Save Our Food -Holiday Festival

From their website...
"A Celebration of Virginia's Best Foods and a Showcase of Food, Wine and Specialty Gifts
Last year, more than 3,000 people attended the Save Our Food Holiday Festival, making it the area's largest and only holiday food and wine show.
This event is the perfect place for you to simply enjoy a day with friends or family, take a break from the holiday hustle and pick up some delicious and locally produced gifts.
When: Saturday, Dec. 11, from Noon until 7 p.m.
Where: Farm Bureau Center at The Meadow Event "

I've talked to some who participated in last year's event, there was a focus on sustainable ag. and pasture raised farm animals, but it was not exclusively so.
Learn more about Save Our Food and the festival Here.

Richmond Area Holiday, and Winter Farmers Markets Abound!

Just a reminder that there are several area markets who will be continuing their regular hours, holding renegade markets, or having special holiday markets over the next several weeks and the upcoming winter months.

Huguenot and Robious Market: This market outside The Great Big Greenhouse originally was set to run only through September. Now they have extended the market through November 18. Market hours are from 10:00am to 3:00pm.

South of the James will continue to hold its Saturday market from 8:00-12:00 through December 4.

When South of the James is over the Market Umbrella is hosting what they call "South-Er Of The James" at 4910 Forest Hill Avenue SATURDAYS from 10 am to 12 pm
December 2010 - April 2011 . Google street view shows this address as the vacant lot next to the Blockbuster Video near West Over Hills Blvd.

Lakeside Market will continue both of it's Wednesday Markets and it's Saturday market through November! They also will be hosting a special Holiday Market on the evening of Friday November 12 from 4PM til 9PM to celebrate the "Holly Jolly Christmas" on Lakeside Ave. More information at http://www.lakesideavenue.net/.

Goochland Farmer's Market will hold two holiday markets.
Saturday Novemeber 13 from 10:00-2:00.
Saturday December 11, 10:00-2:00.
Both of these markets will be indoors at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Collage's Western Campus, 1851 Dickens Rd. Goochland. The Goochland Markets Local Roots winter food CoOP is starting now. Get more information or sign up Here.

The West End Market will host two holiday Markets. The first for Thanksgiving: Wednesday, November 24th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. A second for Christmas: Saturday, December 4th, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The Ashland Farmer's Market will also host two Holiday Markets.
Saturday November 20th
Saturday, December 4.
The normal Saturday market hours are 9:00 -12:00. It looks like the Holiday Markets will have the same hours.

St. Steven's Market is hosting an On line Market There may still be room available for signing up. For $50 you can order from 20 different vendors online and pick your order each week on Thursdays from 3:00-6:30 pm. For more info. click Here.

Farm to Family: Jump on the bus, stop by their Mechanicsville shop or join their fall CSA. "Members buy a share of the 2010 Farm to Family CSA including local grass fed pastured meats, dairy and locally made bread and receive a weekly delivery of goods starting 09/16/10 extending 12 weeks. Anyone joining after the start date will be pro-rated,- Shares break down to about $45.00 per week (including Turkey) The cost of the membership is $550, save $25 if you pay in full." Click here to find out more, including how to get facebook or twitter updates on the bus location.

Lulu's Local Foods: Started by the woman who once owned Edible Garden, Lulu's Local Foods is an online program that allows for the creation of multiple CSAs in our area and beyond. One hope is to coordinate area drop off sites to reduce fuel and time for each individual producer. I participated last year via the St. Steven's pick up location and the available food choices each week was almost overwhelming! Click here to learn more and choose of the 2010 pickup sites near you.

Byrd House Renegade Market: Byrd Houses yearly "Renegade Market" started up this past Tuesday. I used to go every week and loved it. Bread, meats, veggies and more for loyalist shoppers from dedicated vendors. 2-6pm (or dark, whichever comes first)
Weekly through April 2011. Click here to see the vendor list and keep up with updates.

Lion's Mane Mushrooms

Pulled Lion's Mane Mushroom

I mentioned in my last post that this week I was going to try the Lion's Mane Mushroom. Well, try I did. I got my lion's mane mushroom from Steve Haas, of HaaShrooms at Saint Stephen's Market. He sells a a variety of mushrooms depending on the season. This past Saturday, I bought one lion's mane mushroom for $5. That's one mushroom for $5. I also bought a small handful of oyster mushrooms for the same price. I was willing to pay the money just to try this mushroom at least once. Also, I had tried the Chicken Of The Woods mushroom he sold in late summer and loved those ( Steve says those are his personal favorite).

Steve told me the bright white mushroom in my little ziplock bag would pull like crab meat, and even taste a bit like crab once sauteed with butter and garlic. Well, why not? Sampled uncooked and plain this mushroom has little flavor, but it takes on the flavor of whatever it's cook with. It did indeed pull apart nicely, but as for flavor I am afraid we messed things up by adding some onion and the oyster mushrooms into the mix to go over our pasta. I fished a couple pieces out to try on their own and with they had a consistency similar to crab, and tasted like the butter, garlic sauce they were cooked in. If I tried them again I'd skip the pasta and maybe put my garlicky butter dripping mushrooms over top a little micro greens or something similar. I'm glad I tried this mushroom that I'd never even heard of before. I ate well, and learned something, or actually a few things which mean those five dollars probably went further than many. You can check out the great HaaShoom's facebook page here to learn more , and see photos of the "wild crafted" lion's mane mushrooms he harvested just this Friday.

Day Tripping

Day Tripping: I thought I would start this post with a little Wikapedia defining of the term. The first thing that popped up was this..."Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, it was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out".[1] Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album. "Day Tripper" topped the UK Singles Chart[2] and the song peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[1] To read on about that, click here.
Okay, but then I found this on Dictionary.com "–noun
a person who goes on a trip, esp. an excursion, lasting all or part of a day but not overnight."
Origin:
1895–1900; day trip + -er1 " Closer to what I was seeking.


So yes, my husband and I went on a day trip a couple of weekends ago, and aside from the occasional bickering caused by trying to rely solely on google maps, we had a great day. Taking off from Richmond we headed straight for Charlottesville where we ate lunch at Feast. So yummy! We both loved the sandwiches, fruit salad, and bean salads. Simple but delicious foods and lots of great treats to look over while you wait. Afterward we could of hit the Gearharts Chocolates within the same building and enjoyed some mouth watering chocolates, but we knew we had a big day full of treats ahead so we held off.


Cruising up 250 we were quickly in Crozet Virgina, about five minutes outside of Charlottesville. Our first stop, actually in the town of Ivy was The Barn Swallow, is a beautiful old barn that now holds locally made pottery, hand bags, jewelry, furniture and more. I couldn't help myself, and came away with a beautiful vase by Janice Arone.
Just about a fifteen minute drive "up the hill" is Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. Here ten nuns have been making an amazing golden Gouda cheese for twenty years in order to raise money to keep the monastery in operation. The two pound wheels of cheese are sold via mail order for $33. However if you go to the monastery each wheel is $25. I had to try some of this cheese that I have been hearing so much about. A call ahead is requested if you plan to visit. Outside of a very small , and simple chapel there is nothing to see other than the friendly face of the nun who hands you that hefty wheel of cheese. The sister helping us reminded us to use a peeler to remove the interior rind prior to "attacking the cheese."

We came prepared with a cooler in the back seat, placed the Gouda inside and took of for our next destination... Blue Mountain Brewery. Only problem, those Google maps did not mesh with the ever changing route names and we were repeatedly driving around the tiny town of White Hall in one big circle. After passing the White Hall Vineyards three times I decided to take the hint and stop in for a wine tasting. We sampled several of their varietals which I never tried before. At the same time we were able to watch the wine making staff at work through a large plate glass window near to the tasting area. My favorites from the tasting were the 2008 Petit Manseng, and the 2008 Touriga. Matt liked the 2007 Gewurztraminer. The ones I truly prefer like the Viognier, and Cabernet Franc are not available for tasting. I did however walk out with a few bottles including the 2008 Cuvee des Champs.

Refreshed, and with proper directions from the nice people at White Hall, we set out again for the Blue Mountain Brewery. Minutes later we arrived just in time to enjoy a beautiful evening on the deck overlooking the mountains, sunset included. For just five dollars you can enjoy a sampling of six different beers. The food was alright. They feature local bratwurst from Double H. Farm in Nelson Co., pulled pork BBQ from Edward's in Surry, and house pickled jalapenos. People had their dogs on leashes with them at tables further out on the lawn and children ran around in the cool grass. It was a great ending to our day.

A week after our trip we enjoyed the wine and cheese together with some good company. A nice way to share the experience of our trip with others.

Our wheel of Gouda and a Bottle of White Hall's Cuvee Des Champs

Literally translated as "blend of the fields," this Bordeaux blend also shares the owners' last name. Described as having "Bouquets of dark cherries and cinnamon" with " deep royal colors to enhance flavors of dark chocolate and rich plums that precede a well-balanced finish of vanilla and oak." The 2006 received a Platinum rating at the Virginia Wine Lovers classic.

Farmers' Dinner, with Manakintowne Specialty Growers

From: Sprout and Manakintowne Specialty Growers

Farmers Dinner

Sunday, November 14 · 7:00pm - 10:30pm

Join us for an evening of food, wine, and a bit of VA history. Enjoy a dinner with Manakintowne Specialty Growers, featuring their delicious herbs and produce, and sample some of Virginia's finest wines while learning about the origins of your food and drinks. Sprout will offer a four course meal, each with a sampling of VA wine, for only $35 per person, or a dessert and wine sampling only option for $15 per person. Reservations must be paid in advance (by November 12th). You may make your reservations by calling Sprout (804) 592-5771 and paying by credit card over the phone, or by going to Sprout's website and clicking on Calendar of Events and following the prompts to pay with paypal, or by stopping by the restaurant. Space is limited, see you then!

This really happened.

Time To Try Something New

One of the great things about the local foods movement is that it pushes you to break old habits, mix up your routine and try new things. That certainly was the case for me. I eat, shop, cook, and think about food differently. I have met a host of great new people, made new friends, and visited great places I would have never thought to go.
That said, most of us are creatures of habit, and I am one shining example! Three years into my own local food adventure I had once again falling into a fairly entrenched routine. I go to the same market nearly every single week, to the point of having never made it several of our areas other markets this summer. Once at the market I make a bee line for my same four or five favorite vendors each week. This is my grocery shopping and I'm getting it done. I've even fallen away quite a bit from trying out new things there.
Same market, same foods, most often with the same preparation. Thank goodness for Seasonality or that old trap of eating way too much of just a handful of food would have had me for sure.
We'll a few weeks ago with October rolling in I gave myself a pinch. I promised myself that I would start exploring again, not just the markets, but all the great stuff around me that I'm taking for granted.
I set a very easy goal. All I need to do is try two new things a week. They can be foods, music, restaurants, places, authors, recipes etc. Sometimes life can seem exhaustingly busy. When money, time, and energy is limited it's easier to go for the safety of the well tested track, but I've found the smallest effort has lead to great rewards. Weather I like each thing or not, half of the fun is just in the mini adventure of discovery. I've found a really affordable wine that I love, a mouth watering wheel of cheese that required 15 minutes of perilous dirt road driving to get, and I found out that I really like the Chicken of the Woods Mushroom.
On this weeks list... Kohlrabi, and the Lion's Mane mushroom to name two. Happy Discovering!