January 2013 – Growth By the Season

2013 Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference: Grayling, MI

Written by Tricia on January 28, 2013. Posted in Community, Events, Farm, Grow.

This past Saturday was the 14th Annual Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference. A gathering with the mission to build and foster a local vibrant agricultural community. The conference is an educational forum with the opportunity for sharing ideas, developing a local network, and empowering participants with the tools necessary to be successful. The day includes a series of educational sessions and speaking seminars, with a well-balanced lunch allowing for the chance to stretch your legs, recharge, or casually build relationships with 1 or more of the 800 attendees.

I was involved in the conference not as an attendee this year, but rather in the kitchen with Michael Everts of Blackbird Gardens and his team of farmers, foodies, & friends. We spent the morning baking apple crisps, muffins & scones. We layered lasagnas, chopped produce for salads and roasted squash in the oven. Blackbird Gardens’s catering company Real Food Dream Kitchen, sourced fresh local produce, breads & ciders in the heart of winter. With Saturday’s dream team, we prepped, cooked, and fed about 800 conference goers. The people I had the pleasure of working with were great. We were a “well-oiled machine” of a team, with most of us never having worked together in the past. The synergy was incredible; people helping people, “Farmers Feeding Farmers.”

The Menu:

Mike Everts and Real Food Dream Kitchen have been catering The Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference for several years now. What better way to celebrate Northern Michigan Agriculture and the people whose hard work make it available to us, than a fresh and local culinary display of the very produce we’re celebrating. This alone makes it a tribute of the heart, but to have access to this type of bounty in January, makes it a grateful tribute of ingenuity & excellence as well.

After smelling the aromas all day and working hard in and out of the kitchen to serve the 800 attendees we sat down and enjoyed the fruits of our labor as a team. Congratulating one another on a swift, problem-free and more than enjoyable afternoon of Real Food catering.

Thank you to all those who made the Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference possible as well as the food community that supports and attends it. Here in Northern Michigan, we have an access to fresh local produce that is invaluable. I love knowing, meeting, and working with the people that make it all possible.

No Farms, No Food.

love,

tricia

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Written by Tricia on January 22, 2013. Posted in Food, Recipes.

These cookies make me weak in the knees. Just the smell of them in the oven and I buckle. One bite and I’m reminded of a time in my life when apple cinnamon oatmeal was the breakfast of elementary school champions. Except this cookie is better. Its made with fresh apples, ground cinnamon and a little lemon juice. This cookie isn’t made to walk you through a 7 hour school day, this cookie is made for breakfast, lunch AND dinner. Its cinnfully delicious and without a doubt a must try.

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Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Preheat oven to: 350 degrees

ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 1/4 cup oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
generous pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 medium apple peeled and diced
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Peel and dice the apple, toss it in lemon juice and set aside. Beat the sugars and butter in a bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg and beat for a minute. Add vanilla extract and beat until blended.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, oats, spices and salt. Slowly add to the sugar and butter mix until just incorporated. Stir in your apple chunks and chopped walnuts last.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper, place in the oven at 350 and bake for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

adapted recipe from Joy the Baker.

A few people asked me recently about baking substitutes for vegan diets so I thought I’d add my favorite substitutes for this recipe here. For butter, vegan shortening is really the perfect consistency to substitute in these cookies and of course there is always margarine if you’re after the buttery flavor. As for the eggs, they could be substituted with applesauce and truthfully in this recipe theres no other substitution. Not only will it adjust the recipe to be vegan and add an additional apple flavor to your cookie body, but it also completely eliminates the added cholesterol of an egg.

Whether you are vegan or not these substitutions can be helpful if the situation arises where you are baking in your pajamas and just realized you are out of eggs. You don’t have to clean up and walk to your neighbors or drive to the grocery store, you don’t even need to put on a hat over your unwashed hair. You just grab the applesauce and keep on baking.

keep on, keepin’ on

love,

tricia

Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

Written by Tricia on January 18, 2013. Posted in Food, Recipes.

Soups and Stews are my comfort food. They warm up both body and soul when the weather outside is dreary and they fill the house with incredible wafting aromas while they simmer on the stove. This stew was a must-try recipe I picked up from Sarah at My New Roots. Sarah is a holistic nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire that I absolutely admire and whom I receive inspiration from regularly. If you haven’t checked out her blog and your a lover of fresh seasonal whole food recipes, its about time you received an introduction.

Sarah was recently asked by Whole Living to develop a menu for healthy living in the new year. The Menu is built as a detox, to start the new year off fresh, and this stew is featured among the first week of recipes. Though I haven’t jumped on any strict detox train, I certainly expect to be enjoying quite a few of these recipes on their own in the coming weeks.

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The color in this dish is incredible and I’m a firm believer in eating with my eyes. Not only does it taste delicious and bring you warmth physically, but the colors themselves instil a sense of warming comfort as well.

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ingredients:

2 Tbsp coconut or extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 diced large onion
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 minced cloves garlic
2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 peeled and diced sweet potatoes
1 diced (stemmed, seeded) red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups rinsed red lentils
6 cups cleansing broth (substitute vegetable broth if need be)
Chopped fresh cilantro

directions:

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook cumin, turmeric and curry powder until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion with a few pinches salt, and cook, stirring, until tender, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until tender, about 2 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and bell pepper and cook 1 minute.
Add lentils and Cleansing Broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Top with cilantro before serving.

This stew will be a new staple in my recipe box and I am so excited to have found it. The savory spices paired with sweet potato and red pepper are an instant well-balanced, delicious meal. And what’s even better about soups is you’ll often have leftovers for lunch!

Do you have a favorite soup or stew this season? …Tell me ALL the details…

Fill your day with color and warmth

love,

tricia

The Village Indoor Farmers Market: Traverse City, MI

Written by Tricia on January 15, 2013. Posted in Community, Farmers Markets.

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Farmers Markets are one of my favorite community gatherings. You might say I’ve got a resume to prove it and its true. I love what I do and I love being involved in Traverse City’s community markets.

I help to manage the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market as well as the year-round Farmers Market at The Village at Grand Traverse Commons. The later as I mentioned is a year-round market. In the summer it takes place outside on the Piazza, an ample open green space on the beautiful campus, perfect for the event.

During the cold months, it’s held within the walls of the Mercato, the marketplace of retail shops, cafes, galleries & boutiques at The Village.

Now its important for me to preface the unique location of the Village market for those of you who aren’t familiar with Traverse City, so I’ll make it short and sweet. The Village at Grand Traverse Commons is one of the largest Historic Redevelopment projects in the country. The Campus was formerly known as the Northern Michigan Asylum or Traverse City State Hospital built in 1885.

After 100 years in operation, the hospital was left empty to decay and with threats to demolish these beautiful historic buildings, a group was formed to save the State Hospital. My boss, Ray Minervini became a part of that group, later sharing his vision of redeveloping the campus into a mixed-use community called The Village, open to the public and thriving with renewed life. Today, 10 years later and with many years to come, The Village Farmers Market adds a heavy dose of healthy well-being and social interaction to this vibrant community.

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From fresh local produce, honey, and maple syrup to homemade salsas, tamales, pasties, and delicious baked goods; the Village Farmers Market fills the hallways with about 45 vendors every Saturday.

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The Market is lively, friendly and simply an enjoyable place to spend your Saturday morning. With a cup of coffee in hand and the weekly update from friends throughout the hallway you can pick up greens for your salads, pastas or smoothies as well as bread & croissants baked fresh that morning. Root Vegetables line the hallways as do coolers stocked with fresh meats, cheeses, butter and milk.

The most unique element is that all of this exists inside a century old building with an existing stable marketplace of retail merchants, galleries, boutiques, wineries, a cafe and an incredible Italian restaurant. You can wander in and out of the shops as you gather produce and other treats in the hallway all the while enjoying the company of our community gathering together.

Saturday at The Village Market is an incredible event that is great to watch on camera (see below) but even better experienced first hand.

-Watch this feature on Up North Media to hear me share details on the market’s beginnings and our upcoming special events!

-View the thriving market in action on 9 & 10 featuring Sandee Ware from Ware Farm!

Where is your favorite place to get fresh produce this time of year?

love,

tricia

Traverse City on Dwellable

HoliDazed

Written by Tricia on January 9, 2013. Posted in Community, Friends & Family.

I’m feeling this feeling I’m sure a lot of you are feeling. I like to call it HoliDazed. Symptoms are said to consist of bloated innertube-like belly regions in addition to a sick addiction to and at the same time disgust for homemade cookies and fudge. You could probably sleep for a few days straight if given the chance and your likely wondering whether your liver could even handle another glass of red wine. Perhaps your considering at this very moment to drink a few gallons of water because your body seems to be soaking it up like a sponge. One things for sure, I am without a doubt, 100% HoliDazed. Whats the cure you ask? Feed your eyes with these delicious meals and sweets I shared in fabulous company over the past few weeks, eat a fresh and tasty salad with a refreshing glass of water and get back into a routine of movement. Whether it be stepping outside for a brisk walk, signing up for a weekly yoga class, or using the gym membership you’ve neglected for the past two weeks. Its a new year, the Holidays have come and gone and your own HoliDaze should wear off shortly.