Home for the Holidays by Edible Northeast Florida

ISSUE TWO | November-December 2015

Eat . Drink . Think . Explore . | Season by Season

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There’s living. And there’s loving life. We’re here to help with the second one. Our intriguing blends of herbs and botanicals support energy, stamina, focus, and overall

well-being. Cup after cup, day after day, life is good.

Contents

DEPARTMENTS 2

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

4 CONTRIBUTORS 6

EDIBLE INNOVATORS The Chef ’s Canvas Sweet Sculptures

EDIBLE TABLE What’s in Season

SEASONAL PLATE Sorghum Glazed Carrots Salt-Roasted Beets Beet Kimchi

BACK OF THE HOUSE Food in the Urban Core

EDIBLE LANDSCAPE Growing the Good Life

EDIBLE DIY Linoleum Stamps

LOCAL LIBATIONS A Lump of (Char) Coal

46 FROM THE OVEN Lemon Chess Pie Shortbread 48

LAST BITE The New Face of Farming

FEATURES 8 THE NEW FOOD BANK IS BANKING ON ITSELF Growing Their Own Sustainable Future 18 COME TO THE TABLE New Traditions for Gathering 24 FROM THE KITCHEN WITH LOVE Edible Gifts Handcrafted at Home 37 WIPE OUT WASTE Plan like a Pro for Your Holiday Get-togethers

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

When I think about a time of year made for celebrating local food, the months of November and December immediately come to mind. In Northeast Florida, our growing seasons are just getting going, and we have an abundance of fresh produce at farmers’ markets. With cooler days we are also more inclined to spend time in the kitchen cooking. Gathering at home with family and friends to give thanks for the bounty of the land and sea is especially meaningful during the holidays. The more I talk to those who grow or raise the food we eat, the more appreciation I have for farming. Farmers set out with the best of intentions, only to encounter many unknowns along the way. Weather, for one, is a major source of uncertainty. As we witnessed from the challenges farmers in California face, rain is integral to a successful yield. However, too much at the wrong time, like we experienced this summer and early fall, can also lead to disruptions in planting and harvesting cycles. Hopefully through the rest of this growing season our area farmers will have the perfect balance of sunny skies and rainfall, to help minimize losses and ensure a variety of local produce and meats will be available for our holiday feasts. Supporting regional agriculture is a delicious way to add a taste of home to our seasonal tables. In this issue, we highlight other ways to make your holidays truly local as well. If you are in a giving frame of mind, check out our suggestions for homemade edible gifts. Perhaps offering time and energy to local charities is also on your list? We talk about organizations doing good work by growing good food and how you can provide support. Not sure how to address the issue of food waste during holiday extravaganzas? We bring you tips from the pros on being a more efficient cook. And finally we reflect on the idea of gathering; how the realities of modern society have put a new spin on how we gather, both our food and those we love. During this season of giving thanks, I would be remiss if I didn’t pass along my sincere appreciation to all of you, dear readers, who have welcomed Edible Northeast Florida to the area. It has been gratifying to hear your feedback on the stories and images in our first issue. I look forward to ongoing dialogue and continuing to showcase the leaders and heroes of our local food community. Lauren

PUBLISHER Amy Robb amy@edibleneflorida.com EDITOR Lauren Titus lauren@edibleneflorida.com COPY EDITOR Doug Adrianson DESIGN Matthew Freeman PHOTOGRAPHY Kristen Penoyer, Ingrid Damiani, Jenna Alexander, Logan Bowles, Agnes Lopez, Amy Robb CONTRIBUTORS Kristin Adamczyk, Amy Armstrong, Amy Bailey, Meredith Corey-Disch, Allison D’Aurizio, Jen Hand, Brenna Noel Martin, Lauren Murphy, Waylon Rivers, Erin Thursby, Jennifer Wolfe SUBSCRIBE Edible Northeast Florida is published 6 times per year by Slidetray Media LLC. Subscriptions are $28 and available at EdibleNEFlorida.com FIND US ONLINE EdibleNEFlorida.com facebook.com/edibleneflorida instagram.com/edibleneflorida twitter.com/edibleneflorida pinterest.com/edibleneflorida CONTACT US Have a story you'd like to see featured in Edible Northeast Florida? Send us your ideas! editor@edibleneflorida.com Edible Northeast Florida 24 Cathedral Place, Suite 406 St. Augustine, FL 32084 p. 904-494-8281 No part of this publication may be used without written permission by the publisher. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you. © 2015 Slidetray Media LLC. All rights reserved.

Edible Communities Publications of the Year 2011

ON THE COVER: Farmers Nick and Katie Provow of Ruffled Feathers Farm prepare for the holiday season. Photo by Amy Robb

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Proudly printed on recycled paper stock at Hartley Press in Jacksonville, Florida.

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OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Kristin Adamczyk

Jenna Alexander

Amy Armstrong

Amy Bailey

Kristin has lived in a lot of places since graduating from Flagler College in 2007, but has always called St. Augustine home. From farming in Oregon to operating a health food store in upstate New York, her passion has always centered around good food. When she isn't happily serving kale salads at the Present Moment Café, she's most likely chasing her 2-year-old or cleaning up the mess in her kitchen.

Telling a story through pictures, no matter the medium, has always been my thing. I am a photographer, illustrator and painter, currently working out of my studio in St. Augustine. I am drawn to natural light and airy images, and white is my favorite color.

Amy is the owner of The Conservatorie, a special-events floral company. She has been creating with flowers for the past eight years and enjoys working with her hands, natural elements and all things related to folk arts. Her passion for flowers and plants was passed down to her from her father, who quizzed her on plant names from a young age.

A St. Augustine native, Amy is a full-time personal trainer and nutrition coach at GO Headquarters. She also writes a healthy lifestyle blog called The Funky Fork. In her spare time, she enjoys doing anything active with her husband and son, cooking from scratch, gardening and online shopping.

Emily Charette

Meredith CoreyDisch

Allison D’Aurizio

Ingrid Damiani

Allison is head baker and owner of MGP—My Grandmother's Pie, a market based bakery that recently earned a Slow Food Snail of Approval. She started baking with her grandmother in Virginia as a child then honed her skills working all over the Southeast after marrying an award-winning chef. She spends her days in the kitchen with her husband, Kurt, and children, Jacob and Isabella (who constantly complain there is no dessert at home).

Ingrid is a documentary portrait photographer who specializes in creating work inviting viewers to take a closer look at challenging issues. A lover of human stories, she arrived on this path after earning a BA in English and history from the University of Texas at Austin. Her work can be seen at IngridDamiani.com.

Emily is a graphic designer living in St. Augustine. A mother of two and a yoga enthusiast, Emily’s design studio We Are Charette focuses on building the brands of natural and specialty foods and restaurants. In her spare time, she plays ukulele and attempts to learn French.

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Meredith is baker/co-owner of Community Loaves, an organic sourdough bakery in Murray Hill. She learned to bake while traveling in Europe. Upon returning to her hometown Jacksonville, she wanted to start a business that combined her environmental studies degree and newfound love of baking. She now spends days at the bread shop and evenings at home with her fiancé, Murphy, and dog, Dinah.

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OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Jen Hand

Brenna Noel Martin

Lauren Murphy

Kristen Penoyer

Jen is a freelance writer based in St. Augustine. Her work has appeared in the St. Augustine Record and Folio Weekly and currently blogs for RoadBikeOutlet.com. A former short order cook, caterer, bartender and baker, she loves her CSA and farmers’ markets, and may have a slight cookbook problem. When not eating copious amounts of vegetables, Jen is found running trails, paddling the Intracoastal or playing soccer.

Born and raised in a small town near Cape Canaveral, this Florida native is undeniably creative to the core and acquired a degree in graphic design + fine art from Flagler College. When she’s not busy designing up a storm, Brenna enjoys doodling unsuspecting strangers, exploring hidden gems in Jacksonville, getting into shenanigans with friends and planning her next big expedition.

As event coordinator and hospitality manager for the St Augustine Amphitheatre, Lauren oversaw the backstage experience for the artists, including the Mumford & Sons "Gentlemen of the Road" Stopover and the "Celebrate 450" downtown events. Lauren also co-created the Lost Skills Workshop Series at the Amphitheatre.

Kristen is a professional photographer and self-professed “food nerd” with a passion for documenting the culinary world from seed to plate. A serial creative, she’s launched several photography-related businesses. Kristen has lived in five countries, crushed grapes under her feet in Argentina, spent days on goat farms, studied with South American sommeliers and mastered the art of Uruguayan wood coal grilling.

Waylon Rivers

Erin Thursby

Jennifer Wolfe

Waylon, the executive chef of Black Sheep Restaurant, is a graduate of Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Culinary Institute of the South, where he studied culinary management. Prior to his arrival at Black Sheep, Waylon was the sous-chef of Georges Brasserie in Charlotte, NC; his background also includes time spent in the kitchens of Restaurant Orsay and The Capital Grille in Jacksonville.

Erin is the executive director of GastroJax, the organization that puts on GastroFest, and is a freelance writer and food editor for EU Jacksonville. She's been a food and entertainment writer for over 10 years and she's thrilled to be writing for Edible Northeast Florida.

Jennifer is the owner of Women Writing for (a) Change, Jacksonville, and facilitates writing circles for a wide variety of audiences. A journalist and corporate facilitator who grew up on a sheep farm, she believes passionately in the transformative power of writing to heal ourselves and our world. She enjoys bluebirds, gardening and walking to the river early in the morning.

Thanks to all the talented contributors who have helped bring this communitybased publication to life. We appreciate your expertise and support as we showcase the real food stories of our region.

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EDIBLE INNOVATORS

THE CHEF’S CANVAS WORDS LAUREN TITUS PHOTOS AGNES LOPEZ/CUMMER MUSEUM OF ART & GARDENS

While food may take a starring role in many museum pieces, art as inspiration for what we eat is not as common. What happens, however, when the role is reversed? What happens when chefs look to art to inspire their next culinary creation? That question was posed by Hope McMath, director, and Holly Keris, chief curator, of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, who then approached Cari Sanchez-Potter about a project that would feature the Museum’s collection alongside recipes crafted by local chefs, similar to Cooking with Intuition authored by Sanchez-Potter and published for Intuition Ale Works. The resulting book, The Chef ’s Canvas: Recipes Inspired by the Collection of the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, will be published early in 2016 and will showcase a singular intersection of art, gardens, food and drink. With so many talented and creative chefs in the area, the selection process was challenging. “We did our best to include restaurants from different cuisines and styles of cooking, from fine-dining establishments like Salt at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island to bakeries and even food trucks,” said Sanchez-Potter. Besides the chefs, The Chef ’s Canvas will also feature all eight of the region’s craft breweries as well as five creative mixologists who each provided a cocktail recipe inspired by a 19th-century American still life painting. The contributors were invited to the Cummer Museum for an informational session about the project, then allowed to

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A dish inspired by the oak tree at wander through the Museum’s Cummer Museum; Waylon Rivers permanent collection to choose from Black Sheep Restaurant studies the three artworks that most various paintings before creating inspired them for one reason or his recipe. another. “It was interesting to see which pieces spoke to different chefs, and what elements of the art they drew inspiration from. For some chefs, the colors and textures of certain paintings were what drew their attention. For others, the overall mood or style of certain works of art provided the creative spark,” said Sanchez-Potter. And what was the most surprising source of inspiration? Chef Waylon Rivers of Black Sheep Restaurant chose a Scottish chair. “We all wondered how he would translate a piece of furniture into a recipe,” said Sanchez-Potter. “The resulting Aged Duck Breast, Hay-Smoked Potatoes, Pickled Green Strawberries and Purslane, Rose Water Air has been one of our favorite interpretations so far.” Feedback on the project has been overwhelmingly positive; the contributors have expressed how much they have enjoyed the creative process and to have an opportunity to think outside the box, to focus on aesthetics and art over ease of preparation to concoct dishes they wouldn’t normally serve. While the recipes may be a fun challenge for the home cook, the compilation will be a culinary masterpiece unique to Jacksonville and the Museum world at large.

EDIBLE INNOVATORS

SWEET SCULPTURES WORDS LAUREN TITUS PHOTO AMY ROBB

Those who excel in the culinary realm understand that taste begins with presentation—you eat with your eyes first. The most skilled in the kitchen create an experience pleasant to all the senses, and seek to evoke a response from those who eat their dishes. Beyond merely feeding our bodies, food is curated to stimulate and surprise, similar to an exhibit at an art gallery, and chefs have come to be seen as edible artists. The next time you enjoy a dish that is visually appealing, ask the creator about his or her background—not just the culinary training but other experiences as well. Based on discussions with culinarians around Northeast Florida, it is quite possible those who are working in the food community have a visual arts background as well. Such is the case with Nils Rowland, the mastermind behind the pastries, chocolates and sugar art at Crème de la Cocoa in St. Augustine. Before pursuing a degree in hospitality management, followed by training at a pastry school in Orlando, Nils put much of his creative energy into graphic arts, and ceramics in particular. “My art teacher in high school basically said ‘Here’s a wheel, have fun,’” recalls Nils. He took those words to heart, enjoying his time throwing clay on the wheel. Although he did not realize it at the time, those hours creating uniquely shaped decorative vases and bottles were a good foundation for his current pursuit. “To me, making a piece of pottery is like creating pastry art. Sugar and chocolate pieces are designed to be looked at, with an added bonus of being edible.” While the initial attraction may be the visual beauty of his creations, Nils also focuses on how the delicate flowers and other sculpted sugar tastes, so each piece becomes a delicious intersection where art meets flavor. Nature is a consistent inspiration for his work, as it lends itself well to his culinary medium. “I want the chocolate and sugar art to be unique yet relatable to my customers, beautiful but not over-complicated,” said Nils. “Having an art background really helps with composition.” Florida may not be the best place to create sculptures in chocolate and sugar. Heat and humidity are natural enemies of this kind of art, and Nils has already experienced wilted sugar flowers on a wedding cake. Still, like any artist, he is committed to his craft to offer up one-of-a-kind edible art. While the most intricate pieces may take 80–100 hours to complete, “I just like working with my hands. Making something out of clay is cool, but making sculpture out of chocolate and sugar is even more impressive. I am just getting started.” Tune in to catch Nils on Food Network’s “Cake Wars: Christmas” premiering Monday, November 9 at 9pm ET/PT

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THE NEW FOOD BANK IS

Banking on Itself Growing Their Own Sustainable Future Words Jen Hand Photos Ingrid Damiani and Kristen Penoyer

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s here. The six-week holiday flurry takes off with Thanksgiving, crescendos at Christmas and winds down as the last calendar page runs out of squares. We look forward to sharing gifts and communing over elaborate meals with friends and loved ones. We toss our change into the ubiquitous red kettles (in faith that it will be well allocated). Want to do more? This is a perfect season to dig a little deeper and assist area organizations that could use your monetary help or other skills to connect local people with garden-fresh produce. While the food may be readily available, it has to be distributed into the hands (and mouths) that need it. At this time of year, why not support the groups that work tirelessly to help coordinate access to food?

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It might be hard to fathom that in a state which ranks second (behind California) in producing the largest selection and quantity of vegetables, so many of our neighbors are still food insecure and rely on community assistance for fresh food. Fortunately, there are organizations that help year-round. With government funding for social services on the decline, however, conventional fundraising has morphed into more creative models of giving. For instance, if you give a few dollars, instead of a thank you postcard, you may get a bag of produce. Non-profits are finding ways to support themselves through entrepreneurial activities. So how can the community at large best support these groups?

it to a broker. This can provide a niche market for the small family farm and it keeps our produce dollars in our community,” added Guiriba, “and that helps us all.” When the Farm to Family truck rolls into a stop, every bunch of greens comes with a bunch of education as the staff introduces different tastes of unfamiliar produce. Phyllis Wood, the market manager, has been known to whip up a chopped kale salad using ingredients from the truck and share it with skeptics who are usually blown away. “It’s bringing those new things to people’s attention,” says Guiriba. “Everybody loves it.”

FARM TO FAMILY Based in Hastings, Pie in the Sky and its outreach Farm to Family truck “fill in the cracks” of other social services by bringing produce from farms throughout the area to folks in food deserts. Malea Guiriba wears every hat there, from executive director to social media manager, and is all about connections. She has built and cultivated relationships with farmers from Spuds Farm (Elkton), Alvarez Farms (Raiford), GyoGreens (Ponte Vedra Beach) and Berry Good Farms (Jacksonville) among many others. “Some local farmers have told us that they were looking for other ways to sell their produce locally. Since farming is more than a full-time job, farmers don’t have the time to get the produce into the hands of the local consumer. Farm to Family builds the bridge between consumer and farmer and does it in a way that helps the people in food deserts, provides local jobs, keeps our spending dollars local and helps the small family farmer.” “We’re helping that small farmer by giving him another outlet to sell his produce and maybe make a little better price than he might selling

BERRY GOOD FARMS The North Florida School of Special Education in Jacksonville enrolls students and post-graduates aged 6–22 with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities. On its grounds, you’ll find Berry Good Farms. This self-sustaining urban farm expanded from a student garden program and teaches horticulture and culinary arts to these young people “in a formal agribusiness style,” says Tim Armstrong, the Berry Good Farms manager. Their food truck, Berry Good Farms on the Go, came in second at 2014’s One Spark crowdfunding festival and kicked off operations this year as a vendor at the festival. Ellen Hiser, Berry Good Farms director, says the truck’s twofold purpose is to have a healthy food truck and to “also be a place where we could train our young adults with intellectual disabilities where they get a job.” The truck now offers good-for-you options in places like the Jax Food Truck Food Court and outside of downtown business offices. It accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and has

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partnered with St. Vincent’s Primary Care to sell produce in lower income, food desert areas. Farm to Family’s Guiriba approached Berry Good Farms about wholesaling and “they viewed it as an extension of their services in a way to give back.” She adds “I love that and it’s nice to be able to align your attitudes and beliefs about what you’re doing with like-minded folks.”

HOE OUTSIDE THE ROW! Other ideas for giving to community activities in support of food access: From November 9 through December 19, “check out” the Food-for-Fines program at the St. Johns County Library system. For every can of food or non-perishable item that is donated, $1 in delinquent library fines is forgiven. The food is donated to the county’s Health and Human Services Food Pantry.

BEAM From assisting with a utility bill to providing groceries to get over Donate $100 through the Food the hump, Jacksonville Beach– Bank of North Florida and send a based Beaches Emergency Askid home with a backpack full of sistance Ministry (BEAM) has helped people in the beaches communities with basic necessities of life since the mid-1980s. While their food pantry was the first in the area to introduce client choice initiative, others have followed this trend. In this model, the client is empowered to choose what they would like, supermarket style. Adjacent to the squat, nondescript building that houses BEAM’s offices, Grace Garden offers a verdant oasis. Built nearly three years ago “with 100% volunteer sweat equity,” says BEAM’s Executive Director Susan King, the garden has patios, seats and benches, and is alive with

food for the weekend through the school year (weekdays are covered with school breakfast and lunch). See WeNourishHope.org/backpack for details. Farm Share (based in South Florida) expanded to North Florida last year and has a “Sponsor a Load” program. Your organization, corporation and others can sponsor a truckload of fresh and nutritious produce for distribution in our community. By covering the trucking fees, you can help Farm Share bring 42,000 pounds of produce to over 4,000 families. Visit FarmShare.org

Feeding Northeast Florida also has a Sponsor a Truck program. With four 26-foot box trucks and one tractor/trailer the fleet travels all over 11,000 square miles of northeast Florida every day and are seen by tens of thousands. The wraps on their trucks feature the sponsor’s logo as a special partner with Feeding Northeast Florida. Get your logo on one side of one of their pickup/ delivery trucks for a full calendar year for $5,000, while one side of the 53-foot trailer is $8,000. Check out FeedingNEFL.org

activity in the growing season. Walk with King through Grace Garden and see a shaded mushroom garden, aeroponic water-conserving grow towers and dozens of raised beds which together yield thousands of pounds of produce. Fruit trees and berry bushes line the perimeter of the garden and building, and there are multiple composting bins on site too. King is a master gardener, sits on the board of Feeding Northeast Florida and would eventually like to see another urban garden at

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sold to local restaurants. Clara’s at the Cathedral, the hands-on training café run by the Mission’s culinary arts students every Friday at St. John’s Cathedral Church, also benefits from the variety of fresh produce including spinach, kale, cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, collard greens and much more. Volunteers can work alongside the master gardener there.

BEAM’s newer thrift store/food pantry site in Mayport. “We try to keep our programs as self-sufficient as we can,” says King. All of the food grown on site goes to BEAM’s own food pantries. King considers BEAM unique among food pantries, in that they emphasize nutrition and education. Their Paths to Wellness program includes an on-staff dietitian who works one on one with clients guiding them with shopping, reading labels and making food plans. “Just handing somebody a bag of food is not the answer,” King says. CLARA WHITE MISSION Head west from BEAM into downtown Jacksonville and find Clara White Mission. The Mission’s goal is to help at-risk individuals return to dignity and productivity with education and job training through its various programs like White Harvest Farms. Marketing director Abner Davis says Clara White aims to give a “hand up, not a handout.” Located in a northwest Duval County food desert, the 13-acre White Harvest Farms serves its neighborhood first. Local residents can shop and pick their own produce, and staff will “cut it, clean it and bag it right there on site,” says Davis. Clara White Mission’s downtown location hosts a garden, and produce grown there and from White Harvest Farms is used in the kitchen (which prepares 500 meals a day), for the culinary arts programs and

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EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY All of these organizations serve education with a side of food advocacy. Farm to Family is developing a relationship with children at the Boys and Girls Club in St. Augustine. BEAM invites students from the University of North Florida’s nutrition and nursing programs to come in and work with its clients. Clara White Mission partners with Duval County schools to hold an eight-week nutrition class. Once completed, the kids go to an after-school program at White Harvest Farm. Bringing it full circle, students from NFSSE and Berry Good Farms have donated plants to and worked at BEAM’s Grace Garden. “It’s important to us that our students see that we can be the recipient of people’s help and money. But everybody can help somebody no matter what your position is,” says Berry Good Farm’s Hiser. “Our young people love it, they love going out and helping someone.” These organizations contribute to a resilient local food system by growing their own food, working with each other to achieve success or supporting local area farms by purchasing their produce. They help keep healthy food affordable. Is food changing the way nonprofits in our area do business? These four programs are less than two years old. So in this area, heck yes! AND they are collaborating rather than competing, sharing resources and volunteers. By purchasing produce at the Farm to Family truck, whether during the holidays or other times throughout the year, you are investing in your own health while supporting an organization that is promoting health for their clients and students. Buying from the BEAM thrift store or sitting down for lunch at Clara’s at the Cathedral means supporting organizations that help folks who may be in crisis in the short term, but are given tools for long-term success through education. Purchasing a healthy lunch from the Berry Good Farm to Go truck supports the school and helps a young adult with disabilities with on the job training and/or a job. Whether anchored in a food desert or traveling to one, many fine local organizations can use your help this holiday to provide access to healthy food. Getting a healthy meal on the table can be a challenge for anyone, but consider the folks who are particularly vulnerable because of lack of access. While giving may be more on the mind right now, support throughout the year is equally important. Over 300,000 people in Northeast Florida turn to meal services or food pantries for assistance. All year round. No matter how you want to help there is ample opportunity to put your money where their mouths are.

More information: Farm To Family Florida: FarmToFamilyFlorida.org Beaches Emergency Assistance Ministry: JaxBEAM.org Clara White Mission: WhiteHarvestFarms.org Berry Good Farms: NorthFloridaSchool.org/berry-good-farms

EDIBLE TABLE

What’s in Season?

These days, grocery stores present a full array of fruits and vegetables no matter the time of year. Here’s a shopping guide highlighting the produce and seafood currently in season in Northeast Florida. Growing methods such as hydroponics can extend seasons, so you may also see other types of produce on occasion. Determining what’s available at your local fish market presents different considerations. Many fish species are managed using seasonal closures to protect spawning aggregations of fish. Also, when a fisher reaches the annual catch limit, the fishery will close. PRODUCE Arugula Beans Beet Bok choy Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Chard Chinese Spinach Chives Collards Cucumbers Endive/escarole Fennel Grapefruit Green onions Hot peppers Kale Kohlrabi Kumquats Lemon Lettuce Lime

Mustard greens Okra Onions Oranges Pecans Persimmons Pomegranate Pommelo Pumpkin Radicchio Radish Rutabaga Salad mix Satsuma Sorrel Spinach Sweet pepper Sweet potato Swiss Chard Tangelos Tangerines Turnip Winter squash

FISH AND SEAFOOD Alligator Bass Clams Cobia Drum (Red) Flounder Grouper Mullet Oysters Pompano Snapper Shrimp Spanish Mackerel Spiny Lobster Stone Crab Claws Swordfish Tilapia Wahoo

Information provided by Florida Department of Agriculture, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council and other sources. Photo by Jenna Alexander

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SEASONAL PLATE

Sorghum Glazed Carrots, Satsuma, R adish and Dill Not too long ago, sorghum, or sorghum molasses, was a staple sweetener in the South. It can be found in most grocery or health food stores. Serves 4 | Recipe by Waylon Rivers

INGREDIENTS 2 pounds baby carrots, peeled and tops removed 2 tablespoons canola oil 4 tablespoons sorghum Kosher salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste 1/4 cup carrot juice 2 satsumas, peeled and supremed 2 radishes, sliced paper thin 4 teaspoons dill, picked PREPARATION Preheat oven to 250Â°F. Meanwhile, toss the carrots, canola oil, 3 tablespoons sorghum, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Place the carrots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a single layer so that they are not touching. Roast for 30 minutes; continue checking every 10 minutes until they are barely fork tender. Remove from oven. To glaze the carrots, pour the carrot juice in a medium sautĂŠ pan and bring to a boil. Whisk in remaining sorghum until it has dissolved. Add the carrots and simmer in the carrot juice until the juice becomes slightly syrupy. Divide the carrots between 4 shallow bowls. Pour 2 tablespoons of glaze over each portion. Garnish each plate with 5 radish slices, 5 Satsuma supremes and 1 teaspoon of dill. Serve. TIP: To supreme the Satsuma, remove the skin, pith, membranes and seeds, then separate into segments.

Photo by Kristen Penoyer

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Salt-Roasted Beets, Citrus-Herb Goat Cheese, Beet Top–Green Apple Gremolata This colorful side dish uses both roots and greens of the beet – what a delicious way to cut down on food waste! Serves 4 | Recipe by Waylon Rivers

INGREDIENTS 8 egg whites 2 pounds kosher salt 1 bunch fresh thyme, picked 2 pounds baby red beets (tops reserved) PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk the egg whites, salt and thyme to stiff peaks in a large mixing bowl. Place the beets in a medium roasting pan lined with parchment paper, in a single layer close together without touching. Cover the beets completely with the whipped egg whites. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, check the beets by poking with a metal skewer. The beets should give little resistance if they are cooked through. If they aren’t done, check them every 15 minutes until they are tender. Let the beets cool and remove the egg whites from the beets. Run the beets under water to get all leftover egg whites off. Peel the beets with a towel while they are still warm.

Citrus-Herb Goat Cheese INGREDIENTS ½ cup fresh goat cheese, softened 1 tablespoon orange zest 1 teaspoon parsley, chopped 1 teaspoon chives, chopped 1 teaspoon tarragon, chopped 2 tablespoons sour cream Kosher salt, to taste Black pepper, to taste PREPARATION Add all ingredients to a stand mixer with paddle attachment and blend at medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 3 days

Beet Top–Green Apple Gremolata INGREDIENTS ½ bunch reserved beet tops ½ cup Granny Smith apple, deseeded and diced small ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon orange zest 1 teaspoon parsley, chopped PREPARATION Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. TO FINISH Warm the beets in a 350° oven for 7–9 minutes to reheat. Meanwhile, spread 2 tablespoons of goat cheese on 4 plates. Divide the beets between the 4 plates on top of the goat cheese. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of gremolata over the beets on each plate and serve.

Photo by Kristen Penoyer

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Nov/Dec 2015

Beet Kimchi Use a mandoline slicer to turn the carrots and beets into thin matchsticks. Makes 1 Quart | Recipe by Kristin Adamczyk INGREDIENTS

4 cups filtered water 4 tablespoons salt 1 large red cabbage or Chinese cabbage 2-3 large carrots 1-2 beets 3-4 cloves garlic, minced 3-4 hot chilies or 3 to 4 tablespoons chili paste Quart Mason jar or a large crock PREPARATION

Mix the water and salt to make your brine. Make sure salt is dissolved. Set aside a few washed whole cabbage leaves for later use. Chop remaining cabbage. Slice beets and carrots. Let the vegetables soak in the brine for a few hours or overnight. Cover them with a plate to keep them submerged under the brine. If needed, make more brine to completely cover the vegetables. Chop garlic and peppers, then mix together, or mix garlic into chili paste if using that. Kimchi is supposed to be a spicy dish, but you can tone down or omit the heat if you need to.

Drain brine off vegetables and reserve it. Taste vegetables for saltiness. If they are too salty, rinse them. If you cannot taste salt, then sprinkle on some salt and toss. Mix brined vegetables with garlic and pepper mixture. Stuff and pack it into clean quart-sized Mason jar. Pack it tightly, pressing down to make sure the brine rises over your vegetables. If needed, add some of the reserved brine. Weigh the vegetables down with the reserved cabbage leaves by folding them up and stuffing them into the jar on top of vegetables. Screw jar lid on, but not completely tight. Set jar into a baking pan to catch any juices that may escape during fermentation. Set in a cool, dry place out of sunlight. Taste vegetables daily; in about a week they should be ready to eat. Remove the top large cabbage leaves. Store in refrigerator up to 2 weeks. Note: While optimal fermentation temperature is 76째 it is not necessary. Depending on the temperature conditions in your household it could take longer, if cooler, or less time to ferment if warmer.

Photo by Jenna Alexander

Nov/Dec 2015

edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Farmers Row @ RAM The Urban Core’s Producer-only Market VOTED JACKSONVILLE’S BEST FARMERS MARKET!

Folio Weekly & Florida Times-Union

Did you know?

Simple ingredients. True flavor. An attention to detail that elevates the ordinary.

DINNER • LUNCH • BRUNCH • COCKTAILS ON THE GO • PRIVATE DINING • CATERING

Farmers Row at Ram features seasonal produce and farm products grown within a 100-mile radius of Jacksonville's city limits. What you see in Farmers Row is being grown with love and sold directly by our farm vendors—guaranteeing the freshest products at the very best price.

SAN MARCO SQUARE

904.398.3005

WWW.TAVERNA.RESTAURANT

RAM conducts farm visits to ensure all products sold are locally sourced and properly labeled. RAM also provides educational materials on the benefits of eating locally at the Farmers Row Info Booth every Saturday. Local farm products extend far beyond fruits and veggies. Farmers Row also features local honey, pasture raised eggs, meats, cheeses, seafood, rice, flowers, soaps, micro greens, herbs, plant starts and more! Supporting local farmers is a direct investment in the community and eliminates the higher costs associated with shipping and resale which are often incurred by both farmers and buyers. Our farm vendors are proud of their seasonal offerings and are happy to share their experiences with you. Not sure what something is or how to use it? Don’t be afraid to ask!

every saturday: March-December // 10 am-4 pm january-february // 10 am-1 pm

farmers@riversideartsmarket.com facebook.com/farmersrowatram

715 Riverside Ave. Under the Canopy of the Fuller Warren Bridge

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Nov/Dec 2015

edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

COME TO THE TABLE

New Traditions for Gathering WORDS JENNIFER WOLFE PHOTOS AMY ROBB

Have we lost the art of gathering in today’s modern world? When fast-food society emerged after World War II, many of us lost touch with the sources of our food and the culinary traditions of our past. Always in a hurry, we focused on convenience, eating highly marketed pre-packaged foods. Tired of formalities, we replaced cloth napkins and crystal glassware with paper plates and Styrofoam cups. Hooked on technology, we watched TV during meals instead of talking to each other. We ate out more, cooked less and littered our landscape with our waste. Although we still gather together for meals, what we may have lost in this process is conscious choice around our food values and awareness of how our actions connect to the earth around us. As a suburban mom raising young kids, my choices were definitely influenced by these trends. Although we sat down on weekends for home-cooked meals, fast-food too often punctuated our busy lifestyle. Shopping was done from a grocery store aisle and pre-packaged dinners sometimes trumped the inconvenience of making food from scratch. Buying vegetables from a local farm in 2007 helped bring me back to my senses. Starting a garden to show my kids how food was grown reconnected me to my own farming roots and core values. Once I tasted my own fresh arugula, I never wanted to eat packaged lettuce again. Today, as an urban dweller, I’m prioritizing my values of slowing down at mealtimes and making personal connections over homecooked food. I prefer to buy food grown and purchased locally at the farmer’s market or organic grocery store. And I’m trying to reduce my personal waste, focusing on “enoughedness,” as Bethany Crawley of Riverside’s Lotus Yoga likes to say. I also intentionally bring more of the sacred to the table, taking time to honor my food and the act of gathering around it, whether with family, my writing groups or my neighbors.

THOUGHTFUL CHOICES As the holiday season approaches here in Northeast Florida, many of us are gathering together over food in traditional and nontraditional ways, overcoming obstacles of time and distance. My own kids will be back from college soon for their first Christmas in our new home in Jacksonville’s historic Riverside. We will come together, along with the rest of our family, to eat around the antique oak table that sits at the heart-center of my 1920s cottage. The art of gathering has not been lost in our family, but it’s definitely evolved—as it has in the rest of the modern world. As I plan my holiday meals, I’m trying to act in alignment with my values. I’m aware of the increased importance of place in my life and how this new neighborhood affects my food choices. I’m thoughtful about our family customs as I consider how to create, or re-create, traditions in this new home. I don’t think I’m the only one making more conscious choices these days. As I talk to people in and around my new neighborhood— an organic farmer, a personal chef, a restaurateur and a modern

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Nov/Dec 2015

grandmother—I see many of us becoming more thoughtful about our food and the act of gathering around it. Especially during the holidays, this connection seems more than practical—it’s spiritual. BUYING LOCAL Down to Earth Farm, an organic farm in Jacksonville, is one of my favorite sources for local food. Brian Lapinski and his produce can be found at local farmers’ markets, where his booth becomes a gathering place of sorts—which brings him great pride. “We have people from all different walks of life, and we have built relationships with a lot of the folks that come and buy our food,” he said. Lapinski not only sells his produce at the markets, but he also provides vegetables to individual customers through his community-supported agriculture (CSA) program. During the holidays, he and his customers have a potluck dinner on the farm where everyone brings food they have prepared from their CSA vegetables. “Clearly, food is what often brings us together, but local food and local produce creates even more intimacy and connection,” he said. ”People really value it, and treasure it, if it comes from a source that they trust,” Lapinski said. Buying from the farmers’ market reinforces a sense of place and is especially fun to experience during the holiday season, he added. “A farmers’ market itself is a gathering place that has more social energy than a store. It’s more intimately community-based. It’s outdoors, and

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slightly more festive. The space lends itself to people communing, as opposed to a sterile [grocery store] aisle,” he said. EATING LOCAL Eating local is important to Rachel Kohl, a personal chef and former caterer living in historic Springfield. “Right now I am committed to eating local, which means eating seasonally,” she said. “I am much more excited that my Thanksgiving will be local—not just Florida, but Northeast Florida.” “In the old days, I had friends who would get Gourmet magazine and replicate it as their Thanksgiving meal. That’s one way to organize it, but it has nothing to do with a sense of place. If you take having a sense of place seriously, you’re almost going to have to make up new traditions as you go,” Kohl said. Kohl is sensitive to the presentation of food, and thoughtful about how people gather around a table to eat it. “I did a fabulous Thanksgiving at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Gainesville,” she said. “We made one long continuous table that took up the entire sanctuary. It was a potluck, but I made the food room beautiful. Sometimes, at potlucks, the food is crowded together and it doesn’t look so good. It takes deliberate effort to address that.” “I think that’s true in a family setting, too,” she said. “We eat with our eyes.”

A weekend gathering of friends and neighbors in Riverside.

REDEFINING COMMUNITY AND TRADITIONS Finding a welcoming place for people to commune together has become even more critical as families spread out across the country and see each other less frequently. Ellen Cottrill, co-owner of the new restaurant at Unity Plaza called HobNob: Food and Social Exchange, recognizes that and is intent on creating an environment where people can meet friends, hang out and just be together. “At the core, that’s what our restaurant is based on,” she said. “I think we underestimate the need and human desire for community in our lives,” said Cottrill. “I’m hoping that we will develop a microcosm of community at our restaurant.” When traditional gatherings meet non-traditional families, creative solutions are in order. “Up until a few years ago, my sister and I would take turns hosting a formal Christmas dinner of prime rib and all the fixings,” said Pat Geiger, a Duval County teacher. “It was usually very stressful for the cook and kept her in the kitchen most of the day. After going to all that trouble, it was especially deflating to have ‘the grands’ coming and going at different times,” she said. “Our new tradition is a Christmas day low country boil, a one-pot meal that can be cooked outside, which keeps the house cool, too,” Geiger said. MY OWN HOLIDAY TRADITIONS Growing up in an Italian family on an organic farm outside Pittsburgh, food was practically our religion—and a central part of my identity.

During holidays, farm hands and family members gathered together around the same oak table I have in this home. We sat down to homecooked meals filled with laughter, stories and food we’d grown ourselves. Today, I’m aware that these family traditions continue to play a role in my holiday gatherings and that these are important to both my selfunderstanding and developing healthy habits for my children. Cooking together, telling stories at the table and exploring local restaurants will all be a part of our new holiday experience. I’m also recognizing how my kids have developed their own sense of values around food. While my son is still concerned about just getting enough to fill his lanky, growing body, my daughter is highly concerned about how healthy her food is. She takes sensitivity about chemicals and processed ingredients to a new level of scrutiny. ANYONE CAN DO IT “Not everybody grew up on a farm,” pointed out my sister, Ruth Anne Wolfe, as we discussed the upcoming holidays. “But everyone had a kitchen table of their youth … a place where they gathered in community. And gathering together at the holidays, at a restaurant or even over store-bought foods is joyful,” she said. “How much better if we can do it with even more delicious ingredients because they’re local and fresh, beautifully prepared and responsibly farmed?” she added. “Today we can decide to take the time to slow down and enjoy it together.”

EdibleNEFlorida.com

Nov/Dec 2015

BACK OF THE HOUSE

FOOD IN THE

Urban Core Build It and They Will Come

WORDS LAUREN TITUS PHOTO KRISTEN PENOYER

Chef Scott Schwartz stands on the floor of the Marble Bank Building with a vision for bringing community together.

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edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

“I swore up and down that I would never go downtown, no way. The city was not ready for this”

As the revitalization of the urban core continues to evolve, one question to be addressed is: Which comes first, the people or the food? Does there need to be a critical mass of population in an area before food establishments find the location attractive enough to invest money and time? Or is it possible that one good restaurant can help people reimagine a space, a street and a neighborhood? The developers of the Laura Street Trio, a group of three historic buildings located on and near Laura Street in downtown Jacksonville, felt the answer was to have the right person from the culinary community in place to give the project viability. “The Marble Bank Building screams out to be a high-end, beautiful restaurant, and we wanted Scott because his quintessential Southern cuisine fit the bill for delicious local flavor. We felt that the project would allow him to showcase his talents,” said Lisa Goodrich, director of Marketing and Community Engagement with SouthEast Group. The right person, however, needed to be convinced the city itself was ready before committing to the venture. “I swore up and down that I would never go downtown, no way. The city was not ready for this,” said Chef Scott Schwartz. “One night we came over to The Elbow area, the bars and restaurants were open and there was life downtown. Then the developer invited me to see the property. He opened the doors, I walked in and my jaw dropped.” A Field of Dreams vision took hold of the chef. He envisioned a space with real food connecting our urbanizing public with those who produce the food, and he signed up for the new undertaking. After years spent as a fine-dining corporate chef in Atlanta, Chef Schwartz realized he had stopped having fun and was ready for a change. When his mom retired in Northeast Florida he landed in Fernandina Beach, where he opened a new culinary playground, 29 South Restaurant. It wasn’t until after a trip to Napa, however, where fresh, local produce is the norm, that Schwartz defined his philosophy for 29 South and focused on sourcing products from providers in the region. “Living in Florida, you can go to the farmers and develop these relationships with them to get the best ingredients. We shake the hands that feed us, and it’s my job to take care of those ingredients,” he said. The Bullbriar in the

Marble Bank Building will be Chef Schwartz’s city restaurant, a sibling to his casual restaurant in Fernandina Beach. Adjacent to The Bullbriar will be a Marriott Courtyard boutique hotel and 90 condos in the old Barnett Bank building. Named after a North Florida native plant once used to make sarsaparilla and beer, The Bullbriar will be a full-service restaurant and bar featuring upscale Southern-style food, a bar and private dining rooms, and a wine cellar in the former bank vaults in the basement. Much of the food will be sourced locally whenever possible, including from the rooftop garden which is integral to the plans. “At 29 South, we have about 14 beds behind the restaurant. This downtown garden will be about twice the size of what we have at the beach, and we will also have some hydroponic towers. The garden gives the cooks a chance to get their hands dirty—you treat fennel or other produce with a little more respect after growing it. And the guests at the Marriott can see the chefs tending the garden,” said Chef Schwartz. The chef is eager to see how the modern-day necessities of a food establishment will be configured. Given the historical significance of the building, key architectural elements will need to be retained or restored, requiring some creative design of the kitchen and dining room. The project will take over a year to complete, and the restaurant will serve as a key component in re-imagining the urban environment. The length of time, however, is not a deterrent to this enthusiastic entrepreneur. “While it’s really important to have a residential downtown, at the heart of the project there needs to be a culinary focal point,” said Chef Schwartz. And we think he is well on his way to creating it.

EdibleNEFlorida.com Sisters Opal and Olive Ferreira pet the goats at Rype & Readi Farm Market in Elkton.

Nov/Dec 2015

FROM THE KITCHEN

with Love

Edible Gifts Handcrafted at Home WORDS LAUREN MURPHY AND AMY ARMSTRONG PHOTOS AMY ROBB

Lemon Curd Prep time:15 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS Zest from 3 to 4 lemons 1½ cups sugar ½ cup lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon of salt ¼ pound unsalted butter, room temperature 4 extra large eggs PREPARATION Zest lemons, being careful not to remove the pith (white part under the skin). The white pith tends to make the

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edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

curd bitter. Either chop the zest or place it in a food processor. Add the sugar, lemon juice and salt and pulse until combined. Cream the butter then beat in the sugar mixture. Add the eggs 1 at a time until combined. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat over low heat until it starts to thicken. This may take about 10–15 minutes. Stir continuously. Just before the pot starts to simmer, you will see the curd start to thicken. Make sure you don’t let it boil. Remove from heat and cool. Package it up into jars and refrigerate.

Nor a’s Gr anola Vary the flavor of this by using different combinations of nuts, seeds and dried fruit. This will remain fresh for several weeks, if you don’t eat it all before then. Prep time: 10 minutes. Total time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS 7 cups uncooked oats 1 cup each of 3 different types of your favorite nuts and seeds, chopped (almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc.) 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes ½ teaspoon salt ¾ cup coconut oil, heated slightly to liquefy 1 cup pure maple syrup 4 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 cup each of 3 different types of your favorite dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, etc.), optional

PREPARATION In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, nuts and seeds. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, coconut oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla. Pour over dry mixture in bowl, stirring until everything is very well combined. Spread granola mixture equally on 2 large, lightly greased baking sheets. Bake in a preheated 250°F oven for 2 hours, switching the pans from top to bottom after 1 hour. Remove pans from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrain from mixing until granola cools if you enjoy large crunchy chunks. Transfer granola to a large bowl and mix in raisins and additional dried fruit, if desired. Store in a large jar or other airtight container.

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Nov/Dec 2015

Rosemary Syrup As early as the Middle Ages, rosemary, the herb of love and remembrance, has been used in Christmas celebrations, decorations and traditions—making it a perfect herb to use when flavoring an edible holiday gift. Syrups are a perfect gift for friends and family members who like creative cocktails and mocktails, baking and experimenting with interesting flavor profiles in their coffee, tea and cooking. Prep time: 5 minutes. Cook time: 20 minutes to 2 hours. Total time: 25+ minutes

INGREDIENTS 4 cups sugar (refined white sugar or any other unflavored type of sugar works best) 2 cups water 8 fresh rosemary sprigs (or enough fresh or dried rosemary to cover the surface of the water) PREPARATION Combine sugar, water and rosemary in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Let rosemary mixture simmer for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours on low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove rosemary mixture from the heat and let it cool for 30 minutes before straining through a wire-mesh strainer, discarding the rosemary sprigs. Pour the syrup into an airtight container like a Mason jar or Grolsch beer bottle and garnish with a label and a sprig of rosemary. The syrup can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 month. VARIATIONS To make other-flavored syrups, replace the rosemary with other herbs, fruit juices or spices by using the “cover the surface of the water rule” for solids and ¾ of a cup to 1 cup of fresh juice for liquids. Some other flavored syrups that we love are lemon, lavender, ginger, rose and peppermint.

Nov/Dec 2015

edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Cozy Calming Tea Is there anything better than a warm cuppa tea on a chilly autumn or winter day? We don’t think so! Give the gift of a hand-blended cozy cup of tea that will not only warm you up, it’ ll chill you out when the holiday season gets stressful. Make this tea more local by purchasing local lemon balm, peppermint and lavender at a farmers’ market or by growing your own! Prep/Total Time: 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS ½ cup dried lemon balm 1/3 cup peppermint 2 tablespoons fennel seeds ¼ cup dried rose petals ¼ cup lavender 2 tablespoons licorice root

NOTE: When in doubt, mix equal parts of all herbs into your tea blends. PREPARATION Mix all herbs together. Package in jars, tea bags or all-natural muslin bags. Label your tea blend and all ingredients. Makes 1½ cups of tea blend or 24 cups of tea. NOTE: We suggest 1 heaping teaspoon of this tea blend per cup of hot water, steeped for 5–10 minutes. Taste before sweetening as licorice root is a natural sweetener. For folks with high blood pressure or other heart conditions, use stevia instead of licorice root if you want your blend to be sweetened.

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Nov/Dec 2015

All-Purpose Meat Rub Prep/Total Time: 10 minutes

Lemon-Herb Seasoned Salt Prep/Total Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS 1½ tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar 1½ teaspoons ground cumin 1½ teaspoons ground oregano 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon black pepper

INGREDIENTS ¾ cup coarse salt Zest from 3 lemons 4 teaspoons dried rosemary 4 teaspoons dried thyme 4 teaspoons dried oregano ½ teaspoon paprika

PREPARATION Mix all ingredients together and place in airtight jar or tin. When ready to use, coat the meat of your choice with some olive oil and rub both sides with the seasoning.

PREPARATION Mix all of the ingredients together until completely combined.

Cajun Blackened Meat Rub Prep/Total Time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS ¼ cup dried thyme ¼ cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons paprika 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons ground white pepper (or regular black pepper) 1 tablespoon dried oregano ¾ tablespoon ground cumin ½ tablespoons ground nutmeg

PREPARATION

Mix all ingredients together and place in airtight jar or tin. When ready to use, coat the meat of your choice with some olive oil and rub both sides with the seasoning.

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edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Gr apefruit Bitters With a season that begins in November and ends in May, what could be better to give during the chill of the holidays than the flavor of grapefruit in this vibrant and sunny citrus beverage ingredient? Bitters have been around since the ancient Egyptians and have been widely used for their medicinal and digestive benefits; they have enjoyed an enormous resurgence over the past decade with the revival of the craft-cocktail movement. Grapefruit bitters would be a perfect gift for your cocktail-loving friends and juice or smoothie fans alike! Although this gift takes some pre-planning, feel free to do the prep work and gift the jar of bitters, a list of directions and any necessary tools to your DIY-loving friends and let them in on the action! Just make sure that you alter your instructions to the size of the jar or the amount of ingredients that you are gifting them! Makes 1 quart | Prep time: 45 minutes. Infusion time: 3 weeks and 5 days. Total time: 3 weeks, 5 days

INGREDIENTS 3 large Florida grapefruits 2 Florida lemons 2 tablespoons whole coriander 3 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 1 tablespoon dried gentian root (can be found at your local herb shop or on MountainRoseHerb.com) 1 tablespoon fresh or dried mint 1 tablespoon dried wormwood (can be found at your local herb shop or at MountainRoseHerb.com) 1 tablespoon whole clove 1 tablespoon dandelion root (can be found at your local herb shop or at MountainRoseHerb.com) 1 quart high-proof grain alcohol, preferably vodka, between 100 and 150 proof

PREPARATION Peel grapefruits and lemons and slice into smaller sections. In 4 pint-sized Mason jars, or 1 large Mason jar or some other large, airtight glass container, combine citrus peels with herbs and spices. Cover citrus peel and herb/spice mixture with grain alcohol until all ingredients are submerged. Apply lid to container and give mixture a shake. Set the glass jars in a cool, dark place for 3 weeks, giving the mixture a good shake at least once a day. After 3 weeks, cover a glass container with cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band or piece of string. Pour bitters mixture through the cheesecloth, collecting the citrus peels, herbs and bitters in the cloth. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth and tie them together so that the citrus peels, herbs and spices are completely enclosed. Steep cheesecloth in 8 ounces water until water is at room temperature. Discard the solids and add the steeped water to the glass container of infused alcohol mixture. Seal with a lid and give it a shake. Let the water and alcohol mixture sit in a dark place for 5 days, giving the mixture a shake each day. After 5 days, strain bitters through a double layer of cheesecloth. If still cloudy, strain again through some coffee filters until clear. Transfer bitters into small tincture bottles with droppers. Store bitters in a cool, dark place.

TOOLS 1 large airtight glass container or Mason jars (4 pint-sized Mason jars work perfectly) 1 sharp knife or peeler 1 double-layer of cheesecloth 2 glass containers with airtight lids, such as Mason jars NOTE: When first experimenting with bitters, try 1 to 3 droppers full of bitters per beverage or to taste. Grapefruit bitters can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

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Nov/Dec 2015

Goat Cheese Store-bought cheesecloth often has a wide gauge. You want to make sure that you layer your cheesecloth a couple of times in order to decrease the gauge and capture all of the wonderful cheese as possible. I often use 1 whole package of cheesecloth for this recipe. Prep Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS 1 gallon goat milk ½ cup vinegar ½ cup lemon juice ½ cup lime juice PREPARATION Line a colander with cheesecloth and place the colander over a large pot or bowl. Slowly heat the goat milk on low-medium until it reaches 180°–190°. Do not let it come to a boil. Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, lemon juice and lime juice in a separate container. Once the milk reaches the desired temperature, remove it from the heat and allow it to sit and cool to about 100°.

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Stir the vinegar-juice mixture into the cooled milk until it is all incorporated. Do not over-stir at this point. The milk will naturally curdle as the vinegar and juice are added. Pour the milk into the colander slowly, to allow the cheese to settle on the bottom of the cloth. Once you’ve drained the milk, gather all corners of the cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band. Hang the bundle over a bowl and let it drip for about an hour. Now, don’t throw out that liquid, known as whey. Whey is great for soaking grains, using as a substitute for water or broth or feeding to your pets (your kitties will love you). NOTE: If you find that your gallon of goat milk didn’t produce as much cheese as you thought, your cheesecloth may have been too thin. In that case, save your whey and re-strain it once your cheese has dripped for an hour. You will find that sometimes on the bottom of all the whey is a gorgeous layer of cheese just waiting to be strained.

Pat Hamilton’s Datil Pepper Sauce Living in Northeast Florida, you probably know someone with a recipe for datil pepper sauce, which makes it such a delicious challenge to select just one for an edible gift. (Truth be told, not all cooks will give up their prized datil pepper sauce recipe.) The majority of datil peppers grown in the U.S. are produced in St. Augustine and are a cornerstone in the foods and folklore of the Minorcan culture. Datil peppers have been compared in spiciness to habanero peppers, although they are unparalleled in their sweetness and taste. When purchasing datil peppers, look for the more mature orange and yellow peppers for a sweeter sauce, although you can also use the green peppers. This version is a perfect gift for friends and family members who love a really, really, REALLY hot sauce.

SUGGESTIONS Like all good recipes, this datil pepper sauce recipe is an approximation of a recipe that has been passed down over time—so feel free to amend it and experiment with it until it is to your liking. To sweeten the sauce a bit more, add another blender full of canned tomatoes and figs and another bottle of ketchup. Datil Pepper Sauce can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for several weeks, or canned according to home canning directions.

To learn more about the origins of this recipe, please Google “Bottling Hell: Remembering Mr. Murphree and the Spicy-Sweet Datil Pepper of St. Augustine” by Anna Hamilton for an awesome 3-minute audio clip explaining the origin of this fabulous spicy-sweet sauce. Prep time: 1 hour. Cook time: Minimum of 2 hours, but better if longer. Total time: At least 3 hours.

INGREDIENTS Approximately 6 cups datil peppers (mixture of yellow, orange and/ or green), stems and caps removed (but leave the seeds in!) 1 (32-ounce) bottle white distilled vinegar 1 quart canned tomatoes 3 (28-ounce) bottles Hunt’s 100% natural ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup!) 1 large onion, sliced 1 head garlic, separated and peeled Worcestershire sauce (optional) Red wine (optional) Figs (optional) TOOLS Blender PREPARATION Fill blender with datil peppers. Cover peppers with white distilled vinegar and blend. Add the sliced onion and the garlic cloves to the datil mixture and blend until smooth. Pour datil-onion-garlic mixture into a large saucepan. Add canned tomatoes to the blender and blend well. Add some local figs (the Hamilton family secret ingredient!) to this step for a little additional sweetness. Add tomato mixture and ketchup to pot and stir until well combined. Add red wine and Worcestershire sauce to taste, if desired. Cook sauce on medium-low, stirring occasionally, for at least 2 hours and for as long as desired. Makes: A lot of datil pepper sauce! Total amount depends on how much of the optional ingredients you add and whether you cut the sauce with more canned tomatoes and ketchup!

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Nov/Dec 2015

Pimento Cheese made with Wainwright Dairy cheddar, Live Oak, FL Kaiser Bun from Village Bread, Jacksonville, FL Eggs from Black Hog Farm, East Palatka, FL

Grass-Fed Meat from Seminole Pride, Fort McCoy, FL Lettuce from Bacon’s Select Produce, Jacksonville, FL

Bread & Butter Jalapeños made in-house at Black Sheep

Bacon from Pine Street Market, Avondale Estates, GA

FRENCH CUISINE RAW BAR CHARCUTERIE CRAFT COCKTAILS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY BRUNCH

3630 PARK STREET | HISTORIC AVONDALE | RESTAURANTORSAY.COM | 904.381.0909 | OPEN AT 4PM DAILY / 11AM ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Nov/Dec 2015

edible NORTHEAST FLORIDA

EDIBLE LANDSCAPE

Day breaks on Traders Hill Farms in Hilliard, Florida.

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Nov/Dec 2015

EDIBLE DIY

LINO CUT STAMPS For Holiday Food and Gift Labels WORDS MEREDITH COREY-DI SCH PHOTOS INGRID DAMIANI

I have always admired woodcuts, pieces of art that reflect so many small precise cuts, the absence of material revealing the image. When I first learned how to create this art form, I fell in love. After the initial design process, there is very little “thinking” to do, and it lets your mind unwind as you focus on the handiwork in front of you. Plus it is great to use as a custom label for jars and other edible gifts. For this project you will need a few specific tools. The great thing is that they are small and affordable, and chances are that, once you get in the hang of making stamps, you will want to use them again and again. • Linoleum cutter (I got mine from our local arts store, Reddi-Arts, for less than $15.) • A piece of linoleum • A brayer (a rubber roller for spreading your ink) • Tracing paper • A pencil (and eraser!) • Ink, specifically for printmaking • Paper • A hard surface you don’t mind getting covered in ink (I have a clipboard reserved for this job.) Start by choosing the size of your linoleum, preferably something no bigger than five inches by seven inches, so that you will be able to finish it in one day. Once you have the size of your linoleum, you can get to work drawing your design. Start by tracing the size of your linoleum onto your tracing paper. These are now your confines for drawing within. Using your pencil, draw your design on the tracing paper. Keep in mind that thick lines are easier than thin ones when it comes to carving your linoleum, and small details can be added in later steps. So start with something simple that you love. A beet, the profile of your cat, your initials and a flower! So now you have your design. It should be colored in with heavy pencil marks so that you can transfer it onto your linoleum. To do this, place your design (the side you have drawn on) against the better-looking surface of the linoleum, lining up the edges of the image with the edges of your linoleum. I use the edge of a credit card to scrape the back of the tracing paper. Do not let your image shift. Go over the back of

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the tracing paper a couple of times, until you are confident you have transferred your image. As you pull back your tracing paper you should see your image clearly on the linoleum. Yay! Your image will appear backwards, which is exactly what you want (especially if you have included letters). Imagine which part of your design you would like to see printed in ink (what is drawn in pencil or what is blank) and carve around that. What you will be carving out is your negative space. This is where the process gets a little mesmerizing. Keep in mind these things while carving away your negative space: 1. Carve away from your body, and especially away from your fingers. 2. You do not need to carve deeply to create your design. Shallow cuts give you more control over your tool and do the job. 3. Carve less rather than more. You can always carve more later. 4. Use the appropriate tool edge for the job. I start by using the wide “U” blade to carve out the big negative spaces, and then hone in on the more detailed areas with the appropriate smaller blades. Once you have your design carved out, you can print it onto paper. This does not have to be your final product. I often use this first print to see where I would like to add more details and refine my lines. To print the image, place about a spoonful of ink onto the hard surface. Use the brayer to roll the ink, coating the brayer in a nice smooth layer of ink. Then roll the ink-covered brayer over your design. Roll it a couple of times to get a good covering of ink. With your paper on a hard surface, evenly press your ink-covered linoleum (now your stamp) onto the paper. Use the palms of your hands to apply even pressure over the whole back of your stamp. Then smoothly lift the stamp off the paper. Take a look at what you have made! I always love the “reveal,” but it is also the time to see what you would like to change. I often adjust a few lines and take away a few more small lines with my smallest blade in order to add movement and more detail. I love the way the small negative spaces give the distinctive look of handmade prints. Once you have refined your stamp repeat the printing process onto your desired paper.

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Page 1

WIPE OUT WASTE Plan like a Pro for Your Holiday Get-togethers WORDS ERIN THURSBY PHOTOS KRISTEN PENOYER

The last time I went to bake a pie, I found an embarrassing number of cinnamon canisters in my spice cabinet. One of them, I’m sure, had gone through several moves, as it was emblazoned with a barely legible and ancient font. After I stopped feeling like a kitchen archaeologist, I regretfully chucked the desiccated cinnamon into the trash. All cooks have moments like this, as they throw away leftovers that no one had time to eat, or discover that they’ve bought something they already had. Food waste is expensive—both economically and environmentally. Every time you throw away food, you’re wasting not only the food itself but the resources that went into growing it. If you care about your carbon footprint, you will want to reduce that waste, not just because of the massive amounts of greenhouse gasses our organic trash releases, but also because of the resources such as water, fuel and human effort that went into producing and transporting that food.

The environmental cost can feel abstract, but the cost in literal dollars might not. In the U.S., a household of four throws away from $1,300 to $2,200 worth of food every year. Reducing food waste will leave more money in your pocket. This holiday season I’ve decided to make a priority of generating less food waste. Americans waste a whopping 31% to 40% of food from production through to the consumer, and a recent study found that most of us underestimate how much we waste. That’s because waste starts in the fields, can be found in our buying habits or during cooking and happens every time we throw out leftovers. Reducing food waste by just 15% could feed 25 million Americans. I went to the experts to find out where to start. Restaurants and food trucks have a narrow profit margin, so the most successful businesses find ways to use everything they buy. I’ve gathered some tips from Northeast Florida chefs on how you can cut down on food waste during the holidays.

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Nov/Dec 2015

Chef Kenny Gilbert puts a new spin on leftovers at home.

START WITH THE RECIPE AND KNOW YOUR INVENTORY Although you can apply this to all your cooking, when it comes to major holiday meals, starting with a recipe rather than shopping before you know what you’ll be doing is a definite must. Once you know your ingredients for all your recipes, list them and then “go shopping” in your own cabinets. This reduces waste because you don’t buy things you already have, and unlike me, you won’t end up with museum-quality cinnamon in the back of your cabinet. It’s the method used by Chef Kenny Gilbert of Gilbert’s Underground Kitchen in Fernandina Beach. “I always make a full-on master list of everything that I will need in order to prepare my meals. I won’t leave anything out, right down to the salt and pepper. Then I will do an inventory of what is in my pantry and cooler. Super important. Once I determine what I actually have, I will cross off the items from my list.” He organizes the list by food groups, basing it on where it might be grouped in the store by listing all produce and vegetables together, then dairy, proteins and dry goods. This cuts down on zigzagging around the store, which saves time and helps keep you focused on your list.

any left. That way everyone gets a taste of everything. “Ideally,” says Chef Gilbert “a balanced meal would be six ounces of protein, two and a half ounces of veggies, two and a half ounces of starch and one ounce of sauce.” Using those numbers as a template, you can multiply that by your number of guests. For holiday meals, I plan to be doling out everything but gravy and the turkey, cutting what folks ask for off the bird and letting them serve their own gravy.

UNDERSTAND PORTION SIZING Knowing how much to serve is a tricky thing to balance. On the one hand, I don’t want to be the host that runs out of a popular dish, but on the other, the best way to wipe out waste is to eliminate leftovers by taking into account exactly how much of everything should be required per person. You can manage portioning by plating each dish yourself, with the appropriate amounts, then leave the rest out for seconds if there’s

CROSS-UTILIZE WHOLE INGREDIENTS Before your big holiday dinner even gets to the plate, waste happens as you cook. Peter Kenney, chef/owner of Purple Olive in St. Augustine, says that they look to use everything: “vegetable scraps for stocks and soups” and “unused bread for breadcrumbs and bread puddings.” Sometimes, I’m forced to buy more than a recipe calls for—a bunch of carrots when the recipe only calls for one or two. In this case, it’s a

Nov/Dec 2015

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GO FRESH AND GO LOCAL Andrés Guardiola of St. Augustine’s Crave Food Truck recommends using local farmers’ markets whenever possible. Says Guardiola, “A lot of times you’re buying stuff that’s been picked weeks before and by the time it’s on the shelf it’s got one or two days until it goes bad. Try to get everything as fresh as you can so that it lasts longer.” In the case of local veggies, you’ll be shopping for what’s available, so you might need to be more flexible about your recipe and list, using your portion knowledge to calculate how much you’ll need per person.

LEFTOVER SUGGESTIONS FROM CHEF KENNY GILBERT Smoked turkey cornbread hash Take about 6 ounces of dressing and bake it off until it gets crispy. Add some pulled turkey drum meat and top with 2 poached eggs and then Hollandaise. My favorite type is datil pepper mash Hollandaise. After we make our hot sauce we save the pulp, which is called the mash. The heat has mellowed out and the flavor is amazing. Now fry some shaved Brussels sprouts and sprinkle on top!

Leftover collard greens and pasta Bucatini pasta with collard greens, pot liquor, poached egg and shaved pecorino cheese

Leftover candied yams soup Add turkey stock made from turkey carcass and a bit of half and half. Cook slowly, then purĂŠe and strain. Top with allspice chantilly and then a chiffonade of celery leaves, pulled turkey drum meat and crushed pecans.

Leftover creamed spinach Oysters Rockefeller Dice up the ham and fold into the creamed spinach. Place on top of shucked local oysters and bake in the broiler for 2 minutes. Take leftover cornbread, crumble, then bake in the oven for 20 minutes to toast, stirring occasionally. Place this crumble on top of the oysters as a final garnish/nice added crunch to complement the oyster.

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Nov/Dec 2015

great idea to look for a way to incorporate that ingredient in more than one dish, in stock or as part of your leftover strategy. Also, look at the whole product and find ways to use what you would normally discard during the cooking process. Consider how you’ll use the entire vegetable or bird. “We look at whole products so that we have use of things like fennel bulb fronds. We cut down whole meats and use all of the product in various ways,” says Chef Kenney. Making stock is one of the best ways to use everything, particularly the bits you’d normally discard. Freeze the stock in ice cube trays, then put them in freezer bags for small-portioned stock anytime you need it. It keeps for about a month in the freezer. Chef Ian Lynch of Jacksonville’s Bistro Aix makes turkey stock by using the turkey carcass stripped of any meat and then “adding leftover vegetables, any herbs and water.” After simmering for some hours, he adds veggies, turkey meat and cream to create a soup. “There are so many ways to utilize different ingredients and that is the fun part about being creative in the kitchen,” says Chef Lynch. SHOP OFTEN It seems counterintuitive to reduce waste by shopping more often, but I’ve found that rather than stockpiling at a big-box store for a meal I may or may not ever cook, shopping for the meal that I absolutely know I’ll be cooking that evening means fresher produce and less waste. Chefs at restaurants also use this strategy. Chef Lynch says that they “order daily on an as-needed basis to ensure the best quality.” Keeping this philosophy in mind is especially helpful when resisting the urge to be lured in by the thought of a super deal. In a study at the University of Arizona, findings suggested that for home cooks, shopping too far ahead ultimately results in more food being thrown away. While you could meticulously plan every meal for the next month, for most people, especially around the holidays, that’s not a practical solution, as life intervenes: You aren’t in the mood for the meal you planned, or you get a dinner invite or traffic keeps you from getting home on time and everyone’s too starved to wait for you to fix a meal. When plans change, what you’ve bought in advance tends to be wasted. As long as you stick to your list or focus on simply shopping for your next or next few meals rather than far in advance, you’ll probably waste less. SUPPORT UGLY PRODUCE Food waste in the U.S. starts long before you scrape your leftovers into the trash. About 6 billion pounds of produce gets left in the field, often because it doesn’t meet the cosmetic standards supermarkets require. That means food gets wasted before it is even harvested. Remember: It’s what’s on the inside that counts, and what’s on the inside is delicious! Says Guardiola, “When you grow things naturally they aren’t always uniform—cucumbers are a little bent, things aren’t symmetrical. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to chop it up anyway.” For the home consumers, by buying produce marketed as “ugly” you send a message to the store that there is a demand, even for the not-so-pretty fruits and vegetables at the supermarket. Ask stores for more ugly produce and look for online communities and petitions.

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STRATEGIZE FOR LEFTOVERS In a restaurant, chefs strive not to have any leftovers at all, but all the chefs I spoke to actually enjoy strategizing for leftovers at home. Don’t skip over breakfast, either. Guardiola thinks breakfast is one of the easiest meals to use leftovers in because of the versatility of omelets. “Maybe you’re not going to use an entire red pepper or butternut squash, but the next morning put all that into an omelet,” he says. Chef Kenney of the Purple Olive recommends using leftovers to make “a filling for pastry, empanadas or spring rolls.” Today there are millions of people in this country who are food insecure, meaning that they often don’t have enough to eat. I hope to waste less so that I can give more. My leftovers certainly won’t feed the hungry, but maybe the extra dollars I save can be used to help a local food bank in need. After all, the holiday season is about what you can give, not what you can waste. For other suggestions on reducing food waste, pick up the recently-released Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook by Dana Gunders, a food-waste expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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ANK YOU

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{Finca Salamina • Huila, Colombia} August 2015

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LOCAL LIBATIONS

A LUMP OF

(Char)Coal WORDS LAUREN TITUS PHOTO LOGAN BOWLES

’Tis the season for eggnog and wassail, for toasts and good cheer. If you are looking for a new beverage after you have raised a glass (or three), you might consider activated charcoal water. While the color may seem a bit off-putting, some believe there are benefits to imbibing water the hue of soot. Activated charcoal is processed so it becomes ultra-absorbent and safe to consume. It contains many tiny sponge-like pores that suck up everything in sight as soon as it hits the digestive tract. After a long night of drinking, activated charcoal water might help relieve your misery by removing toxins from the liver and bloodstream. So where does activated charcoal come from? Can you go out to your fire pit and collect the remnants? Well, not exactly. While charcoal can be made from a wide variety of materials, the activated charcoal used at Watts Juicery is obtained from coconut shells, a material that produces a high-quality and extremely adsorbent* charcoal (while minimizing the damage to the environment). The shell charcoal is manufactured by burning shells of fully matured nuts, and activated carbon produced from coconut shells has certain specific advantages that aid in adsorption. Annie Tuttle, owner of Watts Juicery and a local producer of charcoal water, consulted with an herbalist to determine the ratio of charcoal to water. While there is not much flavor to the activated charcoal water, there is definitely a silt-like texture. And don't despair -- if black water is not your beverage of choice after a night of firewater, maybe one of the cold-pressed vegetable and fruit juices at Watts will be a better fit. *That’s not a typo—adsorption is defined as the adhesion in an extremely thin layer of molecules (as of gases, solutes or liquids) to the surfaces of solid bodies or liquids with which they are in contact.

EdibleNEFlorida.com edibleneflorida.com Nov/Dec 2015

FROM THE OVEN

Lemon Chess Pie

Chess pies are sometimes called pantry pies, traditionally made in the winter when fresh fruit wasn’t available. Makes 1 pie Recipe by Allison D’Aurizio INGREDIENTS

1 prebaked pie shell Zest of 1 lemon or other citrus 1½ cups granulated sugar (I like Zulka brand, not organic but non-GMO) 1½ tablespoons stone-ground yellow cornmeal 2 teaspoons flou ½ teaspoon kosher sal 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled 5 large eggs (the better the egg, the better the pie!) 2/3 cup heavy cream 7 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons) 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

PREPARATION

Pre-heat oven to 325°. Place the prebaked pie shell on a baking sheet, brush with egg wash and set aside. In large bowl, stir together the sugar, cornmeal, flour and salt. In a separate bowl mix the melted butter, then the eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition. Mix briskly until the filling is thick and light colored. Stir in the heavy cream, followed by the lemon juice, orange juice and vanilla extract. Add to the sugar mixture. Strain the filling through a finemesh sieve directly into a bowl. Add citrus zest and pour into prepared shell. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating once then continue baking for 30–35 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is slightly golden and has a slight wiggle in the center. Do not overbake; the filling will continue to cook and set as it cools. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack, 3–4 hours. TIP: We love to use local citrus. I use a combination of grapefruit, blood

orange and various oranges. Just be sure to balance with lemon juice and adjust the sugar if needed. Photo by Amy Robb

Nov/Dec 2015

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FROM THE OVEN

Shortbread

Just four ingredients, this cookie makes the perfect treat for a holiday tea party or a hostess gift. Makes 2 dozen cookies Recipe by Lauren Titus

INGREDIENTS 1 cup butter, softened ½ cup confectioner’s sugar 2 cups unbleached flour ¼ teaspoon salt PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350° Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Combine flour and salt, then add to butter ¼ cup at a time. Mix until well combined. Roll out dough until ¼ inch thick. Cut into desired shapes, prick each piece with a fork and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Freeze for 30 minutes. Bake for 20–25 minutes until light brown on the edges. Photo by Amy Robb

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Nov/Dec 2015

LAST BITE

NEW FACES IN

Farming

Farming isn't an easy way of life. The hours are long and hard and the capital required to start and maintain a farming operation can be substantial. What's more, the risk of bad weather and fluctuating commodity prices forever loom, making the choice to begin a career in farming, or take over a family farm, a sometimes formidable one. As older generations retire, the number of farmers in the U.S. is on the decline, making it more important than ever to support the next generation of individuals and families willing to grow and raise the food we put on our tables. When possible this holiday season, we encourage you to support our region's farming families.

Nick and Katie Provow of Ruffled Feathers Farm represent a new generation of farmers. Together with their dog, Pocket, they raise chickens, turkeys and eggs for sale through their CSA and local farmers markets.

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Nov/Dec 2015