(Jenn with Rocio of Applecheek Farm AT Applecheek Farm)

Recently when we were in Vermont finalizing some things before the big move this April, we were able to take in another wonderful Localvore Dinner at Applecheek Farm. We went to our first Localvore Dinner when we were in Vermont last November, and it was a fun night filled with great food and music. So we were looking forward to being able to attend another one during this visit to Northern Vermont.

Between the months of November and February, I have become Twitter and Facebook buddies with the folks at Applecheek, and have really enjoyed getting to know Rocio and John better through our internet connection, at the dinners, and during frequent stops to the farm when we have been in town. The internet is really an amazing tool for networking with other people who are passionate about the same things you are, and those Applecheekers are certainly passionate about local, sustainable agriculture, something I am becoming increasingly passionate about. Roberto and I are looking forward to learning more about the farm, and all the wonderful things they offer there once we are living in Vermont.

Going to Localvore Dinners at Applecheek is a way to meet and chat with your neighbors while dining on foods produced locally by your neighbors. This time we had a great time meeting Rocio and John’s children, as well as some other neighbors doing interesting things, like Nathan of FollowNathan.org(definitely check him out – he rode almost 5,000 across country on a bike learning about sustainable agriculture – talk about cool neighbors!). There is always local music, and before the dinner starts, there is always a short talk about what is new at the farm, and new in agriculture that affects everyone, both locally and at the national level. This last evening we were happy to hear that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) bill was not passed and to learn more about the Consumer-Farmer Alliance that is working together to keep sustainable agriculture alive while giving the consumer(as opposed to the government) the right to decide what products (like raw milk products) they want to purchase from local farms. It is always informative and a great way to learn more about how you can participate in Farm to Table initiatives.

As interesting as those talks always are, we all look forward to the delicious food that Chef Jason from JDC (Just Delicious Catering) cooks up!!! Applecheek is a real family farm and has been in the Clark family for generations. Chef Jason is the brother of John. John runs the farm operations and Jason is the chef!

On this night the menu was the following:

* Homemade Kimchee made with veggies from the chef’s garden – I found it perfectly spiced and crunchy

* Poutine – a French Canadian specialty of French fried potatoes and homemade gravy with cheese curds from just across the border (literally 20 miles) in Quebec. This was the BIG hit of the night. Our whole table was talking about it.

* Root Vegetable Cassoulet made with veggies from the chef’s garden – Delicious!

* VT Soy Tofu Skewers marinated in Rock Art Brewery Beer (made one town over) and spices – I didn’t try it, due to my soy allergy, but it looks like others enjoyed it!

* Turkey Casserole with Herb and Cheddar Crust made from Applecheek Farms turkey and veggies from the chef’s garden – fantastic! I am a HUGE fan of Applecheek’s turkeys ***

* Cheddar Ale Soup – chock full of delicious farm fresh potatoes and local cheese

* Carrot Cake with Crème Fraîche Icing – a wonderful way to end the night with a nice glass of raw milk!

* Farm fresh Raw Milk, Hot Apple Cider and Water to drink

You can also BYO to the Applecheek dinners. Roberto and I decided to try a bottle of Otter Creek’s Russian Stout. Otter Creek is a brewery in Middlebury VT. It is a historic beer that was made in England especially for the Russian Czars. It is a beautiful robust and dark beer with distinct chocolate notes. It was a great choice with this wonderfully hearty winter dinner.

There was a pretty big snowstorm up on the hill that night and the wind was blowing in gusts as you looked out the windows during dinner. But the hall was warm, full of music, laughter and the perfect comfort foods, keeping the chill out.

We had a great night chatting with everyone at our table, and even got the opportunity at the end of the night to enjoy some of John’s homebrew – a wonderful fermented maple sap drink that he made using ancient brewing techniques. Something I am also interested in trying my hand at somewhere down the road.

My wheels are turning – I am thinking perhaps making elderberry mead from our own bees and elderberries (that we still don’t have, but hopefully will one day)….but that is what happens when you are out in the country, your life has more space for learning new hobbies and skills, and the sky is the limit.

Someone told me recently that although the food on my blog looks good, they would never be able to afford the way I eat. I was shocked by that statement. But realized that unless you really break things down, it can look expensive and even daunting to cook with organic and local food. Here is a beautiful example – a root vegetable tart that my mom made for us when we were visiting a few weeks ago. It was delicious – roasted veggies, with goat cheese crumbles in pie crust. Quick, delicious and healthy – and lots of leftovers!

In my last post, I talked about how you can make an awesome Shepard’s or Cottage Pie (depending in the meat, I found out – thanks Donald! ) with all the best ingredients, like grassfed beef and organic vegetables for under $3 per hefty serving.

Food quality is a topic I am seriously passionate about. I believe it is important and a right for everyone to have healthy food available to them. But starting on this journey can be a challenge and like everyone, it was a process for me when I first started. I pride myself in being able to put good, wholesome and nourishing meals on the table while staying within a very conservative budget. It is one of the ways I like to challenge myself in the kitchen. This is something I have been passionate about for a long time, check out my post from 2 years ago, about the cost difference between shopping at the farmers market vs. the grocery store. I know that there are not farmer’s markets in every area, but even if you have to drive 30 minutes – it might be worth the time and extra gas money in the long run. If you can’t find one in your area – Start a Container Garden, it is easy, economical and fun, especially if you have kids!

I have been hearing a lot of conversations lately online, in real life and in the media about how it is hard to afford to eat good food in this economy. I agree, this is a hard time for a lot of us, and I don’t want to make light of people’s very real struggles. That said, I really do believe that you can eat good food for less than a meal at a fast food restaurant, and even cheaper and healthier than the frozen food section of your grocery store, especially over time.

What does that mean? Well say a fast food meal is $3/per person if you use the dollar menu – you can get a burger, fries and a drink for $3. That is still more than most of my meals because in your own kitchen you can stretch meat and veggies and make enough ahead for leftovers (making more of something like a casserole, takes the same time and effort as making enough for one meal – and it saves you time later). This is especially true if you are cooking for a family. Burgers and fries for 4 is about $12 a mealtime for the whole family. It is hard to stretch a fast food meal or have leftovers, so once you eat the $12 worth of food it is gone. Not so with cooking at home and having leftovers.

But the deal is, you have to be willing to cook. You have to make food from scratch. That is where you have to make your stand and your change and take better care of yourself and family. People seem to equate scratch with spending hours in the kitchen, just like equating organic with expensive.  However, this is not true. By making your own yogurt and cheese, which literally takes minutes, you can actually SAVE money by eating organic – as the cost to make your own, is significantly cheaper than buying it from the store. It doesn’t have to take over your life or mean hours in the kitchen everyday! All you need is some planning. Once you have done it a few times, it becomes second nature!

Here are several posts to help you with scheduling that into a busy lifestyle & some quick starter meal ideas:

Making Your Own Convenience Food

Making Your Own Bread

Making Your Own Dairy Products

Three Easy and Healthy Breakfast Options

2 for 1 Chicken

Beans and Rice -The Ultimate Leftover Meal

Eating on the Fly: Acorn Squash with Sausage Stuffing

Recently I was at the grocery store. I had just stocked up on frozen organic berries for smoothies and organic meat (they were on sale) and I was getting all my dairy to make cheese, yogurt and kefir for the week (not a farmers market week). The woman in front of me had her cart, which was not as full as mine, with frozen dinners, boxed lasagna, bags of frozen meals – where you add your own meat, soda and a few organic veggies (she was trying)– enough food for maybe a week of meals. I made sure to take note of her total. When my cart was rung up, my bill was only $2 more than hers. I had loads of fruits and veggies, grassfed beef, organic meats, frozen organic berries, eggs, dairy and pantry staples – things I would be using over the next several weeks. I make sure to stock up my pantry and freezer with good healthy staples during sales – especially on the highest ticket items, like meat. I also visit my health food store and do the same – especially grains, lentils and flours.

I really think there is something here. But you have to do your research and make a schedule. Yes, on the surface, it may seem like eating organic is expensive – and it is if you are going for pre-packaged organic foods. But that is not what I am advocating here. I am advocating you to have fun in the kitchen, prepare whole foods and feed your family healthy and nutritious meals for less than the cost of eating every meal out, or takeout, or from the frozen food section. Try it yourself and see what happens!

(At The Bee’s Knees in Morrisville, VT – YAY for free wi-fi!)

This is the final post I will write about our travels to New England this fall. Last time I wrote about a “Localvore Dinner” at a nearby farm, and how “eating local” is not just a buzzword in this part of Vermont. Today I want to expound upon that, and talk about restaurants that are “doing it right”.

I got a bit of an education about Eating Local while in New England this year. Here in Florida, we have a nice year round Farmers Market with several produce stands, local artisans and various other sundry products. When you drive around the state, you see billboards that exclaim: “Eat Local!”. But what does that really mean? You would think in FL, where the climate is warm, people could eat their local farm produce year round, but I have been disappointed time and again going to the market, and seeing organics from CA mixed in with what is available locally. As for the restaurants, my idea of “eating local” has meant supporting local businesses vs. chain restaurants. Which I think it is great idea. However, in Vermont it is brought to a whole different level. I was actually quite blown away. Let me explain.

Outside of the larger cities in Vermont, of which there aren’t many (Montpelier, the state capital has the smallest population of any state capital in the United States, but has also been rated as one of the top ten places to live in the States by AARP), people might have the idea that things of necessity are scarce or hard to come by, especially when you are used to the variety that city, or even suburban life brings. In VT, it is pretty much life in the country. This is true, however, there is an abundance of good things, where someone like me who is very discerning about what they buy, and eat, can have a certain level of comfort and trust. As Roberto and I toured the area, we noticed there might not be a lot of variety, or duplication, or tons of stores, but that what was there, was well done. Take for example the pet/feed store. It is the only one in town, but they sell only the highest quality foods for all the animals in your life. Then there is the awesome holistic vet we found who does both family pets and livestock. We came to find this level of quality true of the eating establishments in the area as well.

There were a few restaurants in our general area that we were able to visit on this trip. One is The Bees Knees in Morrisville. A stone’s throw from where we will be living. Their menu focuses on home cooked meals with locally grown and organic ingredients. So there it is – a locally owned business that also serves local food. But it is more than that. The owner Sharon Deitz had a vision to start a cafe where people could come and stay as long as they wanted. She wanted the atmosphere to feel like a place that would be like “going to a friend’s house — you never know exactly what’s in the fridge, but you know it will be good.” That is exactly what it is like at The Bee’s Knees. It has a coffeehouse atmosphere by day, and then in the evening, more like a pub and restaurant. It is a well rounded and family oriented place that the people of Morrisville and surrounding towns enjoy for the food, local music and the company of their neighbors. When you are dining, you see families with children and elderly, couples and groups of friends, everybody.

The Bee’s Knees also has a very special story behind it. You can read more about this community effort on the Bee’s Knees About page. But here it is in a nutshell.

Over a year ago, Bee’s Knees owner Sharon Deitz “had considered selling her little restaurant, which desperately needed a new kitchen and more seating. The problem was, the money wasn’t there. But, the community came to the rescue. People who cared about Bee’s Knees and what it means to their town came in droves to offer support, either financially or with their time and hard work. Deitz realized the Bee’s Knees must continue. “The response she got- that this is a really important part of life in Morrisville- just seemed to light her fire,” said Nina Church, a Morrisville resident who contributed financially and showed up to work a screw gun in the final days of the expansion project. “As the economy goes south and global warming continues and all these other things happen, we need a place like Bee’s Knees. We need a place to gather that’s local, a place that brings people together and refocuses us on what we have on hand…People come here to eat Vermont food,” Deitz emphasizes. “Morrisville is where normal people live. This is where locals come to listen to local music and eat local food and connect with their community.”

How cool is that?! So yeah, it is true, there aren’t hundreds of choices of restaurants in Morrisville, but you don’t need many when one does it so right! This one little place really defines what local eating can mean – a locally owned business, serving local food, that has the community’s blood, sweat and tears in the foundation.

There is music every night of the week, awesome food, you can feel good about supporting and eating, great coffeehouse drinks made from Fair Trade coffee and roasted in VT and several awesome local microbrews on tap. Check out their menu on their website! We went there several times, once for lunch and once for dinner and had a great experience and great food each time. There is a warmth to The Bee’s Knees. You really do feel at home. I loved that parents brought their kids to listen to music and have dinner. It reminded me of the pubs in Europe, where it is not an “adults only” atmosphere, but where all locals are welcome, no matter what their age.

The next restaurant I would like to talk about is Claire’s in Hardwick, VT. I found out about Claire’s when they started following me on Twitter (@clairesvt) many months ago. They also have a blog New Vermont Cooking . I saw from their Twitter profile that they are a restaurant in Vermont with a menu focusing on seasonal and local foods. I was excited to hear that such a place existed (this was before I knew about The Bees Knees or any other place like that). So when we finally got up to the area, I was excited to see that Hardwick is about a 15 minute drive from Morrisville! Small world! So we knew that during our trip, we had to have a meal at Claire’s.

Claire’s is another amazing place, and their blog New Vermont Cooking really talks a lot about their challenges with buying exclusively local ingredients (for example, some needed are not available locally, like cooking oils). But yet they strive to do the best they can. For example, “9 cents of every dollar of our food purchases within 15 miles of the restaurant, with the bulk of the remaining purchases to farms and artisans within Vermont.”

We went one day for lunch, to find out that Clarie’s does not serve lunch, so we made a point to go back the next night for dinner (they also have “blunch” on Sundays). Claire’s is what I would describe as affordable upscale dining. Small plates are under $10 and main courses under $20 and each featured dessert is $7. But the style of the restaurant, as well as the menu layout, and food prep is much like what you would find in an upscale place. However, I was happy to see, again, people of all walks of life there for dinner. This is part of their misson : “farm to plate model needs to be carefully planned on the basis of three principles: profitability for farmers and food businesses, affordability for Vermonters, and availability of product”. There are several restaurants in and around Northern Vermont who are working on this very thing. I really suggest reading the whole blog post if you want to learn more about this movement.

Since we had never been to Claire’s and were so excited to be eating there, we decided to get all three courses. Generally we don’t have stomachs big enough (well, Roberto might disagree with that statement!) to handle three courses. But we had to indulge. I must apologize for the photos – the lighting in the restaurant was very dark, and this was the best we could do! LOL!

(Bread with Trout River Chocolate Stout, Fried Calamari small plate)

First they brought a delicious chunk of country baked bread with chocolate chips inside. We decided to pair that with a Trout River Chocolate Stout. It was delicious. As a small plate, we shared the Fried Calamari with radishes, green tomatoes and Kalamata olives. It came with a Feta vinaigrette and aioli. We both agreed this is one of the most delicious and interesting versions of fried calamari we had ever tasted. It looked like it was fried in a cornmeal batter. The crunchy veggies playing off the super crunchy calamari with the tangy, salty vinaigrette was amazing!

For main courses we both got something different. I went for the Chicken with Mole sauce. It came with mashed potatoes and warm Napa cabbage slaw with apples. I very much enjoyed this meal. The chicken was falling off the bone, the sauce was the perfect balance of chiles, chocolate and spices and the slaw was a nice crunchy counterpart. Roberto had the Brisket with Carrots, Early Riser polenta and  wheatberries. It was served with Apple, cranberry and BBC Coffehouse Porter Sauce. The brisket was super tender, and the Coffeehouse Porter sauce was incredible. We decided to get a glass of the Coffehouse porter to share for the main course and it paired really well with both of our dishes. In New England I really discovered my love for coffee porters. Wolavers, our favorite brewery, which just happens to be in Vermont, and is organic,  makes a version as well (called Alta Grazia )which is out of this world and officially my favorite beer!

Unfortunately the pictures of the main course were just not salvageable. So you will have to use your imagination!

The same cannot be said about the dessert course! We just were too enthralled with our desserts, that we actually forgot to take a photo! There were many desserts I would have loved to try. But I finally settled on the Gingerbread with caramel apples, eggnog ice cream and maple fluff. This dessert was incredibly good, each element executed to near perfection. I would have loved the ice cream to be a bit more egg-noggy, but nonetheless, it was amazing. The gingerbread was dark, spicy and moist, and the maple fluff, a fun little substitute for whipped cream. Roberto had the Strawberry Chocolate Pudding Cake. It had strawberry ice cream as well as strawberry caramel swirled in. He liked it. Strawberry and chocolate has never been a real exciting flavor combination for me, so I wouldn’t be a good judge of this dessert. But if he liked it, that is what mattered!

From Claire’s website: “From farm to table, emphasizing local and sustainable produce, artisan products, and responsible business practices that support our communities. From Hardwick, Vermont, an open philosophy inspired by the flavors and cooking of the world.”

So what I learned this fall is what “eating locally”, “farm to table”, “sustainability” and all these other buzz words that are being thrown around lately ACTUALLY can and should mean. It was enlightening and encouraging. So when people ask us why we want to move from Florida to Vermont, where it is so cold most of the year, this is why. These communities are a microcosm for how things could be in the world. So when you see any of the above words being used in your communities, find out if it can be backed up by business practices – and if not, ask why not. Demand better! Be a voice for change in your community. As you can see community efforts can really make big changes. I am proud to be a Vermonter!

If you want to learn more about Real Food check out Real Food Wednesdays  on Cheeseslave.

(Jenn with food, Roberto with friends Nicki and Lisa!)

There is an awesome farm, called Applecheek,  about a 10 minute drive from our place in Vermont. We discovered it when we were getting ourself familiar with the area that we will be moving to this spring. The first thing we did to accomplish this? Go to the farmers market, of course! Morrisville, Vermont has a year round Farmers Artisan Market located in the River Arts building downtown every Wednesday from 3pm-6pm. Yes, you heard right a YEAR ROUND farmers market in VERMONT!  Some people think it is the Great White North, with tundra like conditions! HAH! Farmers Markets are about more than just veggies, even though there were some of those there too, this cool November day.   This market is very cool, and likes to feature many local things.  There is a guest chef each week, cooking up a full menu, that you can enjoy there, while listening to local live music, or they will pack it up for you to take home! The Market also often has product demonstrations where vendors show and teach about their products and crafts. It was at the market that we met the people from Applecheek farm.

Applecheek is at the center of the eating local movement in Morrisville and Hyde Park. They sell directly to the public, pasture raised meats, eggs, and raw milk. As well as seasonal vegetables and even grains from nearby farms. You can join their meat CSA, or just shop at their farm store. They also offer Llama treks, sleigh rides and host field trips for area schools.

(Clockwise from top: at the buffet line, berry crumble with ice cream, taking notes, Irish music band)

They also have regular “Localvore Dinners” at their beautiful knotty pine hall – another amenity there – you can rent it out for any event. Their localvore dinners are catered by Jason Clark (who we also met at the Farmers market) who with his wife Sarah, own JDC (Just Delicious Catering). When I spoke to Sarah on the phone to reserve some spots for their November dinner, she told me that they do these regularly so that people can get to know their neighbors, while dining on food that their neighbors are growing. It is a wonderful concept that really exemplifies our reasons for moving to this area of Vermont. A beautiful small town, with a real sense of community, where eating local is not just a catch phrase. Really the “fantasy” Vermont town that everyone thinks of when they hear “Vermont”. The whole time we were up there we kept running into the people at Applecheek (it is a small town after all). We even bought a turkey from them, for our Thanksgiving dinner in Florida . It was killed on Wednesday, stuck in the freezer until we picked it up on Friday, and eaten the following Thursday. That is what I call fresh!

Anyway, we brought our friends Nicki and Lisa (you might know her from her blog Lisabeeen Homeroasted Coffee, but she is a longtime friend of ours…) with us, who live a little ways to the south. When we got there, before the dinner started, we enjoyed live Irish music (even one of the band members of Gaelic Storm (the Titanic Movie band) was there) while sipping on hot cider and raw milk and eating cubes of Vermont cheddar. Then right before the dinner, the owner of the farm got up and talked about farm to table and how important it is for people to support their local farmers, and how the state of Vermont is trying to have 20% of its food provided from within the state by 2020. They also talked about how Applecheek wants to get back to delivering their raw milk to local homes. Then he introduced Chef Jason Clark who talked about the dishes that we would be eating that night, and which local farm or producer each item came from – down to the yogurt in the salad, the wheat in the bread, the oats in the dessert and the tofu, veggies and meat on the plate.

This was the menu:

*Apple and Carrot Salad with cranberries and yogurt

* Maple glazed carrots

* Squash and apple soup

*Scalloped beets

*Sausage and pumpkin egg strata

*Maple ham

* Tofu dish (don’t remember the specifics, I don’t eat soy products)

*Fresh bread with fresh butter

* Berry and apple crisp served with local organic ice cream

This was a foodie’s paradise. Everything was delicious and incredibly fresh, prepared simply to highlight all the natural flavors. But my favorites were the squash and apple soup, the scalloped beets and the dessert! I am not much of a crumble or crisp person and especially not berry or apple crisp, but this was amazing. Each flavor of each component came out – not like the big pile of purple mush that is usually called “ berry crisp”. It was so good, I almost went back for seconds. But the soup, I couldn’t resist. I had to enjoy that twice. It was such a foodie paradise that after dinner the band played a song which was an ode to colcannon – an Irish potato and cabbage dish.

The whole evening was wonderful. People were there with their whole families, from the youngest to the oldest, sharing bottles of wine, and home brews with each other. It really was right out of a movie! I am looking forward to enjoying many more of these Localvore Dinners with my neighbors in the future.

Localvore Pledge (as seen on Lamoille Valley Year-round Farmers Artisan Market website):

“If not locally produced, then organic. If not organic, then family farm. If not family farm, then local business. If not local business, then fair trade.”

We had a great time this fall in New England this year visiting family and friends. Thanksgiving is over, and posted, and so now the time has come to share some of the highlights in eating and visiting that we enjoyed in New England. We traveled from Connecticut to Vermont and back again. In fact we drove up to New England from Florida, stopping at my Aunt’s house in VA both on the way up and on the way back. We got to spend time with Roberto’s daughters Rachel and Gwen as well as many friends along the way. It was a wonderful time – a time I have looked forward to every year since we moved to Florida.

We spent a large portion of the trip in Western MA. I lived in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts for over 10 years. I came to live there by way of education, and then after 4 years of college, decided to stay. I was just so enamored of the place – the quaint towns, historic buildings, and good food, as well as all the cultural activities taking place due to all the colleges in the area. I made a lot of lifelong friends while I lived there and was definitely part of a community. When I think about that time in my life, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling – and I always enjoy spending time there. I have moved away from New England twice since I lived there, once to go back to my home state of Maryland for a few years, and the other when we moved to Florida three years ago. Each time I move away, I find myself missing it, and it doesn’t take long before New England re-claims me. I guess I am a New Englander at heart, and I am proud of it!

People in New England are just nice. It is a very eclectic kind of place sometimes, and so it is typical to have friends from all walks of life. People are just more accepting of paradoxes, creativity and uniqueness. I don’t know how to describe it, but I always find myself gravitating towards New Englanders wherever we are, and that is how we met Valley Writer and Mr. Valley Writer.

We met them, almost 2 years ago, when we were all newlyweds, spending our honeymoon in Jamaica. We originally met them at a social for newlyweds and then ended up running into them at breakfast one morning. So we decided to sit together. We found out we had a lot in common. She and I are both writers (this was before her now famous blog), we both have black cats with asthma, and we both were practically neighbors at one point without even knowing it, in a small New England town called Hatfield. She met her husband the same way I met Roberto – online, and in the same time frame. So likely I ran across Mr. Valley Writer’s profile in my searches…who knows. But there was just so much in common (besides the love of food and cooking) that we knew we were meant to be friends. We visited with Mr and Mrs. Valley Writer last year when we were in New England . Then this year, they graciously invited us to stay with them for a few days.

When we arrived, the first thing we did was take a quick drive to a local farm, and pick up her last CSA of the year. We picked out some nice root veggies to make some roasted roots – my favorite – to go along with dinner that night. The plan for dinner that night was to make duck. Neither of us had ever made a duck before, so we were both very excited at the prospect. We were worried about the method of cooking, we didn’t want it to be dry.

So we decided to do it beer can style, and used a raspberry wheat beer in the preparation. It turned out really delicious – although it did make the house a little smoky – all that delicious duck fat (which of course was reserved for later use)!

We enlisted Roberto to cut the duck – and of course he had to wear Amber’s Flirty Apron that she won a few months back from The Foodie Blogroll.

(Mr. Valley Writer likes to keep his identity hidden….just WHO is HE?)

The food was really good that night, but the company was the best part! We all had a great time getting re-acquainted with each other and getting to know each other better – and it was a breeze. Sometimes you just really hit it off with another couple, and this was one of those times!

Unfortunately Mr. And Mrs. Valley Writer both had to work while we were visiting. So the next night, to thank them for their hospitality, Roberto and I decided to get some extra ingredients, and cook them dinner. There was already a pork tenderloin in the fridge, so we decided to add some wild rice, glazed carrots, and miniature carrot cakes from Whole Foods (which used to be called Bread and Circus in that part of the world) to complete the meal. We prepared the pork in a fresh apple cider and dijon mustard sauce, and it was delicious. When they got home from work, we all started working together in the kitchen! What else can you expect from a bunch of foodies? This time we had Mr. Valley Writer do the honors on cutting the meat.

Again the food was great and the company spectacular! We had a wonderful few days spending time with them, and look forward to continuing our friendship when we move up to Vermont this spring!

Thanks Valley Writer family for your hospitality and friendship! Please check out her post about our visit together on her blog, Adventures in the Pioneer Valley !

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In addition to Finest Foodies Friday, I am also phasing the Royal Foodie Joust Winners and New Ingredients posts over to Foodieblogroll.com. So if you want to read about the winners and the new ingredients. Please visit Foodieblogroll.com.

Also for more foodie fun, don’t forget to join us at my friend Ben’s blog for a Homemade Party!

(Table setting, Preparing food (with our new baby “Cipollina” in the background), Turkey platter and green beans, Roberto carving the turkey)…

I am not ashamed to say that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the idea of a huge public harvest festival where people are showcasing meals using seasonal ingredients on their tables all over the United States without even thinking about it! This tradition of giving thanks for the harvest is an old one, and one that I try to celebrate in our home throughout the year. It very much defines my relationship to the natural world and to the food we eat. For me, that is what Thanksgiving is – the last openly public harvest festival. It is not a celebration of the friendship between pilgrims and Native Americans because frankly, that Thanksgiving is a myth and the reality of it is not one that I would want to celebrate.

That being said, I love the food at this time of year. On this blog I often talk about my love for autumn foods , and at Thanksgiving, I can have many of them on my table at one sitting. I was very fortunate this year to have the baton passed to me, to host Thanksgiving at our house. In past years we have spent Thanksgiving with either set of parents, but this year, they decided I should be the one to host everyone. Honestly, this was a long held dream of mine, to be able to prepare a seasonal harvest menu that incorporates family favorites with my personal touch. A meal made in heaven!

We were very thankful that my stepmother, Kayzie is a wine distributor, and checked 6 bottles of wine onto her flight for us to enjoy at dinner.

I hope to have many opportunities in the future to prepare this meal for family and friends. I am sure that it will be especially seasonal and full of ambiance when we move to Vermont. Especially when we can showcase foods we have grown and harvested ourselves, or at least those harvested within our community.

So I see a future of varied Thanksgiving dinner menus based on what is available and delicious that year, much like a harvest festival should be.

(Pumpkin ravioli, cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole)

This was our menu this year:

Pre Meal Course:
Roasted Chestnuts
Cabot Vintage Reserve Cheddar Cheese
Clementines
Smoked Almonds
Hot Bourbon Toddies

First Course:
Homemade Pumpkin Ravioli with Sundried tomatoes in oil and toasted pine nuts with Vermont (organic) Raw Farmstead cow’s milk Feta
Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc

Second Course:
* Vermont Pasture Raised Turkey (”Henrietta”) from Applecheek Farm (a farm down the street from our place in Vermont)
* Sausage Stuffing with Pumpkin Oatmeal bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (made with wheat flour from Butterworks Farm (a farm in Vermont)
* Reclaimed Green Bean Casserole – made with all organic ingredients (including the onion rings)
* Mashed Potatoes with traditional turkey gravy (with bourbon)
* Cardamom-Orange Cranberry Sauce
* Sweet Potato Casserole
Oregon Pinot Noir

Dessert:
Indian Pudding with Bailey’s Whipped Cream

I hope all of my US based bloggers and readers enjoyed their own Thanksgiving Day celebrations! Happy Holidays!

DISCLAIMER: Our camera battery died on Friday night and so the photos in this post are snapshots pulled off our video camera – which is essentially why they suck! But I wanted to be sure to give some viuals.

The next morning, everyone met up at the Ferry Building, to enjoy the morning at San Francisco’s incredible Farmer’s Market. We started off up stairs drinking coffee, eating pastries and meeting up with bloggers. We had a fun and lively conversation with Nichelle, from Cupcakes Take the Cake and got to meet another one of my foodie friends, who had evaded me the night before, Joan of FOODalogue . After chatting, we wanted something savory for breakfast. So on several recommendations from Foodbuzz staff, Roberto and I (as well as many other bloggers) enjoyed breakfast sandwiches from the Golden Gate Meat Co. We decided to enjoy the sandwiches al fresco so we could enjoy a view of the San Francisco Bay. Once back inside, we couldn’t pass up a “meat cone” from Boccalone which was a mix of several of their different cured pork products. The mortadella with pistachios was my surprising favorite (usually my favorite is salami). I wish we had gotten video of this, but we were hanging out chatting with Kristi of Austin Farm to Table. But I know she talked about it on her blog, so go check it out!

We spent the rest of the morning perusing the market. I was especially impressed by one of the indoor shops that was exclusively mushrooms. I saw the most beautiful and delicious looking mushrooms – colorful chantarelles, lobster mushrooms and the biggest FRESH porcini. My heart sank a little because I knew I could not take any home. Outside, we spent time marveling at the fresh produce booths. We tasted Asian pears, yogurt, persimmons, honey and much more. I also bought 4 lbs of beans and grains from Rancho Gordo on a recommendation from Kat and Matt of A Good Appetite .

At 11:00 we joined Peter and Christey from FotoCuisine , Joan of FOODalogue and Catherine from Munchie Musings at the Farm to Table Discussion led by Executive Chef of the Americano – the restaurant at the Hotel Vitale, Paul Arenstam and the general manager of the Hearst Ranch (sorry, no picture of these guys…). Hearst Ranch  supplies their grassfed beef to the Americano for their burgers and so the discussion centered on the differences between grassfed and conventional beef (something I talk a lot about ), how farms and restaurants can work together to get quality and local meats to consumers, how food producers can work with food bloggers to get unbiased and genuine word out about their products, and how to build a farm to table model that works, and can be copied by local farms and the restaurants around them.

Some facts about grassfed vs. conventional beef:

Conventional beef depends on fossil fuels and government subsidized feed (like corn and soybeans) to feed their cattle. Conventional cattle are weaned at 6 months and spend the rest of their life, eating subsidized grain, living in close quarters (with other cows, and their own excrement) and in 13 months become 1300 lbs of meat.

Grassfed beef remains free ranging and pasture fed their entire life. They depend on sunlight and photosynthesis to eat. They experience low stress, and little handling from humans, making their meat tender and lean. In an 18 month period they will become 1100 pounds of meat. Grassfed cattle, through well managed grazing, are part of a natural cycle which actually aids in the conservation of grasslands.

During the question and answer period, Catherine, from Munchie Musings asked about what kind of a discount food bloggers could get on Heart’s new program where consumers can buy a share of a grassfed cow directly from Hearst. He was quick on the draw and responded that food bloggers can get a 30% discount and free shipping, if they use the coupon “foodbuzz”. Now that is a great deal! If I lived in CA I would totally go for it – but I am looking forward to supporting my local meat producers. If that fails – I am going for Hearst – they are a company that I can support without reservation.

I really enjoyed the morning – it was nice to see lots of farm fresh products at the market and then learn more about how local businesses and farmers can work together to get local foods out to the consumers. It was inspiring in so many ways. If you live in California, and have not been to the Americano, you should try it out. Their menu sounds delicious, and I got to sample Chef Paul’s Hearst Meatballs at the Tasting Pavilion later that afternoon (more about that in a follow up post) and they were really fantastic. I would also encourage you to check out Hearst Ranch and their Cattle Share program.

(I just love my new pear apron from The Cupcake Provocateur. They are sponsoring an awesome Foodie Blogroll giveaway next month! So be sure to stay tuned for details about that!!!)

This year I challenged myself with some new cooking goals. Along with this blog I have grown, not only in culinary skills, but also in discovering the kind of life that I want to live – one in which I begin to produce more of my own food. Blogging has definitely changed me. Last year, I challenged myself to make our own bread and ice cream. Now that these have been easily assimilated into our lifestyle, I decided to add some more things. This year, as I have become more serious about it, I wanted to challenge myself to begin learning some skills that I will be utilizing even more when we finally have our a place in Vermont, and room for a big garden (and some goats and sheep) to go with it! Things are moving forward in that department! We are really looking forward to starting a new life up there and having a nice big kitchen and herb garden, and later expanding to animals. My eventual goal is to produce the majority of our food ourselves (with some food coming from our very rich local agricultural community) and raise sheep and goats so that I can make artisan cheese. But everyone has to start somewhere. So my challenge this year was to start making cultured dairy products, like yogurt, soft cheeses, kefir, buttermilk and creme fraiche that are easy to do in any kitchen. I started with the yogurt and cheese last week. This week, I am moving on to kefir.

Another challenge was to start preserving, so that I could stop buying condiments and canned goods at the grocery store. I started by switching from canned beans to dry beans and utilizing the soaking method in Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. I also started adventures in preserving by making some jam earlier this year, during the height of blueberry season. But with summer coming to an end, I really wanted to make some pickles and pickled banana peppers or peperoncino rings. These two condiments we regularly enjoy – on salads, sandwiches, burgers and more. These were both important challenges, as both store bought varieties are chock full of dyes, corn syrups and MSG. I have been buying Bubbies pickles for the past 6 months or so, but at $8 a jar, it was getting out of control.

So I found pickle cucumbers at the farmers market a few weeks ago and bought several pounds to make refrigerator pickles. I used the recipe out of my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

It was really fun and quite easy. I got 4 ½ 1 quart jars. Each jar costing probably around $1. A great savings from buying Bubbies! Plus they tasted better (you know how homemade stuff always tastes better than even the best store-bought brands!). Something I will definitely be doing again. Although I would like to try some other varieties, especially naturally fermented pickles.

As for the banana peppers, in the last few months I haven’t been able to find a single brand to purchase, and we have really missed them. We tried growing the peppers ourselves with preserving in mind, but our plant only produced a few peppers. With all the rain this summer, so many Florida gardens just got soaked and moldy.

This weekend I went to a new farmers market near my mom’s and I bought almost 2 lbs of banana peppers (also known as Hungarian waxed peppers) for about $3. I could not wait to get home and pickle them! I had some help in the kitchen from our little dog Peperoncino (that is how much we love these peppers), who goes by the more pronounceable name of “Pepino” these days. Again, it took very little effort to do this, and I ended up with 4 1-quart jars, saving me a whole lot of money too!

I am really excited to continue learning more about canning and preserving and making it a natural part of our lives, just like bread has become. I am enjoying seeing the ratio in the refrigerator from store bought regulars like cheese, pickles, yogurt, kefir and condiments being slowly switched to homemade varieties! Soon I will begin canning seasoned beans, soups and condiments like ketchup and BBQ sauce. It is a wonderful warm and fuzzy feeling to get back to basics and provide the best quality food for myself and my family that I can.

If you have a blog, how has blogging changed you?