Local Errand Girl's Green Blog

Over the last couple of weeks, Peg has drastically changed.  Ninety-two years are finally showing their toll, and it’s been hard to swallow for both her and myself.   I realized last week that this isn’t about losing a client when she passes, it’s about losing a friend.  I’m watching a friend come to the end of her life, and it’s unsettling now because I don’t know how to help her through it.

This morning when we spoke, she was so frazzled and afraid.  Last week she was, too, but this week was kicked up a notch.  She couldn’t remember if she had eaten, and if she had, what it was that she ate was a mystery.  I ran down a list of things in my head that she normally orders, asking if she needed any of the items I named, hoping to get a sense of what she had consumed.  And she couldn’t tell me.  All she could keep saying, through rapid breathing, was that she “can’t think, I can’t get my head straight on”.  For someone who is as logical, hardworking and analytical as Peg is, this is a very serious and scary thing.

As our conversation was closing, she pleaded with me in a very small voice, that if I was in her neighborhood, to come by and check on her, and “I’ll see you tomorrow, if I don’t see you sooner”.  How do I not go over there?  Of course, I couldn’t, so I went later in the morning, and found that her cousins were there from the mountains.   They are there with her until Thursday when her neighbors come back from their trip.   I’m glad she has someone with her now, but I don’t know where I go from here.  Do I check on her every day when they leave?  Make a call every afternoon?  To her, I’m just the hired help, but to me, she’s  more than just a client.  So I don’t know.  I just don’t know.

One morning, as I was helping out in Eric’s second grade classroom at the beginning of the school year, the topic of learning was how to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into their diet.  I thought to myself:  I wonder if there’s a way that I can bring in fruit and vegetables from the Farmers Market to the classroom, and ta da!  The Fruit Fairy and Veg-in-ator were born!  Every Thursday for six weeks, I brought in cups of five pieces of fruits and veggies, each piece being from a different type of produce.  The pieces of produce varied week to week, but included persimmon, grapes, pear, apple, carrot, celery, pomegranate seeds, radish, zucchini, cucumber, orange, and grapefruit, all of which were in season in our area.  I then took the cups, snuck into our children’s classrooms when they were are recess, left a cup on each desk, and then vanished into thin air!  Both of our children’s teachers (I also did this for Emma’s first grade class) said the children really enjoyed the fruit and veggie cups, and even some of the kids in Eric’s class set out on a mission to find out who the true Fruit Fairy and Veg-in-ator were.

Then, one Thursday, I forgot.  The following Thursday after the forgotten Thursday was a rescheduled grocery day due to a changed school schedule, so I was unable to make the “Fruit Fairy” delivery.  The next day, I heard about it.  Several girls from Eric’s class came up to me and said:
“You didn’t deliver our fruit yesterday!”
“Yeah!  And you missed last week, too!”
“We miss our fruit!  We need our fruit!”

So I told them that I had no idea what they were talking about, and if the Fruit Fairy hadn’t been there for a couple of weeks, maybe it was time to write her a letter.  I told Eric’s teacher about the letter idea, and guess what?  They all wrote me letters!  Below is a sampling…it’s so cool! (I left the spelling as is in the letters because it’s just so cute!)

Dear Fruit Fairy,

“We loved your fruit.  I loved the grapes, apple and pear.  They were so tasty.  They were so juicsy and delicious.  Can you come back please?”

“Thank you Fruit Fairy for fruit.  My favreit was pomegranet because it is red.  I like Thursday, it is my favreit day.  Fruit Fairy rocks.”

“I liked the fruit you gave us.  It was good.  Can you give us more please.  I hope.  I like your apples.”

“I loved your pomegranet and the orange.  Can you bring us fruit to our classroom everyone loves your fruit.”

“I liked your fruits they were great!  I liked your pears, oranges, apples, and grapes.  I also like pomegranets.  I also like your cucumber.  Thank you!”

“I love your pomegranet and your celery to.  Then on the nest thursday you bruinged grapes.  I rilly liked your apples that you bring.  Fruit Fairy I love your friut.”

“I really like the grapes, and the apples.  I really like the Fruit Fairy.  You are really nice.  Thank you for giving us fruit.”

“I am so happy because you gave us carrots and thay are orange.  And you gave us apples.  It was sweet.  I was happy.”

“I realy lik the apple and the grapes.  Our class realy liked the frit.  Thank you for the fruit and veshtibls.  I didn’t like the celery.  I realy feel happy when you come.”

Apparently, the Veg-in-ator isn’t as well liked, so I’ll have to figure out how to make “him” more likable.  But I am really enjoying this bit of healthy magic that I get to instill in the kids while they are young, all the while providing them with fruit and veggies that are pesticide free and delicious.  I don’t know exactly where these two characters that I have created will take me, but they are fun to play with, and for now, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

When you do what I do, you sometimes can’t help but get sucked into people’s lives.  The main focus of my business is to promote healthy eating by delivering fruit and vegetables from our local Farmers Market.   But sometimes, I just do the l.e.g.work for clients and run their errands.  I have my “regular three” who have let me into their lives by having me grocery shop for them on a weekly basis.  They’ve been with me for close to two years now, and in that time, as with any relationship, I’ve gotten to know them and the wonderful stories of their lives.

Peg is the oldest of the group, being in her ninth decade of life.  To look at her, you would think she’d fall over in a stiff wind: she looks frail, and small, with big glasses that magnify her eyes.  But there’s fire in her.  Good luck to you if you’re in the line of fire when she lets loose.   I’ve been burned twice, and it isn’t a pleasant experience.

The history that she has seen and experienced is amazing to me.  She’s told me stories of how, during World War Two, she and a friend interviewed for a job taking bets at the racetrack.  She got the job (her friend did not) and for a few years during the war, she worked the betting stall at the racetrack, where her love of bookkeeping was ignited.  After the war, when the men came home, she was asked to leave,.  Needing work, she took a job doing bookkeeping for a company who was selling manufactured homes.  She has been arrested and served a night in jail, she married late and divorced seven years afterward, and she still fiercely misses her mother who passed away thirty years ago.  She is affected by weather changes, lives alone, has no children (by choice…she always tells me that), and despite the fire that roars up every once in a while, is extremely tenderhearted.

To fill her days, Peg continues to do bookkeeping, for free, for her neighbor and her cousin who is ill.  She tries so hard to keep up with everything her neighbor and cousin throw her way, and gets so aggravated with herself  when she can’t because her mind is razor sharp but her body can’t keep up.  I’ve offered to help, but she politely refuses every time.  I just figure now that she’ll let me know when she needs help with her enormous workload (yes, I’m so irritated at her neighbor, who, when Peg runs out of milk, can’t seem to get her some, but finds the time to bring piles of work over each morning to her).  At her age, I think  she has earned some time to rest.  But she doesn’t.  Perhaps working keeps her organized and focused which gives her a sense of purpose.  That’s quite an important thing to have when you reach her age.

Peg, who stays on a very strict diet otherwise her stomach will complain and revolt, is getting tired of her diet, and wishes there were other protein sources out there besides beans, chicken and fish that she can digest.  I’m wondering if tofu would be an option for her, but I don’t know.  Considering what she has me buy for her, the texture might be a little strange.  And it may be too much work.  I just don’t know.

Some may say that sharing this information is too personal.  To that, I answer that this is what I do: I’m a part of people’s lives on a weekly basis.  I have these experiences with people that shape my life, and to not share their stories is a waste.  I want people to know of my extraordinary “regular three”, not because I need something to write about, but because I am honored that they share their lives with me.  And because I can’t tell them that, I write it.

At breakfast the other morning, my almost six year old daughter asked my husband and I what vegetables she and her brother had yet to try.  My husband and I looked at each other, and there were several minutes of silence as we both ticked off in our heads what vegetables we had exposed our children to on a regular basis:  Broccoli, yes.  Brussels Sprouts, yes.  Carrots, yes.  Spinach, yes.  Asparagus, yes.  Beets, yes.  Artichokes, yes.  And on it went.  I finally came up with cauliflower, to which both our son and daughter replied “What’s that?”, so I knew I had hit on something.  I had to think, though: Why cauliflower?  I realized then that cauliflower is a veggie you eat raw instead of cooked.   I wish I could say that I keep a selection of raw veggies on hand, but alas, I don’t.   My raw veggie collection consists of carrots, and sometimes celery and radish.  Something to work on, I guess.

However, how did my children become so versed in vegetables?   More importantly, though: when we sit down for dinner, they eat their vegetables without complaint.  Vegetables that have not been covered in cheese, or are accompanied by dipping sauce, or made into scenery, or slathered in butter, or smashed into Macaroni and Cheese, or cooked into Brownies.  And they have done so for years.  How did my son and daughter get like this?  Two words: Feeling Successful.

As we introduced veggies into my son’s diet at five months of age, Eric eagerly accepted them.  However, when we started to create our own baby food out of veggies we bought, times got a little rough.  I’ll admit it:  we bribed him with natural apple sauce by hiding a green bean under it on a spoon.  Yes, we switched back and forth from natural apple sauce to a veggie with each bite.  As he got closer to two years old, though, he turned into the typical boy, and just ate everything put in front of him, without the natural apple sauce bribe.  He was easy.  Our daughter, not so much.  Emma caught onto the apple sauce trick fairly quickly, and although she would take the spoon with the hidden veggie underneath the apple sauce, that veggie rode it’s way out of her mouth soon afterward.  We fought her for two years before my mom suggested an idea she read in her Pilates book:  Children respond to the numbers of their age.   So, one night at dinner, I served Emma two green beans, and told her she needed to eat them because “She was two years old”, and left it at that.   She ate them!  Wholeheartedly!   We slowly built from there:  two green beans at first, followed by two piles of two green beans a couple of months later, etc.  When she turned three, her portions automatically when up, without her having a problem with it.   It was magic!  And this works with ANYTHING!  “You may have three pretzels because you are three years old”, says parent.  “Okay!”, says kid.  You may have four jelly beans for dessert because you are four years old”, says parent.  “Okay!”, says kid.   “You need to have five bites of dinner because you’re five years old”, says parent.  “Okay…”, says kid.   It’s amazing!  And through it, Emma felt successful: she finished her veggies like a big girl, and earned dessert (we’re old school in our house: dessert is earned by eating all of your dinner.  If it wasn’t dessert, it would be served with dinner, wouldn’t it?).   By feeling successful with vegetables, children eat more of them, and become healthier for it.

Four Christmases ago, my grandma bought me an “all the rage” cookbook about how to hide vegetables in everyday meals so that one’s children would get their needed daily intake of vegetables.  It’s a great idea in theory; I mean, hidden vegetables are better than no vegetables at all, right?  Not necessarily.  When you hide vegetables, they become something to be feared and disliked.  Children, just as adults, need to grow into their relationship with veggies, and a mutual respect needs to be earned.  How does that happen when veggies are hidden where they can’t be smelled, tasted, and seen?   How does a child learn that they need vegetables if none ever appear on their plate?   The simple answer is that they don’t.    Liberate the hidden veggies out of meals and put them on the plate where they can be seen!  Whole and beautiful! (even if it is two pieces at at time if your child is two years old).  The best relationships start slowly and build over time.  If you start slowly now with your children, you will more than likely have Veggie Lovin’ and Respectin’ adults on your hands when they are grown.   Is there any better gift to give your future grandchildren?

How is it possible to become friends with a vegetable?   I mean, some are prickly, others are crunchy or wrinkly, and none of them smell good.  Well, it’s best to get to know them slowly, bringing out their best, and then they are rather enjoyable to be around.    This was rather an awakening for me; me, whose vegetable experience growing up consisted of a variety of salad, the occasional cooked-through carrot or broccoli, and the even more occasional asparagus.   My mother freely admits that she was “vegetable inept” while my sister and I were growing up, and my eyes were opened to the vegetable world almost ten years ago, when, newly married, my husband looked at the dinner as we prepared it and asked: Where is the vegetable?

Where was the vegetable?  The vegetable was back at the grocery store where it belonged.  Over the years, however, vegetables slowly changed from being of the frozen variety to the fresh, and when I discovered our local Farmers Market, my attitude changed from one of resentfulness (”A vegetable, a vegetable…carrots will have to do again”) to one of curiosity (”Oh…beets!  What can we do with those?!?”)

Below is a list of some vegetables and how I have found to look past their undesirable exteriors to find the beauty beneath.  I challenge you to try a new vegetable a month, and if it’s a success, for it to become a part of your dining repertoire.

Asparagus: Rinse, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and either bake, broil or barbecue until fork tender.

Beets: After peeling the beets, cut into quarters and steam until fork tender.  In a pan, add the fork tender beets to three minced cloves are garlic, olive oil, the chopped beet greens (their tops), and then sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Stir until the greens are limp and garlic is slightly brown, then serve and enjoy.  One exciting side effect of beets: they add a nice red tinge to your pee.

Broccoli: Rinse, cut the tops into pieces, and either steam or blanch (throwing the florets –aka tops–into boiling water) until just fork tender.

Brussels Sprouts: The poor brussels sprout…after being boiled for so many years, it has developed a really bad rap.  Especially since it’s one of the vegetables that offer quite a high level of protection against cancer.   So here’s what you do: Rinse, peel away any loose leaves, and cut in half lengthwise.   Saute two minced cloves of garlic in olive oil for 30 seconds, add the brussels sprouts (same side down), and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Saute on the first side for no more than five minutes, then flip the sprouts, and saute on the second side for no more than three minutes.   Remove from heat and serve.

Carrots: Rinse, peel, cut into desired pieces, and steam until fork tender.  Or, peel long shavings into a salad.  Or, eat raw with your lunch.  So many possibilities.

Lettuces: The dark greener, the better-er.  Red Leaf and Romaine are staples during the winter months at our Farmers Market, and they are gorgeous!  Lettuce never looked so good!  Throw a piece onto a sandwich, or get creative with a salad.  Add radish, orange pieces, strawberry pieces, apple pieces, nuts, carrot, tomato, onion, cucumber, cheese, beans…a salad is the laundry basket of meals!  (and, of course, the less dressing used, the better.)

Spinach: It’s the cancer fighting vegetable that provides entertainment:  watch it shrink before your eyes!  Spinach can make a wonderfully tasty salad, but to see the magic, steam it in a pan with a little bit of water and lemon juice.  Constantly stir the spinach, which will be difficult at first because there will be tons of leaves in your pan.   However, after a couple of minutes, it’ll become easier, and voila, your tons of leaves will have shrunk down to barely two servings.    Make sure to remove from the pan while the spinach is still green and before it turns a dark color.

Summer squashes and zucchini: Rinse, cut into desired pieces, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and either saute, bake, broil or barbecue until fork tender.

It is very important to understand that, because of their porous and thin skinned nature, bell peppers, potatoes, spinach and celery are very likely to be hurt by your rejection and dismissal…oh, and they MUST be bought certified organic.  If they are not, their delicate skin soaks up the pesticides and herbicides used by farmers, which then…no matter how many times they are washed…are transferred to you.  Don’t say you weren’t warned!

All in all, once peace is made with and a mutual respect has occurred between vegetable and human, a long lasting and fulfilling friendship develops.  I’m proof of that.  Ever so often, we’ll sit down at the dinner table to enjoy our meal, and I’ll look down at my plate and wonder: Where is the vegetable?

Local Errand Girl is the “green” errand service in the Temecula Valley, using cloth bags for deliveries, donating to plant trees in Southern California, and bringing locally grown, pesticide free produce to those who choose to eat healthier.  It is the hope that this will provide some insight as to how to eat healthier while helping our economy at the same time in an entertaining manner.

It’s almost 2010, and I thought, why not start the new year with accounts of my clients and vendors that I interact with on a weekly basis (names will be changed to protect the innocent ).  So please check back every Wednesday to see what was new and exciting, and for healthy recipes that use the ingredients at the Farmers Market.   I’m nervous and excited about this…it should be fun!