Ellwood Thompson's own wine and a summer au gratin

Michael Shaps is now making a white and a red wine exclusively for Ellwood Thompson's!  This amazing Charlottesville winemaker consults and makes wine for many area wineries and restaurants including the VMFA, and now our own ET's.  The white is a blend of viognier, petit manseng and chardonnay, and is fruit forward without being sweet.  It is fantastic, and at around $12, I can't wait to try the red blend as well.

Our white wine by Virginia Cellars

It was cooler and rainy this weekend (so lovely), so I was hankering for comfort food. I have a lot of potatoes and squash coming from Dominion Harvest these days, so I thought I'd go for an au gratin.  Basically, I wanted something avec fromage.

Chips!  You can see through them!

I sliced up some potatoes with my handy mandolin. I started getting hungry, so I tossed some of the thin potato slices with oil, salt and pepper put them on a baking sheet and threw them in the oven for about 10 minutes while it was preheating.  Potato chips go well with newfound white wine and cheese sauce that didn't quite make it into the pan, btw.

Oh squash, what do we do with you? 

Summer au gratin

2 medium potatoes, sliced into at most 1/8 inch
1 onion, sliced into thin half rings
3 small summer squash, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cream
1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar cheese


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Butter a small casserole dish (mine is about 9x5).
Layer the potatoes into bottom of the prepared dish. Top with the onion slices, and add the squash. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour and salt, and whisk for one minute. Stir in cream. Cook until mixture has thickened (about 2 minutes). Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about another minute. Pour mixture over squash layer.
Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden and bubbling.

Sub Rosa Bread

Sometimes you meet someone whose work and sense of purpose is strikingly humbling.  Evrim Dogu has the kind and centered countenance that I have long admired and find inspirational.  But when I visited his bakery the other day, I was truly humbled.  Sub Rosa bread has been around for years, available by subscription, and is soon to be served at its own bakery in Church Hill on the corner of Jefferson and 25th.  The conscious decisions, direction and relationships come together to make Sub Rosa bread extraordinary.

This is Evrim and his oven

So much of Evrim's new bakery itself is crafted, which suits the quality of his bread.  This gorgeous oven is made from bricks which were originally the chimney of his Church Hill building.  The bricks were hand cleaned by Evrim, and the oven was built by a local craftsman.  It is a beauty!

Beautiful Austrian mill

Since the bakery is still under construction, Evrim's mill and mixer are in a side building down the street.  Evrim is experimenting with heirloom wheat grown locally- Turkey Red is in trials at Deer Run Farm in Hanover.  This hand crafted mill can sift it into finely ground flour for bread or semolina for other baked goods.

Instructions for wheat grinding

The mixer

Evrim lives above his shop- a perfect setup considering baker's hours.  He invited us up to taste his bread and some lovely rye shortbread, which are both absolutely incredible.  The bread is complex, with such great texture, and the rye was so nutty, it is no wonder he is so excited about the way the flour trials have come together.  I can't wait until the bakery opens, but in the mean time, I believe that Evrim is still managing a subscription service.

Evrim's kitchen

Check out Sub Rosa's Facebook page for updates on the adventures of opening a food biz in RVA!

Broadfork Farm

I have been traveling quite a bit this summer, trying to meet as many Little House vendors as possible, and also trying to see as much of this beautiful region as possible before I am at the store all day, every day.  I had only heard of Broadfork Farm because of their biodynamic practices, gorgeous produce and tasty bread.  This farm is only in its second year, but boy to they have some fans!

Dan and Janet and their youngest

Dan and Janet moved to Janet's childhood home in Chesterfield county, cleared several acres, and now farm year round.  They even grow salad mixes mid- summer and mid- winter, along with several plantings of heirloom tomatoes, peppers and other tasty veggies.

Their whole front yard is full of flowers for market!

 Their farm is so neat and impressively productive- especially considering that we visited at the end of the hottest July I can remember.  I loved hearing how they incorporate the biodynamic calendar and preparations into their growing practices, making this conscious farm beyond organic.

We ate okra straight off the plant!

Plus, Dan and Janet are super fun, making us wish we could return for one of their pizza parties around their wood fired oven!  These industrious folks are building a second, larger oven because demand for their bread has gotten to be so great.  I cannot wait to try it.

Janet and the Malabar spinach

You can get beautiful produce, flowers and bread from Broadfork Farm at the South of the James and Brandermill markets through October (and hopefully at Little House Green Grocery, whenever it opens!)

Everona Dairy

Last week, Shannon and I traveled to northwestern Virginia for a tour of Everona Dairy.  

Everona is one of the only sheep's milk dairies in VA, and boy, do they make fantastic cheese.  Flavorful and sophisticated but without pretense, their cheese consistently wins awards, yet is not easy to find in RVA.  I, of course, am hoping they'll sell at Little House...

Our tour included a look behind the scenes- this kitty watched over the milking line.

This kitty watched over the new lambs.

Just as an aside, wool makes a fantastic mulch.  Who knew?

The cheese is absolutely incredible.  These are aged cheeses, with characteristics of asiago (Piedmont) or reggiano (Stonyman).  The Marble is so classic, with its vein of blue prompted by a layer of ash pressed into the cheese.

Look at that gorgeous blue!  

You can visit Everona Dairy by setting up an appointment.   Learn what goes into cheese making, straight from the farm!

"We are producing award-winning sheep's milk cheese - aged, washed-rind, and unpasteurized.  As simple as it gets.  It is exciting to introduce people to the complexities of good cheese.  We are trying to "spread the word" bite by bite.  Always looking for ways to improve our products, at Everona we strive to continue the tradition of artisan cheesemaking techniques while keeping up with the growing demand for local, farmstead cheeses."

"Life Changing" Grilled Watermelon!

Okay,  I know it sounds crazy.  The kids were seriously concerned.   "But your making the watermelon Ha-ot" was heard as we laid it to the fire. After all, watermelon is the perfect summer food.  Sweet, crisp, cool and refreshingly juicy, a good watermelon is hard to beat.  That said, everyone, and I mean everyone from my always pessimistic mother to the Summer Thanksgiving crowd thought this stuff was delicious.  I can't take credit for making this stuff up.  I found the recipe in a copy of Better Homes and Gardens or Southern Living ( for the record the later has all sorts of great southern food stuffs) while lounging poolside.  It was kismet!  I happened to have brought a watermelon with me and grilled it up that very night.  The result is a caramelized, warm, buttery treat that's totally unexpected.  My uncle said, "It taste like bacon."  Others actually uttered phrases such as "life changing" and "I have been waiting for this"- as in for my whole life. I can't promise you'll have the same reaction, and all this build up may be too much, but it was worth making more than once in a few week stretch. 

Here's the deal:
Cut a ripe watermelon into 1" thick wedges leaving the rind on.
Brush both sides of each wedge with olive oil.
Grill on med. heat for about 3 minutes per side or till you start to see a caramel color developing.
Remove from heat, let cool slightly as you add a couple squeezes of fresh lime, and some cayenne to taste.
Make sure it's not too hot and enjoy!!

Wanted: Grocery Store

On a recent trip to southwest VA, we passed a vacant grocery with this sign in the window:

It was definitely the saddest sign we'd ever seen.  The grocery had shelves and checkout lines, but no food or people.  We heard later that the store has been that way for years. Vacant and longing.

So, I can only feel so guilty for being so completely obsessed with creating a green grocery in my neighborhood.  It is all I feel like I am capable of talking about, thinking about or working towards. On a recent trip to see my brother in Austin, (on my vacation) I asked him to take me on a tour of their neighborhood market.  We took many photos and asked strange questions to the staff regarding square footage and traffic.

Here I am, camera in hand, considering the Farm to Market produce display in Austin.

Recently, Jess and I took a trip exclusively to look at small groceries in Virginia.  Our first stop was Greenwood Gourmet Grocery in Crozet.  This lovely store has perfect picnic items for your next trip on Skyline Drive, or fancy camping trip.  We even happened upon a wine tasting there with Kirsty Harmon, the winemaker at Blenheim Vineyards.  This was a happy place for me- so charming and packed full of beautiful food and wine.

Greenwood Gourmet Grocery has pantry staples and fun treats, many from Virginia!

Staunton has two groceries we wanted to check out.  Cranberry's Grocery and Eatery has all kinds of health food items, supplements and vitamins as well as produce, meat and dairy.  This region is so rich in agricultural gifts, the grocery can easily source from several farms.

Kathleen, the owner of Cranberry's, bought me breakfast at the eatery and we talked shop.  I was so relieved that after nine years of being a small grocery owner, she said she'd do it all over again.  The 'adventure', as she called it, clearly made her happy.  This was such good news for me, as I am still on the other side of the looking glass, wondering what happens once you leap.

Cranberry's Grocery and Eatery is a lovely spot with fantastic coffee and delicious food for every eater!

We also checked out George Bowers Grocery while we were there.  This fun nightspot would be exactly where I'd want to hang out if I lived in Staunton.  Brian talked to us for hours in his shop, which is in a gorgeous converted school. He, too, was a very happy business owner, full of stories and recommendations and very sage advice.  Plus, he makes a mean hummus plate!

Jess and Brian at George Bowers

I am so grateful to all of the business owners (including my dentist) who have indulged my endless questions, (I swear, I am in the toddler phase of small business) and to my friends and family who are so supportive in this great adventure.  Thanks to our wonderful neighbors as well, who have wanted a grocery store and are enthusiastic about its potential.  We cannot wait to bring it to you!

S'meaches!

We made these for our summer thanksgiving party on the 4th of July, and they were amazing. Life- altering, consciousness- changing, enlightening- delicious. We did add the cayenne to the brown sugar 'cause that's how we do, but I hope you get to try it either way- straight sweet or with some heat!
S'Meaches from Claire Thomas on Vimeo.