Vegan Cooking Retreat: February 24-26, 2012
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A hands-on workshop at the
cooking retreat.
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Jump start your life on the road to better health, learning from cooks that really know how to make vegan food taste great!
| Cooking Classes include: |
Additional Activities: |
- Soy and Tofu Recipes
- Raw Foods / Raw Desserts
- Cheese Alternatives
- International Cuisine
- Recipes for Kids!
- Using Your Dehydrator
- More to be announced
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- Farm History Slide show with a special focus on our Diet and Nutrition Evolution
- Food Sustainability - Growin' Your Own!
- Yoga and Meditation
- Saturday Night: Farm Community Dinner
- Saturday Night: Live Music
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| Registration |
Click here for more information |
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Advanced Permaculture Design Course February 20-March 4, 2012
The Maya Mountain Research Farm, Belize, CA
If you are
interested in Permaculture and have a desire for the tropics, then consider
attending this course hosted by my pal Albert Bates and friends at the Maya
Mountain Research Farm in Belize.
Albert (bottom left) is the founder of The Farm's Ecovillage Training Center, an
environmental lawyer and author of several books, including Climate in Crisis, one of the first books on global warming published
back in 1990. His latest books, The Post Petroleum Survival Guide, and The Biochar Solution, continue to prove Albert has a keen eye looking just over the edge of tomorrow with the skill to carry those insights into today. A world traveler and guest lecturer at countless conferences, Albert deserves major credit for bringing the word "permaculture" into mainstream dialog.
Of course Albert is but one of the great instructors you will encounter at this course. To learn more visit the Maya Mountain web site for details. |
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House Moving and The Farm Welcome Center
In the early years of The Farm Community, to help "jump-start" the construction of our town, several members became trained in the art of house-moving. To move a house, you must first lift it off the foundation using special multi-ton jacks. The foundation is removed and a trailer is slid underneath. The house is then lowered on to the trailer and moved
by semi to a new location. Several buildings on The Farm were acquired this way, some coming from as far away as 40 miles. |
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The Farm Welcome Center was once an old country home in Columbia, Tennessee, where a dam was under construction. Homes in the flood plain of the dam were either demolished or moved. The transport to The Farm took place during the middle of the night when traffic was low. Routes had to be planned to avoid narrow bridges and low hanging wires.
Considering the poor quality construction and lack of insulation in these old homes, one would question today if it was all worth the effort. However in the 70's with money in short supply and the need great, the opportunity to score a completed building seemed like a pretty good deal.
The Welcome Center's appearance was greatly improved through the addition of a brick exterior. The
bricks were salvaged from a three story factory demolished by Farm crews working in another nearby town. The bricks from this operation were also used on the Solar School and the Community Center. |
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| Preserving Food & Recipes: Vegan Creole Sausages |
When I became vegetarian, sausage was one of the foods I missed most, but it wasn't the meat, it was all the flavorful spices.
Today there are many commercially prepared vegetarian sausages, but only a few are vegan. Although they are alternative to meat, these vegie sausages are still a processed food and can be quite expensive. |
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| Now you can make your own with this easy recipe demonstrated at my
vegan cooking retreat by Bianca Phillips, author of the blog and upcoming cookbook Vegan Crunk, scheduled to be released this spring by The Farm's Book Publishing Company. |
Here's the ingredient list:
1/2 cup
Great Northern beans
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rubbed sage
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon
hot sauce
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten flour
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Bianca credits the recipe to Julie Hasson of Everyday Dish, with a few of her own modifications, specifically the Creole spices.
If you are using canned beans, drain and rinse before adding to your mixing bowl.
I didn't have any vegetable broth on hand, so I used 1 cup water, 1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast and 1 tsp of powdered vegan bouillon.
I had not used Liquid Smoke, a flavoring often used in bacon, hot dogs and other foods, in many years, but found it readily available at
Whole Foods. Liquid Smoke is just like it sounds, smoke condensed into a solid or liquid form and then dissolved in water. The compound was first sold commercially in 1895.
Vital Wheat Gluten Flower is basically flour in which much of the starch has been removed, concentrating the gluten or protein of the wheat. You may also find it sold as Instant Gluten Flour. |
Once all of the dry and wet ingredients are added to the bowl, mix them together to for a stiff dough.
Knead for 5 minutes and then let it rest for an additional 5 minutes. |
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Prepare a steamer pot with water in the bottom.
Pull off chunks of the dough and roll between your palms to form the sausage links.
Bianca wrapped hers in tin foil, but I preferred to use corn shucks like I use for tamales.
Steam for 40 minutes. Keep an eye on your water supply, adding more water as needed. |
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I have become quite fond of these steamed sausages and find them a welcome replacement to Morning Star and other high priced sausage alternatives on the market.
I like to slice them into bite size chunks and then fry in a skillet to serve at breakfast. with toast, pancakes, or wrapped in a tortilla for a quick lunch!
I plan to experiment with additional flavors and textures over the next few months.
Thank you Bianca! |
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