August 2010

A Day In the Life of Chef Shack: Cooking Up A Street Food Community

 It’s 4 a.m. on Saturday morning and I’m sitting behind the wheel of my car, drowsily heading to northeast Minneapolis. I’m scheduled to meet Lisa Carlson and Carrie Summer, the chefs who own and operate Chef Shack, the acclaimed Twin Cities mobile kitchen. The two women have managed to create a loyal following with their gourmet fare, and they’ve agreed to let me tag along with them for a day at the market. So here I am, heading to meet them for an 11-hour day, and on just three hours of sleep, I begin to wonder what I’ve gotten myself into.

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Top 10 Things to Eat and Do Before Summer Ends

Back-to-school ads are blitzing televisions and newspapers, the Minnesota State Fair is a few weeks away and Vikings football is once again the talk of the town. It can only mean one thing: summer is almost over.

But don’t put away the sunscreen and picnic baskets yet; the best of the season has only just begun and there’s still plenty of time to enjoy them. To help you do just that, here is our list of the most delicious seasonal foods to eat and fun activities to do before our magnificent Minnesota summer comes to a close.

Top 10 Things to Eat and Do Before Summer Ends 

1. Sun-ripened tomatoes

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Midtown Farmers Market Leads the Way (Again) with EBT Program, "Market Bucks"

In 2006, the Midtown Farmers Market became the first Twin Cities market to accept the SNAP/EBT (supplemental nutrition benefit program via electronic benefit transfer) program (more commonly known as food stamps), thus ushering in a new wave of accessibility for more local food lovers. And earlier this summer, they partnered with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota to make local, healthful food more affordable with a program called Market Bucks. The first $5 of EBT dollars used at the market on any given day is matched – with another $5. And that means $5 more local, farm-direct summer goodies to savor. 

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Your CSA Box: Summer Comfort Foods

In my last article, I wrote about Brassica vegetables, which aren't the most popular items in the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. This week, I've spent time with more widely loved summer vegetables, red potatoes and yellow squash.

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Toast & Taste at the Arboretum Provides Local, Tasty Delights

It's fair to say that the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum's Toast & Taste in the Gardens is one of my favorite annual local food events in the Twin Cities.

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New Harvest Moon Co-Op Has a Shine for Its Community

The story of how the newest Twin Cities area co-op came into existence is a testament to the power of community.

First, a commitment to community sparked the idea more than five years ago.

“I grew up in a small town,” explained Kari Pastir-Smith, one of the founders of Harvest Moon, in Long Lake, Minnesota, and now its marketing chief. Last week, she sat down with me, a Harvest Moon member, and Peter Doolan, Harvest Moon’s general manager, in the new store’s cheery, sunlit deli. “I saw Long Lake as a small town, too,” she continued, “except that it didn’t have a grocery store, and it didn’t have a gathering place to bring the community together in a cohesive way. With Harvest Moon, we now have both.”

For a while, though, there were doubts about whether they could actually pull it off.

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