We were honored to be able to attend this week’s Eco Farm Queering Farming conference which featured Nikiko Masumoto as a guest speaker. The hours spent in discussion and community with folks on Tuesday was encouraging and reminded us of the call and response between Nikiko and her father David in their book “Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm”. (Scroll down for details.)
Next weekend’s menu features Masumoto’s beloved peaches and nectarines and celebrates the various ways we enjoy stone fruit – charred and paired with meat for Sunday Supper, sliced and tossed in a salad Vegetarian Supper, eaten fresh and juicy over the kitchen sink (Snacking Fruit & Lemon), or the #MealKitRebel summer dessert favorite – peaches & crème.
Sunday Supper Kit – Grilled Pork & Peaches with Harissa Yogurt & Spice Crusted Veggies, featuring:
- Rancho Llano Seco pork
- Masumoto peaches
- HLTH Punk harissa, and more.
Check your pantry for olive oil, unsalted butter, salt, and pepper. Photo: A visit to Masumoto, June 2019.
Vegetarian Supper Kit – Savory Pie with Fire Roasted Peppers alongside Spring Mix Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette, featuring:
- Bellwether crème fraîche
- Alexandre Family Farm eggs
- O Cal citrus champagne vinegar
- Masumoto Nectarines and more
Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper.
Photo: A visit to Masumoto, June 2019.
And for nights tight on time…
Weeknight Supper Kit – Lupa Cotta Pizza Night featuring:
- Lupa Cotta pizza dough
- Bianco Di Napoli tomato sauce
- Rumiano block mozzarella, basil, and summer squash.
Check your pantry for olive oil, salt and pepper.
Celebrate Pride with our Wine & Grazing Board Supper Kit featuring:
- So Far Out chillable red (an Amy Atwood collaboration with Field Recordings)
- OmNom Caramel + Milk Pride Bar
- Fishwife rainbow trout
- Rustic Bakery crackers
- fennel pollen salami and more
In Her Words: Amy Atwood – I am a proud to be a queer woman business owner. I started Amy Atwood Selections (Cleanskins Wine LLC) in 2009 because I wanted to work with wines I love and winemakers I respect. After 15 years of working for other wine wholesalers and importers, my focus had shifted towards smaller production wineries, making wines more naturally. This means organic or sustainable farming, and little to zero intervention in the winery. And most importantly, the wines have to bring joy and be delicious to drink. Wine. Naturally.
A LA CArte
We are proud to have been working with Amy Atwood since 2013. She and her team connect us with the artisan wine makers and beautiful wines we share with our Narrative Food community. We are especially excited about her recent projects:
Flora Vermouth is a joint project between distiller Morgan McLachlan and Amy. Made with rosé of pinot noir from Sonoma County California, neutral grape spirit, birch bark, cacao, grapefruit peel, lemon verbena, wild cherry bark, coriander, and blue cornflower, Flora is a pleasure to enjoy with sparkling soda and a slice of orange!
So Far Out is Amy’s collaboration with winemaker and vineyard manager, Andrew Jones of Field Recordings Wine. 65% Malbec 35% Riesling.
Both are perfect companions for next week’s summer suppers.
Hands down our favorite spice sourceress Sana Javeri Kadri has done it again! Her new nutmeg is what takes the beloved peaches & crème duo to the next level and is alsom amzing in curries, ragu, spice blends, cocktails, and more! Click here for Diaspora Co.’s piece “What Does It Means To Be A Queer Business”.
Excerpt from Changing Season: A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm.
NIKIKO: …ideals about gender, sex, sexuality, and race are wrapped up in who we think of as farmers. Even the “we” of that sentence matters and is worth defining; I am specifically challenging us in the United States, where we think of farmers as straight white men….I am none of these things. And I am a farmer…It is from this perspective that I believe feminism is essential to farming. We know that the nation’s population of farmers (still mostly straight white males) is aging, and as we build the next generation, we must recognize that now is the time to dismantle the concepts and structures that make it more difficult for certain types of people to fill their shoes. This includes immigrants, women, people of color, queer people, and other marginalized groups…All farmers will benefit from such dismantling, and from the re-creation that follows. Feminism is my lifeline; it is a tool I use every day as a farmer. It was forged by all the people who think I can’t do this. As I cultivate a vision of the feminist world we can create, my spirit strong and enduring, I say to the doubters, “Watch me.”
DAVID MAS: Nikiko asks me, “Are you a feminist farmer?”…Nikiko tells me she doesn’t belong and may not want to “fit” into the a narrow definition of the American farmer. As a queer woman. Of mixed race. As a worker and thinker…Now I see the connection between feminism and food: it means dismantling the meaning of what it means to be an American farmer. Nikiko is helping change the narrative, helping us to reimagine food not as a commodity but as part of a movement to construct a world where justice and equality are part of the flavor and taste of our peaches…So call me a feminist farmer, one who works to carve a place in the land and claim a space in the long line of farmers. I seek to build a new network of relationships, to celebrate differences, and to forge new identities. I want to watch, witness, and learn from the next wave.
Peaches & Creme
Ingredients
1 large or 2 small Masumoto ripe peaches, sliced
1 tbs creme fraiche
2 tsp honey
1 dash ground cinnamon
Freshly grated Diaspora Co. Anamalai nutmeg
Instructions
Mix the honey and creme fraiche in a small bowl.
Place peach slices alongside or on top of the honeyed creme fraiche.
Top with grated nutmeg.
Serve with cornbread, biscuits, or enjoy on its own!