SLOW FOOD:

The "slow food" idea was started in Italy by Carlo Petrini "in 1986 in response to a McDonald's opening in Rome".  This information comes from an article in the May 31, 2007, edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the article informs about two things.  Mr. Petrini was on tour in this country for his book, "Slow Food Nation".

The second thing is that Carlo Petrini is working with Alice Waters, "founder of the renowned Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley", to plan the Slow Food Nation, a four-day gathering scheduled for May 1-4, 2008, in San Francisco.

"Slow food" emphasizes regional traditions and home cooking from local, sustainably grown ingredients  For more information go to the web address below.

www.slowfoodnation.org

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    GREEN BEANS:

"Bean, a common name widely applied to many plants ofthe legume family.  The seeds and pods of these plants are used for food and forage.  The seeds themselves are also called beans and are valuable as food because of their high protein content...Hundreds of varieties of the common garden bean of the United States are cultivated.  The young pods are called string, or snap, beans if green; they are called wax, or butter, beans if yellowish...For cultivating, beans are divided into two groups:  pole beans, or vines requiring a pole for support; and bush beans, erect shubs of low, spreading growth.  Many of the species, notably the common garden bean of the United States, have varieties in both groups, and the groups overlap one another.  Although some of the bean plants are perennials, most of the important cultivated species are annuals and are sown in rich, loose, warm soil after all danger of frost is past."

"Bean," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia.  (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.  (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Recipes:  You'll need to scroll down to the green bean recipes at the web address below.
     http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q=green+beanhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.recipezaar.com%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.zsp%3Fquery%3Dgreen+bean    

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CARROTS AND PEARS:

Plain sliced carrots and pears cored and cut into chunks are good steamed together.  Below are links to carrot and/or pear recipes.

CARROTS - a "common name for a plant (see Parsley) native to Eurasia and northern Africa and widely distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone; the name is also appled to the root of this plant...The cultivated variety is the popular table vegetable.  It is a biennial.  During the first season of its growth it forms a rosette of finely divided leaves and stores a surplus of food in its root, which thus becomes large and fleshy.  First-season carrots are harvested for food....

"...Popular varieties among cultivated carrots are the Oxheart, the Chantenay, the Danvers Half-Long, and the Danvers Long.  Large-rooted late types are used for stock feeding and are relished by farm animals.  Carotene is the orange coloring matter of the root, a prolific source of provitamin A.  In the United States, California and Texas are the foremost carrot producing states."

"Carrot," Microsoft(R0, Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia.  (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.  (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation.  All rights reserved. 

Recipes:  The web site at the address below has a list of carrot recipes.  I was dismayed at how much sugar is used in the recipes, but the list is easy to click through to check out each recipe.  There are definitely some good ideas.

http://www.carrotrecipes.net 

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PEARS - a "common name for about 20 species of trees of a genus in the rose family, and for thir fruit.  The common pear is native to Europe; the sand pear is native to the Orient.  Both species are extensively cultivated for their fruit in cool, humid, temperate regions throughout the world....The best North American pear growing districts are in California, Washington and Oregon and, to a lesser degree, in the northern United States from New England to the Great Lakes and in lower Canada.  Pears are grown extensively in home orchards in the United States...Angouleme, Elizabeth, Louis Bonne, and Deal pears are desirable dessert varieties usually cultivated as dwarfs.  Anjou, Boussoc, and Tyson pears are about equally good in either standard or dwarf sizes.  Bosc, Washington, and Dix pears are usually grown as dwarfs...Bartlett, Seckel, and Doyenne pears are usually grown in standard sizes."

"Pear," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.  (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation.  All rights reserved.

Recipes:  Here are two web addresses with pear recipes. 

 http://southernfood.about.com/od/pears/Pear_Recipes_Recipes_using_Pears.htm?once=true&

http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/recipes/pear-recipes.html

There has been some discussion in the local newspaper about cornbread or corn meal bagels.  Going by what I read, there is a market for them if it can be done.  My mother once served      strawberry shortcake after a meal using leftover cornbread muffins.  The mixture of sweet and not sweet was just right.  With that in mind, not long ago I put fresh sliced strawberries in cornbread batter  before baking it.  The flavor of the finished product was mild, but I liked it.

Information about corn can be found at the National Corn Growers Association at the web address below, and many states also have associations for corn growers.

http://www.ncga.com

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Hi Arbor Cookbook

"Take This Veggie And Stuff It" has recipes for stuffing 21 vegetables from artichokes to zucchini, and if you don't know how to stuff an artichoke, the book explains. There are 87 recipes, some of which have seafood but most are vegetarian. Substitutions, measurements and equivalents are listed. Herbs and seasonings are defined and there is a glossary of cooking terms in addition to a list of how much of a fresh spice is needed versus the same spice in a dry form.

"Take This Veggie And Stuff It" costs $12.50 per copy plus $2.50 for shipping and handling, and it can be ordered from Hi Arbor, Inc.; P. O. Box 265; Oceanville, NJ 08231. Or from the web address below.

                                             www.hiarbor.org

                                                    
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