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Sustainable Philadelphia
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6 Recipes Mouth-Watering
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A new path The East
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How to Become a Philly Beekeeper
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Try It! I
t’s August and the full splendor of the CSA is upon us. For the uninitiated, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. (This acronym is somewhat obtuse. I would suggest replacing it with BFF, Buying From a Farmer.) The way it works is you sign up before the farmers’ harvest, usually in the late winter or early spring, and then you receive a weekly subscription to their fresh fruits and vegetables that you pick up at a location in your neighborhood. This turns the cooking paradigm on its ear, or at least it has for me. Typically, I would search for a recipe that looked interesting and then shop for the ingredients. With a CSA, you get the ingredients first, dealt to you like a hand of cards, and then you need to quickly figure out what’s for dinner. The weekly challenge has stretched my vegetable
vocabulary considerably. Veggies that I would not have had the courage to look in the eye at the market are now my friends. Beets, cabbage, kale and rainbow chard no longer intimidate me; in fact, they thrill me. That said, there have been some failures. In the very first share I received, there was a batch of unfamiliar red and green stalks: rhubarb! Why I panicked, I don’t know, but I did. I planned to foist these alien antennae on to my girlfriend and let it be her problem. Days passed, the rhubarb slipped from my mind, and it died a lonely death in my refrigerator. The very fruit-impersonating vegetable that Barbara Kingsolver praises as her family’s salvation in this month’s Grid Classic book (page 28) Animal, Vegetable, Miracle had been carelessly neglected. Five weeks later, much to my relief, the mysterious stalk returned to my CSA box. It was time for some rhubarb redemption. My girlfriend suggested a compote, which was shockingly simple. Chop up the stalk, sauté it over medium heat with some red wine and sugar, remove the rhubarb after seven minutes, boil the wine and sugar until it’s a little thicker, then pour the sauce on the rhubarb. We used this glorious compote to top our French toast. Mmmm! I’m always imagining the perfect version of my life—or in this case, my diet—and it’s frustrating to fall short. Along the way, some leafy greens turn into slimy browns, despite my best intentions. But, with each vegetable that is demystified and learned, a gap is filled, and I get one step closer. If there’s something we want Grid to do, it’s to encourage people to try. You can be a beekeeper (pages 8–9); you can shop secondhand (16–17); you can cook with seasonal produce (22–26); you can be part of the city’s metamorphosis. It will take time, and the failures are necessary to fuel the successes. Eighteen years ago, 10 people met in New York City to discuss a bike path that would run the entire length of the Eastern Seaboard. A fool’s errand, right? Now the East Coast Greenway (pages 18–21) has over 600 miles of paths, about 22 percent of the total trail. With the news that bike lanes are being planned to run through Pine and Spruce Streets, Philadelphia is taking one step closer to the city we want it to be. There has never been a better time or place to dream big. What will you do this month to live the life you imagine?
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Alex Mulcahy 215.625.9850 ext. 102 alex@gridphilly.com director of marketing
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Dynise Balcavage Phil Forsyth Ashley Jerome Einav Keet Allison Kelsey Natalie Hope McDonald Samantha Wittchen Nicole Wolverton Micah Woodcock photographers
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Word on the Street Praise of Inspiration
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wanted to let you know how appreciative we are to have opened the latest issue of Grid Magazine to see a feature on our company with such wonderfully chosen words describing us. Grid is a fantastic publication with a promising future so it means a lot to be associated with your magazine. We look forward to reading it each month and have easily grown to see it as a source of inspiration in the work we do here at Metropolitan Bakery every day. Thank you for making the steps to build a relationship with us, and for the required hard work of publishing a magazine of such high caliber in this day and age. All the best to you, your staff and all your contributing writers. —sasha swayze dews, Director of Retail
Free How-Tos I
was using the restroom in a coffee house on South Street, and when I came out my friend was avidly reading a free magazine’s useful article on how to recycle a TV [“Seeing Clearly,” June-July ’09 #5] (it turns out her boyfriend has an old TV that he didn’t know how to get rid of ). The magazine, of course, was Grid—and it looks great! I especially like the how-to department. I hope you do really well with it. —chelsea wald
Ride the El
I
don’t want to make a big deal about this but the Food Desert article [“Food Desert,” May ‘09, #4] repeatedly makes the assertion that a Kensington resident without a car is stuck with whatever the corner store has to offer. A small bike trailer would probably be the ideal solution until more options become available in the neighborhood. David Adler, whose “If you don’t have a car…” quote dominates the page, mentions
the Reading Terminal Market but doesn’t seem to realize that you can get to it from Kensington very easily by taking the El. Not a single mention of any form of transportation other than cars. Grid is great but I just had to say something about that. —steve beuret, West Philly
Have something you’d like to share? Write to us at feedback@gridphilly.com Don’t forget, you can read back issues online at gridphilly.com
Back Issues Miss an issue? Call us at 215.625.9850 x105 to complete your collection! #01, Feb 2009
#02, mar 2009
sAve Money on energy Bills!
t o wa r d S a
SuStainable PhiladelPhia
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that has locavores talking
→ What everyone in Philly needs to know
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#03, APR 2009 Food Buzz The blog
SuStainable PhiladelPhia
ta k e o n e
LocaL Round-up
Peach turnovers, soft bowls and insects
m a rc h 2 009 / issu e 2 gri d P hi lly. com
BeeR HeRe!
Philly reclaims its proud brewing tradition
Apollo’s Creed Mike McKinley talks about Philly’s solar future
a new Kensington?
TrAsh inTo TreAsure
→ Your old computer, their new start
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North Philly’s quest for sustainability
→ sandy salzman, executive director of the New Kensington community Development corporation
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#04, may 2009
#05, june/july 2009
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Lucy the Elephant celebrates her 128th birthday this year. summer hotspot
Margate, NJ P
Dig your toes in the sand at the Jersey shore
icture wave s crashing, the smell of salt in the air and vitamin D nourishing your skin. Pack your beach bag for a day trip down the shore. getting there
Where to go →→
→→
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The Beach. Margate’s sunny shores are free on Thursdays. We recommend Huntington or Washington Avenues. margate-nj.com Margate Farmers’ Market. Taste the local flavor with farmers, bakers, coffee purveyors and more on Thursdays in August from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Traveling with kids? They even have childcare and entertainment while you shop. 9700 Amherst Ave. in the Steve and Cookie’s parking lot steveandcookies.com Pamela’s Health & Harmony. No need to worry if you forget your chemical-free SPF sunscreen lotion. Pamela’s selection of natural and organic products will keep you living well on vacation. 8508 Ventnor Ave., 609-822-8828 pamelashealth.com
→→
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I ❤ Lucy… the Elephant. Lucy the Elephant is an historic attraction that no tourist should miss—and at six stories tall, you really can’t. $6 for adults, $3 for children 3-12, free for children under 2, 9200 Atlantic Ave., 609-823-6473 lucytheelephant.org Dune Restaurant. Started by a restaurant veteran of Philadelphia, this BYOB specializes in seafood. You’ll taste the freshness of the local cuisine at this exceptional eatery. 9510 Ventnor Ave., 609-487-7450 dunerestaurant.com Cleo’s Fish Palace. The variety of fresh fish is always changing at Cleo’s. You can dine outside or take a fish home to cook yourself. 7307 Ventnor Ave., 609-822-5858 cleosfish.com
Take the Walt Whitman Bridge to Route 42. Follow signs for the AC Expressway. Stay on Expressway for about 36 miles ($3 toll) and exit at 7S. Then, take exit 36 to Northfield/Margate. Turn right on Tilton Rd. and follow signs for Margate Bridge. Cross the bridge ($1.50 one-way).
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•• Ride NJ Transit’s AC Line from 30th
Street Station to Atlantic City ($8 adult one-way, $3.50 child/senior/disabled one-way). Yes, you can bring your bike and go the five miles to Margate or take the #505 bus ($1.35 one-way). If you are an ambitious cyclist, then take the trip in the cleanest, greenest and least expensive way possible. For the best route, visit bicyclecoalition.org.
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above
Alice Gonglewski Steer, 2009 22"h x 22"w x 8"d handlebars, rack, pedal, wire
below right
Tremain Smith Freewheeling, 2009 12” x 12” Acrylic, collage, & pencil on panel
ike parts normally go on bikes, as nature intended, but occasionally they can find other homes, like on your walls. At the Bike Part Art Show, local artists have sifted through the unusable parts left over from Neighborhood Bike Works’ (NBW) community and youth cycling programs and created pieces of sculpture that entrance the eye and engage the mind. NBW is a nonprofit that hosts free youth cycling classes and summer camps where local youth learn how bikes work, how to repair them and, in the process, build a bike of their own to take home. The programs are free and serve kids who would not have access to bikes or classes otherwise. NBW also hosts free bike repair nights every week at the Bike Church (3916 Locust Walk). The bikes and parts come from donations and dumps, but there are always some parts that just will not work anymore. That’s what the art show is for. It’s a fundraiser for NBW to support their programs, so when you buy a piece you’re helping kids as well as adding to your art collection and recycling bike parts. The show will open at Studio 34 in West Philly on Aug. 28 with limited displays, and then on Sept. 18 the full show opens with a big party. Kiss Kiss Kill and DJ Ross of Love will perform; there will be beer from Victory and Dock Street, and snacks from Bacchus Market. → Bike Part Art Show, Aug. 28- Sept. 18, 7 p.m.-10 p.m., Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Ave., 215-387-3434. studio34yoga.com
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Bike Part Art Show
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August Chill in the Park As you’ve probably noticed, the summer is upon us, and while holing up inside with the AC cranked might be appealing, there’s plenty going on in Philly’s green spaces to keep you doing something almost every night. From movie nights to free music, the parks system is bursting with life, and it’s all free! There’s Zydeco-A-Go-Go at Gorgas Park, flea markets at Clark Park, a viewing of the 1921 Charlie Chaplin classic The Kid at Liberty Lands, the West Philly Orchestra’s Balkan music at Gold Star Park and so much more. For a full list, visit pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org. → Uhuru Flea Market, Aug. 8, all day, Clark Park, 43rd St. and Baltimore Ave., clarkpark.info → The Kid, Aug. 11, dusk, Liberty Lands, N. 3rd and West Wildey Sts., nlna.org → West Philadelphia Orchestra, Aug. 13, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Gold Star Park, 7th and Wharton Sts. → Zydeco, Aug. 28, 7 p.m.-9 p.m., Gorgas Park, Ridge Ave. and Hermitage St., gorgaspark.com
Beat It Belying the old adage that quiet solitude is the best way to create, Art Beat is a night of handmade music, food and crafts. Bring whatever project you’ve been working on, or some instruments to play at the open mic, and hang out with like-minded crafters. Food will be provided by Sheila and Sharon’s Cookies, and the first 50 attendees will get a free cookie.
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Mark Your Calendar
Don’t PASA Over This
NEW S F LA S H
The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) is hosting a few events in the coming months that revolve around the most delicious parts of their mission: food and beer! On Aug. 2, there will be a grass-fed beef cookoff where local farmers will talk about the different ways to raise cows on just grass, and show off their wares with grilled steaks and braised beef stew. Judges will try the beef and select the best, while Stoudt’s of Adamstown will be providing beer, like their American Pale Ale and the Scarlet Lady Ale, to wash it all down. To work off some of that beer and beef gut, PASA’s hosting a bike tour of Chester County, ending with a meal at Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown. You can choose a 25, 50 or 75mile ride, with a meal of local food and Victory beer once you’ve puffed your way to the finish. → Grass-Fed Beef Cook-Off, Sun., Aug. 2, 1 p.m.-4 p.m., $15-25, Glasbern Inn, Fogelsville → Bike Fresh Bike Local, Sun., Sept. 27, $35-$40 Chester County, pasafarming.org
Meet Philadelphia’s New Director of Sustainability On July 17, Mayor Nutter announced Katherine Gajewski as the replacement for Mark Alan Hughes’ Director of Sustainability position. “With the Greenworks Philadelphia framework in place, we now turn to its implementation and Katherine is the perfect person to lead this next phase,” said Mayor Nutter. “She has a proven track record of working across government, collaborating with outside partners, and implementing major initiatives in a wide range of policy areas. These are exactly the skills that will help us meet our Greenworks targets.”
→ Art Beat, Sat., Aug. 15, 6 p.m.-11 p.m., $5, Studio 34, 4522 Baltimore Ave., 215-387-3434 phillyartbeat.com
Just Dance
To paraphrase a well-known quote, “Sometimes you just have to dance… about the environment.” This year’s Live Arts Festival will embody that maxim with two dance shows highlighting the connection between people and the natural world. Tide, by the Scrap Performance Group, is an always-changing piece of experimental dance that both celebrates the company’s 15 years of operation and looks at how distanced people are from the natural world. Bessie Award-winning choreographer Merián Soto will also be premiering her new work, Postcards From the Woods. This piece will feature dancers moving with branches in front of a background of photos from natural places, including our own Wissahickon. → Live Arts and Fringe, Sept. 4-19, livearts-fringe.org
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What’s the Buzz? Become a Philly Beekeeper by phil forsyth & micah woodcock
below Backyard beekeepers in Germantown inspect a healthy bee frame
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ur recent urban beekeeping survey and tour revealed that the majority of Philly’s two dozen or so beekeepers started within the last five years. Why? We know that bees are essential pollinators for gardens, farms and orchards. Other than wind-pollinated corn, the vast majority of our vegetable, fruit and nut crops are highly dependent on bees for pollination. Commercial beekeepers rent out their hives all across the country, moving as the harvesting season changes. In recent years, these “rental” hives have been devastated by Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a phenomenon in which a hive’s worker bees suddenly disappear en masse. No one knows for sure what causes it, but home scale beekeepers have been almost entirely unaffected and there have been no reports of CCD within the Philadelphia beekeeping community. That seems to point to a correlation between the stresses of commercial beekeeping and CCD (kind of like the problems associated with factory farming). Considering the vital role bees play in pollination, relocalization of beekeeping may be vital to the future of our food production. In many ways, honeybees are the perfect urban livestock. They can be kept in small spaces—even on rooftops. They are quiet and unaggressive (most “bee” stings are actually perpetrated by bumblebees and hornets). They require relatively minimal time and financial
Relocalization of beekeeping may be vital to the future of our food production. 8
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investment: an average of four hours a month and a few hundred dollars to get started. Above all, they produce wonderful, abundant honey, which is a much healthier sweetener than the highly refined sugar products now ubiquitous in processed food and on grocery store shelves. Eating unfiltered, raw honey from your immediate locale is also widely thought to help with seasonal allergies. Furthermore, when stored in airtight containers, honey has a shelf life of a few thousand years. Beekeepers at Mill Creek and Greensgrow Farms will tell you that their homegrown honey often sells out within weeks of harvesting. With the adaptability of beekeeping, Philadelphia could easily fulfill all of its own demand for honey. Honeybees provide other useful products as well. The wax used for comb construction can be harvested along with the honey and has countless uses ranging from candlemaking and cosmetics to batik and moustache wax. After the honey is harvested from the comb, it can be placed in a nylon stocking or fine mesh bag and boiled very briefly to remove impurities, such as dirt and larval casings. The impurities remain in the stocking, which can then be removed, and the wax solidifies on top of the water as it cools. The wax can be melted again and poured into molds to make candles, or combined with other ingredients to make soap. Having a surplus of honey around can also provide an easy avenue into the art of home brewing; mead, wine made from honey, is a very simple and delicious alcoholic beverage easily tackled by folks new to the craft. Propolis, an anti-microbial substance the bees use to seal and sterilize their hives, has a long history of being used medicinally in the treatment of colds, sore throats, aching teeth and the flu.
Micah’s rustic top bar hive floating Honey from Mill Creek Farm left Colorful signage at Mill Creek Farm in West Philly below Mill Creek bees at work far left
How to join Philly’s beekeeping revolution ➊ Location, location, location. You can keep bees in your backyard or on your rooftop, and at community gardens, urban farms, public gardens and schools. 2 Nothing beats learning from someone experienced. If you don’t happen to know any beekeepers, you can connect by taking classes or attending meetings of Beekeeping Associations. Neighboring Montgomery County (montcobeekeepers.org) and Chester County (chescobees.org) both have established groups. PASA is hosting a class, “A Taste of the Extracting and Bottling Process for a Small Honey Business,” on Tuesday, August 11 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Greenstone Gardens and Apiary in Malvern, PA. For more information, go to pasafarming.org. Also, a Southeastern Pennsylvania Honey Bee Symposium is being held November 10 at the Temple Ambler Campus. Visit the Montgomery County site for more information. 3 Acquire equipment, supplies and bees. To build a Langstroth style hive, the most common type of hive, you will need: → → 6-8 hive bodies or supers (stacked boxes that contain the hive) → → 9-10 frames per hive body (rectangles of wood that hold the honeycomb) → → Wax foundations (pre-made hexagonal framework to get the bees started) → → Bottom board and outer cover (to protect the hive from the elements) All of this can be mail-ordered from vendors like the Walter T. Kelley Company (kelleybees. com) or acquired from local beekeeping groups
for around $250. Assembling your hive will take several days of work. Alternatively, a more rustic top bar hive (an older form still commonly used in the tropics) can be built for as little as $7. To get into your hives, you’ll want to spend another $50 or so on the following supplies: Smoker (burns leaves or pine needles to mask alarm pheromones and suppress stinging) → → Hive tool (a useful implement for opening hive bodies and moving frames) → → Bee veil (a mosquito net works just fine to protect the face) A starter colony of bees, including a queen, will cost about $100. 4 Inspect your hive regularly. After lightly smoking the entrance, open the hive and closely examine each frame for the following: → → Adequate room for the rearing of brood and the storage of food (nectar, pollen, honey) as the season progresses and the hive increases in size. Add frames and hive bodies as necessary. → → Enough nectar and pollen coming into the hive throughout the season and going into winter. It is sometimes necessary to supplement their food supply with sugar. → → Health of the laying queen and signs of hive diseases or pests that may require intervention on the part of the beekeeper. → → Signs that the hive may be preparing to swarm. Bees instinctively like to swarm—it’s how they perpetuate the species. If not preempted by the keeper, a large number of bees will leave with the queen to start a new hive. A hive inspection typically takes 15-30 minutes
and should be conducted weekly during the spring when risk of swarming is highest. This is of particular importance in the city. As much as everyone loves bees (even if they don’t know it yet), having a swarm of thousands hanging from a telephone pole in front of your house might make some people a bit nervous. As the season progresses, inspections need not happen as frequently. 5 Extract your honey and beeswax. The simplest method of harvesting honey from the hive is to cut out sections of comb and eat it! If you want liquid honey, you can cut out the comb, crush it and strain it to separate the wax from the honey. The most common means of harvesting honey, both commercially and by hobbyist beekeepers, is an electric or hand crank extractor. Cut a thin layer of beeswax cappings from the surface of a full frame, then place multiple frames in the extractor, and spin rapidly to remove the honey. This method will allow you to harvest honey without crushing the comb, which can be made into other products or returned to the hive for reuse by the bees. Extraction is often done twice a year and typically involves a full day’s work. An extractor costs between $350 and $800, but can often be shared or borrowed from beekeeping groups. ■
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recommended reading: The Backyard Beekeeper, Kim Flottum and Natural Beekeeping, Ross Conrad. more info: beesource.com, bushfarms.com, biobees.com, anarchyapiaries.org
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4th Annual GreenFest Philly Sunday, September 13 11am-6pm 2nd and South Streets greenfestphilly.org
Join more than 200 exhibitors and 25,000 patrons in Philadelphia’s largest & most visible “green” event! **This year’s theme is sustainable FOOD** ORGANIC, Chemical Free & Non-GMO
BUYING LOCALLY
vegetarian, VEGAN, or free-range DIET
Write down everything you eat for 3 days and get a FREE consultation with a nutritionist! Learn about the impact our food choices have on the environment from the green leaders in the Organic Food Industry at our Food Symposium. Come and try some of the eco-friendly foods available. Find out how easy it is for you to grow your own food- even if you are living in a studio apartment in Center City! GreenFest Philly is looking for interns, VOLUNTEERS, and SPONSORS & is currently accepting applications for EXHIBITORS. To get involved: email jen bendik at greenfest@urbangreenpartnership.org or call 215-764-6182. We look forward to partnering with you to make a GREENER Philadelphia!
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august 2009
by samantha wittchen
P
Air Conditioner
hiladelphians have been conditioned to prepare for a typical hot and humid summer. Windows are filled with those ubiquitous boxes that crank out cold salvation for us city dwellers. Perhaps this is the year you decided to upgrade your old energy-sucking air conditioner to a newer, Energy Star-rated unit. According to their website (energystar.gov), if everyone switched to a more efficient cooling device, it would prevent 1.3 billion pounds of greenhouse emissions. Additional good news: You’re helping to conserve energy during one of the peak electrical consumption periods of the year. The bad news: You now have an old air conditioner on your hands. Window air conditioning units contain Freon, a refrigerant created by DuPont in the 1930s for refrigerators and other cooling apparatus. After Freon chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were shown to deplete the ozone layer in the ’80s, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) were used as interim replacements. Although HCFCs cause less damage to the ozone layer, the eventual replacement will be hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which have no known effects. In the ’90s, almost all Freon CFC uses were phased out, but it
is still illegal to release Freon into the atmosphere. Proper disposal is required to make sure this doesn’t happen. For air conditioners that still work, consider donating them to a local shelter, day care or summer camp, or use freecycle.org or craigslist.org to find a sweaty Philadelphian who will take that air conditioner off your hands. For non-functioning air conditioners, the first step is getting the Freon removed from the unit responsibly. There is usually a small disposal fee for this, but our ozone layer is worth it. Both Northeast Philadelphiabased Safe Disposal (7333 Milnor St., 215-332-3134) and Recycle Metals Corporation (407 Alan Wood Rd., Conshohocken, 610-8285553) remove Freon from appliances. Once the Freon is removed, you can take the unit to most scrap metal yards for recycling. Recycle Metals Corporation is a one-stop shop that will remove the Freon and accept the unit for recycling, and a quick search on earth911.org will yield you a wealth of scrap metal results. Call first to make sure they accept all metals. ■
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illustr at io n by j. p. f l e xner
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We’ll be at Greenfest Philly! Will you? Now in its 4th year - Greenfest Philly is Philadelphia’s biggest annual street festival for all things green - this year that relates to Sustainable Food! Visit SCA Americas’ booth at Greenfest Philly on September 13th! www.greenfestphilly.org SCA makes Tork® towel, tissue and napkin products and TENA® bladder control protection solutions Our products are essential and improve the quality of everyday life. Our strong commitment to sustainable practices has been recognized worldwide. Together, let’s make Philadelphia The Greenest City in America.
Proud manufacturer of Towel, Tissue, Napkin and Personal Care products
SCA Americas, Cira Centre, Suite 2600, 2929 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19104 610-499-3700 www.sca.com
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profile
Vieux Carré absinthe, Bluecoat gin and Penn 1681 rye vodka, distilled in the Northeast, photographed at the Sidecar Bar & Grille at 22nd and Christian Sts.
Philly Distilled
The city’s first craft distillery hopes to replicate beer’s success
C
raft beer has transformed the drinking scene in Philly over the past decade, growing from a niche tipple to a fixture at most bars. Now, the more rarefied—or just more determined at getting drunk faster—world of craft spirits is hoping for the same luck. At least, it will if five-year-old, award-winning Philadelphia Distilling has anything to say about how you spend your Friday nights out. “It is happening, and the numbers prove it,” says Andrew Auwerda, president of Philadelphia Distilling (PD), about the growth of craft distilling. Auwerda has more than just his own belief in his business going for him, though; his company’s flagship liquor, Bluecoat gin, just won the 2009 Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Made with mostly organic ingredients, including the juniper berries that give gin its dry kick, Bluecoat is both homage to Philly’s revolutionary past and a very flavorful and smooth spirit. Its fragrant smell, and iconic deep blue bottle with gold lettering exude class. “People really like the spirit,” says Auwerda of the gin, which is now distributed in 20 states and two foreign countries. “They like the taste and the idea of a spirit like Bluecoat coming from Philly.” If you’re looking for a truly local spirit, they 12
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also feature the Penn 1681 rye vodka (the date commemorates the year when King Charles II signed the charter for the Pennsylvania colony). Made from locally-sourced organic rye, 1681 is smooth and crisp, perfect for sipping or mixing at your next green event. “We were asked by so many people to make vodka, and we think it has the most relevance to sell it in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey,” Auwerda says of their decision to only distribute the vodka locally. Pennsylvania farmers use rye as a cover crop, meaning it helps maintain good soil, among other things. So, in a way, the more shots you down, the more you help our local farmland. Everything at PD is made in small batches to preserve quality and freshness. Bluecoat is made in a unique copper still designed for the company, and Penn 1681 is distilled four times, so only the most pure elements make it into the bottle.
august 2009
by Will Dean
The decision to create an absinthe (the first to be legally made in this area for over 100 years), though, speaks more to the company’s commitment to stand out in the liquor world. “We like to zig when other companies zag,” Auwerda boasts. “For Robert [Cassell, master distiller], absinthe is like a master’s degree. It’s challenging.” Another Double Gold Medal at the World Spirits Competition for their Vieux Carré absinthe shows that, for PD, it really isn’t much of a problem. (And if you like the flavors of anise and fennel— not to mention pretending to be a 19th century bohemian—you should give it a try). All of PD’s offerings are available at liquor stores throughout Philly, and they are planning on expanding into the beloved land of brown liquors within the next five years. Meanwhile, they’re happy just carving out a special place in Philly’s local drinking history. “We believe in the Buy Local movement,” says Auwerda. “Don’t all of those people deserve a local, green spirit?” ■
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Bluecoat gin and Penn 1681 rye vodka are available at all state stores; Vieux Carré absinthe is available at Premium Collection stores like 1913 Chestnut St., 724 South St. and 1940 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. Or, ask for them at your local watering hole. ph ot o by luca s ha rdi s o n
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2009 Philadelphia September 4-19 Live Arts Festival livearts-fringe.org Philly Fringe
Urban Scuba
Brian Sanders/JUNK In short: underground pool, physical prowess, grit, upside down dancers, sewer life, audience sits on riser in shallow end. This show may contain partial nudity.
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Sept 2 - 13 $20–$30 ($15 for students) 50 minutes The Pool at The Gershman Y Broad + Pine Streets
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Photo by Steve Belkowitz
Moorestown NJ●Philadelphia PA●Pittsburgh PA
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redesign
William Wagner founded this natural history museum in the midnineteenth century to provide free science education to the people of Philadelphia.
The Science of Retrofitting
One of the oldest museums in the country strives to become more efficent by will dean
W
hen a fire broke out at the Wagner Free Institute of Science last February, they decided it was time to do something about their 100-year-old heating system. “Right now we have one steam boiler and it will be replaced by four high-efficiency boilers,” says Museum Educator and Communications Coordinator Lauren Zalut. “Before, we had no zone control, and because of problems with the system, it would be 40 degrees in some sections during the winter.” Like the heating system, the Wagner building is old, and has the unique distinction of having its permanent collection being unchanged since the early 20th century. This makes part of the museum a museum about Victorian science museums (if that’s not too confusing). The Wagner has a natural history section with thousands of preserved specimens, a research library chronicling the history of science, and it looks just like it did 100 years ago. Despite its focus on the past, though, the museum is concerned with present issues. “Being a science museum, we [present] information about climate change and we want to stay relevant,” Zalut says of the Wagner’s efficiency upgrade.
The museum also stays current with lecture series on new topics in science, like the Colony Collapse Disorder that recently decimated bee populations, and hosts free adult science classes on the weekends and evenings on everything from botany to paleontology. The Wagner also funds the award-winning GeoKids science education program with four Philly schools. With their focus on retaining their turn-of-thecentury look and design, upgrading the building up to LEED standards—the Wagner’s eventual goal—presents unique problems. “We’re trying to be a model of how to retrofit a small historical site without changing the look,” says Zalut. “But it’ll take a long time.” For now, the Wagner is upgrading their firestarter heating system, which will save a lot of energy and keep the building warmer, instituting a recycling program and using a worm bin composter (fed by employees’ scraps) as a demonstration to visitors. Over the years, the museum intends to retrofit the whole building to make it more efficient, and hopefully no one will notice a single change. ■ Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 W. Montgomery Ave., 215-763-6529, wagnerfreeinstitute.org
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try that secondhand
Conscious consumers are spending wisely, and don’t compromise on quality by stephanie singer
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The quest
began two months before my sister’s wedding. I wanted to buy her the perfect gift, but unfortunately I was in a personal recession, between jobs and with shrinking funds. I decided to try my luck finding something used. Every weekend I scavenged flea markets and garage sales. Weeks went by, and though I saw plenty of treasures, I was beginning to lose hope. ¶ That’s when I saw it: a wrought iron Singer logo from an old, disassembled sewing machine table. Singer is my family’s name, and very soon it would be my sister’s maiden name. I gave the seller a dollar; he gave me the beautiful piece of iron and my 50 cents change. As you might imagine, this symbolically rich gift brought tears to my sister’s eyes. For more and more of us, saving money and reducing expenses has become a priority. The surprise that many people are learning is that a low budget does not necessarily mean you need to skimp on quality. In fact, shopping secondhand often means discovering living artifacts from the not-toodistant past, when furniture wasn’t designed to be left behind when you moved. Beyond the appeal of owning quality, buying secondhand is an excellent opportunity to differentiate your home. A particularly unique piece will add a spark that you can’t get off-the-shelf, and then struggle to assemble with an Allen wrench and glue.
Feelin’ Crafty? While there are times when the perfect piece emerges from secondhand shopping, other items require imagination, creativity and a little industry. By adding paint, stains, fabric or something as simple as new knobs, you can personalize your find in a way you never thought possible. A recent project of mine was taking a table left on the street and covering it in a mosaic of discarded broken tiles from the outlets on Washington Avenue by 22nd Street. Glue and grout cost less than $10, but the final product is, as they say, priceless. If you feel inspired by a piece that needs new fabric, then head to historic Fabric Row (4th St. between Bainbridge and Catherine). Looking for something a bit more modern? Try Spool (1912 South St., 215-545-0755). They even offer classes or oneon-one support to help you create your own instead of buying it ready-made. Perhaps projects like these don’t fit into your busy life or skill set. Don’t worry—there are locals who can help. Mike Piontko of Rejuvenated Furniture & Finds (7430 Frankford Ave., 215-624-
2707) in the Northeast started his business seven years ago after experiencing frustration shopping for durable, stylish furniture for his kids’ rooms at an affordable price. “I checked thrift stores and everything seemed to need work. I was really looking for something that was ready to put in my home.” Catherine Cifonelli, of Behind Closed Doors (752 S. 4th St., 215-238-9055) also saw opportunity in this market. She uses her talent to reupholster shabby old furniture into something “new” and fabulous with designer fabric. “They don’t make furniture like they used to,” Cifonelli says, so she seeks out older pieces with quality craftsmanship and intricate design.
recommends these local secondhand stores: →→
→→
→→
→→
→→
→→
→→
Do Your Research
Oliver’s Antiques 2052 Fairmount Ave., 215-232-8377 Uhuru Furniture & Collectibles 1220 Spruce St., 215-546-9616 Antiquarian's Delight 615 S. 6th St., 215-592-0256 ReStore 3016 E. Thompson St., 215-634-3474 Philadelphia Aids Thrift 514 Bainbridge St., 215-922-3186 The 2nd Mile Center 214 S. 45th St., 215-662-1663 Gilbert’s Upholstery & Antique Gallery 4529 Frankford Ave, 215-744-5385 Green Pad Living greenpadliving.com
Craigslist.org, the free classified ad website that has revolutionized buying →→ and selling, is a great place to start. Go to the “for sale” section on Philadelphia’s page and refine your search by using keywords like “dresser” or “pine” to find the item you’re seeking. You can often name your own price. Selling is just as easy—simply upload pictures of your items for sale. No luck selling before your move? No need to trash it, just post under “free” and let others know what you have and where it will be sitting on the curb. Bye-bye, futon! For those of you who enjoy the in-person shopping experience, you can click the garage sale link to see where random sidewalk vending is for that day. All of the xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx big Philly flea markets are always posted here. (The Uhuru Flea Market at Clark Park is on Saturday, August 8, starting at 7 a.m.) Or push your stuff on your corner and post the hours that you’ll be outside. Take the extra step and organize a multifamily yard sale with your neighbors. Chances are the collective selling will drive more foot traffic your way. Whether you find yourself as a seller, buyer or perhaps both, the secondhand economy provides an outlet for community exchange. I’ll bet you 50 cents that you find something you love. ■
Shopping secondhand often means discovering living artifacts from the not-toodistant past, when furniture wasn’t designed to be left behind when you moved.
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dnor
Warrington
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BUCKS
The urban Appalachian Trail is coming through Philly
476
Oxford Valley
Warminster Hatboro
MONTGOMERY
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Willow Grove
Fort Washington by will dean Ambler
Greening the Way Norristown
Plymouth
Bristol
Jenkintown
Conshohocken
Cornwells Heights
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Philadelphia Intnl. Airport
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CAMDEN
If
you run across someone who has biked
across the country, or even across state lines, one of your first thoughts might be of admiration—both for the difficulty of such an endeavor and for the uniqueness of it. A long-distance bicycle trip is kind of a novelty, only ventured by a few hardcore cyclists. On the east coast, though, that might change. ¶ The East Coast Greenway is a planned trail system connecting Calais, ME with Key West, FL. In total, the Greenway will span almost 3,000 miles and provide a safe and reasonably quick way for people to travel along the east coast without motors. And it’s not just for sightseeing and long trips—the designers of this massive road-but-not-a-road envision people using it for everyday travel. “We think of it as the opposite of the Appalachian Trail, which has only one use,” says Michael Oliva, Mid-Atlantic Trail Coordinator. “This is an urban Appalachian Trail, for all types of non-motorized users.” Anything without a gas engine is welcome on the Greenway, including bikes, wheelchairs, skateboards, rollerblades, horses (on some sections) and even that dorkiest of all methods of travel, Segways. More than just an alternative way of getting around, though, the Greenway is a blueprint for a different kind of travel. In the way the interstate system defined America’s mid-20th century expansion and car culture, the Greenway hopes to make it easier for people to give up their internal combustion friends in favor of something, well, for lack of a better word, greener. A highway without cars Twenty-two percent of the Greenway is completed nationally, which means that it is paved and free of motorized vehicular traffic. Forty percent is complete in the mid-Atlantic area, which includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and Maryland. It is possible to bike along a route laid out by the East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGA), the umbrella group that is organizing the entire effort, but it means a lot of travel on some often very busy roads. The ECGA has a route available on its website with tips on how to make the entire trip. Recently, a couple on recumbent bikes completed the trail in 55 days. However, the Greenway isn’t just for the long-distance trekker; it’s designed for the everyday use of residents who live along it. “It’s not only the tourist; it’s not only the weekend warrior; it’s not only the recreational user—it’s also the commuters— people can use it to go to work,” says Spencer Finch, who has worked on Pennsylvania’s section of Greenway trails for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC).
To help urban residents get around—and to showcase the Greenway to the large groups of people focused in cities—the route will go through all the major metropolitan areas on the east coast, including New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philladelphia. For people without cars, the Greenway could be a way of getting around quickly without the danger of riding on roads dominated by fast-moving tons of metal and plastic. According to Oliva, “It’s especially important in urban areas that people have access to a path to go to work, to get groceries and things like that.” Although that will probably sound outlandish to many in Philly—where it sometimes seems like bikers, drivers and pedestrians have formed armed camps against one another— Finch takes the long view. “We don’t have to convince anyone,” he insists. “It’s like any trend—you have the early adopters and they’re already out there, and unfortunately, those are some of the people getting run over by cars and buses in accidents, but just in the past few years we’ve seen a huge increase in people biking to work. There’s a lot more people wanting to do it, but they’re scared of competing for space with cars.” For its proponents, the first step to encourage the use of a system like the Greenway is to build it. To paraphrase the famous line from Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will bike it.” “When you start providing better services, like bike lanes that are buffered from traffic, as they have in some parts of New York, then you’ll get my mom and my little nieces and nephews to go biking,” Finch says. “They’ll go bike to the store for some milk, go bike to work, go bike to the park. It’ll happen. Where you provide the services, people will use them.” The Greenway imagines a way of traveling where alternative modes of transport aren’t just painted in as afterthought, like bike lanes with speeding cars on one side and parked ones on the other (where a hastily opened door can end your ride [↘ ] a ugus t 20 0 9
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The East Coast Greenway is a planned trail system connecting Calais, ME with Key West, FL. In total, the Greenway will span almost 3,000 miles and provide a safe and reasonably quick way for people to travel along the east coast without motors.
LEGEND Spine Route Alternate Route
pretty quickly). The Greenway wants roads that are offset from car and truck traffic, but allow for quick and necessary travel (work, errands, etc.). And it wants to run that kind of travel right through the city. Right through the center The Greenway enters Pennsylvania around Morrisville (right by Trenton, NJ) and travels along the Delaware through Levittown, Tullytown and Bristol until it enters the city at Poquessing Creek. The future trail will go along the riverfront until it reaches Center City. There, the planners had an audacious thought: bring the trail through the busiest section of the city and out to Cobbs Creek. At the East Coat Greenway Summit, held in Philly on May 8, the presenters talked about three possible routes to bring the Greenway through Center City. Spring Garden was chosen as the present route, because it’s wide and has existing bike lanes. Mere bike lanes, though, aren’t enough for the scope of the Greenway. Proponents want to use this opportunity to leverage change in Philly’s traffic system. First up is another of the proposed routes: Spruce and Pine. These streets currently have two traffic lanes and space for parking. One plan is to convert one of the traffic lanes on each street into a buffered bike lane, meaning there would be a median between the traffic and the bike lanes, while retaining a parking lane and sidewalk space. The city will be undertaking this in August—probably by the time you read this—by repainting one of the lanes into a bike lane. Next year a buffered bike lane could be added, using existing repavement funds . In the interim, Finch and others want to move the bike lanes on Spring Garden to the center of the street and have a buffer median between them and traffic lanes. The ideal route, though, would travel along Market Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway, connecting riders to museums and other cultural attractions. This route would involve extensive changes to Market and the Parkway, which means confronting both bureaucratic headaches and the ire of Philly’s motorists (neither a group to treat lightly). If completed, the plan—which includes buffered bike lanes, pedestrian walkways and plenty of trees—would be the first of its kind in any major metropolitan area in the US, and a symbol of Philly’s commitment to being the greenest city in America. Could it really happen here, though? “New York did it on Broadway,” says Oliva, referring to the creation of buffered bike lanes and a pedestrian mall on the famous—and busy—New York avenue. “With the right political will, it can happen quickly.” 20
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Barriers and Benefits In Pennsylvania, almost 20 percent of the Greenway is complete, but in reality much of it is bogged down by obstructions. A high embankment, a railway crossing, a busy highway and a recalcitrant land owner are among the different hurdles the trail faces. Enormous amounts of planning go into every mile of the Greenway, and each section requires different approaches and different partners. In most of the northern sections of the Pennsylvania trail, it follows the old Delaware Canal, which the state administers. In those sections, the state already has the right of way, so it’s just a matter of getting funding, most of which comes from state conservancy departments and the federal Department of Transportation. Another obstruction near US Route 13 in Bristol caused a bit of local controversy because the original plan to cross the highway involved building a tunnel, which locals thought could lead to an increase in muggings. The tunnel plan has been changed to a bridge, but it’s just those kind of small problems, considering the size of the entire project, that can stall something like the Greenway. “You have to have a lot of patience,” says Finch. “You have to be able to talk to a lot of different people and address their concerns. Sometimes, though, people are already doing things and tell us to go away, which is great.” The benefits the Greenway can bring, though, are enough to keep up the spirits of the faciliatators. In addition to the travel elements, the trail creation is a way to bring improvements to underserved areas. In North Philly, the trail will turn abandoned industrial areas into green spaces, and includes the creation of a new park in Tacony, the first added to the Fairmount system in several decades. PEC is currently working on adding a Greenway section to Southwest Philly along 58th Street to help connect the trail from Grays Ferry Avenue to Cobbs Creek. The area will involve the creation of a buffered bike lane and the planting of new trees. “Southwest Philly is one of the poorest, most underserved communities; they have almost no green space to speak of,” says Finch. “Someone who wants to open a store there might think, ‘maybe not,’ but then they see the strip of green and take another look at the strip mall near our 58th Street connector.” The Greenway will also connect with other existing trails out into the suburbs of the city, perfect for commuting to work or visiting historical sites like Valley Forge. “We can start connecting people from Delaware County and Darby to commute to work in University City or Center City,” says Finch. Organizations like PEC and the national coalition have been
Greenway signage in central Washington, D.C. The National Mall is the official mid-point of the East Coast Greenway.
working on the Greenway for a long time, and will be working on it for much longer. “The Appalachian trail took 80 years,” notes Oliva. After the planning summit in May, Mayor Nutter joined attendees for a bike ride along the path of the Greenway. The ride went along the Schuylkill from Locust to Eakins Oval and onto Spring Garden (although Nutter only rode for a few minutes before stopping for a photo op and then leaving).
Nutter was a fan of the Greenway plan, especially since almost all of the funding comes from state, federal and private sources and not the city, and the different routes through the city mesh with his promises to make Philly more bike-friendly. On the trip along Spring Garden, though, some motorists yelled at large groups of bikers for blocking right hand turns while crossing intersections, and other perceived slights. That reaction demonstrates both the existent antagonism between the differing modes of transport in Philly and the inadequacies of our present bike infrastructure. All the more reason to add the Greenway to the city, according to Finch. “Wouldn’t you love to have a greenway right at your doorstep?” •
Park That Bike Philly struggles with bike parking
The lack of bicycle parking racks is obvious around much of Philadelphia; not only in front of commercial storefronts, but inside office buildings as well. This bike parking shortage makes biking to work or other destinations difficult, but additionally, it leads to more bike theft. In 2008, when Kryptonite Locks released its list of top 10 bike theft cities, Philadelphia won the dubious distinction of being the nation’s number one. Despite the lack of enough bike parking, bicycling as a mode of transportation is growing by leaps and bounds in Philadelphia. In fact, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia found that
by sarah clark stuart
bicycling doubled within a three year period from 2005 to 2008. The Bicycle Coalition also documented in 2008 how many public and private venues have either no (Pennsylvania Hospital), too little (Art Institute of Philadelphia), or poor-quality (Temple University Center City) bicycle parking. Philadelphia’s bicycle parking shortage is evident to anyone walking around commercial corridors and restaurant rows. Bikes are chained to trees, poles or gates, or doubled up on every available sidewalk inverted U rack. Tackling the city’s bike parking shortage requires a two-pronged Without proper bike parking, this could be your bike remains.
solution: first, to convince public and private property owners to install more bicycle racks throughout the city; and second, to require any new construction to create bike parking spaces as part of their building permit. This latter strategy was adopted by other cities with progressive zoning codes, including New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Portland, OR, and Arlington and Alexandria, VA. Philadelphia joined its peer cities this past May when the City Council unanimously passed Bill #090190. The bill, introduced by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, Councilman James F. Kenney and Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., was developed by the Nutter Administration in conjunction with the Bicycle Coalition through the Pedestrian/Bicycle Plan Steering Committee, which is charged with revising and updating the City’s Pedestrian/Bicycle Plan (due out in 2010). The new zoning amendment, which will go into effect January 1, 2010, amends the parking section of the zoning code by creating three classes of bicycle parking spaces according to how they protect against theft and inclement weather, and requiring that bicycle parking spaces (in numbers according to how large the uses are) be provided by: a ugus t 20 0 9
→→
→→ →→ →→
All non-residential uses with gross floor area larger than 7,500 square feet Multiple-family dwellings when 12 or more are provided on a lot Public parking lots Low-occupancy facilities with six or more employees
The code also allows owners that provide sheltered (Class 1) bicycle parking spaces to reduce the number of off-street automobile parking spaces that they are required to provide by one for every five bike spaces provided on a lot, with a maximum reduction of 10 percent. It’s encouraging that, going forward, any applicable development or construction project that pulls a building permit will have to install bike parking spaces. This guarantees that bike parking will no longer be an afterthought, but a key feature of Philadelphia’s architectural landscape. This new zoning code amendment contributed to Philadelphia winning a Bronze award for being a Bicycle Friendly Community from the League of American Bicyclists in July, and that is an important step toward making Philadelphia the “greenest city in America.”
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/ fire in the kitchen Roasted Heirloom Tomato Soup with Jalapeño Yogurt 6 1 2 2 3 3 1 2 3 1
cups water bunch scallions, chopped roughly sprigs rosemary sprigs thyme stalks celery, chopped roughly carrots, chopped roughly jalapeno, seeded and cut in half bulbs garlic, with tops cut off lbs. tomatoes olive oil, about 2 tbsp. salt and pepper, to taste cup red wine (optional)
Jalapeño Yogurt
2 1
cups Pequea Valley Plain Yogurt jalapeño, seeded a finely minced juice from one lime
(Be very careful when handling the jalapeno peppers, avoid any contact with your eyes and wash your hands thoroughly).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring the first seven ingredients to a boil, then simmer. Let reduce by half. This takes roughly one hour. Cut the tomatoes in half and place cut-side down on a baking pan with the garlic, cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Put in oven for one hour. While you wait, prepare the jalapeno yogurt. Simply mix all ingredients and refrigerate, uncovered. When the stock is finished, remove from heat, drain out the vegetables and reserve the stock. In a large stock pot add the roasted garlic and some of the residual oil from pan containing the tomatoes. On high heat combine the vegetables and wine. Add the tomatoes and stir for about five minutes. Add the stock and bring to a simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Blend in a food processor, blender or a hand blender. Serve hot or cold, with a dollop of yogurt in the middle.
fire in the kitchen with Ashley Jerome
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Terhune Orchards The tomatoes used in this recipe come from a farm in Princeton that offers a variety of twenty-two different heirlooms. Take a drive north on a beautiful summer day and shop at their onsite market for fruits and vegetables. In August, they offer educational programs for parents and children called Read and Pick, where stories are read to children about a particular fruit or vegetable and afterward, then they pick their own (check their website for details). Terhune Orchards not only has delicious, ripe heirloom tomatoes, but it is also a fun family destination not too far from home. 330 Cold Soil Rd., Princeton, NJ; 609-9242310; terhuneorchards.com
Pequea Valley Farms Plain Yogurt Straight from Lancaster county, this smooth and rich yogurt is made from the milk from grass-fed Jersey cows. Using all natural ingredients, these yogurts come in different flavors including vanilla, maple, strawberry and blueberry. It’s also perfect breakfast treat with a little bit of granola. Pick yours up at any Metropolitan Bakery location or the Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market. 116-D S. Ronks Rd., Ronks, PA; 717-687-6592.
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/ farm to philly
Simply Summer
Enjoy the bounty of the warmest part of the year with this simple and delicious local meal recipes by Nicole Wolverton and Allison Kelsey of FarmtoPhilly.com
[salad]
[appetizer]
Uzbek Tomato & Onion Salad
Fresh Sage Gougères
1 3 2 ¼ ¼ ⅛¼
pint large cherry tomatoes (or three big slicing tomatoes) large spring onions (or one medium onion) sprigs fresh dill (or one tsp. dried) tsp. salt tsp. ground chili pepper (can be New Mexico, Turkish, Aleppo) tsp. ground cumin fresh chives, snipped
Slice the tomatoes and onion thinly, including the green part of the onion. (If you wish, you can mellow the raw onion by soaking the slices in cold water for 15 minutes.) Chop the dill. Mix salt, chili and cumin together. Combine all the ingredients and let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with snipped chives. 24
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½ 3 ½ 4 4 2 3 4
cup water tbsp. unsalted local butter [Green Meadow Farm] tsp. salt tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour (Fair Food Farmstand) tbsp. white pastry flour (Fair Food Farmstand) fresh local eggs (Countryside Organics) oz. hard, sharp local cheese (Lesher from Keswick Creamery) tbsp. fresh sage, thinly sliced, then chopped
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the water, two tablespoons of butter and salt in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the butter melts. In a small bowl, combine the flours and
august 2009
empty into the saucepan. Whisk quickly, until the mixture forms a loose ball that pulls away from the side of the pan. Continue to stir over low heat for another minute, then remove from the stove. Empty the dough back into your flour bowl and let cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet and add the sage. Stir well and cook over medium heat until the sage becomes slightly crispy. Add one beaten egg to the dough, mixing entirely, and then add the next egg. Add the cheese and the fried sage, mixing well. Place the dough in a pastry bag or a sealable bag with one corner cut. Cover two cookie sheets with parchment paper then pipe the dough out onto the sheets. Make each gougère about two inches in diameter, and leave at least an inch of space between each puff. Place the cookie sheets in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove the gougères from the oven and immediately pierce them in the side with a small, sharp knife to release the ph ot o by luca s ha rdi s o n
steam. Serve immediately, or reheat for five minutes before serving in a 350 degree oven.
[main course]
Dutch Oven-Roasted Pork Shoulder 1
2 lb. pork shoulder (pork butt, Boston butt) boned or bone-in (Country Time Farm)
For the rub
1½ ½ 2 2
tsp. kosher salt tsp. pepper tbsp. marjoram, tightly packed (Red Earth Farm) cloves garlic
For the sauce
1
½
Pour the pan juices into a tempered glass bowl and refrigerate the bowl for 15 minutes, allowing the juices to separate. Remove the bowl and spoon off half of the fat that has risen to the top. Place the Dutch oven over medium-high heat and pour in the wine, scraping at the bottom of the Dutch oven to remove any browned bits. Add the pan juices and marjoram, and stir. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens. When it is sufficiently thick, you should be able to drag a spoon through it and see the bottom of the pan in its wake. Pour some of the sauce over the shoulder and the rest in a gravy boat, and serve.
tbsp. marjoram, chopped and tightly packed (Red Earth Farm) cup white wine or dry vermouth
The night before:
Make the rub for the pork shoulder. Finely chop the marjoram leaves. Using the flat side of a chef’s knife, smash the garlic. With a mortar and pestle, combine the marjoram, garlic, salt, and pepper, and grind into a paste. Rub all over the pork shoulder, cover and refrigerate overnight.
The day of:
Arrange the racks of the oven to make enough clearance for the Dutch oven, and preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Remove the pork shoulder from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature as the oven preheats. Place the pork shoulder in the Dutch oven and cover. Alternately, you could use a deep baking dish tightly covered in aluminum foil. Cook for three to three-and-a-half hours. Allow for variations in time based upon the size of the pork shoulder and the presence or absence of the bone. Look for the meat to be nearly falling apart or, in some cases, falling away from the bone. Remove from the Dutch oven, place on a serving dish and cover with foil.
[side dish]
Simple OvenRoasted Potatoes 2
lbs. waxy potatoes (new, fingerling, etc.) (Culton Organics) 4 cloves garlic, peeled 2-3 sprigs of rosemary (Red Earth Farm) 3 tbsp. olive oil salt and pepper, to taste
Wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. (The exact dimensions of “bite-size” are less important than the uniformity of the cutting.) Place the potatoes in a pot of cold, salted water. Bring the pot to a boil and continue for five minutes. Meanwhile, remove the rosemary leaves from the sprigs. Drain the potatoes and allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cover the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil. (The pan should be big enough to fit all of the potatoes in a single layer without overcrowding.) Add the potatoes, garlic cloves, rosemary, and salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove, stir and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. The potatoes should have a golden brown crust. A note on timing: To cook this dish concurrently with the pork shoulder, have the potatoes boiled, mixed with the other ingredients and spread in the pan. As soon as the pork is removed from the oven, set the temperature for the potatoes. Then, continue preparing the pan juices as the roast sits covered in foil. ■
a casual, affordable, neighborhood belgian brasserie Full menu availlable ‘til 1 AM nightly 200+ world-class bottled beers No Crap On Tap! 100% WInd Powered for all of our electrical needs “The Soul of Belgium in the Heart of Philadelphia”® Tom Peters and Fergus Carey, proprietors serving fine Belgian ales since 1985
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/ urban vegan
Eat a Plant, Save the Planet
Reduce your footprint by changing your diet
C
hoosing a vegan (or vegetarian) diet has a positive impact on our health and environment. Summertime provides a fresh opportunity for us to enjoy our garden gifts in a myriad of recipe by dynise balcavage meatless ways. Try this vegan recipe below.
M
ix any vegetable with a proper al aglio e olio sauce (best quality extra-virgin olive oil slowly infused with plenty of fresh garlic) and you have perfection on a plate. It’s a breeze to prepare—a real plus during August’s steamy dog days when no one wants to spend excessive time in the [serves 6] kitchen. Al aglio e olio dishes are especially fun for cooks who like to improvise. You can use virtually any vegetable you like here, mixing and matching depending on what’s in season—this month, tomatoes. Here, the subtle sweetness of the spinach and acidic sweetness of the roasted tomatoes play nicely against the assertive and briny Kalamata olives.
Pasta With Kalamata Olives, Spinach and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
* Nutritional yeast has a cheesy aroma and a creamy texture when mixed with water. It’s rich in protein, B vitamins, phosphorus and other minerals. You can find it at most health food stores.
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8 1 2 8-10 30 1 6 1
tbsp. best quality olive oil, divided pint grape or cherry tomatoes tbsp. fresh basil, chopped cloves of garlic, sliced evenly Kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped cups organic spinach, roughly chopped lb. of spaghetti, cooked al dente salt and pepper, to taste nutritional yeast* for sprinkling (optional)
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cherry tomatoes with two tablespoons of oil and the basil. Roast, covered with aluminum foil, for 20-25 minutes, or until the tomatoes have wilted Heat the remaining oil in a large pan over medium-low. Add the garlic and sauté until soft. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add olives, parsley and roasted tomatoes, along with any pan drippings. Cook for about 10 more minutes. Just before serving, add the spinach and toss gently. (The heat will wilt it.) Toss with the pasta, and adjust the seasonings. Drizzle with extra oil and sprinkle with nutritional yeast, if desired. Dynise Balcavage, author of urbanvegan.net, lives and writes in Philadelphia. Her cookbook, The UrbanVegan: 250 Simple and Sumptuous Recipes From Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine is available for pre-order on amazon.com and will hit bookstores this fall. She’s been featured in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune and VegNews. ph ot o by luca s ha rdi s o n
Looking for a
Smart Solar Solution?
Let Eos show you how Smart Solar can be. 215.787.9999 • www.eosss.com
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Exposed:
The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake for American Power by Mark Schapiro chelsea green, $16.95
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, harper collins, 2007; $26.95
A
nimal, Vegetable, Miracle will not rest on your bookshelves with Barbara Kingsolver’s fiction; this book demands permanent residence in your kitchen. Filled with delicious, seasonal recipes and tips from growing to canning, this stellar book chronicles the Kingsolvers’ move from Arizona to a family farm in Appalachia, VA, as well as their lifestyle shift from end users in a national food chain to central cogs in local food production. For a full year, they decided, they would eat locally and in-season; anything they couldn’t grow or raise themselves was sourced from neighboring local farmers. Kingsolver combines their personal story—the anxiety her family felt before they made the plunge to local-only, how her daughter longed for fruit that might not be in season—to big-picture commentary on food culture and the realities of industrial agriculture. For the Kingsolvers, it’s a family affair; though Barbara writes the majority of the book, all of the adults in the household take turns writing. Husband Steven Hopp, a college professor, writes about industrial agriculture politics and college-age daughter Camille contributes recipes and commentary. And you can’t help but fall in love with the depiction of second-grader Lily as she launches her own egg business venture. There have been several landmark books about our current food production— see past Grid classics such as Marion Nestle’s Food Politics and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma—but this is probably the warmest. Read this book and you’ll not only rethink what you eat and where your food is from, you’ll also be reminded that meals are daily opportunities to create with, and for, the people you cherish the most. 28
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There has never been a shortage of books critiquing American government policy or society, but with the current economic crisis, such books now have a lot more cachet. Exposed, by Mark Schapiro, editorial director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, is an interesting mixture of two kinds of exposé: environmental dangers and global policy. Schapiro looks at the dangerous chemicals in products like children’s toys and cosmetics, and dissects changes in international policy—with a major focus on the European Union—that seek to limit the use of such chemicals. One such group of chemicals is phthalates, which are used as plastic softeners in things like shower curtains and rubber ducks. Some evidence has suggested that exposure to phthalates can cause hormone and developmental problems in infant boys and could be causing, as one scientist said, “the feminization of infant boys.” Throughout the book Schapiro hammers away how slow American government has reacted to evidence about toxic chemicals in consumer products, while the EU—which is then followed by other nations—has passed bans that have forced industries to reformulate their products. He argues that companies have started using the EU as their baseline for what they can put in their products, and if this continues, the US will see its global importance fall.
The Cul-De-Sac Syndrome:
Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream by John F. Wasik Bloomberg, $24.95
Financial analysts, like the author of this book, have picked out the housing market as the trigger for the current economic downturn. In The Cul-De-Sac Syndrome, John Wasik, a personal finance columnist for Bloomberg News, agrees with that assertion, but says that our problems with houses go much further back than just a few years, and will require a cultural shift to fix. Wasik looks at the philosophical and physical basis of the American Dream—doing better than one’s parents and owning one’s own home—and how that dream mutated into some people flipping homes to quickly make money and others living under crushing mountains of debt. If you dream of owning a home one day, Cul-De-Sac can be a depressing read, especially when Wasik gets into the infrastructure problems of overdevelopment, like running out of groundwater. The last section, though, is more hopeful, and lays out a way to rebuild the American Dream. With walkable communities that are sustainably designed and mostly self-sufficient, Wasik argues, we can shock our ailing national dream back to life.
215.238.6080 713 South 4th St. Philadelphia 19147
jujusalon.com ALL ORGANIC ALL THE TIME 215.922.3235 728 South 4th St Philadelphia 19147
from our farm to your home
GREEN PROPERTIES GROUP Fresh produce every Sunday at the Headhouse Farmers Market, 10am–2pm. Also available through fine retailers, restaurants, and CSAs throughout the city. 717.677.7186 R www.threespringsfruitfarm.com
Don Hull
Geothermal Specialist
Ground Source HVAC
Geo-exchange Heat Pumps Geothermal & Hybrid Systems greenscene@fastmail.us www.groundsourcehvac.com
West Philadelphia Wood Stoves / Chimney Liners www.chimneyfix.com
[YOUR AMBASSADOR FOR GREEN REAL ESTATE ]
Contact: David Krupp, LEED® AP, Ecosociate 226 W. Rittenhouse Square, Suite 102, Philadelphia 215.735.2225 office 215.740.8355 direct 610-306-3245 TM
GREENPROPERTIESGROUP.WORDPRESS.COM
renew yourself with Acupuncture Susan Bloch, M.Ac., R.N. Natural Health Care for Body and Mind Mt. Airy & Center City Philadelphia 215-844-7675 susiebloch@earthlink.net
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by e inav k e e t
illus t r at ion by me lis s a m cf e e ters
Dear Summer in Philly, In your too-brief months, our city really shines. Even though you came in this year with rainfall of biblically epic proportions, this didn’t stop any of us from filling our senses with your sights, sounds, tastes, smells or amazing activities. On Memorial Day, inaugural barbeques in Fairmount Park immediately gave the city air that signature eau de grill, and we all knew another delicious summer was afoot. With our patio gardens soon sprouting overgrown mint plants, we mixed up icy cold mojitos and sipped them on our rooftops as we watched the late sunset behind the Philly skyline. Once your notorious heat and humidity kicked in, nighttime walks for Capogiro’s frutti di busco gelato or John’s lemon water ice became absolutely essential to survival. Nothing was more excruciating than work days spent stuck inside, while outside you were in full glory, so we spent the lunch hour basking in your rays at Rittenhouse Park. As soon as we left our desks for the day, we hit your streets ready to make some evening fun. We hopped on the Broad Street line to cheer on our World Champion Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and watched movies under the stars in our neighborhood park. On weekends we rode our bikes to Clark Park and Headhouse Square to pick up fresh, local veggies that your sunshine helped to grow. We ate hours-long dinners with friends on Liberties Walk, followed up with live music— and more Phillies games on the big
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screen—at the new Piazza at Schmidts. You just wouldn’t be you without the Fourth of July. Is there a better place to celebrate this country? The Art Museum’s fireworks show was the place to be. People poured in from cookouts and block parties around the city, showing you and our country so much love. As wonderful as you always are to us, we can find your perfect complement an hour away, trading asphalt for sand down the Shore. It’s nothing against you, but your proximity to the ocean gives us the best of both worlds. Even when we leave you for a relaxing weekend at the beach, we already miss the constant action of city life. Time apart only makes us appreciate you that much more. Our days together are almost over, and soon we’ll be counting down another nine months until we’re reunited again. Fall will be stepping in for you soon, and with the cool days, Sunday football and crunchy leaves, her months can be just as glorious. ■
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Our four-pronged approach to green catering.
But our biggest secret to being green? Making every dish so clean-your-plate delicious that there simply isn’t anything left over.
Photo by Jeff Busby
From our commitment to locally grown, Fair Trade and organic ingredients, right down to our compostable utensils (made from corn starch) everything we do is done with your health & the environment in mind.
2009 Philadelphia September 4-19 Live Arts Festival livearts-fringe.org Philly Fringe
small metal objects
Back to Back Theatre (Australia) Bessie Award Winner!
In short: eavesdropping, public venue, drama, random encounters, headphones, pedestrian traffic. Sept 16 - 19 / $20–$30 ($15 for students) / 50 minutes The 40th Street Field, University of Pennsylvania Wheelchair accessible
Chestnut Hill Farmer’s Market: 8229 Germantown Ave 215.753.1991 | cosmicfoods.com
Buy tickets at
livearts-fringe.org
PHILADELPHIA DISTILLING INTRODUCES
MADE EXCLUSIVELY WITH
ORGANIC PENNSYLVANIA RYE LOCAL, SUSTAINABLE AND UNMATCHED IN EXCELLENCE
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available exclusively in your local Liquor Stores in PA, NJ & DE