Thursday, September 25, 2014

I've been hiding something...


I feel like I have been lacking in the blog department lately, and for a while I had a good reason. Over the summer I found myself cooking very little (my husband will say never), eating things like crackers, and going to bed really early, even though I napped during the day.  And then I found out, I'm having a baby!  Yep, there is a locavore baby coming in March!  Such exciting news, but in the beginning food was not my friend.  There were so many foods that made my stomach turn and I just wasn't in the mood to cook, therefore, less blogging.  Fortunately, I am well into the second trimester and my eating has been back to normal so I should be getting back into the blog.  

So here we go:

I have recently discovered Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm at the Waltham Farmers Market, which ended last weekend :( In an effort to get some more protein, I started drinking their goat milk and it is delicious!!  I have also tried there goat cheese and have been eating it regularly.  I am bummed about the end of the farmers market season, but I hope with the baby coming in March, the winter will fly by and markets will be opening again before you know it!  Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm will be at the Wayland Winter Farmers Market bi weekly and at the Cambridge Winter Farmers Market the weeks they are not at Wayland.  Both are good winter markets, so I plan on being there.  

And so, here is what I've been eating lately.  I am still trying to keep a healthy diet and need to make sure I am eating lots of protein and iron, hence, this spinach salad.

1-1 1/2 cups spinach
2 slices of bacon from your favorite farm, crumbled 
1 tbsp diced onion
1 tbsp sliced black olives
Sprinkle of goat cheese from Bedford Blueberry Goat Farm, flavor of your choice
1 tbsp of your favorite salad dressing or olive oil and vinegar works too 

Mix all together and enjoy a healthy, filling salad!!

We are so excited for this new adventure to begin!! I can't wait to take the baby to tons of farmers markets!!


The Farmers Dinner

Sunday night I had the fabulous opportunity to attend the Farmers Dinner in Nashua, NH.  The Farmers Dinner is a great organization that features farm to table dinners at various restaurants in NH.  This dinner was unique because the City of Nashua closed Main St so the dinner was in the middle of the street!  The local restaurants took local ingredients from farmers and prepared a delicious six course dinner.  There was live music and wonderful fall decorations.  



This dinner featured local food from Kimballs Farm and Brookdale Farm.  The restaurants included Estabrook Grill, Peddler's Daughter, Riverside Barbecue, Stella Blu, MT Local, Andrew Thistle, and Villa Banca.  Each meal was carefully paired with a beer or wine.  The wine was from Fulchino Vineyard and the beer included 603 Brewery, Peak Organic, and beer from Martha's Exchange.  The restaurant staff and volunteers worked so hard to make this dinner great.  I heard they began roasting pigs in the street at 2am!



Take a look at these apps!  Caprese salad from Kimballs Farm with handmade ricotta and an herb pistou.  I like the twist with the ricotta instead of the traditional mozzarella.  The second course was a potato frittata with onion jam and romesco sauce topped with a pork rind.  It was crazy to think that pork rind was part of a pig early that morning.  I really enjoyed the onion jam because of the nutmeg, a lovely fall flavor.  And next was harvest ratatouille with zucchini cakes and warm parmesan foam.  I can't wait to make this next dish because the recipe was in our gift bags!  At this point, I was stuffed, however the next dish was a cleansing course.  Watermelon and heirloom tomato gazpacho with pine needle tzatziki.  Such interesting flavors with sweetness of watermelon.

The main course, roasted pig from Brookdale Farm with charred onions and apple sauce, grilled polenta, peppers, and collard greens.  I loved getting the apple sauce flavor with the pork and the collard greens were probably my most favorite part of the meal.  They were spicy which I love, but went great with the pork.



And finally the dessert.  I am not sure how I physically ate all of this, but I did.  Apple bread pudding with Jake's Local Ice Cream.  The pudding went great paired with the caramel sauce and there was even a hard piece of caramel on top of the ice cream.  A great way to end a great dinner.



I don't live close enough to New Hampshire to frequent these events, but they are worth going to if you get the opportunity.  And if you live near or in New Hampshire, check out the website and get tickets to the next dinner.  You won't be disappointed!