Ample Harvest

St. Thomas’ food pantry doors welcome guests every Thursday from 10-12

Nestled in what is known as Ginter Park in North Richmond, sits St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, a place of simple hospitality that has served the community since 1907. We visited St. Thomas’ a few weeks ago to learn more about their food pantry, which regularly serves people in the 23222 and 23227 zip codes. What we found was a highly organized food market with volunteers dedicated to serving the community.

The food pantry, part of a three church network including St. Paul’s Catholic Church and Ginter Park Methodist Church, is a market-style pantry where guests select the food they like to eat according to USDA nutrition guidelines.

The goal? To provide three meals for three days for each person in the household.

8-year volunteer Linc Sparks prepares to register guests of the food pantry.

In May, the food pantry served a record number of people: 282 households, totaling 1,114 people. This is up from 2012 (213 households), and 2011 (105 households).

To date for 2013, the food pantry has served 2,502 households, a total of 9,536 people.

St. Thomas’ serves people in the 23222 and 23227 zip codes — a restriction based on guidelines from the Central Virginia Food Bank as part of their effort to make sure food distribution is widely spread across the areas where food is needed.

At 19 cents a pound, the food is purchased through the Central Virginia Food Bank (CVFB), which is part of Feedmore, using funds from the church budget. Through CVFB, St. Thomas is able to access the USDA surplus food, which they receive for free and distribute according to specific guidelines set by the USDA.

St. Thomas is also a Food Rescue partner with the Food Lion on Chamberlayne Avenue, gleaning good food 2 times a week that would otherwise by discarded. Other supporters of the pantry include Panera Bread, and The Little House Green Grocery, among many other supporters who provide food on a weekly basis. 

Grace Sparks and her granddaughter prepare pastries gleaned from Panera Bread

10 year old Lilly visits every summer from Ohio and serves as the “produce manager.” This is her second year volunteering with her grandparents.

Coffee, water, and pastries are prepared and served to guests waiting their turn at the food pantry. A focus on hospitality is the trademark of St. Thomas’ volunteers.

St. Thomas revamped their food pantry over a year ago — rather than giving guests a box of food, some of which the clients may not be able to eat because of dietary restriction — they allow guests to choose food for themselves using the USDA guidelines as a tool. The pantry is set up each week, resembling a market, and the people they serve are given a grocery bag where they can “shop” for the food that they are able to eat. The foods the pantry is unable to keep on the shelves include tuna, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, and cereal. They offer a limited supply of perishable items, mainly because they do not have the means to store fresh food for long periods of time.

Ray A. Jackson, City of Richmond retiree and World War II Army Veteran, has volunteered at the food pantry since the 1960’s. He also helped The Farm Table blogger, Michele, pronounce Norfolk properly, the place where he grew up before moving to Richmond in 1952. He is St. Thomas’ longest running food pantry volunteer.

St. Thomas’ market-style food pantry allows guests to choose items they need based on USDA requirements.

Perishable items gleaned from local grocers like Food Lion and The Little House Green Grocer on Richmond’s Northside.

This is where Ampleharvest.org and you, our readers, come in. The site links home gardeners and other supporters to the nearest food pantry in the community who accepts perishable items. As gardens begin to flourish with an abundance of food, linking up your food surpluses with pantries in need is a wonderful way to offer the people who need it access to good, healthy, and fresh food.

Sharing from your garden is not the only way to give! Beginning this Thursday, June 20th, we will collect non-perishable items from Farm Table members who place canned, jarred, and boxed goods in their empty boxes. We will deliver them to food pantries in need, including St. Thomas’. We think giving back is one way we can broaden our food community, and we can do that with your help!

Food pantry volunteers, Ray A. Jackson and Bob Wiard, preparing to open the doors for guests waiting outside for the pantry to open. Today they celebrate one of their regular guests who is officially cancer free.

Looking for other ways to give?

Consider volunteering at your nearest food pantry. St. Thomas  is always looking for volunteers to assist with gleaning throughout the week, or helping on Thursday mornings when their food pantry is open to the people who need it.

Food pantry volunteer and member of the St. Thomas community, Andrea Marcinkevicius, hopes to see more youth helping out at local food pantries this summer. “People of all ages and abilities can help!”, Andrea says.

Farm Table member and Ministry Leader at Gayton Care Ministries, Stacy Deyerle, says she regularly donates food from her Farm Table box to the pantry at Gayton Baptist Church in Short Pump. Deyerle says their pantry serves people from Goochland, as well as “folks dealing with a recent job loss or serious health issues.” Food donated to their pantry really helps people in need.

We hope you will join us in supporting your local food pantry this summer and beyond — as we all enjoy the bounty of the season, let’s share it with others.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church
3602 Hawthorne Ave
Richmond, Virginia, 23222
804-321-9548
Food Pantry is open from 10:00am-12:00 noon on Thursdays
Volunteers needed:
Tuesdays at 12:00 noon to help unload food purchased at CVFB.
Thursdays anytime between 9am-1pm
Gleaning, Tuesdays and Saturdays

 

 

 

 

Blue Bee Cider

We hope you will join us at our Pop-up Market at  Blue Bee Cider in the Old Manchester District tomorrow, June 8, from 12:00-4:00pm.

We will have fresh local produce, Harvest Hill Farms meats, Quail Cove Cheese, freshly baked goodies from Flour Garden Bakery, and Polyface chickens! Blue Bee Cider, Virginia’s first and only urban cidery, will be open for your tasting pleasure from 12-6.

Until then, enjoy this piece we did on Blue Bee Cider back in December and then come taste the real deal with us tomorrow!

Follow The Tractor

The Farm Table had the opportunity last year to meet Courtney Mailey of Blue Bee Cider, at the 2012 Richmond Earth Day Festival. We’ve enjoyed following the progress of this local business ever since.

Courtney, author of the Cider Apprentice Blog, started blogging about her experiences as an apprentice cidermaker at Albemarle CiderWorks in 2011. Since then, she has started her own urban cidery housed in Richmond’s Old Manchester District.

I had the pleasure of joining Courtney and her in December during a pressing, and came away from the visit appreciating the making of Blue Bee Cider even more. Courtney’s father, Mel, a sweet and gracious man, who is clearly committed to the success of Blue Bee Cider, gave me a tour and run down on theprocess of making cider. 

Courtney, who was in constant motion during my visit, displayed an impressive combination of dedicated work ethic…

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Bok Choy Stir Fry

This recipe comes to you a few days late as we missed Flashback Friday on the blog last week. I promise we weren’t slacking! We were “in the field,” so to speak, taking pictures and working on a future post that will highlight some of the really cool things happening in Richmond that will make all of us proud!

Speaking of cool things going on — The Farm Table is excited to announce that we are expanding to the Hampton Roads area! If you have family and friends that would enjoy receiving a Farm Table box as much as you do, or if you know anyone who might want to become part of our team, please share this with them and contact support@thefarmtable.org. More details coming soon!

We are also having a lot of fun with our Pop-up Markets. Our next market, this Saturday, June 8 from 12:00-4:00pm, will be at Blue Bee Cider in the Manchester District.  We will have fresh local produce, Harvest Hill Farms meats, Quail Cove Cheese and freshly baked goodies from Flour Garden Bakery. Blue Bee Cider will be open for your tasting pleasure from 12-6. Please join us! Details HERE.

Until then, please try this Bok Choy Stir Fry from our May, 2012 newsletter, which features broccoli, snow peas, peppers, and chicken (optional). It is very important to do all of the prep work for this meal before you start cooking, as stir frying relies on being able to move and cook food quickly in a very hot pan. Also, it may seem labor intensive, but once you’ve prepped the vegetables, it cooks very quickly. Delicious!

Bok Choy Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into strips and lightly dusted with corn starch
• 1 small onion, halved/thinly sliced lengthwise
• 2-3 cloves sliced garlic
• 1 cup snow peas (optional)
• Peanut oil for frying
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1/3 cup vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 cups broccoli florets (separated into medium pieces) and stems (sliced thin), keep them separate
• 1/2 Tbs finely minced fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup red or green pepper, sliced thin
• 1 head of bok choy, sliced into thick ribbons
• 4 Tbs Hoisin sauce

Directions:

• Preheat a wok or large, deep, frying pan with a heavy bottom over medium-high heat. Coat with peanut oil.
• Add the chicken and cook 2-3 minutes, making sure to cook on all sides. Remove chicken to a bowl, or push aside.
• Add the onions, celery, broccoli stems, red/green pepper, ginger and garlic and, stirring continuously until onions become translucent, and veggies start to soften. Add more peanut oil if needed (you need to keep the food moving).
• Add the broccoli florets, snow peas, bok choy. Keep stirring!
• After about 5 minutes, add 2 Tbs soy sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper, Hoisin sauce, and the cornstarch/broth mixture. Add the Chicken back to the mixture.
• Stir for about 3-5 minutes and allow the mixture to thicken. 
• Serve immediately over cooked rice.

Spring Pop-Up Market at Hardywood

The countdown has begun for fresh, seasonal food straight from the farmer to your doorstep! If you are getting impatient for The Farm Table’s anticipated April 18th start date, and you missed out on our last Spring Pop-Up Market join us for another fun evening at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery for our 2nd Spring Pop-Up Market. With the weather forecast showing temps in the 80’s, join us while we celebrate the beginning of the new season,  renew your membership, or become a new member. 

The Farm Table Pop-up Market at Hardywood
Wednesday, April 10 at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery from 4-9 pm. 2408 Ownby Lane, Richmond VA 23220. Click here for directions.

We will have eggs, honey, greens, lettuce, carrots, Brussels sprouts, pastries, bread, Amish sweet butter, Harvest Hill Farm meat, and Quail Cove Farm cheese available, while you enjoy your choice of Hardywood’s excellent selection of craft brews in a laid back venue.

If you missed out on The Hardywood Community Hopping Project for 2013, be sure to check back next year to get in on the local action while you grow hops for their RVA IPA. Some of The Farm Table staff and members got in on the action this year — we will keep you updated on how the hops grow in our backyards!

The Farm Table Pop-up Market at Hardywood 

 

Join us Wednesday, April 10 at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery from 4-9 pm. 

 

Hardywood Park is located at 2408 Ownby Lane, Richmond VA 23220.

Click here for directions.

Blue Bee Cider

The Farm Table had the opportunity last year to meet Courtney Mailey of Blue Bee Cider, at the 2012 Richmond Earth Day Festival. We’ve enjoyed following the progress of this local business ever since.

Courtney, author of the Cider Apprentice Blog, started blogging about her experiences as an apprentice cidermaker at Albemarle CiderWorks in 2011. Since then, she has started her own urban cidery housed in Richmond’s Old Manchester District.

The Brite Tank was built in Oregon and shipped to RVA

Pressing the apples

I had the pleasure of joining Courtney and her in December during a pressing, and came away from the visit appreciating the making of Blue Bee Cider even more. Courtney’s father, Mel, a sweet and gracious man, who is clearly committed to the success of Blue Bee Cider, gave me a tour and run down on the process of making cider. 

Apples just waiting for the magic to happen

Courtney, who was in constant motion during my visit, displayed an impressive combination of dedicated work ethic, good humor, and expertise. Her staff were at ease, and fully engaged in the process of making cider — they all seemed to be having fun, despite a few setbacks when the equipment jammed, or hoses came lose. Courtney, who kept her cool, got everything back on track with a quick sleight of hand.

I lingered a little longer than I intended to — it was satisfying to watch someone in the process of their craft, and Courtney, a true artisan, practices her craft with a relaxed confidence that is exciting to watch.

Courtney, in the process of training staff on identifying the parts of the apple that should be cut out, was giving a tutorial on the markings left by “stink bugs”.

Courtney with her father, Mel, and staff, tightening a hose that pumps extracted juice into a highly sterile and impermeable plastic bag where the juice is “boxed” prior to fermenting it.

Blue Bee puts every part of the apple to good use. Russell Bell of Ringer Farms shovels what’s left of the apple into a trailer, which goes back to the farm to feed the goats.

The name, Blue Bee Cider came from Courtney’s appreciation for the Blue Orchard Bee, native to Virginia. Blue Orchard Bees are not very social, and do not make honey, but are extremely efficient pollinators of apple blossoms.  Courtney, who noted how hardworking and solitary this type of bee was, decided to brand her budding business after them.

Courtney, whose work is not solitary, but certainly determined, is bottling up her sense of good humor, and the delicious bounty of Virginia for the rest of us to enjoy.

We can certainly raise a glass to that!

Courtney and her staff  have planted an urban orchard outside her urban cidery, with hopes that it may produce fruit for a future batch of cider.

You can follow Blue Bee Cider on Facebook and Twitter, where Courtney has chronicled the process of opening her cidery. She and her staff have started pressing, and selling the raw juice at her tasting room at 212 W. 6th Street, behind Scoot Richmond. The first two hard ciders will be available in the Spring of 2013, and a third in the Fall of 2013.

We hope to see you there this spring when Blue Bee Cider opens for hard cider tastings and tours.

Friday Night Is Pizza Night

The Farm Table would like to introduce to you to one of its members, Jennifer Burns, a mother of three: Asher (2nd grade), Grace (1st grade), and Calvin (16-month old). While she is a new member this year, the fresh and local food movement has long been  a commitment  of her’s, a commitment built on a concern for her family’s health and environmental sustainability . What draws us to Jenn are the established food traditions in her family, and the somewhat laborious tasks she takes on in the kitchen (i.e. grinding her own wheat!), both of which we have great respect for.

Allow us to introduce you to this self-proclaimed ‘army brat’ who met her husband while they both attended Georgia Southern University:

After Ryan and I moved to Richmond and had our first two children, I fell down the rabbit hole of whole foods and “natural” living, and developed roots in this city without realizing it. After an almost 3 year stint away from RVA — Redemption Hill offered Ryan a position as Director of Operations — we jumped at the chance to move back to Richmond, a place we officially call “home” now. A few months after moving back to Richmond we discovered baby Calvin would be making an appearance the next summer (Virginia is for lovers, right?). Some time during all those travels I decided that being a Christian, stay-at-home health nut mom that grinds her own wheat and makes her own deodorant and lip balm wasn’t weird enough, so we home school too. 

When we decided I would stay home after our first child was born, I began reading and learning about nutrition and natural living (he was a very mellow baby — I had time to read that year). At first  I was pretty hardcore (making deodorant? Really? Yes.). However, over the years, with the addition of children and homeschooling, I’ve had to cut back on many extracurricular “natural living” type projects in order to maintain a somewhat orderly household AND my sanity. “Different people can handle different things” has been my mantra! I was so intense about food preparation, and making as much as possible from scratch to save money so that I could use high quality food, that it’s hard for me to think of the way I cook now as being labor intensive. I admit I do still grind my own wheat berries for flour, but that’s mostly for pizza dough these days. I have been buying bread (gasp!), and I make most of our pancakes and muffins with almond meal or coconut flour. I do like to make sauces and baked goods from scratch, not just for my vampire (garlic intolerant) child, but I like having control over all the little ingredients and sneaking in veggies, like beets and kale, when I get the chance.

The biggest food tradition we have (which never occurred to me as a “food tradition” before) is Pizza Night, a tradition carried on from my childhood. Nearly every Friday we make pizza and watch a movie. When other things come up and Pizza Night cannot be bumped to Saturday, my kids tend to have a hard time. It is THAT big of a deal. I’d like to say it’s because my pizza is amazing, but it’s more likely the fact that we get to eat and watch a movie…Ok, mostly the movie. They’re rarely excited about the leftover pizza for lunch on Sunday as it is not served with television. 

Pizza dough recipe found here

I decided to give The Farm Table a go this year because it sounded like what I needed. In an ideal world we would eat primarily local, organic fruits and vegetables, and pastured animal products. Unfortunately I don’t live in that world, so we do what we can, which varies day-to-day. I like the idea of farmers markets, but I get tense and flustered in crowds. Trying to make menu, budget, and grocery decisions in that sort of environment, oh! Last year we joined a traditional CSA, which I thought was my solution. I did enjoy the idea (again with the ideas) of supporting “A Farm,” thus a specific connection to “A Food” source, but unfortunately the downside of one source is that it wasn’t feasible to supply the variety that my family would be more likely to eat with a good attitude. Also, sad though it may be, running out to the pickup location with three children very close to dinner time, wasn’t exactly roses (maybe the stems…). Enter The Farm Table. I’m told what to expect the week before (so I can plan), there’s a nice variety each week, and (drumroll please) I never have to leave my house. I would say it’s been all I hoped for, but that sounds like something my overly dramatic daughter would say (but really, it has been!). There has been much less gnashing of teeth from the vegetable-challenged members of my peanut gallery than last year. 

So far the only thing I couldn’t tackle this season was the daikon radish. There’s a good bit of food that only I enjoy (cabbage, most greens….) and I deal with that by serving it once as a dinner side that week and eating the rest for my lunches. The enormous radish just didn’t work out that way. Even I, the human garbage disposal, can only eat so much radish!

As we approach the holidays, is there a family food tradition that has been passed down in your family, a sneaky way you feed veggies to your children, or another inspiring story you have to tell?  Do you have a recipe you would like to share with The Farm Table community? We want to know?  Contact us at support@thefarmtable.org with your recipes, tips, and traditions.

Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing  your food and family life with us! 

Sun & Sangria at Grayhaven Winery, and an Apple Butter Recipe

Many thanks to everyone who joined us at our 2nd annual Farm Table event at Grayhaven Winery last Sunday. We loved the food, the wine, and the company!

Here are some highlights:

Grayhaven Winery

The corn pool was a hit with the kids

The food was a hit with the adults

Face painting by Ingrid

Small batch cooking of apple butter by Heather

Farm Table produce shared among friends

Farm Table members, check your newsletter for recipes of some of the tasty dips we enjoyed. If you joined us on Sunday, you undoubtedly took home some of The Farm Table’s slow batch apple butter — delicious! If you missed out, here is Area Manager, Heather Jeffrey’s recipe, handed down from her Grandmother “Baba”, so you can make your own! When asked if she made any adaptations to this recipe recipe she responded, “use a food processor rather than a sieve or mill, use Virginia apples rather than Vermont, and use a chilled plate rather than a dish of snow.”

Enjoy!

BABA’S APPLE BUTTER

INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT NEEDED

• 4 lbs of good cooking apples 
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups water
• Honey (about 4 cups)
• Salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 wide 8-quart pan (Stainless steel or copper with stainless steel lining)
• A food mill/processor

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepping your fruit

•  Cut the apples into quarters, without peeling or coring them.

2. First Stage of Cooking

• Put them into large pot, add the vinegar and water, cover, bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to simmer and cook until apples are soft, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Ladle apple mixture into your food processor. 
• Measure out purée adding 1/2 cup of honey for each cup of apple pulp. Stir to dissolve the honey.
• Add a dash of salt, cinnamon, ground cloves, and allspice.
• Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

3. Second Stage of Cooking

• Cook uncovered in a large, wide, thick-bottomed pot on medium low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Scrape the bottom of the pot while you stir, making sure nothing is crusting to the bottom of the pan.
• Cook until thick and smooth, about 1 to 2 hours.
• A small bit spooned onto a chilled (in the freezer) plate will be thick, not runny. You can also cook the purée on low heat, stirring only occasionally, but this will take much longer as stirring encourages evaporation.

Get To Know: The Farm Table, Part III

We love the community you have helped The Farm Table build. Our Members, Area Managers, Farmers, and our Neighborhood Coordinators, together, make a difference in supporting our local economy, and building a food community that brings farmers and families together. Eating local food creates jobs, boosts the economy, promotes health and well-being, and supports a healthy environment with thriving communities.

We are thrilled with the outpouring of support our members have shown toward helping the Flores Farm expand their irrigation system. Through your generous help, Flores Farms will be able to double the amount of irrigated fields on their 50-acre farm, ultimately allowing them to increase the variety of produce they provide next season. The Farm Table and the Flores Farm are grateful for the generosity our members have shown thus far — please keep it coming. What a difference you are making! 

In our Get to Know series, we’d like to share more about the Flores Farm, and introduce you to a few more of the Farm Table team who link you to your local farmers. Thank you for reading and keeping it local!

Since immigrating to this country two decades ago, Virginia farmer Gerardo Flores has become known for his ability to grow such rare vegetables as sorrel, purslane, Japanese daikon radishes, and more than fifteen types of hot peppers. Gerardo and his son Omar farm fifty acres of produce on the Northern Neck and count Hispanic and Asian produce buyers in the Washington, DC, area among their customers. Even so, according to Omar, “With the agriculture economy the way it is, we weren’t sure we were going to make it.” Having a network of families supporting local farmers has helped to add as much as $1,000 a week to a farmer’s income,  “Some weeks that’s what keeps us in business,” says Omar. “For us, this is the future.”

Peter Pickering is a former Neighborhood Coordinator turned Area Manager.

“I manage driving the truck.

They call me The Pirate and the truck is my ship.

I plunder the 7 seas for the finest produce, and deliver only the most excellent treasures to the people.

I am a graduate student at VCU studying counselor education.

I have a small farm with my wife.

We have chickens and guineas, bunnies and ducks.”

Shari Fowler joined The Farm Table and began making deliveries early last year, shortly after The Farm Table began operations. She added newsletter duties a few weeks later and has been doing it ever since.

She is originally from Dayton, Ohio where she met her husband Chris of 23 years. She lived in Central PA, and Apex, NC before moving to Richmond two years ago with her children Dana (13), and Curtis (11), and their 14-year-old German Wirehaired Pointer, Emma.

Shari used to have her own garden, but since her current property isn’t ideally suited for it, she decided to do the “next best thing” and become a Farm Table member. A self described “foodie”, Shari likes to entice her family with fun and creative ways to eat nutritious, tasty cuisine. Her favorite new food this season were the oyster mushrooms, “They looked freakish but were oh-so-delicious simply grilled over an open flame with olive oil.”

Shari is the owner and creator of Iberian Inspirations Natural and Organic Body Polishes and Body Butters. In her spare time, Shari grows exotic plants and orchids, hikes, kayaks, practices yoga, and listens to music.

To help us celebrate our local food community, and meet The Farm Table team, join us at Grayhaven Winery on Sunday, October 21st at 1:00pm. Bring a picnic blanket, the kids, and a batch of dip to share for our second annual fall dip-off! Kick off your shoes and enjoy a glass of small-batch crafted wine by the masters at Grayhaven. Observe or participate as we create our own batch of homemade apple butter to jar and send home with our members. Kids can enjoy face painting, a corn pool, nature trails, and the animals at Grayhaven. Check your official Evite to RSVP.

Baba Ghanoush

Guest Blogger and Farm Table member, Christen Miller, is back to follow up her Dirty Rice recipe with this healthy, simple, and tasty dish that you can whip up easily and enjoy today:

Baba Ghanoush – it’s fun to say,  and good to eat.

There are some foods that you want to serve because they sound just as good rolling off the tongue as they taste on it. When I opened my Farm Table box this week I was so excited to find eggplant and the prettiest parsley I have ever seen. My thoughts went to one of my favorite dishes – Baba Ghanoush.

This flavorful dish, with its wonderful blend of rich flavors, is not only complex and delicious, but is also a good source of antioxidants, potassium, fiber, calcium,phosphorus, selenium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, and manganese. To top it off — it’s ridiculously easy to make!

My earliest memories of it stem from a New Year’s eve party I attended as a child in the home of some of my parents’ artist-friends in Austin. Texas. While eggplant was a staple in our kitchen garden, I’d never eaten it prepared like that. The rich, smoky flavor of the eggplant, sharp bite of fresh garlic, bright, fresh parsley, and tart lemon blended so well with creamy tahini and salt. I loved it so much I ate an impolite amount which amused our hosts, and embarrassed my parents.

Serve this dish as an appetizer, side or salad. I like it with pita chips or naan, or if I’m feeling like I want to go lighter, then I use cucumbers or celery to scoop up the dip.

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients:

• 2 large or 3 smaller eggplants
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• ¼ cup tahini (sesame paste)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Place the eggplants whole on the grill and roast until the skin is blackened and the insides are mushy to the touch.
• When they are cool enough to handle, break into them and scoop out the inside.
• Add all the other ingredients, reserving some parsley and olive oil as a garnish. I use an immersion blender to smooth everything out. You can just mash with a fork, but I like the creamy texture of it blended.
• Garnish with the reserved olive oil and parsley.
• Add-ons can include chopped kalamata olives, cayenne pepper or hot sauce, pine nuts or feta cheese.

Try your hand at this recipe, or create your own dip and bring to Grayhaven Winery on Sunday, October 21st at 1:00pm, for our second annual dip-off! Bring a picnic blanket and the kids while you enjoy  food, stories, wine, recipes – and more food! Observe or participate as we create our own batch of homemade apple butter to jar and send home with our members. Kids will enjoy face painting, a corn pool, nature trails, and will get to interact with the farm animals. Adults, you can kick off your shoes while sipping a glass of small-batch crafted wine by the masters at Grayhaven.  Dogs are welcome. RSVP here.

The Apple Draws the Earth

School is back in session.

Virginia’s 2012 Fall Harvest Festivals are scheduled.

With the addition of apples in your Farm Table box this week, there is so much potential for creating a fall-inspired dish that will make you eager for a sunny and crisp autumn day.

In honor of our “Back-To-School Garden Box“, we put together a collection of our favorite links directing you to creative apple recipes that even Sir Isaac Newton would appreciate:

• Apple Oatmeal Bars with Cinnamon Caramel Sauce, courtesy of A Farm Girl Dabbles.
• Kid Approved Apple & Raspberry “Fruit Leather”, Apple Treats for Man’s Best Friend, and a Homemade Apple Vinegar, by none other than the creative duo at 17 Apart.
• Slow Cooker Apple Butter by Helen Jane, and one more Homemade Apple Butter recipe thanks to Brittany Mullins at Eating Bird Food.
• Jewish Apple Cake, care of Poor Man’s Feast.
• Creamy Apple Compote, definitely paired with Bratwurst as imagined by Orangette.
• Imagine the scent of apples and rosemary paired together in this Richmond Food Collective recipe: Rosemary Apples with Oatmeal-Almond Crisp. Richmond is so creative!
• Apple Empanadas from Cats and Casseroles.
• Our recipe for Braised Cabbage with Thyme & Apples.
• Hearty Apple Loaf, a great way to start the day from the Sprouted Kitchen!
• Apple Chips, from The Italian Dish that you can pack in your kids’ lunch-box, or get creative and give as a delicious gift.
• Easy Homemade Apple Sauce, also a kid pleasing addition to the lunch-box from A Couple Cooks.
• Carrot and Apple Soup, Brown Butter & Roasted Apple Madeleines, and Roasted Apples. The photography alone at Cannelle et Vanille is worth the click, and has a ton of gluten-free recipes for our gluten-free Farm Table friends.

We’ve also heard “the buzz” about a new apple cidery opening in Richmond this Fall, and look forward to sharing more about how you can also “drink local” in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!