Local Food Mn

There’s nothing typical about Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables, located in Rushford Vilage, Minnesota.

When I made the commitment to eat local food, I assumed that my love of Asian cuisine would remain an exception. "No, I don't know where that meat comes from," I told myself, "but it's so darned good."

Somehow, this "ignorance is bliss" approach turned out not to be so blissful after all. I started paying more attention to Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Thai food menus, feeling less okay with eating meat whose source I couldn't track. There was no denying it: all of this talk about the cost of cheap food was making an impact.

From Wikipedia:

Cassoulet (from Occitan caçolet [kæsəˈleɪ; Fr. kasuˈlɛ]) is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat (typically pork sausages, pork, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin (couennes) and white haricot beans.

A huge thank you to our family, friends, farmers, neighbors - and the terrific folks at Brasa - for making Simple, Good, and Tasty's January 2010 local food dinner one of the best yet. From the time we sat down to the time we left 3 hours later, the nearly 100-strong crowd was fed a menu of - well, nearly everything on the menu. Here's what was served:

"Sometimes all people should get is a big bunch of blueberries," Everett Myers tells me. "Sometimes the blueberries are so good that everyone should just get those. Twelve pints at a time." I laugh a little bit, letting on that I might not be all that thrilled with such a shipment. "With recipes and information about how to use them, how to store them, things like that," Everett continues. His point is that when blueberries are at their peak, when they exhibit their most complete blueberry-ness, they should be consumed like crazy. Get your fill of blueberries when they're good! What are you waiting for?

What a year it's been! Between our first post - proudly proclaiming that we joined a CSA - and our recent letter to Santa Claus, we've grown gardens, pickled dilly beans, and made lifelong friends. Here are just a few highlights from 2009:

Susan Berkson, going Homegrown for the HolidaysWe go home for the holidays. Why not go homegrown?

I spent Thanksgiving in Tyler, Texas, where I feasted on Tyler's own Greenberg smoked turkey and Scenic Waters Wild Rice I brought from Minnesota.

Forgive us for a little bit of hyperbole, please - we're just really, really excited. After weeks of scheming, plotting, cutting deals, and eating out, Simple, Good, and Tasty is absolutely thrilled to launch our Local Food Lover program.

The program offers participants discounts at many of the best local, sustainable, organic, and fair trade businesses in the Twin Cities. Here are just a few highlights:

I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it: I'm a lucky guy. Not only do I get to spend my time with some of the most important and talented food producers, chefs, restaurateurs, and organizations in the world - I also get to work with these people I greatly admire - people like Chef Alex Roberts - to create local food events that are truly unique.

When I ask Molly Herrmann of Tastebud Catering (aka Tastebud Tart) how she wants to be known, she doesn't miss a beat. "I'm the gal who throws a great party," she says, and I believe her. 

Maybe it's because Molly has a warm smile, a great sense of humor, and a friendly way about her. Or maybe it's because each time I see Molly she feeds me delicious things - like the time I was working nearby and she let me taste her heavenly combination of goat milk ice cream and cookies with smoked salt, or the time she introduced me to a family recipe for cheese spread on fresh bread. Whatever the reason, whenever I meet with Molly, I feel nourished.