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So much variety, so fresh, and so local!
This time of the year many customers get busy with fall activities and our customer attendance at the market is reduced. This is a shame because the farms are at their peak of production with more variety than at any other time.
New varieties of produce are always coming into the market. Last week Bartlett pears and artichokes arrived. New varieties of winter squash at the market are acorn, butternut, spaghetti, kabocha, and carnival. Pumpkins are starting with cinderella and pie pumpkins.
Our markets are going strong, so please pass this newsletter along to your friends so we can keep farmers in business here in Boulder County. Remind them that the market is where to get your best healthy food. Let them know that the market continues on Saturdays in Boulder until November 1st, and Longmont we keep going strong until October 25th. Our Wednesday market continues until October 1st, although tonight is the last chance to get a glass of beer or wine at the market. A special thanks to Downtown Boulder Inc. for helping us extend our beer and wine longer this season.
Mark Menagh
Exective Director
Boulder County Farmers' Markets |
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Culinary School of the Rockies
Recipe: Oven Roasted Red Pepper-Eggplant Spread
At the Boulder Farmers' Market you can visit with CSR Market Chefs every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning. Watch demonstrations, pick up free recipes, and gather advice for cooking with seasonal ingredients fresh from the market.
Ingredients:
2-3 Eggplant, halved
4 cups water
2 Red Bell Peppers, halved and seeded
4 cloves Garlic
Olive Oil to coat
1 tsp. Cumin
½ cup Cilantro, chopped
½ Lemon, juiced
Salt & Pepper to taste
Method: Preheat oven to 475°. On a baking sheet, place red peppers, eggplant halves and garlic cloves. Toss to coat with olive oil. Roast (cut side down) 30-45 minutes. Allow to cool and then remove the skin from the peppers, garlic and eggplant. Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Serve with toasted pita chips.
For more recipes, visit the CSR website! |
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The Mojito
By Carol Ann Kates
The days are getting shorter. Nights are cooler. Autumn is just around the corner. But fresh mint is still available at our market. Why not savor the last of summer's bounty with a refreshingly trendy cocktail, the mojito. The name mojito comes from the African word mojo, which means to place a little spell.
Like any really good recipe, the origination of the mojito is a bit clouded. Some food historians believe the mojito originated in Cuba in the late 1800s, suggesting that slaves working in Cuban sugar cane fields created this blend. African slaves named the sweet nectar that makes a mojito so delicious guarapo. They longed for a drink from their homeland made from corn and yucca. The slaves substituted sugar cane stalks and muddled the stalks releasing its sweet liquid.
Bacardi, however, traces the roots of this libation back to 1586, to Sir Francis Drake and his band of pirates. Legend has it that Richard Drake created the original version of this drink for Sir Francis using aquardiente, Spanish for firewater. Originally dubbed "El Draque" after Drake, many believe the swashbucklers introduced the mojito to Cuba as they pillaged their way through the Caribbean and Latin America.
Regardless of who gets credit for creating this refreshing drink, the mojito traveled from Havana to Key West and it has become a trendy American favorite. In fact, the mojito is said to be the favorite drink of Ernest Hemingway, who drank his way around much of the world.
As summer fades into autumn, cast a little spell in your life by mixing up Hemingway's favorite.
Carol Ann's Mojito
With Simple Syrup
Makes 1 Drink
You can make a mojito with either guarapo (sugar cane juice) or simple syrup. The choice is yours. Following is a recipe using simple syrup.
To make simple syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
In a small saucepan, place water and sugar and cook over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Cool before using. If stored in an airtight container, simple syrup will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator. This recipe makes enough simple syrup for 12 drinks.
For the mojito:
6 fresh mint leaves
Simple syrup to cover mint leaves (about 2 tablespoons)
3 lime quarters
Ice
2 ounces white rum
3 ounces club soda
1 ounce Sprite
Lime wedge
Sprig of mint
Place mint leaves in a tall, thin, chilled glass. Add enough simple syrup to cover. Using a pestle or the back of a spoon, muddle or gently mash leaves just until you smell the mint. Mint leaves should only be bruised to release essential oils and never shredded. Add lime quarters. Fill glass with ice. Add rum, club soda, and Sprite. Garnish with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint.
Following is a recipe using guarapo. It will give your mojito a more substantial taste. It is not as sweet as simple syrup but far more potent. Adding too much can make your drink too bitter. If this occurs, squeeze some limejuice in to balance the flavors.
Carol Ann's Mojito
Made with Guarapo
Makes 1 Drink
6 fresh mint leaves
3 lime quarters
Ice
2 ounces white rum
Guarapo
Club soda
Lime wedge
Sprig of mint
Place mint leaves a tall, thin, chilled glass. Using a pestle or the back of a spoon, muddle or gently mash leaves just until you smell the mint. Mint leaves should only be bruised to release essential oils and never shredded. Add lime quarters. Fill glass with ice. Add rum. Fill the glass with guarapo up to ½ inch from the top of the glass. Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint.
Carol Ann Kates is the author of award-winning cookbook, Secret Recipes from the Corner Market, selected as one of the top ten favorite cookbooks by the Denver Post Food Staff. For more information, visit www.cornermarketsecrets.com.
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Award winning Photo -
This photo, taken in Alaska, is a good example of how small-scale agriculture can offer a greater variety of produce to consumers. When profit is the only motivation, consumers might not have access to a variety like Romanesco Veronica F1, which does not travel well and is only possible to sell within a small radius. This picture shows how small, local farms can add diversity and quality to our diets.
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Focus on the Farmer:
Stevens Farm
by Elisabeth Worthing
Richard and Betty Stevens are among the few who can remember a time when the Boulder Farmers' Market was located on Pearl St. Back then the couple lived on 75th and Baseline and tended a small garden for their own use, but always produced a surplus. After a few seasons of offering the extra veggies to their neighbors and then finding them in the trash the next day, they thought they had better come up with a new plan. So they headed down to the Market, which was located on the courthouse lawn, one Saturday to talk to Marcy Munson, of Munson's Farm. Marcy, who coordinated the Market at that time, invited them to join the group of four growers and informed them that the fee to set up was $5. On their first Saturday, the Stevens made $20 and were delighted to become more active participants of this great community. Exactly thirty years later, the couple is still selling vegetables at the Market. Richard recalls that the Market was originally brought to Pearl St. to stimulate traffic, but by 1982 the five farmers were fed up with the parking tickets they were receiving so the group applied to the city to have the Market moved to it's current location. In the process of filling out the application, Richard mistakenly checked "yes" on a question relating to for-profit status and the application was denied. The following year a savvy shopper, who also happened to be an attorney, filled out the application for them, checking "no" on the same question. And so the next season, in 1984, they moved the Market. Not long after, the city of Lafayette bought up all the water rights to the Stevens' land and the couple was forced to move if they wanted to continue farming. They chose a beautiful property in Longmont where they remain to this day. When they arrived their soil was in no shape for growing organically. "There wasn't a living thing in it. It was sterile," Richard says. The couple quickly established relationships that gave them access to grass, compost and manure to help build up the soil. "The organic system really does work; you just have to be patient," Betty explains. Like many farmers at our Market, Richard and Betty opt out of the organic certification. "I'm not convinced that it's worth it," Richard says of the $800 annual cost. "We haven't sprayed in 30 years," he notes. Even when the European paper wasp appeared three years ago, threatening their beloved raspberry crop, Richard and Betty never thought to spray. "They throw the whole system out of balance, they reproduce like mad and they kill the good bees," says Richard. Yet after some research they concluded that the  wasps don't have any natural predators so as an alternative to spraying, the couple built their own traps by taking the bad raspberries and turning them into a pulp. "The wasps are diverted into the trap and drown," Richard says as he nonchalantly squeezes a wasp to death with his bare hand. Betty is delighted to be outside all day. For someone that looks at the same scenery and has been growing the same vegetables for the last twenty years she has an exceptional appreciation for all of it. The simple tastes of her garden and the tremendous view of Long's Peak seem to be all the nourishment she needs. She has a way of giving uncomplicated things enormous life. For example she'll get your mouth watering in no time over summer squash, one the most basic of all vegetables. "It is so easily digestible. Every child and baby should be eating loads of the stuff. What a perfect, nutritious vegetable," she says. They do two meatless days a week and summer squash often takes the stage. She'll substitute it for meat in a sandwich for lunch-Richard likes his on her homemade rye bread. She sears it with olive oil in a pan to soften it. And should you want to see Richard's eyes light up ask him his best secret for eating locally all winter long. He's got one word for you-Basil. "Most people don't know that it can be frozen. It stays its rich green color versus turning brown when you dry it," he says. "Then if you want to make your pesto, you take it out of the freezer and add your oil, pine nuts etc." Recipe follows. After three decades of growing the couple is finally thinking of cutting back. They don't want to hire help or sell their business. "You can't depend on someone else to do it the way you want it done," Richard says casually. But in the meantime, their veggies can be found in Longmont on Saturdays and in Boulder on Wednesdays. You're sure to find Richard in a decorative hat quietly tending to his basil, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes and other veggies.
That is Betty and Richard at the top of this newsletter.
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Freezing Basil
Local basil in January sounds good to me so I bought a pound from Richard last Saturday: $15 and an hour and a half later I have enough basil to last all winter. What a bargain! I'll never have to buy one of those plastic containers of basil again. Not to mention what a jar of pesto runs me mid-winter. Local basil on my pizza in December, local basil in all of my January soups and salad dressings, local basil spread on a sandwich in February - brilliant!
*Note: A frost can come any time now so you ought to hurry with basil preparation.
1) Pull off the leaves and place them in a blender until full.
2) Add just a touch of water to the leaves and blend to make a paste, adding one tablespoon of water at a time as necessary. Add remaining leaves and repeat.
3) Spread the paste into a baking pan and freeze for 30-40 minutes (just so that it's easier to work with).
Storage and Use
Option A - Roll up Cake Fashion (recommended for single people and couples) - Spread the paste onto a sheet wax paper. Roll it up and cover the ends. Freeze. When you're ready to use it just take out the roll and cut off a piece, like you would a piece of roll-up cake. And let thaw for 30-40 minutes.
Option B - Ribbon Candy Fashion (recommended for pesto makers, large families and entertainers). Spread a strip of the paste onto the end of a sheet of wax paper, fold wax paper over the strip. Repeat until you're out of paste. When you're finished, cover up the ends. Freeze. When you're ready to use take a whole strip off and let thaw for 30-40 minutes.
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Ebrandaid is a website I have started using as a resource
This is an article from their web site
How bad brands happen to good people
Avoid being tricked by misleading label claims and make healthier food picks. With more than 20,000 food items lining the aisles of the local grocery store, odds are you have been suckered into buying foods and beverages that appear to be good for you but are actually detrimental to your diet, your wallet and even your health.
Welcome to the world of label trickery where marketing buzzwords like "fortified" and "sugar-free" trick millions of well-intentioned shoppers into reaching for Healthy Food Imposters.
You know what we're talking about. Those pesky imposters that use front label trickery to insinuate that their brands are healthy but they actually have hidden trans fats and high amounts of sodium, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners and flavorings. They are anything but healthy.
How many times have you fallen prey to these front label tricks that pop up on many of the most-popular brand name foods?
"Fortified", "enriched", "added", "extra", and "plus" usually mean the food has been altered or processed in some way.
"Zero trans fat" implies that a product has no trans fats; but labeling law loopholes allow foods that contain less than 0.5 g per serving to declare ZERO! Beware: Code words for trans fats include hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils.
"Light," or "Reduced Calorie" juices are usually watered down, contain far less juice, and have artificial sweeteners and chemical additives. Your best bet: Stick with 100% juice, while simply cutting the serving in half and adding a few ounces of water to save on calories.
"Made with wheat," or "rye," or "multi-grains" imply that it's a good source of whole grains, but unfortunately, don't tell you how much whole grain is actually in the product. Look for the word "whole" before the grain to ensure that you are actually getting a 100% whole-grain product.
"Natural" or "made from natural" simply means the manufacturer started with a natural source. Once processed, the food may not resemble anything "natural."
"Organically grown," "organic," "pesticide-free," and "no artificial ingredients" say very little about the nutritional value or safety of the product. Trust only those labels that say "certified organically grown."
"Sugar-free," "sugarless," or "no added sugar" tells you nothing about sugar derivatives or sugar substitutes, which can yield just as many calories as table sugar and may be more harmful to you than sugar.
Reality Check
To avoid being tricked by misleading label claims by following these three easy steps:
Step One: Speed read the front label! Remember, manufacturers use this prime real estate to entice shoppers to buy their products. Translation: Much of the wording is pure advertising jargon.
Step Two: Go to the ingredients list! This is where they tell you what's in the food. Manufacturers list ingredients in order from most to least. Next, look for words that you can't pronounce or terms that sound like something from your ninth-grade chemistry textbook. This is yet another clue that there are chemical additives that might be harmful to your health.
Step Three: Quick-scan the Nutrition Facts label, this is where you'll find the amounts of nutrients you're getting based on the ingredients list.
Taken together, this information will help you make the healthiest brand choices. More importantly, it will help you avoid those pesky imposters. Leave them on the shelf right where they belong!
--- Here is their take on a nutrition bar:
http://ebrandaid.com/emails/ba_nutritionbars.html
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Freezing Garden Fresh Raw Tomatoes (with and without their skins)
By Ann Zander, Colorado State University Extension of Boulder County
It is possible to quickly freeze raw tomatoes without blanching them first. They may be frozen without their skins or frozen whole with their skins. Frozen tomatoes are best used in cooked foods such as soups, sauces and stews as they become mushy when they're thawed.
The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources offers the following advice on freezing tomatoes in its publication Tomatoes: Safe Methods to Store, Preserve, and Enjoy (3/2004) (link to pdf).
Washing Tomatoes
Tomatoes should be washed before cutting. To wash, wet each tomato with water, rub its surface, rinse it with running water, and dry it with a paper towel. After washing, cut away the stem scar and surrounding area and discard it before slicing or chopping the tomato.
Washing tomatoes in a sink filled with water is not recommended since contaminated water can be absorbed through the fruit's stem scar. The use of soap or detergent is neither recommended nor approved for washing fruits and vegetables because they can absorb detergent residues.
Freezing Tomatoes
Tomatoes may be frozen whole, sliced, chopped, or puréed. Additionally, you can freeze them raw or cooked, as juice or sauce, or prepared in the recipe of your choice. Thawed raw tomatoes may be used in any cooked-tomato recipe. Do not try to substituted them for fresh tomatoes, however, since freezing causes their texture to become mushy. Tomatoes should be seasoned just before serving rather than before freezing; freezing may either strengthen or weaken seasonings such as garlic, onion, and herbs.
Preparation: Select firm, ripe tomatoes for freezing. Sort the tomatoes, discarding any that are spoiled. Wash them in clean water as recommended above. Dry them by blotting with a clean cloth or paper towels.
Freezing whole tomatoes with peels: Prepare tomatoes as described above. Cut away the stem scar. Place the tomatoes on cookie sheets and freeze. Tomatoes do not need to be blanched before freezing. Once frozen, transfer the tomatoes from the cookie sheets into freezer bags or other containers. Seal tightly. To use the frozen tomatoes, remove them from the freezer a few at a time or all at once. To peel, just run a frozen tomato under warm water in the kitchen sink. Its skin will slip off easily.
Freezing peeled tomatoes: If you prefer to freeze peeled tomatoes, you can wash the tomatoes and then dip them in boiling water for about 1 minute or until the skins split. Peel and then freeze as noted above.
Storage time
To extend the time frozen foods maintain good quality, package foods in material intended for freezing and keep the temperature of the freezer at 0 degrees F or below. It is generally recommended frozen vegetables be eaten within about 8 months for best quality.
For more information on freezing tomatoes:
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School of Natural Cookery
Stop by their booth at the Boulder Farmers' Market on Saturday where they will demo:
A Vegetable Sauce of Winter squash, Brown Butter, Sage and Premium Raw Cheese from the Windsor Dairy on Whole Grain Brown Rice Pasta.
www.naturalcookery.com |
 Backyard Bees returns
Backyard Bees 2008 crop of wildflower honey is fresh out of the comb and more flavorful than ever!
We harvested four delicious varieties this year.
* Boulder Wildflower: Light and sweet with a delicate floral flavor. Hints of cinnamon, liquorice and black tea.
* Prairie Wildflower: Rich and sweet with a robust honey flavor. Zingy! (Kids love this honey.)
* Sweet St. Vrain: Our most unusual variety. Light and sweet with a green or grassy flavor. Sells out quickly.
* Emily's Gold: Good old fashioned clover wildflower. Rich and delicious!
You're invited to sample our honey at the Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays until we sell out (typically 4 to 6 weeks).
We look forward to seeing you at the Market.
Laura Tyler and Andy Schwarz
Backyard Bees, LLC
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The Dinner Table
by Cindy Torres
As my grandma prepared dinner, I would set up the three aluminum tv trays in the living room in front of the television, a giant beast that sat on the floor with a turn dial to change channels. The trays were black covered in a gold floral print spotted with a little rust around the edges and on the legs. I would dress them with napkins and forks, one for each tray, 3 in all. We were having tacos for dinner and time for my aunt and I to help my grandma prepare each plate. The soft corn tortilla cooked lightly in oil, ground beef, a few diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and a dash of salt. Then to the fridge to grab a coca cola for each us and then finally back to the living room and our tv trays.
Being a rather short family in stature in combination with the softness of our sofa pillows, put the tray right at bust level. Depending on the show that evening, a comedy could rattle the trays with laughter and occasionally someone tipped a drink in all the bustle. Everyone's eyes and attention were focused on the screen as we spent each dinner gathered in a tiny living room, each of us huddled around our separate tables. We ate together, laughed together, and often wove our relationship with each other through the lives and action packed movies and shows that found their way into our living room and over the tops of our aluminum dinner tables. Separate tables, one family. I suppose some would argue that our relationship could have been stronger if we had sat together and had conversations rather than immersed in Hollywood. Almost 50 years separated our interests, but we found common ground in the living room over tacos. I will always remember my grandma's laugh, subdued yet intense and the bellowing laughs of my aunt, who occasionally reached over to give me a joyful slap in the back.
Our dinner tables didn't look like many of my friends dinner tables and our food wasn't hand picked from a local farm stand or bought with the intent of saving a family farm or served with a local wine. Our meals were subsidized, purchased for value rather than quality, but my grandma always managed to transform our rations into a home cooked meal immersed in our Hispanic tradition. Preserving a culture of food on a limited budget wasn't easy and my grandma's cooking wasn't always at the forefront of our meals. But it's food that now reconnects me to her memory and her tacos, carne guisada, and homemade tortillas.
It's been almost a decade since I last sat down for dinner in that tiny living room with my aunt and grandma. The other day I found a similar tv tray at the thrift store. I set it up in my living room for dinner, made tacos, and sat down to the memory of my family, only this time the ingredients were carefully handpicked from local farms. Although my food source, location and company has changed, my culture of food has remained the same because of my history, my family recipes, and the pure enjoyment of sitting down to eat with friends and family.
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| Sad news
To our friends of the market.
Julie Schroeder, who has worked for McConnell's Greenhouse for over ten years at the market, lost her husband Don last Wednesday. Don was just 48 and his death was quite sudden; they have four children.
The market is a big family and our love and hearts are with Julie and her family.
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Other Things
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of irradiation to kill food-poisoning germs in iceberg lettuce and fresh spinach claiming the technology will not adversely affect the safety of these products. Consumers may find it impossible to avoid irradiated greens if the FDA also succeeds in eliminating labeling requirements.
The decision follows recalls related to lettuce and the spinach linked E. coli outbreak that killed three people and sickened more than 200 in September 2006.
Science Policy Analyst at the Centre for Food Safety, Bill Freese, argues that irradiation will rob fresh spinach of some of its essential nutrients and he claims the technology avoids tackling the problem at its source.
"Irradiation is not the solution to food-borne illness," said Freese. "In fact, it serves to distract attention from the unsanitary conditions of industrial agriculture that create the problem in the first place."
Longer Season
The fruit growers especially are having concerns about the late harvest and its affect on peach sales. They will have peaches until the end of September and in the past have experienced a dwindling of excitement for peaches after Labor Day. This year especially, it is important to note the season is longer for all the fruit and vegetables.
Date: Fri, September 19th 2008 - Sun, September 21st 2008
Downtown Boulder's Fall Festival is Boulder's best Oktoberfest celebration. The three-day autumn festival includes traditional Oktoberfest fare, music and brews coupled with standard festival favorites such as carnival rides, games and artist booths. The Festival kicks off Friday, September 19 and continues through Sunday, September 21.
The food industry can be nuts.
I watch the food industry in many of its elements. I find it very interesting that many of the large manufactures are rediscovering "natural" ingredients. Food coloring has become a big issue and the food companies are working overtime to come up with natural additives for color. I found this report so interesting because it is so obvious.
Honey replaces additives in French salad dressing: studyAntioxidant-rich honey may protect against spoilage in salad dressings, and naturally sweeten the condiment, researchers from Kraft Foods report. The researchers analyzed various honey sources and investigated their potential as alternatives for chemical preservatives such as EDTA and BHA. The findings are to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. "This research adds to a growing body of evidence of honey's potential to protect against oxidation in various food systems, in this case, emulsion-based dressings, in addition to providing a natural source of sweetening potential," wrote lead author Carolyn Rasmussen from Kraft Foods Natural nut flavors without nuts (link)
Create Flavors has debuted a range of natural, nut-free flavors that include the notoriously difficult peanut and hazelnut.
The company said a confluence of in-house technologies and natural ingredient options facilitated the new range which, "opens up a new development channel which many of our dairy confectionery and bakery customers are keen to exploit."
Organic or is it? (link) When you buy food with a "USDA organic" label, do you know what you're getting? Now is a good time to ask such a question, as the USDA just announced it was putting 15 out of 30 federally accredited organic certifiers they audited on probation, allowing them 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation. At the heart of the audit for several certifiers were imported foods and ingredients from other countries, including China. Co Biz Magazine covers local and organics. (link) | |
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Commodities markets are set up to allow some speculation in order that producers and buyers can reduce their risk - theoretically not for outside investors to make huge sums of profit.
WE ARE:
Boulder County Fairgrounds
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Boulder Farmers' Market
is open Saturday
8am to 2pm
Longmont Farmers' Market
is open Saturday
8am to 1pm
Boulder Wednesday
Farmers' Market is open
4pm to 8pm
Mark Menagh
Executive Director
Boulder County Farmers' Markets |
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