Today I was alerted to Beach Plum Week, happening in the adjacent neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens. I’d never heard of beach plums before this, but turns out they are plums indigenous to New York City and Long Island. Like a lot of plums they are slightly tart, and I imagine that increases around the pit and in the skin. They are also very small, like a half to one inch in diameter.
From what I can gather, beach plums do not grow on tall trees but on more of a bushy, lower-lying plant. It also seems they like sandy soil (hence the “beach” in their name), but can grow in heavier soil, too. At first I thought the plum trees outside in the backyard might be beach plums, but after reading a little bit about them it doesn’t sound like it; what my plums are is still a mystery to me.
As you know, Hurricane Irene has been devastating to residents in upstate New York and Vermont – the flooding has been astonishing, and it has really caused a lot of pain and suffering among those who live and work up there. That includes farms – some farmland has been destroyed, and that put many small farmers and their families in financial peril.
A number of organizations are helping with relief efforts, but the one that is on my mind presently arrived in my inbox this morning, from Saxelby Cheese, a wonderful little shop among many other wonderful little shops in the Essex Street Market, a destination for those who love delicious artisanal products.
In New York City, Hurricane Irene was billed to be a potentially catastrophic storm. In the end, for us it came and went without much fanfare. However, there are countless farms across New England that suffered tremendous losses, and are continuing to suffer as power is slowly restored, roads are slowly rebuilt, and stock is taken of the widespread damage that the storm left in its wake.
Saxelby Cheesemongers depends on the vitality and hard work of our regional farmers to provide our shop with some of the country’s finest cheeses. Though many of our cheesemakers were spared from Irene’s destructive path, some were hard hit. This week from Monday through Sunday, we invite you to help us give back to our upstate and Vermont neighbors by buying their cheese! Being a do-gooder has never been so delicious!!
This week only, from Monday, September 5th through Sunday, September 11th, Saxelby Cheesemongers will donate 50% of the profits from the sale of New York and Vermont Cheeses at our Essex Market shop to Hurricane Irene relief efforts spearheaded by the New York and Vermont Chapters of the Red Cross.
Sounds like an excellent deal to me and a great way to support the Red Cross’ efforts in the area. I am planning on stopping there on Friday before I pick up my salmon share in Brooklyn. I’ll likely pick up a cheddar and some kind of goat cheese.
And if you can, please pass on this message to those local to the NYC metro area.
You may be aware that the greater food blog community is banding together to help fellow food blogger and writer Jennifer Perillo, who lost her husband Mikey suddenly (heart attack) and tragically earlier this month. It happened with no warning, with no time to prepare – it took Jennie utterly and completely by surprise, in the worst way.
I’ve had someone taken from me like this before and it’s just awful; my heart breaks for Jennie. I learned about what happened while at the end of my time in Washington State. I remember reading the news and just feeling so sad, and then a sense of urgency in getting home to be with T overtook me. I’ve been feeling even more grateful that we are together these days, in light of this (and other various natural disasters/events as of late).
Right now, Jennie is forced to deal with some tough real life issues that revolve around money. She can’t collect widow’s benefits from Social Security because she makes “too much money” yearly; her health insurance payments for her and her girls are coming and are crazy expensive; her name wasn’t on the mortgage – it was totally in Mikey’s name – so there are money issues with that. In short: she needs some serious help on the financial front.
That’s where we all come in. You, me, everyone – we’re raising money for Jennie. She’s in a real pickle financially – and that’s putting it lightly – but there is a way to make this burden lighter for her. Please consider donating to Bloggers Without Borders, a new non-profit with the purpose of enabling bloggers to help others in need, “where the strength and good will of the blogging community could easily be harnessed.” They’ve got a bank account set up and Paypal account and everything; this is the real deal.
The first project is helping alleviate Jennie’s financial ordeal, if only for a little while. They’re calling it A Fund for Jennie.
I’ve donated, personally, but I’m also contributing to a collection of preserves as part of a larger auction. Kate at Snowflake Kitchen has put together a collection of almost two dozen different preserves, jams and pickles, from a whole lot of bloggers-who-can, to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. My contribution to the mix is a jar of plum vanilla jam, which I think is pretty excellent stuff. I made it last week from the plums growing on the trees in my backyard.
Plum vanilla jam and Nettle Meadow chevre on sprouted wheat bread
And at this writing, the bidding has reached $325!
If you’d like to bid on this amazing package of home preserved food, please go to Kate’s post, Jars for #afundforjennie and leave a comment with your bid. Bidding will conclude on Friday September 2nd at 11:59pm EDT. Shipping to the US and Canada only.
If this is too rich for your blood (I know how that can be, as someone who is currently unemployed), please consider donating straight to Bloggers Without Borders. Truly, any amount will help. You can do that below:
Please give as much as you can – truly, any amount is welcome and will be embraced. And you’ll be helping Jennie, a kind soul who really needs our assistance during a very difficult time. Thanks for considering this!
