The Vegetarian Epicure

Well, it has been a long two weeks of work with the Harvest Showcase in Dickinson last weekend. I have two more trips planned and a ton of overnights the month of October and then its back to the Holiday Showcases. It's tough to think about Christmas coming because the weather has been so beautiful... to think we have to stay indoors the last beautiful days of summer in North Dakota. It's a crime.

Our gardens are winding down. I do however have a fresh crop of mustard spinach. Amongst the schoolwork, master gardeners power points, tomatoes waiting to be put into jars and dust I dug out a cook book this morning.

I thought I would try a spinach souffle with this new spinach - it has a sharp flavor and I really do like it. So do the animals. I planted a trial of rainbow Swiss chard and well, something ate it and I will have to explain that to the guy, named Tom, at NDSU. I hope he isn't grading us on this.

Anyhow, as some of you have read this quote, "There is nothing new under the sun." It is from the Bible, book of Ecclesiastics, I believe. It may very well be the first verse. If ever you want to find a verse in the Bible, just got to Biblegateway.com and type in a keyword... it's awesome.

So what does that have to do with Spinach Souffle? Well, there's been a glut of cooking blogs, cook books and talk of local foods. Food that is real, less processed and actually takes a bit of forethought and time to prepare. However, people are discovering the rewards of eating better. - health and time spent with loved ones.

So, here's the point. I have cookbooks that are yellow with age, sort of like my self. Of course, I look good in yellow so that's not a problem. Anyhow, here is a quote from this cookbook: "We all eat, and it would be a sad waste of opportunity to eat badly. It's true that the meals we consume in a lifetime number in the tens of thousand, but the number is finite; each one should be as nice as it can be, for it can never be regained."

Sounds like something Michael Pollan would say, doesn't it? Well, it was written by Anna Thomas in "the vegetarian epicure book two" published in 1978. The first book was published in 1972 - naturally I have both.

Lo and behold, she's still cooking at http://www.vegetarianepicure.com/. I linked the title of this blog to her site, so just click on it...and buon gusto.