july newsletter - a breath of fresh air!

Hey Y’all!

It’s very officially summertime and my ‘theme’ for the past couple of months has been “Fresh Air”. This is inspired by the organization of the same name (The Fresh Air Fund) that I have been doing fundraising for as a member of their team for next week’s NYC Half Marathon. Yesterday, I visited their summer camps where thousands of low-income NYC kids go on free vacations ever year, and had a blast walking around the woods, checking out the camps’ farm, singing with the campers, and watching them play carefree in the fields and lake. …And there’s no reason we can’t take that same spirit and apply it to our own summer fun!

Have a Picnic!
Picnics are one of my absolute favorite things about the warm weather. I like to invite a few friends to meet in a public park, everyone brings something to share, a blanket to sit on, their own fork from home, and it’s an instant and easy party! (Not to mention you don’t have to prepare your house for guests or do any major clean up after). Or, you can make an ordinary meal a bit more “ooh la la” special by dining by candlelight in the backyard or on the roof. (If you need some picnicspiration, try my Greenmarket Potato Salad recipe or Mark Bittman’s 101 Picnic Dishes.)

Go Raw Together!
A couple of the things I love about camp is the opportunity to try new things, make new friends, and work together. With the abundance of beautiful and delicious fresh produce in season right now, it’s a great time to experiment with new recipes. But no one wants to slave over a hot stove when it’s hot out, so try some raw or mostly raw dishes. You’ll get to play up the lovely flavors of summer produce with a minimum of sweat-inducing effort! Have a raw foods potluck, encouraging each invitee to bring a friend you haven’t met. (If you feel like getting fancy, check out recipes from Raw Food Real World).

Ride a Bicycle Made for Two!
Or, do something else you haven’t tried that can get you out and about. If you live near a lake or a river, you can probably rent or borrow a canoe, kayak, or tube and go out on the water. If you live near hills or mountains, go camping or for an early morning bird-watching hike. If it’s too hot where you live, go out for some late-night stargazing, run through the sprinkler at sunset, find an indoor ice rink, or check out a museum in town you’ve been meaning to go to. Or, if you’re stuck in the city, spend a day exploring a new neighborhood—try new foods and learn more about your neighbors! (Try TravelSkoot for ideas.)


NEWS FROM AJA
I'm Running the Half-Marathon! NEXT WEEK!!
Continuing with my running streak, I'm competing in the Nike NYC Half-Marathon next week for charity. I'm on The Fresh Air Fund’s team and I’m looking for sponsorship-- anything you can give will help to send 10,000 low-income NYC kids on summer vacations in the country.

I'm hoping to raise $1,310. Or, $100 per mile of the 13.1 mile race!
Though I think it would be great to raise a bit more- $1,600, which is the cost of sending one child on vacation. I would be really grateful for absolutely any contributions you are able to make.

You can donate online: http://freshair.kintera.org/ajamarsh
(There are also instructions there for how to donate by mail)


ANNOUNCEMENTS, etc.
In Season: It’s Wild Salmon season! It wasn’t really until last year that I realized I liked salmon. I always thought it was too fishy tasting and the texture didn’t appeal to me. Last summer, I had some really nice, slightly rare wild salmon, and oh my, what a world of difference. So if you think you don’t like salmon, I implore you to give it a try. Here’s a recipe for my Wild Salmon Burgers.

Cool Recent Blog Posts: Read about the highlights of my trip to Summer Camp, get some Green Cleaning Tips, and make some Vegan Brownies this weekend!

Guest Blogger Opportunities: I’m always looking for interested individuals to write guest blogs for Stem+Leaf about green and healthy-lifestyle related subjects, from your own perspective. No need to be an experienced writer-- just enthusiastic with something to say! Please contact me for more information.

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The day is yours—soak it up!
Aja

Chef Aja T. Marsh News - June Newsletter

Hello Friends!

Summer is finally here and it actually feels like it up here in New York, and everyone seems happier and smiley, which is contagious! The Greenmarket is getting very colorful with the first of the harvest: strawberries, sugar snap peas, herbs and greens of all kinds, tomatoes, rhubarb, and new potatoes! I personally, am really looking forward to doing some canning and pickling this summer. I've never done it before, and I'm super excited about the adventure-- stay tuned to Stem+Leaf for those developments! (If you are an experienced, or aspiring, canner-- I'd love to hear from you!)

Canning and pickling are a just a couple of ways to stretch today's dollars into meals for the weeks and months to come. In the wake of the steady rise of food, fuel, and utilities prices, there is no better time to look into other ways to cut and reduce overall costs...

Shop at your local Farmers' Market
With exception to prepared and baked goods, I haven't noticed a big increase in food prices at the farmers' markets. Sure, prices often seem higher than at the grocery store, but they more accurately reflect the cost of growing food and help to pay farmers' a living wage. Market prices are reasonable, and you know what you're getting is super-fresh, and didn't have to be shipped across the country, or around the world, to get to your plate. Most markets can provide you with most of the produce you need as well as meats, breads, cheeses, milk, eggs, and condiments-- usually at a superior quality to what you find at the grocery store.
Don't know if you have a Farmers' Market near you? Check here.

Buy in Bulk
While prices in basic commodities like grains and beans may have gone up, it is still cheaper to buy in bulk than it is to buy individually packaged items. Most health food stores have a self- or assisted-serve bulk section where you can load up on basic pantry items, cereals, cooking oils, and sweeteners. Many stores also have a bulk beauty section, with cut-your-own soap, bath salts, and other body products. One-up it, and bring in your own re-usable containers (or re-use your plastic bags from the last time) when you fill up-- this will save you a step when you get home!

Re-use Your Bags
Plastic bags are produced with petroleum products, which we all know are in short (and expensive) supply. By re-using the plastic bags you've already accumulated, and/or using fabric bags to carry your goods to and from the market, grocery store, big box shop, or just for lugging things to and fro, you will help to decrease the demand for the plastic bags! And many stores even give you money back for each bag you re-use! For city-life, I love totes that have a strap long enough to hang from my shoulder-- makes schlepping around town with my groceries a breeze!
Check the right hand side of this page for links to retailers who sell reusable bags!

Carpool, Walk, Bike, and Use Public Transportation
Gas is now over $4/gallon in most parts of the country. I'm still pretty young and I remember when it was 99 cents. Driving less is one thing, but there is probably more you can do to reduce your use of gasoline-- which will help both your wallet, and the air you breathe! Look into neighborhood carpools, or take turns carpooling to the grocery store, etc. with friends and family. Plan your errands to be done in one outing to maximize your time. See if you can 'Park and Ride' to city destinations, parking near a bus route, and taking the bus most of the way. Walk or bike as much as you can, when you can. Instead of having to fit a work-out into your day, make your commute the workout by jogging to or from work or your carpool.


NEWS FROM AJA
I'm Running the Half-Marathon!
That's 13.1 miles! Continuing with my running streak, I'm competing in the Nike NYC Half-Marathon next month for charity.

I'm on The Fresh Air Fund's team and am looking for sponsorship-- anything you can give will help to send 10,000 low-income NYC kids on summer vacations in the country. This is a super-cool organization, and I'm excited to be involved.

I'm hoping to raise $1,310. Or, $100 per mile!
Though I think it would be great to raise a bit more- $1,600, which is the cost of sending one child on a great summer vacation. I would be really grateful for absolutely any contributions you are able to make-- every little bit can and does make a difference

You can donate online!
My donations page is: http://freshair.kintera.org/ajamarsh
(There are also instructions there for how to donate by mail)


ANNOUNCEMENTS, etc.
Now More Recipes: Keep an eye out here on the blog-- I'm gearing up to post a bunch of recipes, that will carry on throughout the next few months at least. Now that I'm moved and settling in, and the Greenmarket is so inspiring, I anticipate a lot more on-the-fly recipes to share.

Guest Blogger Opportunities: I am always looking for interested individuals to write guest blogs for Stem+Leaf about green and healthy-lifestyle related subjects, or maybe you have a great summer recipe to share, from your own perspective. No need to be an experienced writer-- just enthusiastic with something to say! Please contact me for more information.

Breathe in the sunshine and be grateful for the day!

an impassioned book review and reaction: 'in defense of food' by michael pollan

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is the second Michael Pollan book I've read, after reading The Omnivore's Dilemma last year, and well, I think I'm in love, and I'm not the only one.

He's done it again! I love his writing style-- full of facts, but casually written, so there's not much that goes over your head. I feel like every other page (at least), I am wanting to take notes, highlight, or find a scrap of paper to mark the page-- I borrowed this copy from the library and read it almost exclusively on the subway, and found myself tearing up receipts to tag pages for future reference. This book is much easier to get through than Dilemma, at only 200 pages in a paperback sized, easy-read format.

With "Eat food. Not much. Mostly plants." as his mantra, Pollan discusses American's and 'nutritionism', the difficulties of finding real food in the supermarkets, the consequences of the Western diet, and how we can do something not only to shape our own lives and health, but also to change the view and use of real food in this country. I was excited when one of his sections began "Eat food: Food defined," because I've previously discussed (food vs. not food), we now have to decode the food products we find in the supermarkets in order to determine what's fit to eat. It's not so simple as it should be. (Or as it actually is when you got to the farmer's market). He argues that the biggest detriment to our health as Americans is the Western diet we ascribe to.

"...two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, that fully a quarter of us have metabolic syndrome, that fifty-four million have prediabetes, and that the incidence of type 2 diabetes has rise 5 percent annually since 1990, going from 4 percent to 7.7 percent of the adult population (that’s more than twenty million Americans)..."

Part way through the book, a few days ago, I read the above passage and a few additional pages focusing on obesity and diabetes on the train, on my way to my favorite natural foods store (Commodities, in the East Village), I stood outside in the rain and called my mom, 'impassioned and frustrated! passionately frustrated!' about how I was mad and annoyed and crazy over how so many people, including many in my extended family, let their health slip away so carelessly, when there's more than enough to be said for eating well (or better, at least) and for living actively. As I vented to her, breathlessly, I wanted to immediately do something, but what? In that moment, I wanted to shake my aunts, uncles, cousins, strangers by the shoulder, give them a slap or something to wake them up, call them out, make them accountable. I imagined myself storming into their houses, having them run around the block while I emptied out their kitchen of all of the 'not foods'. I imagined gathering them all and serving them a feast of whole and healthy foods-- brown rice, kale, aduki beans, oh my! I don't feel right knowing all I do, feeling like I do, and idly standing by, helping those who will hire me or else easily listen. I think there is a bigger difference to be made.

"In the end, they are only theories, scientific explanations for an empirical phenomenon that is not itself in doubt: people eating a Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases that seldom strike people eating more traditional diets. Scientists can argue all they want about the biological mechanisms behind this phenomenon, but whichever it is, the solution to the problem would appear to remain very much the same: stop eating a Western diet."

And it's easier said than done, I'm sure, but I gotta try. Who's with me?

Pollan has also written a bevy of articles for the NYT, many of which are excerpted, or mini-versions of topics from his books.

the market is alive with the smell of spring

By Wednesday of this week, I'd already been to the Union Square Greenmarket shortly after opening hour three times in one week. And I have to say, as I don't usually go that early, there really is something to be said for getting there in the early morning. All of the produce is glistening and beautifully displayed, not at all picked over or wilted, and the market is fairly quiet. Everything looks perfect and you want it all. I can't express enough how much I love going to the farmer's market, even when I don't buy anything, so if my reward for waking up early is getting to explore food, well, I am down with that. It's a happy way to start my day.

That being said, even though the weather has been a little too cold for my likes, springtime produce is here and in full-swing! Stored apples and potatoes are winding down, asparagus and ramps are still abundant, but probably not for much longer. First of the season strawberries and cherry tomatoes, lots and lots of herbs and baby greens and bitter greens, radishes, rhubarb and even some raspberries are brightening up the stalls.


And here in the Northeast we're in the middle of the very short fiddlehead fern season. Every year, I see them and honestly, while they are fascinating and quite beautiful visually, I get a little afraid of them, not sure why, maybe it's because they look a little alien. I just want someone to make them and put them in front of me to eat, so I can get over it. Well, I forget that I'm the more adventurous cook of most of the people in my social circle, so I figured it's up to me. So I did it. I bought them. I haven't cooked them yet, but be sure to check in a day or two to see what I created. No sense in getting anxious over a cute spiraled wild , right? I'd much rather be excited! Today I also picked up some yummy red spinach, baby head lettuce, and some fingerling potatoes.

So I implore you Stem+Leaf-ers to grab your canvas tote and get your booty over to the greenmarket and see what spring in your area has in store for you! Pick up something new, and tell me what you thought of it!

Chef Aja T. Marsh News - February Newsletter

What’s that smell? Is it all the love in the air? I hope so!
As the much beleaguered Valentine’s Day rolls around, I would like to take a moment to talk about how we can translate and incorporate the love we have for ourselves and those closest to us, into a love for our bodies, communities, and earth. To me, living a healthy and loving lifestyle is more than just about what I eat—it’s about thinking critically about what I choose to put into and around my body, and how those choices affect the world around me—as well as nourishing me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

ON BEING A MORE LOVING CONSUMER...
Supporting Local Businesses
Unfortunately it is getting more and more difficult to support locally owned small businesses in suburban areas, especially grocery stores, and increasingly in urban areas. However, by shopping and dining at local establishments you are supporting your community’s economy, as well as encouraging entrepreneurial enterprises where you can interact with owners who are passionate about their business, versus having impersonal experiences at large chain stores. By nurturing your community in this way, your neighborhood becomes richer with your investment economically and socially and you can build relationships with the people you live and work among.

Buying Local Produce
There are farmer’s markets in most cities across the country, as well as seasonal u-pick or farm stands on city outskirts, which could make for a fun weekend activity with your friends or family. You could also participate in a C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) which offers you weekly allotments of food currently being harvested by the farm, usually in exchange of light farm work and a reasonable fee for the season. By getting produce from your area, you will be eating only what is in season and in harmony with the earth, as well as getting food that allows the farmers a living wage and isn’t shipped thousands of miles—therefore also reducing its environmental impact. FarmersMarket.com has a searchable database of markets across the U.S.

Shopping Green [see the blog I just posted about it!]
It’s easy to start. Bring your own bags. Don’t bag your produce unless absolutely necessary. Buy in bulk. Reduce your overall packaging usage. Carpool to the grocery store with a friend or neighbor.

Living Compassionately for You, Your Family, and The Earth
Instead of spraying all kinds of chemicals around your house to make it smell or look good, look into non-toxic and natural cleaning products. This is especially important if you have children, pets, allergies, or sensitive skin. Why wash the dishes you eat off of with chemicals? Baking soda and vinegar, for example, make a great all purpose abrasive cleanser and disinfectant. Buy cruelty-free products that haven’t been tested on animals. Drink Fair-Trade and Organic coffees and teas. Dry your clothes outside, and use the power of the sun to bleach your clothes. Purchase recycled toilet paper and paper towels. Recycle everything you can. Reuse containers. Compost. Care2 has pretty comprehensive information and tips on their GreenLiving page as does TreeHugger


NEWS FROM AJA
One of the projects I was working on in January was to recreate the recipe for Cookie Monster’s cookies. Yes, you read right. You know the cookies he scarfs so jubilantly into his mouth on ‘Sesame Street’? Well, they have a new recipe for those now. While they are made entirely of real food ingredients, they aren’t anything that would be especially tasty to your or I. But Cookie Monster loves them. I look forward to meet him soon! Stay tuned to the blog for that!

On Friday, I will be heading to New Hampshire to cater my friends’ movie shoot, and when I return to NYC at the end of the month, I’ll be working freelance with one of my favorite catering companies in NYC – Fancy Girl Catering.

I'm also working to post more frequently here on Stem+Leaf and would love to hear more from you! Leave comments, let me know if you tried any of the recipes, etc.! I want to provide content that you will enjoy.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, etc.
Kitchen Ninjas!: Last month, my good friend, and award-winning filmmaker, Jef Greilich produced and shot a 6-minute pilot for a web cooking show starring me and my ‘sidekick’ Yoshi Kono. It was just pitched to OnNetworks.com, but while we’re waiting to hear back from them, you can check out the pilot episode here.

Guest Blogger Opportunities: I am still looking for interested individuals to write guest blogs for Stem+Leaf about green and healthy-lifestyle related subjects, from your own perspective. No need to be an experienced writer-- just enthusiastic with something to say! Please contact me for more information. [Sabrina Hu had her guest blog posted earlier this month, discussing the holistic winter cleanse she did through her yoga studio in Atlanta, GA].


Be well, share love, and live fully today and everyday!