Fresh Food & Fine Design (photo by Mary R. Vogt, courtesy of morguefile.com)
Some time back we asked if local was the new organic when it came to the preferences of American consumers. A survey recently released by the Food Marketing Institute and Prevention magazine, "Shopping for Health 2008," indicates that health conscious consumers are choosing locally grown produce over organic alternatives.
The researchers wanted to know how healthy eaters succeed when it comes to shopping for food. They found that nearly everyone (80%) tries to eat healthily. Among those who try a lot, 10% say they are “always successful.” The survey profiled the one in 10 who succeeds.
When presenting the results of the survey, Cary Silvers, director of consumer insights for the company that publishes Prevention said, “Shoppers’ new interest in locally grown food reflects their strong desire to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables…The battle between organic and locally grown represents who shoppers believe can deliver the freshest produce.”
There are plenty of reasons to choose local produce. It is when it is fresh that food is at its most nutritious and most flavorful. Buying local is a choice that supports a community's farmers. Buying it limits the environmental harm done when foods are transported over great distances.
Many foodies buy local produce to savor the singular flavors of seasonal offerings that are part of their regional food heritage. The chance to talk to the farmers who produce the fresh fruit and veggies and learn from them makes shopping at a farmers market a pleasure for those concerned about personal health and the health of the environment.
To read the press release on which this item was based go to: Shopping for Health 2008: Setting Specific Goals and Plans Key to Healthy Eating
Bok Choy (photo by Dawn M. Turner, courtesy of morguefile.com)
Spring is in full force and delivering a growing abundance of fresh produce to delight home chefs and those lucky friends and family members who get to enjoy their concoctions. With the recipe below, our friends at Organic Valley Family of Farms have provided us with a delicious way to celebrate spring with “a rich and creamy combination of asparagus, wild rice, and everything else!”
Organic Valley is a farmer-owned coop that says, “We think it's a simple truth. The earth's most delicious, most healthful foods are made when farmers work in harmony with nature.” The organization started with 7 farmers forming an organic cooperative in 1988. Today, more than 1,200 family farms are members and their high standards shine through in their delicious, award-winning, certified organic foods.
We highly recommend you try this recipe using Native Harvest Wild Rice, which grows naturally in the lakes of Northern Minnesota and is hand-harvested by indigenous Ojibwe communities using traditional methods. Unlike the genetically manipulated "wild rice" grown in paddies, this truly wild rice is an important American heirloom crop and a central part of Ojibwe culture and tradition. One taste of the distinctive flavor of authentic wild rice and its mass-produced cousin will dull by comparison.
As always, try and get the freshest veggies you can find at your local farm stand or farmers market!
Ingredients for 10 Servings
• 2 Tablespoons Organic Valley Salted Butter
• 2 Tablespoons fresh garlic, peeled & minced
• 2 Tablespoons shallots, peeled & minced
• 1 Cup mushrooms (your seasonal choice: shitakes, criminis, etc.), wiped clean & sliced thin
• ¾ Cup Native Harvest Wild Rice, rinsed
• ¾ Cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed
• 4 Medium carrots, cut lengthwise & diagonally sliced
• 2 Quarts veggie broth
• 2 Bunches asparagus, trimmed & cut into 1” pieces
• 2 Cups seasonal & regional greens (beet greens, baby spinach, bok choy, etc.)
• 2 Cups Organic Valley Half & Half
• 1 Medium red bell pepper, seeded & chopped
• 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, washed & patted dry; then chopped fine
• ½ Teaspoon dried tarragon
• Sea salt & black pepper to taste
Preparation
1. In a large heavy soup pot or Dutch oven, sauté garlic, shallots and mushrooms in butter, over medium heat, for 5 minutes. Add rinsed wild and brown rices and cook for another 3 minutes. Add carrots and herb broth, and turn up the heat to medium-high until boiling. Allow mixture to boil for 10 minutes or so, then reduce heat to low and cover the pot. Allow soup to simmer for 35 minutes.
2. While the soup is simmering, prepare the asparagus by trimming the tough ends off and cutting the spears into 1” pieces, reserving the beautiful tips in a separate bowl. Simmer the asparagus spears and seasonal greens in a bit of water until bright green and crisp-tender.
3. Place semi-cooled greens in a food processor with 2 cups of half and half, and process until smooth and creamy. Add the creamy greens to the rice mixture, the rice will still be slightly firm, along with the chopped red bell pepper, parsley and tarragon. Simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes, then add the reserved asparagus tips. Allow to simmer for another 20 minutes or until the soup is of desired consistency. Add sea salt and pepper to taste.
4. Top with fresh watercress, chives or parsley. Enjoy!
Copyright by Organic Valley Family of Farms ©
To visit the web site of the farmers' coop go to: Organic Valley Family of Farms
To purchase this authentic heirloom wild rice, hand-harvested by Ojibwe communities go to: Native Harvest Wild Rice: Sacred Manoomin
Sacramento River (© christy mitchell | Dreamstime.com)
The richest source of King salmon south of Alaska has almost completely collapsed, according to a report in the New York Times. King, or Chinook salmon, are among the most prized wild fish from the Pacific Ocean.
Normally, the salmon swim upstream each fall to spawn, the most robust run in the Sacramento River. Their virtual disappearance has experts baffled and led to accusations of mismanagement. Some fishermen believe that government agencies diverted too much water for the benefit of powerful agricultural interests and dry cities to the south. Government officials and some scientists believe the salmon vanished due to upwelling ocean currents being out of sync, but no one knows for sure.
The article in the Times quotes Donald McIsaac, executive director of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, “It’s unprecedented that this fishery is in this kind of shape.” The regional $150 million fishery is almost certain to remain closed this year.
If you’d like to read the article in the New York Times cited above go to: Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace
Organic Maple Syrup (Image courtesy of Schoolyard Sugarbush)
New York State’s maple syrup producers are getting ready to open their sugarhouses for the Annual Maple Weekend on March 29th and 30th, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. About 110 maple producers across New York will be hosting open houses for the public to see maple production. The event is free to the public, a wonderful family outing in the country.
Participants will be boiling sap into maple syrup and many will demonstrate the making of maple products. Visitors can sample and purchase the maple products. Some of the sugarhouses will provide a variety of other activities to make your visit memorable. There are participating maple producers in 38 counties, including Schoolyard Sugarbush in Cayuga County (Phone:315-567-9900) .
The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists New York as the second-largest maple producing state after Vermont. New York’s 1,500 maple producers account for 18% of the syrup consumed in the U.S. The economic impact was an estimated $32 million in 2006. According to the N.Y. Agricultural Statistics Service it took almost 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup in 2006. Nationwide, more than a million gallons of maple syrup will likely be made this spring.
For more information on Maple Weekend locations and activities go to: Maple Weekend is a Family Event
If you can’t make it to a sugarhouse but would like to purchase some of Upstate New York's fine syrup go to:
100% Pure Organic Maple Syrup
When the Weed family of Cayuga County in upstate New York began Schoolyard Sugarbush to make pure maple syrup they had already been making pancake mix for three generations. A young Danielle was puzzled at receiving a gift of 25 metal spikes from her grandparents one winter when her mom told her, “You’ll learn to use them this spring.”
And learn she did. There in the schoolyard of an old one-room schoolhouse where several aunts and uncles had received their first years of formal education, Danielle and her father began yet another science lesson in her home education.
The first people to make maple syrup were the Native Americans of the Northeast who called their syrup, "sinzibukwud," which means, "sweet buds." The Native Americans used it as a flavoring for breads, stews, teas and vegetables. They taught the making of the indigenous treat to French and English settlers. During the colonial period maple sugar became the principal sweetener in North America, widely preferred to the cheaper cane sugar.
Having made pancake mix at the family’s New Hope Mills for so many years it was only natural to combine pancakes and maple syrup. The family’s background gave them a good understanding of the quality, flavor and coloring of pure maple syrup. For the Weed family the quality of the product is paramount. Any product that is made at New Hope Mills is produced in the most eco-friendly way; absolutely free from chemical additives and artificial ingredients. Under organic standards the maple forest must be protected by buffer zones from poisonous run off and environmentally harmful fertilizers, exactly as the family would have it.
Applying their long held values to the making of maple syrup they began by crafting it from a roaster pan on a pot-bellied stove. It wasn’t long before that old pan just couldn’t keep up. A year later their endeavor grew to 100 taps as they produced 23 gallons of syrup from sap carried by hand or pulled across the snow on a toboggan. Returning from college in 1993, Dan Weed took over the process in the family’s third year of operation. Within two years there were 500 taps along the roadways and in the ravines near the sugarhouse.
If you’re in Moravia, Cayuga County in upstate New York, visitors are welcome anytime they’re boiling at the roadside sugarhouse. Guests entering the sugarhouse comment most on the amazing aroma of the syrup. Some even say a perfume should be developed. So stop in. You’ll learn the taste and aroma of Natures Sweetener. The address of the sugarhouse is 5967 Appletree Point Road in Moravia; within 300 feet of corner at 41A and Appletree Point Road.
If you can’t make it to the sugarhouse but would like to purchase some of the Weed family’s fine syrup go to:
100% Pure Organic Maple Syrup
Acadia National Park (© Photographer: Chee-onn Leong | Agency: Dreamstime.com)
The Wild Blueberry holds a special place in Maine's history — one that goes back centuries, to the state's Native Americans. They were the first to use the tiny blue berries, both fresh and dried, for their flavor, their nutrition, and their healing qualities.
The Bar Harbor Jam Company was started in 1989, as a winter project at the Cottage Street bakery in Bar Harbor, Maine. Since then the company has become famous for the way it’s been crafting its Maine Wild Blueberry Jam. Today, the company's kitchen is located on beautiful Mount Desert Island, Home of Acadia National Park and near the center of Wild Blueberry barrens.
Unlike the larger cultivated blueberries usually sold in supermarkets, Wild Blueberries are tiny and really are wild; having crept over Maine's rocky land naturally, creating hundreds of thousands of bushes. Indigenous Wild Blueberries now grow in fields and barrens that stretch from Downeast to the state's Southwest corner. Adapted to Maine's naturally acid, low fertility soils and challenging winters, Wild Blueberries are a low input crop requiring minimal management. The berries are grown on a two-year cycle — each year, half of a grower's land is managed to encourage vegetative growth and the other half is prepared for a Wild Blueberry harvest in August.
The Bar Harbor Jam Company uses only the finest selection of 100% natural native berries to ensure the best possible taste. When you eat Bar Harbor Jam you come to know why Maine’s Wild Blueberries are so special. To these delicious indigenous berries, they add only the highest quality ingredients and mix them in small, hand-made batches to ensure their quality and to enhance their taste. There are no preservatives added.
All it takes is a half-cup of Wild Blueberries to deliciously satisfy one of the recommended "five-a-day" servings of colorful fruits and vegetables. Some of the most powerful antioxidants are highly concentrated in the deep blue pigments of Wild Blueberries. What's more, Wild Blueberries contain more antioxidants than their cultivated cousins. Antioxidants are the "natural zappers" of free radicals; the unstable oxygen molecules associated with cancer, heart disease, and the effects of aging. USDA studies have measured the antioxidant activity of more than 40 fruits and vegetables and ranked blueberries #1.
The owners; Bob, Greg, Mike and Pat, along with Robin and the rest of the fine staff, are committed to delivering superior quality by continuing a great tradition of hand-making products from the finest ingredients. It’s all home-made right on Mount Desert Island!
To purchase some splendid products from the Bar Harbor Jam Company go to any of the following:
Maine's Wild Blueberry Jam
Wild Blueberry Syrup
Deluxe Wild Blueberry Basket
Maine's Wild Blueberry & Rhubarb Jam
Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam from Maine
Strawberry Jam from Maine
Maine's Jams Variety Mix
 
(Images courtesy of New England Cranberry Company)
Cranberries are no longer just for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Consumers have been buying cranberry products at such a rate that a cranberry shortage has been predicted for next year. In response to the rapidly rising demand companies introduced 900 new products containing cranberries in 2007; an astounding rate of growth compared to the 54 new products launched the year before, according to the research firm Mintel.
Aside from wanting a taste of the flavorful little red berries, the incredible growth in consumer demand is also being attributed to a raft of studies citing the health benefits of cranberry consumption. Cranberries have long been valued for their ability to help prevent and treat urinary tract infections. Now, recent studies suggest that this indigenous American berry may also promote gastrointestinal and oral health, prevent the formation of kidney stones, lower LDL and raise HDL (good) cholesterol, aid in recovery from stroke, and even help prevent cancer.
An article in Europe's NutraIngredients.com reports, "The traditional yuletide condiment has been used in scores of new products - from fruit juice, to snack bars and cereals."
If you'd like to read the NutraIngredients.com article on the topic go to: Cranberry not just for Christmas
If you'd like to purchase some all natural, healthful cranberry products from Massachusetts go to any of the following:
Cranberry Pepper Jelly
Cranberry Apple Chutney
Cranberry All Fruit
Colonial Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry Chutney
New England Cranberry Variety Mix
Beautiful White Truffles (© Photographer: Luckynick | Agency: Dreamstime.com)
A white truffle weighing 3.3 pounds has set a record price at an auction held simultaneously in London, Macau and Florence. It was the largest found in decades and sold for $330,000. The highly-prized fungus was dug up by a truffle dog named Rocco near Pisa, Italy.
BBC News quoted Luciano Savini, Rocco’s owner, as saying, "The biggest truffle of the century and the most expensive truffle of the century. There are no more words to say - it is all very beautiful."
People have searched for truffles since ancient times. The Bible mentions desert truffles and Plato wrote of them. Today, they remain one of Nature’s most sought after delicacies. Both dogs and pigs are used to hunt truffles.
If you’d like to read the BBC News report cited above go to: Giant truffle sets record price
If you’d like to purchase a crafted goat cheese with the classic flavor of truffle go to: Truffle Tremor
Kelley’s Katch was founded by Fisherman Mike Kelley more than 20 years ago. Mike was a pioneer of the American paddlefish caviar industry when he began selling the roe from the indigenous wild fish he caught in the fresh waters of Tennessee.
When buying caviar nothing is more important than trust. Mike and Vickie Kelley have two decades of experience in the caviar business and are involved in every step of the production. From the first catch, through processing and packaging, to the time it leaves their facility, they are there every step of the way to make sure that their American caviar is the freshest in the nation.
What makes Kelley’s Katch the best caviar in America? As Mike Kelley will tell you, “We know exactly where our fish come from. Because we caught them ourselves in our boats. That’s how we can honestly say we are the freshest in the nation.”
A Kelley's Fresh Catch
Kelley's Katch Caviar is pearl gray in color and has a firm texture that is lightly salted (Malossol). The appearance and size are very comparable to Sevruga caviar. Kelley's Katch Caviar has received national recognition as being "The Best Value" among American Caviars.
Here's what Charles Passy had to say about it in the Wall Street Journal, "Ah, The world's great caviars. Beluga from Russia, Osetra from Iran. And, of course, Kelley's Katch from Tennessee...Our Chef's Favorite...with a balanced flavor, nice shine and evenly gray-colored eggs with the right degree of `pop'."
If you’d like to purchase the Kelley’s fresh delicacy go to: Fresh Paddlefish Caviar
 
Milk, Dark & White Chocolate (photos by Rick Tango)
According to a Reuters report posted on Yahoo! News, "The chocolate enjoyed around the world today had its origins at least 3,100 years ago in Central America not as the sweet treat people now crave but as a celebratory beer-like beverage and status symbol."
Researchers have discovered evidence of the cacao plant in pottery vessels dating from about 1100 BC in Puerto Escondido, Honduras. The cacao plant is the source of chocolate. The discovery predates by 500 years prior evidence of cacao use in Mesoamerica. Cacao was an important luxury commodity among the Aztecs and other civilizations before the arrival of Europeans.
We're guessing that chocolate lovers will be around for at least another 3,000 years!
If you'd like to read the Reuters report cited above go to: Chocolate began as beer-like brew 3,100 years ago
If you’d like to try fantastic chocolate from Theo, our favorite chocolate maker, click on any of the following:
Theo Organic Chocolate Confections
Organic Chocolate from Ghana's Cacao
Organic Chocolate from the Ivory Coast's Cacao
Organic Bread & Chocolate Bars
Would you like to try the best chocolate ice cream we've ever tasted? If so, go to: Custard Chocolate Ice Cream
If you'd like to try a handmade chocolate cheesecake so rich it's almost sinful go to: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
If you'd like to try a wonderful Tex-Mex recipe calling for chocolate go to: Mole Sauce
  
Wild Blueberry Jam, American Black Walnuts & Native Pecans, Wild Blueberry Syrup (photos by Rick Tango)
Eating well for better health is widely understood, but now some foods hailed for keeping your heart healthy could also make you smarter. According to a new study, diets rich in antioxidants may actually reverse age-related declines in cognitive behavior.
“Diets containing 2%, 6%, or 9% walnuts, when given to old rats, were found to reverse several parameters of brain aging, as well as age-related motor and cognitive deficits,” says James Joseph, PhD, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Boston.
Findings from the studies by Dr. Joseph and his colleague Barbara Shukitt-Hale, PhD, show for the first time that shorter chain fatty acids found in plants, such as walnuts, may have beneficial effects for the brain similar to those from long chain fatty acids found in wild salmon and other deep, cold-water fish.
In previous research, Joseph and his colleagues showed that old rats maintained for two months on diets containing 2% high antioxidant strawberry or blueberry extracts exhibited reversals of age-related deficits in cognitive behavior. In the brain, antioxidant molecules wage war against molecules known as free radicals, which can harm brain cells. The present research shows that walnuts can have a similar effect.
Some of the most powerful antioxidants are highly concentrated in the deep-blue pigments of wild blueberries. USDA studies measured the antioxidant activity of more than 40 fruits and vegetables and ranked blueberries #1. Wild blueberries contain more antioxidants than their cultivated cousins.
To read the press release from the Society for Neuroscience on the topic go to: Diet of Walnuts, Blueberries Found to Improve Cognition
If you’d like to get smart with a purchase of jam crafted in small, hand-made batches of organically grown berries go to: Maine's Wild Blueberry Jam
If better thinking through baking & cooking with walnuts sounds right go to: Bakers Bounty! Fancy Large Premium Black Walnuts & Native Pecan Halves
To purchase a mind ehancing, smooth pouring, heavenly tasting syrup go to: Wild Blueberry Syrup
If a purchase of wild salmon sounds like a good route to great thinking go to: Alaskan Smoked Wild Sockeye Salmon
Along the Dead River a Native American guide says a prayer & hands out tobacco as an offering of thanks to nature (photo by Greg Peterson)
Written by Greg Peterson
Teenagers, an American Indian guide and volunteers recently held the fourth annual planting of wild rice in a project aimed at restoring the once abundant grain to northern Michigan.
The groundbreaking Manoomin Project has teamed hundreds of at-risk teens with American Indian guides. Together, they’ve planted over a ton of wild rice since the summer of 2004.
Wild rice disappeared from Michigan over a century ago and is a vital part of Native American ceremonies and traditions. Manoomin means wild rice in Ojibwa.
“You are the first ones to bring wild rice back to the area,” the teens were told by American Indian guide Dave Anthony of Marquette, Michigan.
Centuries ago, American Indians moving inland from the east coast settled around the Great Lakes. “We were told at one of the stopping points that we would find food that grows on water and that is what we call Manoomin. It’s the wild rice you are planting,” Anthony said.
“This is very, very significant - this is a gift from the Creator,” said Anthony, who attends Northern Michigan University and belongs to the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa (Ottawa) Indians based in Harbor Springs, Michigan. “Wild rice is the original North American grain and is very nutritious.”
This year’s planting was delayed six weeks because of extremely low water levels. The Manoomin Project secured seeds from Minnesota and they were planted less than 48 hours before the first major snowfall of the season. The teens planted about 40 pounds of wild rice by carefully tossing a half a handful at a time into slow spots in the Dead River and nearby channels.
Manoomin is a difficult crop to plant; conditions must be ideal. Besides facing the hurdle of a late planting, the wild rice is a favorite food of geese and other wildlife. Still, the seeds that reach maturity through the harsher weather will be more likely to thrive in future years.
Manoomin Project volunteer Tom Reed of Marquette said the at-risk youth volunteer to plant and study wild rice "in lieu of community service." The teens are taught respect for themselves, nature and American Indian customs while planting wild rice at seven remote lakes and streams in Marquette and Alger counties.
"This is about educating the kids and not about punishment," said Reed.
“We had a good time planting wild rice,” Native American Don Chosa said of his work with the teens. He said some teens arrived angry because it was something they had to do, but they started to enjoy it and by the time they were done with one year of planting wild rice they were willing to come on a volunteer basis the following years.
“They learn how to plant, harvest and cook wild rice and they learn how to take water samples,” said Chosa. “A lot of them hadn’t been outside very much - so for them it was a good experience because it was miles and miles of hiking and mountain climbing.”
The project is sponsored by the Superior Watershed Partnership and the Cedar Tree Institute, non-profits based in Marquette; and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC).
Last July, KBIC elder Glenn Bressette of Harvey met with a group of at-risk teens and explained how he had similar problems when he was a youth but overcame issues like scrapes with police, and drinking alcohol, an addiction that was exacerbated by “a lot of prejudice in Marquette.”
The Manoomin Project falls under the umbrella of the Earth Keeper Initiative, a faith-based coalition of adults, university students, and the leaders of 9 faith communities with 140 churches and temples. It was founded by Rev. Jon Magnuson. Recently, the Earth Keepers/Cedar Tree Institute were declared one of the 15 hardest-working faith-based non-profits in America by the Acton Institute and World Magazine. It was the the second year in a row they received that honor.
The Earth Keepers hold an annual Earth Keeper Clean Sweep that has collected 370 tons of household poisons and other waste turned in by 15,000 Upper Peninsular residents across northern Michigan on the past three Earth Days.
To learn more about The Manoomin Project go to: The Cedar Tree Institute
To view videos of Earth Keeper activities go to:
1. Manoomin Project Music Video
2. Earth Keeper TV
3. YooperNewsman
To purchase wild rice hand-harvested by Ojibwe communities on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota go to: Native Harvest Wild Rice: Sacred Manoomin
Walnut Grove in Fog (© Photographer: Terrance Emerson | Agency: Dreamstime.com)
Magnificent native nuts are one of America’s great natural treats and it’s harvest time!
Gathered in the Midwest and East-Central U.S., the American Eastern Black Walnut is the premium nut selection among those with a discerning taste. Its superior, pungent flavor has elevated it to the status of the "Ultimate Nut" for taste-conscious foodies who place rigorous demands on their recipes. American Eastern Black Walnuts turn everyday dishes into exciting signature creations with a rich, robust, almost smokey taste. No other walnut can match the distinctive depth of its flavor. American Eastern Black Walnuts are low in saturated fats, have no cholesterol, and are high in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. It's a tough nut to beat!
The sweet flavored Native Pecan is an American nut from the Hickory family. They have a high oil content, which contributes to their rich taste and beautiful coloring. "Pecan" is a Native American word from the Algonquin language, covering "all nuts requiring a stone to crack". Wild pecans were a major food source for Native American tribes during autumn, and Native Americans are believed to have been the first to cultivate the pecan tree. The cultivation of pecan trees is one of the most sustainable forms of agriculture.
The annual U.S. nut harvest begins in October and will last until December, so there will be plenty of fresh nuts for baking, cooking, gifting, and serving at Thanksgiving and over the winter holidays. American Eastern Black Walnuts and Native Pecans are delicious heirloom foods by themselves, but when used for baking or cooking they bloom into whole new realms of flavor.
Note: Stored properly, fresh nuts can be kept in great shape for a year.
If you'd like to purchase some American Black Walnuts & Native Pecans go to: Bakers Bounty! Fancy Large Premium Black Walnuts & Native Pecan Halves
For some scrumptious recipes calling for great American nuts click on the following:
1. Missouri’s Best Black Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
2. American Black Walnut & Wild Rice Pilaf
3. Slightly Soused Apple Cobbler
4. Applesauce Cake
If you'd like to read a Washington Post article on the topic go to: It's Crunch Time for Nuts
Fun for All at the Festival (photo courtesy of Kona Coffee Cultural Festival)
"Kona Coffee Tradition of Excellence"
Join in the community celebration of Kona's gourmet brew at the 37th Annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival on Hawaii’s Big Island, beginning Friday, November 2nd and ending Sunday, November 11th. Enjoy nearly 50 Festival events including contests, tastings, ethnic foods, two parades, a scholarship pageant, farm tours, art exhibits, an outdoor concert and more!
The award-winning Cultural Festival celebrates a 180-year-old tradition of the annual Kona coffee harvest. Kona coffee is carefully hand-picked to ensure each coffee cherry is ripe and ready for the perfect cup of Kona. Many Kona farmers can lay claim to being fifth generation coffee farmers, continuing the tradition and honoring their heritage with every harvest.
At the annual Cupping Competition Festival-goers can view judges selecting the very best Kona coffee and sample the coffee themselves, while learning from tasting experts how to critique a high-quality brew. The Art Show will feature a selection of paintings depicting views of the Kona coffee lifestyle, and the Recipe Contest will give student and professional chefs the opportunity to enter their most robust creations using world-famous Kona coffee.
Kona Beans (photo courtesy of Kona Coffee Cultural Festival)
Visitors can take tours of working and historical Kona coffee farms, mills and roasting operations. Free coffee workshops help share insight into growing, roasting and brewing Kona coffee. Seasoned and first time participants as well as spectators are encouraged to join in the fun and festivities at the Kona Coffee Picking Contest on Sunday, November 4th.
A brand new Barista Training Workshop joins the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival event line-up on Thursday, November 8, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Hale Halawai. During this informative workshop, participants will learn the intricacies of how to taste and prepare espresso and to make popular specialty drinks using Kona coffee.
Take time to shop at the farmer's market for a favorite Kona estate roast and bring a little taste of the Festival home with you!
For further info visit the Festival’s official web site: Kona Coffee Cultural Festival
If you can't make it to the Festival but would like to buy some authentic Kona Coffee go to: 100% Pure Hawaiian Kona Coffee
Cundy's Harbor (photo courtesy of Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company)
When Hazel Ellis Hancock started a lobster restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine in 1946, her aim was to deliver the finest Maine lobster, the finest customer service and the best "Maine" experience to her customers. For 25 years, Nana ran that restaurant with her 2 sisters, Fannie and Mina, and they taught their children and grandchildren (Cal among them) well.
The restaurant is still in the Hancock family and it’s still serving the finest Maine lobster available. Cal Hancock created the Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company in December of 2000 with the same spirit and purpose that Nana brought to the restaurant. Cal's mission is to bring great Maine lobster to customers around the country using long held family recipes that combine ease of preparation with the highest standards of quality and customer service.
Cal and her team work out of a creative kitchen (also known as home) in Cundy's Harbor; a village of 500 people on Casco Bay and Maine's oldest commercial lobstering community. As Nana taught, Cal uses only the freshest, all natural ingredients and no preservatives. Cal's dishes contain an abundance of fresh Maine lobster meat; using only claw and knuckle meat; the most tender part of the lobster. Everything is made in small batches and prepared fresh each day. All products arrive at the customer's door by overnight delivery, frozen, ready to thaw, heat and enjoy.
Hancock Gourmet Lobster buys cream, butter and milk from local dairies, and Maine lobster from Maine lobstermen (“women who lobster” prefer to be called lobstermen). The company buys its meat from family businesses that actively support the preservation of the lobster supply. Cal's company supports Maine lobstering, an eco-friendly, sustainable fishery with the most progressive conservation program in the industry that uses methods to sustain the resource and protect the ocean environment. Only Maine lobstermen measure each lobster, returning to sea the large, healthy breeders and the immature young.
The folks at Hancock Gourmet Lobster are justly proud of the many customers who rave about their little company on the coast of Maine. The Company has received much deserved acclaim, having been featured in the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today, Food and Wine Magazine, the Rosengarten Report, the Chicago Sun Times, the Houston Chronicle and on the television show Food Finds.
If you'd like to try some of the Hancock Gourmet Lobster Company's amazing dishes go to:
1. Christmas Cove Lobster Cakes
2. Cundy's Harbor Lobster Stew Quart
3. Nubble Light Lobster Wellington
Manoomin (photo by Rick Tango)
Eat well with the "food that grows on the water." Native Harvest Wild Rice grows naturally in the lakes of Northern Minnesota and is hand-harvested by Ojibwe communities on the White Earth Indian Reservation using traditional methods.
Unlike the genetically manipulated "wild rice" grown in paddies, this authentic wild rice is an important American heirloom crop and a central part of Anishinaabeg culture and tradition. Anishinaabeg is a self-description often used by people belonging to the indigenous Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonkin peoples of North America, who share closely related Algonquian languages. Ojibwe communities in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Canada, harvest and process wild rice in the tradition of their ancestors.
Manoomin, as the wild rice is known, is part of the Anishinaabeg migration stories and prophecies. It continues to define what it means to be Anishinaabeg. One definition of Anishnaabeg is Original-People. Another refers to ideas about the good people that are on the right path given to them by the Creator.
The campaign to protect the integrity of this authentic wild rice is an important aspect of the White Earth Land Recovery Project in Ponsford, Minnesota. The Project’s mission is to facilitate recovery of the original land base of the White Earth Indian Reservation, while preserving traditional practices of sound land stewardship, language fluency, community development, and the spiritual and cultural heritage of the people of White Earth.
Winona LaDuke is the organization’s Founder and Director. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch Universities, Ms. LaDuke received the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1989, with which, in part, she began the White Earth Land Recovery Project. The Project’s wild rice campaign is working to prevent the taking of the essence of the wild rice by the paddy rice industry, which would leave the Native Americans who have been the stewards of this resource for many centuries with nothing.
The campaign began in 2002, with the historic gathering that brought together traditional rice harvesters from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan to meet with members from the academic, scientific and non-profit communities. That meeting set the foundation for the ongoing struggle to protect the sacred wild rice from issues of bio-piracy, further genetic manipulation, patent struggles and labeling issues.
The four main components of the wild rice campaign are:
1) Protecting the intellectual property rights of the Anishinaabeg.
2) Opposing genetic modification and contamination of wild rice.
3) Promoting a fair trade for traditionally hand-harvested, natural lake wild rice.
4) Educating on the tradition and culture surrounding wild rice.
To purchase this authentic heirloom wild rice, hand-harvested by Ojibwe communities go to: Native Harvest Wild Rice: Sacred Manoomin
To view a wonderful recipe employing Sacred Manoomin go to: American Black Walnut & Wild Rice Pilaf
Cajun Crawfish (photo by Robin May, courtesy of Festivals Acadiens)
Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet! (Let the Good Times Roll!)
Festivals Acadiens started in 1972 as an effort to keep Cajun culture alive. Since then it has grown into a 3-day event that attracts people of many different nationalities from all over the world. Whether you're among the young or the young at heart, you can bet that Festivals Acadiens has something that will tickle your fancy. From Friday, October 12th to Sunday the 14th you can join the folks in Lafayette, Lousiana for good music, good food, and good times!
C'est bon (That's good) is the best way to describe authentic Cajun and Creole cooking, and nowhere in the world is the variety greater than at the Bayou Food Festival in Lafayette. Try fried soft-shell crab, seafood and artichoke lasagna, barbecue boudin, crawfish fettucini, corn and crab bisque, meat pies, catfish courtbouillion, wild game jambalaya, bread pudding and pralines. You can find all this and more as the area's best restaurants and caterers turn out to showcase their finest specialties. The Bayou Food Festival is in Girard Park adjacent to the Festival de Musique Acadienne and admission is free. All proceeds from the Festival will help fund the Lafayette Jaycees' community projects.
Festival de Musique Acadienne will showcase the best of Cajun and Zydeco music beneath the spreading oaks of Girard Park. Festival de Musique Acadienne, celebrating 32 years of entertainment, originated as the Tribute to Cajun Music Festival, an event that was designed to attract and educate the younger generation to the traditional values of the Cajun culture. Festival de Musique Acadienne now attracts Louisiana's best Cajun and Zydeco bands and draws thousands of people from across the country and around the world.
Louisiana Folk Roots presents Cajun and Creole Music Jam Sessions during Festival Acadiens. Jam sessions will take place throughout Saturday and Sunday in Girard Park. Anyone can bring an instrument and join in or just hang around and enjoy the great music of others. Louisiana Folk Roots is a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing the unique folkways and cultural resources that are of such legendary abundance in Louisiana. Its purpose is to foster, encourage, share and preserve traditional expressions of Louisiana folk culture, with an emphasis on Cajun and Creole heritage, through performances and other types of related educational activities.
The Louisiana Craft Fair is the newest addition to Festivals Acadiens, presenting traditional and fine artists and craftspeople from across Louisiana. The Louisiana Crafts Guild, a non-profit statewide organization created for the professional craftsperson, hosts the Louisiana Craft Fair. The Craft Fair will be held in Girard Park near Girard Park Lake and admission is free, making the entire Festival a free event. The Louisiana Craft Fair will feature dozens of crafts booths. Craftspeople will be on hand selling their wares. Some of the crafts available include wood furniture , jewelry, Houma Indian crafts, gourds, pottery, kaleidoscopes, stained glass, soaps, musical instruments, photography, pen and ink drawings and silk.
To get more info on the attractions go to: Festivals Acadiens
To get info on visiting Lafayette, including accomodations, go to: Lafayette Visitors Commission
Napa's Vineyards at Sunset (photo by Doug Ferber)
The French term "terroir” refers to the way foods and wine express the soil, climate, culture and tradition of a region. The concept is familiar to many wine lovers, but using terroir to explain the signature flavors of America’s regional foods is a relatively new trend among specialty food lovers.
Jane Black of the Washington Post has written an excellent article on marketing regional foods using “identity preservation” or “geographic identity”. She writes that “an unlikely coalition is joining forces to invent American tradition by linking foods to the places they come from and, like American winemakers before them, to romance.”
Her report cites salmon fishermen on Lummi Island, off the coast of Washington, who have formed a co-op to sell local sockeye salmon caught in reef nets, a traditional Native American method. Researchers in Iowa have studied bringing back the Muscatine melon, a variety that owes its juicy fragrance to the sandy soil on the banks of the Mississippi. Vermont’s maple syrup producers are exploring how terroir can make their product stand out from cheaper, but less flavorful imports.
If you’d like to read Jane Black’s article in the Washington Post go to: The Geography of Flavor
Fresh Food at the Dallas Farmers Market (photo by Doug Ferber)
We’ve long been extolling the virtues of shopping at farmers markets and supporting local family farms. Not only do you get produce at its freshest and most nutritious, you get the pleasure of talking with the farmers and learning more about the food.
A study from the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP) has us more convinced than ever that we’re on the right path with our enthusiastic support. The UC researchers found that farmers, communities, and individual residents are all beneficiaries of local farmers markets. The study also found astonishing growth in farmers markets. In 1970 there were only 340 farmers markets in the United States; by 2006, there were 4,385.
The markets help farmers sell their products in local communities for higher prices than they could get from wholesalers, according to Gail Feenstra of SAREP. She further explains, "Farmers benefit from the ability to sell smaller and variable quantities, and learn the skills they need to increase their business."
Communities that support farmers markets have a positive influence on their local economies. Feenstra says farmers markets not only encourage economic transactions on their premises, but also bring customers into town where they make purchases at other businesses. Besides being good for local businesses, she says the social benefit of the markets can't be overestimated. She found farmers markets to be a major source of interaction, both between farmers and their customers, and among the market visitors.
Individuals said they benefit from patronizing farmers markets by their ability to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and meat, and value-added items such as baked goods, olive oil, jam and salad dressing. Customers interviewed by Feenstra expressed positive feelings about buying food they believe to be clean and safe from farmers they know.
If you'd like to read more about the UC study cited above go to: UC researcher: farmers markets benefit local economies
To listen to a podcast interview with the President of the Dallas Farmers Market Friends go to: Friends of the Dallas Farmers Market Podcast
To view previous posts on the topic of farmers markets click on the following:
1. Farmers Markets Growing Across the Country
2. Buying Local Grows on Food Safety Concerns
3. New Orleans' Old French Market Ready to Re-Open
4. Reap the Benefits of Buying Local
5. Is Local the New Organic?
6. Shopping at the Farmers’ Market
 
The 1st Annual Delmarva Blue Crab Festival will be all about food, fun, education and the future. Mark your calendar, and get yourselves to 30045 Eagle Crest Road #2 in Milton, Delaware for the weekend of Friday, August 10th through Sunday, August 12th.
Fabulous Food
The central food focus of this Festival celebrating the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia (Delmarva) region is on crabs – specifically the blue crab, a flavor-packed seafood and longtime local favorite. Those who know will tell you that the flavor is unequaled. For those eager to find out why, the Festival will offer pot after pot of fresh steamed crabs along with plenty of space to spread out and “hammer claws,” “pull aprons,” and “eat mustard.” For those new to eating blue crabs, there’ll be free lessons on lingo and technique so that you’ll quickly become a crab pickin’ pro. (You do have to buy the crabs!) Some other seafoods that will be available include clams, oysters, shrimp and mussels. The Festival’s food is guaranteed not to disappoint!
Lots of Live Music
Eating crabs and being entert |
