TOO BAD I'M ON THE HOOK TO COOK TONIGHT

Because I ate my way through the day. And I ate well.

Michael already mentioned Weathersfield Inn's sliders -- Blackwatch Farm hamburgers with a wild garlic mayonnaise. I had three.

Home Hill Inn of Plainfield, N.H. served up minted couscous with braised Morrocan lamb from Shephards Hill Farm in Taftsville, VT. Chef Hollis Snow also made these amazing little Ceasar spring rolls with prosciutto, romaine lettuce and Ceasar dressing wrapped in rice paper.

Juniper Hill Inn of Windsor, VT served tenderloin of beef stuffed with goat cheese and balsamic vinagrette along with a cheddar ale soup made with Harpoon IPA.

Hanover's Canoe Club tripped back in time with a cheese fondue -- a combination of Bunten Farm's smoked gouda, brickyard yogurt cheese, and smoked mozzarella.

The Hanover Inn's Yucatan style lamb ragout in a filo crust rounded out the menu.

You could tell the folks who had been here before -- they were carrying around their own plates and bowls.

No dinner for me tonight.

Upcoming Event: Trek to Taste

Put June 6th on your calendar. That's the date for Trek to Taste, which will be held on the trails of Woodstock from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event is still being planned (you can find out more about developments at the Walk Woodstock website), but the basic concept revolves around three walks--from easy (about a mile) to about four and a half miles (more strenuous). You can choose your walk--or do all three. What you'll find at your destination(s) are stations where local foods are offered for taste by elementary or high school students, or local organizations. The event concludes with a strawberry festival at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Historic Park's new Forest Center.

The event is cosponsored by a host of Woodstock-area organizations. Stay tuned for more details--it sounds like a winner!

The Cheeses of Flavors

Vermonters know that this is a great place for anyone who loves cheese. I live in Taftsville and the variety of cheese sold in my local country store rivals that of small gourmet shops in a midwestern city. Of course, as I was reminded today, making cheese is a necessity for some farmers simply because there's no way to make a decent living selling milk today.

There were some great cheesemakers represented at Flavor this year.

Vermont Butter & Cheese Co., a venerable Vermont cheesemaker, was showcasing some of their aged goat cheeses this year: Coupole, Bonne Bouchee, and Bijou. They served at room temperature and were perfect. I particularly like the Bonne Bouche; it's aged in poplar ashes, which cuts the sharpness of the rind just a tad.

Cobb Hill Cheese is certainly well known locally--that their stand at the Norwich Market is typically mobbed. They were sampling both their award-winning Ascutney Mountain Cheese and the Welsh-Style Cheddar. The cheddar is smoother and more buttery than the extra-sharp Vermont-style cheddars. The Ascutney Mountain cheese is a multiple national award-winner. No website, but you can email Jeanne Kilbride. (Photo above: Cobb Hill Ascutney Mountain Wheel 99 gets cut for sampling.)

Who knew that Organic Valley made Vermont cheddar cheeses? The national, farmer-owned coop was sampling medium, sharp, and extra sharp Vermont cheddars.

Like chevre? The fresh, soft goat cheese is very popular and can be used for a huge variety of dishes. Or eaten fresh. Fat Toad Farm from Brookfield uses its goat cheese as a base for a large variety of flavored chevres, including one for olive lovers and another flavored with sundried tomatoes and basil.

Finally, Jericho Hill Farm from Hartford was sampling its Jericho Jack and Colby cheeses. These cheeses are made from the milk of a small herd--seven cows, in fact. The fifth-generation farm began making cheese to stay in business when milk prices dipped. Linda Miller credited the Vermont Cheese Council and Vermont cheesemakers--including her neighbors at Cobb Hill--with helping Jericho Hill get started. "It's wonderful how collegial people are here," she said.

I <3 Co-ops!

Often described as the perfect balance between Socialism and Capitalism, cooperatively owned businesses are that and more. Chatting with Kye from the Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Junction, just a cat's toss from the Vital Communities office, and the Lebanon and Hanover Co-op table, I again feel lucky to live in an area with so many co-ops conveniently located around me. This stands in sharp contrast to my living situation this summer in Chicago where Kye's daughter and I both lived without any grocery co-ops at all.

Though I worked with the Dill Pickle Food Co-op in my neighborhood to try to get its doors open, the dream remains deferred and the love of food co-ops for Chicagoans is still unrequited. Thankfully a group of granite grown New Hampshirites craved oranges from Florida (a rare non-local blessing) soon after the Great Depression and banded together to buy a few cases. From their hankering for citrus, the Upper Valley's love affair with co-ops continues to burn.

Join the Upper Valley Co-op for their next event Hemp and the Rule of Law film and presentation April 30, 6:30-8pm or for any of their other events held in store.

Top Tastes Thus Far ....

Diana and Moira both wrote about some of their favorite tastes thus far. Here are some of mine:

• Hamburgers made from Black Watch Farms beef, served with an aoili made from ramps. No wonder these taste so good: they were cooked up by Jason Tostrup, chef at the Inn at Weathersfield. The pungency of the ramps is a perfect foil to the richness of the beef.
• House-made and -smoked pork sausage on crostini from the Norwich Inn. The pork is from hogs raised by Hogwash Farm. Smoked just enough but not too smoky.
• I first tasted Walpole Creamery ice cream at last year's Flavors. Loved the ginger and cookies n' cream. And if you want an alternative, NOFA is dishing up Strafford Dairy ice cream.
• Marceau's Fine Foods is offering a taste of Dark 'n Stormy Chocolate Torte. Billed on the Idlewood Restaurant menu as "the ultimate chocolate experience," I'd say it's close. Creamy, dense, with a hit of not-too-sweet caramel sauce.
• And I can't forget the roasted potato with homemade ketchup at Your Farm's table.
• And the raw carrot from Killdeer Farm.
  

Smooth as Honey

After five hours, two handwashes, and walking out in the rain, my fishmonger's hands are still smoother than ever after applying some Shekinah Mountain Honey, LLC hand cream. Thanks to the honey bees and the out-of-kitchen operation to which I owe a hand for producing such effective products in addition to oatmeal honey rolls and honey both Steve Tyler from Aerosmith and I will now use. I wonder whose hands are smoother.

BEEFALO

Fear not for the extinction of beefalo. As I learned the 3/8 bison, 5/8 cow ratio ensures that the rocky top beefalo of Rocky Top Beefalo & Swine Farm will not die out since the bulls aren't sterile. Invented in the 1960s, this hybrid meat beefalo produces extremely healthful meat sold in various farmers markets throughout the Upper Valley.

One of my favorite markets in Canaan, NH (though now the goat cheese operation no longer exists) and a market I'm told will become a favorite if I visit Cornish (a favorite for locals due to the food but also the excellent supply of diverse, local gossip) will both feature a sustainable supply of beefalo meat for the near future.

Blogging/Tweeting Flavors

Someone at Flavors asked about this blog. It's been an interesting learning experience. We don't have access to the Internet at Hartford High School where the event is being held. I'm posting updates to Twitter from there (you can read these posts by following @mstonervt on Twitter or following it via Twitter search on #vtflavors).

There are three of us blogging: Diana Jih, a Dartmouth student and Vital Communities volunteer; Moira Gehring, a gardener and writer from Woodstock; and me. To write and post blog entries, we need to go back into White River Junction where we have wifi access. Diana and I are currently sitting in the Vital Communities Office; Moira headed to the Tuckerbox. That's Diana in the photo.

We'll head back to the high school for more of Flavors momentarily....

Old Friends, New Skills

Catching up with Nora from Sunrise Farms reminded me why I consider myself so lucky to have gone to school in New England for the brief four years I've spent here. The obvious celebration of community as exemplified by Vital Communities and the wonderful people who work here tirelessly to support it like Melissa, Debbie, and Lisa come together each year in this high school gymnasium to meet again after time apart similar to a high school semester break.

Nora learned about weaving this winter during the off season at Sunrise. Her table held yarn and fabrics from her farm made from lessons learned off the farm. New CSA shareholders and equally hungry piglets and sheep await her now since spring is here. I visited a friend's weaving factory in Maine during the last spring break I'll ever have here in New England before I head out to live in new places. Flavors of the Valley and any reunions with most of the people in that gymnasium confirm my belief that one of the best things about journeys and trips away from home are new friends who becomes old friends that serve as notes from new homes once you leave them eventually.

Jam Off

Verne from Gizmo's Pickled Plus unassumingly offered me various uniquely made jams and pickles including sour babies cucumbers (serving suggestion, very New English, next to maple syrup and homemade donuts), golden onion pickles with celery seed, and two jams made with carrot: an orange marmalade featuring carrots and cherries and a bagel spread with carrots and pineapple. Little did he know that while talking with me behind his own tray of ribbons and jam awards and encouraging me to Facebook friend his daughter turned famous South African model that I was an award-winning jam maker as well.

I struggled with the desire or ostentation to proffer this knowledge to an expertly seasoned veteran. My own Hull House Soup Kitchen Best Savory Jam 2008 carrot-ginger jam recipe hushed in my head.

The truth did eventually come out though a humble omission after trying his amazing jams.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HAVING YOUR LAND FARMED?

One of the most challenging aspects of farming in Vermont and New Hampshire is the cost of land. It's a barrier for aspiring farmers and a planning consideration for existing farmers who need to consider the transfer of a farm property. At the same time, it's also an opportunity for landowners who are interested in having their land farmed.

Located in Keene, New Hampshire, Land for Good provides coaching and assistance to landowners, farmers and aspiring farmers. According to Bob Bernstein, who started this nonprofit with Craig Oshkello and Kathy Ruhf, "There's a lot of opportunity for both farmers and landowners, but the biggest obstacle for most folks is putting together a plan."

Their website address is www.landforgood.org. You can contact Land for Good at 603-357-1600 or info@landforgood.org.

Farms with CSAs

Before Flavors of the Valley got really crowded, I walked around checking out some of the farmers at the event. I'm guessing that there are about a dozen farms offering CSAs.

I was able to talk to some of them. One thing I learned is that if you want to sign up for a CSA with any of the farmers here, you'd better do it soon. Most CSAs are almost filled--many expect to fill their CSAs by the end of the day.

Here's a quick run-down on what I learned:

Laura and Kevin Channell from Your Farm said that their CSA is filled up. The Channells do a seasonal CSA--they sell "credits" that members can redeem at the farm or at the markets where they sell. They harvest winter vegetables that they sell at the Norwich Winter Market; members who have leftover credits at the end of the season can use them for vegetables at the market. Laura told me, "We have a number of workplaces that are CSA members, including Hypertherm and the Tuck School."

Killdeer Farm's CSA is also close to capacity. CSA members buy a "line of credit" that they can use at the Killdeer Farm stand in Norwich or use at the farm. And Killdeer Farm is on Twitter now, so members can learn about what's fresh. Follow them @KilldeerFarm to learn when the farm is open for strawberry picking and what's fresh at the farm stand. Killdeer Farm does events form members and opens its pick-your-own strawberry beds to members first. (That's Chadd Mills and Scott Woolsey from Killdeer in the photo above.)

Blue Ox Farm, Enfield, NH, is selling onions and parsnips today and still has CSA shares available. Steve Fulton said that he won't be at the Norwich Market this year; CSA members can pick up at the farm or in Lebanon. He also sells to the Coop.

Jinny Cleland from Four Springs Farm has been offering CSA shares since 1991. She's offered an egg option in the past; this year, she's adding fruit to her CSA shares. The farm is certified organic and she is willing to work out a variety of delivery and drop off options.

Sunrise Farm from Hartford has just a few shares left. The shares run for 22 weeks; members pick up at the farm.

Willing Hands: Few But Capable

Between stuffing myself with both hands full of delicious samples, I take a break to chat with Willing Hands. The day to day work they do impresses me so immensely. The ambitious delivery service of food each day to a community requiring a delivery service because of how remote residences are can always use more hands and volunteers.

We chatted about how delicious the bread at the bakery in Norwich where I work is and how they would love to pick up more food from other willing businesses if only they had more donors and the capacity to make more pick-ups and drop-offs. They work closely with The Haven as well which first educated me to the easily ignored hunger and food insecurity issues in the Upper Valley due to its relative invisibility vis-a-vis hunger in large cities with more apparent homeless populations and shelters, soup kitchens, etc. It was great and important to see Willing Hands presence at Flavors of the Valley.

Definitely contact Willing Hands or The Haven to add yourself to the few but capable people working to fight hunger. (see www.willinghandsinc.org or contact info@willinghandsinc.org)

Great Variety at Flavors This Year

I always enjoy the variety at Flavors of the Valley--the range of producers, publishers, greenhouses, nonprofits, restaurants. Add to that the hundreds of people who will visit their stands, taste their food, pick up a bit of literature, make a connection. It's a small glimpse into how complex our food system really is.

This graphic, created by the Vital Communities staff and posted in the room where we're blogging, tells part of the story. What this event is about for me is helping to make those many links in the food chain apparent: how interconnected we all are.

It seems more and more important to make these connections with each other and with real food grown by real people. We need to shift our values around food, to appreciate the fact that really good food is seldom cheap. And to buy real food, grown by real people who need to make a decent living, will probably cost more than we've been spending for an inferior product.

I grew up in a place where quantity was valued over quality. I've learned to appreciate a different perspective. I want to eat better food, to know the people who raise it and how they raise it. I appreciate the fact that in the Upper Valley--and in New Hampshire and Vermont--we can buy directly from farmers who take care in what they produce. It's always great to see so many at Flavors of the Valley.

edible GREEN MOUNTAINS

"Celebrating the culinary heritage of Vermont -- season by season, "edible GREEN MOUNTAINS" is one of a growing list of edible COMMUNITIES PUBLICATIONS published throughout the U.S.

Features range from local foods and recipes to businesses and food-related crafts. And I particularly like the "edible 251" column which features a local restaurant or bakery from each of Vermont's 251 towns.

The magazine is published quarterly and distributed free through advertisers and co-ops around the state while subscription costs $28.00. But if you subscribe as a result of today's event or this blog, you'll receive 5 editions for the price of 4.

Editor and Publisher Deborah Schapiro is also offering potential advertisers a 20% discount on the magazine's rate card. (Just mention that you read it here.) Contact Deborah at deborah@ediblegreenmountains.com

COMING SOON IN JUNE -- edible White Mountains. For more information, contact KC White at kc@ediblewhitemountains.com

Another Scoop from Walpole (Not Enough to Induce Brain-freeze)

Conversations with Dave about the quality of Walpole Creamery ice cream and how he fits into the New England dairy tradition leave me with a surprisingly warm feeling after sampling second and third scoops of ginger and vanilla ice cream. Despite attending the same ice cream school at Penn with Ben & Jerry, Dave and his partner at Walpole, NH are decidedly and perhaps for the best neither Ben nor Jerry in any regard. As Dave eats low fat yogurt--possibly helping to avoid the triple-cream coronary bypass surgery Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry underwent in recent years--he talks to me about avoiding large chain store distribution except for two local Pricechoppers and the use of synthetic preservatives to prolong the shelf life of his products. These are obviously not the routes Ben and Jerry took with their candy filled ice cream flavors available everywhere from Pricechoppers to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco where I'm from and on the opposite side of the country from their factory. Though his choice to avoid preservatives means the shelf-life of Walpole ice cream only extends four months instead of a year (Frankly, if you are choosing to retain a pint of ice cream for longer than four months, you, the consumer, are in error. Year-long ice cream expiration dates parallel in absurdity the serving suggestions for girl scout cookies which are fantastically a measly two cookies.), Dave chooses to stick with all natural ingredients.

Dave, his choices (another commendable choice is the use of his partner's Holstein cows instead of the buttery Jersey cows often used for the high-butterfat content in their milk and their resemblance to big buttery scoops of caramel flavored ice cream because they are what his partner raises), and the adorable scoop shop girls passing out the ice cream all add to the rich local flavor of New England's dairy tradition and the delicious ice cream he sells locally and proudly.

BEST TEE SHIRT OF THE SHOW

Kudos go to Scott Woolsey of Killdeer Farm whose tomato red shirt is emblazoned with: "You say tomato and I say Lycopersicum esculentum."

For those of you who've yet to discover the wonders of the Killdeer Farmstand, it's located next to King Arthur Flour on Route 5 in Norwich, VT.

PICK YOUR OWN PRICE

"The New Village Green," an anthology of articles on 'living light, living local, living large" is on sale today and you can pick your own price. Edited by Stephen Morris (a cross between Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford and a spokesperson for Harrison's generation), it was named one of the top environmental books of 2008 by the Independent Booksellers Association.

Other interesting books available here today include "The Home Buyers Guide to Good Green Houses" and "No Crying in the Kitchen," by Michel LeBorgne, founding chef of the New England Culinary Institute and a long time advocate of local foods. If you can't make it over to Hartford High today, you can purchase all of these titles at www.newsociety.com.

Mr. Morris also publishes and edits "Green Living, A Practical Journal for Friends of the Environment," one of the oldest and largest publications of its kind. The Upper Valley edition is distributed free at 250 locations through out the region.

THIS IS ONE SWEET GIG

Walpole Creamery is cruising the aisles with samples of their Vanilla, Cookies n Cream, Great Brook Maple and Ginger ice creams -- which are comparable to creamy gelattos. I've managed to sample all four and am hard pressed to pick a favorite. If you're an ice cream afficionado, this brand is well worth the calories.

Set-Up: Gymnasium Growlings

When all there is to taste is anticipation, I can't really picture the scope and density of vendors with which I will confront when the event swings into full gear. The ambiguity regarding the colorful signs and gymnasium setting (Are you back in High School forced to sit through a homecoming rally?) will quickly melt away once chefs, local businesses, and organizations fill the gym to the brim with food samples and equally spirited cheers for local food and community. Instead of remembering the four still fresh years of gym class when I demanded that no one look at me for my Medusa-like awkwardness, I'll be all too eager to look through literature and at food samples while talking to the vendors, placing faces to names.

Working for Valley Food and Farm in the past and indirectly with many of the vendors at Flavors of The Valley (FOV) makes this event that much more filling in terms of connecting faces and people's stories to the farms, restaurants, non-profits, etc. that they represent and work with. As we loudly roll tables and chairs onto the gym floor, the echoes of the set-up will pale in comparison to the tummy growlings of all of us involved in working with Valley Food and Farm and our hunger to interact with old and new acquaintances, partners in community.

Follow Us on Twitter for Up-to-the-Minute News

In addition to writing blog entries and posting photos from Flavors of the Valley, we'll be providing up-to-the-minute news about highlights through Twitter. Twitter is a "micro-blogging" service that allows people to post short messages. We'll be sharing highlights such as who has what, what products look or taste great, and other news from Flavors. Track us by following the Twitter hashtag #vtflavors.

Welcome

It's the 8th Annual greater Upper Valley Celebration of local food and farms tomorrow.
I'm getting ready for the big day after many months of preparation. Flavors is Tuesday April 21st from 2-7. Signs are printed, my car is loaded, volunteers are lined up to help throughout the day, the tables are at the the site - the Hartford High School Gym in White River Junction VT. The phone has been ringing off the hook all day today.
3 wonderful community members are blogging to keep you updated throughout the day, with regular postings right from the ground level. This is the very first time, at Vital Communities that we have had a blog for an event. Please tell us what you think.