Healthy Halloween!

This is a HUGE week at Pathfinder Village, not only because we’re celebrating Halloween, but also because we are opening our second Pathfinder Produce Market!  The new market will open this Friday afternoon, October 28, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Morris United Methodist Church, on Church Street.  The Friday market is a partnership with the UMC, the Morris Central School 5210 Program, and Bassett’s Research Institute.  The market will be organized and run by members of our Adult Day Program, who are truly dedicated to their work and take such great pride in serving the public each and every week.  Talk about service with a smile! The Edmeston market will continue at its regular place and time, at the Village Commons at Pathfinder Village, on Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m.  Please feel free to share our Facebook posts (Pathfinder’s FB page), blog (pathfinderproduce.blogspot) and price flyers, to spread the great news about ways you can serve high quality, competitively priced fruits and veggies to your family! **** Halloween is almost here, although I think a part of me is still in denial that it’s OCTOBER already! Spooky decorations and carved pumpkins decorate front porches, stores are filled with amazingly realistic costumes for kids (seriously, where were these options when I was growing up?!), and the television line-up is featuring classics such as Hocus Pocus and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. It’s easy to see why, for some, this is a favorite time of year. However, if you’re anything like me (or if you have kids who are as addicted to Skittles as mine are), Halloween also means way too much candy and apple cider donuts. Don’t get me wrong—I think it’s okay to indulge in some chocolate once in a while, but between class parties, trick or treating, and special events or activities, the sugar can add up! It’s impossible to think you can shield your kids (or, let’s be honest, yourself) from ALL of the goodies that are likely to be put in their path, but here are some ways you can minimize the sugar fall-out. Consider Donating Some of Your Candy to Soldiers! Each year, Operation Gratitude (an organization dedicated to sending care packages to U.S. military service members deployed overseas) runs its Halloween Candy for Heroes program. Rather than leaving that giant bowl of Trick or Treat goodies sitting on the kitchen counter where it’s way too available to everyone, have your kids select a few of their favorite pieces and send the rest to soldiers overseas. Your kids get to enjoy some of their Halloween bounty, you get to skip the temptation to dig through the bowl searching for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups after the kids go to bed, and everyone can feel good about supporting our military overseas! It’s a win-win! To learn more about this program, click here. Substitute the Candy with Some Health(ier) Treats! Hosting a Halloween Party? Receive a memo from school asking you to sign up to contribute to the class Halloween Spectacular? Try out one of these recipes instead of a giant bag of fun-sized candy: Skelton Tray: Still spooky, but packed with nutritious vegetables! (Click here!) Pumpkin Cupcakes: They look like cupcakes, and they taste like cupcakes, but   there’s some hidden nutritional value in them! (Click here!) Boonanas and Pumpkintines: Adorable and nutritious! (Click here!) Hand Out Toys Instead of Candy Instead of stocking up on bags of fun-size Snickers and Hershey Bars to hand out, head to the store and buy small toys to give to Trick or Treaters. The Dollar Tree, Party City, and even Walmart sell small toys in bulk, typically in the party favor aisle. Kids will still be more excited than when well-intentioned adults give out those bags of pumpkin-shaped pretzels, and you won’t be stuck with seven pounds of extra candy at the end of the night. Here’s to a safe, happy, and healthy(ish) Halloween! Maura (and Lori)

Squashes & Staying Sharp

Fall’s bright blaze is cresting, and everyone I know is finishing autumn chores to get ready for winter.  One great thing to know is that Pathfinder Produce is here to help with your produce needs throughout the cold months of the year.

Now that we’re opening a second market in Morris on Fridays, there’s twice as many reasons to love the “little market that could.”  The new market will be open in partnership with the Morris United Methodist Church at 117 Church Street, as well as the Morris Central School 5210 Program.  The Edmeston market is open as usual, on Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m.; the new market will have its Grand Opening on Friday, October 28, at the UMC, from 1 to 4 p.m.

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A few weeks ago I referenced the delicious varieties of winter squash we’d gotten from our neighbor.  Winter squashes vary in sizes, shapes, and outside and inside coloring, but most are great sources of beta carotene, other vitamins, and antioxidants.  They’re great additions to harvest dinners, and like pumpkin, can be used in all kinds of baked items.  (Pumpkin spice fiends have found their mojo again … we’re able to buy flavored coffees and other spicy treats at this time of the year).

We’d gotten three varieties of squash, including my all-time favorite, Butternut; my hubby’s go-to choice, Acorn, and a third type, which I believe is Delicata.  Per Wikipedia, “As its name suggests, it has characteristically a delicate rind … Although consumed mature as a winter squash, Delicata squash belongs to the same species as most types of summer squash (zucchini, yellow squash) known in the US, Cucurbita pepo.”   

Pumpkins, too, are of members of the pepo species; I think that’s sort of appropriate for Halloween -- a summer squash masquerading as winter produce.  (I should give a shout out to Tom Cole of Gates-Cole Insurance and other locals who grow MASSIVE pumpkins … I think one of Tom’s topped out at over 300 lbs. this year).

But the challenge of winter squash is the preparation … hence my thoughts this week on cutlery.  Those who love to cook or carve wood for fun know the value of a keen edge, which is safer than a dull one: A dull edge requires more force to use and easily veers away from the intended path of the cut.  (Bring on the bandages!)

Like with anything else, you can spend as much money on knives as you’d like. I tend more towards the pedestrian, and have an assortment of stainless steel implements collected through the years.  Gizmodo suggests you only need five good knives: paring, chef’s, serrated (bread), filet, and a cleaver.  With the knives, one needs a good cutting board; we have boards we use only for veggies, and those used only for meats (these are non-porous and sanitized regularly).  I like bamboo and other tight grained woods; glass boards are very hard on cutting blades!

Last year I found a great little sharpener for less than $20 online; it uses a suction cup to stick to the counter and tungsten carbide blades set at the perfect V.  It was a great investment as I’m no good at using whetstones, and it usually takes just a few passes to get my blades into shape.  That makes cutting into squash safer and go more quickly.  And dare I say … enjoyable?

Until next time, keep sharp and eat well!

Lori

How Sweet It Is!

For this week’s blog, my co-worker, Martha Spiegel, offers some sweet thoughts on honey, one of nature’s sweeteners that can be enjoyed in so many delicious ways. 

We have some more SWEET NEWS!  Pathfinder Produce will be opening a new, SECOND MARKET, at the United Methodist Church, 17 Church St., in Morris on Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m.  This project, another great partnership with the Bassett Research Institute’s 5210 Program and members of the Morris community, is so exciting as it will offer more fresh and yummy fruits and vegetables in support of local families’ nutritional health.  It is another way that members of Pathfinder Village’s Adult Day Program provide important services and help our local communities.

Watch the Wharton Valley Pennysaver for our ads, and if you know folks in the Morris area, please tell them to stop by to try the “little market that could!”

ALSO, this week, Pathfinder Village will be paving its roadways, so Produce patrons are asked to park on at the Program Office lot. (Pull in on the driveway next to Pathfinder's Kennedy Willis Center, and drive past the yellow house to the large parking lot area).

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Along with fresh fruits and vegetables, Pathfinder Produce also features products from local vendors. One of these vendors is Kutik’s Honey Farm, which is located in Norwich.

I’ve always been a huge honey fan. I love it in tea, on oatmeal, in a peanut butter sandwich, on biscuits, and I’ve even tried it in coffee, which was not too bad.  During the time that I worked in a synagogue, we had apples and honey at Rosh Hashanah to wish everyone a sweet New Year.

Growing up, the honey in my house was typically clover honey, but I have enjoyed tasting other varieties. I had no idea how the different kinds of flower nectar could change the taste. I’ve become a big fan of buckwheat honey, which is very dark and has quite a bold taste, so a little goes a long way (nice if you are trying to cut back on the quantity of sweetener).

According to WebMD, honey has a long medicinal history, dating back to the ancient Egyptians. One of their uses for it was to dress wounds. Indeed, it has been proven useful for this purpose, although the best honey for that job is Manukah honey from New Zealand (not exactly part of our local market!).

Honey can also help to soothe a cough. In fact, according to the same WebMD article, some studies showed evidence that honey is more effective than cough syrup for treating nighttime coughs in children. My mother would heat a bit of honey mixed with lemon juice for me when I had a cough or an irritated throat. Not only did it help, but it sure tasted better than cough syrup! (A word of caution: NEVER give honey to children under 1 year old, as there is a high risk of botulism which is very dangerous due to their less-developed digestive tracts.)

Honey has a lower glycemic index than refined sugar (see Benefits of Honey ), which means it has a slower absorption rate.  While this evens out “sugar spikes” it is still good to keep in mind honey is still a form of sugar and should be consumed in moderation. The nice part about that is your jar of honey will last you a long time!

Honey storage is easy: Just store it at room temperature, and if it starts to crystalize, simply place the jar in a bowl of hot water to liquefy it again. As stated on The National Honey Board's website, “Crystallization is the natural process of glucose sugar molecules aligning into orderly arrangements known as crystals. It is not an indicator of spoilage, impurity, age or quality.”

I leave you with a quote from A. A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner:

    ‘ “What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh?"

    "Well," said Pooh, "what I like best--" and then he had to stop and think.
Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.” ’

Have a sweet day!

Martha (and Lori)

Apple Storage

We hope that everyone will come down for the next delicious Pathfinder Produce market, this Thursday, October 6, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Village Commons.  There are so many great items to choose from … it’s like voting for your favorite fruits and veggies!  (Our theme for October as National Down Syndrome Awareness month is ‘My Vote Counts!’)

It’s the top of the harvest season and there’s always something new to try, or you can use produce you know well in different ways.  CHOICE … it’s what makes food shopping an adventure!

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This past weekend was one of those where I wanted to get lots of work done, and one project just sort of segued into the next.  One of the first things accomplished was to store a bushel of Cortland apples, which my mom brought me on Saturday morning. 

Cortlands are a cross of McIntosh and Ben Davis apples, and were developed through research at the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva in 1898.  They are red-and-green skinned, slightly tart, and have a white interior that resists browning. They are good for fruit salads, pies, and sauce.  Apparently they freeze well too.

With that many apples on hand, I had to make a few pies, based on the universal clamor of the troops. I’m still looking to perfect my whole wheat pie crust -- based on last week’s thoughts on butter and Julia Child, I tried to make a traditional butter crust.  The dough worked easily and was really flaky.  I tried to cut down on the sugar in the filling to try to make the pies a bit healthier.  The results were decent, but my pies just aren’t as good as my mom’s or grandma’s!

Proper apple storage is key and fortunately, I was able to clear out enough space in my crisper drawers to store the apples I hadn’t used for baking. I removed any leaves and blotted off any water that was on them, trying not to polish off the bloom; that’s the hazy white coating which is a naturally emitted wax that helps keep fruit moist.  I gently placed the apples in the drawers, and kept any blemished fruits out to prevent rotting issues. (As the old saying goes, “One bad apple can spoil the bunch.”).

Of course, doing this reminded me of times when I’ve seen other storage procedures. When I was a kid, my grandmother would gently wrap each apple in newspaper and then store them in the old Westinghouse (Or was it a Philco? That thing ran like a champ for 50 years!) It was kept in “the old kitchen,” which had been converted into my grandfather’s workshop, which was an icebox itself during winter months.  The room still had vestiges of a 1900s kitchen and was a dimly lit place that was magical with its disordered mix of tools, spare parts, and the flotsam and jetsam of farm living.

Of course, farm families from earlier eras had to over-winter their apples too; I remember the staff at The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown, would dry apple rings by hanging them on a string over the hearth.  And then, a good number of apples would be used to make cider with a hand press, with the amber liquid being stored in barrels, and the pomace being used to fatten the pigs.  Of course, these families all had root cellars too, used for potatoes, carrots, turnips; other produce would be placed under the rafters to store until needed.

After the apple storage and pie baking, I turned my attention to other projects, all part of regular fall preparations.  My husband and son went to one of our neighbor’s farm stands, and they brought home some winter squash.  But that’s another story for another week. 

Until then, enjoy the best of fall’s flavors!

Lori