mlou

A Matter of Brown or White

Is there a difference between brown eggs and white eggs?

Yes. One is brown, the other is white and you’ll pay more for the brown at the checkout.

Beyond the shell color, what slips out when you crack either into a hot frying pan is a different story. Trace the eggs back to the breed, how the chickens are fed, where they are raised, and who has a hand in doing so, and you’ll have all the proof you need that at least when it comes to nutritious, great tasting eggs, the chicken does indeed come first.

To understand eggs, from the outside in, let’s turn to a two “crack” experts. Joan Richmond from Meadow Rise Farm, Bellville, OH farms a handful of acres, mostly dedicated to produce, and tends a flock of productive layers. Kathy Breychak, the Blue Egg Farmer from Columbia Station, OH operates a CSA. You can tell by the name of her farm that eggs are her signature product, treasured by her CSA members and a few restaurants throughout Northeast Ohio.

They’ve answered the questions most people have on their mind when it comes to brown eggs versus white eggs.

The Buzz on Beekeeping

Just before winter arrived and the neighbors headed indoor to hibernate, we had one last chat over the garden fence where I shared with them my plans for a spring project.

We’re close with the neighbors. We can see into each other’s windows from our own and smell what’s cooking for dinner when the wind blows just right. They’ve been witness to and recipients of lots of my “projects” and food experiments over the years, the most recent of which was my sauerkraut-making project which went sour, resulting in 40 pound of salted cabbage compost. Not much that I do surprises them.

“I think I’m going to raise a few chickens or keep a beehive next year,” I said. “Which do you prefer?” I thought I would give them a few months to mull it over. Between clucking and buzzing, they chose buzzing.

Good answer! I had already mailed in my non-refundable registration fee for the Beginning Beekeeping Classes coming up in a few weeks. Still, I need to arm myself with enough information to play defense for my project when the neighborhood started to thaw out and people would begin to ask questions.

I called Denzil St. Clair from Queen Right Colonies in Spencer, OH. Denzil and his wife, Shelia operate an apiary and a beekeeping supply house and conduct a series of classes as part of the Lorain County Beekeeping Association. He had the answers.

A Festive Fusion: Ohio & Cajun

Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday is upon us followed by the forty solemn days and nights of Lent. I feel more pressure to indulge on this day than I do in the minutes counting down to New Year’s Eve and the start of a new resolution. I can already taste the decadence!

I’ve planned a Cajun feast for some friends with a challenging twist: make it with as many locally grown and raised ingredients as possible. Although easy and noble to think, I suspected it might be harder to accomplish.

The number one challenge is that it’s February in Ohio and some of my fresh produce choices would be problematic, although I am feeling pretty good the quarts of tomatoes I put up in September and the onions and garlic in storage.

The next challenge is that this is not Louisiana and finding the classic components of Cajun cooking might be a stretch. To me, the defining tastes of Cajun cuisine are andouille (say it “ahn-doo-I”) a spicy smoked sausage, and tasso (say it "tah-so"), a highly seasoned smoked or salt cured ham used in small measures to flavor a variety of Cajun dishes. I consider both meats exclusively Cajun and poorly considered substitutions would turn this Cajun dinner into something ordinary.

So my quest for these Cajun style meats started and ended with one phone call to Kris Krieger’s butcher and sausage shop, Chef's Choice Meats in Berea. “Do you have tasso and andouille and are they made with Ohio raised meats?” I asked. Kris’ answer: Yes, on both counts.

If you’re a passionate cook on the prowl for obscure ingredients in the unlikeliest of places, you will understand the thrill of the one-phone-call victory.

A Wonderful Life

Michael Patterson lives a life reserved for the young yet coveted by the old. He’s shed anything that requires a monthly payment or a full tank of gas and has replaced it with a choice to live simply—very simply. At twenty-one, he can tell you about green living, plant life cycles, and a recipe for great compost. His greatest treasures at the moment are a book on edible plants in North America and a llama wool sweater handknit by Native Americans.

Those of us who find pleasure in farming, learning about farming, or perhaps fantasize about it as a departure from our routine will like Michael’s story. It reminds us of why youth is reserved for the young. He’s doesn’t worry about where his next meal will come from as much as how it was grown.

His segue from a traditional suburban upbringing to living a nomad’s life in sustainable environments is a short story, one that I find both endearing and fascinating. His parents? Not so much at first.

So Michael and I met one Sunday afternoon over herbal tea and I asked him how he arrived at this place.

Buffalo: The Other Red Meat

Tell the truth, ladies. If you were scanning a menu and saw “buffalo” as an entrée item, would it grab your interest or would you quickly scan to find something featuring boneless chicken breast? “I’ll have the buffalo,” just does not roll off our pretty painted lips.

Buffalo!?

It sounds like man food: big, burly he-man-in-a-lumberjack-
plaid-flannel-shirt food. Ladies do not eat something called buffalo, let alone anything that looks like a buffalo, all big and hairy.

Well, girlfriend, I’ve tasted buffalo (also referred to as bison) and it is sweet, flavorful, and tender—everything I never expected it to be and more. A little research revealed that it is nutritionally superior to beef, chicken, and pork on many levels.

My first purchase of buffalo came from Red Run Bison Farm located in Marshallville. I kept bumping into owner Steve Slifko at the farmers markets hosted by the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy this past summer. Lots of small talk, no cash changed hands.

Our meetings had finally reached a point where I had to buy something so I decided the safest selection would be the ground buffalo meat. That simple purchase resulted in the best batch of chili I’ve ever made or fed my boys. Same pot, same recipe, same seasonings, same everything. So I called Steve and we talked buffalo.

I Wish I Was Dixie

Look at this photo of Dixie Scheiderer. I doubt she would mind me saying, but this lady is no spring chicken. Her words, not mine.

I met Dixie a few years ago on the Beallsville farm she worked with her “sweet, sweet man,” Jake. Fifth generation dairy farmers, the couple operated a small dairy of 40 Jerseys which supplied the milk for their cheese making business, Buckeye Grove Farm Cheese, featuring wonderful old world style raw milk cheeses. My visit there was one of the last of a long list of trips throughout Ohio and a most memorable way to wind down before digging in to write the book Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate To Dinner Plate.

Last November, a colleague told me that the Scheiderers had retired and moved to Kentucky. Jake and Dixie had turned the businesses over to their son, Al and his wife, Renae. The young couple proved to be excellent students and the transition was seamless—barely a hiccup in the changing of the guard.

Still, I never suspected the word “retirement” to be in Dixie’s vocabulary. While I worried that something unpleasant precipitated the move, I wasn’t quite convinced.

So You Want To Be A Farmer?

I’ve crossed paths with a lot of farmer wannabes while I travel around the state presenting a travelogue on my book Farms & Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate. Inevitably, someone approaches me after the program and says, “I have been thinking about becoming a farmer and now I’m determined.”

“Wow! That’s great,” I’ll say. You never want to quash a potential food producer. But behind my encouraging smile, I'm thinking, “Don’t quit your day job just yet.”

Turn Up The Cold: Ice Wine

It’s easy to think about bringing locally grown foods to the table in August when lively farmers markets beckon and roadside stands are bursting with everything fresh and wonderful. This month? Not so easy. It calls for creative thinking to keep that local theme burning during the wintertime. So wrap yourself in a blanket, stoke the fire and pour a glass of Ohio ice wine and let’s think. Hmmmm.

In the wide world of wine, Mother Nature has picked just a few locations on the globe, among them Canada, Germany, Austria and Ohio gifting them with an agricultural monopoly to produce ice wine in its natural form. Next to the grapes, proper measures of frigid cold and ice are a must.

One sip of a luscious ice wine and you'll learn to love winter.

Happy New Blog!

Welcome to mlou! I'm Marilou Suszko, the author of the book “Farms and Foods of Ohio: From Garden Gate to Dinner Plate.” (Hippocrene Books, NY 2007). The book is all about small family farms and farmers found throughout the state of Ohio and the wonderful foods they grow for our dinner tables. I spent the 2005 harvest season traveling Ohio to find the stories that fill this book, beginning in March at Franklin's Tall Timbers, a maple syrup farm in Jefferson, and ending in October at Luers Nut Farm in Belleville. In between, I met and became friends with many of farmers featured in my book. They keep me up to date about what’s happening in the fields, the challenges as well as the joys of farming and about their plans for the next growing season.