Posts Tagged ‘local foods’
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Courtesy of “cupcakes take the cake,” a shot of Baked & Wired’s amazing goods.
I had a good friend visit me in Charlottesville from Washington, D.C. this past weekend. Her arrival reminded me of all of the great local food going-ons of our capital city metropolis. For starters, she brought me a box of the best cupcakes I have ever had—yes, ever—from her neighborhood coffee shop and bakery called Baked & Wired. Beyond having a fabulously clever and delicious name, this city establishment puts out goods that have been handmade in small batches. I happen to also find Baked & Wired’s “Big enough to share, but who are you kidding?” own description of its cupcakes as particularly true and facetious. I mean, really. These cupcakes are as big as large muffins, dense as half-cooked cookie dough, and with frosting like flavored butter but, will-power swept aside, one can’t help but eat a whole one by oneself. In a matter of hours, I had tried the Smurfette, Just Peachy (a seasonal one with peaches in the cake and almond puree in the frosting), Texas Sheet Cake, and Vanilla Latte (which happened to be better-tasting than any actual sweet coffee drink around). I can’t wait to visit the location in person someday soon to try Baked & Wired’s “hippie crack.” Don’t worry: it’s just granola. Really, really good granola.
On a healthier and more serious note, Washington, D.C. is also doing good by feeding its children fresh, local foods. In fact, Fresh Start Catering, an offshoot of the city’s Central Kitchen, is successfully serving up lunches to two notable schools in the area— one public and one private. Read more about the initiative here. Apparently, America knows the meaning of “Yes, we can!” Yes, we can bake; yes, we can serve local school lunches; and yes, we most certainly can eat.
-Serena
Tags: bakery, buy local, cupcakes, eat local, local foods, locavore, washington dc
Posted in Buy Local, Eat Local, Nutrition and Health | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Meet Yer Eats will be a great way to reconnect with what grounds you.
There’s so much to do in Central Virginia (and online) this September! Looking at just the first half of the month, here are some options for you, your family and friends to endeavor in before fall is officially here:
Monday, September 6th (10:00am-4:00pm): MEET YER EATS!
This 2010 Farm Tour, hosted by Market Central and largely sponsored by Whole Foods Market, will take those who want to be introduced to the farmers (and farms, of course) behind their food to a series of self-selected locations in the state. Tickets are available here. Or, save a bit and gain some experience by volunteering for the event instead. More information is available through Market Central online.
Thursday, September 9th (2:00pm): Building a Business in Specialty Foods Webinar Series
This day marks the beginning of a webinar series (three-months in all) that focuses upon businesses that centered on the production and sales of specialty foods. Participation is gratis; you can simply follow this link immediately before each session to sign in. Join in as a guest, type in your name, and “walk” into the “room.” That’s it! Listen, learn, speak, and enjoy!
Friday, September 10th (7:00pm): “Climate Change, Peak Oil, and the Economic Crisis: Why You Should Think About Them (Though We’d All Rather Not)”
Bring your children, if you have one or some, to this talk at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church. Childcare will be available, so way not take advantage of the opportunity to hear more about the issue from Sharon Astyk, author of three published works? Read more about her here.
Saturday, September 11th (10:00am-4:00pm): HERITAGE HARVEST FESTIVAL
The website welcoming interested individuals to this year’s Heritage Harvest Festival starts off strong. “Experience the genius of Thomas Jefferson while celebrating one of his great passions – the garden. Join us for the annual Heritage Harvest Festival, a celebration of gardening, sustainable agriculture and local food, held at Monticello, the mountaintop home of our third president,” it says. And, with an enticing description like that, which Virginian wouldn’t want to attend?? Don’t forget to stop by the Blue Ridge Network Permaculture table while you’re there. The team is truly dedicated (and very, very knowledgeable) on the subject of sustainable gardening! This event is pre-fall must, if I may say so myself.
-Serena
Tags: agriculture, buy local, eat local, Economy, Environment, food, gardening, local foods, sustainability, virginia
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Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Chefs. I’ve heard they have a lot of ego. And if you watch the ones on tv, it seems many even think they are God (sorry Gordon Ramsay but you DO NOT rule the world). Maybe that’s why they’ve decided to play God and take up the task of growing ingredients. A hot trend right now in the restaurant world is rooftop gardening with chefs taking command of the hoe. The Baltimore Sun recently reported on area chefs and restaurant owners who are taking advantage of outdoor square footage to cut costs and expedite the procurement of the very freshest ingredients by raising the roof – the roof’s potential that is. Some chefs have even invested in starting their own farms to provide for their restaurants. They say the venture is time consuming but worthwhile, even giving them a new sense of purpose and energy. “Being out there in the daytime and pulling a beet from the ground, knowing that you’re going to cook it that night, you feel kind of energized,” Jamie Forsythe, chef of b restaurant, said to the paper. “I come back so ready to cook, really just charged up to do it.”
And of course, these chefs want ” locavore bragging rights. In an era when the provenance of nearly every ingredient is promoted on menus, when house-made charcuterie, house-cured bacon and the like have become de rigueur, why not house-grown produce”? I gotta say, who can blame them. Putting insanely fresh, local foods on the table at low costs is something which is worth bragging about. If it makes their ego bigger, fine by me. More power to you, just keep up the good work.
-Jess
Al Morstein, owner of Regi's American Bistro in Baltimore shows off his 55 rooftop tomato plants for the Baltimore Sun.
Tags: baltimore, buy local, eat local, local foods, local ingredients, locavore, maryland, restaurants
Posted in Buy Local, Eat Local, agriculture | No Comments »
Monday, August 16th, 2010
‘Tis the season to devour colorful, fresh fruits! Every once in awhile, what you want is the same as what you need; at this time of year, the healthful sweets are exactly that. And, lucky you: here in Virginia (and elsewhere, of course), there are many ways to go about slicing that (extremely local) banana.
This past Saturday, many headed to Monticello in Charlottesville for a Summer Fruit Tasting upon Mr. Jefferson’s hallowed garden grounds. Attendees received a short history, updated education, and mouthfuls of several of the species grown atop this famous hill.
Or, take the casual way out by making your way over to Chiles Peach Orchard in Crozet. The location is beautiful AND unusually flat for this region, making picking your own in the heat of the day much more bearable for both you and your family. Then, head on into the shop for some relief and local food fun. I ended up taking home two-dozen peach cider donuts and a block of peanut butter walnut fudge. (Silly me, I forgot the peaches!)
If somehow you dislike fruit altogether, then you can still acquire a taste of the summer goodness with a glass of Chateau Morrisette Winery’s Sweet Mountain Laurel. Believe it or not, this wine from the Floyd location tastes almost exactly like Concord grape juice— with a kick.
-Serena
Fruit! Eat, Drink, and Experience it This Summer
Tags: buy local, charlottesville, eat local, fruit, local foods, locavore, summer, virginia, wine
Posted in Buy Local, Eat Local, agriculture | No Comments »
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
On a recent last-minute trip up to northern Virginia, I found myself stressed, sweltering, and rambunctious by early evening. I had been late making it to Dulles airport to pick-up some very valuable individuals on a day where the heat well surpassed the 100-degree mark. Then, it was fairly early for a Saturday night when everyone present just felt like going to bed. My bright idea? A drive into the city for some relaxation and culinary relief. That’s right. When everyone else is in bed and it’s still a sauna way past dark, why not head to Clarendon, Washington, D.C. for spoonfuls of Italian ice-cream? At Boccato Gelato & Espresso, the house is alive and full until late and the creamy, creative flavors offered are enough to put a smile on anyone’s face. After my dosage of dark chocolate gelato, I was able to fall asleep—completely satisfied—with the rest of them until daybreak.
-Serena
Boccato’s gelato is amazing in more ways than one.
Tags: buy local, dining, eat local, local foods, locavore, restaurants, slow foods, washington dc
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Saturday, July 31st, 2010
…is growing to be a summer time favorite. I, of course, decided to try my first Pantheon Pop on one of the coolest Saturday morning’s we’ve had in months, but that didn’t stop my experience from being any more delicious. I have to admit that popsicles become a dietary staple for me in the summer, and I buy the all-natural 100% juice ones. However, local popsicles are a whole new game. We’ve recently added some local popsicle companies from across the country (like Atlanta’s King of Pops) to our database, but Charlottesville was yet to have its own – until this summer. Pantheon Popsicles prove that once again, everything tastes better local. The small, unassuming cart at Saturday mornings’ City Market has a long list of flavors, many made with local ingredients such as the watermelon (which I chose) and cantaloupe. If you want something a little more exotic, they have flavors like strawberry hibiscus,orange-mint, or some with coconut in it. Super frozen and all-natural, these pops are a healthy and insanely refreshing alternative to the joke-on-the-stick variety.
Pantheon's position at the City Market
The subtle color but amazing, refreshing taste of Pantheon's watermelon popsicle
Tags: buy local, charlottesville, desserts, eat local, farmers market, local foods, locavore, summer, virginia
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Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
When a friend moved to New York City last-minute last year, Cookshop Restaurant and Bar was the first place where she found solid, rewarding work. The Manhattan restaurant is all about serving locally sourced ingredients in tasty, filling dishes; it’s known for providing plates for brunch that are based on the expected, with an extra-hearty and homegrown twist. Whether you’re craving sausage links or huevos rancheros, you’ll find what it is you’re looking for; just know that that pork piece will be girthy and those eggs so rich in nutrients they’ll be bright orange. Portions are big, waiters are friendly, and conversations are loud. Cookshop is like a little two-by-four board of the country in a very, very big city. So eat up while you’re in town; it’ll be worth it.
-Serena
Cookshop, from the parking lot across the street.
Tags: buy local, eat local, local foods, local ingredients, new york, new york city, restaurants
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Monday, June 28th, 2010
A Round-up resistant weed, courtesy of the NYT.
Just in time for this weeks’s Healthy People, Healthy Places webinar, I’ve come across a New York Times article regarding the near-necessity for farmers these days to herbicide and pesticide their crops to obliteration, and to little avail. Both the webinar on June 29th, from 2:00-3:00pm EST, and the past write-up will focus on the need for environmental policy change. Though the webinar itself will be predominantly about the relationship between race and the environment, it is nonetheless pertinent to how corporations are affecting the way that our country grows food. Ever thought about how environmental pollutants tend to run-off into the lowest income areas? Or, how big business seeks out the poorest parts of the U.S. to plop their factories? Correlations abound. Learn more by listening, and reading, on.
-Serena
Tags: agriculture, buy local, eat local, Environment, local foods, locavore, new york times
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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
The Charlottesville City Market—and most farmers markets, for that matter—is a magical place. Where else would be a one-stop-shop for locally made jewelry, award winning desserts, and unusual types of well raised meat? In thinking over my past few trips to the Saturday morning bazaar, I realized how strikingly bizarre my purchases had actually been. After one visit, I came home with a handmade necklace by Erin McDermott and some Sweet Italian lamb sausage links by Pair-a-dice Farm in Lunenburg, Virginia. A few weeks later, I was eating the “Best Key Lime Pie on the Planet,” courtesy of Free Union Produce & Gourmet Edibles. According to the pastry chef herself, said pie had won countless awards and had been deemed by many to very well be the best key lime pie ever. (To her credit, it’s true. Trust me.) Then, for dinner, I made beef liver from Poindexter Farm in Henrico County—bought that very same Saturday as the pie. Standard grocery stores may be known for their variety but in my opinion, shopping just doesn’t get any more high quality or quirky than at a small town market.
-Serena
This necklace made me picture beachy locations and tanned people…
At the lamb stand: meats and more.
Can you taste the crumbly, creamy goodness?
At the Poindexter Farm booth, a local chef was also purchasing meat.
Tags: american made, buy local, charlottesville, eat local, farmers market, handmade, jewelry, local foods, locavore, made in the USA, virginia
Posted in Buy Local, Consumer Products, Eat Local, agriculture | No Comments »
Friday, June 18th, 2010
Downtown Greensboro is a small hub for those who follow the local food movement and enjoy patronizing family-owned establishments. With Proximity’s hotel and bistro right off of the highway and both Natty Greene’s Brewing Co. and The Green Bean coffee shop located on the city’s main strip, options for eating and drinking abound.
Now that I’ve had the opportunity to return to the North Carolina town, I have two more locations to add to the mix: Riva’s Trattoria and Cheesecakes by Alex. Riva’s seems to be one of Greensboro’s top choices, as when I asked a series of locals where I could go to eat healthy, local, homemade food, everyone replied with “Riva’s.” On the night that I was there, I was also lucky enough to be presented with a prix-fixe menu upon which every item featured locally grown ingredients. Though I forewent the long version for a single dish of some hearty, Southern Italian-cooked Sausage and Peppers, I made sure that the meat had come from a local producer before ordering. Hearty and delicious. Cheesecakes by Alex is similarly well known for its homemade, hearty offerings. My favorite quirk of the company’s is its “Cheesecakes on a Stick” listing, where full-sized slices of the sumptuous dessert are stuck onto sticks and frozen like popsicles. Try one dipped with chocolate at no extra cost. Yes, please. I can’t wait to return to Greensboro.
-Serena
Riva’s Trattoria is a great place to dine on local ingredients in Greensboro.
Cheesecakes by Alex offers homemade desserts of all sorts.
Tags: buy local, desserts, eat local, greensboro, local foods, north carolina, restaurants
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