Plan to serve USA beef for your July 4 celebration.

All brats and hot dogs are 10% off at the store this month (including the famous Bristol Beer Brat).

FEATURES ... Steve Mann: He’s the
man when it comes to ice cream

“Ice cream is happiness condensed.”  — Jessi Lane Adams

Anne and Mann’s Gourmet Ice Cream debuted in Colorado Springs back in 1986 and it’s been around ever since. Steve Mann continues to whip up his creamy smooth confections in hundreds of flavors just blocks from the Ranch Foods Direct store, where pints and fun sampling size half-pints are freshly stocked in one of the store freezers.

Read more, CLICK HERE.

Did you know?…

Three mega-wineries control 90% of California's wine.  Without serious research you never know whether or not your fancy Napa wine is from a family-owned winery or from a former family winery owned by Gallo or "The Wine Group." You also can't easily know how much of your California, Oregon or Washington wine is comprised of grape concentrate imported from Chile or Argentina.

It’s culinary genius!

After an intense committee selection process, Colorado College has announced its decision to grant an exclusive food service contract to Bon Appetit, the country’s most innovative food management company, an advocate for local and humanely raised foods and a distributor of Ranch Foods Direct beef.

Mike Callicrate, founder and owner of Ranch Foods Direct, called the announcement “transformational” for the community of Colorado Springs.

“So much is possible now,” he said after hearing the news.

CLICK HERE for more

Sweet success

Blue Spruce Market and Deli in Evergreen celebrates their second anniversary in business with a full slate of special events, June 4-7.

Congratulations, Blue Spruce, on successfully launching a wonderful new food business that serves Front Range families with quality and flare. That beautiful demonstration kitchen remains one of the best area venues for cooking classes and food education opportunities.

For more about their two-year anniversary, CLICK HERE. Visit them on-line, CLICK HERE.

Beef up your food knowledge

Also this month, Mike Callicrate will participate in a cooking class focusing on beef hosted by Executive Chef Nicholas Arnold at 2 p.m., Tuesday, June 11 at the Garden of the Gods Club, 3320 Mesa Road, phone 632-5541.

Mike is available to make a presentation to your group or event as well. Call the store, 473-2306, to schedule a talk, a tour or a food demonstration.

More tasty bits of food news…

Catch their drift?

When we profiled Drifters Hamburgers last month, owner Richard Beaven said he had plans to serve a quick and easy breakfast for commuters. Richard, shown here cooking up grilled onions and California style burgers for his noon lunch crowd, made true on that promise soon after opening. The B-52 breakfast burrito is the morning favorite. “Everybody loves it,” says LaKeisha, one of the managers. It is served with local favorite Baja Gourmet Salsa. (Also available in a range of variations at the Ranch Foods Direct store.)

Down on the corner

In the March issue of this newsletter, we profiled Bob and Virginia Smoot’s Corner Café — with its memorable pink rabbit icon — located near the county and city offices downtown. During a recent visit during the busy lunch crowd, we sampled some of the highlights: Ranch Foods Direct hand-formed burgers and patty melts, golden wavy-cut French fries, sweet tea and Virginia’s homemade chocolate cream pie.

We also got an update on Bob’s new Saturday gig. A few blocks east of their cheery restaurant, at the corner of Weber and Castillo, he sets up a tent and fires up his grill on Saturdays, selling succulent tri-tip sandwiches, hot dogs, Bristol beer brats and breakfast burritos. He camps out near the local motorcycle shop from about 9 or 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. or later, depending on traffic and the weather. This area gets a little more action on the weekend, and motorcycle shoppers are sure to appreciate refueling with Bob’s tasty barbecuing. He plans to continue taking up this post on the corner throughout the summer.

Bob Smoot

Food for thought from the world of books:

Swing through the jungle triggers health odyssey

Eight decades after dentist Weston A. Price became fascinated by remote indigenous cultures that seemed immune from modern dental problems, a family physician from San Francisco Daphne Miller retraces his footsteps — and fundamental findings — in her engaging new book “The Jungle Effect,” a “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” handbook for modern times.

Both experts — while separated by a time span of nearly a century — stumbled unto their path after an enlightening visit to the Peruvian rainforest, where they observed primitive populations at the peak of health.

CLICK HERE to read more.