PITTSFIELD – The aromas of fresh basil, spearmint, tarragon and other herbs filled the Berkshire Athenaeum’s auditorium on Wendell Avenue during a presentation on preparing healthy vegetarian meals.
The free session was one of several being offered at the Berkshire Athenaeum as part of a special initiative called “Boom! Next Chapter[media-credit id=3 align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit].”
According to information released by library, the programming is to provide information and ideas on pursuing a healthy, creative and productive retirement for baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964.
At the vegetarian meals presentation, almost four dozen people, many of them baby boomers, watched as Mary Ellen Warchol of Stockbridge Herbs in South Deerfield, one of the presenters, added spoonfuls of basil, garlic chives and tarragon to egg salad.
Her husband, John, told humorous stories about life as an English-teacher-turned-farmer that kept the audience laughing.
Variety of crops at South Deerfield farm
The couple own Stockbridge Herbs, where they grow asparagus, numerous varieties of basil, and much more.
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Using herbs is the best way to get flavor into food without adding calories, Mrs. Warchol said. She told the attentive audience to avoid over-chopping herbs in order to retain their flavor.
Mr. Warchol surprised some people in the audience when he said fat spears of asparagus are more tender and flavorful than the often coveted skinnier spears.
His mother was a city girl when she married Mr. Warchol’s Polish father, a farmer. Once, in the beginning of their marriage, she chopped off all the tops of asparagus and served the stems, he said. It was an incident the whole family never forgot, he laughed.
Cold asparagus soup for summer
The cold asparagus soup the audience got to taste is a perfect dish to serve in summer, Mrs. Warchol said.
“It’s a lovely, lovely soup that’s low in calories and is versatile. It’s so refreshing,” she said. “This soup is a wonderful way to eat your vegetables.”
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Barbara Johnson, a friend of the Warchols, helped prepare all of the evening’s samples, offered on trays to everyone in the audience. It was quite an undertaking to prepare tastes of four dishes for more than 42 people.
In addition to tastes of the cold asparagus soup and herbed egg salad, they also sampled colorful Israeli couscous, a grain salad filled with colorful veggies and fresh herbs.
For dessert, there was chocolate beet cake with pale pink minty whipped cream on top.
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Mrs. Warchol shared her secret to making the minty cream. She added mint to unwhipped cream and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. Then, she strained and whipped the cream the next day.
She also gave some tips on how to make hard boiled eggs for the herbed egg salad. To avoid a gray ring around the yellow yolks, refrain from over-cooking the eggs, she said.
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“Eggs are very good for you and are an excellent source of protein,” she told the audience.
To hard boil them and retain creamy yellow yolks, place eggs in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring water to a boil, remove pan from heat and cover.
After 10 minutes, drain and run cold water over the eggs, drain again and then peel.
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Mrs. Warchol said she roasts large quantities of spring asparagus and keeps them in the refrigerator for use.
Once a week, she serves eggs over asparagus, sprinkled with cheese.
The Warchol’s website is stockbridgeherbs.com. Some recipes can be found there.
Mr. Warchol also has a blog titled “FoodStops,” at lavendargrower.tumblr.com.
The series the vegetarian meal lecture was part of is co-sponsored by the Berkshire Athenaeum, Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum, the Ralph Froio Senior Center and Berkshire RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program).
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Funding was provided by a Library Services and Technology grant, a federal source of library funding administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, according to information released by the athenaeum.