A Simple Gnocchi

Monday, February 11, 2008

Velvet-textured and feather-light, a plate of sauced gnocchi seems, to me, a perfect winter dish.  Whether dressed in a chunky, wintry tomato sauce with carrots, celery and rosemary, coated in melted gorgonzola and vodka, or simply tossed with parmesan, browned butter and sage, gnocchi is beautifully accommodating to an amazing variety of sauces (these are just my three favorites). 

This is not to say that I’ve found gnocchi to be the easiest thing to master.  On the contrary, I failed miserably at least a dozen teams before coming up with something passable.  Through much trial-and-error (mostly error), I did stumble upon a few simple things to improve consistency and hasten the process.  One, despite the possibility of food mills, I steadfastly refuse to use anything other than my ricer.  It may take a little longer, but the result is always airy and dry, not pasty and wet.  Second, as sacriligious as this sounds, I peel the potatoes and cut them into uniform pieces.  This quickens the cooking time and makes it more uniform (it’s also much easier to throw them in the ricer.) Finally, I don’t bother shaping them against the tines of a fork.  Yes, I know it’s supposed to improve how they cook and “grab” the sauce, but I can’t be bothered.  I roll them out, cut them, and throw them into the boiling water.  If I were to add another step, I think the whole thing would seem to cumbersome.

For years, I followed Mario Batali’s recipe of 3 pounds of russet potatoes, 2 cups of flour, and 1 egg.  However, I recently discovered Marcella Hazan’s version from her seminal Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.  Unlike Batali’s, there are no eggs (which, she insists, creates a heaviness in the gnocchi), a greater ratio of flour-to-potato, and, most importantly, “old” waxy potatoes are used.  I was daunted a protein-less gnocchi.  How would it hold together?  What would the texture be?  Would they dissolve in the boiling water?  Lured by the possibility of even lighter gnocchi, I took one-and-a-half pounds of kennebec potatoes from my recent Winter Harvest delivery, one-and-a-half cups of King Arthur Flour and created this.

I am not certain if they really are lighter, but they were certainly easier to make.  They also appeal to my sense that a recipe should be as simple and have as few ingredient as possible.  Though, I don’t suppose it’s fair to call that “my” sense: it’s just Italian. 

Tofu Challenge: Tofu Noodle Soup

Saturday, February 09, 2008

I’m an idea-gatherer.  An advance planner.  Flying by the seat of my pants has never appealed to me so much, so it sort of took me a while to get up the nerve to make my first Tofu Challenge meal of the month.  For some unknown reason, there is a real dearth of information available on what exactly to do with tofu noodles (made by Nature Soy here in Philly).  I was forced to wing it.

Soup seemed to be a safe idea.  And I was right - it was easy to make and didn’t require too much tofu know-how.  Plus, as an added bonus, it’s good soup!

I started out with a quick saute of local garlic in olive oil.  Next I added a few jars of my homemade duck stock and a few shots of soy sauce.  I boiled some yellow carrots from Tuscarora Organic Growers Coop and some thinly sliced lacinato kale from Martindale’s in the stock, threw in some local shiitake mushrooms that I had dried, and at the last minute I threw in the locally made tofu noodles.  A little salt, a little pepper.

I really liked the tofu noodles in the soup, but it also occurred to me that the noodles might be really good in a cheesy casserole type of dish.  I would definitely use the tofu noodles again, so I might have to give it a go.

An organizing fool

Friday, February 08, 2008

It’s February and that means I have been nose-first in seed catalogs the last couple of weeks.  I suspect many FTP contributors are in the same boat.  There’s nothing more ‘local’ than growing it yourself!

I keep a stack near my couch so I can read and reread the catalogs, deciding which company has the best seed varieties, figuring out what I really want to grow.  Normally, I’d have a little notebook close by so I can make notes and lists.  Now I just keep my laptop handy - I’ve gone high tech.  I have become completely enamored of MyFolia.

MyFolia is a program for gardeners that let’s you electronically track, organize, and share what you’ve planted, what seeds and plants you’ve purchased, and what you want to buy.  There’s a reminder section for making gardening task notes and a journal.  It’s a pretty great idea.  The site is in public beta, so not everything works perfectly...but it’s definitely better than the system I was using.

For those of us who are knitters, you might think it sounds pretty similar to Ravelry.  It is very similar and even has the same Flickr interface. Like Ravelry, MyFolia definitely appeals to the inner nitpicky organizational freak in me.

I’ve been busily entering in all the seeds I’ve recently ordered.  Just this week I placed an order with Territorial Seed Company.  Spring will soon be here and I want to make sure I have time to start some seeds indoors.  Some of the first things I’ll start inside are the Brilliant Celeriac and Tadorna Leeks.  And, of course, one of my first outdoor plantings will be a sea of Hakurei Turnips, the seeds for which I procured from Kitazawa Seed Company.

Dark Days: Lamb and Bread Pudding

The Fair Food Farmstand had sort of a disaster last week - the freezer broke and all their meat had to be sold off at wholesale.  I’m a thrifty kind of a girl, so I managed to snag a good supply of meat, including a pack of lamb chops from Bixler’s Country Meats.

The lamb ended up in a marinade of local garlic, stone ground mustard, soy sauce, and red wine vinegar overnight.  It was definitely warm enough last night to grill outside, but we recently added a cast iron grill pan to our kitchen stash.  Apparently, I still haven’t quite gotten the knack of it yet, because the kitchen filled with smoke and we had to open up a window and put a fan in the kitchen to keep the smoke alarms from going off!  Luckily, the lamb was perfect - rare lamb is the best!

I served the lamb with wax beans from last year’s garden, and parmesan and butternut squash bread pudding.  The bread pudding was so good - the bread was Le Bus challah bread that was about a week old, butternut squash from last year’s CSA that had been roasted and frozen, Hendrick’s parmesan, and local eggs and milk.

Meadow Run Farm buying club comes to Center City

Thursday, February 07, 2008

For the last year and a half I’ve been a full time student, working on a MA in Writing Studies at St. Joe’s.  I finished up in December and I’ve been slowly transitioning back into the real world.  Things have been going well, and the job hunt looks promising, but I’ve found myself needing to be careful with my pennies until that full time job with the regular paycheck appears in my life.  Sadly, this has meant that I’m missing on joining up with a CSA this season, because I don’t have the required cash to make the pre-season payment that they all require (and rightly so, since the whole point of a CSA is providing farmers with the necessary dough so that they can function throughout the summer and fall). 

I was feeling a little bummed about not being able to join a CSA this year, until my friend Lori sent me an email, announcing that the Meadow Run Farm was starting a Center City branch of their buying club (they already have drop off sites in Mt. Airy, West Philly, Wynnewood and West Chester).  Now, I realize that a buying club is not the same thing as a CSA.  In fact, Meadow Run Farm doesn’t even offer produce, they are strictly a meat/poultry/egg operation.  However, it gave me the opportunity to connect with a source of locally and humanely raised meat as well as participate in program that supported local farmers who are trying to produce the best food possible.  I signed up, sent my check in (they require a $50 down payment before you can place your first order) and was given the go-ahead to place an order.  The first pick up is Tuesday, February 19th and I’m looking forward to my cooler of food with great anticipation. 

The Center City club is still actively seeking new members (although it’s too late to sign up for the February delivery).  They currently only have four families signed up and ten are required in order to continue service (although they’ve kindly offered to deliver this month with only the current four).  The pick-up location is at Lori’s house, which is near 16th and Lombard.  If you want to get involved, head over to Meadow Run Farm’s page on the Farm to City website. 

Winter Lasagna

We made lasagna the other day from mostly local ingredients.  We mixed leftover store-bought lasanga noodles with noodles I made with local eggs.  Then we layered with corn, spaghetti sauce, greens, and shredded pattypan squash, all of which we bought and froze last summer.  I’m lactose-intolerant, so we had a lactose-free cheese (it’s not vegan because it’s real cheese, just without lactose--like Lactaid milk) shredded into okara (what remains of the soy beans after you’ve made soy milk) in place of ricotta.  This lactose alternative may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it gives that nice squashy ricottta feel to the lasagna with only two ingredients (fake cheeses sometimes seem to be high in ingredients).  It was yummy!

Interview with an Organic Bachelor Farmer

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Kevin Stuedemann, Le Sueur County, MN

photo: Roger Sirek and Kevin (behind the tractor) harvesting potatoes the old fashioned way!

Kevin has about 170 acres of corn, soybeans, pasture, alfalfa, hay, barley, and dairy cows in southeastern Minnesota. The farm was not organic before he started farming it. (The potatoes were for “local” consumption—we had them at Thanksgiving!)

Why aren’t all organic farmers “certified”?

Cost is the primary reason, says Stuedemann. There’s the time and cost of keeping records—you’re required to have 3 years of what you’re growing, seed/feed sources, and methods. Each year, the farmer pays a fee to third party certifying agency for the annual certification ($500 - $1500). In addition, a portion of each sale goes to the certifying agency. That can be a lot of cash in a business that’s not particularly liquid. On the other hand, certification is your “ticket” into the organic marketplace where prices are higher.

Is there a producer you admire whose products are available in Greater Philadelphia?

Organic Valley is a great example of a successful organic cooperative, and it markets nationwide. Six hundred milk producers, mostly in the midwest, belong to it. Organic Valley procures and processes the milk and has a variety of dairy products on the market. It’s also getting in to eggs, orange juice (sourced from the south and west), and hogs for a total of 1200+ farms. The board members all are farmers, and profits go back to the coop. (Give OV a try! Coupons for Organic Valley products, click here.)

Do you see any trends in organic farming?

More organic meats are becoming available—even in Walmarts. Raising livestock organically is expensive—the feed has to be organically grown, of course, and the yield is less than that for animals that have been boosted with hormones. Last summer, Minnesota experienced a terrible drought which meant that farmers of grass-fed livestock had to pay through the nose to get hay from elsewhere. Processing also, whether crop or livestock, has to be certified as organic. The organic dairy processing and distribution infrastructure is reasonably well developed, but meat slaughtering and processing facilities can be harder to find. Consumers are very interested in buying organic meat, but at present the supply lags demand.

Dark Days: It’s the sausage, stupid!

I can’t say enough good things about Griggstown Quail Farm chicken sausage.  The white wine sausage is good, but the broccoli rabe sausage is tremendous!

Lancaster Farm Fresh sent some really great looking spinach over to the Fair Food Farmstand recently, so I served the sausage with lightly cooked spinach.  There’s something so awesome about fresh spinach at this time of the year.  It makes me want to get out in the garden and plant some seeds!  Granted, I probably could - it’s supposed to be 70 degrees here tomorrow!

I also had a couple of purple carrots on hand from Tuscarora Organic Growers Coop.  I used a vegetable peeler to slice the carrot into thin ribbons and then gave them a quick blanching.  Sadly, the carrots turned from purple to light brownish-purple.  But the cooking water was bright purple!

A month of soy

Monday, February 04, 2008

Welcome to February and the February Tofu Challenge!

For the month of February, we’re challenging ourselves and our readers to create one meal each week using locally made tofu.  We’re lucky here in Philly to have a few local companies who make tofu - one is Fresh Tofu and the other is Nature Soy in Chinatown.  Each of these tofu makers produces several varieties!

In my house right now, I have two blocks of tofu from Fresh Tofu - one refrigerated and one frozen.  I also have tofu noodles and pressed Chinese Five Spice tofu from Sun Kee.  What will I make?  Well, I’m not too sure.  I’m not a big eater of tofu.  I’ve been scouring the internet and my collection of cookbooks for some ideas.  This will no doubt be a very exciting month for me - I love having the opportunity to cook new things!

I’d like to invite FTP readers to join us in Tofu Challenge Month - email me if you’re interested in having your tofu meals profiled here every week!

The humble storage apple…and a cake in it’s honor.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

I, like so many others out there in the wide world, eagerly anticipate my monthly issue of Gourmet. Every day when I arrive home from work, I do the four-limbed dance of unlocking the door and carrying the bags as I attempt to step into the house and simultaneously prevent the cat from darting out of it. All the while my gloves are clamped between my teeth and I’m craning my neck to see if Gourmet has made it’s lovely, if not glamorous, arrival; unceremoniously folded around the bills and shoved through the letter slot.

Every once in a while, it has. And like so many other SEPTA commuters I use my train time to read and to daydream: “What shall I cook this evening?” “This weekend?” “In springtime?”

The truth is that this is a difficult time of year for the local-foodies. It seems that every dream recipe is calling for a different season from the one we’re in. Though Groundhog Day is yet to come, I’m betting on more than a few more weeks of Winter.

In the February issue of Gourmet, there is yet another example of learning to cook differently, this time from Lyon-born Algerian chef, Farid Zadi. “It’s easy to say, ‘Use ripe produce’...but what to do in February with turnips from storage?” Or apples? Or those carrots sprouting in the crisper? Zadi’s answer is to braise his turnips in butter (and what an answer it is!) and then sprinkle them with garlicky breadcrumbs, parsley and poppy seeds.

The best answer I’ve yet come up with for my storage apples is...cake! Once the novelty of applesauce has run out (usually mid-December), I have found no better way to console those bruised, wrinkling, steadfast apples than to slip them into a soothing cloak of cake batter. It’s a well known fact that butter and sugar can make up for a multitude of shortcomings. Plus, turning on the oven warms up the house!

The following recipe is my own not terribly sweet version of an apple bundt cake. They say that you should use firm apples for baking, but I generally use whatever kind I have hangin’ around and lookin’ sorry. We don’t discriminate in this household. Crispin not so crisp? Get in there! Macoun seen better days? You too! And so forth.

Those carrots sprouting in the crisper? We’ll tackle them on tomorrow’s subway ride.

Breakfast Apple Bundt Cake
3-4 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 Tb. sugar
1 ts. cinnamon
3 Cups white flour, sifted (I’ve used two parts white to one part spelt and found the result to be slightly bitter, but go to town! It’s your cake, after all.)
3 ts. baking powder (or 3/4 ts. baking soda and 1 1/2 ts. cream of tartar if you’d like to make your own baking powder)
1/2 ts. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar (white, maple or brown- whatever combination you like)
1 cup clarified butter (or 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup yogurt)
1/4 cup orange juice (replace with just under 1/4 cup apple cider with a dash of apple cider vinegar)
2 1/2 ts. vanilla extract
4 eggs, gently beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter and flour your bundt pan if you have one. Or your 9” cake pans if you don’t.
2. Mix the apples with 1 Tb. sugar and 1 ts. cinnamon and set aside.
3. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl and the clarified butter, eggs, juice and vanilla in another, smaller bowl.
4. Fold all ingredients together, gently incorporating wet into dry, followed by apples into batter.
5. Pour into your prepared pan(s) and bake 45-60 minutes turning once to ensure even coloring.
6. Allow to cool for at least an hour in the pan.
7. Place a plate over the pan and invert to release. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top to emulate snow flurries outside.
8. Cut hearty slices and enjoy for breakfast.

Otterbein Acres Cheddar

All of a sudden, there seems to be a wild influx of locally made cheddar type cheeses.  I’m not complaining, mind you.  The latest comes from Otterbein Acres, an Amish farm out near Shippensburg.  The family run farm raises grass-fed lambs, cows, and chickens and make a couple of cheeses, one of which I’ve tried is their Ewe’s Dream (a romano-type of cheese). 

The cheddar is a raw cow milk variety that is aged approximately two months.  I believe that it is bandage-wrapped, although I could be wrong.

You won’t mistake Otterbein Acres cheddar for real English cheddar; however, I do think it has a better cheddar taste and texture than the other locally grown versions.  Hendricks Farm Pub Cheddar, Pennsylvania Noble (well, it’s cheddar-style), and the raw milk cheddar from Green Meadow Farm - they’re all good in their own way.  I go through that Green Meadow Farm raw milk cheddar like crazy (it’s more of a cooking cheese).  But I do think of the Otterbein Acres cheddar as more of a snacking type cheese.

Last night the people who run the Fair Food Farmstand organized a talk for the farmstand volunteers by Seth Kalkstein, the head cheese specialist at Di Bruno Bros.  He did talk about the various cheddars that we sell and how they relate to true cheddars, and we even learned a little about how cheddars are made.  As an interesting side note, several of the volunteers noted that the Otterbein Acres cheddar is much yellower than some of our other available local cheddars.  Seth let us know that this due to what the cows are eating and often relates to the season in which the cows are milked.

Thanks to Sarah and Ruth for organizing the talk, and to Seth for his passion for cheese and willingness to share!

wintry, local food

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Obviously, eating local food in the winter takes a little more perseverance and planning than in the summer.  The frequency and geographical locations of farmers’ markets may not be as profuse, but Philadelphia is certainly fortunate that there is still a diversity of local food available amid the winter cold.  I’m still working for some of these local-food organizations, and I’ve done some investigation into other sources, so here are my thoughts!

Let me talk about Winter Harvest first, partly because I work for Farm to City but also because I’m posting this entry today primarily to remind everyone that it’s the last day to place your orders for February.  Winter Harvest is a winter buying club run by Farm to City, and I’ve already described the way it works.  (The ordering window closes TODAY at 5 pm, and if you don’t have an account already you can use PayPal to deposit some initial money.) There are literally hundreds of items—herbs and bread and coffee, almost any kind of meat cut desired, goat dairy products, and even some vegetables like potatoes (of course) and baby greens.  And I’m sure you can make your weekly Thursday pick-up at one of our dropsites that’s convenient for you!

(Photo from Farm to City.)

Then, there are still two farmers’ markets that continue year-round in Philadelphia; both are on Saturdays, 10-2.  The larger of the two is in West Philly at Clark Park, 43rd & Baltimore— and it is a superb farmers’ market anyway, in a wonderful neighborhood!  (Not that I am at all biased by living within a couple blocks.) I know the market manager, and I asked him recently about what farmers are still coming during the winter.  There is an Amish farmer with baked goods and noodles and eggs and such, Keystone Farm with apples and meat, Landisdale Farms with a variety of beautiful certified-organic vegetables and beef, Slow Rise Bakery, Margerum’s with the previously-discussed dried beans and a large selection of herbs & spices, Maury Sheetz with vegetables, Rineer Family Farms with roots and salad greens and (new!) beef, and Betty’s Tasty Buttons fudge.  Every other week, there is also a farmer there with chickens… So, as Naomi has described before, clearly there’s still plenty of local food to enjoy these days!  The other market is at Fitler Square, 23rd & Pine, which I think has two farms.  I think one is called Highland Orchards—can anyone confirm this?  They grow a variety of crops in greenhouses, but also may buy some vegetables to supplement their variety.  Rineer Family Farms is also there over the winter, before moving back to Rittenhouse Square when it opens!

And of course there’s the Fair Food Farmstand, still conveniently open Tuesday-Sunday at the usual Reading Terminal hours.  There are lots of apples and potatoes, mushrooms, citrus sourced through a PA co-op from family farms in Florida, a full selection of grass-fed meats and dairy, and treats like maple sugar and fudge and biscotti. 

Milking the situtation

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

You may remember that January 1 was supposed to be the date on which dairies who produce milk from cows not injected with growth hormones officially had to stop labeling milk as hormone-free, etc..  Apparently, enough consumers voiced their concern - last Thursday there was...well, a change in attitude.

Due to consumer demand for continued labeling, this plan was revised and last Thursday the state announced new guidelines. Instead of standardizing labeling completely, the new plan requires milk labels be uniform, not be misleading, and that there be a paper trail to verify the claims.

For instance, instead of a label simply stating “No BST,” - which is short for bovine somatotropin and occurs naturally in cows — the label must read “from cows not treated with rbST” (the synthetic version of the hormone). Most importantly, it must also clearly state that no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and non-rbST-treated cows.

This is a great victory for consumers!  However, the debate rages on in other states.  And not just for milk produced without rbST, but also for raw milk.  You might have heard that last year Georgia proposed dying raw milk gray so that people wouldn’t drink it, and there’s always someone arguing over the health risks or health benefits of consuming raw milk or raw milk products.

If you’re interested in learning more about raw milk consumption, I’d suggest you check out the Rutgers University seminar series on raw milk.  There are several upcoming events that are free and open to the public with no reservations required:

1) Raw Milk, Mother Nature’s Inconvenient Truth

Mark McAfee, Organic Pastures Dairy Mark McAfee is founder of Organic Pastures Dairy in California. He is internationally recognized as an expert in raw milk production, working closely with government officials and university researchers to demonstrate the superior quality and safety of raw milk. http://www.organicpastures.com

February 6, 2008 - two talks: 2:00-4:30 pm, Foran Hall, Room 138B, seating capacity 40 Rutgers University, 59 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ

7:00 pm, Cook Student Center, Multi-purpose Room, seating capacity 350 Rutgers University, 59 Biel Road, New Brunswick, NJ Co-Sponsored by New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station & Rutgers University Cook Organic Garden Club

2) Raw Milk Wars, Government’s Attempt to Dictate What Foods We Can Consume

David G. Cox, Attorney at Law, Lane, Alton & Horst LLC Gary Cox has been defending farmers and protecting consumers in their struggles to make raw milk and raw dairy products available all across the country. Gary has litigated cases on behalf of farmers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and recently filed suit against the state of California to overturn legislation that would effectively ban the sale of raw milk in that state. Gary is a former environmental prosecutor and former organic vegetable farmer who loves the land and all that it provides. http://www.lanealton.com

February 20, 2008: 1:00 pm, Marine Science Alampi Auditorium, seating capacity 95 Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ Sponsored by New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station

For more information, please see the press release.

Home fries!

Monday, January 28, 2008

This eclectic collection of Blooming Glen Farm potatoes served fabulously as a yummy breakfast treat on a chilly weekend morning.

So often, I get a little panicky at the thought of actually using my preserved food. I’m pretty sure I get this trait from my dad. He recently admitted to buying canned tomatoes from the market. An appalling revelation due to the fact that a quick look in his pantry reveals oh, approximately four hundred quarts of garden tomatoes he jarred this summer.

I know. I don’t understand it, either. I mean, I get it, I know what he’s thinking—because I’m thinking the same thing—but, it’s still completely illogical. I see Nicole mentions the guilt of using frozen veggies in a previous Farm to Philly post. That’s encouraging, because surely we’re not the only ones… right?

Anyway, somehow I managed to let it all go, and use some potatoes I’ve been hoarding from last season’s CSA shares. I even broke out some frozen peppers and greens, too!

Home fries
Serves 4

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 sliced onion
2 cups julienned peppers (use your preferred combination of mild-to-spicy; bell, poblano, jalapeño, et. al.)
1 packed cup sliced or torn-up greens (kale, spinach, collards)
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tablespoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cups potatoes, sliced or cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and saute until soft. Add peppers and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add paprika and cook for 1 minute. Add potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook until almost cooked through. Remove cover and continue cooking for 5 to 10 minutes until golden brown.

These are great sprinkled with some fresh chopped herbs right before serving, I just didn’t have any on hand.

Note too, especially as we find ourselves merely days before Farm to Philly’s exciting and sure-to-be-thrilling Tofu Challenge Month, that these ‘taters are great served with tofu scrambler. Either side-by-side on a plate, or as companions inside a yummy breakfast burrito

My snack food mania

I live really close to Farm Fresh Express in Lansdowne.  Sadly, it took me until this past Saturday to actually get over there and check it out.  If you’re not familar with FFE, you can either place an order from their availability list of mostly locally grown produce, meat, dairy, etc. and they’ll deliver it to your house for a couple of bucks, or you can pick up your order at the storefront.  Alternatively, you don’t have to pre-order anything - just show up at the storefront and peruse the stock.

I didn’t pick up a ton of stuff (my volunteer shift at the Fair Food Farmstand was that morning), but there were some locally grown dried red cayenne peppers I couldn’t resist.  However, what really made me want to kiss the nice lady working the store straight on the mouth was finding a bag of blue corn tortilla chips made from Pennsylvania corn.  Mejico Blues are super thin blue corn tortilla chips, and they’re absolutely delicious!

It isn’t too often that you find prepared snack food made from locally grown ingredients, unless it’s something like dried fruit.  Of course, now I’m completely obsessed with these chips and I’m almost afraid to eat them for fear I’ll never be able to get more of them again.

Oh, and for those of you need to worry about gluten intake, they are apparently gluten (and dairy) free.

Edited to note: Alas, I have just been informed by the nice people at Farm Fresh Express that they found out the corn is not locally grown, only locally milled.