The Perennial Plate

Danny Klein takes us on an adventure in sustainable food and adventurous living

Episode 88: American Indian Mothers (and Fathers)

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On our way across North Carolina, we stopped to chat with some Native American Farmers trying to change the food and work situation in their communities. Plagued with high poverty rates and little access to good food, these folks were inspiring in their efforts to farm in a sustainable way.

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Mirra and I drove across the border from Wisconsin to Minnesota this evening blasting “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys on the stereo.  I think I’ll always remember that moment.  I’m not sure why such a high octane song was appropriate for our return home.  Perhaps it just felt good to depart from the sadness we had been feeling over the last couple days. Driving NorthWest, we realized that our trip was coming to an end.  Something we had first been dreaming about, then fundraising for, then planning, then spending every waking moment engaged in — was about to be over.  And so we had been driving and reminiscing, re-living the last 6 months…and as we came into Minnesota with music blaring, I had that good feeling of WE DID IT!  But not without a few mishaps: one broken car window, one phone dropped in a cup of wine, one thrown out back, one event where no one showed up, one missing hiking boot, and only four or five bouts of sea sickness for Mirra… we did pretty well.

With all that luck, I asked Mirra what was the high point of the trip, and she said something that rung true for me as well.  She said the two highlights were Catfish noodling in Mississippi and Farming with the Apostolic family in Ohio.  These two families lived such different lives from our own (and from each other) yet we were really able to connect, and share and become part of their…

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Recommendations and Reviews: New Orleans

We eat a lot of OK meals. But from time to time, we step out of our “budget” and go into our personal savings for dinner.  This is more often than we should.  The logic is along the lines of when will be here again?  So we splurge; sometimes to great splendor, other times not so much.  Over the next few weeks, I’m going to post some thoughts on really great restaurants that we’ve been very luck enough to enjoy around America.

We’ll start off way back in New Orleans.  It was an early stop on our trip and we were really excited about it.  New Orleans is one of the few places in America with it’s own rich culture of food.  It’s just hard to find it (unless of course you’re interested in a very tourist-geared cuisine or poorly prepared beinets and poboys on frenchman street).  We did however come upon a few great meals, one was a free(!!) dinner at Restaurant August (John Besh’s flagship). A delicious and decadent meal, the gnocchi with truffle was what I remember the most.  But the other two places were the non fine dining gems that surprised and delighted, and their food had little to do with New Orleans except for their ingredients. Around the corner from where we stayed (at the delightful Maison de Macarty B&B...), there was a wine bar called Bacchanal. This wine bar was not typical….

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Swan Dive

I’d imagined dumpster divers as angry anarchist kids, dressed in all black, who want to fight the big man by not paying for their food. I never expected it to be a guy my age with a good job and kids to feed. So when we got an email from “Joe” (he asked for his real name and occupation not to be used), I was confused and hesitant. But with Daniel by my side, gently pushing me to go outside my comfort zone (and in this case, into a large garbage can) I couldn’t say no. Literally. I wasn’t allowed to say no.

So, there I found myself at 11pm pulling up to Joe’s cozy suburban cul de sac — with identical homes, all nestled right next to one another — their rows of vinyl siding merging to create one solid line, all with beautifully manicured lawns, perfectly white painted lines in the road indicating who could park where, and I’m sure very nice people nestled in their beds ready for a good, honest day of work ahead. Except for Joe. He had taken the next day off work so that he could climb into a dumpster and fish out whatever he could salvage to eat.

Joe prefaced the evenings events by telling us that diving into dumpsters has its ups and downs. This wasnt surprising to me as I could immediately think of the downsides of such an activity: say,…

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Change

The people you love shouldnt try to change you. They should just take you on a 6 month road trip around the US, have you meet random people from the internet who kill things at a swamp in the middle of the night, have you sit on the back of a golf cart with a man wielding a .22 looking for iguanas, have you sleep in a cave/bomb shelter 12 miles down a canyon in Utah, have you go at least 5 weeks without doing laundry, and have you stay in a different bed each night (one which has bed bugs). That will change you.

It wasnt Daniel’s intention, but thats what happened when he helped to show me the world within our country. We came back a few days ago from the road — weary, worn, and happy. Minneapolis has changed a bit since we left and so have we. Truthfully, I dont think it would have been possible to stay the same.

1. I no longer gag when I see a bug during mealtime. Because Ive now eaten a bug. Specifically, a humongous waterbug with a million legs, protruding eyeballs, tentacles, and wings. It was boiled and then sauteed. And as a vegetarian I wouldnt have touched it. But when our gracious host filleted the large bird-of-an-insect, the smell of pear jollyrancher filled the room. And I knew I had to try. Surprisingly, it tasted just as it smelled: Essences of fruit and saltiness with a touch of, you…

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episodes

Episode 87: Animal Sanctuary

Episode 87: Animal Sanctuary

Season 2
January 15th, 2012
Episode 86: Mine Oyster

Episode 86: Mine Oyster

Season 2
January 9th, 2012
Episode 85: Goose Dilemma

Episode 85: Goose Dilemma

Season 2
January 2nd, 2012
Episode 84: Dumpster Diver

Episode 84: Dumpster Diver

Season 2
December 19th, 2011
Episode 83: A Dinner on 1st Street

Episode 83: A Dinner on 1st Street

Season 2
December 12th, 2011
Episode 82: In the Name of Queens

Episode 82: In the Name of Queens

Season 2
December 5th, 2011
Episode 81: Farming State of Mind (NYC)

Episode 81: Farming State of Mind (NYC)

Season 2
November 28th, 2011
Episode 80: Turkeyless Interlude

Episode 80: Turkeyless Interlude

Season 2
November 21st, 2011
Episode 79: Intermission: How I Spent My Vacation

Episode 79: Intermission

Season 2
November 14th, 2011
Episode 78: Eating Insects

Episode 78: Eating Insects

Season 2
November 7th, 2011
Episode 77: Lobster Pie

Episode 77: Lobster Pie

Season 2
October 31st, 2011
Episode 76: Seaweed Man

Episode 76: Seaweed Man

Season 2
October 24th, 2011
Episode 75: Four Corners

Episode 75: Four Corners

Season 2
October 17th, 2011
Episode 74: God’s Country

Episode 74: God’s Country

Season 2
October 10th, 2011
Episode 73: Detroit Dirt

Episode 73: Detroit Dirt

Season 2
October 3rd, 2011

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