Farmers' Market Finds Weekly Roundup, July 31

Have you heard the great news here in Boston? We're getting a year-round public market! I'll let you read all about it in this Globe article, but just one highlight is that the market will be modeled after the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco and the Reading Terminal Market in Philly. I've never been to San Francisco, but Christine from Fresh Local and Best posted the most gorgeous pictures from her trips to the Ferry Building Marketplace. And I absolutely love the Reading Terminal Market. I'm really looking forward to following the progress of the market's development, and I'm so happy Boston was able to get funding for it.

And one more piece of local news before I get into this week's roundup: Loving Local is promoting a blogathon to celebrate Massachusetts Farmers Market Week that you'll want to be a part of. The blogathon will be hosted by In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens with a little help from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources and Mass Farmers Markets.

If you'd like to participate, post anything about locally grown food during the week of August 22-28.

There are lots of ideas as to what you can write about even if you aren't a food blogger: "Gardeners can write about herb or vegetable growing. Architects can write about the design of barns or farm stands. Watchers of the statehouse or even the federal Capitol can discuss the politics of agriculture and/or local food. And so forth."

And you don't even have to live here to participate: "Please think about writing a post that week if you live or work in Massachusetts. Or if you used to live or work in Massachusetts. Or if you once spent a weekend on Cape Cod. Or if you have a particular fondness for New England clam chowder, Hadley asparagus, or Boston baked beans."

"Please make sure your post mentions the blogathon, includes a link to In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens, and encourages readers to donate to Mass Farmers Markets. The organization’s donation link is http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/FMFM_Main.aspx."

Loving Local is on Facebook, where you can find regular updates about the blogathon.

On a side note: While gathering information about the blogathon to share with you, I stumbled across a new site within the Mass Farmers Markets site called Savor Massachusetts. It's a conglomeration of culinary tours and events in Massachusetts. It looks pretty cool, and I know I'll be visiting that site often.

And onto the roundup...

Michelle from Fun and Fearless in Beantown got some hot, spicy sausages from Stillman's Farm and made a tasty dinner of sausage and peppers.

Joan from Grandma's Recipe Box shared pictures from the farmers' market in Elk Grove, California, and a few shots of what she did with the goods she found there.

Last Saturday evening I went to Allandale Farm and picked up some corn, tomatoes, baby golden beets, and plums.

We had the corn with dinner that same night, and it was tender and crisp -- definitely the best corn I've had so far this season!

I used the tomatoes in salads.

And I made some fried green tomatoes the other night.

This morning I finally made it back to my usual farmers' market in Union Square and loaded up on more corn and heirloom tomatoes.

I found Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes at one of the stands (maybe it was Parker Farm).

Then I got a whole bunch of heirloom tomatoes and some butter and sugar corn at Kimball's.

I wanted to get corn from one other farm in case we were disappointed in the ears I picked up at Kimball's, so I stopped at Drumlin Farm's stand and was delighted to reveal white kernels when I peeled back a corn husk! Silver Queen corn, a white kernel corn, is my favorite. I inquired as to what kind of corn this was and found out that it's called whiteout corn. It's supposed to be delicious raw, so I'm probably going to add some to a salad. Maybe Silver Queen will have some competition.

What did you find at the farmers' market this week?

What do you think of the year-round public market we're getting?

Want to be included in the roundup? Email me.

Summer Lunch Series Part 7: Neptune Oyster

Well well well. Look who finally made it to Neptune Oyster. It has been on my 'list' all summer long. Scratch that, it has been on my list all two years and four months long. (The amount of time I've lived in the North End!) In that time I've developed an infinite love for Salem Street and its restaurants. Pretty sure I've proclaimed my love countless times on III.
Antico Forno, Bacco, Boston Common Coffee Co, Bova's Bakery, Dino's, La Famiglia Giorgio, Pushcart Pizza, and Rabia's just to name a few.But not only do I love the restaurants, cafe's and bakery's, I love the shops: Shake The Tree, Aquire, heck even the True Value on Salem is a huge asset to the neighborhood. How have I been literally everywhere else on this street except the beloved Neptune Oyster? Named for the Roman God of the Sea and one of the most delectable creatures to come from it, but today we weren't here for the namesake.
I'll get to that in a minute. It wasn't a solo mission this afternoon as co-workers (not mine, each others) Gretchen and Lizzy of Clean Green Cuisine and Food to Run for, respectively, joined me on their lunch break.
Sweet, I'm not drinking by myself this afternoon.
As you can see, the restaurant is packed! A table for three in the back corner opened right as the girls arrived at 1:15. Good thing I was right around the corner, because without your entire party, you'll be denied a table. Reservations are not accepted here, but the woman on the phone whom I spoke with a few hours earlier was kind and helpful when she explained a party of 3 coming in at 1:00 would be a 0-20 minute wait. We lucked out with no wait time!If you do encounter a wait, it is without a doubt worth your while to stick it out.
A cold, refreshing Peroni on tap was necessary to compliment my first hot lobster roll experience.
You heard me. I said hot. Maine Lobster Roll ($25). As Gretchen would say, it's an investment.
The plate before me boasts a toasted roll, overflowing from its glistening walls are sweet succulent portions of lobster drenched in butter served along side well seasoned and delicously crispy fries. You do have the choice to order this delicacy cold with mayo, but how often are you presented with an option for the former? Those french fries are to die for; seasoned to the nines with salt and pepper, deep golden brown in color and delightfully crispy in texture.
The butter runoff seeped into the edges of the roll to form a soft cradle for the lobster, making each bite more delectable than the last. Oh my gosh were we stuffed after this lunch. The service at Neptune was friendly and prompt. The place itself oozes class and character. Seating is shared in a long red leather booth with granite tables and a bar that runs the length of the small space. I'm certain I'll be back for a taste of the raw bar, but in the meantime I'm happy to have experienced the incredible lobster roll. Even if it did put me out a whopping $25.

63 Salem Street is officially checked off the list!

Just Me and the DVR

Good morning.

Just waking up with a cup of coffee.

And English Muffins slathered with Mom's homemade Beach Plum Jelly and Orange Marmalade.
It's another relaxing Friday AM over here in the land of flex hours. I slept until about 8:45 and have been catching up on some favorite shows in the DVR - General Hospital and So You Think You Can Dance. I have an awesome lunch planned this afternoon, but until then it's just me and the greatest thing to happen to cable TV.

My posts aren't usually this short. I guess I just wanted to check in.....

Happy Friday. Weekend plans?!

Amica 19.7 Ocean Beach Tri 2010

Location:  Ocean Beach, CT
Distance (Sprint): 1/2mi s, 16.1mi b, 5k r
Time: 7am (I was in the 4th wave)
Weather: mid-hi 70s, sunny, humid
Participants:  297

I went to visit my college roommate for the weekend (she's in CT), so I only had an hour drive the morning of the race.  Better yet, I actually heard my alarm ;)

Swim
As indicated by the name, this was an ocean swim and the water temp was 71degrees.   Most people were in wetsuits, and not just for buoyancy-- they actually served as protection from jellyfish in this race!  While I saw one or two, I think I survived unscathed.   Ocean swims are tough.  I've only done one before (in my second tri) and spent what seemed like minutes in a panic, not swimming, as soon as I entered the water.   I was hoping this time would be better, and tried to anticipate the shock by getting in the water for a few quick strokes before the start.

(I took this after the swim, so I drew in some buoys :))

It was a beach start, with a rectangular course marked by big orange buoys (we swam clockwise).   The elites went out first, followed by two waves of men.  All the women and first timers were in the last wave.   My swim wasn't perfect, but I kept swimming despite the waves and saltiness that almost immediately entered my mouth (I wasn't swallowing it, I could just taste it).  Eventually I settled down and somehow was the first in my age group out of the water!!   At 16min 24sec, there's still room for improvement, but I handled this ocean swim better and was happy with that!  (For reference, the fastest women out of the water were around 12 minutes.)  The run up to the transition area was a little long but the white sand was nice and soft so it wasn't too bad.

Bike
I was a little worried about the bike course, as the race packet contained many warnings about the conditions of the road.   Luckily, the town had done some paving for us the week before, and there was only one small section that was not so hot.   The course had some rolling hills, one good climb (shorter than the last one), and some amazing views!

I felt pretty good for the first part of the bike (passing people!), but lost a little in the last few miles (and got passed by a few ladies).   I was pretty happy with my bike time (52m 29sec), which averaged out to 18.4mph.   Not my fastest bike time, but not the flatest course ;)   I have recently (this summer) discovered how much my bike performance depends on nutrition, and am still trying to figure out how much I need.  Based on the way I felt, I should've taken in some more calories towards the end of the bike, but since I wasn't going out on a run afterwards, I didn't.   I came in from the bike second in my age group (less than two minutes behind)...

Run
~sigh~  While I handed in my chip instead of heading out for the run, I know the run was nice and flat, and heard that it was a little hot (maybe not alot of shade?).

A couple things of note-- the body marking wasn't in the best spots (hard to see from the front and our helmets weren't marked) so I had to search unmarked photos to find mine.  I also only had two photos from one photographer on the bike so that was a bit of a bummer.  (There would've been more had I done the run)   Nice technical shirt, but other than that a pretty lackluster swag bag.  That said, it was the first year of the event and I liked the course a lot (even if I need more practice in ocean swimming)!   The Amica 19.7 race series is great, as there is a universal distance at different race sites.  Sure the course profiles will be different, but at least it's a little easier to compare your times.  There's two more of their races in the area (Boston & Newport) later this season if you're interested!

DNF#2.

I'm getting ansy.

Oot and Aboot

Because sometimes you just need a drink or 5 after a long Hump Day day in the office. But then again, when don't I need a drink. I headed over to Delux after work and Jen made me a refreshing margarita on the rocks with salt. For dinner I ordered a one of the specials: Pan Seared Salmon ($13.95) with potato fennel & pea salad.Oh! For you new readers as of late, Delux is a tiny, funky, relaxed, hip, local dive bar tucked away in Boston's South End neighborhood. They have strong drinks and satisfying comfort food. Long time readers - sorry if you tire of the Delux rant ("If I hear her tell me about her favorite bar one more time....") My drink and dinner last night were no exception. After my margarita I drank about three of these before we parted ways with our South End companions. I guess we weren't ready to call it a night though. Back in the North End we meandered into Lucca on 226 Hanover Street for a nightcap in the form of an Espresso Martini ($13) Svedka Vanilla Vodka, Kahlua and Baileys chilled with espresso. I winced at the $13 price tag, but the taste put me at ease. I've drank many an espresso martini at various North End establishments, and though it has been awhile, I proclaimed this one the best. A delicate blend of vanilla vodka, Baileys, Kahlua and smooth rich espresso, shaken to frothy perfection and topped with 3 espresso beans, this is dessert in and of itself. But somehow that didn't stop us from ordering one after checking out the real dessert menu. I remembered I had a decadent apple spice panna cotta here one late night long ago and the thought of dessert seemed like tradition? I decided on the Bread Pudding ($9) Banana-pecan bread pudding with bourbon-pecan ice cream, caramel sauce and creme Anglaise and it was to die for!

Check out the Dolce menu for yourself. I guarantee if you looked at it, you are swooning over the Goat Cheese Cheesecake. Adam doesn't like goat cheese, but I will be back to order it. The bartender Casey was a great guy. He was friendly and engaging and even seemed genuinely sad when we announced our departure to head home and watch Top Chef on the DVR.

[Top Chef Tangent]

My boy Alex pulled out a win!! I think he's creepy and shady as hell - pea puree stealer!! But he's "my boy" cause I picked him along with Black Lightning (Kenny) in the TC Pool that you wish you were a part of because the weekly emails rock. Have you been watching? Who do you want to win?!

Pesto and Feta Orecchiette Salad

After a particularly draining day at work, I was really craving some carbs last night.  For me, a hearty bowl of pasta is the perfect comfort food when I am stressed out.  While I wanted to indulge in my cravings, I decided to demonstrate some self-restraint by making a side dish of a pesto pasta salad.

To start, I put some pasta water on the stove to boil.  Although I had some penne on hand, I decided to use some of these beautiful dry orecchiette pasta that I picked up at Savenor's earlier in the week.  I find orecchiette so adorable in their resemblance of small ears and hope to someday learn to make them myself!

While my pasta was cooking, I prepared the other ingredients.  Bret helped me out by shucking some fava beans from their pods.  We had about half a dozen pods on hand but it didn't yield a lot of fava beans.  I'll definitely have to grab more the next time I make this dish.

I also washed and halved about half a carton of large cherry tomatoes.

And I also cubed some leftover feta cheese from my watermelon and feta bites that I made this past weekend.

When the pasta was done cooking, I drained it and gave it a quick rinse in cold water.  I put the fava beans in the already boiling pasta water.  The fava beans took only a few minutes to cook and I also gave them a quick rinse when they were done.

I put all the ingredients in a large bowl along with the final (and perhaps most important) ingredient - homemade pesto.  I made the pesto the previous weekend since I had a lot of leftover basil.  I made a simple pesto with basil, walnuts, parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper. 

The pesto orecchiette salad mad a perfect side dish to my pan-seared chicken breast (marinated in soy sauce, vegetable oil and Mongolian ginger BBQ rub) with sauteed greens (broccoli rabe, black beans, onions and red Russian garlic).

I loved all of the fresh flavors in the pesto and feta orecchiette salad and it was absolutely perfect for summer.  Best of all, there were lots leftover, which I'm looking forward to nibbling on during the rest of the week.

What kind of food do you crave after a long, stressful day?

A Strange Dining Experience

They say you shouldn't just write reviews about the things you liked because readers will get bored with always seeing positive reviews, but I also don't like to be negative, which puts me in a sort of predicament here. I've given a lot of thought to the dinner I attended last week, and I've decided to tell you about it because it was such an odd experience... and there are positives and negatives to point out.

I recently joined MyBlogSpark. I didn't know much about it other than that it promotes General Mills products. I figured that signing up would get me a bunch of cereal and granola bar samples, and I could tell you all about those. Imagine my surprise and delight when shortly after signing up, I was invited to a MyBlogSpark dinner at Myers + Chang.

I love Myers + Chang -- and I'm not just saying that because Joanne Chang signs my paychecks. (Full disclosure: I work at Flour, which she also owns and runs.) I've been to Myers + Chang a handful of times and have always enjoyed the food there, especially Mama Chang's potstickers. I was excited to have dinner at Myers + Chang and to learn more about MyBlogSpark. I was allowed to bring a guest, so I invited Alicia from The Clean Plate Club to dine with me. I thought she might enjoy learning about MyBlogSpark too.

We arrived at the dinner and were greeted at the door by MyBlogSpark and General Mills representatives, who had rented out the entire restaurant for the event. I was handed a $50 gift card for travel expenses. Then we were sat at a two-top near where the chefs prepare the food.

We ordered our drinks and then chatted for a bit and reviewed the menu placed in front of us. We strategically made our selections so we didn't have any repeats.

Soon after we ordered, the food started arriving. This is when both of us started to suspect that something was up. Here we were at a MyBlogSpark dinner but no one was telling us anything about MyBlogSpark. There were no speeches, no handouts, nothing.

Having been to Myers + Chang before, I found our first two courses, which consisted of potstickers, spring rolls, Thai ginger chicken salad, and chilled dan dan noodles, as delicious and well executed as always. Actually, I think the pork dumplings were the best I've ever had there.

The third course presented more dinner choices, and the options were things I wasn't aware Myers + Chang made, and when the dishes came out, it was quite clear they were not Myers + Chang dishes. We sampled our beef and broccoli and shrimp lo mein and thought they were decent but certainly not Myers + Chang caliber. While we were tasting these entrees, we received fortune cookies letting us know that we had just sampled the new Wanchai Ferry frozen entrees. Well, General Mills didn't fool us (though I have no idea what I said on camera, yes, they were taping... I just remember that I was trying to be nice).

The frozen entrees we tried are not bad, and if you're someone who relies on the convenience of frozen meals often or occasionally, then know that the beef and broccoli actually has crisp broccoli -- something you don't find often in a frozen meal. The shrimp lo mein wasn't anything special, and the noodles served with it were like ramen noodles. I enjoy some cheap, quick-to-prepare ramen noodles on occasion, but I really don't want to be served frozen entrees when I'm at a nice restaurant, expecting a restaurant-quality meal.

The whole dinner reminded me of that Pizza Hut commercial where people are eating at a friends' house and exclaiming how delicious the pasta is only to be told it's actually pasta delivered by Pizza Hut. They all express shock like they had no clue in the world that it wasn't homemade. This may have worked because Pizza Hut decided to do this at someone's house. Homemade food isn't usually consistent and doesn't follow a regular menu like restaurant food -- which is where I think General Mills went wrong.

Had they picked some hole-in-the-wall Chinese place with decent food and invited a different type of blogger, this whole event could have been better. I understand the marketing scheme, and while I think it was creative, Myers + Chang was not the place to do it. I know Myers + Chang food, and others who have been there before also know it, and it's nothing like those frozen entrees.

And inviting food bloggers who look for the utmost quality in their restaurant meals and cook from scratch often at home (rarely buying frozen entrees) was a mistake. We are far too critical, and frankly, we're not the right market.

I really would have preferred an evening at Myers + Chang, eating Myers + Chang food, and learning about MyBlogSpark. I had a fun night because I went with Alicia and we chatted and caught up over dinner and drinks not because I ate a frozen entree.

Oh, and you didn't think I was going to end without telling you about dessert, right? Here's where you can totally negate everything I have to say because Myers + Chang desserts are made at Flour, and on this particular night, the tart shells for the coconut cream pie we ordered were all made by me! That coconut cream pie was fabulous. We also had a chocolate terrine with chocolate soil. I remember the first day we made the soil at Flour: I could not stop sampling it! Since then, I've even made it at home. It's so rich and chocolatey with a hint of salt, and I love the way it pairs with the smooth, creamy terrine.

This is in no way a review of Myers + Chang. It is a review of the event hosted there. But if you're wondering, Myers + Chang food, all that I've tried, is flavorful, well prepared, and well presented. And the desserts are phenomenal, if I don't say so myself!

More disclosure: I felt no qualms about going to this dinner even though I am a Flour employee because I thought it was a free dinner hosted by MyBlogSpark to learn about MyBlogSpark. Had I known that the dinner actually had to do with Myers + Chang food versus General Mills food, I would have declined the invite. In addition to the free meal plus one drink each and a $50 gift card, we also received coupons for Wanchai Ferry frozen entrees.

Have you ever been in a situation like this?

Have you ever been to an event or sampled a product that you didn't necesarily think favorably of and still written a review of it? How did you feel about doing this?