Forgotten Local Food Festival

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Did you know that Fishtown is famous for it’s shad?  Ever tried tea-berry ice cream? What about Copes Dried Corn? Reading Terminal Market is celebrating these local, forgotten foods this weekend with a Saturday afternoon festival. Stop by and learn something about Philadelphia’s food history, and try some excited and unusual dishes!

November GRID is out

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

The new GRID magazine is hitting the shelves at local coffee-shops, co-ops and businesses near you. Check out the issue for more bicycling articles, how to cook dried beans, just what is a green roof, local fashion designers, community garden, a green event calendar, and much more. Or, read it online HERE.

First Ever Dinner at Greensgrow

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Greensgrow in Port Richmond, my favorite nursery in Philly, had its first ever dinner at the nursery last Thursday night, 30 July. It was like something out of a film—long table beautifully set with posies from the garden, glasses awaiting our BYO’d beverages, clear and breezy night, really interesting people to meet, fantastic farm fresh food. Hope that you can read the menu above.

I mean, this is a reclaimed brownfield, but it felt like a photo of some village feast day when everyone eats together at long tables in the square. As soon as I got the email that this was happening, I sent a check for 2 seats and hoped it would be as special an experience as it was. And putting on something like this when you don’t do events is no small feat. My congratulations to Mary and the staff. (There are noises that they might do it again—the best way to find out is to join Mary’s email newsletter.

“Vegetable Party” at the Nat’l Constitution Center 8 August

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

A what? At the Constitution Center?? Well, here’s the description:

The public is invited to join in a celebration of edible education on Independence Mall. Visitors will learn about the origins of the food Americans consume and the principles of modern ecology as the Center showcases the efforts of local urban farmers, chefs, and activists who are working to inform students and the public about what we eat and where it comes from. Participants include The Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Community Design Collaborative, the Philadelphia Water Department, the Pedal Co-Op, Metro Farming, and Slow Food USA.
Friday, August 7, 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. FREE

It’s one of a series of public programs accompanying the Into the Open exhibition at the NCC. Looks pretty interesting to me, and there are several more programs to follow, including a sustainability tour and a community workshop in a vacant lot in Mantua.

Philly Kitchen Share does local food events

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

This interesting new business in my south Center City nabe just appeared on my radar (ok, email) screen. Philly Kitchen Share on the 1500 block of South Street does have an industrial kitchen for hire, and it’s holding local food and wine pairings starting next week. The website is pretty bare bones, but with any luck there will be more details about this operation soon.

March? Winter Squash Three Ways and a Quiche!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

How can it possibly be the last day of March? March 31, 2009! Does anyone else have the feeling that March was stolen from under their very eyes? It was a funny month. It began with a snow storm. Temperatures varied from the teens to the 70s. Just this past Sunday I got caught by a flash hailstorm whilst strolling through Washington Square. At my university there were weekly (or multiple in a week) conferences, colloquia and symposia to add to regular graduate student demands. Luckily, for my sanity, I continued to pick up my weekly CSA share from Keystone Farm, shopped at Mariposa, picked up my weekly bread order from Four Worlds Bakery and cooked any number of local and eco meals. Cooking really is meditative and good food provides the best comfort. Let me catch you up a bit on some of the highlights of this month’s eating!

Inspired by Naomi’s delicious post on butternut squash pasta sauce, I thought I’d put up a few things I did with the puree from a kabocha squash I had gotten in my CSA share. The squash sat prettily on my counter for months, before I finally decided what best to do with it. I knew that I would be committing myself to intensive solitary squash eating, so I needed time to consider how exactly I wanted to address the dear kabocha. Finally I chose to halve it, poke holes in the outside and roast it. I then pureed the roasted squash, and that is where the fun began. Kabocha is a sweeter squash with a delicate flavor and firm, brightly orange flesh.

I have a true love of apple butter and cheddar cheese sandwiches (on the spelt levain from Four Worlds). The squash puree, however, beckoned and I found that equally delightful is a sandwich of this sweet kabocha puree and the sharp cheddar cheese I regularly receive in my share.  I have mentioned before too, that I often make variations of Alice Waters’ soup of many vegetables. The addition of pumpkin puree to the vegetable soup not only gave it a beautiful color (which, for some sad reason is not apparent in this photo), but also added the most subtle pumpkin-y flavor to the broth.

   

Longing for pancakes one weekend morning, I decided to use the last bit of kabocha puree to make, what turned out to be, the best pancakes I have ever made. Really incredible - if I may say so myself! They were light, fluffy and unbelievably tasty. I long for the fall to make these pancakes again!

Soup of Many Vegetables
adapted from Alice Waters The Art of Simple Food

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced evenly
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine
4 cups water
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup winter squash puree
Half of small head of cabbage (green), shredded
2 cups prepared cranberry beans (cooked in water—3 inches above beans—with a bay leaf and garlic clove, allowing them to simmer after five minutes of a hard boil for about an hour, reserving the cooking water)

In a soup pot over medium-high heat, sautee the onion and carrot until soft—about 10 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaf, salt and thyme. Cook another 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of wine and allow to boil for 2-3 minutes, add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Add in potatoes, allowing to simmer/boil gently. Stir in squash puree. After 5 minutes add cabbage (you could cook cabbage ahead of time and add at the end with the beans). Cook another 10 minutes and add beans and reserved water. All the while stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper to taste. Once everything is cooked (potatoes are tender) serve.

Best Pumpkin Pancakes
adapted from many sources

1 cup flour (I used a local PA white pastry flour)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt (you could use buttermilk or a mixture of milk and yogurt)
1/2 cup squash puree

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl mix together egg, yogurt and puree. Add the wet ingredients to the dry until just mixed (don’t over beat). Then cook them up in a pan with butter and enjoy with a drizzle of maple syrup or just as they are!

On another note. Spring is creeping in and spinach is starting to show up in my CSA share. Keystone Farm has experimented for the first time with greenhouses this winter, and lettuces have been making their way into my box. The spinach, however, is a great treat. In a sea of potatoes and onions, there is nothing quite like some local organic spinach! For the first time ever, I decided to make a quiche. The picture will reveal that I make funny pie crusts. I use (again) a recipe from Alice Waters, and this dough does not shrink at all! I always forget to take this into consideration, which is why my pies and now quiches tend to have wavy crusts hanging over the sides of the pie dish….

Spinach Quiche

Crust:
1 cup flour (again, local white PA pastry flour)
3/4 cup cold butter in 1/4 inch cubes
1/4 cold water

I used my food processor and cut the butter into the flour and slowly added the water until the dough formed a ball. You could also use the more conventional way of cutting the butter into the flour with either knives, a pastry cutter or your fingers and then add the water. Form a loose disc with the dough and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll out the dough and prebake for in a 375˚ oven for 15 minutes.

(my pie dish is 10”)

Filling:
1 small onion, diced
1 large bag spinach (I don’t actually know how many cups this is, but it is the size bag I got from the farmer’s market!)
6 eggs, 3/4 cup plain yogurt
ca 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sautee onion in olive oil. Add spinach and sautee until just wilted. In a separate bowl mix together 6 eggs, yogurt and salt. Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese over crust, add layer of spinach/onion mixture. Sprinkle more cheese and add rest of spinach and onion. Sprinkle rest of cheese and then carefully pour over the egg mixture. Bake for 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 375˚. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

On another note: The other posters have been doing an excellent job of keeping Farm to Philly readers up-to-date on all the fantastic coverage that the slow/local/eco food movement has been getting. It is a really exciting time to be a food activist (or a conscientious eater). For further inspiration and information, “The Garden” will be showed at the Rotunda this coming Thursday (4/2 7pm).

Scrapplefest 09!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

If you were at Reading Terminal Market today, you know that today was Scrapplefest!  It was a a very pigalicious event - every vendor in the Terminal who sold scrapple got a cluster of mylar pig balloons to guide the scrapple-craving masses.  But vegetarians were not ignored: Vrapple was included in the festivities.  The woman handing out the balloon clusters worried that the balloons for the Fair Food Farmstand (where Vrapple is sold) should really have some kind of vegetable-shaped balloon. 

To anyone visiting from out of state, the whole thing must have seemed kind of bizarre.  Scrapple itself is pretty weird, but to have local scrapple makers on hand giving out samples and local chefs cooking up special scrapple (and Vrapple, for that matter) dishes…that’s odd.  And let’s not forget about the panel of celebrity judges rating the best scrapple dish!

Just to put a capper on all that weirdness, I’m told that there was a cake made of scrapple and a Dietz & Watson truck made of scrapple.  And scrapple souvenirs. And some sort of odd chocolate scrapple.  No, I’m not kidding.  Hrm.

Sarah Cain, co-manager of the Fair Food Farmstand and genius behind Vrapple, was passing out samples with her cadre of Vrapple aficionados in their very awesome Vrapple-wear.  The Vrapple must have made quite an impression: during my volunteer shift at the Fair Food this morning, the Vrapple was flying off the shelf!

Who knew Port Richmond was local foods-rich?

Thursday, March 12, 2009

I am positively fascinated by First Person Arts’ Edible World tours.  An upcoming tour focuses on Port Richmond and will be led by Rick Nichols.

First Person Arts invites you on a behind-the-kitchen-door tour of Port Richmonds rich Polish culinary culture with Philadelphia Inquirer food columnist Rick Nichols on Saturday, March 28 from 1-4:30PM.

Youll stroll down Richmond Avenue, stopping to sample white borscht, kielbasa (smoked right in the neighborhood over a special mix of locally-gathered fruit-wood branches), hunters stews, pierogies, sweet babkas and chruschiki (bow-ties with powdered sugar), and much more and of course some good Polish beer to wash it all down!

Along the way, the inimitable Rick Nichols will let you in on the juiciest bits of neighborhood history.  Plus, youll hear stories from the immigrants and their children who are continuing these century-old traditions and creating their own!

Tickets are $85 per ticket (or $160 per couple); includes all food, booze, gratuities, and taxes; and need to be purchased in advance.  $50 of your ticket purchase is tax deductible.

Don’t miss The Brewer’s Plate during Philly Beer Week!

Friday, March 06, 2009

Philadelphia has many things going for it, not least of which is our very excellent beer scene - not just unusual imports, but really great quality locally-brewed beer.  The Second Annual Philly Beer Week is begins today with tons of beer-related activities planned for the week.

Sadly, today’s opening ceremonies at the Comcast Center are already sold out (as are a few other events), but there are plenty of other events scheduled today, from scavenger hunts to brewer talks and beer launches to happy hour specials.  There’s a chili cook-off to be held at The Khyber on Sunday that I’m thinking of attending, but the real star of Philly Beer Week as far we’re concerned is The Brewer’s Plate.

Tickets are still available for The Brewer’s Plate event to be held Sunday, March 8 at Penn Museum.  Over twenty top craft brewers from the region will pair with twenty of Philadelphia’s top restaurants to offer a really great opportunity to sample some excellent food and beer!  All brewers and restaurants are from within 150 miles of the city, making it a truly local event.

From The Brewer’s Plate site:

Another goal of the Brewer’s Plate is to highlight the growing awareness that a premium quality beer is as good, if not better, than wine for accompanying some gourmet cuisine. Each chef chooses a handcrafted lager, porter, pale ale, or stout submitted by a participating brewery and then creates an original dish specifically to complement it. In past years, some chefs have incorporated the beer directly into their recipes! The chefs then serve their creations alongside master brewers, who pour samples of the corresponding beer for guests. The result is a collection of exquisite collaborative food/beer pairings that really shows how fine craft beer and gourmet food can bring out the best in each other.

I’m drooling already.

Even better, The Brewer’s Plate event is a fundraiser for Fair Food Farmstand.

Damn the Man: Keep Chickens!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Like many people in the area, I would dearly love to a flock of hens.  I’m not that keen on slaughtering and eating them, but the fresh eggs?  Hell, yes!  My little burb in Delco is not zoned for livestock, and neither is Philadelphia proper (although there are pockets of the city where it’s not uncommon to find people keeping chickens anyway).  That may soon change if the folks from Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction have anything to do with it.

Art in the Age is sponsoring a petition that seeks to repeal the current laws that prohibit “the keeping, raising, and habitation of chickens in the Philadelphia metro area”.  To promote the cause, artist Bill McRight created (in collaboration with Art in the Age) an original design: a woodblock carving of Bill’s interpretation of the egg farming and hand drawn text in pen and ink to give the cause “some real pecking power”.

There are a million reasons to do your own urban chicken farming, from wanting to know your eggs are safe to wanting to have a more economical source of eggs.  And many cities do allow residents to keep chickens (you can find a full list at The City Chicken).  There are regulations, of course - some require chickens be kept a certain distance from the neighbor’s house, some limit the number of chickens allowed, and others require a permit. 

Considering Philadelphia’s current budget problems, perhaps Mayor Michael Nutter might consider the permit option.  Portland, Oregon charges $31 per permit.  Denver, Colorado charges $50.  With the upsurge in interest in keeping chickens in an urban setting, no doubt this could create some much-needed revenue for the city.  And it would certainly empower city residents to feel more connected to their food sources.

January 24: Local foods panel discussion and concert!

Monday, January 12, 2009

If you have some time on January 24, you might want to check out Abundance and Need in our Local Food System, a free panel discussion in West Chester.

A panel of local food system experts will lead a discussion about the opportunities within Chester County, which 100 years ago was known as “the bread basket of Philadelphia.”  Chester County is rich in wealth and prime agricultural soils, yet only a small percentage of our food comes from local sources.  This panel will examine how we can overcome the barriers that prevent us from having access to a greater abundance of fresh, local produce.

The panel will be at the Chester County Historical Society from 3-5pm.

Following the panel is a benefit concert and mug sale to benefit Chester County Buy Fresh, Buy Local.  It sounds like a great time! For more information, head over to the website.

Food is being donated by some of our favorite local food vendors, including Birchrun Hills Farm, Shellbark Hollow Farm, and Talula’s Table!

Frecon Farms Peach Festival

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

This is my husband’s favorite time of year: the peaches are ready to be picked!  We normally stay pretty close to home to pick our own supply, but this year we might have to make the trip to Boyertown to Frecon Farms.  On August 2 and 3 they’re throwing a peach festival that pretty much includes peach everything - from ice cream to cider to grilled peaches.

Oh, and did I mention the peach wine?  Grower Henry Frecon and vintner Rich Blair (Blair Vineyards) have been working on this wine for two years.  It’s the first ever batch - not to be missed!

Coincidentally, if you’ve got a killer recipe involving peaches, there’s a recipe contest (deadline for entry is August 1).  Winners receive cash and gourmet gift basket prizes.  There will also be live music and kid’s activities.

Good Food, Good Beer

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

...and the Rest Is History

Please join me—and many people who enjoy the abundance of amazing locally-produced food and beer in this region—at this lovely event!  I would love to see Farm to Philly bloggers and readers there!

EVENT: Good Food, Good Beer, and the Rest Is History
TIME: Saturday, July 19, 5.30-8.30 pm
PLACE: Headhouse Shambles, 2nd & Lombard Sts.

We invite you to this great local food and beer-tasting annual event, now in its fourth year. Many great local restaurants and micro breweries will offer tastings of their finest under the shambles at the historic New Market, 2nd and Lombard in Philadelphia’s Society Hill.

Farm to City puts on this event, which rounds out Philadelphia’s Buy Fresh Buy Local Week for 2008. The event is a fundraiser for the Philadelphia Convivium of Slow Food and Green Village Philadelphia. Entrance tickets are $30 for five plates and $22 for three plates. Beer is complementary.

Go to the Farm to City website for reservations.

Volunteering and eating!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Sarah Cain, the manager of the Fair Food Farmstand, recently let me know that they’re in need of volunteers!  I can personally vouch for how much fun it is to volunteer at the farmstand - I spend my Saturday mornings at the Farmstand when it’s not dragonboat season.  My very favorite thing to do is cut the cheese (no fart jokes!) and wrap it up, weigh it out, and then beautify the cheese display.  Hey, I love cheese! 

That’s not the only thing to do at the farmstand, of course.  You can work the register, patrol the produce and other items to keep it all stocked, and a whole host of other things!  The customers are almost all uniformly amazing (and I don’t say that because I shop there) and I love the other volunteers and everyone associated with the farmstand.

Did I mention that volunteers get a 30% discount on purchases from the farmstand?  And that they get a 10% discount at all vendors inside Reading Terminal?

If you’re interested, go here and download the volunteer application.

If you haven’t the time to volunteer, you may be interested in this upcoming event sponsored by the Fair Food Farmstand:

*Saturday, July 12- 10:00-1:00
Wills Valley Farm
Organic Unpasteurized Lacto-Fermented Vegetables
Holtwood, PA

*Enjoy a day out as farmer Tom Forrest shows us around his certified organic farm, which specializes in unpasteurized lacto-fermented vegetables and jams. We will be joined by Sandor Ellix Katz, the esteemed author of “Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods” and “The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements”. After a tour of this unique farm, we will picnic at the scenic Pinnacle Point, which overlooks the Susquehanna River and miles of beautiful farmland. Atop the riverside cliff, we will enjoy sausages and tofu dogs topped with Wills Valley’s own sauerkraut and fermented red cabbage.

*[Tickets include a deliciously fresh and local picnic]*

*Prices:  $25 adult, $12 child (6-13); Kids under 6 are free.*

*FMNP (WIC or Seniors) receive a 50% discount. If you must cancel, please let us know as soon as possible. No refunds will be issued for cancellations
within 24 hours of the tour. *

**
For more information or to reserve a space, contact Catherine Down at Fair
Food: (215) 386-5211 ext. 113 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

 

Kick off BFBL week!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

It’s almost Buy Fresh Buy Local Week, one of my favorite weeks of the summer! 

As the press release summarizes, BFBL Week is “over twenty-four fun, food-filled events to highlight the benefits of locally grown food, family farmers and sustainable agriculture.”  This year, several organizations and BFBL chapters collaborated to produce a regional calendar for southeastern PA; the events are scheduled 12-20 July, and the full event listing is here at localfoodphilly.org.

Everyone should come to the Kick-Off Party on 13 July (3-7 pm), which will be exciting this year because White Dog Community Enterprises and Farm to City are hosting it in the nifty, newly-rejuvenated Philadelphia Brewing Company building in Kensington!  Come support the Buy Fresh Buy Local campaign!  If you aren’t already enjoying the new but loved PBC brews, this would be a perfect time to try them for the first time, and in case you want something to eat along with your drink, there will be chili made from local ingredients by Feast Your Eyes catering.  We’re also featuring local musicians and other local treats.

The following are some ideas for optimal enjoyment of the Kick-Off Party:
—bring your own cup for the beer (up to 16 oz.)
—remember that the brewery is accessible by public transit (the York-Dauphin stop on the El, or the 5 bus)
—volunteer for the event!  We need many volunteers for event setup, monitoring, and cleanup—and volunteers will get in free.

If you would like to volunteer for the event, email Joanna Pernick (joanna [at] farmtocity.org) with your name, phone number, and preference for an early or late shift.