kate sommers

Please Come to the Birchwood Cafe/SGT Earth Day Community Dinner on April 17!

It's been almost exactly two years since the first Simple, Good, and Tasty event, or what I'm now referring to as our "meal heard round the city" at the Craftsman in 2009. Did you know that our second-ever event, held in May of 2009, was at the Birchwood Cafe?

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Is It a Good Thing When Big-Box Retailers Sell Local Food?

A recent story on National Pubic Radio (NPR) entitled Wal-Mart Helps Small Farms Supply Local Food got me thinking. On the surface, the idea of Wal-Mart -- or any retailer, big or small -- making a public commitment to sourcing better food strikes me as a positive thing. According to the article:

The company wants to revitalize small and midsize farms in the U.S. and has begun a program to increase the amount of local produce sold in Walmart stores. The program also benefits consumers, who have access to fresher food, as well as Wal-Mart itself.

That sounds pretty good, right? The article goes on to say that:

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

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.

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Now We're One!

I'm exhausted and full, and my throat hurts. And yet, somehow, Simple, Good, and Tasty's February local food event at Grand Cafe last night was just perfect.

Maybe it was the beautiful restaurant that made the night so special - wooden and warm, with strings of lights and lovely paintings on the walls. Maybe it was the food - an exceptional cassoulet prepared with locally raised duck from Au Bon Canard and house made sausage by Grand Cafe's chef Jon Radle; a delicious salad with beets, walnuts, and chevre; and an astoundingly good ginger bread pudding with orange compote and caramel cream. Maybe it was the fact that Simple, Good, and Tasty was celebrating a full year's worth of blog posts, directory listings, and events connecting Minnesotans to our food sources. But my guess is that it wasn't any of these things.

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Photos from Last Night at the Craftsman

Wow, wow, wow! Thanks so much to everyone who came our the the Craftsman last night for one of the funnest nights I can remember.

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Superfun Local Food Event at Spoonriver Last Night

Thanks so much to the nearly 50 people who came to last night's local food event at Spoonriver last night. It was terrific to have you there! Here are some photos from the event, taken by Kate Sommers of Les Petites Images.

Here's a picture of Spoonriver Owner Brenda Langton, thanking guests for coming. Jennifer Patterson from Unplanned Cooking, Molly Herrmann from Tastebud Catering, and Michelle Gayer from The Salty Tart are looking on (among others).

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Photos from Last Night's Event at Lucia's

Here are a few photos from last night's Simple, Good, and Tasty local food event at Lucia's, taken by my talented friend Kate Sommers. (Our recap of the event can be found here.) Kate's blog Les Petites Images features photos and musings, mostly focused on food. For the complete set of photos from last night's event, please see our flicker photo series.

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Food Porn from the Strip Club

Last week, I blogged about the exquisite Simple, Good and Tasty local food dinner at The Strip Club in St. Paul. Today, I'll let the beautiful images, taken by Kate Sommers from Les Petites Images, speak for themselves.

Chef JD Fratzke, Todd Lein (from Thousand Hills Cattle Company) and I kicked things off by talking a bit about what we do and why. Here's a picture of JD holding court.

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Recap of the 7/29 Simple, Good, and Tasty Dinner at the Red Stag Supper Club

What a fun night we had at the Red Stag Supper Club in Minneapolis! The room was gorgeous, the food was superb, and the company was best of all. The photos, taken by my friend, fellow foodie, and excellent blogger Kate Sommers of Les Petites Images, tell the story way better than I can.

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Les Petites Images Recaps Heartland Dinner

I’ve mentioned it before, and I’ll say it again - I’m a big fan of Les Petites Images, a terrific food and photography blog by my new friend Kate Sommers. I was lucky to have Kate in attendance at our last Simple, Good, and Tasty dinner at Heartland for 2 reasons: first, because she’s lots of fun, a total pleasure to hang out with; second, because she takes - and shares - amazing photos like the ones you see here.

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