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Savoring Organic Whole Food at Journey Inn
Menus • Local Foods • Recipes
History Since the early 1970’s food meant more to me than simply a substance to satisfy the need for sustenance or pleasure. It was then, and is now, a political act. The book, Diet for a Small Planet, by Francis Moore Lappe’ had introduced the idea that what we choose to eat has a broad effect on the planet, not just our waistlines. The decisions made on what food to grow, how it is grown, the livelihoods of those that farm it, distribution and transportation, and many other factors, all play into what arrives at our tables.
Today, John and I live in an agriculturally rich area. Because we believe that good food is vitally important, we take the following measures: maintain memberships in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture farm), food co-ops and Slow Food USA; donate to The Land Stewardship Project (which supports small farmers); purchase cheese, milk, eggs, meat, honey and maple syrup from local sources; Food, and it’s production, affects the whole web of life – from building cells and feeding our bodies, to the quality of our land, air & water. Cooking with whole grains, fresh fruits & vegetables, local milk, cheese and meat, bring us in touch with the essentials of life in a tangible way. As we buy, cook and serve, we are nourished, both supporting the earth and being supported on our life journeys. Charlene Seasonal Brunch Menus At Journey Inn, every effort is made to cook with whole, organic & locally produced or ethnically rich food. We serve coffee and tea that are fair-trade, and provide a living wage to the people that grow and harvest these wonderful products. We hope that you will leave our table feeling nourished, and loved.
Sample Brunch Menus: Winter Winter greens, frittata (eggs, kale, mushrooms, cheese, onions & garlic), roasted potatoes & beets in olive oil, glazed carrots & stewed fruit with yogurt. or Spring Spring greens & local watercress salad, asparagus quiche, steamed snap peas & fruit pizza. or Cashew mushroom soup, herb foccocia, steamed new veggies & strawberry/rhubarb pie Summer Grilled chicken salad over local greens, spicy hash browns, steamed green beans & raspberry cobbler. Summer squash with eggs sauté, tomato/cucumber salad with toasted sunflower seeds & fresh blueberry pie. Autumn Squash soup, zucchini cheese cornmeal squares, sautéed greens & garlic, rustic apple tart. or Autumn frittata (collards/kale/escarole, artichokes, peppers & local organic cheese), rice vinegar coleslaw with sesame & apple, homemade bread & pumpkin pie.
The Love of Food To my father, food was love. In the valley of a small Pennsylvania town in the Allegheny Mountains, my father’s Calabrian Italian family settled their 8 children. They came to experience the New World, but they brought some of Italy with them. Because they spoke no English, my memories of them are tactile - the sweet smell of pipe smoke and pasta cooking in the kitchen, my grandmother stirring her homemade tomato sauce as the children and their families arrived. When my upwardly-mobile father moved out of the valley to the top of a hill he brought his recipes with him. Though we indulged in the suburban can-cuisine of the time, we also regularly enjoyed slow cooked and time-honored foods. Whether it was wild mushrooms, cardoons and greens picked in the woods and deposited on the dining room table by a friend, cultivated mushrooms gathered from boxes in the root cellar or Italian sausage made fresh at home, we enjoyed diverse foods gathered and cooked by my father. My favorites included stuffed artichokes, lentil & escarole soups with Parmesan, olive oil & wine vinegar salads, kalamata & other oil-cured olives, and cheeses & candies from the Italian store in town. There were other more adventurous meals that my father would plead with me to “just try”. I never developed a taste for squirrel and deer that he or my uncle would harvest in the fall nor did I fall for escargot or tripe (cow intestines). To this day I still long for the lobster & scallops picked up fresh from the local fish market on Friday. My father and I didn’t talk much but I am now appreciating his love for good, local or ethnic food, cooked slowly and given with love. -Charlene
Slow Food The Slow Food Movement promotes a slower, more harmonious rhythm of life – and reminds us that food should be about pleasure, not convenience. Its members celebrate regional food traditions, heirloom fruits and vegetables, artisan and handcrafted foods. They also seek to preserve the biodiversity of the world’s food supply. The founding father of the Slow Food Movement, Carlo Petrini, recognized in 1986 that the industrialization of food was standardizing taste and leading to the annihilation of thousands of food varieties and flavors. Concerned that the world was quickly reaching a point of no return, he wanted to reach out to consumers and demonstrate to them that they have choices over fast food and supermarket homogenization. He rallied his friends and began to speak out at every available opportunity and soon the movement was born and Slow Food was created. Today the organization is active in 50 countries and has a worldwide membership of over 80,000. People have responded to the growing movement, because they have become tired of buying the same things, eating the same foods and living the same lives. With these interests in mind, the Slow Food mission is to create a robust, active movement that protects taste, culture and the environment as universal social values. Slow Food programs are dedicated to the mingling of taste, culture and the environment. In the U.S., there are 14,000 members across the country who are part of chapters called convivia, which are led by volunteer lead Convivia plan events and programs in their communities—from school gardens to dinners, film festivals to farm tours.
Moving into Spring RECIPE Carrot Cashew Soup (no wheat or dairy) 4 carrots 1 cup dry roasted organic cashews (Wedge Co-op) 1 onion 1 large sweet potato 2 cloves garlic curry powder, salt & pepper to taste vegetable or chicken broth (6 cups) Grind nuts as fine as possible. Saute chopped onion in your favorite oil or butter, add chopped sweet potato. Add broth and cook till potato are soft. Meanwhile saute chopped carrots and garlic. Add curry, salt & pepper. Add cashews to the stock pot. Turn off heat. Use an hand blender to puree soup. If you don't have one, blend in the blender in small amounts at a time. Add seasoned carrots. Let sit for a few minutes before serving. Lake Pepin Farm Tour - July 2010, date to be announced Stay two nights at Journey Inn. Enjoy a morning of picking blueberries, visit a local farm to taste &/or purchase free-range chicken, pasture-raised pork & beef and naturally cured meats, an organic goat cheese farm, a cheese factory that sells organic & WI-made cheeses, and an apple winery/cidery. The check-in snack and the brunches will feature ingredients from the local farms. See calendar for more details. www.thekitchensage.com, Linda Harding (catered dinners)
Charlene Torchia & John Huffaker, Proprietors |
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Journey Inn, an eco-retreat is a new-concept holistic Bed & Breakfast. It incorporates features of a get-away, a learning center, a retreat, and a natural spa. Built with earth-friendly products and healthy building features, the Inn uses natural & organic: bedding, cleaning products, ammenities and delicious whole food. During your stay enjoy biking, hiking, snowshoeing, sightseeing, birding, or resting in a creek-side hammock. Receive one of our services: a massage, life coaching session or take a life-enhancing workshop, such as The Artist’s Way, Couples Massage, Women’s Spa Weekends, Yoga and Meditation Classes. |
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