For all you Madisonian readers, REAP Food Group's annual Burgers and Brew event is tomorrow, Saturday, June 5. It's a great event that goes to support a great cause: Southern Wisconsin Buy Fresh Buy Local program.

Here are the details:
Saturday June 5th 4-7:30 pm (Rain or Shine)
Capital Brewery Bier Garten, 7734 Terrace Avenue, Middleton, WI
Tickets are $25 each = 3 mini-meals of a burger and short pour of microbrew
Participating Chefs, Brewers and Farmers:
Chefs:
Alchemy Café, Brasserie V, Bunky’s Café, Fresco, jacs Dining & Tap House, L’Etoile, Lombardino’s, Metcalfe’s Market, Sardine, The Weary Traveler, Tornado Steakhouse, Willy Street Grocery Co-op

Farms:
Northstar Bison, Foutain Prairie Farm, Sprouting Acres, Keewaydin Farms, Pecatonica Valley Farm, Fountain Prairie Farm, Pinn-Oak Ridge Farms, Cates Family Farm, Garden To Be, Jordandal Farms, Lange Family Farm, Black Earth Meats

Brewers:
Pearl Street Brewery, Furthermore Beer, Capital Brewery, Hinterland Brewery, O'so Brewing Company, Sand Creek Brewing, Milwaukee Brewing Company, Great Dane Brewery, Grumpy Troll Brewery, Tyranena Brewing, Sprecher Brewing

I will be volunteering at the event ... hope to see you there!

Happy eating, -s.
I just received an email from our CSA farm, Driftless Organics, about this coming season. I know, I know, it's been below zero for days, there is snow on the ground — how can I be thinking about summer? But, it will be here before you know it and it's fun to imagine it being warm and sunny again.

Last year was our first year with Driftless and it was a great experience. The produce was beautiful, the newsletters were informative, the recipes were great and I loved being able to pick it up at my favorite breakfast and lunch spot, Mermaid Cafe. We did the every-other-week share so that I could go to the Dane County Farmers' Market on the off weeks. It worked well, and while sometimes you had to be creative in order to eat everything (like the enormous head of cabbage!), the produce lasts so much longer in the fridge because its super fresh since a truck didn't have to drive from California or Mexico to bring it here.

I would highly recommend doing a CSA this year for several reasons:
1. You know where your food is coming from — and the people who grew it, harvested it and packed your box.
2. It will be the freshest, most vitamin-rich produce you can get.
3. It's like getting a present every week or two — there are always a few (good) surprises in your box.
4. It will inspire you to try new foodstuff, experiment with new recipes and eat less meat, all of which is good for your health and the planet's.

If you live in the Madison area, check out there are some great resources to locate a farm:
1. REAP Food Group: an excellent resource for eating locally, seasonally and responsibly; check out their annual Farm Fresh Atlas for a comprehensive list of area farmers and producers.
2. MACSAC: an organization that supports and promotes CSAs in Southern Wisconsin. They have a great list of CSAs from which to choose.

To search nationally: Check out the Robyn Van En Center which provides information on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs located both nationally and internationally. Here's a link to their CSA database.

Happy eating ... locally, -s.

Happy first day of autumn!
The rapidly approaching fall was definitely apparent at the Dane County Farmers' market on Saturday. Apples, winter squash, cool-weather-loving greens were in abundance and, boy, does that make me happy.

Our favorite apple stand, Westons' Antique Apple Orchard, has some pretty spectacular heirloom varieties this year, including some gorgeous pears that I will be using in a salad later this week. My new favorite apple is the Pink Pearl, circa1944 from California. It's named for the pink flesh hidden just beneath its celery-green exterior. Quite a color-contrast! Crisp, tart and utterly delicious.

At the market
apples
arugula
basil
broccoli
mustard greens
pears
tomatoes: sungolds, Juliette and heirloom
sweet corn
Menu: week of 20 September 2009
Sunday: what else, but BLT pizza
Monday: it's my birthday, so I get the night off from cooking!
Tuesday: creamy corn soup with chiles and cilantro, served with warm, crusty bread from Madison Sourdough Co.
Wednesday: whole-wheat spaghetti with spicy Italian sausage and mustard greens with a dollop of fresh ricotta
Thursday: warm pear salad with DreamFarm chevre and a toasted-walnut vinaigrette
Friday: yellow potato gratin with salsa verde and nutty local cheese

Happy eating! -s
My sister Holley was reading the book, "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper" when she came upon this quote that pretty much sums up why I'm writing this blog:
"You would never know it by going to a supermarket, but children are supposed to eat the same food as their parents." -Dr Marion Nestle.

So true! I never noticed it until I had Pickle, but there are two main consumer groups to which grocers market: adults and children. Even the placement of food is shocking: the mac and cheese, the sweetened cereals, the juice, cookies, fruit snacks, etc., are all at kiddie height. With that food for thought, here’s what we’re eating this week.

At the Market:
Baby purple, yellow and red bell peppers
Baby Yukon gold potatoes
Basil
Fountain Prairie Farm skirt steak
Eggplant
Italian flat-leaf parsley
Maple syrup
Mustard greens
Red and White onions
Red bell peppers
Sweet Corn
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!
Tomatillos

Menu: week of 6 September 2009
Sunday: grilled Fountain Prairie Farm skirt steak and Juliette tomatoes with roasted red potato salad in an herbed yogurt dressing
Monday: BLTs with juicy, juicy muskmelon
Tuesday: fresh ricotta bruschetta with sautéed mustard greens
Wednesday: fresh corn pancakes with a salad of greens (recipe coming soon!)
Thursday: sautéed zucchini and aged cheddar enchiladas bathed in roasted salsa verde
Friday: sausage and peppers with roasted eggplant

Happy eating!
Oh, summer, how I love thee! let me count the ways: tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes!

On Saturday, we had a CSA delivery and we hit the Dane County Farmers’ Market, too. There’s just so much in season right now that we want to enjoy it fully since our growing season is so short!

Tomatoes and corn carry the menu this week. I’ve got some great recipes that will be posted soon, including:
Market tomato and goat cheese tart – a Pickle-tested, Pickle-approved recipe
Eggplant, tomato and fresh mozzarella napoleons
BLT pizza

In our CSA Box/At the Market:
Arugula
Blueberries
Carrots
Cucumbers
Cilantro
Edamame
Eggplant
Garlic
Jalapeños
Sweet peppers
Green leaf lettuce
Purple green beans
Red onions
Sungold Tomatoes
Sweet Corn
Tomatillos
Tomatoes – heirloom and slicers
Zucchini

Menu: week of 16 August 2009
Sunday: BLT Pizza – roasted Sungold tomatoes, bacon, arugula and roasted garlic
Monday: Sautéed zucchini and Monterey jack enchiladas with roasted salsa verde and an avocado salad
Tuesday: Mahi Mahi kebabs with lemon-scented, herbed Greek yogurt, naan and roasted sweet corn
Wednesday: out to dinner
Thursday: Fish tacos with shredded Napa cabbage and avocado crema
Friday: BLTs with green beans vinaigrette
Saturday: Date night
It was raining again during Saturday's farmers' market Рbummer. Pickle and I were flying solo as Chris was out of town, parking was a beast and I spilled coffee all over myself trying to maneuver the stroller out of Caf̩ Soleil, so all in all, not the best start to our Saturday ritual.

But, boy oh boy, did the farmers make it all the worthwhile! The stands were burgeoning with fresh goodies. Every shade of green was featured with pops of red from the glorious, finally in-season strawberries. There is nothing better than a homegrown strawberry – red all the way through and sweet as sugar. Yum! Pickle had a meltdown midway through the market, but one of those berries made it all better. Oh, the power of food.

At the Market:
Arugula
Baby beets
Breakfast radishes from Harmony Valley Farm
Escarole from Jones Valley Farms – it was enormous!
Oyster mushrooms
Pencil-thin asparagus – so happy to have one last bunch before the season ends
Red butter lettuce – absolutely gorgeous and so unusual looking!
Spinach from Harmony Valley Farm
Spring onions
Strawberries
Sugar-snap peas

Menu: week of 14 June 2009
Sunday: Grilled flank steak and escarole with toasted pine nuts, golden raisins in a warm, garlic-lemon vinaigrette (recipe coming soon!)
Monday: Grilled, Korean-style Key West Shrimp with scallion pancakes and sautéed sesame sugar-snap peas
Tuesday: Oven-baked meatballs with herbed Greek yogurt and roasted asparagus
Wednesday: Puffed pastry tart with sautéed greens, oyster mushrooms and a roasted-beet and goat cheese salad
Thursday: Pasta with sautéed escarole, Fraboni’s Italian sausage and red onion
Friday: For cocktails on the patio: Breakfast radishes on crostini with softened butter and fleur de sel and a glass of Ros̩ Рsummer is finally here!