Introducing Little House Green Grocery!

Guess what, y'all?!  We are opening a neighborhood green grocery!

After years of working with farmers markets and studying food policy, (and out of my own desire to feed my neighbors) I finally found someone crazy enough to take the leap with me into the world of retail.  Even with all of the roadblocks put up by permits and the details of commercial real estate, my partner Jess and I have been buoyed by the unwavering support of our community. 

Our vision, quite simply, is to feed our neighborhood well.  Little House Green Grocery will offer customers a convenient, neighborhood source for locally produced foods, fresh produce, grocery essentials, and a limited selection of prepared foods while providing a community atmosphere through events and classes. Though we don't know the exact spot yet, we do know that the grocery will be located in the neighborhood of Bellevue, which has a reputation of supporting small businesses and progressive causes. Our vendors and our neighbors are really excited, and so are we!

Ultimately, we want to make this model adaptable to other communities in the city.

Our website is still fairly basic (we are building it ourselves to save cash, but welcome your tips and ideas!) but our Facebook page is pretty lively.  Check 'em out for the play- by- play as we move toward our opening in the fall!

To add to the adventure, we have entered a local start-up competition put on by i.e.* with a prize of $10,000. The public is asked to vote on the contestants May 30 through June 1. There are 143 contestants, so we need your vote!  Please save the date, tell your friends, and vote for Little House Green Grocery. We will use the funds towards our start-up costs.  If we get into the top ten finalists, we will get a billboard (so we hear) and great exposure, which will be invaluable.

We will be starting a Kickstarter campaign soon- we love what crowd sourcing has done for local projects!

Also, if your favorite food producer is looking for a new outlet, please send them our way. The vendor agreement is on the website, as well as our contact info.  We are particularly looking for four season farmers and locally produced pantry staples.

Thanks y'all!!

Recipes for an Early Summer Gathering

Chocolate Cherry Brownies!

                                   
Cookouts, barbeques, picnics... they're all happening and they all send you looking for recipes that hold and travel well, are made for the grill, and are perhaps a bit indulgent.  I thought it would be fun to start off by checking in with some of our favorite local food bloggers to see what they are cooking up!  Tim Vidra of EAT is always a good bet, and this beautiful post for grilled skirt steak with "salsa verde'" is perfect for a backyard party and allows him to share herbs from his own garden.  F is for Food's post from last weekend talks about two things that are perfect for those who want to say out of the kitchen all together... carryout subs from Coppola's Deli (one of my all time favorite spots), and a cheese and anchovies plate with Billy Bread.  This post also has a fantastic looking recipe for Shad Roe with bacon and fresh herbs. 
Looking for a seasonal dessert? Our friend Ushan has a fb page called Family Friendly Foodie Fun, and she just shared a cherry pie recipe using cherries from her cherry, and peach picking adventure in Charlottesville this week. 
They all look so great! 

Here's some of my favorites from the RFC...

Double Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Red Cabbage Cole Slaw with Greek Yogurt

Strawberry and Rose Ice Cream 

Peach and Brown Sugar Ice Cream

Shannon's Vegan Spinach and White Bean Dip

4 oz fresh baby spinach

1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

1 shallot, diced

4 med-large cloves garlic, minced

5 pitted kalamata olives cut in half

1 15oz can white beans

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil

Saute fresh baby spinach in olive oil and the juice of 3 lemon wedges until just wilted through.

Rinse and drain one 15oz can white beans and puree in a food processor with juice from remaining lemon wedges. If lemon is large you may need to leave out one or two wedges to keep it from being overly tart. Add the sauteed spinach, a couple good pinches of the salt and about 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper along with all the remaining ingredients and run through the food processor again. Serve with cauliflower, raw fennel, radishes, and bread.

When it Rains Leeks it Pours

Incredibly easy to grow, delicious to eat and good for you, leeks are one of my favorite late spring foods.  However I'd never grown them before.  Last summer my husband handed me a small pot of what looked like chives.  They were in fact, hundreds of individual leeks just waiting to be teased apart and planted.  Pots of leek "starts" such as this can be found with the vegetable plants at Lowe's and Southern States.  Anytime from late summer through early spring, plant leek starts in full sun (they need a good about 8 hours per day) in loose, well drained soil with a good six inches between each tiny bulb and wait till the plants are about one inch in diameter. To be honest I planted mine in early spring of 2011, sort of forgot about them, and didn't harvest them until two weeks ago.  They were still great! 

So what to do with all these leeks?  My two favorite options are the Lemon and Leek Quiche from the Food52 cookbook, and a creamy potato and leek soup using Ina Garten's Roasted Potato and Leek Soup Recipe. A friend of mine, who is an amazing at home cook , (I'm talking nine layer cake on a Wednesday night just for fun) made a ridiculously good potato and leek soup last week using a combination of the above recipe and Garten's Zucchini Vichyssoise recipe.   He said he added one squash, to add a little sweetness, as well as rosemary because a potato and leek soup with rosemary is the house soup for one of his favorite restaurants.  Whatever you choose to make, remember that it's the white part which provides the best flavor.  The pale green portion is still fine to use, but the dark green foliage should be discarded.  Dirt will often fill the many layers of each leek, so rinse the leeks, chop or slice them and then rinse them again in a bowl of water.  Leeks are not only delicious, they are also a valuable health food.  Loaded with vitamins K, A, manganese, C, folate, and even iron.  Check out more on the health benefits of leeks and how to preserve them when cooking  here.  

RFC visits: Edible Landscaping

Last week, some of the family gardeners came into town and wanted to check out the Edible Landscaping nursery in Nelson County.  Edible landscaping is such an appealing idea in general that we were all excited to see which fruits we could introduce into our gardens at home.

Blackberries

Fat blueberries

Everyone was so helpful and so nice at the nursery, including owner Michael McConkey who walked us around, bursting into song every once in a while and joyfully exclaiming over fruiting plants as though he was just discovering them himself.  He even brought me this giant mulberry that was one of the sweetest I have ever tasted!

Michael and his giant (and super sweet) mulberry

Figs

Gorgeous pomegranate flowers

Swallowtail feasting

 We had such fun exploring the idea of introducing more food plants into our gardens.  My uncle Alan and aunt Paula wound up with several plants- including an asian pear tree and a goumi berry (which is a nitrogen fixer in addition to having tasty berries).  Alan had to sit with the shrub on his lap on the ride home, but it was a most lovely drive.

Uncle Alan and his Goumi berry

I didn't bring anything back because I had not done sufficient research on what to plant, but there is always mail order...  It is a fun day trip though, so head on out sometime, and bring some fruits home!

RFC Throwback: May

There are loads of spring recipes to share for the RFC throwback for May.  Markets and gardens are flush with fruits and veggies again.  In 2008, we shared recipes for mulberry upside- down cake and mulberry and almond ice cream.  'Take your pick--'tis the season! 

Upside down cake- not just for pineapple

Then there are the strawberries... Strawberry rose ice cream?  Strawberry tart? How about strawberry salsa?  All of those recipes are in this post from 2009.  Yummmm....

Strawberry mania!

To add to the mania, I want to share my favorite recipe for strawberry jam.  One night in May of 2010, Casey invited me to share in the making of the famous Freeman family strawberry jam.  I love it to this day- using the loose jam often as sauce for ice cream and in all kinds of baking.  

So many berries!

Jam!

What about all of the veggies that are filling our plates these days?  Shannon did this lovely post in 2011 on the versatile kohlrabi.  As a side, as chips or as a slaw, kohlrabi might become your new favorite springtime veggie!

Beautiful purple kohlrabi

Happy spring, y'all!

RVA Food Truck Court: Friday Night Delight

Last night my husband and I found ourselves with only $26 dollars left in our entertainment budget. We have big renovation plans for our home this year, and are saving our pennies. But, what can you do with $26 bucks? I'll tell you. Go to the RVA Food Truck Court.

The court is held at VA Historical Society on select evenings. Right now the schedule is as follows: Tuesday, May 15, Friday, May 18, Tuesday, May 22, Friday, May 25, Tuesday, May 29, and Friday, June 1 (weather permitting). You can get grub from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

We had the best time with our $26 bucks, and even had money left over to stop at Sweet 95.  The court was hoppin'. Full of people, pups, babies, and kidlings. The only down side is we didn't have space in our tummies to try everything. But don't you worry - we'll be back. Here are some of the highlights.

First, Sustenance. This truck focus on local, organic, and whole foods. The menu offers yummy sandwiches and other picnic friendly foods. Look at the local offerings!

Other RVA favorites were present, like CrossRoads Ice Cream & Coffee and  Pizza Tonight.

After several laps, Rob decided to have the Tofu Ban Mi from the Rooster Cart. He agreed I could have a bite, so I lapped the court again.

The sandwich was a hit, simply yummy and very generously sized. Having spent only $9 bucks for the sandwich and a drink, I went to find my grub and I settled on tacos. No surprise, tacos are one of my most favorite foods *ever*.  The tacos from Boka didn't disappoint.

We tried the Asian and Mexican tofu tacos. Yum!

 

With happy bellies, we packed up and headed home, but with a stop at Sweet 95.  Did you know that all their ice cream is locally sourced? It is - from Homestead Creamery.

So that was our evening. We spent less than $26 bucks and had a delightful time. I promise to share more thrifty finds as we continue to save for our home renovations. In the meantime, get to the court, you won't be sorry you did! Enjoy!

Foraging for Mulberries

Talking with some friends about foraging recently reminded me of this post, written a couple years back, but still holding true as our favorite annual urban foraging tradition...

The neighborhood climbing tree, a mulberry tree, or as I’ve started calling it “the giving tree” is one of our favorite places…

Early spring we start stalking our favorite neighborhood tree, waiting for that perfect moment of ripeness.

Mmmmmmm....

This year we weren't disappointed, our annual spring tradition of urban foraging yielded a plump and juicy harvest.

Fresh picked!

 So what to do with all that delicious fruit? Every year we land on the same idea, trying to recall our mulberry ice cream recipe (every year we make it up.) I was determined this time to find the right one. Possibly inspired by dueling recipes with Ned, I came up with what I consider to be perfection. And special perfection on my boy's chocolatey moist birthday cake.

Waiting patiently...

Here is what I came up with, an adaptation from David Lebovitz “The Perfect Scoop” recipe:

Mulberry Ice Cream:

2 quarts of mulberries (blended in a food processor then mashed through a sieve)

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

squeeze of fresh lemon juice

After straining berries you will have a thick purple liquid, let it cool then mix together ingredients and chill before freezing in ice cream maker.

So do you have a secret foraging spot? And what do you do with all those delicious mulberries?