July 2010 | Simple, Good and Tasty

Perennial Plate Video: More Ideas for Using Summer Vegetables

Posted in Family & Home on Sat, 07/31/2010 - 8:01am by Daniel Klein -

In the summer, we see local vegetables everywhere: at the grocery store, in a backyard garden, the farmers' market, or our CSA (community supported agriculture) box. Sometimes there are so many vegetables, it's overwhelming to find uses for them all. (How do I prepare kohrabi? Can I eat carrot tops? Is there anything I can do with all this zucchini?) Plus, if you're like me, you have the additional challenge of living without air conditioning; so people like us want to avoid cooking and baking as much as possible. This video shows me demonstrating a few recipes for the less familiar veggies, prepared using little to no heat -- including carrot-top pesto. (No need to ever throw them into the compost again!) Enjoy!

Best Location for a Food Vacation? Grand Marais, Home of The Angry Trout Cafe

Posted in Out & About on Fri, 07/30/2010 - 7:00am by Shari Danielson -

Chances are, if you’re a visitor to the Simple, Good and Tasty web site, you have more than a passing interest in food. Chances are, you may even qualify as a “foodie,” which Nicole Weston, of Slashfood, defines this way:

“To be a foodie is not only to like food, but to be interested in it… Generally, you have to know what you like, why you like it, recognize why some foods are better than others and want to have good tasting food all or certainly most of the time.”

Simple, Good, and Tasty's Bookclub Tonight: Real Food, What to Eat and Why

Posted in Book Club, Books & Media, Out & About on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 7:36am by Tracy Morgan -

Onward and upward! Are you ready for another dose of book club? We sure are!

As the Simple, Good, and Tasty club continues, we're looking forward to tonight's discussion about Real Food: What to Eat and Why. Where do you stand on full-fat or raw milk? Organic over local? Check out our proposed discussion questions, grab the book (or not -- you know, getting all the way through the reading isn't as important as checking in and participating), and swing on over.

The Season for Sweet, Sweet Corn

Posted in Recipes on Wed, 07/28/2010 - 7:00am by Gabriela Lambert -

It’s corn time, people! Sweet, sweet corn time. A couple weeks ago when I spotted the Peter’s Pumpkins and Carmen’s Corn stand at the Kingfield Farmers Market, I gasped and shimmied over as quickly as my flip flops would carry me. I snatched up six ears and to my surprise, received a gentle admonition from the owner, Peter Marshall, as he handed it to me: “Now this is good and sweet, but it’s not as good and sweet as it will be in a few weeks.” I’m not sure why I was surprised. I ought to know by now that Mother Nature takes her own sweet time and does things her own sweet way, with little regard for urban corn fiends like me.

Please Come to Our Super Awesome Local Food Pig Roast and Potluck on August 15

Posted in Out & About on Tue, 07/27/2010 - 7:15am by lee -

When the folks at Simple, Good, and Tasty decided to host our first annual pig roast and potluck last year, we weren’t at all that sure of what to expect. Would anyone come eat with us? Would people bring potluck dishes that reflected our values, or boxes of Twinkies? Would we have enough food?

This year we’re a little bit wiser, and we feel a little bit more confident that we know what to expect. But what about you, dear readers? Do you know what to expect? This information should help.

Why Are We Having a Pig Roast and Potluck?

The Earwig: Evil Earbound Egg Layer or Pesky Plant Predator?

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 7:00am by Amy Boland -

While you sleep, they’re coming for you. These vile creatures of the night live for one thing only: to crawl into your slumbering ear, lay their eggs in your brain, and destroy humanity itself!

OK, OK, not really. Earwigs may be creepy and they are definitely crawly. Earwigs are on my top three “most hated” list because they are fast, they have working pincers, and they get in the house sometimes. But they do not actually seek out human ears, as was widely thought a century ago. (This notion was so prevalent that in 1910, when children’s author/illustrator Beatrix Potter proposed including one in The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse, her publishers forbade it.)

Perenniel Plate Video: Commercial Fishing on Lake Superior

Posted in Out & About on Sat, 07/24/2010 - 8:31am by Daniel Klein -

There are a small number of commercial fisherman left on Lake Superior. I had the pleasure of going out one morning last week with Harley Tofte, who has seen the lake and the industry change over the last 29 years. He operates Dockside Fish Market out of Grand Marais and sells to the local restaurants (including local, sustainable, organic, culinary icon, The Angry Trout Cafe). Watch this episode to see Lake Superior fishing in all its glory -- and how its trout and herring get to your table.

This Week's CSA: A Boxful of Brassica

Posted in Family & Home on Fri, 07/23/2010 - 7:32am by Kristin Boldon -

I was talking with someone at a party last week about how to manage the weekly load of vegetables from the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. His approach is to identify the vegetables he likes the least, and eat them first.

"Otherwise," he intoned, “there's no hope for them."

Thousand Hills Cattle Co. Provides Realistic Tour of Livestock Farming

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Thu, 07/22/2010 - 7:19am by Angelique Chao -

Opportunities to escape the concrete jungle and get a taste of small-farm life abound in the Minnesota summertime. Whether you’d like to do a basic farm tour, enjoy dinner served up right on the pastures where the food was raised, or even help out with farm chores for a day as part of a “crop mob,” you can find an option that gets your city-slicker self out in the fields for at least a few hours.

Mill City Picnic Fest: Fill Your Baskets with Local Food

Posted in Family & Home, Out & About on Wed, 07/21/2010 - 7:06am by Tracey Paska -

During the lazy, hazy days of summer, it’s easy to find relief from the scorching sun and stifling humidity in air-conditioned shopping malls, movie theaters and restaurants. But after having coped with the real chill of winter just a few months ago, why go into an artificial deep freeze? Instead, embrace the season and enjoy a sunny picnic with a little help from the Mill City Farmers’ Market.