Another use for chard stems, which I intend to try as soon as I come across a suitable bunch, to ferment them in a solution of brine (or brine and whey).

If you love butter, you ARE a health nut! See http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/519-why-butter-is-better.html

I want an introduction to Antoine!

I like plantoeat.com

I tried this tonight with collard greens and peas for the veggies, and my picky eater ate it without complaint. I only used a big heaping cup of the collard greens because I didn’t want to overwhelm the dish. Instead, the collard greens were overwhelmed by the soy, onion, ginger and garlic. Very tasty.

I want to fix this and have everything in the pantry, freezer and herb garden -- except port. Can you suggest an alternative (dirt cheap preferred).

Or I could just wait....

Can you substitute Canadian thistle or sow thistle for the nettles in recipes? I have plenty!

Rutabagas are also a traditional ingredient in Cornish pasties....this was the first (ok, still the only) time I have ever cooked with them. They added a wonderful sweet delicate flavor to the pastie (a hand-held pie with beef, potatoes, rutabaga, carrot and onion inside).

If only someone would write a book on “Eating in with a 17-year old who won’t eat vegetables.”

Thank you for this lovely, contemplative piece. I already buy grass-fed beef and pastured chickens and eggs when they are available (and when I can). More food for thought.

The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison. This was a gift from my sister, who was one of proofreaders for the typesetters who helped produce it. I like the black bean chili, the Basque pumpkin soup, and the directions for producing a great stock.

When I cook this I use cheddar cheese and often slip in other vegetables - a little grated squash or carrots, or some sweet kale or tangy sorrel. One of the few ways to get my son to eat greens (though he does sometimes spend his time carefully pricking out anything green with a fork).

Hmm....10 pounds of potatoes sounds about right to me...but I never have enough leftover potatoes and gravy....

Put kids to work! When I was young my sisters and I enjoyed polishing silver, putting in extra leaves and setting the table, ironing linens, unearthing all the special occasion dishes, creating a centerpiece, setting up chairs. We didn’t enjoy dishes afterwards -- but we got them anyway.

I actually know a family that eats on paper plates on Thanksgiving to make cleanup easy. Make both your family and guests feel special by using the best dishes you have!

Anchovies and sardines. I keep reading how wonderful they are, but I just can’t bring myself to bite into one.

Sounds good...

A similar recipe was a favorite treat growing up. My mom used acorn squash and baked them cut-side up with the hollow filled with brown sugar and butter. (OK, in my mom’s kitchen it was more likely margarine.) Today my son loves it.

I bet this would be good with lemon basil...

I already pay $5 for eggs and $3.50/lb for chicken at the farmer’s market. I think my chicken farmer is raising Cornish Cross. I will have to tell him I would pay extra if he buys “straight run” chickens for his laying hens and raises the roosters for meat.