Hidden Stream Farm

Simple, Enlightening, and Tasty Earth Day Community Dinner at the Birchwood

Last Sunday night's Earth Day Community Dinner at the Birchwood Cafe was an event for the ages.

It wasn't just the food that made it that way, although the exceptional four-course menu (and appetizers) created by chef Marshall Paulsen featured pork belly, fiddle head ferns, beef tongue, and more (most foods purchased directly from local farmers). It wasn't just the music performed by Jack Klatt and the Cat Swingers either, although that was terrific too. It wasn't just the lovely dining room, which was decked out with the Birchwood's Sunday best.

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How Awesome Was This Year's Local Food Pig Roast and Potluck in Minneapolis? Even More Awesome Than Last Year's!

Even those among us who doubt the existence of a higher power shared the sense that someone -- or something -- was smiling down on us this past Sunday, August 15. After a long string of sticky, icky, ninety-degree days, the more than 150 local food lovers who gathered at Minneapolis' Minnehaha Falls enjoyed some of the finest food, fun, music, and -- yes -- weather we've had all summer. Simple, Good, and Tasty's Second Annual Pig Roast and Potluck gathered together families from all over the metro area to share stories, recipes, favorite family foods, and phone numbers with brand new friends. It was awesome.

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

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?

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Last Night's Dinner on the Deck at The Marsh was Magical

We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The wind had shifted, moving the tropical humidity of 24 hours ago east to clear the way for a perfect summer evening on the deck at The Marsh – the setting of last night’s Simple, Good and Tasty’s Local Food Lovers’ event.

The view to our north and west was acres of cattails, milkweed, rush grass and cottonwoods; the background music was the call of red-winged blackbirds, marsh wrens, and cardinals; the company was a lively mix of more than 50 local food lovers – young, not so young, city dwellers, suburbanites – all coming together to enjoy a meal made from locally sourced food.

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Grilling Season Opener: A Collection of the Best Grilling TIps

Today's Memorial Day, so we're kind of taking the day off here at Simple, Good and Tasty. Instead of writing an original blog post, as we do just about every other day of the year, we're going to refer you to a collection of previous posts about grilling. (Among them, by the way, is the top-viewed SGT post of all time.)

So enjoy your day off and grill up something delicious. Back to the usual routine tomorrow, right? Right.

Better Burgers: A Guide to Buying Top-Quality, Great-Tasting Ground Beef -- Founder of the Artisan Beef Institute Carrie Oliver gave great tips for finding "artisan" ground beef and convinced many of us why the extra time and effort are worth it.

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Don't Wait for Summer to Fire Up Your Grill

With all this nice weather, I am beginning to wonder if we are skipping right over spring and into summer. I'm somewhat fearful about what less-than-usual snow and rain mean for the larger climate picture and what it will mean for farmers in the coming months, but it's hard not to be excited about enjoying the warmth earlier this year. I find myself running to shop for items to make summer nights better than ever. For instance, we bought a little table for outside in our yard and decided to invest in a propane grill.

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Last Chance to "Know Your Farmer" at Lucia's This Sunday, October 11

I can't remember an event I've been as excited about as the one I'm co-hosting with Lucia Watson this Sunday, 10/11. The Twin Cities' first official "Know Your Farmer" event, fittingly held at Lucia's, is a chance to meet - and eat with - some of the best, most interesting farmers in our state. Even better, Lucia has designed a menu entrely from the foods these farmers have produced.

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Simple Steak and Tasty: A Recipe for Pleasure

Not all locavores live in the cities. There are plenty of suburbanites, like me, who appreciate the benefits of buying and eating locally grown, sustainably harvested food. That’s why so many of us suburba-locavores (New word! Are you reading, Merriam-Webster editors?) shop at Lakewinds.

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Preparing for the Pig Roast (Pictures Below)

The time has come! Dave and Don brought over the pig last night - an 80 pounder from Hidden Stream Farm, purchased from Clancey's in Linden Hills, MN. Within an hour, we had prepared the pig with a bunch of tasty seasonings and enclosed it in a homemade China Box. I think Dave and Don - both experienced pig roasters) are getting sick of my nervous quips, but what do you do when you come face to face with your first dead pig? Frankly, getting to know my food makes me a little bit uncomfortable.

Here are a few pictures from last night's preparation. They're not for the squeamish, but I think they're worth seeing and thinking about. Here goes.

This is my friend Dave Micko, getting the pig ready. In the absence of a table, we made due with an old door from my house, covered with foil and resting on the China Box.

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Deconstructing a Pig on Heavy Table

pigExcellent Heavy Table post by Becca Dilley today - with fantastic pictures - detailing the "deconstruction" of a local pig from Hidden Stream Farm, located in Elgin, MN. Chefs Scott Pampuch from Corner Table and Chris Olson from Paired do the work, which is documented in somewhat gory detail.

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