CLICK HERE to view the article.

To visit the North End Diner website, CLICK HERE.

North End Diner
“Colorado Spring's Old-Fashioned American Diner Since 1958 ”
Breakfast • Lunch • Dine-In • Takeout • Local Delivery • Catering
(719) 442-1833
Fillmore and Hancock

Pizzeria Rustica opened to acclaim in May 2008 and is putting Colorado Springs on the food map! Retired Air Force Col. Dave Brackett and his family started the restaurant with an emphasis on fresh, local, sustainable ingredients and artisan bread-baking techniques. Along with Ranch Foods Direct, they are a member of the Peak to Plains Alliance and other sustainable food groups.

CLICK HERE for news about their recognition by a nationally known baker who has been called the “Leonardo da Vinci of bread.”

CLICK HERE to visit the Pizzeria Rustica website.

Come taste food samples prepared by some of your favorite local restaurants during the 15th Annual Restaurant Expo & Culinary Arts Show at the Broadmoor Hall, 12:30-3:30 p.m. on Feb. 28. For more information about the event from the Pikes Peak Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, CLICK HERE. (http://www.coloradorestaurantguides.com/ppcra/expo2010.ht m)

Beef and Potatoes: Don’t they make a great couple?

February is the month for love and romance, with Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14. But it’s also National Potato Lover’s Month! For many, no meal is more decadent than one that includes a great cut of beef and rich steaming potatoes.

Marcy Nameth, owner of Greenhorn Acres and coordinator of the Arkansas Valley Organic Growers, which supplies Ranch Foods Direct, contributed some recipes for delicious beef and potato combinations for this month’s recipe page, CLICK HERE.

You can now visit Greenhorn Acres on-line at www.greenhornacres.com. Produce subscriptions are available for the upcoming growing season, which starts in mid-May.

Slate reports that grassfed beef is no less susceptible to a particularly virulent strain of e-coli than beef from animals finished on a grain-based diet. While the healthiness of an animal’s diet does affect the quality and nutritional profile of the meat, the common belief that cattle consuming grain is the cause of e-coli is an over-simplification. Grass finishing is a great option to consider when vegetation is plentiful enough to provide for all the nutritional requirements of an animal and enough energy is available for some of it to be stored as nutrient-dense fat.

However, it IS also possible to have high quality grain-finished beef that is produced using humane methods, based on a healthy dietary formulation for the animals and free of continuously fed antibiotics.

Read the full article at Slate HERE.

Keeping your money local: the idea is catching on

Buying local is buying from Main Street instead of Wall Street, say local business groups.

“When a chain locates here, only 16 percent of their revenue stays in the community,” said Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct, 2901 N. El Paso St. “When a local business opens, 43 percent stays here. And when you have a business like ours — one that only contracts locally, keeping everything in the region, 100 percent of the revenue stays here.”

CLICK HERE.

Creating sustainable landscapes

CLICK HERE to visit the website for the 2010 PEAK TO PRAIRIE LANDSCAPE SYMPOSIUM Feb. 26-27 at the Doubletree Hotel, 1775 E. Cheyenne Mountain Blvd., featuring nature writer Susan J. Tweit among many others.

Coming up in March:
Dreaming up a better future

On March 6, Manitou Springs hosts an Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium. Registration is from 12:15 – 12:30 p.m.; Symposium 12:30 – 5:30 p.m. at Historic Community Congregational Church, 103 Pawnee Ave., Manitou Springs. CLICK HERE for more about the program.

Celebrate the Chinese New Year, Feb. 14

Did you know? … In some areas of China it's a popular custom to give oranges because in Chinese the word "orange" sounds like "Ji", which means "good luck". People present oranges to their friends and relatives to express their respects and good wishes for the coming year.

Oranges make for a great stir-fry with tender slices of beef!

Eat in – and eat well!

Want the high quality food of Ranch Foods Direct without making an extra trip across town? It IS possible to have the same high quality meat and vegetables without trekking all the way to the store every week. Check out the Ranch Foods Direct Home Service Program and eliminate the shopping hassles. CLICK HERE for more.