Einkorn Pasta

October 21, 2010

A publicist representing Jovial Foods contacted us about trying out a new product they are marketing, pasta made with einkorn wheat. Einkorn is either the first or one of the first grains to be cultivated. We tried two of Jovial’s einkorn products, a whole grain einkorn spagehtti and a whole grain einkorn fusilli. Both were tasty, well made pastas, superior to a Trader Joes whole wheat pasta we compared them to in a taste test. I think I’ll pick up a box of einkorn pasta occasionally, if just to cast a vote with my dollars for biodiversity.

Einkorn also has some possible health benefits. A 2006 study in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology found that einkorn may present “new dietary opportunities for celiac patients” who normally can’t eat wheat products. Jovial’s website cautions, however, that einkorn has not yet been evaluated by the FDA for consumption by celiac patients. Einkorn does contain gluten but it may be in a “more digestible” form than other wheat varieties according to Jovial.

I’ve found Jovial’s einkorn products at Whole Foods and on Amazon.

See the Jovial Foods website for more information on their einkorn pastas and where you can purchase them..

Read more about einkorn in an article by Jared Diamond, “Location, Location, Location: The First Farmers.”

An editorial note: We get a lot of press releases and ignore most of them or recycle the choice ones into April Fools day fodder. Unlike conscientious bloggers, many newspapers and magazines turn the same press releases into articles. Every once in awhile a press release catches our eye. Our policy is to only review things we like and would buy or use ourselves. We also promise to disclose when a blog post idea originates from a press release.

Sometimes we also link to Amazon. Your purchases through those links help defray our costs. And speaking of Amazon, a search for “einkorn” turned up the following oddball item, just in time for Halloween:

Barefoot Running Update

Mr. Homegrown

October 19, 2010

Fitness

13 Comments

I’ve been running barefoot three times a week for six months with no relapse of the knee or heel pain I used to suffer from when I ran in shoes. I have stubbornly refused to spend any money for minimal footwear (largely because I’m a cheap bastard), but I really don’t feel like I need to. I’ve run all of my barefoot miles on a decomposed granite path and have not had a single injury of any kind, not even a scratch. Danny Dreyer’s book ChiRunning helped correct some form issues. Some things I’ve figured out:

1. Running barefoot gives you instant feedback, but bad form from a lifetime wearing shoes can still pose a problem. I don’t think that feedback would have been as effective had I worn minimal shoes.

2. The guy who runs the anti-barefoot running website that’s the first hit in Google when you search “barefoot running” is a podiatrist who sells . . . shoes.

3. You have to transition slowly. I’ve used the following schedule running three days a week and lifting weights and using my bike for errands on the other days. I think this schedule could be stretched out even further.

Week 1-2: (run 1 minute walk 2 minutes) x 4
Week 3-4: (run 2 minutes walk 2 minutes) x 3
Week 5-6: (run 2 minutes walk 1 minute) x 4
Week 7-8: (run 3 minutes walk 1 minute) x 4
Week 9-10: (run 4 minutes walk 2 minutes) x 4
Week 11-12: (run 4 minutes walk 1 minute) x 6
Week 13-14: (run 5 minutes walk 1 minute) x 6
Week 15 run 1 mile
. . . etc., adding 10% more distance per week until the goal of 5k three times a week is reached.

4. Running barefoot gives a you a direct contact with Mother Earth (and Mother Concrete) and that’s kinda cool.

Barefoot running is one of those “ah-ha” ideas. It makes you wonder what other sacred cows can be taken “barefoot.” How about that expensive college education, for instance?

See our earlier post on barefoot running, “No Shoes, No problem.”

Another way to deal with prickly pear stickers

Mr. Homegrown

October 18, 2010

Food, Gardening

14 Comments

One of those “farm uses” could be burning off prickly pear spines . . Image via BoingBoing

I’m drowning in prickly pear fruit which means a lot of nasty thorns in the kitchen and an angry Mrs. Homegrown. Previously I burned them off over our stove, but inevitably a few stickers would find their way to the kitchen sponge. Now I’ve got a new technique for removing stickers thanks to Norman of Silver City New Mexico who writes,

“Just a note to tell you how I harvest the pears. We live in the arid SW and have a lot of native cacti. The pears were very good this year because of the extra wet summer. In dry times we burn the stickers off the prickly pear so the cows will eat the leaves. It saves the cattle in some years. I take a propane torch and burn the stickers of the pears before I pick them. They turn very shinny like you had waxed them. Then just pick them with your bare hands. Sure saves a lot of time not having to roll them on a grill.”

I tried this today with the propane torch I use for sweating pipe. Works great. Norman also suggested making some “Knox Blox” with the juice, something I intend to try. Thanks Norman for saving our marriage.

I forgot about Bean Fest!

Mrs. Homegrown

October 16, 2010

Bean Fest, Food

6 Comments

Mrs. Homegrown here:

Apologies all, it’s been a heck of a week. I realize I never set an end date on Bean Fest, a day where I could sign off gracefully with a last recipe, and now I think maybe that’s for the best. Because really, does Bean Fest ever end? No, it does not. Not in our hearts.

And besides, I have a backlog of bean recipes. So while I will not be posting a recipe this Friday, I will declare Fridays henceforward as frugal recipe day. I may not come up with something every week, but Friday will be the designated day to highlight not only bean dishes, but soups, stews and the like. Admittedly, “Frugal Recipe Day” is not the most appealing tag. I’ll set our marketing department to work on coming up with a better name.

There are these moments

Mrs. Homegrown

October 15, 2010

Animals, Chickens

10 Comments

You sorta had to be there

There are these moments, they’re hard to explain, but perhaps you’ve experienced them too. Like the other day I was in the yard, taking out an old lavender bush and one of our hens, Handsome, was under my feet the whole time, waiting for spiders to fall.

At one point I stopped my hacking and looked at her–really looked at her. She was dappled with late afternoon sun, her fresh molted feathers glistening and speckled with bright gold patches of light. Sensing my attention, she stopped scratching and just looked at me. The sun caught her amber eye and made it beautiful and deep and somehow profound. And we just sat there, regarding each other for a long half moment. And in that small space of time, I realized how blessed I was to have this moment, outdoors, in the golden light, surrounded by the scent of dying lavender, with this strange and amazing creature by my side.