Connecticut Food & Farm Magazine, Fall 2021, Volume 25 by Connecticut Food and Farm

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CAPTUR

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RE CREATIVE CONNECTICUT FOOD AND FARM

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOR THE AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SERVICE INDUSTRIES

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in this issue

NO SAD DESK SALADS

SARAH COOK COLGAN

GREEN AND GROWING

A LOVE STORY

MARY ELLEN FILLO

CRAFTING DIY TOASTER TARTS

WITH CHEF NAIMA CRAFT

AMY SILVER WHITE

A GUIDE TO SEED SAVING

JENNA ALDRICH

NOTES FROM A CIDER MAKER

RUSSELL HOLMBERG

FIRED UP FOR FALL

MAKING MUSTARD

JULI MANCINI

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76 66

FALL 2021 | VOLUME 25

LET THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT FLOW

TONY VENGROVE

THE ART OF

REUPHOLSTRY

MILLY CLARK

MAKING A BRUSH FROM SCRATCH

KATIE LUKAS

FORCING BULBS

IT’S EASIER THAN YOU THINK

WHITE FLOWER FARM

SALSICUS OR “SEASONED WITH SALT”

KRISTIN L.WOLFE AND ZACH PIERCE

PROVISIONS ON STATE

ERIK OFGANG

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98 108 124 146 162

Fired up 6

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for Fall

MAKING MUSTARD – by Juli Mancini

Winter Caplanson photos

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The beauty of mustard is its versatility. From restaurants in Paris, France to concession stands in Gillette Stadium, mustard is always a player. Pair it with a casual weekend hot dog, or drizzle a warm mustard vinaigrette on a salad of arugula, beet, and fig topped with chèvre and your favorite nut. Combine with New England maple syrup to glaze pork, chicken or lamb and serve with a side of roasted roots.

Quite easy to make, mustard’s boldness requires matching with equally potent ingredients to fully unlock its potential. Most commonly mustard recipes include strong ingredients such as vinegar, white wine, turmeric, salt and a sweetener. But when incorporating unexpected, rich and interesting ingredients, that’s when mustard reveals its full magnificence. Enter fire cider. Fire cider is a much welcomed folk remedy for colds dating back to the 1970’s when Vermont Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar shared her recipe with the world. Concocted of apple cider vinegar, horseradish, honey, chili peppers, garlic and herbs, fire cider has become a staple in kitchens across the country and recognized as a premium culinary ingredient. It can be used in vinaigrettes or as a delicious brine for meats. Sweet, delectable and fiery, this flavor-packed elixir rivals the bite and complexity of mustard, making it the ultimate match. Fire cider is easy to make at home or can be purchased at the Ditty Bag in Mystic, Fiddleheads in New London or Willimantic Food Co-op.

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beauty

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d r a t s of mu

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ts s i i

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Spicy Fire Cider Whole Grain Mustard

Prep time: 15 minutes Makes one 6-8 oz container

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INGREDIENTS 4 2 6 3 4 3 2 1

tablespoons yellow mustard seeds tablespoons brown mustard seeds tablespoons dried mustard powder tablespoons hot water tablespoons fire cider tablespoons local raw honey teaspoons salt teaspoon ground turmeric

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EQUIPMENT Blender or mortar & pestle Small whisk Mason jars

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Measure out seed in either a blender or mortar and pestle. Crush or bruise seeds. Add in hot water to make a paste and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. 2. Add all other ingredients and whisk thoroughly. 3. Let sit for 20 minutes and taste. Adjust ingredients to your liking. For a more full-bodied whole grain mustard, finish off with an additional tablespoon of whole seeds and mix. Mustard will be bitter and thin to start. Within 24 to 48 hours of refrigeration, your flavor profiles will balance and the texture will thicken. 4. Refrigerate immediately or let sit longer to mellow, cap, and then refrigerate.

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, m e k a m u o t s y t s a a e rd’s b e t i u Q matching with equally oldness requires potent ingredients

to full y unlock its potential.

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Get Creative!

Use any number of wines, vinegars or pickle juice in place of the fire cider. Instead of the honey…molasses, maple syrup, maple sugar and brown sugar are all fantastic options. Experimenting with adding unique flavors such as fresh garden herbs, dried elderberry, apple sauce, lavender or bergamot can yield amazing and unexpected results. Package in any small mason jar with a ribbon, flowers, herbs and you have the perfect gift or favor. Find more on the Classic Fire Cider Recipe here.

JULI MANCINI, Recipe Developer, Food Stylist and consummate Maker of Goods, is interested in sharing the secrets of fantastic homemade discoveries.

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by Russell Holmberg, Holmberg Orchards Carla McElroy & Winter Caplanson photos

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best is one of the , our rain New England stony but deep e ar s il so r Apple . Ou ol and crisp. co to grow apples e ar s n m tu and our au with a is abundant, rms are rich fa r ou o, ls A with our here. tory traveled trees thrive is h is h T g. der makin ope. Their history of ci gland and Eur n E om fr s or ate and cest the local clim pioneering an to d te ap ad es were er changing trees and tast centuries, ev ed iv rv su as r h er it is er or wherev orchards. Cide ev en h W s. ue techniq ple. with time and ts with an ap ar st r de ci l made, al

20 CARLA MCELROY

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Choosing the

perfect fruit Great debate exists as to what makes the perfect cider apple. But, there are several attributes generally agreed upon for a good cider fruit. It should be relatively high in sugar, with a decent amount of acid, high in tannins, and with good aromatics. An apple that has all of these qualities can bear the label of a true cider apple. In modern orchards, we only have a few true cider apples. Many of the varieties of apples that were once exalted for their cider quality have been lost to time. As interest in cider waned during the latter part of the 20th century, cider orchards were removed and the apples were lost. These varieties were replanted with culinary apples - apples that eat well out of hand, but do not make exceptional cider. A few cider apples survived, though. The most notable varieties are Russet, Winesap and Baldwin. As cider has become a resurgent beverage, orchardists have been scrambling to revive and replant orchards of true cider fruit. At Holmberg Orchards, we are fortunate that our Russets survived. This is the backbone for most of our ciders. Other orchards have been successful replanting true cider apples from the UK and Europe. Whatever the varieties, good cider is usually made from a blend of apples: some apples bring aromatics and sugar, while others add acid, and still others deliver the tannins.

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WINTER CAPLAN SO

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"This is the new and expanding frontier that is...

...s cide rest 24 WINTER CAPLANSON

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setting American ders apart from the t of the world." CT FOODANDFARM.COM

Squeezing out the goodness When an apple leaves the orchard, it is destined for the mill. In the mill, it will be milled to a paste - or pomace - between two whirling metal drums. The process is loud and violent. In seconds, a bushel of apples will become pomace, which is quickly pumped into the press. The press will squeeze the juice from the apple pomace under a force of several tons. The juice quickly exits and the pomace and is pumped into huge vats for fermentation.

CARLA MCELROY

Fermentation is a frothing, churning, natural process that turns sweet apple juice into alcoholic cider. It is best conducted in the winter time when temperatures are cool and orchard work is slow. Cool temperatures moderate the fermentation naturally: preserving the aromatics of the fruit and introducing complexity from the yeasts.

The apple juice - or sweet cider - that leaves the press is about twelve to sixteen percent sugar. On its own, this juice will ferment to dry cider with about six to eight percent alcohol. But, this juice is rarely left alone. Before and during fermentation the cider makers begin to shape the cider. This is where it starts to get exciting. We may choose to do very little to the juice, as is the case with our original cider. This will give us a light bodied cider with classic apple flavor. Most of our cider is made in this simple, time tested way. Or, we may start to incorporate ingredients that dramatically change the way the cider tastes. On our farm, we make cider with honey, hops, spices, and other fruits added. This is the new and expanding frontier that is setting American ciders apart from the rest of the world. We are blending modern apples, cider apples, and new ingredients to create ciders previously unknown. It’s something akin to the craft beer explosion where experimentation is as welcomed as tradition. This has done a great service to our farm by creating new categories for cider, especially ones that can be made using modern, culinary apples.

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27 CARLA MCELROY

Ready for

28 CAPLANSON WINTER

in t After months , li to be filtered tin ci This is an ex mo the morning, a d e with a crew an d ci of of gallons a s cans. Machine , la whirling cans r wo ’s end, a year in to be put up . keeping apples

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cider is ready the tanks, our ed. ed, and packag ightly carbonat in farm. Early ng time at the truck arrives obile canning vide thousands equipment to di sixteen ounce der neatly into s of e and the chao are set in plac y’s r ensues. By da de ci d an s el ab ady on pallets, re rk sits neatly r fo t originally a storage buil

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the can

Drinkin &e WINTER CAPLANSON

CARLA MCELR

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ng enjoying cider Our cider is made and sold at our farm. At any time during the year, cans of cider are found amongst the pies, apples, and produce at our farm market. But the best time of the year to try our cider is in the summer and fall. This is when our orchards are open and you can buy and enjoy our cider from where it came. When drinking our cider, don’t overthink it. They’re meant to add to the experience of a fall day, or time with friends, or ease the burden of a day. Enjoy them in the moment, as they are. If you must search for depth inside your glass, consider the journey of the apple: passing from tree, to hand, to mill, to can. Because after all, it starts with an apple.…

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31 WINTER CAPLANSON

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terminology Let’s talk about basic seed saving jargon for a quick minute: WET SEEDS are seeds like tomatoes and squashes that

you harvest while the seed is wet. DRY SEEDS like beans, peas and corn are harvested

when the seed is dry. OPEN-POLLINATED means that the flowers are

fertilized by natural means and that if kept separate from other plants of the same variety (the degree of isolation required depends on the species), will breed true to type for the following generation. HEIRLOOM means that it is an Open Pollinated

variety that has been around for a few generations (not necessarily something that your great-great-grandma grew). All heirlooms are open pollinated, but not all open pollinated varieties are heirlooms. HYBRIDS are a variety of a plant created by crossing two parent lines. Sometimes hybrids create sterile seeds. In some cases, this is done on purpose by large seed breeding companies to monopolize the market. Sometimes you can save hybrid seeds and “dehybridize” them to end up with a really cool genepool and a lifetime of fun. F1 hybrid means that it is the first generation after crossing the parent plants. BREEDING PLANTS in nature is different than

creating GMOs in a lab. In a laboratory, seed genetics are altered on a cellular level far from sun and soil. Breeding plants to develop new varieties or for F1 hybrids is done by crossing two plants that have desirable traits while they are in the flowering stage. There is a dark side of F1 hybrids; seed breeding for hybrids on large commercial scale is a highly skilled labor that is often outsourced to countries that do not protect a fair wage or fair working conditions. CROSSERS are plants that cannot fertilize the flower themselves and need pollinators or wind to help; selfers are plants that can fertilize their own flowers.

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a guide to seed saving by Jenna Aldrich, Brown Farm Winter Caplanson photos

Every living thing in this beautiful, diverse and magical world starts, in one form or another, as a seed. Despite the importance of seeds, a seed’s origin is often overlooked when we strive to become more “local” by growing our own food. If you started your own garden plants from seeds this spring, where did your seed come from? Do you know which farm grew the seed? Do you know how many hands passed the seed on at each point in its journey? Do you even know what country it came from? You might remember the seed company that was on the packet, but where did they get the seeds from? Chances are, tracing the path from the seed farm to the seed packet is not as simple as you would think.

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By saving your own seed, you are able to improve the quality of the seed and subsequent generations of fruits and plants. There are several seed companies right here in the Northeast that are helping to make a seed’s path more transparent. Fedco Seeds, a renowned seed supplier based in Clinton, ME, includes a supplier code (on a scale of 1-6) with each seed description in their catalog. Seeds with a code of “1” come from small scale seed farmers, and seeds with a score of “5” or “6” come from enormous multinational organizations. High Mowing Organic Seeds of Wolcott, VT grows a ton of their own seed stock, but when the seed is sourced from a contract grower or an outside vendor, it is clearly labeled in the seed description, usually with the name of the supplier. Purchasing seeds directly from the seed farm that grew them is a great way to ensure that you know exactly where your seeds came from. The best option though, and the most beneficial to you, your garden, and your ecosystem, is to save your own seed! Saving seeds is stewardship of the land and preservation of plant varieties and food culture. It is political, radical, philosophical, and essential. It’s about breeding food resilience in our local communities; the seed is the first and last link in our local food cycle. And too often it is missing. To quote Matthew Dillon of the Organic Seed Alliance: “Seed Knowledge is eroding even faster than Seed Biodiversity.” Saving seed is fundamentally easy. Although some seeds are easier to save

than others, with a few basic techniques you can save any seed. Here in the Northeast, tomatoes (the gateway seed!), beans, peas, corn, cucumbers, melon and squash, herbs, lettuce, peppers, eggplant and spinach are all EASY SEED TO SAVE. Selecting open pollinated plants for saving seed is the most basic form of plant breeding; the seed steward selects for traits that they do or don’t want and saves seeds from those plants. Traits are anything that defines a plant or fruit; cold hardiness, heat tolerance, TASTE, plant growth habit, color, pest/ disease resistance…the list is endless! Our seed biodiversity is waning because the traits that make a vegetable or fruit marketable in a grocery store or grown at a large scale are quite different than small scale farming and gardening or being marketable at a farmers’ market or local food cooperative. Traits such as uniformity, storage life, and transportability are prioritized over taste, color, diversity, nutrition and cultural importance. As large-scale agriculture dominates how much of our population accesses food, it indirectly dominates how our seeds are grown and varieties selected (or not selected!) which is negatively affecting our seed biodiversity in a big way. Mother Nature is the matriarch of all seed stewards, and she is always seeking balance. If you are paying attention, you’ll see that Nature is selecting for the subsequent generations all the

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Another reason to save your own seed is for the pollinators! Plants that would normally be harvested before they flower, like broccoli, are instead allowed to go through their entire life cycle including producing flowers. This is very beneficial to our insect and pollinator populations. Pollinators, especially native pollinators, need a diversity of flowers in the early, mid, and late season. In addition to different blossom colors, size and shape play an important role as well. For example, overwintered brassica crops (such as kale, turnips, cabbages, etc.) provide small yellow flowers in clusters in early spring which is ideal for the braconid family of wasps. Feeding beneficial parasitoid wasps, having living roots in the soil through Winter, and getting a seed crop (assuming you only over wintered one Brassica – crossers

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time. If you have a plant in your garden with pest or disease pressure it is simply because that plant is not healthy, and Nature is finding balance. Unhealthy plants should not reproduce and pass on their genetics. Large commercial seed farms use synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides—both organic and conventional—to ensure a full crop of seed. There is no balance; plants that would have had the pest or disease are synthetically kept alive to reproduce. We are diluting our seed genetics and perpetuating the cycle of chemical use for generations of seeds and plants. By saving your own seed, you are able to improve the quality of the seed and subsequent generations of fruits and plants and be released from dependence of inputs in your garden beyond feeding the soil naturally.

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are gonna cross!) of a cold hardy vegetable acclimated to your microclimate (above and in the soil!) that you can plant again for the fall is a complete, beautiful cycle.

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how to save seed

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Sometimes planning for saving seed needs to be thought out before you sow the parent seeds. The Three Sisters garden is an example of premeditated seed saving. Choosing a flint corn that dries on the stalk and a storage bean to grow up the corn are keys to success, both in your crop harvest and your seed harvest. Choosing corn varieties that are flowering at different times than sweet or “cow” corn and planting them as transplants to really ensure that they won’t overlap in the flower stage and cross, is a simple way to isolate your crop. This method can be used with different vegetable families too. And sometimes saving seeds can be spontaneous acts of stewardship. If you still have tomatoes out in your garden, and they are an Open Pollinated variety, their seeds will be true to type. Saving seeds can be as simple or as complicated as suits you. You can go out to your garden, take a juicy bite out of a tomato and spit the seeds out and you’re on your way to saving seeds for next year!

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Wet Seed Saving, Tomatoes Saving WET, EASY seed is fairly straight forward. Tomatoes have mature seed at the eating stage. As a small-scale farmer, there are a lot of traits that I can select for as I choose tomatoes for saving seed; however

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sometimes I just go by intuition and I stuff a seemingly random fruit in my pocket because it struck me as a good candidate as I walked past the plant. Taste is always my top priority, but plant structure, fruit size, and color are all important traits too. Once you have chosen tomatoes for saving seed, cut them open with a knife or rip them open with your fingers. Squish out all the liquid and seeds into a jar, a pint mason jar works great. Unless there’s an off-type fruit that you’re trying to keep separate, put all the same variety from multiple fruits and multiple plants into the same jar. Add water and swish it around trying to get excess fruit chunks to separate from the seeds. Pour off

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the chunky water and add more water, making sure there’s plenty for the seeds to move around in. Depending on the volume of seeds in the jar, I usually end up filling the jar halfway full of water but fill accordingly to how many seeds you have. Make sure you label your jar and your seeds at every step -- your future self will appreciate it! Label the jar with the variety, notes if needed (such as if it was from a particular plant or fruit with specific traits), and the date. Cover the jar; if using the lid don’t put it on too tight. It’s better to use a metal canning band or a rubber band to secure a piece of cloth or paper towel over the jar, and let it ferment. Fermentation breaks

...the seed is the first and last link in our local food cycle... down the outer protective layer of the seed and improves the germination rate. Within a few days a layer of mold will form on the top, this is totally normal, and the viable seeds will have sunk to the bottom. Pour the mold and water off, careful to keep the viable seeds at the bottom in the jar. Rinse the seeds by adding fresh water, swishing, and pouring off. Once clean, pour the wet seeds onto a dish towel, paper towel or even a coffee filter. Spread them out into a single layer, smearing with a rubber spatula works well. Let the seeds dry in a warm well-ventilated space out of direct sunlight. If you have a lot of varieties or different types of seed drying at once, using the racks of a food dehydrator that is OFF can be a real space saver. Once fully dry you can separate the seeds from each other gently with your

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fingers and store them.

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Dry Seed Saving, Beans and Corn Saving DRY, EASY seed is also very straight forward – maybe even more so than wet seed. When saving dry seed, you let nature do most of the work, letting the pods dry down on the plants. The birds will let you know when your seed is ready, but you can also listen for it. Brassicas will sound like little maracas, the tiny black and brown seeds rattling in their slender pods. Pea and bean pods will get brittle to the touch, and sometimes let the seeds fall out. Beans have a percussion sound too; all dry seeds have their own song to sing when they are ready. Beans can be categorized by fresh eating (think green beans, either bush or pole) or dry storage (think Skunk or Scarlet Runner). Dry storage beans can be eaten fresh during summer and they

make a delicious dry bean to cook in winter. Fresh eating beans, although possible, don’t make a great winter cooking bean and seed saved should be for next year’s crop and not for eating in winter. When saving storage beans, save the biggest, plumpest beans from the fullest pods for seed and the rest for winter meals. When saving seed for fresh eating beans and peas, mark the healthiest plants with the tastiest pods with a scrap of cloth or ribbon tied around like a flag during the growing season and let them finish their cycle while harvesting food from the other plants. Once the plant and pods are completely dry and singing their seed songs, bring in the pods (or the whole plants!) for threshing. You don’t have to process the dry seed right away; dry seed can wait until the hustle of fall plantings and cover crop sowing and late summer harvests have waned. Your piles of pods and cobs will be waiting for you to keep your hands busy and connected to the seasons when you have time to start threshing.

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...with a few basi

Threshing is the process of separating the pod from the seed. Small batches can be done by hand, and this allows inspection of every seed to ensure quality and makes cleaning the seed in the next step easier. Larger batches can be done in a big tote or on a tarp with your feet, crushing the pods like Lucy crushing grapes. Pop or flint corn will have its rustling-husk seed song when it is ready. The kernels will be hard – you should not be able to dent the kernel with your fingernail. The husk will be pale and dry, and so will the stalk. Bring in your seed harvests before 40

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ic techniques you can save any seed...

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the weather, bugs or birds can squander it. Pull back the husk and expose the kernels and let the cob dry and cure further in a sunny, warm, dry spot. There are a variety of tools that can be used to help get the kernels off of the cob once husked. A simple short piece of PVC pipe that allows the cob to fit through but has four screws protruding into the center helps pop off the kernels as you push the cob through. Similar to saving storage beans, you want to save the prettiest, plumpest, healthiest cobs for seed and the rest for your winter breads, muffins, tortillas, and meals and mashes. Once you’ve freed the seed from the pods or gotten it off of a cob, you need to winnow to clean the seed. Try to get as much of the large debris out by hand, and then you will use a box

fan to blow on the seed while you pour it into a waiting bucket. The basic principle is that the viable seed is heavier than the plant material, and the seed will fall into the bucket and the debris will blow away. You can do this as many times as needed to get the seed as clean as you like. You can also use seed screens, either bought or homemade, to help clean the seed. You’ll want a variety of screens that allow different sized seed through. Be creative, experiment! Screens can be made out of all different types of material – walk around your local hardware store or that dark place in your barn or garage, to get ideas and materials. Think of it as a flat colander, with a wooden box-like lip of several inches to keep the seed and debris from rolling off the edges as you rock and shake the screen.

seed storage

After the seed is clean and dry, you can store the seed in any jar or envelope. Coin envelopes work well for small seeds. Letter envelopes that are new or reused, shipping mailers, mason jars, glass jars from store-bought sauce and salsa - really anything that can hold seed, keep out moisture and bugs, and can be labeled, will do. To maintain seed viability, keeping seeds cool and dry is very important. I like to use envelopes in all shapes and sizes and put all of those envelopes into a large, air-tight tote. You can use silica packets to help absorb moisture. I’ve found that the reusable mini dehumidifiers work very well. I try to store the totes at about 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the space I have available and the time of year. A tote with something to maintain low humidity inside, stored in the coolest part of your basement should be sufficient.

now you’re off and running…

Saving seeds connects us to the land, to the natural cycles and it can also connect us with our community. There is so much to learn, and so much to share, about saving seeds. This article barely scratches the surface of seed stewardship, and I hope it is a catalyst for your own curiosity. I hope you continue on a seed saving journey and do so in the company of community. Community is a very valuable resource for seed savers –saving our seed biodiversity is a communal effort and sharing seed knowledge is the foundation. Several other resources that I have found to be invaluable are the Seed Savers Exchange, the Seed Ambassador Project, and the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI). I’m hoping to organize a seed swap to be held at the Willimantic Farmers Market this fall. My goal is to connect our community through sharing seed and seed knowledge. If anyone is interested in helping or contributing in anyway, please reach out to me via email!

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About the author: Jenna Aldrich is the co-owner and farmer at Brown Farm in Scotland, CT. When not farming or seed saving, she is fixing things she broke, shepherding sheep, preparing for winter, and homeschooling her two kids. Callouts for Rita:

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It’s a bright and clear morning when I make my way to the old Swift Factory on Love Lane in Hartford. What once was the largest gold leaf manufacturing company in the country has now been turned into a workspace of offices, lofts, and private commercial kitchens that can be rented or leased. It is on the factory’s loading dock that Naima Craft meets me, then leads me into her kitchen area, its stainlesssteel surfaces glinting with sunlight. Naima stands near her baker’s bench, and we begin to chat. She is from Trinidad, and her accent is charming, her demeanor, calming. She explains everything the way a teacher does, clearly and matter-of-factly but with fervent passion. She starts by telling me about her business, The Craft. Established in 2019, The Craft is where baking and experience collide, offering a wide array of handmade baked goods for pickup or delivery, and hands-on baking classes. Yes, the company is named after her. But more than that, she explains, it is a bigger idea – to get people to experience the craft that goes into creating great products,

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and to bring together other crafters to highlight the entire community of local people making local goods. Like many others, Naima learned to bake from her grandmother. She loved baking throughout her childhood and teen years but didn’t plan on making a career of it. In fact, she earned her doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Hartford in 2010 and has worked as a physical therapist since. It was a gift from her husband, a baking class, that changed her path. She explains, “I remember my first experience at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont. I went for an English muffin class. I got in the class and got my hands in the ingredients, and I knew that was what I wanted to do. It brought me to tears.” She started to practice her baking more and more, and both she and her husband realized one, she was good at it, and two, it made her happy. She began to offer classes in her home. Neighbors, then friends of neighbors, started to request

her baked goods. She felt like this calling was outgrowing her home, so she rented the space in Hartford and thus The Craft began. She says, “I love eating, and I love eating good food, and I feel like people deserve to eat good food. I believe people experience significant joy and satisfaction eating good food. It literally touches their souls.”

“I got my hands in the ingredients, and I knew that was what I wanted to do” Since then, The Craft has been an online delivery and e-commerce bakery serving the Greater Hartford area. Customers place orders online at her website 24 hours in advance. Naima makes the orders in the morning, packages them, and delivers them, at first on her own, but now with help from a driver and bakery assistant. Items include croissants (which she is famous for), bagels (including homemade cream cheeses), cinnamon rolls, and vegan chocolate chip cookies, all of which are her top sellers. She also makes breads such as quick breads, English muffins (of course), and artisanal loaves like sourdoughs and challah, along with many other baked goods. She is a vendor at the Canton Main Street Farmers Market on Sundays, where she often sells out the first hour. The Craft also does catering.

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By now I am drooling and am unable to wait much longer for the real reason I am here – for her to teach me how to make her homemade toaster tarts. And so I ask, “What is next for The Craft?” Naima replies that due in part to her amazing social media following, and in part to the pandemic, she has already outgrown the Hartford space. She says, “During the pandemic, my business quadrupled because I was the only one who delivered! It was a blessing for my business.” Thankfully, she found The Craft’s next opportunity in East Granby, an area that reminds her of Vermont, where she once lived with her husband and where she took that fateful baking class. She says, “We are Vermonters at heart. I love the lifestyle, the feel, the air, the pace, that everything is earthy and organic and homemade. That area (East Granby) fits that and my brand as well. East Granby is an opportunity to establish a brick-and-mortar, where there’s nothing like it around, that can provide the community with a high-end artisanal bakery with gourmet beverages. I want, when people come into my establishment, that they have a little piece of home.” The Craft opens this fall at 10 East Street, East Granby, from WednesdaySunday, 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Until you can visit there, order The Craft online at thecraftexperience.store or try your hand at making Naima’s to-die-for DIY Toaster Tarts. I promise, you won’t regret it.

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To Make

the Pastry (yields 4 toaster tarts)

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Ingredients 8 ounces all-purpose flour ¾ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon granulated sugar ¾ teaspoon baking powder 8 ounces butter (chilled and cut into cubes) 2 eggs Extra flour for dusting your work surface Egg wash (made with one egg whisked together with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of water)

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Steps 1. Add to a food processor the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and cubed butter. 2. Turn the food processor on, and while it’s running, add the eggs one at a time. 3. Run until the dough starts to form, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gathering it together into a mound. 4. Roll the dough with a rolling pin to form a 10x8-inch rectangle. 5. Fold the bottom half up and the top half down, as you would a letter. 6. Rotate 90-degrees and repeat the letter fold. 7. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour. 8. Place chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and roll to form a 16x10-inch rectangle.

9. Cut dough into 8 4x4.5-inch rectangles. 10. Brush 4 of the rectangles around the perimeter with the egg wash. 11. Add your favorite filling. 12. Top each with one of the remaining 4 rectangles. 13. Use a fork to crimp the edges closed and poke holes in the surface. 14. Chill raw tarts in the refrigerator for 1 hour, or in the freezer for 15 minutes. 15. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 16. Brush each tart with egg wash. 17. Bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. 18. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

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Fun

Filling Ideas Your favorite jam or jelly Your favorite pie filling (homemade or store-bought canned) Apple Butter Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Pastry Filling (Solo brand, in a can, found in the baking aisle) Nutella

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To Make the

Frosting Ingredients 2 cups sifted confectioners’ (powdered) sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract whole milk

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Steps 1. Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and vanilla in a medium bowl. 2. Add the milk a teaspoon at a time until the mixture reaches a thick, not runny, consistency. 3. Spread evenly over the top of the cooled toaster tart. 4. Sprinkle on any desired toppings immediately. 5. Allow the finished tarts to set at least 30 minutes before devouring.

Fun Topping Ideas Sprinkles Nonpareils Colored sugars Cookie crumbs Crushed candy Crushed nuts

When she’s not teaching school or working at “The Mulb,” AMY S. WHITE can be found at home dancing in her kitchen while practicing her own baking craft.

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“I believe people experience

significant joy and

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d satisfaction eating

good food. It literally touches their souls.”

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Green & G – a love story

by MaryEllen Fillo Lisa Nichols photos

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Growing

Sarah Cook Colgan was smitten

with Mitchel Colgan’s cucumbers before she was smitten with him. That’s the shortened version of the sweet romance between Cook Colgan, the owner of Willimantic’s NOJ (Not Only Juice) Marketplace and Kitchen and Lebanon farmer, Mitch Colgan. “I never planned to meet someone but it was nice,“ said Cook Colgan, whose shop offers a variety of fresh-made, natural sandwiches,

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salads and blender drinks, featuring pesticide free produce and no refined sugar. She said was selling her wares at the popular Coventry Farmer’s Market when she lamented to a friend that she was in dire need of cucumbers for some of her creations. Her friend, who worked at Colgan’s farm, headed back to his booth at the market and shared the dilemma.

“All of a sudden he shows up with the vegetables,” Cook Colgan laughed, adding that she had ‘seen him around’ at different markets but never talked with him, “Somehow he knew about how crazy I was about good produce and we started talking more,” she said. “Then he found out how much I loved good tomatoes and started bringing me Clementine tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes, and other heirlooms.” “She does love her tomatoes,” said Colgan, whose Colgan Farm LLC specializes in assorted heirloom produce using sustainable

farming practices including no chemicals or GMOS. “Once I started providing her business with produce for her menu at the store, I remember trying to force excess produce on her because she had a problem with moderation when it came ordering my heirloom tomatoes” he said. “She loved them and couldn’t say no.” It didn’t take long for the two to arrange a first date, one that reflects their lifestyle, their personalities and their appreciation for a simple, but meaningful life.

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“the two agree that beyond the

traditional love of is their shared work e

product quality, and turning what is reape 70

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the heart , ethic, love of responsible farming, ed into wonderful dishes.” CT FOODANDFARM.COM

“We bought a pizza and sat on the back of his truck and ate it,” Said Cook Colgan about that night in 2019. “We realized we are both homebodies, love to cook good food, and watch tv. From then on we were a couple.” Married earlier this year, the two agree that beyond the traditional love of the heart, is their shared work ethic, love of responsible farming, product quality, and turning what is reaped into wonderful dishes. “While I think it was my charming personality that attracted her to me, she is special because it is hard in this business for your partner to understand how much time you have to put into farming,” Colgan explained. “I work a million hours a week and that means having to miss a lot of family activities and social events because the work has to be done. It takes someone who understands the value of that effort to appreciate it,” he added. “She does.” Colgan’s farm includes a few crops that are primarily used by his wife for her menu including kale, jalapeno peppers and, of course, certain heirloom tomatoes. Cook Colgan showcases that produce in offerings including “The Mill Town,” a kale, radish and parmesan salad on a toasted ciabatta roll with smashed avocado and house-made

lemon basil aioli. The tomatoes are used in sandwiches including “Not Your Father’s BLT, featuring house-made organic bacon on organic sourdough bread with smashed avocado, vegan mayonnaise and organic vegetables. The couple both still participate in a few farmers markets and Cook Colgan is in the midst of expanding her shop, as she, like so many in the industry, make COVID-driven adjustments to accommodate the change in the business culture. Admitting they both are very hard workers who put all they have into their businesses, the newlyweds also share that there are those romantic moments at the end of the day that mix a little business with pleasure and again reflect their mutual admiration and attraction for each other. “One night he dug up some of the Magic Mollies, a beautiful purple fingerling potato,” shared Cook Colgan as she offered an example of their ‘down time and a romantic night for two’ “We roasted them in the oven and were excited because they were the first of the season,” she said. “We sat down to a nice dinner and then we talked price point and whether buying seeds for a crop would be a good business decision.”

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land, how you treat it, how you use it, and

our businesses where ethics is very important.” CT FOODANDFARM.COM

Cook Colgan jokes that it was her husband’s “superior sense of humor” that she found irresistible. But beyond that she knew there was a bigger bond. “We share the same appreciation of the land, how you treat it, how you use it, and how what is produced is then used in our businesses where ethics is very important,” she said. “I joke that there is not a lot of traffic on the high road and that’s what we share when it comes to our philosophies personally and professionally.”

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salads N O SAD DESK

BY SARAH COOK COLGAN LISA NICHOLS PHOTOS

Salads lend themselves to an extraordinary amount of creative experimentation and expression. One is not bound by strict the metrics of baking nor worried about some small oversight leading to the colossal failure of your entire meal. There are only a few simple principles for making a salad, the first and foremost is starting with the finest and freshest vegetables you can find.

From there, your vegetables need to be prepared into an agreeable size as unwieldy sized bites have been relegated to the before times. Lastly, something which for me requires some precision and a modicum of restraint: do not overwhelm your salad with too much dressing. Inside this basic framework one can dream up the most fascinating creations mixing textures, flavors, and colors to create wildly appealing dishes.

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At NOJ Marketplace we pride ourselves on our use of local vegetables and the consistent freshness of our salads. How could a visually appealing salad full of fresh local vegetables, dressed to perfection, bring one anything but joy even if you are still relegated to eating it at your desk? From this dedication to creativity and flavor came our cheeky language in the menu category “No Sad Desk Salads.” As we continue to pivot our business, due to COVID, from an itty bitty vegetarian café to a gourmet, specialty, vegetarian marketplace, we have certainly become even more salad forward. We have retained our three most requested salads: Keeping Things Kale, All Hail Caesar, and Buddha Says Relax. From there we determine new salads most days based upon the bounty coming through our door from Colgan Farm.

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HERE IS FRAMEWORK FOR BUDDHA SAYS RELAX:

salad Dressing INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup each of roasted vegetables of your choice 1/4 cup garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)

1/2 cooked tri-color quinoa Handful of kale, massaged

(To massage, remove kale leaf from its central rib and tear into bit sized pieces. Add a pinch of sea salt and olive oil and toss to coat evenly. Really work the kale with your fingers by pinching and squeezing the kale for about 3-4 minutes. When the kale is tender and soft, you’re done!)

INGREDIENTS 1/2 C tahini

2/3 - 3/4 cups water (as needed) 3 Tb fresh lemon juice 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil 3/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)

DRESSING DIRECTIONS Combine all of the dressing ingredients into a high powered blender and blend until combined. Add water until you reach your desired consistency. Plate the salad by putting roasted vegetables onto a plate or in a bowl. Follow suit with both quinoa, garbanzo beans, and massaged kale. Put dressing into a 2-4 oz. ramekin and place on the plate. When you are ready to eat add your desired amount of dressing.

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“

HOW COULD A VISUALLY APPEALING SA FULL OF FRESH LOCAL VEGETABLE DRESSED TO PERFECTION, BRING ONE ANYTHING BUT

Joy

EVEN IF YOU ARE STILL

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ALAD ES,

”

L RELEGATED TO EATING IT AT YOUR DESK?

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PROVISIONS 82

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S ON STATE BY ERIK OFGANG

WINTER CAPLANSON PHOTOS

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t ATS & FISH” tha E M Y R E C O R “G dow, od. Or perhaps tters on the win o le rh l o a b it h p a ig c e n in k s c o rd ast R aybe it’s the wo at Tavern on n h New Haven’s E g w u o d ro th rs o lk o a d w w u e a fe draw you in as yo ingrone has don cooking and see M n y w il o m r u E f yo e h in C t ts a h dien you’re a fan of w her favorite ingre e s u to e c n a h c a ade. State, and want sausage gets m e th y, ll ra te li e where, quit

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“once you step down a few steps from street level you’ll find yourself in a Willy Wonka-esque world of choice cuts of meat and high-end food... Regardless of what brings you there, once you step down a few steps from street level you’ll find yourself in a Willy Wonkaesque world of choice cuts of meat and high-end food products ranging from artisan condiments to locally produced cheese. A neon light in the shape of a pig behind the meat counter gives the one-room space a hipster vibe but there’s also a deeply throwback feel to the neighborhood spot that is a perfect addition to New Haven’s already great but-somehow-alwaysimproving East Rock neighborhood.

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Welcome to Provisions on State, Emily Mingrone and Shane McGowan’s butcher shop and boutique grocery. An extension of their award winning restaurant, Tavern on State, it is one of those rare good things born of the COVID-19 crisis. “During peak pandemic, we had some ideas on how to kind of maximize our potential as a business during that time when we couldn’t have indoor dining,” recalls Mingrone. “So on the Tavern menu, we ended up doing a little section that said ‘Provisions,’ and we were showing sliced meat, sliced cheeses, stuff that people might need that they didn’t want to go to the grocery store for. We even had toilet paper on there.” The temporary program was a hit and when a nearby storefront became available, Mingrone and McGowan decided to serve customers “provisions” full time. It was a natural progression for Mingrone. In addition to working as a chef at celebrated Connecticut restaurants such as ZINC New Haven, Match in Norwalk, and former Jessup Hall in Westport, Mingrone had worked at Fleishers Craft Butchery in Westport for a time. While there, she had met Zach Pierce, who she enlisted as the head butcher at Provisions on State. Now Pierce presides over an advanced meat program. Specialties include housemade sausages made either from beef, lamb, or pork. The pork sausages are the most popular. Pork in general is a focus at Provisions and is sourced from Walden Hill, a New England company which works with several Connecticut farms to produce heritage pigs raised on a sustainable diet of acorns.

“ the store serves as an immersive display of all the favorite foods Mingrone has accumulated on her culinary journey 88

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In addition to showcasing Pierce’s skills as a butcher, the store serves as an immersive display of all the favorite foods Mingrone has accumulated on her culinary journey. “I handpick everything,” she says. “I try to make sure that the ingredients are interesting and high quality, but we’re also conscious of making sure that we keep it within a reasonable price point because we want to be a neighborhood market.” Rancho Garden Heirloom Beans, Sfoglini pastas as well as local cheeses and coffees are among these favorites. There are also cocktail making tools and supplies and a small selection of books about food including works from Jeremy Fox and Anthony Bourdain. Seafood options include New Brunswick Oysters and salmon from the Faroe Islands as well as other fish from local and regional waters. Provisions on State opened in the fall of 2020. Today, Provisions and the Tavern have a relationship that is symbiotic in all the right ways. “All of our ground beef and other meats or steaks come from Provisions,” Mingrone says. “So we have access to the freshest possible meats. And also, they get more interesting stuff than I’m able to get by the case from a distributor. So if he’s got a beef tongue or something like that, I can experiment.”

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It’s that old school vibe ”

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“ An extension of their award-winning restaurant, Tavern on State

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“ e, it is one of those rare good things born of the COVID-19 crisis.

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The beauty of this can be seen — and tasted — in a recent night out at Tavern on State in the form of a pork coppa steak, which is among the best pork dishes I’ve ever had. “That’s a custom cut, that’s typically only available from a butcher,” Mingrone says. While many of us may not be capable of making dishes this good on our own, shopping at Provisions on State at least gives us access to ingredients of equal quality and the store can serve as an incubator of our cooking skills. Mingrone’s advice to aspiring home chefs visiting the shop: “Form a relationship with the butchers.” She adds, “If you’re not so sure what you’re walking into, the guys are always ready to help. You can just have an open conversation about what you’re looking to do, what you feel comfortable doing. The butchers might have some ideas that you might not even have thought that you were capable of.” This true neighborhood aesthetic is what Provisions is all about. “We want people to feel like we’re their friends, it’s like, ‘Okay, I gotta go see Zach down at the butcher,’” Mingrone says. “It’s that old school vibe of the butcher and the baker, and whatever else. Just being able to come down there and be like, ‘Hey, I want to cook something tonight, I’m in the mood for something on the grill. What do you got that’s good.’”

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This true d o o h r o b h neig aesthetic is what Provisions is al about. ” CT FOODANDFARM.COM

sals

seasoned

by Kristin L.Wolf Winter Capla

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sicus sal-si-cus

d with salt

fe and Zach Pierce anson photos

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here’s no way around it, folks: sausage will forever be subjected to the double entendre. So, think it; say it; laugh at it; then get it out of your system. There are recorded recipes since the 1300s, and there seems to be a version of it from every culture around the globe. Either way, whether it’s dried, cured, smoked, raw, pickled, or a process in between, there’s likely a link for your palate.

intimidated, yet still inspired to try your hand (oh boy) at making sausage at home. Pierce made it look so easy, but practice, of course, makes perfect. Having high quality meat and equipment will surely improve your odds. Pierce actually compares the process with that of baking, where the balance of ingredients, time, temperature, and form are key elements to getting a great link.

After an afternoon at Provisions on State, shadowing head butcher Zach Pierce, you might feel a bit

From farms and kitchens all over Connecticut (like Saugatuck Craft Butchery, now Fleishers, where he met

Chef Mingrone), to shops in Philadelphia, Pierce knows each detail of how the animals he has butchered are raised, to how to perfectly craft the meat for charcuterie. Saying he’s well-seasoned at his craft is an understatement. In his words, let’s let Pierce walk us through the basic steps. He’s sharing with CFF two of their popular selections: the Bratwurst, just in time for OktoberFest, and a new blend they created as a Valentine’s special which now has become a favorite: the Hot Date sausage, a perfect blend of spicy and sweet.

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DID YOU KNOW: The word “sausage” was first used in English in the mid-15th century, spelled “sawsyge”. This word came from Old North French saussiche (Modern French saucisse). The French word came from Vulgar Latin salsica (sausage), from salsicus (seasoned with salt).

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“When making sausage, I like to season the meat before grinding…. it will save you a lot of work and avoid pockets where some spice might accumulate. “Grind meat through a medium-coarse grinder plate. It’s important that the meat is really cold to avoid potential fat rendering. “Once ground, mix thoroughly, like you’re kneading a bread dough. When it is first ground, it will be very loose. Mix until the sausage can stick to itself and comes together as one. I like to hold a piece out and if it sticks to my hand upside down (a la Dairy Queen), it’s ready to stuff. “Fill your sausage stuffer with the mix, making sure there are no air bubbles; really squish it in as tightly as possible. Start cranking slowly as the sausage comes out, keeping pressure on the casings until they are filled. When linking, twist each link about 4-5 times until firm. Use a toothpick or sausage poker to let out any visible air bubbles.”

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Hot Date

(makes 10lbs) 10lbs boneless lamb shoulder 58 grams kosher salt 10 grams cumin 2 cups dried dates, chopped 1 12 oz can harissa

Bratwurst 10lbs boneless pork shoulder 58 grams kosher salt 15 grams black pepper 10 grams coriander 7 gram ginger 7 gram nutmeg

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Here’s where those in the know source more of the best fresh sausages in Connecticut: Provisions on State, New Haven V. Czapiga & Son, Meriden and Martin Rosol’s Meats in New Britain are both renowned for their fresh kielbasa. Kane’s Market, Simsbury – “Luis makes some of the best smoked and raw artisan sausages I have had in a long time. Flavorful, well-balanced, perfect texture, just the right amount of fat. His andouille is particularly wonderful and works with so many dishes and complimentary flavors.” Chef Ben Dubow Longhini Sausage Company, New Haven. Their sweet Italian chicken sausage is a fan favorite. La Molisana Sausage Production Company, Waterbury - specializes fresh homemade Italian sausage as well as dry, and they make their own coppa and sopressata. LaRosa Marketplace, Hartford – “Most sausage makers also only produce hot or sweet. LaRosa makes a medium that is just right.” Jerome Phillip Custom Meats Whole Animal Butchery, Fairfield – especially their honey sausage. Noack’s, Meriden – German specialties like Knockwurst, Weisswurst, and Bratwurst. New Morning Market, Woodbury - uses natural antibiotic-free, humanely raised heritage breed pork. South Side Meat Market, Bristol Grass and Bone, Mystic D&D Market, Wethersfield Sought after Connecticut farms’ custom sausages include Taylor Spring Farm’s maple breakfast sausages; and the links from Howling Flats Farm, Canaan; Copper Hill Farm, Somers; Hooting Owl Farm, East Haddam; and Walden Hill Farm.

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For starters, “forcing” is a misnomer because it sounds too much like work. We’re just tricking the bulbs into thinking winter is over quite a bit sooner than it is. Forcing is an easy sleight of hand that offers the soul-restoring scents and colors of spring at a time of year when spirits sorely need reviving. But you need to plant now, in autumn, to enjoy the results when the snow flies! Although we usually think of forcing Daffodils, Hyacinths, and Tulips, many of the smaller bulbs are also extremely easy and gratifying to force: Crocus, Muscari (Grape Hyacinth), Scilla, Dwarf Irises, and Anemones also will give great results. Forced bulbs can be divided into two groups: those that require a chilling period and those that don’t. When bulbs do need chilling, what they actually require is many weeks less than typical northern winters. (See the list at the end of this piece for details.)

In a nutshell, here’s what you do… fo rc tha

bs d

e bul t nee

Pot the bulbs in any well-draining potting mix, water them, and set them aside in a cool but not freezing dark spot for the required minimum time (see end), then bring them into warmth and light in the house. The bulbs think spring has arrived and quickly sprout and flower. It’s that easy — the bulbs do most of the work.

This is a great project to do with young children, if you want to invite the kids or grandkids to participate. The actual planting is a little messy, so it’s a good idea to spread some newspapers to catch any spilled soil, gather all your pots in one spot, and do all the planting at one time.

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You can use any pot you like to hold bulbs you want to force, as long as it allows room for root growth — about 3-4” of space below the bulbs. This is a great opportunity to showcase flea market finds and tag sale treasures, or your favorite terra cotta pots. If you choose a pot without a drainage hole in the bottom, you’ll have to water your bulbs carefully, because bulbs that sit in soggy potting mix soon will rot. Consider using a ceramic or terra cotta pot if you’re forcing tall Daffodils or Tulips. These flowers can be top-heavy when in full bloom and may topple if grown in lightweight plastic pots. We recommend that you plant bulbs in a soilless potting mix (available at garden centers and hardware stores). A soilless mix holds moisture but allows excess water to drain away readily.

To pot the bulbs, begin by placing potting mix in a plastic tub or bucket. Slowly add water and stir until the mix is moist but not soggy. This is an ideal job for a very young assistant, if you’d like to invite a child or grandchild to join the fun. Add the moistened mix to the container until the pot is about three-quarters full. Set the bulbs root-side down on top of the mix (or on their sides if you can’t tell which end is up, as with Anemone blanda). Space the bulbs much more closely than you would in the garden – they should almost touch. Then add more mix. Cover small bulbs completely with a ½” layer of mix; cover larger bulbs up to their necks, leaving the tips of the bulbs exposed. Water thoroughly after potting.

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To force cold-hardy bulbs into bloom, you must first encourage them to produce new roots by keeping them cool and moist for a period of time that varies by type of bulb (see end). The ideal rooting temperature also varies, but most bulbs flower best if stored at 40-60°F for the first 3-4 weeks after potting, then at 32-40° for the balance of the cooling period – a shift that mimics the drop in soil temperature outdoors as fall turns to winter.

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The easiest way to chill bulbs is to put them outdoors and let nature do the rest. To insulate the bulbs from rapid changes in air temperature and from freezing cold, bury the pots in a pile of dry leaves held in place by a plastic tarp or in a pile of mulch, such as bark or wood chip, and cover the pile to prevent formation of a frozen crust. You also can chill bulbs in a cold frame if you’re lucky enough to have one; a cold basement; or an unheated garage (provided the temperature doesn’t fall below freezing). If you choose to chill bulbs in the refrigerator, be certain there is no fresh fruit stored inside. Fruit releases ethylene gas as a natural part of its natural ripening process, and the ethylene will interfere with flower development. In locations other than a refrigerator, it may be difficult to arrange for the ideal shift in temperature described above. Fortunately, most bulbs haven’t read the manuals, and they will root beautifully if the temperature does not stray too far above or below 40°F during the rooting time. Professional growers fill huge walk-in coolers with potted bulbs and control the temperatures precisely. Using an old refrigerator in a basement can deliver great results without ever touching the temperature controls. The possible downside to outside storage has four little legs. If mice or other rodents have access to your bulbs, they will devour all but the varieties that are poisonous or distasteful to them (such as Narcissus, more commonly known as Daffodils). Protect potted bulbs with steel mesh, such as hardware cloth. Please note that moisture is as important as temperature in the successful chilling of bulbs. Check the potting mix in the pots every few weeks and water thoroughly when the surface is dry to the touch. Toward the end of the recommended rooting time, begin checking the pots for signs that the bulbs have rooted. If you see fleshy white roots poking through the drainage holes in the bottom of the pots, the bulbs are usually ready to bloom. If you don’t see roots, give the bulbs more time in cold storage. Don’t judge readiness by the appearance of shoots from the tops of the bulbs; without roots, the bulbs won’t flower properly. Once the bulbs have rooted, you don’t have to bring them out of the cold immediately. Most will tolerate extra chilling time, allowing you to orchestrate a succession of winter bloom.

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We’re just tricking the bulbs into

thinking winter is over quite a bit sooner than it is.

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When the bulbs have rooted, bring the pots out of cold storage and set them in a bright window in a cool room (one where the temperature stays below 65°F). Bright light will help keep the leaves and flower stems compact; in weak light, they tend to flop. You’re likely to find that the bulbs have produced white shoots during cold storage. Sunlight quickly turns them green. Keep a close eye on the moisture needs of the bulbs as they send up leaves and flower stems. Initially, the bulbs probably won’t need to be watered more frequently than once a week (if that much), but by the time they bloom, you may need to water them every day or two. Most bulbs will bloom 2-5 weeks after they come out of the cold, heralding spring with their bright colors and sweet fragrances. Duration of bloom varies with the type of bulb and the variety but is generally shorter than you’d expect of bulbs in the garden. Warm temperatures and low humidity indoors speed the decline of the flowers. Shifting the pots out of direct sunlight and moving them to a cool room at night helps prolong bloom. When the blooms fade, we usually recommend that you toss the bulbs on the compost pile. If you keep them in a sunny window and continue to water them, forced bulbs can be planted in the garden after the threat of hard frost has passed, but they won’t bloom well again for at least two years. Tulips rarely bloom again, but Daffodils, Crocus, and Grape Hyacinth are more likely to be worth the effort of planting.

n the snow flies! CT FOODANDFARM.COM

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Professionals often recommend very lengthy cold periods, but we’ve had good results at home using the minimums listed here. Remember that bulbs can keep chilling for longer than the minimum. Please note that Tulips do require the longest period to flower successfully.

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Anemone (Windflower), 8-10 weeks Chionodoxa (Glories of the Snow), 10-12 weeks Crocus (Spring-blooming Crocus), 8-10 weeks Galanthus (Snowdrops), 10-12 weeks Hyacinthus (Hyacinth), 12-14 weeks Dwarf Iris (Iris reticulata and other spring-blooming bulbous species), 10-12 weeks Leucojum (Summer Snowflake), 8-10 weeks Muscari (Grape Hyacinth, to keep the leaves shorter, store cool and dry for 6-8 weeks, then give 2 weeks of cool rooting time) Trumpet Daffodils, 14-16 weeks Large-Cupped Daffodils, 15-17 weeks Small-Cupped Daffodils, 16-18 weeks Double-Flowered Daffodils, 16-18 weeks Split-Corona Daffodils, 14-16 weeks Narcissus (Triandrus), 16-17 weeks Narcissus (Cyclamineus), 14-15 weeks Narcissus (Jonquilla), 15-16 weeks Narcissus (Tazetta), 14-15 weeks Narcissus (Miniature), 14-16 weeks Scilla (Squill), 10-12 weeks Tulipa (Tulip), 14-16 weeks

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s tion a r t s u l l I Words & AS by KATIE LUK 124

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WINTER

CAPLANSON photos CT FOODANDFARM.COM

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I have been working with my hands since I was a child,

most recently focusing on carving spoons and other small items as well as weaving, knitting, and dyeing textiles. “Can I make a brush, with my own two hands?” is not a question most people ask themselves—myself included! Until I started seeing Instagram posts here and there from people who were making brushes, and they looked interesting and highly functional, which I like to keep in my work. Eventually, I bumped into an Instagram story by Aspen Golann, an incredibly talented woodworker, which was a detailed tutorial about how to make brushes. So naturally I bought 10 pounds of Tampico fiber (pro tip: this is a LOT of fiber) from Caddy Supply Company, and gave it a shot. What I like about brushes is that they are both functional and kind of unexpected and whimsical – you can make a very straightforward brush with a specific purpose, like the pastry brushes I’ve been making lately – or you can make something that’s more sculptural and evocative. You can keep them small enough to be low stakes, and they’re a great way to learn about the properties of wood and how it reacts to you. You don’t need a lot of stuff – fiber, wood, a drill, something to cut the wood with – and you can end up with an end product that is endlessly fascinating.

PS: I am gauging interest in brush making kits. Chime in here! CT FOODANDFARM.COM

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the art of 146

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BY MOLLY CLARK WINTER CAPLANSON PHOTOS

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I’M SITTING

on my kitchen floor staring at the upholstered vanity stool I just bought off Facebook Marketplace. I realize I’m in way over my head. When I purchased the stool, I was drawn to the design of the legs, but I wasn’t crazy about the upholstery on the seat. My initial plan was to reupholster it myself, but as I’m sitting here on the floor examining it, I begin to understand that I have no idea what I’m doing. Luckily, I’ve recently met Kim Pettey of Pinc! Home Furnishings in Stonington, Connecticut. Pettey and her employees are professionals when it comes to all things reupholstery. When I sit down with her and explain my conundrum, she’s happy to help. She reassures me that my project is possible and provides some tips for me, or anyone, looking to adventure into the world of DIY reupholstery.

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She reassures me that my project is possible and provides some tips for me, or anyone, looking to adventure into the world of DIY reupholstery.

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“Start with something simple,” Pettey advises. “If you’re going to do a dining room chair, I’d buy one that already has an upholstered seat. It’s always easier to start with something you can take apart and see how it was done in the first place. You can tell a lot from taking a piece of furniture apart. Even if it’s falling apart, you can still tell how it was done well the first time.” I admit to Pettey that I’m too intimidated to even start taking apart the stool. She’s kind enough to provide me with step-bystep instructions for how to reupholster a chair seat.

“Start with something simple,”

Pettey advises.

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I know ar 152

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I have a textile background. what fabrics are going to last and what fabrics re going to work well for a certain application... CT FOODANDFARM.COM

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...it’s worth reupholstering if it’s something that’s

important to you...

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1. Depending on the shape of the wooden seat base and its quality, you may have to cut a new one. Use plain plywood, ½ inch to ¾ inch thick. 2. Cut foam with an electric turkey knife about ½ inch wider than plywood all around the wood base. The height will ultimately depend on how high you want the seat to be. 3. Glue foam to the base. Using spray adhesive is good. 4. Put a layer of polyester batting over the foam. Pull it down and around the seat and staple. You will need a pneumatic or electric stapler. 5. Measure from the bottom base of the wood, over the foam and back down to the wood. Add two inches to that measurement and cut fabric to that size. Measure the fabric from each corner to determine where the middle point of each side will be. Mark these middle points with a pencil. 6. Put the fabric face up, over the wood with foam on top, smooth well with your hand to prevent divots. Staple middle points first. 7. Repeat on all sides of the chair. 8. Flip the seat over to see if any parts are loose. If so, fix them and restaple. 9. Fold the corners in and cut away excess fabric. 10. Cover the bottom of the wood board with black cotton fabric. 11. Voila! Your project is complete!

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I’m immediately reassured my project is doable, but I’m curious at what point someone on a DIY reupholstery journey should enlist the help of a professional like Pettey. “I would say vintage furniture. For sure if it’s a family heirloom or something that has value or perceived value, say it’s your grandmother’s,” Pettey advises. “Other than the actual workmanship of getting it done professionally, we can get fabrics that are much more durable than the average person can locate on their own. I have a textile background. I know what fabrics are going to last and what fabrics are going to work well for a certain application.” Pettey shows me around her workshop where she and her staff are busy completing custom orders including couches, chairs and even boat seats, the latter of which is for a boat that has emotional value for the owner.

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When it comes to either a DIY reupholstery or a professional one, Pettey explains why and when it can be important. “My answer has always been it’s worth doing if it’s something that’s important to you, because it’s an heirloom or because it’s sentimental or because you found it on the side of the road and you absolutely love it,” she says. When it comes to custom, antique pieces, Pettey often collaborates with Deborah Norman, owner of Grand & Water Antiques in Stonington Borough, Connecticut. Norman, an antiques professional with a background in American history, often finds amazing pieces that need to be reupholstered and sends them over to Pettey who completes the project and returns them to Norman. Norman, in turn, sells the pieces in her antiques shop. “I had this large round ottoman that was a really good, quality piece of furniture that wasn’t terribly old,” Norman says. “It was a really sad brown suede. I thought, ‘Let’s do it.’ So, we took a Kilim rug and she (Pettey) cut it all apart. It was a statement piece, and it took about two weeks until it sold. So, it’s really fun when you hit it absolutely right.”

Pettey and Norman’s collaborations result in the perfect products for shoppers who don’t want to go through either the DIY or custom reupholstery process, but simply want to walk into an antique shop and buy something they like on the spot. “My tagline is ‘antiques with a modern twist,’” Norman tells me. “Basically, I take an old chair, the ones I do best are pairs of 1930s and 1940s club chairs because they’re very comfortable, but they need a new life. It sounds weird, but the chair kind of speaks to me about what it wants. Kim is always willing to do anything fun and she knows how to source some of these fabrics that I can’t.” Norman speaks of one of the appeals of buying an antique piece that has been reupholstered, that is, the history behind the piece. She tells me a story about visiting a ninety-one-year-old man’s home who was selling his furniture. There she found an African bench that had been owned by the man’s grandfather. He told her that his grandfather had invented and patented conveyor belts, which had been used for diamond mining in Africa. It’s this history of the pieces,

...it’s really fun when

absolu

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Norman says, that keeps her engaged in the antiques business and often keeps customers coming back. “That’s the part that I truly love,” she says. “Just thinking about sets of china people had for fabulous dinner parties and what was talked about. Or old mirrors. What have they seen over the course of hundreds of years? Sometimes it can just make you daydream.” As my conversation with Norman continues, I start to daydream myself. I’m feeling reinspired and positive in completing my DIY vanity stool. I know Pettey is just a phone call away if I get overwhelmed and decide to enlist the help of a professional, and, if I decide a ready-made piece might be my best option, I know Norman’s shop is the place to go. Next Saturday I’m back on the kitchen floor with my stool. I’m more confident and more equipped to complete my project. I think about Norman’s story about the African bench. Perhaps this piece will someday be an heirloom piece for my granddaughter. I remember Norman’s words: “Put a little time and love into it.” I smile and get to work.

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by Tony Vengrove Winter Caplanson photos

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The holiday season

is near and that’s prime time for celebratory meals and libations. To help get into the spirit and inspire your holiday menu planning, we curated a list of some of our favorite Connecticut distilleries that offer award-winning spirits made with local grains and fruit. Whether you’re on the hunt for a quintessential Connecticut-made gift or looking for a new spirit or craft cocktail to enjoy with family and friends this season, these great distilleries will not disappoint. Connecticut’s craft distillery scene continues to grow and prosper with many earning national and international accolades. You will find offerings in most popular segments like bourbon, whiskey, vodka, gin, assorted liqueurs and brandies...even craft cocktail cans. Got a craft-spirit lover on your gift list? You are sure to find something for everyone’s taste!

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Litchfield Distillery Litchfield, CT Since launching in 2014, Litchfield Distillery has quickly become the state’s leading craft distillery offering a diverse line up of local spirits featuring bourbons, rye whiskey, vodkas, gins, and craft cocktail cans. The distillery sources Connecticutgrown corn, rye and barley to distill their spirits and has earned awards from top spirit-tasting competitions across the country. They were recently awarded “Best Distillery” for the fifth consecutive year by Connecticut Magazine and “2021 CT Whiskey Distillery of the Year” by the New York International Spirits Competition. The distillery batches eight expressions of bourbon including an exceptionally smooth Vanilla Bourbon and a Maple Bourbon. The latter is flavored by finishing their Straight Bourbon in oak barrels that previously aged maple syrup. They are both wonderful spirits to enjoy neat or in holiday cocktails. Love spiked eggnog? Try adding either the Vanilla or Maple Bourbon, or a combination of both, to your favorite local eggnog and top off with some grated cinnamon or nutmeg. If you have a bourbon aficionado on your gift list, we suggest Litchfield Distillery’s Port Cask Finished Bourbon—a double platinum medal winner at the 2021 American Spirits Council of Tasters Awards.

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Continuum Distilling Waterbury, CT Continuum Distilling is a distinctively different distillery that crafts spirits from reclaimed beer. Since launching in early 2020, the company built a network of regional breweries that supply unused or expired-dated beer to Continuum who then distills it into specialty spirits. The distillery is committed to sustainability, reducing waste, and reclaiming materials as much as possible. Evidence of this pledge can be found in all their products—like their two flagship spirits, Charred and Drops. Charred is a whiskey-like brown spirit distilled from reclaimed brown ales, stouts

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and porters and aged for 8 to 12 months with local oak staves. The staves were sourced from oak trees felled by the microburst storm that hit western Connecticut in 2018. They also produce Drops, a clear spirit born from hop-forward beers. It is a versatile spirit that can replace any clear spirit in classic cocktails from Gin and Tonics to Mojitos. It is bright, floral, with hop-forward and juicy, citrusy notes that are evident on the nose and palate. Try adding 1 ounce of Drops to 2 ounces cranberry juice, 1/4 ounce fresh lime juice, a splash of tonic water and garnish with fresh cranberries for a festive and refreshing holiday cocktail.

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Westford Hill Distillers Ashford, CT Located on a beautiful 200-acre 18th-century property, Westford Hill Distillers produces artisan brandies, gin, and vodka. We are especially enamored with their small-batch Eaux-de-Vie, which are fine brandies crafted with locally grown pears, cherries, raspberries, and apples. They are delicious enjoyed neat, which is the traditional style adored for generations by Europeans. Or, they can be integrated into cocktails, like a Cosmopolitan, to add a touch of authentic fruit flavor. Westford Hill’s Kirsch is a great choice for the holiday season. It is produced from tart, intensely flavored Montmorency cherries. The cherries are picked at their ripest, quickfrozen to preserve flavor, then cold-fermented using the whole fruit to maximize flavor. You’ll enjoy subtle cherry aromas and a hint of almond followed by a long, clean finish. Beyond cocktails, Kirsch is also a great cooking ingredient—most famously associated with the distinctively complex flavor in cheese fondue.

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5th State Distillery Bridgeport, CT 5th State Distillery is the first licensed distillery in Bridgeport since Prohibition. Its name pays homage to Connecticut’s rich history as the fifth state to join the Union. You’ll discover a lineup that includes an assortment of gins, whiskeys, vodkas, and specialty spirits—all distilled from Connecticut-sourced corn. This year, the distillery earned “CT Gin Distillery of the Year” honors from the New York International Spirits Competition. Their Ginger Zap Vodka is unique to Connecticut’s spirit offerings. Fifth State crafts this expression by infusing their Vodka with fresh ginger. The result is a bright, slightly sweet and peppery spirit that will add some delicious spice to your cocktails. It’s a great choice for making Mules and we highly recommend using it in your next Bloody Mary. If you want something extra indulgent for the holiday season, check out their Chocolate XS, a semi-sweet chocolate liqueur with an intense chocolate flavor and velvety mouth feel. It’s a delightful addition to a martini.

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Watercure Farm Distillery Pomfret Center, CT Located in the northeast corner of Connecticut at the former entrance to the historic Gwyn Careg Estate, is the home of Watercure Farm Distillery, the state’s first “farm distillery.” Established in 2019, Watercure was born out of Connecticut’s “Farm to Flask” bill, which became law in 2017 and enabled farmers to distill and sell spirits if they used at least 25% local farm-grown ingredients. Watercure sources 100% of their ingredients from their Pomfret farm and other local farms to create their small batch vodka, whisky and rum. Their delicious Apple Spice Flavored Rum is a great bottle to have on hand this holiday season. It is rum, blended with apple cider, cinnamon and other spices. According to Watercure, it is their most popular expression. Enjoy it in a hot mulled spiked apple cider with a cinnamon stick and sip slowly in front of a warm, cozy fire as you savor its comforting aromas and taste.

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SoNo 1420 American Craft Distillers South Norwalk, CT SoNo 1420 carved a distinctive niche in the spirits market by incorporating hemp seed into all the spirits it produces. Located within walking distance to South Norwalk’s vibrant Washington Street district, the distillery markets several types of whiskeys, gins and vodkas. Earlier this year, its 1420 BBN Whiskey earned a double gold medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. If you are a Rye drinker, try Sono 1420’s Hemped Rye. It’s made from 75% rye, 15% corn, and 10% milled hemp seed. You’ll pick up some pepper on the nose, with a faint and elusive honey undertone and there is plenty of peppery and cinnamon spice on the palate followed by a slightly dried fruit finish. It’s a nice every-day sipper, but also a great choice to incorporate into classic cocktails like a Manhattan. If you like turning your friends onto new, unique products, serve up SoNo 1420 at your holiday gathering and intrigue your guests with their unique product story.

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Mine Hill Distillery Roxbury, CT

The site where Mine Hill Distillery operates was once a thriving center of Industrial Revolution commerce. Over 150 years ago, the Mine Hill section of Roxbury was buzzing with steel and granite mining activity as well as tobacco farming. Today, Mine Hill Distillery operates out of a renovated 1860 cigar factory and an 1872 restored train station. In 2017, the beautiful restoration work on these buildings was recognized by the state of Connecticut with a Historic Preservation Award. The old cigar factory is where you’ll find Mine Hill’s distilling operations that produce smallbatch gin and vodka, both distilled from local Connecticut grains. The distillery recently announced plans to release a bourbon expression and a rye whiskey in late 2021. Mine Hill Gin is a classic dry gin made with botanicals inspired by the fields and forest surrounding Mine Hill. One unique botanical ingredient the distillery incorporates is eastern white pine, which makes this gin feel a little extra holiday-esque. Perhaps enjoy it in a classic Gin and Tonic after trimming the tree!

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nt for a quinte u h e h t n o e ssent r ’ u o y i a r r o t l c i r r a e i f p t s h c w o e t c n ktail e a h r o to e “W king f o o l or 178

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A note on shopping: There is a lot of diversity in Connecticut’s craft spirit scene including distribution and where you can purchase these local spirits. Some distillery brands can easily be found in wine & spirit shops across the state. Others are only for sale on site at a distillery. We recommend you explore their websites or call for more information about where you

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can purchase products. Most also offer gift cards and other branded merchandise that makes for excellent holiday gifts. Tony Vengrove, is a marketing consultant, writer and photographer passionate about sharing the stories of Connecticut’s makers, creators and entrepreneurs.

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“Shadows mutter, mist replies;

darkness purrs as midnight sighs.

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- RUST Y FISCHE

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Connecticut Food & Farm Magazine, Fall 2021, Volume 25

Articles inside

The Art of Reupholstery: New Life for Old Furniture

Forcing Bulbs – It’s Easier Than You Think

Salsicus or “Seasoned with Salt”

Provisions on State

No Sad Desk Salads

Green & Growing - A Love Story

Crafting DIY Toaster Tarts with Chef Naima Craft

A Guide to Seed Saving

notes from a cider maker

Fired Up for Fall - How to Make Mustard