Farm-to-Fork Fundraising Dinner

The Burlington Downtown Farmers' Market is holding a Farm-to-Fork dinner to raise funds towards the support and growth of the market.  Local food from local farmers while enjoying local music and getting to know other folks living locally.  Sounds like a great date night to me!

Tickets can be purchased from Company Shops Market or at the farmers' market.  If you purchase them from the farmers' market this Saturday, 24 May 2014, the market manager (Jenny) will also give you a FREE gift certificate for time in my chair.  Limited supplies.

Farmers' Market!

I have to admit that I'm nearly giddy with excitement for the Burlington Downtown Farmers' Market season to start in the morning.  I love being at market, and we have some new vendors joining us this year!

Remember that the market is in the municipal parking lot at Webb & Lexington (behind Company Shops Market).  We'll be there every Saturday, April through October, 8a-12p.  Opening day we'll be graced with Burlington's first ever food truck rodeo courtesy of the Central Carolina Food Truck Association.  The trucks will be open for business by 10a.

Want to know who's bringing what?  Check out the Market News.

CSA Week 3

Do I have to admit the relief that washed over me this week for not having a large share?  They received okra.  I'm surprised at the intensity of my emotion.

Anyway, this week we received 1.5 pounds of tomatoes, half-pound of hot peppers, a bag of mesclun (a loose leaf lettuce), one pak choy, and one bunch of basil.

We tried the leaves of the pak choi as a side dish with apples and onions.  If I ever make it again I'll use stock/broth instead of water, and I'll only try it if I have tender young leaves to use in it.

The stalks of the pak choi where crisped in a bowl of ice water and then julienned into a crockpot recipe for Peppers & Steak.  I used kabob beef from T5 Farms that we didn't get around to kabobbing (I sliced it thin and seared it with some garlic salt).  This recipe also used up the rest of the bell peppers we had from the last couple weeks of CSA and the anaheims we received this week.  I also added a chopped vidalia and minced garlic that live in my fridge as standard pantry items.  After crocking on high for a couple of hours I pulled out the stuff and thickened the "sauce" that remained with a bit of cornstarch.  I haven't eaten it yet, but the kids have been using it a bit more fajita-like for lunch.

To me, working with the fresh pak choi stalks/stems it seemed like cabbage-smelling celery.  Does that make sense?

The basil was wasted in a failed experiment with an old family standby of Oven Chicken and Rice.  It was bad enough even Grandma commented on facebook about it not working out.  But hey, now we know, right?

The mesclun is still in the crisper.  Sigh.

-JS

Media Monday--Twitter

I had tried Twitter in 2009, but always felt redundant in posting and never grasped the Twitterverse concept.  Facebook worked better with my logic; Twitter I couldn't wrap my brain around sufficiently.

After chatting with Hank at Social Post Interactive on one of his podcasts, I decided to give it another go.  Especially since HootSuite makes it so much easier to handle multiple social media venues.  I'm really enjoying it this go-round!

Following folks in your community (geographically, socially, and/or professionally) truly is key.  Through HootSuite, it's easy to plug in an URL and have it automatically shorten--this opens opportunities to link pictures, blog posts, or other websites.

Hash-tagging can convey emotions, shades of sarcasm, or tags/labels/metatags which can further expound your point or lead others to your twitter-feed.  Also, from the tiny screen, it's easier to tag others into your conversation than it is on Facebook.  Tagging others can improve your social media reach by showing up in their feed (and some folks may be more inclined to retweet,or re-post, when you show them some love).

Have you tried Twitter yet?  You can find me @pauseNC.

-JS

The Piedmont Farm Tour

After you visit me at the Burlington Downtown Farmers' Market this Saturday, you should swing by a few of the farms on the Piedmont Farm Tour hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association!  There's 40 stops available this year, and it's been noted as the largest tour of sustainable farms in the United States.

An excellent opportunity to pause for some real food!

Pause for Market Season!

I'll be at two farmers' markets this year!

The Burlington Downtown Farmers' Market is occurring in the parking lot between Company Shops Market and Webb Avenue.  They're gathering Saturday mornings, 8a-12p, April 28th through October.  They're on Facebook and Twitter.

The Burlington Farmer's & Crafters' Market happens Sunday afternoons, 1p-5p, May through September.  They will be in the old Hanes storefront, next to Kitchen Collection, at Burlington Outlet Village (formerly BMOC).  They're on Facebook.

I have a Buy 10, Get 1 Free special occurring this year.

Edited 5/5/2012 to correct storefront location for the Sunday afternoon market at BOV.