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Going to the local farmers’ market with your child helps him or her learn where their food comes from. Here your child will see the many varieties of fruits and vegetables that are grown right in your own region.

Understanding that the corn in the can or frozen package really started as corn in the husks on the cob is sometimes hard for children to comprehend. Seeing carrots with bushy tops and not perfectly scrubbed clean in plastic bags can be eye-opening for them as well. Even seeing the quantities of melons in the back of pickups and truck beds piled high with corn is really quite a sight.

I always think of the hard work that goes into growing this food and getting it to market. I know that those who work the soil are always dependent on Mother Nature to bring the rain and sunshine just at the right moments. The fruits of their labor relies on cooperation from the elements.

Even though farmers’ markets offer food at the peak of freshness, we still must be concerned with maintaining the freshness and keeping it safe for eating. It’s always a good idea to go right home to get perishable foods in the refrigerator.

Some produce can be ripened on the kitchen counter and then stored in the refrigerator. Foods such as peaches, nectarines, pears, and plums fall into this category.

Some foods taste best at room temperature, such as onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and squashes. They need to be stored in a clean, dry, well-ventilated place, away from direct sunlight and areas where meat is prepared.

I always like to prepare what I bought as soon as possible. The last time I went to market I bought some beautiful looking onions. I hadn’t baked onions for a long time but remembered how my grandmother used to just set the onion on the top of the cover from a metal coffee can. (I suppose because aluminum foil wasn’t readily available and the juices do run out – can you remember the time before aluminum foil)??

Anyway, baked onions are delicious.

This is what you do…and it’s easy enough that kids can help and be part of the “going to market and then using the fresh food” experience.

Baked Onions

Cut off both ends of the onion and peel the outer skin. Cut an X in the center of the onion and dribble on some olive oil or add a dab of butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place each onion on a piece of foil and wrap tightly. Set in a baking dish. Bake for about 1 hour, or until tender. You can sprinkle top with freshly grated Parmesan, or crumbled cooked bacon, or some fresh herbs.

Serve with any meat dish or pasta.

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Did you just run to the store and forget the bag to bring the groceries home? Now you have more plastic bags to add to your collection. Did that metal can get placed in the right bin? You do have separate bins for different disposables, right?

It doesn’t really take that much extra time or energy to consider our planet. The major cause of not following through is that we are not used to making this a priority. Like anything, we need to program our habits to include the important tasks.

This week-end, or whenever we go shopping, let’s remember our own grocery shopping bag or bags. Get your kids to remind you to bring those bags. This is doing our little bit to help the earth – and setting a good example for our children.

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I just ran across an article in a college magazine about changes college kids are enjoying in their cafeterias. One food service offers “the real thing” in flavored filtered water.

Individual dispensers are filled with layers of ice with cut up fruits and vegetables. Foods such as oranges, lemons, limes, apples, strawberries, cucumbers and other seasonal foods and vegetables are added to the ice to create water that has the flavor of the food. I would never have guessed their favorite flavor is cucumber! The report stated the students are drinking their way through about 150 gallons of filtered, flavored water per day and cutting down on soda drinking.

Another innovative feature of this cafeteria is to go tray-less. This may require more trips to the food counters but the students are responding positively. Going tray-less is saving on water and wash products, as well as on the amount of food wasted.

This sounds like they are taking seriously environmental benefits. Good for them!

Lee Jackson
Books for home and family

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As much of our country’s early history dates back to the New England states, I wanted to share a recipe from this area taken from Amy Houts’ new book, Cooking Around the Country With Kids: USA Regional Recipes and Fun Activities. Her new book just came back from design and layout and it’s looking fabulous!

I think you will believe this recipe is fabulous, too!

Boston Creme Pie

1 yellow cake mix
1 (3 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding

Chocolate Glaze:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons hot water,
approximately

Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans. Children can help measure, mix, and bake yellow cake according to package directions. Cool.
Mix vanilla pudding according to package directions. Children can spread pudding on one cake, then top with second cake.

For glaze:
Melt butter in a pan’ stir in sugar, cocoa, and vanilla. Add 1 tablespoon water, then one teaspoon at a time until the proper consistency. Spread glaze on top, letting it drip down the sides. Traditionally, the top is glazed, not the sides. Store in refrigerator.

Makes 1 two-layer cake

Enjoy the 4th!

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Are you celebrating 4th of July with hot dogs, apple pie, and fireworks? I think we should add in a few parades, a baseball game, concerts, and some political speeches.That is about as American as it gets on the 4th!

Americans love to celebrate the day. We sometimes forget why we are celebrating – we tend to forget that we are commemorating the anniversity of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Many children have to memorize the beginning of the Declaration of Independence which begins “When in the course of human event it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have…”.

Perhaps as adults we still remember this paragraph:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Do we sometimes take these rights too far? Does the “pursuit of happiness” mean we can do anything we please as long as it makes us happy? Do certain unalienable rights mean the right of women to end the life of their babies in the uterus? Is the right to life taken away through the courts?

Certainly it was not our founding fathers intent to go to these extremes. They believed that the foundation of a nation should begin with the freedom from oppressive government, tyrany, and persecution. Every person was to be able to have freedom of speech, of assembly, freedom from religious oppression,  and the right to bear arms. Their work to establish this groundwork has made our country a symbol of freedom throughout the world.

Freedom comes at a price. This price is often sacrifice, hardship, and even the loss of life. We thank those who make sacrifices to protect our freedom and defend our country.

May God continue to bless America!

Happy 4th of July!