Simple Good and Tasty

It's not terribly unusual for me to come home from a meeting with food. Whether it be Surly cupcakes from the Salty Tart bakery, Fisher Farms bacon from the Birchwood Cafe, or a whole heritage chicken from Jackson Hollow farm, I spend a lot of time talking about food, surrounded by food, and tempted by food. Still, even for me, it felt a bit strange to leave a meeting with my arms full of frozen, organic baby food: sweet potatoes, apples, a carrots/beets and rice combo, and more.

Fish is good for you! It’s low in saturated fat, good for your heart, and tastes great. It’s true that large ocean predators are high in mercury and chemicals from plastics. But the benefits of fish are bigger than the risks, according to studies. So we should eat it, right?

I recently had a chance to catch up with Curt Ellis, whose “Big River” documentary picks up where his film 2006 “King Corn” left off - in the banks of the Mississippi River.

We've got just a few reservations still open for this Sunday's local food event at Spoonriver. If you've been to a Simple, Good, and Tasty event before, you know that the food is just part of the fun (here are a few pictures from our last event at Lucia's). Still, the food is an important part. Here's a sneak peek at the menu:

Lucia's Restaurant at NightWho is your farmer?

Most people know their hairdresser, insurance agent, doctor and many others, but few today know their farmer, perhaps the most important person in their lives. Knowing your farmer can change your health, your approach to cooking, your respect for food, your stewardship of the earth and even your social and political circle. This dinner will introduce you to 12 different farmers and producers.

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.

For September's Simple, Good, and Tasty local food dinner, we're trying something a little bit different - the biggest, best, funnest local food potluck and pig roast that the Twin Cities has ever seen. SGT will provide the pig - you bring your family, friends, and a dish to share. This is a great, inexpensive opportunity to meet local food enthusiasts, cook up your CSA/farmshare bounty, and eat great food.

My kitchen counter, covered with this week's farmshare bountyWhat am I going to do with all of this stuff? It's taking over my kitchen! My fridge is still nearly full from last week's Harmony Valley vegetables! My fruit share includes an entire bag full of apricots! I've been eating salad greens and sautee mix non-stop for weeks! I don't know if I can eat another basil vinaigrette.

Adam Anderson, former chef at Lucia's (currently at Whole Foods), creates Simple, Good, and Tasty recipes using the ingredients from our Harmony Valley Farm CSA boxes each week.

From the Mississippi Market website:

MISSISSIPPI MARKET TO OPEN NEW ST. PAUL LOCATION TODAY

Located on West Seventh, new store is double the size of Randolph location; includes new full-service deli with juice bar, hot bar and salad bar, plus indoor and outdoor seating; and is built with eco-friendly features to LEED-Gold standards

Mayor Chris Coleman to speak at opening day Peace Pole dedication ceremony on Thursday, July 16 at 10 a.m.

The next Simple, Good, and Tasty local food dinner, on July 29 at the Red Stag Supper Club (that's head chef Brian Hauke in the above picture, left) in northeast Minneapolis, is completely full. For the lucky 50 people who signed up first, here are the details:

July is local food month at Live Green Twin Cities, a supercool blog that focuses on the “green lifestyle.” That’s good news for me, because I’m partnering with Molly Priesmeyer at Live Green to produce a bunch of new content throughout the month. Here’s what the site says:

We’ll introduce you to great local stores and shops that sell healthy and organic local food; local chefs focusing on sustainable practices; and local farmers producing healthy and organic produce, meats, and more.