You are Delicious

Cross-posted from my Examiner.com farmers market site.

The Cheverly Community Market opens Saturday, May 29, with old and new favorites. Unique offerings include fresh-brewed coffee, wine, and seafood.

The market has announced a tantalizing list of vendors and performers:

ChvBrew is back, providing hot coffee.

Charles and Kelly of Cheverly’s Hot Noodles will be back from last year to entertain as the market’s own house band.

Cheverly Breadbasket will have chips and fresh salsa for those who have been missing them all winter. This is in addition to the regular selection of freshly baked, organic breads and baguettes. (Organizers recommend you come early to get first choice of your favorite pastries). In addition to the wildly popular chocolate espresso cookies, the Breadbasket will have coconut macaroons and lemon cooler cookies.

Cookies to Cocktails is back, and Liz Esposito has had all winter to perfect her cookie creations. Continue Reading »

Cross-posted from my Examiner.com farmers market site.

As a recent American Prospect article made clear, not all farmers markets are geared toward shoppers who need fresh fruits and vegetables the most. Yet two markets in the District have opened or expanded this season to address that critical constituency.

The Howard University Hospital (HUH) began hosting a twice-weekly farmers market Tuesday, May 11, and will continue to feature produce from Pennsylvania and North Carolina farmers each Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the hospital courtyard. The hospital is located in Ward 1 at 2041 Georgia Avenue NW, near the Shaw/Howard University Metro and steps off several Metrobus routes. The market accepts WIC and Senior CSFP vouchers. Continue Reading »

The D.C. Vegetarian Cooking Group has announced that it will put local fare at the center of its June event. Jack Zahora, who heads the group that meets once a month for a pot luck meal or restaurant outing, is encouraging the members to shop at an area farmers market the weekend of June 5, whip up dishes based on the ingredients they purchase, and show them off at a brunch on June 6. The event will take place at the grill-equipped Columbia Heights home of one of the members.

This event comes at an opportune time, as the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace is slated to open that weekend, and the home-hosted brunch is becoming all the rage  in D.C.

Zahora, a D.C.-based journalist, has given a preview of the spread. He plans to make a vegetable frittata, baked mostachioli, mimosas, and grilled tomato sandwiches. Other items on the menu include vegan quinoa salad with vegetables, Belgian waffles, and sorbet.

D.C. Vegetarian Cooking Group Farmers Market Brunch

June 6, 1 p.m.

Columbia Heights

For more information, go to the group’s website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. To join the group and find out the particulars of the brunch location, email Jack Zahora.

Wow. It’s been a month since I posted. In that time, I led a Shabbat event about global hunger, finished that enlightening cleanse, sat in on my first farmers market board meeting, interviewed for an article on farmers markets in a major progressive publication, and–just yesterday–put on a brunch fundraiser with locally-sourced foods.

I have a lot of catching up to do! For now, though, I’ll just say THANK YOU to the 18 folks who came out to the brunch, and the others who gave remotely (I owe you guys apple-cinnamon pancakes!). …And I’ll tell you that my donation thermometer is bubbling with happiness about my reaching 100+ percent of my goal. …And I’ll post the menu to the brunch.

Thanks again, everyone!

Black River Café Brunch

Menu

Hashbrowns

Twin Springs Farm potatoes and onions

Pancakes

• Mixed Berry-Chocolate Chip (Many Hands Organic Farm raspberries, Frog Eye Farm blueberries)

• Apple-cinnamon (Twin Springs apples)

• Strawberry-Banana (Virginia strawberries) – gluten/dairy-free available

Scrambled Eggs

Local veggies and Smith Meadows eggs

• Tomato-Basil-Arugula-Provolone

• Summer Squash-Chard-Cheddar

• Spring Onion-Asparagus-Arugula

Yogurt and Fruit

Keswick Creamery yogurt, local fruit, bananas, local honey

TO DRINK:

Orange Juice Mimosas

Coffee (fair trade and organic, with grass-fed cow milk)

Teas

Mid-way through this 21-day cleanse, I was thinking a lot about human passion. Most animals have strong desires to eat, sleep, procreate, and recreate. Humans want to do that, too. But we want to be able to do all of those things while suspended 100 stories above the ground, after driving on enormous loops of concrete or possibly careening through the air in several tons of metal. Oh, and when we arrive and get down to addressing our basic needs, we want to have strains of Chopin glittering in the background, and room service with a sprig of parsley.

We want to build onto, break apart, dig into, and make over the world. We see what is there and think we could have something a whole lot better. Then we make that something. That’s what makes us human. Continue Reading »

(This is cross-posted from The Jew and the Carrot)

Life in general distracts me. It’s true no matter what I’m doing or where I am. If I go into the food co-op for bread and peanut butter, I’ll carry out shampoo and trail mix; when I resolve to run twelve times around the track, I lose count after the third loop. Even when I get through a task, I often neglect to follow up or look back to consider its lessons. By the time I’m halfway through, my mind is already whirring off in another direction.

So I was a little concerned when I signed up for a 21-day “spring rejuvenation cleanse” and learned that it would involve focus. In multiple ways. But this also got to the heart of why I wanted to purify in the first place.

To get the most out of this food-based detoxifying experience, the approximately 50 participants are supposed to eat certain foods, avoid others, prepare detoxifying recipes, breathe deeply, take long walks, and journal about the whole thing each day. On top of all that, our guide encourages us to “eat mindfully.” I figured if I could do all of that, I might have a fighting chance of getting my attention deficit into the black. Continue Reading »

Huffington Post readers like to consume progressive, left-leaning news. Now the publication has challenged readers to live those politics–if only for seven days. HuffPost bloggers Katherine Goldstein and Adam Clark Estes have announced the Week of Eating In Challenge, intended, they write in a post last week, “to make it all personal.”

The project is simple: divisions HuffPost Green and HuffPost Eyes&Ears have dared readers to cook their own food. The challenge is inspired by HuffPost blogger and author Cathy Erway’s book The Art of Eating In. Erway avoided restaurants and takeout for a full two years. The Challenge only lasts from February 22 to 28.

A post detailing the challenge reveals there are actually few details. Make your own food for a week and eat it—that’s it. The challenge itself, though, could have many intricate and delightful results. “We think that if you take the time to cook and learn about where your food comes from,” write Goldstein and Estes, “you’ll make better choices for yourself and the planet.” You could also save a ton of cash.

Farmers markets can play a big role in eating in. At market, challengees can buy fresh vegetables that inspire them to cook creatively, get recipes and tips from local farmers, and meet other devotees of healthy home cooking. Once you get the food home, be sure to show the HuffPost how you prepared it all in your tiny D.C. kitchen. Continue Reading »