Great read on participatory practices. 

Making these tonight :)

- Holly Hindson & Doug Romney

An excerpt from a video about Simone Leigh’s Free People’s Medical Clinic. The project, facilitated by creativetime, “engaged the critical intersections of public health, racial consciousness, and women’s work, asking viewers to consider the often-overlooked players—most especially the unknown Black women nurses, osteopaths, gynecologists, and midwives—who have overserved an underserved population for centuries. While the project name borrows from the Black Panthers’ community-based healthcare efforts in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, its gaze lingers on 19th century medical pioneers including Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward, the first Black woman doctor in N.Y. State.”

Click here to watch the full video.

Sign up for the August 26th workshop with the Vancouver area Food Connection Group.  We will be making our own bitters and summer cocktails!

What an amazing story.

“On the island of St.Lucia it is very common to find vendors, farmers and shop owners both on the streets of the capital and in tiny alcoves of communities. Dozens of women sit under tents or umbrellas in the Caribbean sun selling everything from fresh bakes (fried dough), hair ribbons, bath products or Lucian sweets. One of the most common local treats is a “tamarind ball”. In this photo, taken during the last semester at my School (June 2014) before summer, one of my third grade students is holding a tamarind ball that he made himself. That day the entire class, along with myself and my co-teacher, collected tamarind and made tamarind balls to exhibit the importance of following step by step instructions. We also used this activity to highlight the concept of sequencing which served very well as this was a hands on experience, literally. All over the room the children’s hands were filled with sugar from rolling the fresh tamarind to form the balls and took them home in tiny bags.”

the potato room publication concept

Would you like to contribute?

the potato room is seeking artistic works, food stories, recipes and interviews for online publication and eventual hardcopy publication. simply click the submit tab to contribute your works! just want to get in touch? send a message and lets chat!

what does the potato room mean?

the potato room is a participatory website where public can submit recipes and stories surrounding foods in their lives and how the experience has ultimately affected them.  

the potato room was the name my grandparents gave the food storage space in their house. full of preserved goods and harvested vegetables, my sister and i would regularly assist our grandparents with maintaining the garden and preparing dinner… we spent a lot of time in the potato room.  those moments of food preparation, creation, and enjoyment stay with me even now. the potato room will always be associated with those memories. 

Challah Recipe

Make 2 and ¼ C water lukewarm. Put 2 tbsps dry yeast in ¾ c lukewarm water in a small bowl. In a large bowl put 1 and ½ c water, ½ c oil, three eggs,  2/3 c sugar, and 2 tbsps salt (measure flat). Mix that all together. When the yeast is a bit frothy after about 5 minutes, add the yeast mixture to the bigger bowl. Stir it up. Add unbleached white flour 1 or two cups at a time. The mixture will take a lot of flour—most of a bag. But don’t over add it. Watch the texture.  When it gets hard to stir, pour onto floured surface and knead for awhile-up to 5 minutes or so. Let sit till doubled—at least an hour. Knead again. Let sit till doubled. Knead a third time, and this time break into two sets of three snakes to make the braids. Oil two cooky sheets. Put the braided loaves on the sheets. When it has risen stir up one egg and 1 tsp milk or water in a little bowl. Glaze the loaves. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top. Bake at 310 degrees for 45 minutes or until tops are golden and bottom is firm.

My mom has made this all my life... she used to call me and my little brother in and we'd run up to the house in our bathing suits and rip a steaming piece of fresh hot challah. I made it on my own for the first time this year.

- Submitted by Amberlie Kaiser

I'm 4 years old. It's Saturday dinner time and I'm bathed and pyjamaed sitting in front of the TV watching Bugs Bunny. It's the only time of the week I can eat and watch TV at the same time. Often our Saturday dinner was pea soup, a classic Newfie dish, so salty you need an IV to flush you out.  But the real treat was when my mother made this chocolate pudding. It's nothing special and probably dates from a time when ingredients were simple and on hand. The sticky chocolate sauce always reminds me of Bugs and in times of stress of fatigue this is my go to dish.

This version is so easy to make I've been known to whip one up after a night at the bar. You can jazz it up with high end cocoa or Bernard Callebaut chocolate chips, but regular Fry's cocoa is the tradition. This hand written version, in a tattered black covered notebook, has been with me since I left home. The spots on the page are brown sugar stains and the occasional water spot.

Coconut Pudding

This is a true Asian dessert which is eaten in Thailand, Philippines, and Asia.  Coconut is indeed a tropical fruit that gives off a sweet, rich white coloured “milk” which can be incorporated into many desserts and savory dishes.  My parents have been making coconut pudding ever since I could remember.  I love its bouncy texture (from the gelatin) and the sweet, sweet coconut aroma from the coconut milk. 

Submitted by Karen Lam

My take on Cabbage rolls 

We would always have cabbage rolls at a big family meal. Usually Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, or if we were coming together and haven’t been for a while. I haven’t had the chance to have my grandparent’s cabbage rolls for a really long time. My grandmother had passed and my grandfather didn’t make them.  When I moved out on my own, my roommate and I really wanted to host our own thanksgiving dinner... it was the perfect excuse to resurrect one of my favourite dishes!  

This recipe is a mash together of how I remember my grandmother’s cabbage rolls but with a few alterations that pretty much reflect myself. The filling consists of ground beef only (many recipes call for a mixture of ground beef and pork) and I add tomato paste to the sauce as well as the crushed tomatoes. There are also no real measurements. I eyeball them and rely on taste.  This of course has its own complications (I add too much garlic - I love it!!!). I also add cinnamon and use a slow cooker so I can piddle around and do other things during the day. 

Enjoy and excuse the spelling errors, please!

- Submitted by Bridgette B.

Grandma’s English Chips, born in Watford, England

Submitted by Charles B 

Pizza part two + three - the memos

À little bit of nostalgia

Love those rough edges. 

#books #pages #polish

rincones de casa

Pizza part one

As submitted by Holly Hindson and Doug Romney (the memos)