Winter Farmers’ Market is Not an Oxymoron

By Pat Tanner

Even though this season marks the fifth year that the Central Jersey Slow Food chapter has mounted monthly indoor farmers markets in December, January, and February, many people still wonder what the heck is available when snow hugs the ground and temperatures struggle to rise into the thirties.

I attended the January market and below is a list of what I purchased. Think of it as a guide to the next market, coming up this Sunday.

1. A hunk of my favorite cheese from Valley Shepherd Creamery: Nettlesome. (Yes, it contains real stinging nettles. No, they do not sting.)
2. Packages of Simply Nic’s shortbread bars in two new flavors: winter spice and espresso with cacao nibs.
3. Empire apples from Terhune Orchards. (I managed to bypass the cider donuts and the cider.)
4. From the table of Princeton’s Whole Earth Center market, a can of Jersey Fresh tomatoes and a Colby cheese wrap. (The latter became my lunch.)
5. A hunk of the newest cheese from Cherry Grove Farm: Maidenhead, a semi soft, creamy, flavor-packed cheese washed with beer from Cherry Hill’s Flying Fish.
6. A bag of six assorted dinner rolls from Village Bakery.
7. A jar of ghee made from grassfed cow butter from Pure Indian Organic Ghee.
8. From Davidson’s Exotic Mushrooms of Kennett Square, a box of shiitakes and a box of cremini. (Which I used to make an excellent mushroom goulash.)
9. Beeswax pillar candles from Woods Edge Wool Farms. (Next time: honey.)

At that point, I had run through my funds, so I bypassed the wines of Hopewell Valley Vineyards, Catherine’s Vegan Treats, Ducky Life Teas, and a perfect antidote to winter doldrums: Stony Brook Orchids.

This week’s market will also feature live jazz and lunch offerings by Tre Piani’s Tre Bar tapas café.

Slow Food Central New Jersey’s Winter Farmers’ Market
Sunday, February 28
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tre Piani Restaurant
Princeton Forrestal Village
Plainsboro
Restaurant phone number: 609.452.1515
For information on the farmers market phone 609.577.5113

Local Harvest

By Brianne Harrison

In last week’s blog, I mentioned the 2nd Annual Local Harvest: Farms, Food, & Family, but considering the growth in interest in sustainability and eating local, I think it deserves a bit more attention.

Local Harvest is being hosted by Slow Food Northern NJ in partnership with the Morris County Park Commission. From Noon to 4 p.m. on January 16, you can meet local farmers and food artisans, shop for some delicious pantry staples or intriguing new additions, and learn more about sustainable farming and local CSAs.

Help yourself to grass-fed beef and pork from Plaid Piper Farm in Branchville; artisan cheeses and breads from Bob-O-Link Dairy & Bakeyard, Appleridge Farm, and Valley Shepherd Creamery; organic teas from Ducky Life Tea; and organic handcrafted herbal aromatherapy products from Degage Gardens. Plus, you can bone up on your history with the Morris County Historical Society and Fosterfields Living Historical Farm. If you’re really dedicated to supporting local agriculture, you can purchase seasonal farm shares at Genesis Farm and Rogowski Farm.

New Jersey is one of the most densely populated states in the country, and its farms are disappearing fast. This is your chance to sample and support some of the best the Garden State has to offer and help ensure it’s still around for future generations to enjoy as well.

For more information, visit slowfoodnnj.org.

A Healthy Start to 2010

By Brianne Harrison

A new year usually means resolutions and a new start. If your resolutions this year have to do with your health—eating better, getting into shape, perhaps learning a better way to deal with stress, than this is your lucky week. Time to kick off 2010 the right way!

The Hunterdon Health and Wellness Centers in Clinton and Whitehouse Station are starting a “Take Control” program. This 12-week course is designed to help you take control of your health and offers practical approaches to weight loss and weight management. Classes started at Whitehouse station on the 4th, but Clinton classes begin January 5. Participants will receive a three-month membership to the Health and Wellness center as well as a fat and carbohydrate counter book and other resource materials. Classes are $169 for members and $299 for non-members at Whitehouse Station and $169 for members and $329 for non-members at Clinton.

Learn how to “Connect with Inner Joy and Peace” at the East Brunswick Public Library tonight from 7-8 p.m. Learn a simple technique to de-stress and gain peace of mind. For more information, call 7362.3990.6767 or visit ebpl.org.

Explore whether or not your lifestyle choices are sustaining or draining you at a lecture by Lorraine Maita, MD on January 6. Discover how your lifestyle choices can affect your life and health. Cost is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. To learn more, visit hwpn.org or howtoliveyounger.com.

Want to improve your diet? Check out “How to Eat for the New Year”, a presentation and tasting hosted by Go Lightly. Learn more about the health, environmental, humane, and economic benefits of eating a plant-based diet. Stock up on literature, nutritional guidelines, and recipes. Register in advance by calling 973.744.7889 or e-mailing hi@golightlystore.com.

And, if you’re thinking ahead, Local Harvest: Farms, Food, and Family will be held January 16. This event brings together local farmers and food artisans for an afternoon of sampling, education, and shopping. Enjoy local meats, produce, breads, teas, eggs, and more while learning about local community supported agriculture. To learn more, visit slowfoodnj.org.

Good Guests Remember Plum Cake

By Millicent K. Brody

As much as many of us love to entertain, it tends to be pretty tiring. By the time you sit down to eat, you’re ready for bed! And, there’s the “Plus-One Factor”: after perusing the guest list and deciding how many leaves you’re going to need to extend your dining room table, there is always a last-minute someone who calls and asks if they could bring one or two of their friendly, overnight visitors. You don’t dare refuse.

But, as tiring as it is, entertaining is also very rewarding, and it’s always great to get your friends together. As one of my friends says, regardless of the holiday, as soon as it’s a table full of people, it’s like Christmas: Lots of good food and lots of people having a great time.

And make no mistake, there’s always lots of good food at my parties (and the parties I go to!) One friend of mine who is expecting sixteen for Yom Kippur is dishing up a Blintz Souffle. As for me, I’ll be serving my traditional Italian Prune Plum Cake. I’ve discovered that plums purchased at a local farmer’s market are far plumper than those you may find in a supermarket, so start scouring your local market and see what you can find.


Delicious Plum Cake
Ingredients:
2 C. flour
2 C. sugar
2 sticks butter
4 eggs plus one egg white, beaten
2 tsp. baking powder
28 prune plums, halved, skin side up
cinnamon and sugar to taste

Procedure:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice prune plums and toss with 2 teas. cinnamon and 2 teas. sugar to taste

Grease a 9x13 Pyrex dish

In large bowl, beat eggs, butter, and baking powder. Add flour. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Take 5 or 6 plums and cut them into several pieces. Toss into the batter.

Hand stir and fold the batter several more times.

Pour the mixture into a Pyrex dish.

Top with remaining plums. Dab with bits of butter. Drizzle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Served with your favorite cup of coffee and vanilla ice cream.


Blintz Soufflé
Ingredients:
2 boxes of Golden or Ratners Blintzes. (Cherry or Blueberry)
1 stick butter or margarine
4 eggs
1/4 t. salt
1 t. orange juice
1 t. vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream

Procedure:
Heat oven to 350 degrees

Take 1/4 lb. butter (1 stick) and place it in a 9x13 casserole dish. Melt in oven.

Place all the other ingredients except Blintzes in a blender and combine.

Place 12 blintzes over melted butter. Pour and pack mixture from blender.

Bake for 45 minutes uncovered. Serve warm with extra sour cream.

Fall For Fall

By Molly McGrath

Summertime brings “summer loving” and in spring “love is in the air.” We even have a holiday where a little man in a diaper shoots us with arrows and makes us fall in love with one another right smack in the middle of winter.

Fall is all alone. Fall gets a bad rap sometimes, stealing summer away the way it does. In my humble opinion, though, it is the greatest time of year. I have had an ongoing love affair with fall since I was a little girl. I can smell it in the air in the last weeks of summer. I can’t help but smile the first day it’s cool enough to wear jeans and a jacket. My feet jump for joy when I retire my flip-flops and pull out my socks, sneakers, and boots. I believe that there should be a celebration of love in autumn, just as there is for every other season. That celebration will start right here—it’s time to fall in love with fall.

The first reason to love fall is a no-brainer—just open your eyes. Our state isn’t called “The Garden State” by accident. Fall in New Jersey is beautiful. The changing leaves paint a picturesque backdrop to our daily lives for an entire season! Go outside and take it all in. There are plenty of parks and forests calling your name. Find one near you at the New Jersey Department of Parks & Forestry’s website, nj.gov/dep/parksandforests.

Reason #2 to fall in love with fall: Harvest activities. Apple picking, pumpkin picking-carving-or-painting, corn mazes, festivals. Who could ask for anything more? What could be better than spending the day with your family sipping apple cider and munching on donuts in a sweater and jeans? Who doesn’t love crisp, cool, sunny days? Or grab your friends and make your way through a corn maze—you may become hopelessly lost, but at least you’ll be together. Check out the Tewksbury Harvest Festival on September 26 at Christie Hoffman Farm in Califon, visit one of the many “pick your own” farms in our state, or head out to Stony Hill Farm in Chester for “Maize Quest” the biggest corn maze in the state!

Foliage and fall festivals are the obvious reasons to love autumn, but for me, there is a less recognized one too.

Fall is a great time to help others. September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Women, join the fight for yourselves and for each other. Men, join the fight for the women in your life. The Kaleidoscope of Hope Foundation will hold three walk-a-thons across the state this September. Visit kohnj.org to find out how you can get involved. Then, in October, take up the fight during Breast Cancer Awareness month. Visit cancer.org and find out how you can participate in a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5k.

With Labor Day behind us it’s time to face the facts: summer’s days are numbered. But the doldrums of winter are still months away! So before you let your summer lovin’ go into hibernation, try having a fling with fall.

Not Just any Peach…A Jersey Fresh Peach!

By Millicent K. Brody

Long awaited, eagerly anticipated—New Jersey’s fresh peaches have arrived. Juicier than ever from early summer rains, and perfectly blushed with golden undertones, they’re appearing at restaurants, supermarkets, farm stands, and farmers’ markets. According to the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council, the state’s primary source for selecting and handling peaches, “This year’s crop is just what consumers should be looking for.”

“We have a near full crop,” says Santo Maccherone, Peach Promotion Council president. “Cooler weather during bloom did a good job of thinning flowers. Enhanced by timely rainfalls, the fruit size is excellent. With no major disease or insect problems, sunny weather has brought out the sugar to produce nutritious, delicious, locally grown, yellow and white peaches and nectarines.”

The beautiful peaches found at Dreyer’s Farm in Cranford arrive from Circle M Farms in Mullica Hill and Salem. Farmers there also grow white peaches, nectarines, white nectarines, and yellow and white Saturn peaches.

“Our peaches are best for eating, preserving, and baking,” said proprietor John Dreyer. “Be sure to ask your favorite farmer for his peach selection of the week.”

Jersey Fresh peaches are being celebrated with special events and promotions at 13 farmers markets, 26 restaurants, and supermarkets throughout the state. On August 1st, the Collingswood Farmers Market has packed a full-day celebration of “The Peach” with music, story telling, raffles for a peach basket, peach-dish tastings, and more. Throughout the state, participating farmers markets and restaurants have created their own special events.

For more information, visit the NJ Peach Promotion Council website. www.jerseypeaches.com You’ll find recipes from participating restaurants; nutritional information, (a peach contains only 68 calories and is packed with vitamins, minerals, Omega 3 and other nutrients); what to look for when purchasing peaches, and how to handle, freeze and can this versatile fruit.
Want a peachy dinner? Find a restaurant near you that's celebrating peach month!

Jersey Fresh: Taste the Best NJ Has to Offer

By Maureen C. Petrosky

After indulging in last week’s Real Housewives of New Jersey finale-- drenched in Godfather moments and finished off with flipping tables--I wondered: Really, how could the Garden State top that? Well, we’re doing it, and this time you won’t have to wince as we make waves in the press. Break out your most fashionable drinking shoes (gilded or otherwise), grab your friends, and get ready to celebrate New Jersey in style.

The former New Jersey Slow Food and Wine event has blown up to become the first East Coast Food and Wine festival, and it’s right here in your backyard. For the first time ever, Central Jersey is the place to be for food and wine lovers to revel in the biggest wine event on the calendar. That’s right, no need to travel to Napa Valley, Oregon, or the North Fork to spoil yourself with world class wine and artisanal food.

This weekend New Jersey’s wine-loving housewives (TV’s and otherwise), wine connoisseurs, and rookies are all invited to Hopewell Valley Vineyards for the festival. Don’t miss your chance to taste hundreds of wines grown in the Garden State, served alongside dishes from popular chefs and restaurateurs. Wine and cooking seminars as well as talks on beekeeping and honey making and cheese making are all yours for the taking. Yours truly will be under the tent at 2 p.m. on Saturday, toasting all of you wine lovers, locavores, and those who just can’t get enough of all the best parts New Jersey life has to offer. I can’t promise I’ll flip over my table but I can’t promise I won’t either. You’ll just have to come and find out for yourself.

For more information, visit slowfoodandwinefestival.com

"Eat Local" Holiday Farmers' Market

By Pat Tanner

The term “winter farmers’ market” may seem like a cruel joke in the Garden State, but there are plenty of local, seasonal products available throughout even the coldest months. To take advantage of this, Slow Food Central New Jersey and a group of like-minded organizations are sponsoring monthly “Eat Local” indoor markets. The next one – just in time for the holidays – is scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 13 at the beautiful Johnson Education Center at the D&R Greenway in Princeton.

Those of us who mourn the end of each farm season can snatch up locally produced cheeses, breads, poultry, jams, mushrooms, condiments, meat, pies, pickles, and, of course, fresh fruits and vegetables – even wine and holiday greenery.

Terhune Orchards, Valley Shepherd Creamery, Village Bakery, Krowicki Farm, Hopewell Valley Vineyard, Davidson’s Exotic Mushrooms, and ER & Son Organic Farm are among the participating vendors. There will be live music and cooking demos by local chefs each hour starting at 10:30 a.m. Shoppers can also check out the juried art exhibition by the Garden State Watercolor Society titled “A Brush with Nature.”

In January and March, the market will move to Tre Piani restaurant in Princeton’s Forrestal Village, while the February location is the Museum of Agriculture at Cook College in North Brunswick. The markets are a collaboration of Slow Food Central NJ, the Lawrenceville Main Street Farmers’ Market, the Rutgers Gardens Farmers’ Market, and the West Windsor Community Farmers’ Market.

The “Eat Local” Holiday Farmers’ Market will take place on Saturday, December 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the D&R Greenway Johnson Education Center off Rosedale Road in Princeton. Directions can be found at drgreenway.org/directions.htm. A $2 donation per group is suggested. For information visit slowfoodcentralnj.org, or call 609.577.5113.