Local Food Resources

Epicurious has developed a great interactive map that lets you know what foods are in season in your area, then links to recipes for those foods. It's a nifty tool.

For Cincinnatians, the Enquirer posted a wonderful comprehensive list of pick-your-own-produce farms, community sponsored agriculture and farmer's markets in our area.

Go Local, Go Organic

As if I needed any more reasons to buy as much of my food as possible locally and/or organically produced, an article in the New York Times reports that pesticides used on food crops overseas are killing songbirds and raptors.

Did Your Shopping List Kill a Songbird?

Corn Mache

Lamb's lettuce
Originally uploaded by Berlinalex

I stopped by someone's porch today to pick up my order from the Wyoming Farmer's Market after hours party. I got a huge bag of corn mache and another huge bag of arugula - probably more than I can eat before it wilts. Corn Mache is a tender winter green, also known as Lamb's Lettuce or Corn Salad. It has been cultivated in Europe since the 16th century and it said to have a flavor reminiscent of mild hazelnuts.

I also ordered some indulgences from the market: a great smelling beeswax candle, an equally great smelling bay-lime handmade soap and thricely great smelling hand salve. Speaking of nicely scented extravagances, I had an email from Lush Cosmetics announcing a couple of special events at Kenwood Towne Center. Which alerted me to the fact that there is now a Lush Store in the Macy's here in Cincinnati. I'm not sure how I missed the fact that they were opening a branch here. They have lovely handmade cosmetics, mostly of the soap and shampoo varieties, but I've usually been too cheap to spend the money on shipping charges. Now I won't have to.

Thanks to Berlinalex for making this lovely photo publicly available.

Farms, Movies and Fava Beans

Yesterday I drove out to Red Sun Farm in Loveland to see what they had to offer. They had beef, pork, chicken (frozen) and fresh eggs for sale, as well as a small selection of organic cheese, honey and various other natural products. I ended up spending about $40 on bacon, pork country ribs, ground pork, stew beef, ground beef, a whole chicken and a jar of dried basil. That's probably enough meat for two months for the likes of me.

I cooked an egg this morning for my breakfast and I'm happy to report it was fantastic. The yolk was a deep, almost orange, yellow and the taste was wonderful. Plus, they were about a dollar cheaper than the organic eggs I've been buying a Trader Joe's; bonus. Tomorrow I'm going to cook up some of the pork ribs in a orange-garlic-chile sauce in the slow cooker. I have high hopes.

I did a quick mini-bird count for the Great Backyard Bird Count on the Kingfisher Trail in Winton Woods yesterday too. I totaled 12 species and 36 individuals, the most numerous being Carolina Chickadees. Nothing rare made an appearance, but I did hear a Barred Owl calling in the distance.

I also went with some friends to see The Spiderwick Chronicles last night. I enjoyed it; it was a good story and the movie was fast paced and action packed. I need to read the books now; it seems the entire fourth book was left out. Go, take the kids, you'll all like it.

I've been thinking about fava beans today. I have a jar of dried fava beans (called broad beans in the UK) and I was thinking about tossing them out. I cooked up a batch of them some time ago and I just didn't care for them. But I really hate to waste food so I'm going to try making ful medames (one of the national dishes of Egypt) before I give up on them entirely. I've heard that fava beans are best when they're fresh but they are only available for a short time in the spring here. I'll try to grab some this year. I also came across a tidbit of information which said that fava beans are the only bean native to the Old World, but I haven't had time to delve into that yet so I'll leave it for another day.

Of local interest

In between laundry and deep cleaning the kitchen and bathroom today, I did some research on local farms. I hit the farmer's market almost every week (in season) for fresh vegetables and fruit and I love it. However, that still leaves me going to the grocery store for cream, bread, eggs and the little meat I buy. Since I only eat meat once or twice a week at best, I can afford to spend a little more for organic meat. I'd just as soon support my local farmers and I managed to find a few places that aren't a very long drive from me. Mind you, I haven't actually been to any of these places yet, so this is not a recommendation list.

Turner Farm

• Located in Maderia, Turner Farm sells their produce at Findlay Market from June through Thanksgiving and from their farm year round. It looks like they have loads of produce variety and they sell chicken, lamb, pork and honey in season.

Red Sun Farm

• Red Sun is in Loveland and they sell grass-fed, free-range beef, pork and poultry. This will be one of my first stops.
  

Greenacres Foundation

• A farm and educational center in Indian Hill. They have Black Angus beef, pastured poultry, fresh eggs, raw honey and produce. It looks like they already have some spring greens available!

I've also been wanting to find a good bread bakery and I found a couple of possible candidates:

Old World Bakery

• I've been buying their pita bread in Krogers for years, but I've never visited their store. They sell pitas and bagels and they're located in North College Hill. They have a restaurant there which serves gyros; I'll report back.

Breadsmith of Cincinnati

• OK, it's a franchise, albeit a small one. They have several varieties of whole wheat/grain bread available and they bake fresh each day. I'll give them a shot.