Green Aisle Grocery

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

If you live in the Passyunk Ave. area, or just visit its recently booming restaurant, bar and boutique scene, you may have noticed Green Aisle Grocery. Next time you’re in the neighborhood, pop in! This little grocery carries all kinds of local goodies like Pequea Farms yogurt, farm fresh eggs and Lancaster county vegetables and meats, plus prepared food from local restaurants, like hummus from Zahav. You can pick up fresh pasta and sauce for dinner, a nice chunk of pecorino to go with it, and some Fee Brothers artisinal bitters for an after (or pre-) dinner drink. Last time I was in I couldn’t resist the West Indian Orange and Rhubarb bitters, which you’re unable to fine in Pennsylvania liquor stores, and I added a pound of delicious One Village coffee for good measure.

Eating well and locally on $4.50 a day? It can be done!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Monica Eng of the Chicago Tribune decided to take the SNAP challenge - to feed herself for just $31 a week, or the average budget of a person receiving food stamps in Illinois. Not only is she doing it, she is shopping primarily at farmers markets and supplementing with bulk grains etc. from Whole Foods. She’s doing a pretty great job! Follow her this week, and use this “study” as a great example when people tell you that eating well and locally is too expensive.

Kensignton Community Co-Op Seeks Members

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Begun as a buying club, the Kensington Community Co-Op is in the middle of an ambitious membership campaign to expand the Co-Op and bring fresh, local, and healthy food to the Kensington community. If you live in Kensington, please consider joining up, and remember that creating safe, healthy and sustainable food stores not only help you and your family, but your neighbors, as well!

From the site:

“Looking ahead”

The year ahead will be to raise enough funds through member investments, donations, grants and loans to purchase equipment, to buy a building, finance construction and hire a general manager.  Once our funds are secured we will begin to narrow down our options for a location.

“Local Ownership Means a More Secure Future.”

Since KCFC is owned and operated by its members, it is their needs that the co-op most cares about, rather than the needs of corporate investors whose interest are often strictly the bottom line.  Become a member of KCFC and your bottom line becomes our bottom line. Invest in your community today!

Canning: Gold Tomato Sauce

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

My CSA arrived on Monday, but on Tuesday I was leaving for Alaska for 10 days. What to do? Blanch and freeze the greens and can everything else. Much like Marissa from the local canning blog “Food in Jars,” I enjoy small batch canning. It’s an easy evening project and lets you use up all kinds of odds and ends before they pass their ripeness. This golden tomato sauce is based on a recipe I saw recently on 101 recipes, but I added just a few red cherry tomatoes, languishing on the counter, for a little variation.

Discount Mondays at Fair Food Farmstand

Monday, August 23, 2010

A little bird over at The Griddle told me that on Mondays the Fair Food Farmstand at Reading Terminal Market offers a shelf-clearing discount of 10 percent off produce and 30 percent off dairy. EVERY Monday! Stock up on freezable cheeses, yogurt, goats milk, and fruits and vegetables to your heart’s content! Remember, Reading Terminal is only open until 6pm on Mondays, so consider stopping by on your lunch hour!

Great Recycling News for Philadelphians

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Feeling depressed every time you check the bottom of a plastic container, only to not see the approved #1 or #2. Wipe that plastic-guilt tear from your eye, Philadelphians, for a better recycling system is finally here. Today the Street department announced:

STARTING AUGUST 1: Recycle All Plastic Containers!
You’ve been recycling plastic containers marked:
#1: Soda, water bottles
#2: Milk jugs, detergents, shampoo bottles

Now you can add:
#3: Rigid plastic containers and juice bottles
#4: Plastic tubs and lids from butter, margarine or similar products
#5: Yogurt containers and deli trays
#6: Plastic cups, plates and to-go containers
#7: Many mixed plastic containers and plastic products

In the past few years we’ve gone from bi-monthly to weekly recycling, from separating to single stream. And now we finallyhave expanded plastic recycling. Send Mayor Nutter, and the Office of Susatainability a BIG thank-you at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Of course, you should be reducing as much (or more! more!) than you are recycling. But here’s a reminder of what else you can throw in the blue bucket:

Metal:
Tin and aluminum cans, empty aerosol cans, empty paint cans
Glass:
Jars and bottles
Mixed Paper:
Newspaper, magazines, mail (junk and personal), phone books, food boxes (remove plastic liner), computer paper, flyers, wrapping paper (no foil or plastic wrap), soda and beer cartons (no food-soiled paper, please!)

Still aren’t getting your Recycling Rewards? Sign-up HERE!

SNAP is here!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

During these hot and steamy days, you might be dreaming about fall campouts, fireside chats, and the smell of drying leaves. Lucky for you, SNAP, the new liquor for Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, has hit the shelves early. Experiment with this sweet and spicy treat - lighten it up with a refreshing summer punch and think warm and toasty for the Fall. A few recipes, below:

New Friday Farmers Market in University City

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Good news for all you University employees, students, summer-workers and University City neighborhood dwellers!  A NEW Farmers Market will open this Friday, and run every Friday, at the Radiun building (approx. 40th and Walnut).

Monthly Green Drinks on Wed, June 2nd.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Green Drinks Philly meets the first Wednesday of every month at Standard Tap in Northern Liberties. Open to anyone who considers themselves any flavor of environmentalist (that’s you, local eaters!), Green Drinks is an opportunity to hang-out, drink, and network with like-minded Philadelphians. Not only is Standard Tap a beautiful building in a convenient location, they source ALL local beers! Hurray! Join this international green drinking movement. And if you don’t happen to live in our fair city, find a Green Drinks in your town HERE.

Standard Tap
6:00 - 9:00 PM
2nd & Poplar St.
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Tel: 215 238 0630

http://www.standardtap.com
http://www.standardtap.com/map.htm

GRID “food issue” party at The Swift Half

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

GRID magazine’s Griddle blog was nice enough to link to my sprout post, and I’m returning the favor - to them and to you - by announcing the release party for the June “food issue.” A whopper of local-food-friendly information at 32-pages, this is GRID’s largest issue yet.  The issue promises “farmers’ markets, CSAs, cafes, artisan producers, neighborhood markets, breweries and restaurants. Also included: best buy local brunches and late-night snacks, as well as local cheese/local libations pairings from Marnie Old.” Hurray!

Come celebrate and pick up the new issue this Thursday from 5-7pm at the Swift Half Pub. Drinks are $1 off until 7pm, when local-beer favorite Flying Fish will be tapping a firkin of Summerhouse Ale.

Get Your CSA Today

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

There is still time to join a CSA for the summer! Deliveries for most begin in just a few weeks, so now’s the time to stop procrastinating and start participating. CSA’s ask you to pay in advance for your produce deliveries so that farms are able to invest in their crops for the season. All you have to do is pick up your share once a week and enjoy all the exciting, local Delaware Valley produce! Some CSAs with Philadelphia delivery (to a park, farmers market, or neighborhood location) that still have openings:

Lancaster Farm Fresh
Greensgrow Farms
Keystone Farm

Just Fruit Shares:
North Star Orchard

If you missed your favorite farm, put yourself on the waitlist and a spot may open.

“Jersey Fresh” products backstory

Sunday, March 21, 2010

A few months ago (12/31/09) I posted about the great Jersey Fresh canned tomatoes I bought at the Fair Food Farmstand at Reading Terminal Market. In today’s Philadelphia Inquirer is a story about what the “Jersey Fresh” is all about. Hope to see more stuff available locally soon!

Support Mill Creek Farm with Free Local Beer and Food

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Come one, come all, and hurry - today is the last day to RSVP for the Yelp! Philly Homegrown Party. Check-out the architecture at CITYSPACE, enjoy a cocktail and a mini-makeover in the Beauty Parlor room, and if you have a little too much fun, Zipcar will take you home, for free! All donations from this event will benefit Mill Creek Farm. Who else will be there? Supper, National Mechanics, Franklin Mortgage, ROOT, Organic Spirits, Tierra Mia Organic Nail Spa, Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, and more.

Yelp! “Philly Homegrown Party”
Saturday March 20th 8-10pm
CITYSPACE, 2200 Walnut St. Philadelphia
FREE
RSVP and information: Click Here

DIY Sauerkraut

Monday, February 22, 2010

Hello!  My name is Erica and I’m excited to join the Farm to Philly team!  I’m a community garden organizer and local food lover from West Philadelphia, check out my bio for more info on the gardens I tend in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ.

For my first post I decided to go with a tried-and-true recipe that I am constantly making in my kitchen; sauerkraut.  Cabbage is a great winter staple, I get mine at Mariposa Food Co-op where they’ve recently been selling small cabbages that are perfect for a mini batch of kraut.

The first step is to assemble your equipment:  a ceramic crock or (food-grade) plastic bucket and a dish that fits snugly into it.  I found my crock at a second-hand store, but you can sometimes buy them at housewares stores.  You’ll also need a cutting board, a glass mason jar with lid, a knife, a dish cloth and a large bowl.

Your ingredients are one small cabbage, sea salt, and water.  The amounts depend on the size of your crock, but I use one small head of cabbage, ½ cup of water, and 3 or 4 Tbs of salt in my ½ gallon crock.

Thinly shred the cabbage.  I find that the best way to do this is to cut it in half and slice thinly from the cut side.  When you’ve cut off a handful of cabbage, put it in the bowl and sprinkle it with salt.  Keep doing this until you’ve shredded the entire cabbage, layering the cabbage and salt as you go.  Put the cabbage in the crock and mash it down with your fist to get it tightly packed.  Mix together one teaspoon of salt in a cup of water and pour it over the cabbage until the cabbage is submerged.  Put the dish into the crock and put it down so the cabbage is under the salt water.  Fill the mason jar with water and use it to weigh the plate down.  Cover the entire thing with a dish cloth to keep away flies and dust, and place it in a dark corner of your kitchen.

Taste the sauerkraut daily to observe the fermentation process.  When it has reached the perfect amount of “sourness,” take it out of the crock and place it in a mason jar in the fridge.  For me, it takes between 1.5 and 2.5 weeks in the winter to reach the perfect point (less time in the summer).  To see the original recipe I used and more fermented food recipes, check out wildfermentation.com.  Enjoy!

Green Drinks Philly on Weds. Feb. 3rd!

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Green Drinks Philly meets the first Wednesday of every month at Standard Tap in Northern Liberties. Open to anyone who considers themselves any flavor of environmentalist (that’s you, local eaters!), Green Drinks is an opportunity to hang-out, drink, and network with like-minded Philadelphians. Not only is Standard Tap a beautiful building in a convenient location, they source ALL local beers! Hurray! Join this international green drinking movement. And if you don’t happen to live in our fair city, find a Green Drinks in your town HERE.

Standard Tap
6:00 - 9:00 PM
2nd & Poplar St.
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Tel: 215 238 0630

http://www.standardtap.com
http://www.standardtap.com/map.htm