Resources for Finding Local Food

Everyone talks about eating locally and sustainably, but it isn't always that easy to track down all the great products available in your area. I bet that there are many more farmer's markets, u-pick-em farms, farms that sell direct, and other exciting stuff in your neck of the woods than you realize! I just learned from Nicole over at Farm To Philly about LocalHarvest.org and FoodRoutes.org. Both have search engines where you can look for say, a goat dairy near Seattle, or a farmer's market in Bozeman. Very cool stuff. Try them both, the databases are different, and there is lots of other great info on the sites as well.

Phyllo Wrapped Feta and Chard with a Citrus and Olive Salad

Phyllo Wrapped Feta and Chard with a Citrus and Olive Salad

One of the really cool things about working at Cafe Flora is the open menu, where any employee can propose seasonal dishes to be added to the quarterly menu, and then a manager's meeting selects the best ones. The picture above is an item I've been testing for the winter. The phyllo dough is filled with feta, swiss chard, and seasoned with Ras El Hanout, which gives it a slow warming burn along with complex sweet spices. The salad is simply mandarin orange, pickled onions, blood olives, and parsley with a citrus rosemary dressing, and I've got some Zatar on the plate for a little extra color and flavor. I took it in for an initial tasting by the folks in the kitchen yesterday and I think it went over well.

This was kind of fun for me because for some reason I've never used phyllo (aka filo) dough before. I don't know why not. I think the recipes always sounded a little fussy, like it was going to fall apart and you had to be so careful to keep it covered and so on. Not so, it was actually very easy and forgiving. If it crumbles a little, you just kind of roll around it and no worries!

Seattlest + Last Week For South 47 Farm

Produce at South 47 Farm in Redmond, WA

Many thanks to Dan over at Seattlest for the kind article about the blog and my internship! They are definitely the site to watch if you want a broad perspective and absolutely up to the minute news of what is going on in our fair city.

The pictures above and below are from South 47 Farm over in Redmond. If you are looking for a little less commercial vibe to go pick pumpkins, and an all organic farm, this is the place to go. They close Oct. 31st this year so hurry out and do the corn maze (for bigger kids, it takes awhile), pick some pumpkins, and buy the last of the seasons' vegetables.

We took Mini-Me out there for their wonderful Farm Tots program which always includes a quick educational talk, arts and crafts, petting the pygmy goats, picking some produce (this week it was a sugar pumpkin), and a hayride, all for $7 lousy bucks. You can't beat that with a stick, but there are only two days left, the last one of the year is this Friday, 10/26.

Hayride at South 47 Farm