Native American Music Awards Tonight!

Frustratingly I haven't had enough free time to blog anything here about food this spring.  With the end of the school year coming up, the home schooling is top priority.  We also have had long distance relatives visit and a storage from moving to clear out this spring (I just love moving dusty boxes!).  I hope to get back to some blogging later in the month.  In the mean time, please check out the Native American Music Awards this evening.  They are being streamed live from Niagara on NAMA website.  Hosting this year is Anishinabe (Ojibwe) comedian Don Kelly from Ottawa.  The late Russel Means (Lakota) is to be inducted into the Native American Music Hall Of Fame.  The awards show is actually to hand out awards for the year 2012.  The show was postponed from last fall due to extensive damages by Hurricane Sandy.  A few featured performers include Radmilla Cody, Big River Cree, Jana (Mashonee) and the second generation southern rockin' Blackfoot.  Additionally, a living legend award will be given to Nelly Furtado.  The whole thing kicks off @ 8 PM EDT.  Meanwhile, over at my Scare Me On Fridays blog, we celebrating all day with Native American actresses in horror film.  We are also celebrating that it is Mother's Day today in Mexico!  Here is a video from Jana (Lumbee/Tuscarora) from a few years back.  

Vote For The Native American Music Awards

Click Here to vote in for the Native American Music Awards, set to be announced via the web live on Friday May 10.  All nominated music is available to listen to and they even have a native music web stream for entertainment.  Some really, really good stuff here!

Recipe: Apache Pumpkin Two Ways

Apache (Indeh) Pumpkin Two Ways

We observe Meatless Monday's in our house, though we are not vegetarian strictly.  We just feel that giving meat a miss once a week gives us and farm animals a break. When we do eat meat we try to support Native farms, especially with important native animals such as the Buffalo.  When I can, I try to include native foods on Monday menus.  This was made as two side dishes this past Monday to be served with good old fashioned Stewed Tomatoes served with brown rice, instead of the customary white rice.  It's a great way to use up some of those gourds from the Fall.  I used the Halloween pumpkin.  For the mashed pumpkin, I toasted yellow corn meal.  This "mush" could be used as a breakfast dish with some honey, maple or organic agave (another traditional Indeh food). This comes from Carolyn Niethammer's book American Indian Cooking.  The fried pumpkin is customarily fried in beef suet or drippings or buffalo fat (when there is any to be had), I used corn oil--use what you have and what you like.  I have to admit, that as a Southerner, I think the fried pumpkin would be great with bacon grease....  But Apache strictly do not eat pork, along with a quite a few other things that are taboo in their diet.

Mashed Pumpkin With Meal:

Halve pumpkin and remove seeds (be sure to save these!).  Peel and cut into chunks.  Boil until soft in plain water.  Add salt to taste.  Stir in ground sunflowers seeds or toasted corn meal (2 to 3 tbsp. per cup of pumpkin).  Stir well a cook a further 5 minutes.

Fried Pumpkin:

Instead of cutting the pumpkin into chunks, try to cut it into sticks.  Fry into soft in grease or fat of choice.

Cookbooks By Nation

Hopi Cookery
Jaunita Tiger Kavena (Muskogee Creek, married into The Hopi)
The University of Arizona Press, 1992 (first published in 1980)

Pueblo Indian Cookbook

Compiled and Edited by Phyllis Hughes

Museum Of New Mexico Press, 1977 (frist published in 1975)

Made In Hawaii

Jane Fulton Abernethy & Suelyn Ching Tune

University Of Hawaii Press, 1983

Pacific Rim And South Pacific Cookbooks

Northwest Native Harvest

Carol Bathdorf (Adopted Lummi)

Hancock House, 1990

Filipino Homestyle Dishes

Norma Olizon-Chikiamco (Tagalog)

Periplus, 2004

Made In Hawaii

Jane Fulton Abernethy & Suelyn Ching Tune

University Of Hawaii Press, 1983

Taste Of Hawaii

The Honolulu Advertiser

News Book International, 1985

Recipe: Creamed Avocado

Quite a few recipes, such as Mexican Deviled Eggs, called from "creamed avocado" without giving any real explanation of what that means.  It turns out that it's an easy thing to accomplish and make a tasty dip or spread in and of itself.

Creamed Avocado

1/2 or 1 whole avocado

1 tbsp. good crema (Mexican "sour cream") or thin regular sour cream

Pinch sea salt

Squeeze of lemon or lime (optional, but will help keep the color is using as a 

    dip.)

Place the avocado in a blender or food processor with the PLASTIC blade.  Add the cream, pulse a few times to start to break up the avocado flesh.  Then add the salt and lemon or lime, if using.  Turn the machine on and fully cream the flesh, until no lumps remain.  Use as needed.

This can easily be varied by adding various spices or pure ground chile of various sorts.  Different types of citrus can be used, and orange makes a nice change of pace for a dip.  Onion juice or grated onion can be added when the crema is added.  In Brazil, cream and sugar are added to make a dessert spread or mousse.

Books On Foraging

Wilderness Cookery
Brad Angier
Stackpole Books, 1963 (first published in 1961)
(Filled with recipes for camp cooking, how to's in setting up various cooking stations outside and a whole section on wild foods found in Canada and the US.)

Native Harvests:  American Indian Wild Foods and Recipes

E Barrie Kavasch (Chickamauga Cherokee/Powhatan/Muskogee Creek/English/Scots-Irish/German)

Dover, 2005 (first published in 1977)

Made In Hawaii

Jane Fulton Abernethy & Suelyn Ching Tune

University Of Hawaii, 1983

American Indian Cooking

Carolyn Niethammer

University Of Nebraska Press, 1999 (first published in 1974)

Ininatig's Gift Of Sugar:  Traditional Native Sugarmaking

Laura Waterman Wittstock (Stockbridge-Munsee/Seneca)

Lerner Publications Program, 1993