I let some intuition do the driving here as I wasn’t quite sure what I was up to but had a good inkling of where it was going to head.  This is not a quick recipe but it is rewarding and can feed up to 8 or give you leftovers galore. You can cut corners and I’ll let you figure that out. For me we have a huge supply of heritage tomatoes (tear drop, zebra, polish) I wanted to assimilate.

Spagetti Sopressata Bake

• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup pasta water
• 1/2 cup bell pepper
• couple bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 med. sweet onion
• 8 oz mushrooms (a package)
• 1.5tsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 lb sopressata (sliced & Julianned or cubed)
• 3/4 lb uncooked thin spagetti
• 2 cups Italian cheese blend (or favorites)
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tbls oregano
• 3 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp sugar

Cooking Steps, Start the Sauce

1. Smash and dice garlic
2. Dice chop onion, pepper
3. Food process or dice your tomatoes
4. Heat deep saucepan over med-high heat
5. Combine garlic, onion, pepper, 2 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder in saucepan.
6. Heat until soft, about 3m
7. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bay leaves
8. Raise to a boil and simmer covered for 30m

Sautee Time

1. Take your soporessata sauté/fry to a light/medium crisp, remove & set aside
2. Chop mushrooms, add butter—sauté through sweating, add 1tsp salt & some pepper continue cooking to your liking
3. Once first 30m is done with sauce add these to it for another 10-15m uncovered

Casserole Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 350’
2. Prepare spagetti according to package/your taste
3. Take 1 cup pasta water, add to sauce
4. It’s about layers; add sauce to baking dish, add noodles, add cheese
5. Top layer should just be sauce
6. Bake for 30m
7. Grate/add parma to top, return to oven at broil for 5m

Remove from the oven and let it sit 5-10m.  During which time you can make some garlic bread, tasty salad, or a side of choice.  Cut into portion squares and enjoy!

We got a healthy dinner, packaged 2 sizable portions, and are freezing a few portions for a quick meal in the future.

Here we are leaving at a little over 13,000ft to just have a fun sit-fly. I get to geek out and fail at some neat tricks but all in all it was a blast and I look forward to our next jump together.

It’s a time of year when families draw near and if yours goes beyond the grabbing, ripping, digesting of the season you might get a tale or two from your peers and elders. If not this is for you to work on that.

Is Your Family History Fading?

Here in America I feel we are so quick to move forward we never take a moment to look back. We may know the big picture but do we know the tapestry threads that binds it all together? You may know how your great grandparents made it to this country but what of the shared memory of their lives, and their parents lives, and that of their countries. To many of us it may already be too late to recover much of this.

Remember Storytelling

While we may have lost some of our oral tradition it’s never too late to start telling tales of what you do know and what your parents may have known. The point is to talk, to spin a tale, to encourage a connection to your lineage. Beyond giving the storyteller a moment to enjoy their own past they can hook a younger generation into the tale and give them something to think on as they mature.

Through the Senses

How many of us have family dishes that have been passed down over the years. We can divine a lot of culture from food. The missing ingredient a lot of the time is how the dish came to be. Whose great-great grandmother cooked this and the family so loved they kept it. Or what meager meal got a family through tough times and thus became a cornerstone of the families recipes throughout the years. Many times we are able to enjoy these meals without their connected meaning but how much richer would we be to know it and to pass that knowledge along.

Next time you’re at a family meal and there is something from the past on the table ask about it, inquire to it’s history and meaning to the family.

It’s All About Context

In my own eyes I have a not too distant connection to relatives that extend from America, to Puerto Rico, to Spain, but I know so little beyond the gestalt. Some of my families stories were written down but they stop only a few generations ago. The greater context of our family and our culture is a mystery to me.

If you have a family dish to an heirloom that is being passed on make sure you tell the context that goes with it. Who made it, how many hands has it passed through, do you know their stories? While you may know the context your children do not.

Dying Libraries

Over the last five years I have heard in many different forms how our elders are passing on but their knowledge is not. For every elder that passes we lose a library. Think of your own wealth of knowledge that is in your head and ponder how much you share of it. When you are gone  how much goes with you and how much will be here for others to share and pass along?

Take a moment and look for the precious moments that you don’t want to lose and begin putting pen to paper or telling stories at your next gathering. Think about the stories you were told growing up and do your children know them?

Our lives are very brief in the way the universe works and it’s a shame how much experience and hard earned wisdom is lost from generation to generation. It’s one reason I started blogging so many years ago. I wanted to make a record of moments, of a person, of a family, that can be shared and looked through to understand who I was and what I was a part of.

I write this because I lost both of my grandparents in 2008 and when I reflect upon their photo albums, letters, and memorabilia I realize I only knew a fraction of what I would have loved to know.  Now it is lost within fragments of my parents and extended family but the easiest connection to it is gone forever.

New Holiday Meaning

So this holiday season, this new year, take it upon yourself to rekindle your families stories and culture. Let it be alive once again and writ or told to others so that it maybe kept alive and fresh. Revel in who you all are, where you came from, and the connection from here to there.

We start the morning at 5:30a. Many farmers we know start even earlier. It can be quite a trial getting up and out the door. Not to mention finding the energy to greet and explain your products to the consumer.

This time of year is a beautiful time though. It can get hot, but there is a good amount of crop diversity of fruits and veggies. It keeps my belly happy!

There are more markets in our region than there have been in a long long time. Part economy, part food security, were just happy to see everyone out. The discussions you can hear out here range from the classic coffeeshop to deep agriculture/agrarian principles. Great way to make new friends.

No matter where you are you can probably find a market. Get out and support them when you can. Every dollar spent is said to be 7 for the local economy. Enjoy the seasonality of your region as it passes too quickly.

From the Tailgate market in Charlotte.

-a

The real question upon return is how to best speak of the event. How to best capture, seal, and use as a foundation for our local conversations and action. I’ve found it difficult. Speaking with many of the delegates there are similarities of not having just one thing but a peppering of tens if not hundreds of little moments that remain indelible.

The Beginning of Terra Madre

We arrived in Torino after a short stay in Lucca by way of an overnighter in Pollenza where we had visited the Slow Food Universita di Scienze Gastronomiche, eaten at Osteria Boccondivino, & Slow Food HQ in Bra. (We know how to move around.)

Picking up our passes and checking in with the US liaisons we were able to meet some of the other US delegation and see a plentiful and diverse group of peoples. The opening ceremonies was long yet brilliant.

Beginning with a procession of Sardinians showing off one of their rituals (impressive, daunting, and powerful) to follow was the marching of the flags. Many countries of the world were represented and as we later found out from Winona laDuke a hope that indegenious cultures will be able to fly their flags next session.

Passionate Speakers, We Listened in Awe

Speakers included those in Slow Food and beyond, Alice Waters introduced a video of Prince Charles, UN Asst. Secretary General Carlos Lopes spoke on behalf of Ban Ki-Moon, Vandana Shiva was passionate and fiery in her remarks, a student Sam Levin blew us away with his youth, determination, vibrance and step-taking, Carlo Petrini brought it all home in the poignant thoughts of our development and rich diversities.

We were awash in the power of the people.

I had chills so many times I thought my brain was going to fry out. I’m not sure everyones world view is ready to accept what is going on. The world is being dominated by those with power and we are constantly seeing large companies leverage that power into poor decisions; squeezing the bottom of the chain, selling consumers marketing and bad health, while replacing nature with man management which is leading us down a very bad road.

United States Delegation, 800+

America will always amaze me. We are a super culture, a mixing pot of everyone. Including the great diversification of the indigenous countries within our country. How often we forget our own brief history.

The meeting of the US delegation was huge and very long. I understand why Slow Food Nation was conceived. We have a lot to talk about. With over 300 million in our borders we have a lot of work to do to corral this great nation.

We heard from many great regional speakers (session notes from Robin):

Josh Viertel, President of SF USA
We cannot take out without putting back in.
Our priorities: #1 The Youth, #2 Social Justice.
We are a movement, not an organization.

Farmer Dominic
We feed the community, and the community feeds us.
The importance of teaching.

Green Mountain College Farm and Food Project
Initiated under three goals: #1 Food, #2 Minds, #3 Ideas
Community supported agriculture (CSA) in the classroom to the kitchen and dining.
Common goals with continued partnership and community building.

A rule on foragers. They know the value of a secret and are good to keep their best ones close to their heart (or stomach). I don’t want to give any more than I have to on where we were or Reed’s full name. I respect this self-proclaimed lummox and want to keep the integrity of the wood, per say.

Stay Away from Brown and Whites

We weren’t but a few yards away from civilization when Reed shouted out that we should stay clear of all white and brown mushrooms. Unless of course you know what you are doing. Of course we don’t, and not knowing, this gave us our first framework to work in.

There are plenty of good white and brown mushrooms, there are also plenty that will do you harm from indigestion to liver failure. There have been many families snuffed out by collecting of simple white mushrooms with a death cap mixed in. The difference between a species being identified is of extreme importance.

There were six of us, as we got comfortable with the terrain we learned a little bit more about each other. Educators, chefs, executives, and more. One goal in mind, to learn more about the wild around us and how to better scout for the delectable within. We couldn’t have been paired with a better local guide.

Reed is an impassioned man who loves being outdoors. He is a living tome of knowledge that was first catalyzed as a small child. When asked where he got started thinking about mushrooms he recalled a science fair project and how after that he never stopped looking into the natural world around him.

So Much Knowledge!

I wish my mind could have held it all. He pointed at trees that would have different species at different types of year. Bushes that held edibles, and wild roses that might have the greatest little blooms. Everywhere he turned he could practically tell us something else about the landscape around us. It was impressive and inspiring.

We eventually came to a set of stream-beds. Reed found some small red/orange chanterelle and had us all get a good eyeful. We were then instructed to fan out and look for more based off of a kind of grid search heading north along the stream. Slowly we began to spot little patches here, there, all in a fairly juvenille state, but chanterelle’s none the less.

Over the course of a few hours, a couple of miles, and a few of us getting famous left or right, mud-foot, we learned so much. We found good species and bad, the edible and the repelling. Reed even found a few new that might be good. He would take them home for spore printing and testing. We also stumbled upon an old homesite marked by giant oaks and the remnants of the stone foundation for a wood cabin.

Injury Count, Zero^b^b^b

We came, we saw, we got stung. Oh yea, the only real injury of the trip was when Laura and I, third through a wasp nest finally pissed them off enough to send out a full on assault. We danced violently with spurts of run walking before shedding a portion of clothing and asking the wasps to please go home. While we got the brunt and large amount of stingers I think everyone got stung once. (Which for the record wasp stings take up to 6 days before they fully stop itching.. what a drag!)

While we harvested only a small amount on this trip Reed thought it was a great success. We all now know what to look for on a few edible species. We now know what to not touch from panthers to death caps and a host of bitter bites.

We will try and continue to do this in intervals so that more can become a bit more forage worthy and collectively we can understand more of Charlotte’s natural bioculture.

For more pictures check out my flickr forage gallery. You can also join the Slow Food Charlotte community, find out more about our local agriculture and how you can get involved.

I think I’m finally fully out of my meat-choco-coma. It took a few days and a lot of chocolate bacon flashbacks, but I think I’m well on the mend. Mine and others in our area were struck with this fantastic affliction last Sunday when Lell Trogdon opened her doors for a friends fundraiser like no other.

Lell in conjunction with Serena, the Grateful Growers wonderful products, the Secret Chocolatier, and a cast of friends and family helped us reach far towards our Terra Madre goal!

Some Snapshots

If you are having trouble viewing what is below check out some of the pictures on flickr.
[swfobj src=wp-content/files/Flash/Fundraiser/Lell_Fundraiser.swf /]

A Day of the Porcinus

It cannot be understated what great pork raisers Grateful Growers are. It can also not be understated what Lell Trogdon can do with such fine materials. Pork shoulder, butt, ham, bacon, bratwurst and more were soaked, slathered, slow cooked, grilled, to perfection. Thunder Cats.. Hooo… oh wait. I digress.

In addition there was scones, cream sausage gravy, eggs with sausage and eggs with green chilis, with cheese grits for breakfast. Lunch onward was served the bulk of the meats and a few vegetables and a vegetarian lasagna made an appearance, but it was mostly about pork.

A meat induced coma was seen drifting in peoples eyes all day. It was awesome.

Dirty Little Secret

The Secret Chocolatier brought his upcoming arsenal of chocolate might out for a tour. Bill Dietz is my chocolate superman, he shares that title by many adoring fans in our area. We’re working hard to grow that fan base (join today!) and to that extent are opening up his culinary war chest to bring out some great eats.

The vast chocolate landscape included an almond encrusted triangular chocolate pate with accompanying caramel sauce, a chocolate mousse, a chocolate torte, chocolate chunk brownies dipped in dark chocolate coating, a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate icing, a chocolate fudge cake with cream cheese icing, and a carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Phew.. if the thought of that at your party doesn’t make you quiver, you don’t love a great dessert.

If the meat didn’t do it, The Secret Chocolatier did. Some looked frantically around for a place to nap. An outdoor sofa awaited many.

Pandora Traffle

Did I mention that The Secret Chocolatier donated a Pandora truffle for raffle? Weighing in at 16 oz it is something to behold, and hopefully to be shared by many. It was contended for, fought over, people schemed, but in the end the wonderful Denise Kuntz was given a phone call that she had won the prize (to the devastation of the still hanging crowd). Luckily Denise is sweet and said she would share!

All For Who? What?

All because Robin and I really want to be a part of a great experience with more great people in an effort to grow, capture, and bring back some of the inspiration of Slow Food’s Terra Madre. We’ve been fundraising for a few weeks and have had a great outpouring from family, friends, and even local farmers who share our passion, or want us to bring them back some of the experience.

Quick Terra Madre Primer, bi-ennial event in Turin, Italy:
What do you get when you build a conference around sharing culture, tradition, survival, and growth of the worlds food system.
5000 farmers, 1000 chefs, 2000 students and volunteers to collectively communicate.

We Help Each Other

I’ve taken to heart over the past few years that friends help each other. It’s been a rocky time for everyone I’ve known, across industries, across regions, but we share out support be it with kind words, time, opportunities, and out of pocket. Our friends are pivotal in our growth and we are so very blessed in having good ones.

Thanks to everyone who made our morning, lunch, and afternoon such a delight. To those who could not make it you were missed and while we tried to make up for your loss, we do poorly compared to the real thing.

Our goal is not met and we’re charging on! If you can help us let us know! (It’s a karmic win too!)

“Why does one want to walk wings? Why force one’s body from a plane to make a parachute jump? Why should man want to fly at all? People often ask these questions. But what civilization was not founded on adventure, and how long could one exist without it? Some answer the attainment of knowledge. Some say wealth, or power, is sufficient cause. believe the risks I take are justified by the sheer love of the life I lead.”
— Charles Lindbergh

I love it, wish I could do it more, wish I could amp up my abilities to a near competition level if I could. I don’t have time, and like everything time in equals mastery out so you have to work hard at it.

Moments to Perfection

For skydivers, unless they do tunnel time, we learn one (1) minute at a time. Makes you really think about how hard you need to execute, how well you need to plan, how rigorous you must perform to maximize your one minute in the air. Next time you are slacking over an hour think about what you could do in just one minute. Test yourself with your own boundaries and see if you can go farther. It’s one lesson I’m always taking to heart.

Achievements can happen in moments so try not to waste many.

An Excerpt, J101

The following is a little excerpt from my life. It takes place on my 101st jump where I take a Flip Minos around my neck and take some video after a high-pull (meaning to pull your chute directly at altitude out of the plane). I had a nice 8 minute journey back to earth and let my adrenaline speak for itself.

It’s not the best video, I’ll get better when I can mount it on my head (hah). For now though I think it speaks volumes and gives a sneak peak into the view I enjoy so much.

Know Andy, a Quick Jump for a Long Fall

Join me at my home dropzone Skydive Carolina, or check out their Facebook page.

Slow Food Charlotte

Robin and I have been members of Slow Food Charlotte now for 3+ years. We were brought in through friends who showed us that quality also meant good, clean, and fair. Through this time we have matured our world views, understand an inequality and systemic issue is in the air, and have tried to foster a local organization that informs, bridges, and raises up these concerns.

If you are unaware of Slow Food, or the premise, we are a group that defends biodiversity.

We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.

Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that it should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.

We consider ourselves co-producers, not consumers, because by being informed about how our food is produced and actively supporting those who produce it, we become a part of and a partner in the production process.

Terra Madre 2008

Terra Madre, a gathering, a convening of the worlds food communities. 30k square feet, over 300 activities, workshops, lectures, educational series over a five day period starting October 23rd to 27th.

By giving voice to all those who are not prepared to accept the standardizing, inhuman, totalizing model that applies the rules of industry to living matter, the event promotes ‘positive globalization’. The Terra Madre communities meet to proclaim food production’s need to maintain a harmonious relationship with the environment and assert the cultural and scientific dignity of traditional practices. When they return home to their countries of origin, they are fired by a positive feeling of being members of a ‘community of destiny’. The end-result is a new form of virtuous globalization that grows from the grassroots, from local identity.

Community Representation

Slow Food Charlotte has 13 delegates that will be attending Terra Madre. To be a delegate is an awe inspiring experience. Once their feet hit the ground they are taken care of. All they have to worry about is absorbing and sharing what information they can before it is all over.

We are extatic for our delegates and if you know one of them make sure to give them a hearty congratulations.

Reaching Out

While our friends and peers are taken care of, Robin and I would like to attend the event for the experience, support, and ability to capture the experience.

Slow Food has granted us observer status so that we may be there and participate when room allows. Our aim is to chronicle the event for our region and work to bring greater exposure to a regional and national level.

We need your help though.

While we support our network we need our networks support. To cover our airfare and stay we need cash to do so and that’s something that is hard for us to afford in this time.

Giving Value for Value

While we love donations and with great honor will accept any amount of kindness, we want to offer some incentives or rewards for helping us.

When the trip is concluded I will be building a book for national sales on our regions Slow Food / Terra Madre participation and the greater picture. Like all my works prior it will be a lovingly crafted photo essay book. A compilation of images and text for you to read, share, enjoy and enlighten with.

In this book we would like to dedicate a series of pages to those who were willing to help us get there, as well as offer discounts or even the book itself when published.

The Tiers of Change

We tried to come up with something equitable, fair, and rewarding for helping us. We truly appreciate anything that you can do. The following tiers are available.

• $15 dollars
• Honorable Friend
• Your name in the book as an honored friend.
• 10% off the printed book.
• $25 dollars
• Pathfinders
• Your name in the book as a Pathfinder.
• 25% off a printed book.
• $65 dollars
• Trailblazers
• Your name in the book as a Trailblazer.
• 50% off a printed book.
• $125 dollars
• Guardians
• Your name in the book as a Guardian.
• A thumbnail picture of yourself, family, or avatar.
• 75% off a printed book.
• A signed 5”x7” print from the journey.
• $250 dollars
• Defenders
• Your name in the book as a Defender.
• A small picture of yourself, family, or avatar.
• Free printed book.
• A signed 8”x10” print from the journey.
• Commercial Sponsors
• These will be taken on a case by case basis. If you would like to inquire or participate with our journey please contact us.

Payment

We will accept payments any way you can grant us them. If paying by Paypal you can use our ChipIn widget. No fees apply except my transaction costs with Paypal.

We will also accept checks:
Andy & Robin Ciordia
336 Pine Creek Dr.
Charlotte, NC 28270

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to ask, contact us.

While it is unlikely these rewards/incentives are subject to change.

Thank you for your time and caring. We hope to make this a memorable event in our lives and turn that around into something we can all take to heart.

Kind regards,

Andy & Robin Ciordia

Photography Video Montage

A Heat Wave to Remember

The heat was magnificent in its ability to melt us all. With a high reaching 103’ on Saturday (at least by my altimeters function), how we all lasted day after day is a real wonder. It did slow me down though I wasn’t readily willing to repack as quickly or even don my flight suits (hey I got a new free fly suit too!) since you turn into a human sprinkler if you did. We still managed to enjoy each others company with eager smiles.

A Coordinated Effort

The event coordinators really did amazing keeping everything running so smoothly. We even had an expected visit by the FAA (man those suits walk real upright), but the show went on with only mild delays.

One day we had two Casa’s, one Twin Otter, and a helicopter all in motion. James La Barrie really handled it tactically and no issues means he did a stupendous job.

Funny enough the only thing really squawked on was how Outback really screwed us on our meal plan serving us up some real airplane fare for the price of steaks. If that was the only beef (/sarcasm) then I’d say it was a success.

Do You Know Howie?

A profound shout goes out to our friend Howie. A man who would have rather been left be had his own fan club after him; you can many times hear, ‘Do you know Howie?’ shouted onboard a plane.

During our sunset tracking dive we put ourselves over some tricky terrain and the flank Howie was on was in the deep of it and not going to make it home. After a rough landing Howie sustained a few broken bones (tib/fib/fingers), and a fractured hip. Can you believe he called 911 for himself? What a guy!

The dropzone being what it is with the local family we were quite a buzz over our friend. From the latest intel we understand that he is doing the best he can and we send our well wishes and speedy recovery.

Rodriguez Family Reunion

Thus completes my, Pelargo Rodriguez, first year as a family member. We celebrated in style and brought on board a slew of new family after many jumps with initiates. As always Shaggy manned a deadly liquid cooled tequila machine which caused personal malfunctions everywhere, haha.

Welcome new brothers (and bumpy brothers), may your lives be long, your sombreros be shade casting, and your tequila glass cold.

Good Festival

If I heard right we’ll see these guys again next year under hopefully cooler early June circumstances. We met a lot of new people and got to hang with a lot of those we just don’t see enough of these days.

Always looking for new recruits to come jump with us so if you need the right motivation let me know!