As of mid-December I’m home getting to know my newborn and working, writing, and posting less (or not at all). I should be back up and running at some point in February. If you send me a question for a Q&A in the interim, I will file it for then.
Happy 2013!
Question:
Hi Alexandra,
My family is just about to buy our Christmas tree for the holiday season and I just wanted to know if you buy a real or a fake tree?
Best,
Claire
Answer:
Hi Claire,
Thanks for writing. I commend your organization. I tend to be the last minute decorating (and shopping) type. Technically I’m not supposed to buy a tree at all–and not for eco-reasons! I’m Jewish. But growing up we always celebrated Christmas with a tree and all. Then when I was 10 my non-Jewish stepfather came into our lives, making our typical winter celebration, um, more kosher.
My family oddities aside, when it comes to trees–Jewish or not–holiday celebrators tend to get confused about which is better for the environment: real or fake. To which I add what I think is actually the greenest option: something potted you will keep alive indoors and then plant outdoors when the weather permits. Not interested or don’t have a spot to plant a tree? Let someone else it for you. Some places now rent out live trees.
But back to the more typical debate: real (cut) versus fake. Some people assume fake is best because it can be reused year after year. Unfortunately most faux trees are made of PVC (aka the poison plastic), last only a few years, and then wind up in a landfill. Not very green after all.
When it comes to real trees, millions of them do get cut down every holiday season. That said, more and more municipalities are offering ways to recycle or mulch these after the holidays. The website Earth911.com contends that about 93 percent of trees cut for Christmas are recycled through more than 4,000 available recycling programs. So unless you’re willing to fake it creatively with, say, a cardboard cut out or follow the ideas in this amazing ApartmentTherapy.com post, I’d opt for a small cut tree that you recycle or mulch once Santa has come and gone.
You didn’t ask, but as long as we’re on the subject, I’d like to say a few words about tree lights. Those sparkly strands look good but they suck up more energy than you’d think, and their PVC wires might contain lead. To avoid energy drain and lead dust, skip the lights. Or try a lead-free LED strand.
Happy decorating!
Best,
Alexandra
Had a good time quizzing audience members on their eco-IQ today with Hoda and Kathie Lee.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I had a great time filming a few episodes of Mom-Ed: Green Living. The host, Kristen Eykel, was lovely to spend time with. Lots of fun all around. This first episode is ten easy ways to go green. What are your favorite ways?
THE QUESTION
Dear Alexandra,
What do YOU ask for for the holidays?
Thanks.
Jake
THE ANSWER
Hi Jake,
You’re not the only one who asked me this! This year I’d like to go entirely waste-free. Though I did—full disclosure—pre-purchase myself some shoes the other day. I love them/they make me feel a little guilty.
Here’s my whimsical stuff-free Top Ten though some of it is really for real.
I’m not without stuff wishes of course. I work at home most of the time so nice comfy pajamas are always a treat. I could stand a new-to-me/faster computer, too. I’ve researched and written three of my four books (not to mention countless articles and blogs) on the one I currently have and it is starting to s l o w down. But I can certainly live without either.
Mainly I’m just hoping for some restorative downtime and meals with my family.
You?
Best,
Alexandra
Hi there! Glenny here with another post from my kitchen.
As I mentioned before, I plan on visiting Fleisher’s new shop in Park Slope as often as possible. I certainly do not eat too much meat, but am very happy to indulge in the very good, well-raised stuff when I can. This past week I stopped by for a whole chicken. Roasting a chicken is extremely easy, and a great way to make a few meals in one evening. You’re saving energy by only using your oven once, and you’re exercising some creativity in the kitchen – what to do with the leftovers? Here is what I did, complete with a basic recipe for your autumnal roast chicken:
Roasted Chicken with Apples and Sage
3-4 lb whole chicken
4 apples, quartered and deseeded (I used Golden Delicious, but almost all will do)
1 apple, chopped into 1 inch cubes
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped sage
2 tablespoons thyme
1 cup white wine (I used a full bodied chardonnay, but a pick your favorite – you’ll be drinking the rest!)
salt and pepper
Prep your chicken. Season with salt and pepper and put in a roasting pan. Spread quartered apples around the outside and sprinkle them with half of your herbs. Mix the chopped apples with a little butter, salt and pepper and stuff in the cavity of the chicken. Mix the remaining herbs and butter together and spread it both under and on top of the chicken skin. Pour the wine around the bird, over your apples.
In a 425F oven, cook for 30 minutes, and then reduce temperature to 375F. Continue cooking for about 40 minutes more or until a thermometer reads 160F and the juices run clear (opposed to red). Let it sit for about 15 minutes before carving. Serve with the roasted apples and their juices.
Delicious! After enjoying this one evening, I still had a lot of chicken left and wasn’t too interested in having the same meal two nights in a row. So, for lunch the next day it was roasted chicken sandwiches with feta, olives, and market tomatoes. Followed by a wonderful soup for dinner. I simply sauteed garlic, onions, carrots and butternut squash in a deep sauce pan. Added chicken stock, tomatoes, kale, a few cups of farro and the leftover chicken. Drizzled with homemade pesto, it celebrates lots of flavors; perfect for an October evening. And the best news? I’ll be eating that soup for days – this chicken has provided for many many meals. Easy.
Farro soup, day two.
How often do you use your oven? Probably a lot more now that the temperatures are dropping and a little warmth in your home is welcome. (As I type there’s a celeriac roasting in mine.) And how often do you think about minimizing the energy output of your kitchen? Hopefully more once you read this easy how-to list from The Conscious Kitchen, excerpted below. Every little bit helps!
MINIMIZING STOVE AND OVEN ENERGY OUTPUT
Whatever kind of cooker you have – new or old – here are ways to minimize its impact:
-Make sure all elements are in good working order.
-Match your pot size to the burner size or you will waste heat/energy.
-Pots and pans come with lids for a reason. Use them.
-If you use drip pans under your burners, keep them clean. And don’t use aluminum foil liners for this purpose. Good-quality reflector pans save energy and are made to last.
-Gas stove burner holes can get clogged. If the flame is uneven or yellow, turn it off and carefully unclog it with a pin or an unfurled paper clip.
-Calibrate your oven (see below).
-Don’t preheat, even when baking. And don’t repeatedly open the oven door to check cooking items. Both waste heat. If you have an oven with a glass door, peek through there.
-Like your refrigerator, the oven door has a seal. Make sure it’s tight and not sagging, and that the door hinges are in good working order.
-Don’t overuse the self-cleaning feature (don’t use it more than once a month), or you’ll waste the energy you were hoping to save by having it. Place a sheet pan in the oven to catch drips and grease so you won’t even need to clean.
-If you turn on the oven, fill it up. Use that heat to bake/roast/broil more than one thing at a time.
-For more information, check out the following websites: American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy: ACEEE.org; ConsumerEnergyCenter.org; HomeEnergy.org; EnergyStar.gov.
Calibrating an Oven
Ovens often run too hot or too cold. To fix this, you can adjust your own cooking to match however your oven seems to go, you can get a thermometer, or you can “calibrate” it (fancy for fixing it). This is easiest to do with a digital stove – follow the instructions in the manual. For nondigital ovens and/or if you don’t have the manual, Google the instructions for your make and model. The process can be overwhelming for the un-handy, so call in a repair person or a handy friend if needed.
When you’re cooking with meat, do you try to use every last morsel? If the answer is no, you’ll be surprised by the rewards. I try to waste nothing, whether I’m cooking with vegetables, fruits, grains, or meat. I should say especially meat. I never forget that something has died for my dinner. Every last bit of that needs to be used. When I discovered, while reporting The Butcher’s Guide To Well Raised-Meat, how many ways fat could be used, I was delighted to also discover how easy it is to render, store, and eat. Basically I’m talking about potatoes roasted in bacon fat. If you haven’t tried it, do.
Here’s an excerpt from The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat on many other kinds of fats and how to best use them. Do you use any of these? How? Let me know in comments.
Part of the nose-to-tail butchering is coming up with uses for fat, which makes us roughly 15 percent of an animal’s body weight. Over the years we have gotten pretty creative – we have made beef tallow citronella candles (short-lived – they smelled like a barbecue gone horribly wrong) as well as lovely smelling tallow-based soaps. But mostly we just make our fat into chunks of tallow, blocks of lard, and tubs of duck fat for our customers to (hopefully) cook with. Here’s the skinny on what’s what in the world of fats:
Caul Fat is the fatty lining of a pig’s stomach, which looks like a sheet of diaphanous webbing. It is used to wrap lean meats while roasting; this technique is called barding, and it imparts moisture into the meat as the fat melts.
Duck Fat Is there anything better than duck fat? Use it to panfry potatoes, like they do in French bistros, or confit a couple of duck legs. Duck (and goose, too) fat is great, but often hard to come by.
Lard, or rendered pork fat, is nearly 100 percent fat, as opposed to butter, which is about 80 percent fat and 20 percent water. Though animal fats have gotten a bad reputation as heart-stoppers and artery-cloggers, lard is still well loved among bakers and intrepid cooks who prize its ability to produce flaky crusts and silky sauces. Lard has a high smoke point, making it exceptional for frying things like chicken. It’s also healthier than manufactured hydrogenated fats like most vegetable shortenings.
Leaf Lard is the dry, hard, crumbly fat cap that surrounds the kidney of the pig. This fat contains the fewest impurities, making it the gold standard for baking. Mix this with butter (a 1:1 butter-to-fat ratio is good) for the best pie crusts you have ever made.
Tallow is rendered beef, veal, or lamb fat. It is used mainly commercially to make animal feed, soap, and cosmetics, or for cooking. McDonald’s managed to piss off a lot of vegetarians a while back by cooking their fries in tallow without informing the public – no wonder they were so addictive after a long night of drinking. We use lamb fat in our chicken sausages to get that rich, decadent taste that you just can’t get from plain old chicken. And we also know hunters who add lamb fat to their venison burgers for a more fatty, luscious taste.
HOW TO RENDER FAT
It’s simple to make high-quality lard or tallow that can be used for baking, cooking, or soap making. Fats should be stored in the refrigerator, where they will last for three months or can be frozen for a year. We like to cut our lard into manageable 1/2-pound chunks and freeze it – it defrosts quickly, and does not have to be defrosted in the refrigerator.
-Buy pork fat, beef suet, or lamb fat from your butcher shop or farmer. Make sure the fat is fresh, clean smelling, and not slimy. Whatever you render, count on getting a 75 percent return.
-Cut the fat into 1-inch squares and then finely dice it (we run ours through the meat grinder).
-Place the diced fat into a heavy-bottomed pan set over low heat. Melt the fat, without stirring, until it is literally a pool of oil. Alternatively, you can melt the fat in a Crock-Pot.
-Let the fat cool until it is still in liquid form but not hot.
-Strain the fat through a cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer.
