Filed under: Gift Giving Guide, Uncategorized | Tags: Gift Guide, Holidays, Sourcing
It’s here, time is up and there is no denying – we’re in full holiday season mode. I know it’s only the day after Thanksgiving, but how many of you were out there shopping at midnight? Oh wait – I forgot you’re all waiting for Small Business Saturday, am I right? Either way you have your list and you’re checking it twice and sometimes no matter how many times you look at that list there are blanks that you can’t figure out how to fill. Everyone is always looking for a new idea. To help you with your shopping dilemmas I have pulled together the official Cute Fan Girl Goes Local Gift Giving Guide 2011.
The below listed link will open a PDF file full of great ideas for the locavore, foodie, supporter, cook and gardener in your life. Please remember these are just ideas to get those local juices flowing. There are inexpensive ideas to extravagant ones and everything in between. I have include online links, but I’m sure there are local options in your neck of the woods what would be able to help you with your shopping needs. Get out there and explore your local small businesses, farmers markets and farms. Oh and of course while you’re doing all that …remember to stay fresh.
Cute Fan Girl Goes Local 2011 Holiday Gift Guide
There is a lot to be said about eating a “Farm to Fork” meal. It’s a different experience from stepping into a national chain restaurant. You immediately know the taste of freshness in each ingredient, the flavors of the region and changes of the season in every bite. Of course right now, I’m preaching to the choir, if you’re reading my blog you most likely know this. You have placed a fork full of goodness into your mouth and closed your eyes to savor every flavor. Maybe you have even shared a fork full of love with your dinning companion giving them the same sensory experience.
For me personally, I don’t get a lot of this feeling outside my own home. Mad Dog and I don’t go out to dinner often, but when we do, we try to make it an extraordinary experience. One of the things that makes it extraordinary is a babysitter for our children. Though I feel it’s important to introduce Lex and Loki to these amazing flavors, I also feel that not being rushed and chewing my food until I have fallen in love with every bite is kind of important too. Last night Mad Dog and I were given two hours of just that.
Last Christmas my brother Kevin and brother-in-law Brent gave Mad Dog and I a gift certificate to Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro. Tastings describes itself as “a local and independently-owned and operated casual yet upscale restaurant at the Patriot Place complex in Foxboro, MA.” Their focus is on fresh, seasonal ingredients sourced from local farmers, ranchers and fisherman. Executive Chef Ben Lacy is intensely involved in all aspects of the Tastings dining experience, from preparation to presentation and of course in all the flavors of his dishes. Not only does he promote the use of locally grown farm fresh foods, he also “participates in Massachusetts and Rhode Island sustainable food co-ops and locally sources the restaurant’s organic produce, eggs and poultry.” Sounds like a place that I might like to visit, huh?
Our reservations for eight o’clock were slightly delayed, because of other diners enjoying their Tastings experience a little too long, but I wouldn’t begrudge them that. First and foremost, Tastings is a Wine Bar and because of this they have a large wine selection from around the world. I will say that I was slightly disappointed that though they boast local sourcing, they only feature two local vineyards on their wine list (Westport Rivers, Westpost, Massachusetts and Sakonnet Vineyards, Little Compton, Rhode Island). Of course I stayed local and had myself a glass of Westport Rivers Rkatsiteli, a white wine similar to a Riesling. I love Westport Rivers and have made several visits to the vineyard. (At this time I have a bottle of their sparkling wine in our wine-fridge waiting to celebrate Mad Dog’s and my 5 year wedding anniversary next August.)
Our waitress, Cassandra (who was great by the way!), introduced us to the Tastings Menu explaining to us that they try to source the best ingredients from 150 mile radius when possible. Unlike some “Farm to Table” restaurants, Tastings does not cite a lot of specific sources, which means for this blog post there won’t be a lot of additional sourcing information for you (sorry). Looking at their “Firsts” menu, we were both intrigued by the Native Rhode Island Popcorn, made with bone marrow and sage. Our curiosity was cut short when Cassandra came back with a complementary bowl to apologize for our wait. I felt that the bone marrow flavor which was infused with the popcorn was subtle enough as to not be overwhelming yet still prevalent throughout. Mad Dog fell in love with it, and I honestly think he will be experimenting to reproduce its flavor for himself.
To accompany our popcorn we ordered the Artisan Cheese Tasting plate. Rather than argue out between the two of us what cheese we would like to taste, we opted for the 5 cheese selection, which included a sampling of Gouda, Hartwell, Cheddar, Brie and Bijou cheese accompanied by crostini. We were again pleasantly surprised when Cassandra returned with a special Chef tasting for us. Placed on silver tasting spoons was a fig chutney with arugula and smoked ham. This morsel was absolutely delicious. The sweetness of the fig chutney was complemented by the smokiness of the ham and got our taste buds excited for more. This made selecting from the Entree menu even harder since I wanted to taste everything they had to offer. If you have this issue, you might take the choice out of your hands and opt for the Tastings’ Tasting Menu. “Experience the pleasure of a wide variety of tastes personally selected and hand-crafted by our chefs, using local ingredients from sustainable resources. Also, savor the best wines professionally paired to complement the dishes.” A reminder that this choice is only offered on selected days, you can ask your server for details or I would recommend calling ahead so you don’t get your hopes up.
There are just somethings people have a talent for ordering, Mad Dog personally has a talent (and takes that to the extreme) for selecting the best thing on the menu for his entree. I am not saying my selection wasn’t lovely, but Mad Dog’s was unbelievable. He selected the Skillet Roasted Muscovy Duck Breast, with pumpkin gnocchi, caramelized onion, roasted walnuts and a cranberry duck jus. Couldn’t you just die? I think the pumpkin gnoochi sealed the deal for him. I decided to try the Sweet Corn Risotto, with roasted husk cherries, pickled hot peppers, herb salad and Pimenton (Pimenton is spanish paprika – thank you Google).
To keep us from going hungry (which I didn’t think was possible) Cassandra brought us a complimentary tasting of the Roasted Pumpkin and Pear Soup. The bowl she placed between us had a black walnut and cranberry gremolata (described as a chopped herb condiment) and vin cotto (cooked wine) in the center, which she poured the carafe of Pumpkin and Pear Soup around. Both Mad Dog and I found that a combined bite of the soup accompanied by the gremolata and vin cotto was perfect, however a single taste of the soup alone lacked something.
With the arrival of our entrees, which we ended up sharing (since I found that I really wished I had ordered the duck too), we lost ourselves in the flavors of the season. Though I have had duck before, this perfectly cooked piece of meat blew me away. My first bite was not accompanied by the cranberry duck jus, but my second taste dragged through the dark sauce took me over the edge. The pumpkin gnocchi was lovely and light, not heavy like a lot of gnocchi. It had the taste of fall and a bowl of just the gnocchi would have made either of us just as happy. The risotto had a lovely texture contrast between the greens, the husk cherries and peppers. I found that the Pimenton had a strong kick which hit the back of the throat, but was balanced by the creaminess of the risotto.
We ended our meal at Tastings with the desert special of Cranberry bread pudding accompanied with cinnamon basil ice cream and sugared cranberries. Cinnamon basil ice cream? Yes, that is what we said and what drew us in to this dessert. Though both the bread pudding and ice cream were delectable combined they were extraordinary. It was so exciting, I forgot to take a photograph until we were almost finished with it (oops!). Sweet and savory all rolled into one and the perfect end to our luscious meal.
Filed under: 2011, Local Businesses, Local Food | Tags: Apple Picking, Farm Stand, Farms
Fall is creeping in little by little. The leaves are starting to change and everywhere you go places are selling apple cider or pumpkin something. The kids are back in school and schedules have changed. That happens to be the case for my family (I’m talking about the schedule part), and we’re still adjusting.
This Tuesday, with the blessing of good weather, we hit the apple orchard for apple picking. As we did last year, we visited our friends at Red Apple Farm in Phillipton, Massachusetts (for last years visit see: I’m Seeing Red!). With this being our second year picking at Red Apple, we were a little better prepared on all fronts. Again this year we purchased the flat rated 1/2 bushel bag which we could fill and didn’t need to be weighed at the end. A recommendation for parents with small children (or any children for that matter), pick up some of those small recyclable shopping bags for your little pickers. We found that giving the kids each a bag and letting them pick on their own and then dump into our large 1/2 bushel bag we paid for, was easier than them running back to dump their finds. It also saved us from paying by the pound for the apples they picked for their bags.
Both Lex and Loki did very well this year picking. Lex was in search of the “perfect” apple and Loki was focused on us saying “don’t pick from the ground Loki” a hundred times. Both kids got into the spirit of the outing, moving form tree to tree picking and being careful not to hurt the trees. Lex had explained to us he was picking so we could make an apple pie, which we both found odd since he A) doesn’t eat apple pie and B) gags when he eats apples. Loki who loves apples found each pick from the tree as another apple for her belly. She was very cute fighting with those apples that didn’t want to let go of their perch. After filling our bushel we visited the chickens and Loki got to see the Rooster “cock-a-doodle-doo”, which she helped him out with, before the ladies went shopping in the farm stand. The boys took our bounty back to the car and hit the little boy’s room for the trip home.
As a kid I have fond memories of visiting Phantom Farms in Cumberland, Rhode Island. Each fall we would visit for bags of apples (I don’t recall us actually picking, with the exception of the time I went in school), pumpkins for Halloween and of course the fudge sold in their country store. Part of the charm of visiting Red Apple Farm is the amazing farm stand store they have. Loki and I found our 1/2 gallon of Apple Cider and a jar of the farm’s Corn Relish which Mad Dog was coveting when we walked through before picking. I also found some homemade Maple Cotton Candy from Ben’s Sugar Shack in New Hampshire, which I had to try since I passed it up at the Big E last week. If you haven’t had Maple Cotton Candy – you are missing something, trust me! We also added two of the Farm’s Cider Donuts for the ride home. Once we paid (remember, if you’re going, Red Apple Farm only accepts cash but has an ATM machine on site to help you out if you forget) we hit the road, though we could have hung out all day picking pumpkins, raking up potatoes or picking more apples.
Filed under: Gardening, Homemade | Tags: Accidental Pastures, Gardening, Homemade, Processing, Seeds
In cooking some of the best things can happen by accident, but can the same be said of farming or gardening? I’ve talked about my Father’s gardens of my youth, but I have never mentioned my Mom. That is with good reason, she didn’t really garden. Sure, she loved her flowers, but beyond that getting dirty wasn’t exactly her thing. Over the past 10 years, since my father’s death she has branched out from the typical flowers. With the help of a Master Gardener friend she started to grow the gardens around my childhood home into beautiful bursts of color, but with the exception of my herb garden by the back porch there wasn’t much you could eat.
My mom has remarried and her husband Stuart is always working around the yard. A few years ago he put in grape vines near the porch and started a beautiful compost heap. We added to their gardens by purchasing blackberry bushes for my mother for Mother’s Day last year and have been trying to talk them into allowing someone to place bee hives on the back of their property (still working on that). At their cabin in Maine there are more grapevines, which have grown into a sweeter grape then the ones in Massachusetts which are being looked at for some wine making.
Last fall for Halloween, my Mom purchased a huge pumpkin as usual. The pumpkin took its place of honor on her front steps and there it sat and sat and sat like so many pumpkins purchased for the holiday. The frost and snow came and the pumpkin rotted under the snow. It finally found it’s end, I believe in late winter when Stuart shoveled up the remains and tossed it into the compost heap out back. Good-bye pumpkin right? – Not so fast! Sometime this summer Stuart noticed that there was a vine growing out of his compost pile. The seeds had taken root. He carefully removed it and planted it in one of the back island gardens in the yard. Over the course of several weeks the vine has grown longer and longer, and sprouted pumpkins (7 at last count). This little “Oops” prompted Mad Dog to start calling my Mom’s home “Accidental Pastures”. Which I honestly feel is perfect, since the things they don’t plan usually are far more prosperous than the planned ones.
They have embraced the new name to the point that my Mom is making labels for her homemade grape jelly, made from the grapes from their vines in Massachusetts. On a side note, the grape jelly was surprisingly good and she did a lovely job canning them for us all. This has also prompted them to “plan” a pumpkin patch for next fall-allowing the kids to pick their own right from the yard.
Once upon a time there was a girl who had grown up on garden goodness. She loved the food that her family cultivated and how the freshness made her feel. She would pick from the vines and eat, taking in the nutrients of the fruits and vegetables she found in the rows of crops in her family’s gardens. As she grew up and went out into the world beyond the walls of her family’s lands she found realms of fast, processed and just plain gross food. The girl longed for the days of fresh garden goodness of her youth. In her quest for those tastes she thought that she could grow them herself. She read. She studied and she planted in her tower in the dark city. There were sprouts of hope and even vines of possibility, but in the end she had nothing but dirt. She could not find her green thumb. Until the day she met her prince, who showed her the way to flavors and freshness she could distantly remember. She didn’t need the green thumb of mystery that had eluded her, she only need to contact something he called a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). When she did, she escaped from the dark, evil games of fast food thrones and found that heartburn was a distant memory like heartbreak. She found sweet natural flavors without preservatives, dyes and hormones. She discovered a new love for the things in her own “backyard”. The girl could only do one thing, marry the price and live happily ever after; eating local and fresh.
Are you happy for her? I am – I should hope I am since “she” is me! I took a little creative license. I guess it could have been worse, I mean I did just finish reading George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. I managed to keep it clean and not too bloody. So, what brought on my tale telling? You’re going to laugh, but Fairy Tale Eggplant. Okay, maybe laugh wasn’t the word more like roll your eyes. I honestly couldn’t help myself. I hate being upfront all the time and saying “Hey! I’m going to talk about Sugar Beets in this post.” There is no challenge in that. (Hmmm…I will have to write that one soon so I can call it “We Got the Beets!” A little 80′s pop Go-Go’s lovin’ for you.)
Anyhow to get back on track, one of the things I love about summer is the Eggplant. I can’t get enough of it (fairy tale or otherwise) and when it’s gone I’m very sad. With the exception of American cuisine, eggplant is a huge staple ingredient in many of the worlds other cuisines from Japan to Spain. I grew up on it; being half Italian, eggplant was around most Sunday dinners. My Nana usually slices it thin (super thin – it’s amazing how uniformed they all look. I’m still working on that myself.) and breads them then fries them. It’s shocking how the eggplant medallions of goodness last long enough to make it to the table. If anyone is around when she is preparing them they are usually stolen as soon as she places them on the paper towel to drain off the excess oil. We’ll burn ourselves for just a taste before being chased from the kitchen. I’m going to let you in on a little secret…they’re better cold! If I have my choice, I would rather steal them from the depths of my mother’s refrigerator than from that plate fresh from the pan. Don’t get me wrong both ways have their glory, but cold and late at night – BETTER.
I said she breads them. Oh and she does. She does it twice in fact. She makes an egg and milk mixture and dips the slices in, then moving them to the breadcrumb mixture. Making sure to cover every inch of the slice. She lets them rest before taking another dip and roll in the baths again. She then fries them in olive oil until they are golden brown. A few years ago, a cousin of ours, Jo Ann, flew in from Chicago and she brought along her home grown eggplants from her garden. She prepared them for us a similar way, however she did it what I call down and dirty. Her slices of goodness only took a quick dip and roll, if they didn’t get covered too bad. It was unbelievable. I won’t say it to my Nana’s face, but that was the best eggplant I ever had. This past weekend with Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene dropping in I made some for Mad Dog, so that he could take them with him to work while he was away from us. My thought was that he didn’t have to worry about heating it if he lost power. Problem is he didn’t save it (or couldn’t) until Sunday when the weather was the worst.
If you’re not up for the big boyz, you can always check out the Fairy Tale variety. There small in some cases about the size of your fingers (only fatter). The ones Mad Dog picked up at Old Nourse Farm at our weekly CSA were white and purple. Super cute right? Super yummy too. They have less seeds than Italian Eggplant and lack the bitterness as well. This past week Mad Dog made a pizza with them for us, which is now listed among one of my favorites.
We found inspiration from the show Unique Eats. They had a pizza special which we of course had to watch. They showcased a pizza place in Chicago called Great Lake. The place is all about the ingredients and freshness. They feature only 3 pizzas on their menu. One of them “Sweet Corn, Smoked Bacon, Tropea Onion, Creme Fraiche, Chive” is where we found our inspiration. Mad Dog made his pizza dough and spread Creme Fraiche, which was infused with garlic and herbs, he topped that with caramelized onions, sauteed fairy tale eggplant and chopped bacon ends which I had been hoarding from Adams Farm. It so was unbelievable I could have cried.
It doesn’t matter if you’re frying it up, making an Eggplant Curry, or Spanish Eggplant dip for tapas or putting it on your pizza – what matters is that you check out this beautiful vegetable.
(Oh and one last quick thing…Please don’t tell my Nana what I said!)
Filed under: Bakeries, Cupcakes, Local Businesses | Tags: Bakeries, Cupcakes, Local Business, Sweets
All good things must come to an end, but from the ashes of the phoenix comes the birth of something new. What? – Has she gone off the deep end this time? No, Cute Fan Girl hasn’t lost it. I’ve just been on vacation for the past week and in that time I was reading a great book all about video games, pop culture and quests (Interested? See my personal blog Road to Nowhere: Where We’re Going We Don’t Roads). I think I kind of got caught up in it a little bit, but it is relevant to the post I’m about to write.
A few weeks ago we read that the dynamic-duo behind Cupcake Fetish Bakery in Sanford, ME were going their separate business ways. Over the last several months we had fallen in love with their delicious creations and found our occasional trips to Maine were made a little sweeter with a stop into their Sanford shop. Like I said in the beginning of this post from the ashes comes something new.
Though the lovely ladies behind the Cupcake Fetish had left the building – through separate exits of course, both came right back in – only this time in different forms. Ms. Amy transformed Cupcake Fetish into a catering and delivery bakery out of Wells, Maine while Ms. Jen remained in the Sanford store front under a new name- Somethin’ Sweet.
The new store front venture doesn’t just focus on delectable cupcakes (though she has those too) but explores all things sweet. From her enormous Whoopie Pies, which Mad Dog felt was in no way a one person undertaking (though I assure you he did finish it himself), to her light fresh Lemon Bars each new recipe in her arsenal is deadly – with a smile of course. Eclairs, muffins, cinnamon rolls, mini-cheesecakes, chocolate chip cookies and more can be found on any given day at Somethin’ Sweet. Currently Jen is on a quest for a delish brownie recipe, which I think she has found. I had the pleasure of sampling it on my first visit to her new shop.
Last Thursday on our last full day in Maine, I happened to be scanning Facebook on my phone and saw Jen’s post about the selection of the day. Open Thursday through Sunday, Jen takes time to post her daily flavors on her Facebook wall and provides customers with updates as sweets sell-out. Oh and they do sell-out! I jumped in the car, leaving Mad Dog with the kids and headed over to Sanford for a little peace and quiet along with a lot of sweet goodness. While chatting with Jen, I picked up the before mentioned Whoopie Pie for Mad Dog at his request, four cupcakes (one for each of the kids and one for myself) and rounded my selection off with a huge Lemon Bar.
Though I can’t count Lex or Loki as cupcake connoisseurs, Gabrielle is a little older and capable of expressing herself a bit better. For Gabrielle I had brought back a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cupcake, which she ate with great pleasure and surprise to find an actually peanut butter cup in the middle. Lex loved his chocolate frosted chocolate cupcake down to the last crumb which I think screams success, while Loki pulled a Loki and licked all the chocolate frosting off her vanilla cupcake before taking a few bites of the actual cupcake (she is a frosting girl-through and through – you can see from her picture). I had selected a Red Velvet cupcake for myself which I ate in silence in the kitchen while the kids played in the lake. It was just the right amount of cocoa and the cream cheese frosting was wonderful and light to the very last bite.
As for the “huge” Lemon Bar, I would like to start by saying I don’t
like Lemon anything! Why did I order it then? It’s seems to be one of Jen’s daily selections and I didn’t feel I could pass it up. Also as a grown-up I know I have to try things, something I try to teach my kids (to much frustration). When I returned to the house I left my Red Velvet in the box to sit alone, while I cut a piece of the Lemon Bar to try. As I mentioned before it is a large serving and perfect to share with someone (or save a part for later). Mad Dog attempted to tackle his Whoopie Pie and I took my first bite of the bar. Absolutely amazing. I can’t stress enough how light it was and fresh while the texture was buttery and smooth. A delight! Oh and my hate for Lemon – GONE! Well, at least in this form. I can’t wait for our next trip up, hopefully with our whole family so I can share one with my Grandmother who I think would love it.
If you’re in Southern Maine and you’re looking for a sweet fix take a ride over and visit Ms. Jen at Somethin’ Sweet. She’s there Thursday through Saturday 11-7 PM and Sunday 11 – 4 PM or until the goodness is gone. She also takes special orders for those upcoming occasions. Check out her Facebook wall for flavors of the day and to lend her your support!
Filed under: Canning, Donating, Entertaining, Gardening, Homemade, Local Food | Tags: Donations, Entertaining, Gardening, Processing, Winter Storage
Growing up we always had a garden. My Father loved it or maybe I’m projecting. I mean I don’t actually remember hearing him say that, I just assumed he did since he did it year after year. Those gardens of my childhood were huge. He grew everything and we used it all, when things went right. That is when my Great-Grandmother, Nonna, didn’t get herself involved. There are stories on how her old world “wisdom” would foil one crop or another. The best was the year she cut the tops off all his corn, to help them “grow”. He wasn’t too pleased and we didn’t have corn that season.
Each gardener takes pride in their planning, their weeding and hard work. The spoils are their reward and with each year plans grow like gardens and before you know it your hobby summer garden is a part-time job or maybe even a full time one. Still with all that work, the pay-out is well worth it if you use it. If the gardening bug takes hold, it can result in a harvest that not only will feed your family, but allow you to share your backyard goodness with friends and family. The only thing worse than not having a garden of your own, is knowing someone who is wasting theirs.
You’ve planned, plotted, sown, sweated and grown. It’s harvest time and there is more than you know what to do with. Looking back, maybe 30 tomato plants wasn’t the best idea or maybe you didn’t need another plot of zucchini, but it’s too late and you have to find a solution. Let’s start thinking outside the garden box for a bit.
Of course you can share with your friends, family, co-workers and even start handing out cucumbers to people you meet on the street, but if that doesn’t put a dent in it you have to look for additional alternatives. One of the daunting tasks of having a garden or even taking part in a CSA is “processing” your bounty. After picking a bushel of tomatoes or eggplant do you really want to think about doing anything else but taking a nap. Of course in the “dark months” it would be wonderful to pull out some fresh summer goodness which was canned, frozen and stored for those times when the only produce you can find is from thousands of miles away and has that waxy chemical shine to them in your corporate grocery store. But that would be more work right? Hard to believe. It doesn’t have to be completely work however.
You’ve all heard of “Stitch n’ Bitch” right, well knitting circles pop up all over the place, why not re-imagine this bonding experience and “Can n’ Cackle” or “Jar n’ Jaw” (sorry Ladies, Mad Dog couldn’t come up with better). Invite your gal pals over (and your male pals too – Mad Dog was upset that was getting sexist again. I am an equal opportunity blog), friends who cook and who don’t. Pull out your best canning recipes or ask your friends to bring some along with the makings along with canning jars or designate someone to bring the jars for everyone with attendees putting money in for supplies. With the makings for sauces, jams, jellies, pickling and whatever else you can think of, start canning (please remember the canning guidelines – we don’t want anyone getting sick here). Open a bottle of wine and start cooking and chatting. By the end of the day everyone will take home some great tips, wonderful memories and of course some yummy goodness all preserved for winter.
Since we already confirmed it’s summer we know a lot of us will be attending cook-outs or throwing them. What if at the end of your next gathering you have a table full of preserved goodness for your guests to take along? Can up your best salsa or maybe even a homemade barbecue sauce, attach the recipe on a tag and a thank you message for coming. Your guests will leave with something lovely to enjoy after they have recovered from their sunburn and you’ll give them a little local love from your garden. While you’re at it, drop off a jar or two at your elderly neighbor’s house. I’m sure the sweet little old lady next door would love a jar of homemade jam for her morning toast, it might bring her back to a time when she made preserves with her mother.
A great idea that has come in focus recently is “Donation”. If you can’t give it away to people you know, why not donate to an organization that needs it. A recent blog post (see Too Many Vegetables? Never! Donate Them!) by our friends at FarmFresh.org tells you how one girl is doing just that. Stephanie is a Girl Scout working for her highest Girl Scout honor, the Gold Award. On her way to collecting her award she has started a program that collects extra fresh local vegetables from Rhode Islanders and donates them to local food pantries. I love this idea! Donations will be collected from July 20th through October 1st at multiple RI locations Monday through Thursday. If you can’t join in on Stephanie’s project, contact your local food pantries and see if you can help with some of your garden goodness.
Of course if you can’t enjoy it, give it away, process it all or donate it; make sure you put the last of it in your compost pile. Let it feed your future gardens and future harvests.
Filed under: Blogging, Farms, Social Media | Tags: Farmers, Farms, Local Food, Social Media
Social media. If you’re reading this there is a very good possibility you’re a part of it. Tweeting, posting, checking in and blogging have become a part of many people’s every day life. Our children will be even more plugged in than we are and quite possibly that will be literally, like something out of The Matrix. We find ourselves more connected through information, than personal or maybe I mean physical connections. Though the world has become “smaller” in other cases it has become more isolated and impersonal.
In the case of the local movement, I think most people would think or believe that in a way it is a move away from technology. Getting back to basics, simpler times. For some it is about this, but as we discussed previously there are many reasons for going local and we can’t put everyone into one basket. For me, my technology and being plugged in has made it much easier for me to go local. It has allowed my family and I to research and source locations we would most likely not have found if it weren’t for the internet. That being said the reason this is possible is because of the connection and strides farms, farmers and agricultural organizations are making on the web.
Farmers don’t just have to worry about crop rotations, composting, harvesting and the other issues that have plagued farms for decades, they now have to be “social” butterflies. Farmers have always had to be their own “Mad Men“, relying on local television interviews spotlighting their farms, advertisements in area newspapers and the every popular word of mouth to bring in customers and supporters. In the age of the World Wide Web, the addition of established farm web pages, blogs and now the every popular Social websites, such as the before mentioned Facebook and Twitter have launched your local farmer into the “plugged in age”. More and more farms have turned to Social Media to get the word out about what they have to offer, but how do you balance the two? Do you hire a Marketing Manager, or better yet a 15 year-old intern that can navigate the sea of options and get you on the information highway?
Build it and they will come, right? It worked for Kevin Costner (Field of Dreams)- didn’t he almost lose his farm? But wait, we’re talking a website not a baseball field in the middle of your corn crop. Getting established isn’t actually the issue most farms have; it’s staying afloat when it comes to updates, information changes and posts. Often the decision to establish a website, blog or social media page is an easy call. Most of the choices listed above have free options, with easy to follow steps. Like anyone, farmers find that crop rotations and harvests have precedent over updating your Facebook status or blogging about what’s new on the farm. I have the same issues and I’m not trying to make a livelihood of blogging. I attempt to post weekly and make updates to my Facebook and Twitter accounts daily, but to be honest there are days I’m saying “screw it”. I don’t have anything to say or I just don’t have the energy after getting home from work.
As a farmer do you keep your cell phone on hand to post updates on an abundant harvest of blueberries while you’re walking the fields or tweet that the new organic natural technique you used to rid your tomato crops of pests is working better than ever? Is this a priority? For most it isn’t, but for us on the other end of the social media chain it is. We eat up information like those pests eat up crops, doesn’t mean it’s a good thing but it is reality. Farmers have to think of social media as the new “word of mouth”. A recent article in The Baltimore Sun, Local Farmers use Social Media to Tweet the Harvest by Julie Baughman talks exactly about that. The article talks to two farms that have embraced the social media craze and are using it to get the word out about all they have to offer. By building their virtual fans, they hope to in turn build their actual customers.
Okay, so how do you do it? How do you get there from here? Start out small and think simple. Don’t feel you have to write the Farm Bill every time you post. With Twitter it’s as short as a text message, you only have 140 characters to work with so telling your followers that “Pick your own blueberries! The harvest is in and they’re waiting for you! See you soon.” is fairly painless. Plus I still had 52 characters to boot. There are applications that allow you to post to both Twitter and Facebook at the same time cutting down on your social media time while still hitting both audiences, and yes in some cases they are two different audiences. There are people who prefer one to another. Once you post, your “Followers” and “The People Who Like” you will take it from there. You’ll see the wave expand as things get Re-Tweeted (RT) or “Shared”. Farmer that post on Twitter and Facebook, make my daily Tweets and status changes ten-times easier. I sit down after a long day at work and make the rounds, reading my feeds and re-posting what I think would help my readers on their local journey. It doesn’t just have to be you doing the posting, Facebook allows multiple Admins on pages allowing multiple contributors to appear as one voice under your page.
A huge thing to remember: social media is a year round thing. Yes, we know in New England there are seasons and there is a time to plant, a time to…you know I’m going to start singing Turn! Turn! Turn! by The Bryds if I keep this up. Of course some parts of the year are far more exciting than others, like the start of the season or harvest times but people love to know that you’re still out there in the “dark months”. What are you planning for next year, how things are prepared, is your CSA going to go through changes and most importantly how are you doing? By allowing a little more about you and your farm out you’ll create stronger connections with your social media public.
One last thing – I promise. If you’re not completely ready for the social media connection but still want to get the word out, reach out and touch someone (you know what I mean). Do you have an event coming up, news about the farm or a farmers’ market you’ll be at or maybe you have concerns you would like to share with the local food community – drop me a line or in this case an email. I’ll see if I can help spread the message, then we can sit back and watch it sweep across the virtual fields for grain! With that said I’ll see you on a social media site near you or maybe I’ll just see you on the farm. Either way I’ll be seeing you!
Filed under: Dining Out, Locally Supported | Tags: Local Restaurants, Locally Supported, Rhode Island
What says American food more than a diner? If you’re going to visit a diner there is no place more fitting than right here in New England in Providence, Rhode Island.
The origins of the diner can be traced back to Walter Scott, a part-time pressman and type compositor in Providence. “Around 1858 when Scott was 17 years old he supplemented his income by selling sandwiches and coffee from a basket to newspaper workers and patrons of the men’s club rooms. By 1872 business became so lucrative that Scott quit his printing work and began to sell food at night from a horse-drawn covered express wagon parked outside the Providence Journal newspaper office. In doing so, Walter Scott unknowingly inspired the birth of what would become one of American’s most recognized icons –the diner.” (History courtesy of the American Diner Museum)
We’re talking American. We’re talking Diners. We’re talking Local. What are we talking about? The Liberty Elm. Situated on Elmwood Avenue in a 1947 Worcester Lunch Car, this diner finds itself on the National Historical Register. I love diners and as diners go, the Liberty Elm has it going on, on so many levels. The biggest for me is they are all about the local!
The diner takes a strong stand on this-they believe in using local and regional sustainable products and bringing fresh, healthy, homemade options to a diner environment that is usually associated with grease and indigestion. On their menu you will find a list of their Local Farms and Purveyors. The list reads as a “Who’s Who” of New England’s Agricultural Best, with heavy local support for their Rhode Island neighbors. All their meats are preservative and nitrate free and their eggs are from local cage-free chickens.It’s all about farm to table at the Liberty.
Along with supporting a healthy digestive system, they support the earth. Their takeout packaging is compostable, recyclable and made from…want to guess? Recycled materials. Are you “lovin’ it”? Okay, add to that the fact that they participate in the Elm Research Institute‘s “Matching Tree Grant”. What this means is that 1% of their profits is used to purchase Liberty Elms to re-tree Elmwood Avenue and Southern Providence neighborhoods. For every 4-6 trees they purchase to re-tree their neighborhood, the ERI donates a tree to the City of Providence.
Cute Fan Girl has been following Liberty Elm for some time now via their Facebook page, Twitter feed and we’ve exchanged a few quick posts with owner Carol DeFeciani, but had not had the pleasure of checking it out until today. Mad Dog and I spent the evening in Providence and found ourselves looking for breakfast. The first thing that came to me was The Liberty Elm. We arrived as they opened and found we had the pleasure of having the whole place to ourselves for a short time.
Our only company was our great waitress Diana or better know to regulars and friends as “Tink”. I kicked off my morning with a much needed hot cup of New Harvest Coffee Roasters Coffee with a little cream. We were children free this morning and still up at 6AM, so coffee was a must. Looking at the menu we went back and forth about some of the farms they supported and who we knew. Somehow over the course of our conversation Mad Dog found what he was going to order, while I continued to flounder on my selection. In the end we were both thinking alike. Mad Dog ended up with the Monte Cristo Sandwich, made with Swiss cheese and North Country Smokehouse Ham on THICK French Toast with a local cage-free fried egg (over easy) with New England Maple Syrup. While I kept it simple (I was still recovering from dinner the night before) with an order of French Toast. Both of us ordered sides of Home-fries or as I ordered it, a side of “Home-fry”. In my defense, I had only had one sip of coffee at that point.
The food came out quick thanks to Ron who was the man behind the scenes and behind the grill this morning. Not only was it fast; it was amazing! Though my french toast was wonderful – after seeing Mad Dog’s Monte Cristo Sandwich with the fried egg, I honestly wished I had better ordering skills. The homefries were perfect. They made me think of Mr. Nancy in American Gods (by Neil Gaiman) “Now, ma’am, you make sure those fries are real crisp now. Think burnt.” They weren’t burnt, but had the right amount of crisp for even Mr. Nancy. So yummy and well seasoned.
What do you need to have when you go? First of all everything is good (remember it’s local and made with care), but there are some things that you just can’t pass up. Mad Dog would list their Monte Cristo with the fried egg as one of them. Add to that the Traditional RI Johnny Cakes made with Kenyon’s Gristmill White Cornmeal. A staple in RI, you can’t pass these local favorites up. Another great on their menu which I understand can’t be missed is their House Roasted Turkey Sandwich. The sandwich features turkey which has been roasted and infused with the flavors of fresh thyme sprigs and cilantro. If you’re not convinced, then locals will tell you that the local Pea Greens which top the sandwich are must have. For the vegetarians and vegans – don’t worry they have you covered with menu full of choices.
Lastly, I think I have found my new love (sorry Mad Dog) and my next meal at The Liberty. Since today I was only thinking breakfast, I didn’t really focus on the lunch side of their menu and missed it. I know this is not going to be very fresh or “healthy“, but I need to have a Grilled Fluffer Nutter Sandwich…. wait for it…with Banana. In case you’re wondering Fluff comes from right here in Lynn, Massachusetts. Mad Dog thinks I’m crazy enough when I do my fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, but I think he will have to try this one with me. I know a friend or two who I will have to bring along for the experience. Who’s game?
Filed under: CSF, Entertaining, Farmers Markets, Homemade, Local Food | Tags: Entertaining, Farmer's Markets, Farmhouse Fare, Farms, Inspiration, Local Food
The warm nights of summer are here, well currently they’re a little wet but here nonetheless. It’s time to get outside and entertain. I don’t mean a family cookout with just hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, I’m talking about showing Martha Stewart how it’s done. If good food sparks good conversation, just imagine what amazing local food will do for your next gathering. The summer options are vast and infinite. A stroll through your local farmers’ market should be enough to get your creative juices following. Think about all the fresh local eye candy that you walk by as you take in the sights and smells of your local farmers’ market or at your CSA pick-up.
How to start? Think about what you’re comfortable with, what you’re in the mood for. Are you looking to keep the guest list small, which might allow you to stuff your guests senseless making them beg for mercy by the time you reach the dessert course or are you looking to tease a larger group of friends throughout the evening with small tastes and cocktails? The style of entertaining is completely up to you. For me it’s all about how much I want to show off. Both styles of entertaining allow for endless applause, but when it comes down to it one allows you to experiment a little more than the other. If you’re looking to introduce a lot of different options and flavors I recommend more of a cocktail party style; that will let you create bite size tasting that can be sampled as your guest socialize through the evening. Show your guests what farmhouse fare can really taste like!
Once you have the guest list, style of party and date set you’re going to want to think about the menu. I personally wouldn’t set anything in stone, unless you’re positive that you’ll be able to get the ingredients. If you’re keeping it Local, you’re going to want to look at what is in season. You’re not going to have fresh local corn right now, so don’t plan on Central American Crazy Corn (see Shh…The Corn Has Ears). Talk with your farmers at your market and your local farms, see what they’ll have at the time of your event. Having a list of backup recipes is a smart thing.
As a general rule I carry an idea notebook with me. This notebook not only has blog post ideas, art projects, story ideas but has flavor profiles I like. If we get out to a restaurant or taste something somewhere that knocks me out, I will make a note of the possible ingredients or the dish to try to recreate it in my own way at another time. This means I drive Mad Dog completely crazy when it comes to planning a party. I pull out my notebooks, all my favorite cookbooks and start making notes. With this arsenal of ideas I start to plan my base menu, keeping it as loose as possible for changes and new introductions of flavors. I like to let the market or the farm inspire me.
While you’re planning your local menu, don’t forget what your guests will drink. Highlighting local vineyards and breweries are a great way to introduce more local flavors to your event. If your schedule doesn’t allow for a trip to the vineyard, you might find what you’re looking for at the farmers’ market or at your town liquor store. Many liquor stores carry area vineyards and breweries, just ask for assistance and they’ll be able to point you in the right direction. If alcohol is not in your plans, try something simple such as water, with local cucumber slices in it or highlight your iced tea with fresh mint from your garden. You’ll find both refreshing and just as stimulating as that glass of local wine.
Now, you’ve done all this work, how is anyone going to know that all these wonderful flavors are local? Tell them! Once you have finalized the menu, picked up your produce and meat, sit down at your computer with a list of all your local sources. Write out your menu for display, listing each dish, the ingredients and where you found your them. Include the farm names and where their located (ie. honey from Aquidneck Honey, strawberries from Olde Nourse Farm). Don’t forget to give yourself credit when credit is due, if it came from your garden say it or if you made those baguettes from scratch let your guests know. Print your menus and place them in simple frame to be placed on tables next to those local flowers picked from your garden or at the farmers’ market.
Two last things. First be prepared to have company on your next visit to the farmers’ market, you’re going to have friends asking you if they can tag along and second be prepared to share those recipes. Oh, and don’t forget to tell them that Cute Fan Girl said to “stay fresh!”
