If you’re in the mood to go out to eat, stop by K Restaurant, Cask and Larder, Ravenous Pig, The Rusty Spoon, or Hillstone and enjoy a locally sourced meal.

Winter Park High school is even engaging students during lunchtime with cooking demos, healthy recipes, and farmers market specials.

Read more about Jaime Oliver’s movement here in the Orlando Sentinel!

Eat Local for Food Revolution Day

I was fortunate enough to have my recipe featured at the Eat More Produce stand! I have copied my recipe below, so please, if any of you choose to make it, let me know! I always love to see the twists people add to the salad.

Taste of Winter Park and Eat More Produce

As part of my bounty, Eat More Produce granted me a mini shopping spree and boy did I load up! SO much organic, local goodness. I tell the story above in photos.

Citrus Balsamic Arugula Salad with Parisian Lime Baguette

Servings: 4-5

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 12-15 min

Ingredients:

5 Florida Honeybell oranges

2 c of Plant City strawberries

1 ruby red grapefruit

4 c of organic arugula

1 Florida Meyer lemon

salt to taste

Directions for salad:

Segment oranges and remove rinds; Dice into bite size pieces

Dice strawberries (most likely into quarters)

Segment grapefruit and cut into bite size pieces

Clean arugula and place cut fruit on a bed of the greens

Directions for baguette:

Cut baguettes approximately one inch thick

Brush with Ancient Olive parisian lime olive oil and bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 12-15 minutes until golden brown

Add salt to each baguette

Dressing:

Whisk together strawberry vinaigrette and Persian lime olive oil and add salt as you whisk

squeeze in half of a Florida Meyer lemon

For those of you who have never been to Taste of Winter Park, it’s a huge deal! As in, show up early if you want to attempt to get parking. In short, all of the best and most well-known restaurants from around Winter Park are featured during this event sponsored by Winter Park’s Chamber of Commerce. According to the Chamber’s site, “Taste of Winter Park is an epicurean indulgence featuring popular Winter Park dining destinations as well as new eateries destined to become your favorite.  Enjoy an evening of all you can eat and drink samples and live entertainment at the Winter Park Farmers’ Market in beautiful downtown Winter Park.”

Of course, it’s only fitting that the event is held at the Farmers Market since this is the mecca of all things locally sourced.

If you didn’t purchase tickets yet, now is the time to do it. At $45/person, you can’t beat the spread of food and beverages you will sample at Taste of Winter Park.

If you can’t make the event, but are interested in my recipe, leave a comment below and I will post it on here. Thanks!

She says, “Everything is as fresh as possible and direct from the farm instead of going through the middle man.”

Freshly Picked

Right now, she sources her budding blooms from places like Roseville Farms in Apopka, Florida. According to the site, the 40-acre nursery is the largest Clemetis producer in North America.

However, due to the climate of Florida, sometimes Aquilia has to reach out to nurseries in New England or Oregon for peonies or roses.

Where did the inspiration come from? No surprise here: Europe!

Aquilia says, “I went to Europe for a couple of months, and I was inspired by the flower shops. All of the flowers were from France, and I just knew we [Central Florida] didn’t have anything like that.”

Besides the good feeling of supporting local agriculture, the blossoming floral designer explains “local flowers are cheaper because they have a longer face life, and there is no shipping so there is less of a carbon footprint.”

More importantly, you can show support for the local farmers competing with mass producers in South America.

Currently, you can find snap dragons and eucalyptus at the Freshly Picked booth at the Audubon Park Farmers Market and the pop-up market at the Winter Park YMCA. And, coming soon, Freshly Picked will be one of many vendors setting up shop at East End Market.

To place an order to spruce up your next event, be sure to email Jenn directly at  info@freshlypickedflowers.com!

The gardens of First United Methodist Church Oviedo and St. Albans Anglican Cathedral are actually local church gardens, who, with volunteers, support the local food pantry at HOPE.

Hope Community Gardens!

According to their site, “HOPE’s mission is to prevent and reduce homelessness in Central Florida by equipping individuals and families to become self-sufficient through Housing, Outreach, Prevention, and Education. HOPE is a 501(c)3 designated organization.”

Food Pantry Coordinator, David Zipperer, talked to me about the inspiration for the gardens. He said, “Our inspiration was fresh produce. We wanted to give the people coming to our pantry more.”

Right now, the garden boasts seasonal fruits and veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, greens, and tomatoes.

The pantry and the produce that stems from the gardens currently feed on average 250-275 families per week or approximately 750-800 people.

That said, volunteers are always needed to plant seedlings and mulch the community garden. You can help out by contacting volunteer@hopehelps.org.

Zipperer concludes, “The main thing we need help with is the three “P’s: Planting, pulling weeds, and picking.”

 How do you support community? Reach out and connect!