Going Local

Win a Free Thanksgiving Dinner!

2009-11-10T11:24:10-05:00

Whole Foods is sponsoring a contest where you can win a free Thanksgiving Dinner or a free Christmas Dinner for a deserving family. The meal will include Indiana's Pine Manor/Miller's poultry and other Indiana produced goodies.

But you have to act NOW! You only have until this coming Friday, November 13 to enter for the Thanksgiving contest. The christmas contest has a deadline of December 11, 2009. Click here for more details.

November 14th Program to Explore Indiana Local Food Distribution Model

2009-11-10T10:08:08-05:00

This Old Farm is hosting a farmer/producer meeting on Saturday, November 14^th to explore a local food distribution model that they're considering implementing and they want your opinions. This Old Farm, Inc., owned and operated by Erick and Jessica Smith, is a diversified small farm specializing in pastured meats. They’re preparing to close in November on a full scale processing facility located near the farm. The facility will toll process beef down to poultry. They plan to continue the toll processing done in the 7000 square feet facility while expanding its use to specialize in natural meats and other locally produced vegetables and value added goods processing and distribution.

In early October the Smiths went to Kansas City to visit with Diana Endicott of Good Natured Family Farms, who has successfully marketed local foods to a broad market base using many farm alliances. And they want to share those ideas with Indiana local producers.

When: Saturday, November 14^th

Time: 1:00 pm

Location: Sugar Plain Friends Church

8980 W State Road 47
Thorntown, IN 46071

A site visit of the processing facility is planned after the meeting.

RSVP: Erick and Jessica Smith, hosts

jessica@thisoldfarminc.com

(765) 436-2186

Proposal Pork Chops

2009-11-10T06:56:00-05:00

Like many of us, I associate food with special times in my life. And there will never be a meal more memorable than the one I prepared sixteen years ago today on November 10,1993.

It was a beautiful fall day and Robert, the man I had been dating for almost a year, was coming over to have dinner with me. Usually my suppers were light fare. I wasn't much of a cook back then. But, the autumn chill in the air justified a hearty meal. A few days earlier, a friend sent me a recipe for walnut crusted pork chops. She said they were inexpensive, easy to make, and her guests raved about them. Those would be perfect, I thought. Add a side dish of buttered steamed carrots, a bottle of wine, some crusty bread, and dinner could be served in no time.

After dinner that evening, Robert asked me to marry him. I was shocked. On more than one occasion, Robert had made it very clear to me that a second marriage was never going to be in his future.

The next day when I told my friends about my engagement, I could think of no reason for Robert’s change of heart. I just laughed and said the delicious pork chops must have sent the self-proclaimed confirmed bachelor over the commitment edge! Jokingly, one of my friends asked for the recipe to see if they could work a bit of marriage magic on her long time boyfriend. She made them for dinner the next week, and he proposed that evening!

A few years later, lightning struck a third time when another friend of mine served them to her boyfriend and the next day…you guessed it…he proposed. But in the interest of honesty and full disclosure, I have to confess that his proposal came on the second time she made them.

Three pork chop dinners, three marriage proposals, three engagements, three weddings, and, after all these years, three couples who are still happily married! Coincidence? Maybe…maybe not.

So, click here for the recipe for my very appropriately named “Proposal Pork Chops”. I think this is the point where my attorney would have me print a disclaimer along with the recipe declaring “outcomes described in this post are not typical--your individual results may vary”. That’s a little too formal for me, but given the past performance of this entree, I would certainly advise serving this meal with caution.

ChickiePoo's: Food of Love

2009-11-06T06:52:00-05:00

When people thank me for writing about them on the GOING LOCAL site, I tell them that it's a privilege to share their stories. During my interviews with them, I'm continually inspired by their unending displays of time, energy, and commitment to making their businesses successful. And more often than not, I'm told that although their businesses are work...hard work... the work is a labor of love.

However, in the two years that I've been telling these stories, I never really knew the true measure of a labor of love until I got an email last weekend from Phoebe James, co-owner of ChickiePoo's, a quaint little 14 seat bistro that is set to open in Madison, Indiana on November 11, 2009. The email simply asked me to list the restaurant's opening day. Several emails and more information later, I would come to know a story that is so much more than just about the food.

When ChickiePoo's opens its doors a few days from now, it will represent a commitment of two parents to their four year old daughter, Isa (aka ChickiePoo), who in January 2009 was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Her Dad, Chef Lucien Gregor and her Mom, Phoebe James, chose to open the restaurant in Madison so that they could both be closer to home as Isa, who dreams of a future as a chef, undergoes her rounds of chemotherapy.

Why would they open a restaurant now? Phoebe explains on the restaurant's website,"The survival rate for Isa's leukemia is 85 to 90% but only for the five year mark. Ultimately anything can happen, so sooner rather than later became our mantra. Most children live in the moment, and all cancer parents realize that the moment to love and live is in the present moment." Circumstances do not afford them the luxury of time to delay their restaurant dreams for a tomorrow that may never come.

So between trips to Indianapolis for Isa's chemo treatments, menus are being planned, local food items have been ordered from nearby Indiana producers, the kitchen and dining areas are being buffed and polished, and opening day is fast approaching. No one is more excited about it than the pasta loving Isa who said she favors the Hand-Made Noodles on the restaurant's menu. Her sister GG, who is five years old, loves the Squash with Apples--a dish that her Mom and Dad often make at home with local squash from Bloomingfoods and apples from nearby Goley's Orchard.

Although Phoebe is cautious when talking about the future, she told me,"We're all so excited. It's truly given us something to live for. We expect this place to be phenomenal." I think it already is.

ChickiePoo's
209 Main Street
Madison, Indiana
Opening Day: November 11, 2009 at 11:00 a.m.

Photo: Courtesy of ChickiePoo's
Chef Isa is hard at work in the restaurant kitchen.

Clay Bottom Farm Focuses on Flavor and Nutrition

2009-11-05T07:40:00-05:00

The beautiful fruits and vegetables in the photo are from the Clay Bottom Farm CSA. Located in Elkhart County and owned by Ben Hartman and Rachel Hersberger, Clay Bottom Farm offers a CSA where, according to Ben, flavor and nutrition come first. But it only takes one look at these gorgeous baskets brimming with picture perfect produce to also appreciate the breathtaking beauty of the harvest from their five acre farm.
Having just completed the first year of their Summer CSA, Ben and Rachel are already taking 2010 subscriptions. They offer a variety of shares to choose from including summer full and half vegetable shares, a summer fruit share, late season full and half shares, and a full harvest share that runs from June through December and consists of the summer share, late harvest share, and fruit share. Home delivery can be arranged for a small fee of $3.00 per week and ordering a share is just a mouse click away with their convenient on-line ordering system.

In addition to the CSA program, Ben and Rachel sell produce at the Goshen Farmers' Market as well as to area restaurants and the Maple City Market Food Co-op . Committed to helping their customers learn where their food comes from, they encourage their CSA subscribers and other customers to come out for farm visits and tours.

"We especially enjoy it when the kids come to the farm with their parents." Ben told me. "We want people to see how we grow and care for the food that they're putting on their family's dinner table." For those who want to get up close and personal with their food and the local food system, Clay Bottom Farm offers volunteer internships where nearby Goshen College students and members of the local community can work on the farm and learn about sustainable farming methods and direct marketing.

Want to know more about Clay Bottom Farm? Click here. For more photos of the farm (and they are beautiful) click here.

Clay Bottom Farm
11434 CR 34
Goshen, IN 46528
www.claybottomfarm.com
Phone: 574.642.4123
benchartman@hotmail.com

Photos: Courtesy of Clay Bottom Farm
Photo 1: CSA Shares waiting to be delivered.
Photo 2: Rachel and Ben