Recently in Ramblings

Real Women of Philadelphia Contest Update - Grilled, Stuffed Jalapeno Video Recipe

The recipe contest sponsored by Paula Deen and Philadelphia cream cheese continues!  Thousands of people from all over the country are visiting the RWOP website every week to enter their favorite recipes, or get inspired by other entries.  Here is a personal message from me and I'll show you how I love to make one of my favorite simple appetizers using Philly. . .

Click here for the recipe for my favorite bacon wrapped stuffed, grilled jalapenos. I vary the amount of bacon I use depending on what else and who I am serving.  With football season starting next week, these are the perfect appetizers for the big game!  To see more great recipes, please visit the Real Women of Philadelphia website! 

Happy National Farmers Market week!  As far as I am concerned, every week should celebrate the wonderful array of locally grown natural foods that is a farmers market.  Here in Boulder, Colorado we have the #4 rated farmers market in the country.  However, the American Farmland Trust is running a voting contest in August to see which markets are the most popular in the US.  To vote for your local market, go to this link. . .

Sometimes I go through phases where I momentarily forget that the best "grocery store" is our beautiful downtown outdoor market next to Boulder Creek.  The setting is gorgeous and they even have wonderful prepared foods if you feel like having breakfast or lunch at the market.  Purchasing goods is easy with "Market Bucks" that you can buy with a credit card.  Yes, cash is still accepted too.

The best chefs realize that using the freshest seasonal ingredients in their recipes will yield wonderful flavors and nutrition.  The recipes don't have to be complicated.  Use what your local farmers are growing and you'll be amazed at the difference.  Plus, organically and sustainably grown produce is so much better for your family's health.

What is sometimes surprising is how affordable the food is at farmers markets.  Last week I spent $60 and came home with 3 big canvas bags full of "gourmet" goods like wild mushrooms, grass-fed beef, homemade sausages, mammoth-sized squash, zucchini blossoms, locally crafted goat cheese, heirloom tomatoes and three different kinds of kale!  Oh, and the peaches!  The PEACHES!  Just wow...... If I had another arm to carry everything I would have spent my savings on all the beautiful flowers there too!

So if you haven't paid your local market a visit lately... make the pilgrimage to your local market this weekend.  I bet you'll find the shopping experience is so much more fun and productive then those big box grocery stores.  And best of all... you'll be supporting your neighbors and friends instead of big corporations.

To pay tribute to my local farmers and purveyors, here is a list of all of the vendors I love to visit at the beautiful outdoor market in Boulder (source Boulder Farmers Market Website):

Growers & Farmers

Abbodanza Organic Seeds & Produce

Backyard Bees

Beyond Organic Farm

Black Cat Farm
Blue Ribbon Farm

Bookcliff Vineyards

Boulder Altan Alma Organic Farm

Boulder Backyard Bees
Broken Wing Ranch
Colorado Best Beef

Community Roots

Cowboy Crayfish
Cultiva Youth Project
Cure Organic Farm
Divine Farmer Herbals
Duran's Hobby Acres

Eco-Cycle

Ela Family Farms
Far Out Gardens
Farmer John

The Cameron Place
First Fruits Organic Farm
Fresh Herb Company
Gayle Grows It

Hazel Dell Mushrooms

Isabelle Farms
Jay Hill Farm
Leistikow Farms

McConnell's Greenhouse

Medovina Honey Wine
Miller Farms
Monroe Organic Farm
Morton's Organic Orchards
Munson Farms

Mycobiological Farms

Natural Homestead Beef

New Moon Farms

Ollin Farms

Oxford Gardens
Pachamama Organic Farm

Pastures of Plenty

Pots

Purple Hippo Botanicals
RAS Farm

Rancho Durazno
Red Wagon Organic Farm
Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch

Savage Garden

Stevens Farm
Sweetheart Farms
2 R's Farm

Tanaka Farm

Toohey Farms
Ute Trail Greenhouse
WeeBee Farms
Whiteside Honey

Wide Horizons

Windsor Dairy
Wisdom Poultry

Yatahai Gardens
Xiong Farms

Packaged Foods

BMoCA with

(Conscious Coffee

and Bhakti Chai)

Adaba Foods

Altan Alma Seeds
Augustina's Winery

Boulder Popcorn

Boulder Soup Works

Breadworks

Corner Market Secret Recipes
Eldorado Water
Fiona's Granola

Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy

I Culture Offerings

Infinitea Kombucha

La Esmeralda

Little Fig Baking Co.

Loredana's Pesto

Little Fig Baking
Mouco Cheese

Mountain Valley Canning

Outrageous Baking
Ravenous Chocolate

Seth Ellis Chocolatier

Shamane's Bake Shop

Silver Canyon Coffee

Olomomo Nut Company (formerly Spice)

Styria Catering
Two Mom's in the Raw

Udi's Breads

Villa Bozza

Prepared Food Vendors

American & European Kitchen

Amaziing Corn Tamales
Berry Best Smoothie
Boulder Ice Cream
Brilligworks
Falafels and Gyros
Fast Eddie's Hot Dogs
Laudisio

Mama Mari's

Panasia

Pasta Bozza
Pearl Street Grill
Savory Saigon
Sister's Pantry

The Taste of Africa

Community

Culinary School of the Rockies

Johnson Sharpening

 

This is a brilliant idea that was shared via Amanda Hesser's Food52 blog.  The Nudo cooperative of olive farmers in Italy has created a wonderful program.  Adopt one of their olive trees and you get to track it throughout the year and receive the olive oil extracted from that tree.  They have a many varieties of oils from different groves.  You select your tree and receive first cold-press oil from that very tree.  Very cool!