For the record, I’m writing this from my favorite garden view: Can you believe we’re finally getting to summertime? Last weekend we we’re basking in all this sunshine at the 2014 Minnesota Cheese Festival. The weather was terrific at the State Fairgrounds and the vendors even better. Picture my perfect Saturday morning: sunshine and rows and rows of cheeses on toothpicks. I kept asking Greg to pinch me. Our tickets got us access to more than 100 cheeses from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois, as well as a chance to visit with some familiar local food favorites like Slow Food MN and Minnesota Cooks. My personal favorite came from Alemar…
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Guest Post: Springtime Grilled Cheese
Two things I know: 1. All the world looks better after grilled cheese. 2. #1 also applies to a glass of red wine. Today I’d thought I’d share a guest post I have up on the Minnesota Cheese Festival blog for a springtime grilled cheese with spinach and ramps. It would go great with a glass of red wine too, I suppose… The cheese festival is this Sunday, May 18th at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and features more than 100 different artisan cheeses and food pairings to go with them. There’s two sessions you can attend on Sunday and tickets can be purchased for $35 in advance or $40 at…
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Happy Mother’s Day
Just a quick note today to wish all the Moms who stop by Minnesota Locavore a very Happy Mother’s Day. I’m spending the morning at the St. Paul Farmer’s Market with her, my grandma, Greg and my dad. Today’s a pretty special Mother’s Day for me. Not only do I get to say thanks to my mom for her kindness (including her willingness to make macaroni and cheese at all hours of the day and night…) but I also get to celebrate that, 27 years ago today at 2:30 on a Monday afternoon, she had me. Yup. Today we’re having a Birthday and a Mother’s Day all rolled into one. How cool…
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Foodie Penpals Reveal Day
Last month I was poking around in the food blog world and ran across an interesting post on The Lean Green Bean. Lindsay over there runs the niftiest thing call Foodie Penpals. Yup…you heard it. She had the genius idea to combine my two favorite things–food and snail mail–into one. I’ve written about Postcrossing on here before and my ambitions to finding other things besides bills in my mailbox. I was the kid who sent corny letters to my friends during summer vacation. I was the kid who waited patiently for my next issue of Ranger Rick magazine every month. As far as I can tell, there’s no better cure…
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2014 Minnesota Grown Directory Now Available
The 2014-2015 Minnesota Grown Directory is now available!!! If you have yet to get your hands on a copy, this is the gold-standard text for anyone eating and growing local in Minnesota. With more than 978 entries, it’s the largest guidebook to farms, farmers markets, orchards and other vendors around the state. I’ve used the Minnesota Grown directory both online and in print to find everything we need, A-Z. From wineries to winter farmers markets, from alpacas to elderberries if it’s Minnesota Grown it’s in the guidebook. And the best part…It’s FREE!!! What’s in the Minnesota Grown Directory? 1. Individual listings for farmers and growers including name, location, website or contact…
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Mississippi Mushrooms – Local Food Kickstarter ALERT!
This week I’m excited and honored to bring you Kickstarter Alerts! for campaigns in the Twin Cities this month. Two urban ag businesses are running campaigns to expand the availability of locally grown gourmet mushrooms to restaurants, co-ops and farmers markets around the Twin Cities area. Last Friday you read Locavore Q & A with Jeremy McAdams of Cherry Tree House Mushrooms. Today, I’m bringing you another Kickstarter campaign from Ian Silver-Ramp at Mississippi Mushrooms. Ian and his fellow mushroom growers are hoping to raise $22,500 by May 3rd to purchase new equipment for their growing facility. Here’s what Ian had to say about Mississippi Mushrooms and their Kickstarter plan: How did Mississippi…
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Cherry Tree House Mushrooms – Local Food Kickstarter ALERT!
This week I’m excited and honored to bring you two very exciting Kickstarter Alerts! for campaigns in the Twin Cities this month. Two urban ag businesses are running campaigns to expand the availability of locally grown gourmet mushrooms to restaurants, co-ops and farmers markets around the Twin Cities area. Today I’m happy to share Locavore Q & A from Jeremy McAdams of Cherry Tree House Mushrooms (CTHM). Their Kickstarter aims to raise $20,000 by the end of this month to “Locafy our Fungi” and build a shiitake fruiting house at the Ham Lake farm. I caught up with Jeremy at the Mill City Farmer’s Market to talk more about CTHM…
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Local Food Films at MSPIFF 2014
Miracles do happen…two posts here in the same week! The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF 2014) is underway this weekend and next. There’s typically a healthy crop of farmer/local food/sustainability films in the program; this year doesn’t disappoint. If you’re looking for something indoors to keep your mind off the itch to get in the garden, I’d recommend adding one of these locavore-minded documentaries to your viewing list: Slow Food Story – Sunday April 13, 2014 – 11:10 a.m. SLOW FOOD STORY – TRAILER ENGLISH from Autlook Filmsales on Vimeo. A Year in Champagne – April 16, 17 & 19th, 2014 A Year in Champagne – Official Trailer…
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Enough already…It’s time to grow!
We just couldn’t take it anymore. This weekend the garden guy and I said enough already…it’s time to bury the polar vortex and bust out the watering can. One day of 70°F weather in the forecast and we had to get our grow on. Is it possible to have an itchy green thumb? Three new projects emerged from our impromptu trip to the garden store. We grabbed some cold hearty snow pea and lettuce seeds from the garden store and stuffed them in the dirt. And then we started micro greens in the front window and a mason jar of sandwich sprouts on the kitchen counter. I must have needed a…
