Events « boston localvores

Events

Cheese / Events — 3 Comments
2
Aug 10

Cheese, the tasting.

WHAT: 3rd Annual Local Cheese Tasting
WHEN: Sunday, Aug 8 from 3-5ish
WHERE: The Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave, Somerville
COST: Free, but we welcome a small donation to help cover our costs

Three summers ago we were doing some volunteer weeding at the Growing Center when we met Lisa Brukilacchio, a board member and founding organizer of this sweet little garden space in Somerville.

We had just launched this site and were relatively new to the area and somehow it got proposed that it might be fun for us to organize an event with the Growing Center, to amplify what we were doing and meet more like-minded folks. And in a couple of weeks, we were hosting a cheese tasting.

We’d never done this sort of thing before and it was kind of a spectacular turnout for us, who didn’t really know anybody then, and for the nascent local food scene, which had been gaining steam for years, of course, but was certainly gaining momentum by some confluence of food scares, Michael Pollan books and growth in farmers markets.

About 50 people showed up, snacked on cheese and introduced themselves to strangers. We met people that night who have become some of our closest friends and best allies. It was a lovely evening. We’re still grateful to everyone who showed up that year, as well as last year — which was just as lovely — and to the Growing Center for continuing to partner with us and providing such a warm space.

We’re continuing the tradition for the third straight year now. We promise, we’re slightly more organized and we’ve got several new types of cheese to share. We’ve got a special celebrity guest: Matt from the cheese counter at Sherman Market!

Over the course of the week we’ll be finalizing the stars of this year’s tasting, but for certain, you can count on seeing stuff from these generous producers:

-Crystal Brook (Australian ginger goat cheese)
-Foxboro Cheese (lemon honey fromage blanc)
-Narrangansett (feta or ricotta)
-Cabot (cloth bound, private stock and vintage choice cheddars)
-Fiore di Nonno (mozzarella)
-Shy Bros Farm (Hannahbells and cloumage)

also probably stuff from…
-Jasper Hill
-Vermont Shepard

See. You. There.

Events — 1 Comment
23
Jul 10

Inflatable movie screen + local burgers + campy independent horror films

I’m not sure I need to say much more than that, but ok.

We love the Haley House Bakery Cafe in Roxbury. They’ve been a very generous in letting us use their space for our events, plus, they’re just cool. They host programs that teach kids how to cook, and provide job training skills to people coming out of prison.

Every year, they partner with the Color of Film Collaborative and the Roxbury International Film Festival for an outdoor dinner and a movie. This year’s Dinner and a Movie is Friday, July 30, 6:30-9:30 at the Haley House.

Last year, the Haley House manager, Bing Broderick, asked us to help make the event all local. And he wasn’t kidding. Just about every single menu item was: cheese, beer, bread, burgers, chicken (which was made so delicious by our friend Erik that the people there christened him “The Bird Man”), fruit, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic - everything.

We really assumed that the local BBQ was a one time theme, but this year, they’ve just kept it largely local again. It’s so cool. This is how change happens.

Here’s the menu (The event is Friday, July 30 from 6:30-9:30):

-Haley House Homemade chicken dogs topped with our homemade sauerkraut
-Hardwick Beef cheeseburgers with all the fixings
-Haley House’s own special veggie burgers
-Haley House potato salad with local potatoes and vegetables and Noonday Farm eggs
-Haley House special healthy slaw made with Chinese cabbage from Noonday Farm
-Fresh local tomato salad
-Sour Cherry Upside Down featuring Roxbury/Dorchester cherries, courtesy of Earthworks, topped with whipped cream
-Watermelon punch
-Organic beer & wine will be available for purchase

You can buy tickets here.

We’ll be volunteering at the event. Hopefully we’ll see some of you there!

Events — 2 Comments
27
Jan 10

Souperbowl II: Inside the deliciousness

Here’s a sneak peak at the menu, which is mostly finalized but still a work in progress.
(All but a very few ingredients are locally sourced.)

Matzoh Ball Soup by Jessie
carrots + kale with hearty matzoh balls in a rich chicken broth

Maine Shrimp + Celeriac Stew by Khristopher
celery root + green cabbage with sweet little maine shrimp

“Ramen” by Ryan + Erik
smoky pork + chicken broth with handmade noodles + collards

Winter Squash Soup (vegan) by Sarah G
pumpkin with butternut, delicata + acorn squash

Lucky Bean + Kale Soup (vegan) by JJ
north shore beans, garlic, onions + kale

Apple + Sweet Potato Dessert Soup (Vegetarian) by Jess
apples, cider + sweet potatoes topped with creme fraiche

ALSO!
Check out our sponsors and the *awesome* locally owned businesses who we encourage you to support.

Real Pickles is hooking us up with naturally fermented beets (this is their first year with these!)
Cambridge Brewing Co. is donating a keg of their fine local handcrafted brew
East by Northeast is a DElicious new Asian/New England fusion restaurant in Inman Sq. Thanks for the ramen noodles!
Iggy’s makes the bread
Fiore di Nonno will bring our cloud-like, unbelievably tender mozzarella needs are met.
A little Goat Rising cheese will also be in order. We’re excited to try this farmstead cheese.
Taza Chocolate will punctuate our palates.

To recap: The Haley House Bakery Cafe in Dudley Square, Roxbury. Just in case you all don’t know about the Haley House, take a tool around their website. They are a truly cool organization. One of our favorite programs are the cooking classes for kids. Because they really are cooking classes. Like, with giant knives and whole squashes rolling about. We all had to learn to use a knife at some point, right?

Oh, the details. We’ll see you at 4 p.m. IF you have a ticket. Otherwise, we’re all sold out! We won’t be selling anymore tickets at the door. Please bring your own bowl, cup, spoon and napkin if you can. It helps reduce our waste.

CSA / Events — 3 Comments
13
Jan 10

Productive mayhem at the CSA Share Fair

csafair We didn’t stay very long at the Farm Share Fair on Monday, because, well, we have a farm share and the space was in high, high demand. Literally hundreds of people poured into the library to meet with farmers and learn about their CSA options for the 2010 season. Props to Dave Madan, Groundworks Somerville and Somerville Climate Action for organizing. Who’s gonna host the next one?

What follows is a round up of the farmers that were there, and what they had to offer.

Keown Orchards
Full share $450
Every other week share $225
Flower share $95 ($50 with every other week share)
Winter Share (extra four weeks of deliveries) $120
Pickup Boston City Hall; Keown Orchards, Sutton, ; Central Square, Cambridge; South Station Farmers Market

Waltham Fields Community Farm
Full share $575
Apple share $80
Winter share (two additional distributions in November + December) $150
On farm pick-up only

Picadilly Farm
Full share $545
Pickup Belmont (two locations) Arlington (two locations) and Bedford

Shared Harvest Winter CSA
Three month share (October - December) $240
Two month share (November + December) $160
Pickup at Busa Farm, Lexington

Heaven’s Harvest Farm
Full share $600
Half share $400
Single share $240
Multiple pickups throughout city and suburbs

New Entry Sustainable Farming Project
Large share $695
Small share $450
Extended season (three distributions in October, November + December) $120
Pickup Concord, Lexington, Winchester, Porter Square Cambridge, Somerville (Tufts campus), East Boston, Chinatown

Farmer Dave’s
Full share $450
Small share $300
Super Family share $800
Fruit share $200
Winter share (November - December) $200
Pickup Somerville

The Food Project
Full share $500
Pick-up Arlington, Cambridge, Somerville and at two sites in Jamaica Plain

Drumlin Farm
Full share $575
Pick-Your-Own share $75
Fruit share $50
On farm pick-up only (Lincoln)

Red Fire Farm
Full share $520
Extended full share (extra four distributions) $640
Egg shares$65 for a half dozen per week for full share, $78 for extended full share
Flower share $100
Pickup Somerville, Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Boston, Newton and Brighton

Meat and Fish CSAs

Austin Brothers Valley Farm Meat CSA
5 lbs per month for 3 months for $ 135.00 (Unit price $ 9.00 per pound
10 lbs per month for 3 months for $247.50 (Unit price $8.25 per pound)
20 lbs per month for 3 months for $465.00 (Unit price $7.75 per pound)
Pickup Cambridge

Cape Ann Fresh Catch Community Supported Fishery
They don’t have next groundfish season’s prices posted, but last year, it was this:
Full share (12 weeks) $360
Half share (12 weeks) $180
Pickup Cambridge and Jamaica Plain (but again, this is last year’s information)

Events / Farmers markets — 1 Comment
9
Jan 10

Woh: Another winter farmer’s market

View Larger Map

Just got notice of this from David Scanlan in North Attleborough: On Sundays from Jan. 10 to March 28, with the exception of Feb. 14, they’ll be hosting a winter market at Attleboro Farms. (We also found the variation of Attleboro and North Attleborough disconcerting.) From noon to 4 — and there’s more info about what vendors will be there on their Facebook page.

Events — No Comments
4
Jan 10

A Farm Share Fair

Our friends at Somerville Climate Action and Transition Somerville have come up with an idea so simple and smart, we can’t believe no one has done this before.

They’re convening a bunch of farms with CSA drop-offs in or near Somerville. Farmers can put out some information about themselves, their shares. People who are interested can meet them, learn about what they grow and how they grow it, compare prices and, hopefully, sign up for a share now, in the winter.

It’s important to remember that CSAs depend on subscribers’ commitment and money before the growing starts. That’s how they plan their harvest and finance everything that goes into growing food before the money starts coming in, which can be months later.

This is happening next Monday, Jan. 11. It starts at 6 p.m. at Somerville Public Library on Highland Ave. You might already have your share lined up, but if you have some friends or coworkers who need convincing, please consider taking them there. And tell them to bring a checkbook. Farmers will be signing shareholders up.

Oh, also: a screening of Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil will follow!

Events / Meals — 3 Comments
4
Jan 10

Souperbowl II: Hotter than last year

sbowllogo Please come to the second annual Souperbowl! In fact, go buy your ticket now!

The good news is that we will have more soups (6 or 7 even!), delicious locally baked bread, locally brewed beer, locally made cheese and locally pickled pickles. There is no bad news (unless you count the fact that Kristi and I will likely not be trying our hand at a soup again this year. A sad year for chili lovers indeed).

We’re still organizing the menu, but we’ve heard early rumors of matzoh ball soup. Vegans and veggievores will be well-represented. Take a gander at last year’s menu for a preview of what to expect.

The stolen idea* here is that we demonstrate just how much is available in terms of local food even in the darkest heart of winter, that we stay in touch with each other, and that we eat and drink and be merry and put the final nail in the casket of January. Bring on February!

Here are the deets (More to follow, like the menu which our soupwrights are hard at work finalizing):

Sunday, January 31
4 p.m.
Haley House Bakery Cafe, 12 Dade St., Dudley Square, Roxbury
$15

*Props to the Mad River Localvore Project out of Vermont for the inspiration for this event.

Community / Events / Updates — No Comments
31
Oct 09

Attention Lexington peeps

You should go sign this petition. Doing so indicates that you support using the Busa Land as a community farm.

onions-trailers1-300x225 Busa farm was recently bought with Community Preservation Act funds and there is a limited list of uses. Many residents would like to see it turned into a community farm, run by a non-profit. Like Waltham Community Fields.

We’ve heard of others would like to see it turned into athletic fields. This is how we feel about athletic fields. Farm fields are athletic fields. But in addition to providing much needed physical activity and fresh air to kids, it teaches them some salient points about food, life, death, etc. And, as a extra, food comes out of this endeavor.

And if these were turned into athletic fields on which boys teams were cheered by skirted, ponytailed girls yet no girls teams were cheered by boys, skirted or otherwise, there is going to be some angry commentary coming from this blog.

Surely good things come from organized athletics. But there are surely other ways to get the same things. Whereas there is only one way to get local food. From local farms.

You can support this effort even more by attending a panel discussion on December 3 at 7:30 pm entitled “A Year in the Life of a Community Farm.” The event is free and will be held at Church of Our Redeemer, 6 Meriam Street, Lexington.

Events / Localvores USA — 2 Comments
7
Sep 09

Come, eat with us: It’s a picnic for the kiddies

time_for_lunch-header This Labor Day we’re joining forces with Slow Food USA and hundreds of people across the country in support of school lunch reform. By having a giant eat-in on Boston Common with as many good eaters as we can round up, we’re participating in a national day of action — and of eat-ins — to say that children should have access to real food in school. And that the policy behind our national school lunch program should make that possible.

From 12-2:30 we’ll be eating, chatting and signing petitions in a picnic-style spread by the giant gazebo. Please bring your own picnic lunch — bring extra to share, if you like — and join us.

At the same time people in all 50 states will be sitting down to share a meal together too. We’ll be making a polite but important statement that schools shouldn’t be feeding kids “food” that’s been processed into oblivion, food that makes them feel sick, food that makes them struggle to concentrate and food that forms the kind of habits that make us fattest, most disease-prone nation on the planet.

To read more about the Slow Food USA campaign for school lunch reform, you can go here. But this is a little of what they’re saying: “We’re making this statement is by bringing neighbors together in the spirit of good will and for the joy of sharing good food. That is the heart of our movement.”

Our friend JJ Gonson, who is helping us organize the picnic tomorrow, kind of perfectly got at the on her blog. But here’s a taste:

A while back, I asked a very nice man, who has to think about how to feed many, many children with a very small budget, why there were tuna sandwiches on the school lunch menu. He told me, that in spite of the fact that we had been told that children should ‘never’ eat tuna (and we were starting to suspect their might be some issues around the cans to boot) that tuna could not come off the school lunch menu because canned tuna is “free”.

What that means is that it is subsidized, by the government, and offered on a list of “free” food items that schools can choose from. The way our system is set up, quite a lot of the food that gets directed to public schools is from subsidized packages, made available to the public school buying systems, for “free”.

Sadly, the power that be’s does not appear to subsidize small, organic farms who are practicing sustainable farming resulting in chemical and GMO free eatables. The food that gets thrown into the happy “free” basket is often full of corn, soy and parts of animals that are not known to be particularly nice to look at.

Basically, we take the worst of the food and feed it to the most vulnerable, and arguably the most important part of our society- the growing bodies and minds who will become our decision making adult public.

Cheese / Events — 2 Comments
5
Jul 09

Free. Local. Cheese tasting.

cheese This will be fun.

On Thursday from 6 to 9 at the Growing Center in Somerville, we’ll have seriously delicious sampling of cheese from around New England. Plus some info about how they’re made and, most importantly, where you can buy them. Available to you, good eater, for free.

The Growing Center is a leafy nook outside Union Square. Thus, this will be outdoors. And the good people there are so organized, we even have a rain date: July 11.

We’ll also have some cheese-related snacks. *We encourage you to bring some too. (A crusty loaf, jam, chocolate.)

Please come — It’s our first 2nd annual something! When we did this last summer it was a really swell time and, for us, the first night we met a lot of like-minded people who have become very good friends over the last year. All thanks to the internets, and our collective interest in going to meet a bunch of strangers over good food.

Some of the cheese we’ll be featuring this year:

Fiore di Nonno — amazing mozzarella made by hand in Somerville by Lourdes Smith
Valley View chevre and semi-ripened — this is a small family-farm in Topsfield (North Shore repreresent)
Cricket Creek — gorgeous rounds of ripened raw cow’s milk from the Berkshires
Heartsong — goat’s milk camembert from New Hampshire

and several more…

Honestly, this is FREE. But we would welcome a $3 donation to cover the cost of the cheese (some of which is donated, some of which is not). We’d also like to kick some funds to the Growing Center and the important work they do.