Banana Ice Cream

You've likely heard the advice, "all things in moderation," and there are few places where it rings more true than with ice cream. Treating ourselves to a sweet treat on occasion is one of those joys that makes life worth living, but if you're looking to indulge a bit more often, try this easy, simple, and guilt-free banana ice-cream recipe you and the kids are sure to love!

Ingredients

- 4 ripe bananas

- any topping or blend-in item (fruit, chocolate, etc.)

Directions

Peel the bananas and cut them into 2-inch circles or chunks. Place them in a freezer bag and freeze for at least 6 hours. Empty contents of the freezer bag into a blender, and any blend-in topping of choice like berries, chocolate, etc., then blend until smooth. Serve immediately or re-freeze in an airtight container for at least 3 hours. Scoop and serve!

Oroville Hospital Farmers Market

Oroville Hospital has been hosting a seasonal farmers market every Wednesday, from May through September, for more than a decade. What once began as an employee wellness support event with just 10 vendors on their small hospital lawn, quickly grew into an occasion for the community with nearly 30 vendors. The market aims to make fresh produce more readily available to the residents of the greater Oroville area and encourage patients to make more healthful food choices. Access to fresh fruits and vegetables is imperative to leading a healthy life and preventing chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Hosting this weekly farmers market also allows Oroville Hospital the opportunity to support local farmers and vendors.

Not only does the Oroville Hospital Farmers Market make healthy foods available, it also makes them affordable. By partnering with public assistance programs, the Farmers Market can accept EBT as payment and offer Market Match. Market Match is an incentive program providing the ability for participants to purchase fruits and vegetables at local farmers markets. The incentive provides a match of up to $15 for EBT money spent.

So, what are you waiting for? Swing by the Dove’s Landing parking lot, located at 2450 Oro Dam Blvd., every Wednesday from 9 am-2 pm for your pick of fresh fruits and veggies, delicious home-baked goods, and an assortment of one-of-a-kind handcrafted treasures. We can’t wait to see you!

Bamford Cattle

Marsha joined the farming business when she retired from the family’s multifaceted business operation. Longtime family friend Rachel Shaw works regularly with Marsha at this, their only market. Their main sales are the steaks from pasture-raised, grain-finished cattle, and ground beef. Marsha says, “Our ground has the round.”

Happy Hens Farms

Elaine Burkart started her business with farm fresh eggs in 2018 and added a variety of quiches to the offerings. The booth boasts its jams and best-selling creams like raspberry, strawberry, and peaches & cream. Elaine mostly attends the area festivals but also does both the Wednesday and Saturday Oroville markets, along with a number of Yuba City area markets.

Bee's Produce

Bee Vue has been farming since 2008 in Sutter County. He boasts the best variety of dark greens and a huge variety of root vegetables, with a gorgeous color array at his busy booth. Bee does the Wednesday Market in Oroville and markets in Redding. He says while berries are typically his best-seller, his tomatoes are selling out fast this time of year.

Serenity Organic Farms

For the past 10 years, Noah has been working with fresh berries and jams at Serenity Farms in Brownsville, Yuba County. He frequents markets from Sacramento, Folsom, and Roseville to Grass Valley and the Oroville Wednesday Market. He’s looking to develop a u-pick farm for his blueberries and has a number of blueberry bushes for sale for the budding hobby farmer.

Dhillon Farms

Gurmeet Dhillon has been farming in the Marysville area for the past 30 years, and the quality of his produce is proof of that amount of experience. He can be found at markets in Oroville, Chico, Yuba City, Redding, and Placerville each week. Do yourself a favor and check out his booth the next time you're visiting.

Southern Comfort

The bar and grill for the townie, the bluecollar worker, and the executives who aren’t too cool for themselves, Park Ave Pub has been all that and more for years. Under new ownership, and having heard rave reviews, we decided to give it a try for ourselves. The focus: their Flaming Chicken.

Things kicked off on an immediately positive note as our server, KatiAnn, whose dry quirkiness was perfect for the bar, started us off with some delicious riffs on a Tennessee Mule and a basket of perfectly crackling onion rings. We were offered a choice of two of their many sauces and decided on the classic barbecue, which was good, but their smokey aioli was downright amazing, guaranteeing smoke that hit on the back end of every bite.

The sandwiches arrived and, like our first chicken sandwich showdown, this one too looked formidable. A stare-down occurred between the sandwich and I, and I see it’s brought backup in the form of a large portion of Persian-inspired salad (cucumber, purple onion, and cherry tomato in oil and vinegar dressing). If you like spice, you’ll love this sandwich. If you don’t, you may want to stop reading and check in with us on the next issue. Dredged in a buttermilk Buffalo spicy batter, the flaky yet moist chicken demanded a poultry chef's kiss. Plenty of arugula, two crispy tomatoes, fried onions, and creamy feta were wrapped between two slices of lightly toasted soft ciabatta roll coated in jalapeño aïoli. It’s enough to bring home and revel in again later, but it’s difficult to put down something so good.

Strangely, thanks to the chicken sandwich wars of the past few years, the chicken sando bar has been set pretty high and, even with many of the other favorites no longer around, I can say this would have likely been the victor in a contest had there been one now. This place should be standing room only with this sandwich on the menu. Between the entertaining music, multiple TVs, and open space, there's plenty to love about this joint. We encourage you to explore for yourself and see what makes it special for you.

As always, feel free to let me know I’m wrong on the Foodies of Chico page, where we encourage others to rave about what they had and continue evolution among the area's restaurateurs.

You can find Park Ave Pub conveniently nestled at 2010 Park Avenue in Chico. Make sure to hang a right at 20th Street when you're driving down Park Avenue, as you won't find any parking on the main drag. It is, however, easy enough on the other side of the building. For those who hate parallel parking, pull-in parking can be found just a bit further down Park Avenue at the ARC Thrift Store.