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Event Recap: Sen Yai Sen Lek Offers Local Food - Thai Style

Posted in Out & About on Thu, 03/25/2010 - 6:54am by lee -

Simple, Good, and Tasty's March event (above photo by Kate NG Sommers), held on Tuesday March 22 at Sen Yai Sen Lek in Minneapolis, offered local food with a twist. The ninety plus people in attendance were treated to a local food-based Thai tasting menu, including green papaya salad, Fischer Farms pork Isaan salad, dried Thousand Hills beef, curried egg noodles with beef, and stir fried noodles with Kadejan chicken. The meal was not what comes to mind for most people when they think about local food in Minnesota (no walleye, buttered bread, or wild rice!), and we were thrilled about it.

Discussion Notes for Our Book Club Selection, "The Compassionate Carnivore"

Posted in Book Club, Books & Media on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 1:50pm by lee -

Author Catherine FriendMany thanks to Jan Zita Grover from Mississipi Market Co-op for providing terrific discussion questions for this month's book club selection, The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend. Here are the questions, for those of you who are conducting your own book clubs this week and next:

Recipes Inspired by "The Compassionate Carnivore"

Posted in Book Club, Books & Media on Wed, 03/24/2010 - 7:01am by lee -

This month's book club selection, The Compassionate Carnivore, by Catherine Friend, chronicles the author's journey to better understand and appreciate the face on her plate. Here's a short excerpt from Indie Bound, describing the book:

April Local Food Event at Common Roots

Posted in Out & About on Tue, 03/23/2010 - 7:59am by lee -

Common Roots Cafe in Minneapolis has made a big impression in a short time. A business committed to knowing its farmers and connecting with the larger community, Common Roots had a big 2009, starting a community garden, creating 8 new full-time living wage jobs, and making 88% of its purchases from local, organic, or fair-trade sources.

Were the Good Old Days of School Lunch Really That Good?

Posted in Family & Home on Mon, 03/22/2010 - 6:44am by lee -

Last week, while going through a box of old things my father saved before he died, my younger brother found this old school lunch menu. It's from Valley Stream Union Free District Thirteen in NY (my family spent several years at Howell Road Elementary School in that district), and it's dated 1976. My dad was a pretty sentimental guy, so I'm not terribly surprised that he saved a menu from when we were kids.

I find the menu fascinating, and not just because there are still union free school districts in this country. I've been thinking a lot about what was on the menu back in 1976 in the context of the some of the comments you've posted related to our article "An Open Letter to Our Children: We're Sorry About School Lunch." For example, Ginger wrote:

Gale Woods Farm Encourages Visitors to Play with Their Food

Posted in Farms & Gardens on Sat, 03/20/2010 - 10:13pm by Tracey Paska -

The sheep were looking quite sheepish.

Last Saturday was Shearing Day Gale Woods Farm and though the animals in question were none too pleased, the children watching intently were delighted as the shearer wielded his clippers with gentle efficiency while piles of wool gathered at his feet. Later, the young visitors moved from the barn to the activity room, where staff and volunteers demonstrated how wool that just a short time before adorned the sheep was spun into yarn and woven into fabric. As parents and kids practiced "carding" (brushing the wool fibers) and made felted crafts to take home, others enjoyed a delicious sampling of farm-grown lamb, served on warm pita and topped with tomatoes and a refreshing yogurt sauce.

School Lunch Challenge: Win Free Organic Milk for a Year and Other Cool Prizes

Posted in Family & Home on Sat, 03/20/2010 - 7:11am by lee -

SGT is currently holding a school lunch challenge. Enter and you can win big prizes like lunchboxes and free organic milk for a year. Get the details here.

Please read the article that started it all, "An Open Letter to Our Children: We're Sorry About School Lunch" (and a host of interesting comments) too.

Recipe for Spring Egg Salad With a Twist

Posted in Recipes on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 7:03am by Beth Dooley -

Bacon and eggs are my kind of salad. This simple, hearty, bistro toss up is perfect for Easter lunch or brunch. It makes a lively light spring dinner, too (but you’ll need lots of good crusty bread and perhaps some Shepherd’s Way Frisago as well). The sunny presentation is stunningly simple as frying bacon and poaching eggs. The fun is in poking the yolk and making a joyful mess of it all.

Though frisee is the classic green, I prefer peppery watercress (and with luck we may have some clinging to the edges of those burbling streams very soon). Toss in field greens or baby spinach if you like, a little sorrel and arugula as well. Some recipes call for lardoons, the fancy name for thick cut bacon bits (I prefer the thinner rashers, cooked crisp.) That said, the bacon makes this meal. Find the best from any of these local sources, and pick up some heritage pork, too.