Village bell 21 times, in honor of our friends who live with Trisomy 21, the triplication of the 21st chromosome and the genetic expression of Down syndrome.

We are also running a social campaign, Show Your 21, to create a video; we invite our market patrons to show their 21 in support of people living with Down syndrome by submitting photos of you wearing the official DS colors of blue and yellow, arranging 21 items in interesting ways, or posing with a friend who lives with Down syndrome.  You can submit a photo to me at lgrace@pathfindervillage.org before Thursday to have it included in our video (to be shown on our Facebook page and our website).

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At this week’s market, our friendly staff will be showcasing an avocado salsa, as developed by our friends at the Ithaca-based Moosewood restaurant.  With an avocado base and crunchy additions of peppers and onions, this recipe is sure to be a flavorful hit at any meal.  This recipe calls for cilantro … some adore this ingredient, while others have a gene, according to The New York Times, that makes this addition taste like soap.  (Julia Child hated cilantro).

Until I started writing this blog, I always struggled to serve avocados (they turned into green mush) but through research from an earlier post, I am now confident in preparing these dark green orbs of deliciousness.  Your avocado should be a just a little soft.  Take your knife and cut lengthwise through the fruit, going around the pit.  Then gently twist the halves in opposite directions and separate the halves.  Use a spoon to pry out the pit, and use your knife to cut wedges lengthwise.  Then, holding the half firmly, scoop out the slices with the spoon.  No fuss, no muss. 

The market staff will also present an easy and quick vegetable stir fry with zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic and soy sauce.  This seems like a delicious preview of our growing season at the Pathfinder 5210 Hoop House:  The Otsego Academy students and vocational program members have our starter beds all planted, and seedlings are already poking up their bright green leaves.

Stir fry, typically thought to be inspired by eastern cooking, sounds like it would fit right in to a Mediterranean diet – the foods common around the region that was the historical crossroads of African, European and Asian cultures.  The Mediterranean diet is rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, unrefined grains, fish and olive oil.  It minimizes dairy, red meats and saturated fats.  It also includes an occasional glass of red wine (cheers!). 

This diet has received lots of press attention lately because of its potential health benefits – improved cardiovascular health and weight control. A December news story shared that researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical School found the diet helped people live longer.  The study reviewed data gleaned from nearly 5000 middle aged women involved in the Nurses’ Health Study, an ongoing study that has tracked the health of 120,000 American nurses since 1976.

The study, led by researcher Immaculata De Vivo, found that the women who consumed foods and used cooking methods from the Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres, which are the tips of chromosomes that prevent DNA strands from fraying.  Shorter telomeres are present in the cells the elderly, cancer and liver disease patients, smokers, those who are overweight, or those who have conditions related to inflammation.  (Drinking sugary drinks also can shorten your telomeres … another great reason to switch to water).

More recent stories continue to point to positive results from the Mediterranean diet:  One story on research at Germany’s Gottingen University Medical School suggests that a diet close to the Mediterranean diet (modified by switching out other healthy oils for olive oil, but still focusing on fruits and vegetables), indicates that it can help people lose weight and keep it off.  And the American College of Cardiology will soon issue study results from a 10 year study conducted by Harokopio University in Athens, Greece, which indicates that adults who closely follow a Mediterranean diet are 47% less likely to develop heart disease in comparison to those who do not follow the diet.

Until next time, Show Your 21, and eat well to protect your telomeres,

Lori

America's Greatest Heart Run & Walk

We hope everyone will join us this Thursday, March 12 for the next delicious Pathfinder Produce market at the Village Commons from 2 to 5 p.m.  We’re gearing up for our second anniversary celebration on March 19, which will feature reduced prices on produce and fun ways to celebrate and anticipate World Down Syndrome Day on 3-21!

If you’d like to join in on the fun of our virtual celebration of WDSD, please upload a picture of yourself (and a way of showing your 21) and/or your loved one who has Down syndrome at our Pathfinder Village Facebook page via private message for our new SHOW YOUR 21 campaign.  We’ll be compiling these images into a video to share on March 21, part of the worldwide celebration of the Down syndrome community! 

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Typically, my blogs focus on food and gardening topics in support of the Pathfinder Produce market.  But the other goals of the Edmeston Central School’s 5210 Wellness Committee – reducing recreational screen time and getting an hour’s worth of physical activity each day -- are worth writing about too.  This past Saturday, the students from Pathfinder’s new post-secondary program, Otsego Academy, led by active example as they participated in the American Heart Association’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk in Utica.

The goal of the Greatest Heart Run and Walk is to raise awareness of heart disease, which is America’s No. 1 cause of death.  Estimates from area news sources indicate that over 9,000 people took part in this year’s event, the 18^th annual, and the Heart Association raised over $1 million in support of education and outreach activities.  I caught up with the Academy students early on, and enjoyed seeing them off at the starting line.  Despite the high snow banks and chilly temperatures, the students and staff were in a celebratory mood, sharing in the energy of the crowd gathered at Utica College to take part in the 3 and 5 mile walks.  One student, PJ, who has really developed a love for fitness walking, was really enthusiastic.

The Utica event offered many ways to participate – walking either 3 or 5 miles, and running events at 3, 5, or 10 miles.  There was even a 30K event for marathoners.  As the students started their walk, I caught a bus and by sheer luck, happened to catch up with members of our office staff and their family members who had just finished the 3 mile run.  I also met more friends from NYCM Insurance, Bassett Healthcare, Preferred Mutual Insurance, and other of Pathfinder’s community partners who were taking part.  (A big shout out goes to our NYCM friends, who are on target to raise over $50,000 through their involvement).

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women.  Over 610,000 Americans die from heart disease, about 1 out of every 4 deaths.  Every year, about 735,000 have heart attacks.  The key to saving lives is education and quick responses in emergencies:  According to a 2005 survey, only about a fourth of those asked knew all major symptoms of heart attacks:  Chest pain or discomfort; upper body pain or discomfort in the arms, back, neck, jaw or upper stomach; shortness of breath; nausea, lightheadedness or cold sweats.

Just under half of all Americans are at risk for a heart attack through having high blood pressure, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, or smoking.  Other conditions and risk factors include being overweight, having diabetes, making poor food choices, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol consumption.  If you can modify just some of these factors, you can reduce your chances of having a heart attack; the CDC recommends taking brisk 10-minute walks three times a day, five days a week, and eating a diet low in salt, low in total and saturated fats and cholesterol, and increasing your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Until next time, be good to your heart (and SHOW YOUR 21),

Lori