Pumpkin
v. Bacon?
 You may have
seen the October article by Felix Salmon in New York Magazine claiming
Pumpkin as the New Bacon.
Regardless,
it was received with mixed reviews. The article in support of its argument claims
that:
“Suddenly, pumpkin is everywhere: in high-end cocktails and mass-market
bagels; in Pumpkin Custard n’ Gingersnaps and, of course, in the pioneering
Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte assuming your local branch hasn’t sold out.
According to a seven-page PowerPoint from the MenuTrends database of the firm
Datassential, “This year is on track to be one of the most active years
for seasonal pumpkin menuing” and could top the 2011 record, when more
than 60 pumpkin-related dishes appeared on the menus of America’s top 250
chain restaurants. Zero in on beverage menus, and the increase is even more striking:
Pumpkin drink offerings have increased 400 percent during the past five years.
However ubiquitous it may seem this time of year
I would use the argument that the article rightly points out as ‘weird’ as evidence that bacon
will not be topped.
“The weird thing about pumpkin’s rise to baconlike
ubiquity is that pumpkin, on its own, is not a very appetizing food at all. A
dense and stringy fruit, it needs the accompaniment of a lot of sugar and spices
before it becomes particularly palatable.”
Additionally, bacon has no season.
Nevertheless, if you subscribe to: “A pumpkin
dish, in the era of the locavore, has connotations of virtue—when you think
of pumpkin, you think of something farm-grown and wholesome,” find your
locally grown orange orbs by visiting www.soundfood.org
Beat The Rush
When
Sea Language Washes Ashore
by Dave Rosen, Ph.D., historian, Pacific Area
In 1867 the Senate approved the purchase of Alaska
from Tsarist Russia, due largely to the efforts of Secretary of State Seward
at a cost of $7 million. “Walrussia” or “Seward’s
Folly” were the initial nicknames for the territory. The Revenue Cutter
Service was tasked with law enforcement in Alaska.
The primary mission of the USRCS in the Bering Sea was to protect the seal
herds for the Treasury Department to obtain money from the harvesting of their
pelts. Until the discovery of gold in Alaska, the tax on the harvesting of seals
was the largest money maker from acquiring the territory of Alaska.
Two different cutters named Richard Rush worked as part of
the Bering Sea Patrol, named after the Treasury Secretary who served 1825-29.
The Rush boasted such legendary figures as then First Lieutenant “Hell
Roaring” Mike Healy as Commander in 1881 and then 2nd Lieutenant John Cantwell
as navigator in 1890. “Get there early to avoid the Rush!” became
the motto of the poachers who aimed to hunt before the cutter arrived on the
scene. The second Rush is shown below.
Taken from the COAST GUARD COMPASS the officail blog
of the U.S. Coast Guard
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Rush Facts
The original USRC Rush,
a 140-foot, 180-ton, steam-powered topsail schooner, was built by the Atlantic
Works of East Boston for $79,800. She entered service in July, 1874 and set sail
for California soon thereafter. She arrived at San Francisco after a nearly four
month voyage around Cape Horn. She cruised the waters off California, Oregon,
and Washington, including Puget Sound, and made three cruises to Alaskan waters
before undergoing a major refit in 1885 by Hall Bros., San Francisco. There her
original hull was sold and replaced with a new and lengthened 175-foot hull.
This “new” Rush
also served in the Pacific for her entire career, including one cruise to the
Hawaiian Islands in 1893. She continued cruising to Alaskan |
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waters, as depicted in the photo
here, where she is celebrating Independence Day in 1901. She was detached for
duty with the Navy during the Spanish-American War but saw no action. She too
carried the “floating federal district courts,” as did most Revenue
cutters that sailed to Alaska since there were no federal courts in place in
Alaska at that time, searched for survivors of wrecked ships, assisted vessels
in distress, enforced fisheries laws, participated in local celebrations, and
transported dignitaries. She was decommissioned in 1912 and sold to the Alaskan
Junk Company for $8500. www.uscg.mi
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Chief
Mate of the
Adventuress Heads Back To Rhode Island
Plans
To Farm With Partner and Her Dog —
Rachel Slattery, Chief Mate of Sound Experiences Adventuress, and cousin
to Rebecca Slattery of Persephone Farm
PORT TOWNSEND – November marks a new beginning
for Rachael Slattery of Jamestown, Rhode Island. While the iconic tall ship Adventuress,
where she serves as Chief Mate, enters the Port Townsend boat yard for an extended
winter maintenance period, Slattery will take up residence with her new partner
in Exeter, Rhode Island, planning the next season together managing their farming
start-up.
The new farm venture, currently without a formal name,
is leasing a portion of a large estate in Exeter. Slattery met her new partner,
Ben Coerper, while farming together at a 100 acre farm in East Greenwich, RI,
featuring pasture raised and grass-fed livestock.
While Slattery has been sailing
this season, Coerper has begun raising chickens, turkeys, pigs, beef and dairy
sheep. With plenty of phone and email encouragement and consultation from Persephone
Farm’s Rebecca
Slattery, her cousin, Rachael hopes to have a produce plan for vegetables for
the coming Spring planting season. She also plans to begin keeping bees.
Rachael
Slattery is a fourth generation mariner who gravitated towards tall ships with
encouragement from her father who works as a chief engineer on tug boats along
the eastern seaboard. Having gained sealegs on megayachts out of Fort Lauderdale,
Fl, for three years, in addition to some other ships, she was able to achieve
her master mariner credentials.
November 2012 marks the successful end of her
second season as Chief Mate on the Adventuress. where she is second in command
of the 12 person crew and responsible for as many as 49 guests. “I find
the most difficult aspect of my reponsibilities aboard the ship is managing personal
time and space for my crew as well as myself,” she states. “We all
live and work in the same space 24 hours a day.” Slattery began her career
aboard Adventuress as a volunteer deckhand/educator in 2008.
Rachael credits
her interest in farming to her mother’s side of the family who have farmed
in Alabama for generations. “I was one of the fastest pea podders at my
great-granny’s farm when I was a youngster,” she claims. But the
assignment to read Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma during a college
English Composition course and her work on water quality issues with the Adventuress,
changed her food standards for life. After a good long walk with her dog, Clay,
whom she has greatly missed, when she gets back to Rhode Island, she will be
ready to take her part up in the adventure in conscientious food production.
Sound Experiences was
founded in 1988 by Barbara Wyatt and Morely Horder. Modeled on the Clearwater
organization which played a significant role in the cleanup and protection of
the Hudson River waterway, it was Barbara and Morely’s vision that Sound
Experience and the historic schooner Adventuress could play that same role for
Puget Sound. Since its inception, Sound Experience has been educating youth and
adults throughout Puget Sound about the marine environment aboard the Adventuress.
In over 20 years, more than 50,000 (mostly youth) have sailed aboard her. In
1989, Adventuress was named a National Historic Landmark. Today, more than 3,000
people a year sail her, experiencing Puget Sound’s
majesty and vulnerability — first hand. To learn more about Sound Experince
visit www.soundexp.org.
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