November 2011

Locavore? Then Why Not Locapour?

I happened to bump into the October 31 issue of Wine Spectator magazine this week and found an editorial by James Molesworth called “Are Locavores Also Locapours?” Although the local food movement has pushed farm fresh produce to the menus of top restaurants around the country, local wines have yet to do the same. By tracking a New York winery’s struggle to make it on big-city wine lists, he argues that consumers are willing to pay extra for local food on the table but are willing to put almost anything in their glass—just as long as it says Italy, France, or Sonoma on the label. 

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Homework Never Tasted So Good!

Being a student again can be a humbling and invigorating experience. It's a fact that there will always be more to learn. This is true for all subjects and especially for anything food and cooking related....or at least its true for me. There are always new ingredients, techniques, tools and not to mention endless and conflicting information about food politics. Now that I have completely overcomplicated the subject of cooking, let's break it back down.

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Lessons from the Apple Grower: A Visit to Whistling Well Farm

The departure of summer is much easier to cope with when you have the knowledge that fall brings beautiful gifts of crisp air, celestial blue skies and apples. Ah apple, you are the perfect fruit. On the inside, you are a lover’s tango of both tart and sweet tenderness nicely protected by a crunchy thick skin on the out. We Minnesotans are lucky to have such a plethora of locally-sourced apples to choose from. Even better, the growers love selling apples so much that many share their orchard yards with us, thus creating an ultimate feel good opportunity for folks to be in touch with the fruits of our land.

 

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Eating at the Table of Knowledge

Marrnita’s Table uses the dinner table as a means for bringing people together and solving some of the community’s toughest issues and food is definitely the common denominator for all Marnita’s Table events. Founded five years ago by husband and wife team Marnita Schroedl and Carl Goldstein, Marnita’s Table’s (MT) mission is to bridge cultural, generational, and socio-economic differences by the use of “intentional social interaction”.

 

The way it works: a community or an organization brings to MT a topic of concern such as race, isolation of refugees, or high school graduation rates and then staff and volunteers “set up table”. MT creates an intimate dinner setting at either Marnita and Carl’s home, or one of the Table’s many volunteers will host the dinner and conversation.

 

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Pick A Side! Potluck Season Prep

A wise chef once told me to never cook a dish for the first time to serve it to others. Make the meal for yourself first to ensure the meal's delectability. Good point. For me, there is nothing better than the smile and happiness that comes from other people enjoying and savoring a tasty, nutritious dish that I provided. This is a true sense of accomplishment - especially when the good food is good for you. 

Fall is a time of abundance and variety. Fruitful harvests across the state make for a colorful table and produce aisles with plenty of variation to choose from. Since we are on the heels of potluck season, I see no reason for anyone to focus primarily on the staple side dishes of one's holiday kitchen but tis' the season to try new recipes and ingredients to bring something new to a friend's table on the needed occasions.

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Ever Wonder What the Farmers Market Vendors Do During the Winter? Hint: They Don't Get to Hibernate

(Buddy the Pony and his friends - photo by Mike Braucher)

I am a creature of habit and one of the most comforting and delicious of my habits for the last couple summers has been a trip to the Kingfield Farmers Market almost every single Sunday. Sometimes I bring the whole family along and we meander and nosh on mini-donuts, falafel or Thai omelets, running into friends and neighbors at every turn. Sometimes, I go in for a surgical strike – alone with my basket, in and out in fifteen minutes, loaded down with eggs, veggies, salmon, meats and cheeses for the week. By the looks of the mellow shuffling crowds, I am not the only one with a Kingfield Farmers Market habit, and so I am probably not the only one who’s going to be feeling a bit forlorn now that the season has ended.

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In Search Of A Fool Proof Deep Freeze

19 cubic feet of frozen trouble. My husband just informed me that our voluminous new 19CF, SFA-approved freezer must be empty, defrosted and ready to receive our second round of free-range, organic broilers by a yet-to-be-determined chicken processing date, July, 2012. Nine months...Help! We’ve never owned a separate freezer before and I find myself at the mercy of a ticking clock that will time out 9 months from now, just as this year’s season of harvesting finally winds down and my hunter-gatherer genes settle in for the winter. 

You see, our freezer is a key investment in this year’s maiden run at chicken farming. We set out to raise and freeze enough very large broilers to eat chicken all year long. Good clean protein and superior tastiness. That was our goal.

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Marnita's Table -- Food, Shelter, Clothing Event

Once again, we have stumbled upon an event that seems like a can't miss. An opportunity to learn, eat and dance, not to mention to have an impact upon real issues that effect real people. Just listen to the Mission statement for Marnita's Table and tell me that you aren't immediately intrigued, captivated and inspired:

Our Mission:

Igniting enduring cross-cultural connections through intentional social interaction, Marnita’s Table was founded to break down the barriers of race, class and culture in order to build authentic, positive and productive relationships. 

 

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The Last CSA Box of the Season: Savory Autumn Stew

Delicata Squash

I deliberately didn't write "the last CSA of 2011" (CSA stands for community supported agriculture, where individuals can subscribe to a farm and in return receive shares of produce). Many farms offer winter shares of root vegetables, storage crops, meat, or prepared foods.

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