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Friday, March 23, 2012

Anyela's Vineyards...A winery and a CSA

I recently celebrated a birthday and to ring in a new year in my life as well as celebrate our early spring (or summer really), Ryan and I headed out to the beautiful and scenic lakeside community of Skaneatles.  We decided to do a little wine tasting at Anyela's Vineyards where we had been only once before to celebrate our good friends' wedding.  It is a gorgeous location with a barn-like tasting room and plenty of outdoor seating to soak up some sun and enjoy the bucolic views of the countryside and Skaneatles Lake.  So why am I including this in my blog about local eating?  Because besides being impressed with their amazing wine and unbelievable fruit and cheese spread, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Anyela's runs a CSA!

If you're not familiar with the concept, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  This basically means you become a member and buy a share of the farm to help with the costs attributed to the farming process and in return you get a portion of the produce that is produced on the farm.  It's a symbiotic relationship between farmer and consumer, both sides benefit and as the consumer, you know you are supporting your local farmers in a big way in getting the freshest possible produce in return.

Anyela's CSA is great because they give you the option of purchasing a full season share, which gives you weekly produce from June 5 through October 16, or you can decide to purchase one session which is half of that time.  Session 1 runs from June 5 through August 7 and session 2 runs from August 14 through October 18.  This would work for people who are new to CSA's and aren't sure about committing to the full 20 weeks or for those who may do less cooking at home during the main summer months and pick up more home cuisine during the late summer and early fall.

Check out this spread! Cheese, fruit, crackers and bread, and best of all some amazing chocolate...delicious!
If you're interested in joining Anyela's Vineyards CSA, visit www.anyelasvineyards.com.  If not, please visit the winery to enjoy some great local wine, local views, and local eats...you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Spring is Here!! (Almost)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  For those of you who are yearly parade goers in Central New York, you got a special treat today with summer-like weather rather than the "wintery mix" we are usually reveling in this time of year.  I'm obviously being sarcastic about that last part, I love the term "wintery mix" though.  You basically just throw every possible type of precipitation out of the sky at the same time, maybe add a few lightning bolts for fun and there you have Syracuse in the late winter/early spring.  But not this year!  No, we are enjoying an early taste of summer and it's got me very anxious to start enjoying spring and summer food.

While the rest of CNY was donning their green today downtown, I was celebrating a little different kind of green.  My garden!
I started my seeds a few weeks ago, and already I have quite the array of sprouts.  If you're looking for a way to be a little more green and sustainable with your food, this is a great way to do it.  Many people think that having a garden takes way too much time and energy, but it doesn't have to.  Your garden can be as big or as small as you want it to be.  You can even just commit to a few pots of tomato plants if you have a sunny spot on a deck or patio, no real digging necessary.

Growing your own food is a great experience and if you have children I strongly recommend giving it a try.  Some of my favorite memories growing up were in our family garden, helping to plant or picking veggies for dinner.  It's a great way to get your kids interested in the food they eat and maybe even more willing to try a few more vegetables.  If they invest some time and effort into watching the garden grow, it will be difficult for them to turn away the end product.  Plus, you can't get any fresher than your own garden which means that the food not only tastes better, but it's better for you.  I could go on and on about the benefits of having a garden...but the main point is, they're pretty easy and so rewarding so give it a try!  Here's what's growing in our garden this summer: bell peppers, grape tomatoes, roma tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, sweet peas, carrots, basil, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, arugula, and cucumbers.  Many of these are new this year for us, since we are expanding our little raised garden to give more vegetables a try, so I'll keep you posted on how they turn out!
The little seedlings scoping out their future home.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Farmer's Market Item of the Week: Kale



Many people think of kale as that green garnish that sits on the side of your plate not to be eaten or that dresses up the meat case at the grocery store.  In reality though, kale is a great leafy green vegetable that is super healthy and can be super tasty.  Even better, it's available in the winter and is extremely inexpensive at the farmer's market.  Kale is an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C (something people might not know since it's not orange or a citrus fruit) and can be prepared in a number of different ways.  It's great in soups and stews, but my favorite way to eat kale is as homemade kale chips.  This is an awesome side dish that is perfect for weekdays because it's really easy and only takes about 15 minutes to cook.  I have two variations, one savory and the other a little sweet, that I like depending on what else we're serving and what kind of taste I'm going for.  Try these for a great way to add in some leafy greens to your dinner plate any night of the week...and check out the Addie's Eats page for my favorite baby-friendly kale recipe.

Parmesan Garlic Kale Chips 

4 cups uncooked chopped kale (will cook down considerably)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss until all the leaves are evenly covered with garlic powder and parmesan.  Spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until crisp.  

Brown Sugar Kale Chips

4 cups uncooked chopped kale
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss until all the leaves are evenly covered in brown sugar. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until crisp.  

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Just a thought...

I was at the Regional Market this past weekend and stopped by a stand that was selling Mu Mu Muesli that I had written about a few weeks ago.  A very friendly man greeted me and offered a sample of muesli with, what do you know, some Wake Robin yogurt!  I explained that I had recently featured these two products together on this blog as part of my effort to eat locally.  This conversation got me thinking about how nice it is in a setting like a farmer's market to be able to chat with the person who is making or growing your food.  That's not something you can do at a grocery store and to me it's pretty important.  I think it offers the consumer a sense of comfort that they know a little bit more about where their food comes from and accountability on the side of the provider.  It's pretty hard to sell a bad product when you have to meet your customer face to face.  Just a thought I hope others might think about too...and by the way, the muesli sample was served with Wake Robin's maple yogurt...YUM!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Farmer's Market Breakfast Wrap



Breakfast in my world is not only the most important meal of the day, I often wish it could be served all day.  Since I love breakfast items so much, I often do eat them at all hours of the day, and many times for dinner.  This recipe is great because not only are almost all of the ingredients from the farmer's market, it is hearty enough to be served for any meal.  It features items that are all in season in the winter wrapped up into a healthy whole wheat tortilla.  I used organic eggs from Meadow Creek Farm in Seneca Falls, NY, potatoes and onions from Owen's Farm outside of Elbridge, NY, and this great cheese from a company called Buttercup Cheese in Central Square, NY.  The majority of the ingredients traveled no more than 40 minutes to get to my table.  You can use any kind of cheese that you like in this recipe.  The "Farmer's Cheese" I used was similar to a Monteray Jack, but Buttercup Cheese makes a wide variety of delicious cheeses including the greatest American Cheese I have ever had!  Also, feel free to add any other vegetables you like as well.  I kept it simple with potatoes and onions, but I have in the past used broccoli, red and green peppers, and tomatoes.  Whatever is in season, just toss it in!  Adding a little bit of spice and flavor with cayenne pepper and garlic powder and topping off the wrap with a little bit of salsa eliminates the need for adding extra salt.  The best part of all, it's super easy and fast, so a great choice for a Sunday morning or a Tuesday night!

Farmer's Market Breakfast Wrap

1 large white potato, diced
1 small or medium white onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
6 organic eggs
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup Farmer's Cheese, shredded

Makes 2 wraps

Start with as many local ingredients as you can find...for this recipe it's almost everything

                                      

Dice the potato and saute in 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pan for about 10 minutes or until they are tender.  About halfway through cooking time, add in diced onion.  Add cayenne pepper and garlic powder and stir.  Beat eggs in a small bowl and add to the pan after potatoes are cooked most of the way through.  Stir continuously to prevent the egg from sticking to the pan.  Add in shredded cheese and stir until cheese is melted and eggs are fully cooked.  Place mixture onto a whole wheat tortilla, wrap, and top with salsa.

The finished product...enjoy!