Fall harvest brings more fall events

Posted on September 23, 2011 by didaniel

Wow, the list of fall events keeps growing. Check these out!

SEPTEMBER:

Sept. 23 and 25: Diane Daniel discusses sustainable farming, agritourism and more on ”Bookwatch” with D.G. Martin on UNC-TV. Airs Friday and repeats Sunday.

Sept. 24: Terra Vita returns! Grand Tasting on the Green is back, where chefs from across the state are on hand to chat and share samples from 1 to 4 p.m. at Southern Village in Chapel Hill. New this year is the “Sustainable Classroom,” a great lineup of speakers and workshops. Tickets are available now.

Sept. 30: Deadline for signing up for TS Designs 4th annual Cotton of Carolinas field trip at Rolling Hills Gin in New London, N.C. The outing is on Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Details and signup here.

Continuing through fall, Poplar Ridge Farm in the Charlotte area (Union County) offers cooking classes and also farm dinners. All info here.

Also continuing through fall, the ultra-cool Cookery in Durham is offering an interesting lineup of reasonably priced culinary workshops, from fruit tarts to cooking whole animals. Check ‘em out here.

OCTOBER

Oct. 2: 4th Annual Amazing Pittsboro Pepper Festival, 4 to 7 p.m. It keeps getting bigger and better. (And I keep being out of town for every one of them!) Featuring: music, food, farmers, and, yes, peppers!

Oct. 2: One of my favorite twice-yearly events (spring and fall) is the combo Open Farm Day at Goat Lady Dairy and Rising Meadow Farm in Randolph County, 30 miles southeast of Greensboro. From 1 to 5 p.m. Goats, lambs, cheese, meat, music, pottery, and more! Goat Lady also has a ongoing series of on-farm dinners that come with a deluxe tour, not to mention wonderful food and good cheer.

Oct. 3: Lexicon of Sustainability at Watts Grocery from 5 to 8 p.m. This art exhibit and silent auction features artwork by Douglas Gayeton and is one of 100 such shows taking place around the country. For the past two years the California multimedia artist has been photographing practitioners of sustainability in food and farming, which he presents in large-format photo collages. This show is hosted by Walking Fish with local sponsors and includes locally sourced apps and a cash bar. You must RSVP to info AT walking-fish.org to attend.

Oct. 8: TS Designs’ 4th annual Cotton of Carolinas field trip at Rolling Hills Gin in New London, N.C. The outing is on Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Details and signup here. (Sign-up by Sept. 30!)

Oct. 15: Yam Jam! is an annual gleaning extravaganza in Johnston and Harnett counties sponsored by our friends Society of St. Andrew.

Oct. 15: Farm dinner at Capt. John S. Pope’s Farm in Cedar Grove, featuring the farm’s grass-fed lamb and catered by Jason Smith of 18 Seaboard and Cantina 18 in Raleigh. Four-course dinner with wine served in 150-year-old farmhouse costs a very reasonable $65, all inclusive. For reservations, call 919-621-1150.

October 27-29: The national Farm Sanctuary is hosting its first National Conference to End Factory Factory, to be held in Washington, DC.  The conference will explore factory farming’s detrimental effects on human health, animal welfare and our environment through a diverse program of speakers from each of these movements.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 9: Diane Daniel will present her lively “Farm Fresh North Carolina” narrated photo show at 7 p.m. at the East Regional/Knightdale branch of the Wake County Public Library.

Nov. 11: In Durham, Local Foods Feast and speaker Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life and, most recently, Growing, Older. You can pay $45 to benefit Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. (Cost is $35 if you’re part of conference, below.) Event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Imperial.

Nov. 11-13: Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s annual conference, this year in Durham. Speakers, workshops, networking and more! This is an awesome annual gathering, with the location rotating yearly across North Carolina and upstate South Carolina.

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This NC field trip is 100-percent cotton

Posted on September 6, 2011 by didaniel

I’m a big fan of TS Designs  in Burlington and their Cotton of the Carolinas initiative, especially now that they’re planting organic cotton. If you’re curious about cotton harvesting, here’s your chance to see it upclose and personal, thanks to TS. For the fourth year, the company is hosting a field trip to  Rolling Hills Gin in New London, N.C. to celebrate the current cotton harvest for Cotton of the Carolinas (this is not the organic harvest).  This year it’s Saturday, Oct. 8, but you need to sign up by Sept. 30. You’ll get to meet the farmers behind the T-shirts, learn about how cotton is grown, harvested, and ginned, and you’ll get to see, according to TS, “a really cool harvester in action.” The event lasts from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and includes lunch. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town and will miss it, which has now happened every year, dangitall.

I wrote this little ditty about Cotton of the Carolinas and TS Designs for Ode Magazine . It was reported before the organic seeds were planted, so doesn’t mention that cool addition. The company also holds open houses at its sustainable site, so you can see firsthand how this is truly a different kind of enterprise.

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Farm films: pass the (local) popcorn

Posted on August 30, 2011 by didaniel

Two farm-focused films are in the news. First, the long-awaited documentary about young farmers, “The Greenhorns,” premiered in Brooklyn this summer and will being shown in at least one  community screenings in North Carolina, on Sept. 18 in Chatham County. All details here. The Greenhorns is also a nonprofit group, and its founder and director, Severine von Tscharner Fleming, will be at the Chatham screening.

Here’s a brief description of film: “The Greenhorns” documents America’s young farmers, or greenhorns, reinventing and reinstituting our country’s broken food system, their individual stories of living and working on the land revealing a patchwork social movement of fierce, fresh, and savvy agrarians.

Here’s info on the Sept. 18 showing: The Greenhorns Film Night presented by Chatham County Cooperative Extension and the CCCC Sustainable Agriculture Program will be from 6 to 9 at the Silk Hope Farm Heritage Center in Silk Hope. Participants will enjoy a local dinner, view the documentary, then hear from a panel of young local farmers. Registration required! 

Also, a cool film project is in the making here in NC, specifically in Black Mountain. “The Farmers’ Film,” a video that examines the logistics and economics of farming in Western North Carolina is being filmed by four farmers while they’re working the fields and the markets. Producers are multimedia journalists John and Cinnamon Kennedy, who I met at the Black Mountain Tailgate Market in July. I’m looking forward to seeing the end result. I told them the Triangle would be a great place for the sequel!

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Veritable cornucopia of fall news and happenings

Posted on August 28, 2011 by didaniel

It’s time again for Quick Bites, a harvest of Farm Fresh news and calendar listings.

Here are a few items of interest, followed by calendar of events:

*  Yay for one of my favorite restaurants, Knife & Fork, which won the WNC Chef’s Challenge at the recent Asheville Wine & Food festival! The restaurant, in Spruce Pine, relies almost solely on western NC farms for its ingredients. It opened only two years ago and has been full steam ahead since. I’ll be dining there on Oct. 15. Yes, planning ahead!

*  More than 1,000 new farmers markets have been recorded across the country, according to results released in August in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2011 National Farmers Market Directory. The annual report indicates a total of 7,175 farmers markets operate throughout the United States as more farmers are marketing their products directly to consumers than ever before. More info here.

*  My pals Noah Ranells and Ben Bergmann at Fickle Creek Farm in Efland got more great press in August. The Herald Sun had an article about their Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs (saw some of their pups in the spring!), and the News and Observer profiled Noah for its Tarheel of the Week column.

HAPPENINGS

Wow, there are so many great events this fall, especially in September. I’ll add to October and November listings closer to the time. Here you go!

SEPTEMBER:

Sept. 3: Flavor, NC, a new NC food road show debuts at 10:30 a.m. on UNC-TV.

Sept. 3: NC Hops and Roots Fest at Shikori Hills, outside of Pittsboro

Sept. 7: Starting now and continuing through fall, Poplar Ridge Farm in the Charlotte area (Union County) offers cooking classes and also farm dinners.  All info here.

Sept. 8 and beyond: The ultra-cool Cookery in Durham is offering an interesting lineup of culinary workshops, from fruit tarts to cooking whole animals. Check ‘em out here.

Sept. 10: Ninth Annual Chefs Event at Carrboro Farmers’ Market, from 9 a.m. until the yummy samples run out.

Sept. 10: Western Wake Farmers’ Market is holding its pig-pickin fund-raiser featuring all local pork, pups and even local BBQ sauce.

Sept. 12-18: CEFS, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, is hosting a weeklong celebration focusing on the importance of sustainable agriculture and locally grown foods. Events, held in different regions around the state, include workshops and films. For details, visit the CEFS website.  

Sept. 17-18: Charlotte Area Farm Tour. This is a great one that keeps growing, sponsored by the ever-impressive Know Your Farms.

Sept. 17-18: Eastern Triangle Farm Tour. Yes, two farm tours in one weekend! This long-standing one is sponsored by the wonderful  Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and features 25 farms.

Sept. 18: The Greenhorns Film Night presented by Chatham County Cooperative Extension and the CCCC Sustainable Agriculture Program from 6 to 9 pm at the Silk Hope Farm Heritage Center in Silk Hope, NC. Participants will enjoy a local dinner, view the documentary, then hear from a panel of young local farmers. Registration required. Details here. 

Sept. 24: Terra Vita returns! Grand Tasting on the Green is back, where chefs from across the state are on hand to chat and share samples from 1 to 4 p.m. at Southern Village in Chapel Hill. New this year is the “Sustainable Classroom,” a great lineup of speakers and workshops. Tickets are available now.

Sept. 30: Deadline for signing up for TS Designs 4th annual Cotton of Carolinas field trip at Rolling Hills Gin in New London, N.C. The outing is on Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Details and signup here.

OCTOBER

Oct. 2: 4th Annual Amazing Pittsboro Pepper Festival, 4 to 7 p.m. It keeps getting bigger and better. (And I keep being out of town for every one of them!) Featuring: music, food, farmers, and, yes, peppers!

Oct. 2: One of my favorite twice-yearly events (spring and fall) is the combo Open Farm Day at Goat Lady Dairy and Rising Meadow Farm in Randolph County, 30 miles southeast of Greensboro. From 1 to 5 p.m. Goats, lambs, cheese, meat, music, pottery, and more! Goat Lady also has a ongoing series of on-farm dinners that come with a deluxe tour, not to mention wonderful food and good cheer.

Oct. 8: TS Designs 4th annual Cotton of Carolinas field trip at Rolling Hills Gin in New London, N.C. The outing is on Oct. 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Details and signup here. (Sign-up by Sept. 30!)

Oct. 15: Yam Jam! is an annual gleaning extravaganza in Johnston and Harnett counties sponsored by our friends Society of St. Andrew.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 11: In Durham, Local Foods Feast and speaker Joan Dye Gussow, author of This Organic Life and, most recent, Growing, Older. You can pay $45 to benefit Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. (Cost is $35 if you’re part of conference, below.) Event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Imperial.

Nov. 11-13: Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s annual conference, this year in Durham. Speakers, workshops, networking and more! This is an awesome annual gathering, with the location rotating yearly across North Carolina and upstate South Carolina.

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Posted in Buncombe County, Chatham County, Durham County, Johnston County, Mecklenburg County, Orange County, Rowan County, Stanly County, Wake County | 1 Comment

Farm tours on two wheels

Posted on August 26, 2011 by didaniel

We need to do this in NC — mix farms and bicycles!

The Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network, or ACORN, which promotes organic agriculture and education in the Maritime Provinces, has developed a series of one-day bicycle tours to organic farms in the region. Each “Meet Your Farmer” bike ride showcases an array of farms situated along scenic routes accessible by all levels of riders, including families with kids. As a farm and food lover and as a cyclist, I applaud this initiative (but not while riding my bike, though some people can)!

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Summer, and Farm Fresh tour, are winding down

Posted on August 19, 2011 by didaniel

It must be the end of summer — tomorrow is my last day of Farm Fresh promotion for a month. Now that’s a switch, after a busy schedule from March through July.

Diane during the farewell-to-summer tour at the Wake Forest Farmers` Market

So tomorrow please join me for the farewell-to-summer tour (I love summer! Waaaaaah!). I’ll start from 9 a.m. to noon at the lovely Wake Forest Farmers’ Market in that town’s historic downtown. It’s a great market and several of the vendors are in the book, so that’s always a bonus.

From there I scoot over to A Southern Season in Chapel Hill for my second visit at the awesome gourmet grocer and kitchenware store. Again, they’ll be cooking up a demo dish from the book and I’ll be signing books and chatting with folks, from about 1 to 3 p.m. This time I have vowed to buy a quality knife while I’m there. I desperately need one!

Hope to see you at one of these stops. If not, there’s always the FRANK gallery TGIT (Thank God It’s Thursday) event on Sept. 15, followed by my  appearance at the Orange County Library in Hillsborough on Sept. 18. (Click onto Author Appearances above for details.) At both I’ll be showing my slide show, which is a lot more interesting than the description “slide show” implies. Actually, it’s a Powerpoint, but that sounds even more boring. It’s not; trust me!

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Food and race; High Country tour; learn to write, paint and cook in a day; food classes; and more!

Posted on August 2, 2011 by didaniel

Mark your calendars for these farm-food events in the Tiangle and the mountains: 

Thursday, Aug. 4: “Eating the Other: Food, Race and You,” discussion of race as it relates to agribusiness, farmers’ markets and the slow food culture. At Southwest Regional Library in Durham, with Dr. Sharon P. Holland, associate professor of African and African-American Studies at Duke University. Sounds very interesting. Details here.

Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 6 and 7, 2-6 p.m.: High Country Farm Tour. Sponsored by the Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture, this very scenic farm tour has stops in Watauga, Ashe, Wilkes, Avery and Alleghany counties. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 if purchased at a farm and entitle the passengers of one vehicle to visit farms on both days of the tour—or pay $10 per farm. Details here. Or, interested in touring farms by bicycle? The guide includes a map with a suggested bicycle route for experienced riders (with those hills, I’ll say!). Pay $10 at the first farm that you visit to receive a ticket that will allow you to visit any of the participating farms on both days of the tour. More information at www.boonebikeinitiative.org.

Saturday, Aug. 20 (with Aug. 13 deadline): Feast of Your Life is putting on a day of writing, eating, and cooking in Durham. Deadline Aug. 13 for Aug. 20 event featuring classes in memoir writing by Miriam Sauls, painting by Vernessa Foelix, and cooking by Amy Tornquist of Watts Grocery. Cost: $140. Details here.

Cool classes coming up in the Triangle, so sign up soon:  Earthwise‘s “Living Arts” series focuses on planning, planting, cultivating, harvesting, preparing, and eating a fall organic garden. Details here. And more good stuff from Carrboro Greenspace, on cheese making, grains, wild fermentation and more. Details here.

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Posted in Alleghany County, Ashe County, Avery County, Bicycling, Cooking, Dining, Durham County, Family travel, Farmers, Food, Road travel, Watauga County, Wilkes County | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Guidebook author’s dream come true

Posted on July 29, 2011 by didaniel

A guidebook writer couldn’t ask for more than this blog post   from pastry chef and local-food lover Jenni Field for SavorNC magazine.  She writes about how her husband bought her my book for their anniversary (thank you, husband!) and, more importantly, how they actually used it! I appreciate the positive feedback on how my book looks and reads, but the highest compliment, of course, is when readers get out and visit places in the book. That makes me so happy!

Triple B Farms in Bullock, Granville County

Jenni and her husband visited Bailey Newton at Triple B Farms in Bullock, in Granville County near Virginia. Bailey showed them around, talked about his sustainable farming practices, and answered all their questions. They bought bacon, sausage and ground beef from him, making this a win-win stop for all.

Check out her article on Triple B, which has great photos, and you really get a feel for the farm. Here’s her pastry chef blog, as well.

Thanks, Jenni, for using my book and spreading the word about our great farmers and their tasty food!

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Posted in Family travel, Farmers, Food, Granville County, Livestock, Meat, Road travel | 2 Comments

Can you afford fresh food? Heck, yeah

Posted on July 29, 2011 by didaniel

I don’t always have an answer for people who say that eating organic, seasonal meals is too expensive. From now on, I’m telling them to check out Linda Watson‘s “Wildly Affordable Organic.” The book’s subtitle is key: “Eat Fabulous Food, Get Health, and Save the Planet — All on $5 a Day or Less.”

There are three hitches: you have to plan, shop and cook. Admittedly, I fall behind in all three. Luckily, we eat fairly small amounts of food (rarely processed) in our childless household, and, no, I don’t cook for the dog. So for me the beauty of the book is in the healthy recipes (I’m drawn to the creative bean entries), but if I had a family, I’d be eating up Linda’s shopping lists and menu plans.

I love that one of Linda’s inspirations for her original Cook for Good project came from the 2007 Food Stamp Challenge, where politicians and activists ate on a budget of $1 per meal for a week. Remember that? I recall being baffled that most participants immediately turned to cheap and unhealthy snack food. Linda, an organic chef, started her own small-budget challenge. She and her husband would attempt to eat healthy meals on the same allotment of $3 a day. They ended up sleeping better, feeling better, and losing weight. A mission was born!

Linda's book provides shopping lists and menus

Linda walks the talk, too. She lives in Raleigh, NC, not far from me in Durham, and is always out and about teaching classes, giving demos, and spreading the word about strategies for eating healthy on a budget. I’ve followed her Cook for Good blog since reading about her in the News and Observer in 2009. Now all her words of wisdom and more can be found n her just-out “Wildly Affordable Organic.”

This is the second week (oops, I’m behind) of Linda’s two-week Cook for Good Challenge. But don’t fear. It’s outlined here, so you can follow it anytime, and Linda even gives you shopping lists and menu plans. All recipes are from her book.

It’s been fun to watch Linda’s project grow, ahem, organically, from an experiment to a business, a blog, and, now, a book. Thanks for sharing your Wildly Affordable wisdom, Linda!

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Bee there, freshest fish, food tours and more

Posted on July 27, 2011 by didaniel

It’s time again for Quick Bites, a harvest of Farm Fresh news.

How sweet it is: TONIGHT, July 27, at 6 pm (movie at 9:15), Market Restaurant in Raleigh will host a music and movie night in its parking lot, featuring the film “Vanishing of the Bees.” Speaking of bees, congrats goes to Chad McIntyre, Market chef and co-owner, for meeting the goal of his Kickstarter campaign to help fund the Raleigh Apiary Project. Chad has two rooftop hives now, and he’ll add four as well as connect one to a camera that will allow local schoolchildren to follow the bees. The honey will be used in dishes at Market and at Escazu, the premium chocolatier next door.

A top prize: An overdue shout-out to my friend and fellow Durhamite Jonathan Bloom, who tied for first place in the “Food Matters” category of the International Association of Culinary Professionals book awards for his thoughtful and thought-provoking book “American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food ( and What We Can Do About It).” I wrote this profile of Jonathan for Ode Magazine after the book came out last fall.

CEFS campaign is 100% impressive: In the year since the Center for Environmental Farming Systems launched its 10% campaign, a statewide initiative to stimulate economic development, create jobs and promote North Carolina’s farms and fisheries, more than $5.7 million in local foods expenditures have been reported by local individuals, organizations and institutions participating in the campaign. The campaign enters its second year with renewed funding and increased participation, by both the public, educational institutions and large-scale food purchasers. This is one effort that is really making a difference. If you haven’t yet signed up, go for it!

From Walking Fish to Local Catch: Speaking of making a difference, Duke alum Joshua Stoll, a driving force behind the formation of Walking Fish, the Southeast’s first Community Supported Fishery, is on to a new nationally focused project – www.localcatch.org, an online network that links consumers around the country to CFSs. In the future, its reach will extend to other “locally relevant” businesses. I wrote about sustainability factors of CSFs for OnEarth last year.

Taste Carolina travels beyond Triangle: Our friends at Taste Carolina have expanded tour locations to Hillsborough, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. Tours have been ongoing for years in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill/Carrboro. The walking/tasting tours are held most Saturday afternoons, year-round, an evening Raleigh tour has been added, and private tours are available. Great activity for newcomers, visitors, and locals who want the back story! Here’s a look at my tasty tour earlier this year.

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Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream: a Carolina classic

Posted on July 21, 2011 by didaniel

In honor of National Ice Cream Month, I present to you a recipe from my book for the most Carolina-centric flavor possible — our  state vegetable, the one we produce the most of nationwide. That’s right, the sweet potato.  This is one of my favorite recipes in the book, donated by Jackie Hough of Swamp Raft Farms in Hoke County, which grows sweet potatoes and more. You can find Jackie at the downtown Southern Pines market on Saturdays. Let me know how you like it!

Sweet Potato Pie Ice Cream

Makes half a gallon

 1 1/2 cups milk (at least 2 percent; do not use skim milk)
 4 egg yolks
 1 cup honey
 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon allspice
 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1 1/2 cups sweet potatoes (about 3/4 pound to 1 pound),
baked, peeled, and mashed
 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
 3 tablespoons dark or amber rum
 2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, whisk together the milk, egg yolks, and honey until combined. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 10 minutes. You will know it’s ready when you can see where you’ve run your finger down the back of the custard-coated spoon. Do not allow the custard to boil. Pour into a large bowl.

 Whisk in the remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended and allow to cool. Freeze the custard in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Store in an airtight container.

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Cool stops in Hot Springs, Asheville

Posted on July 20, 2011 by didaniel

My Farm Fresh farmers’ market tour is traveling geographically with the harvest, starting in the Coast and Piedmont in the spring, moving to the Triad. Finally I’ve reached the mountains, just in time to cool off from the heat of summer.

Honda gets royal treatment at Biltmore

Here’s the report from recent stops in Hot Springs and Asheville.

My tour started with a book signing outside of the Carriage House gift shop at the Biltmore Estate, where the highlight was taking back roads to enter the estate and parking just behind the “house.” That’s what I call VIP treatment.

Meanwhile, parking at Restaurant Solace at the Haywood Park Hotel in downtown Asheville wasn’t VIP, but the complimentary lunch was, and was so yummy too. Chef owner Bryan Kimmett has really spruced up the place and focuses on local ingredients, to the point that he’s opened a tiny market in the lobby. Great idea! The cafe is upstairs and fancy-schmancy dining is downstairs. Favorite dish? Warm crab and foraged mushrooms cheesecake (kinda like a soft quiche). Delish.

That evening I headed north to Hot Springs, one of the coolest (and tiniest) towns in the state and one of a handful that the Appalachian Trail runs right through. I was invited by the Friends of the Hot Springs Library, a group of fascinating folks, including Dave Penrose and Mary Dixon, who with her husband runs Broadwing Farm Cabins. The gang even treated me to a nice cold tall one after my scintillating presentation.

Asheville City Market woos kids with its DIY bicycle-blended smoothies. They were tasty, too!

I spent Saturday morning at one of my favorite farmers’ markets, the downtown Asheville City Market, operated by my friends at the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. Loved the kids’ corner, where volunteers were inviting young visitors to mix smoothies using a bicycle-operated blender. My very favorite baker was there, too, Farm and Sparrow (if only they shipped….), a fantastic bluegrass band was performing near my table, and I chatted with the most interesting folks. Fun morning!

Venezia Dream owner Starr Cash (left) chats with visitors to her alpaca farm

My last stops were at the Family Farm Tour, another ASAP program, where I hung out one day at Venezia Dream Farm (alpacas!) and the next at Imladris Farm (berries! bunnies!). At Imladris, one of my customers was none other than Mark Rosenstein, former longtime chef at Market Place and the man who brought locally sourced dining to Asheville. Yes, the father of Foodtopia! Thanks, Mark, for all you’ve done and still do. Thanks, too, to your friend who gifted you my book!

Is there ever a slow time at French Broad Chocolate?

A final word on Asheville dining. I didn’t have much time to explore, but I did find nirvana at Table — lima bean soup with fennel and lavender. Seriously, ridiculously amazing. Must return for seconds. I was hoping to have a chocolate nightcap at French Broad Chocolate Lounge, but there was a line out the door at 10 p.m. just as there had been at 8 p.m. Wow. So I had a brew instead, at hot spot Green Man Brewery. They were out of the double IPA (waaaaaah), but the single was sweet.

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Farm Fresh NC and Fickle Creek share video spotlight

Posted on July 8, 2011 by didaniel

What a great gift for Fickle Creek Farm, my book “Farm Fresh North Carolina,” and the Piedmont Farm Tour. The state’s former (as of June) tourism marketing agency, Charlotte-based LKM, commissioned a video about agritourism in general and the book specifically. It was shot by expert videographer Tim Hass and is now posted at www.visitnc.com. The YouTube version is below.

We shot it at Fickle Creek in Efland, and farmers Ben Bergmann and Noah Ranells got the star treatment. Actually, their animals shared top billing. In fact, when we were shooting, the cows and sheep were getting a little too vocal, probably trying to steal the limelight. Tim shot in mid-April, first on a weekday and then he returned on the Sunday of the Piedmont Farm Tour, so that’s included as well, which is a nice gift for farm tour sponsor Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.

Check it out!

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Wilmington wakes up to good food

Posted on June 22, 2011 by didaniel

The last time I was in Wilmington, dining options were mostly pretty standard fare. What a difference a few years make.

The only restaurant I have from there in my book is Catch, but here are the ones I’d add now for their attention to local sourcing: Deluxe, Circa 1922, Caffe Phoenix, and Crow Hill. There may be others but those are the ones that I’m confident are committed. Feel free to disagree and/or add others.

I felt tiny next to Catch chef Keith Rhodes

Friday night we ate at Catch, and I finally got to meet chef Keith Rhodes. Catch has two locations, a tiny one downtown open only for lunch weekdays and a larger, but still fairly small, restaurant in a strip mall six miles away from town. We started with beers – OBX, a Kolsch style ale from Weeping Radish Brewery, and a salad with diced sweet potatoes that were perfectly grilled. For dinner I had tender black grouper with sweet potato mash and succotash (which seems to be all the rage this year). Lina loved her perfectly blackened amberjack, cheese grits and sautéed spinach. We also admired the artwork on the walls, metal fish by Matt Davis.

Diane at Riverfront Farmers’ Market

Saturday started with book promotion at the Riverfront Farmers’ Market, which shares best-view title with the Elizabeth City market, as both overlook rivers. There I met Jane Steigerwald with the very impressive local-food program FeastDownEast, aka Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program. Projects include farm-to-chef distribution and a farm-fresh restaurant branding program. My next stops were Costco, where, despite the big-box location, I signed 20 books to enthusiastic fans, and then the cute Pomegranate Books, featuring nibbles from farms my book. Yummy!

Liz Biro leads a group of Culinary Adventurers

We dashed back downtown to meet up with Liz Biro for the last 90 minutes of one of her three-hour “Culinary Adventures.” I’ve been on several food tours in several cities, and Liz’s ranks as one of the best. She makes an impressive EIGHT stops, guests are well fed (not always the case on food tours, believe it or not) and Liz knows her stuff. She also does a good job of posing leading questions to owners and chefs. Liz is well known around town for her food stories and reviews in the Wilmington Star-News. Thanks, Liz, for letting us drop in!

Saturday night I was excited to eat at Crow Hill, which I’d heard about from a few sources. It’s near the riverfront, which really heats up on weekends when gaggles of twentysomethings flock there. Crow Hill sports a sophisticated uptown look, but in a warm way, in part thanks to the salvaged river-wood tables and yard-tool-inspired sculptures on the walls. I could have used a lower volume on the dance club music, but maybe that’s my age talking.

Here's where the caption goes

I didn’t have a full appetite thanks to the food tour, so ordered two appetizers, while Lina had an app and entrée. Our server (Sarah!) was memorable — fun and on the ball and she really knew the menu. Food, too, was amazing. I started with a smoked trout salad topped with a deep friend poached egg. Lina’s fish stew starter was too spicy for me but perfect for her. The outer edges of her lighly smoked pork loin (with creamy grits) were a little dry, she said, but the interior was just right. My “entrée” was heavenly – herb-garlic roasted mushrooms over creamy polenta. I’m ready for a return trip!

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A deluxe Farm Fresh backroads mountain tour

Posted on June 15, 2011 by didaniel

The Loom House, the iconic two-room log cabin on the grounds of the Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis.

I wrote this very detailed story  with lovely photographs for Blue Ridge Country magazine. It’s in the current (July/August) issue. The four-night roadtrip, with itinerary, takes you from Asheville to Ashe County, with great sights and food stops in between. Check it out and hit the road!

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Find dining in Asheville

Posted on June 6, 2011 by didaniel

Wrote this little ditty below for a Boston Globe summer-fun roundup, so makes sense to share with my NC readers.

Freshly sautéed wild ramps, an Appalachian specialty. Photo by Kevin Gregory.

With farm-to-table dining practically de rigueur, farmers are starting to share the menu with foragers. In what is billed as a ‘‘forest-to-table’’ dinner series, ‘‘No Taste Like Home’’ in Asheville shows guests how to reduce their food miles to the ground under their feet, and a bit beyond. Diners, led by veteran wild crafters, will stalk the Appalachian woods and meadows for such ingredients as sunchokes, chickweed, and even the much-maligned kudzu. After a few hours of hiking and hunting, foragers will retire to the kitchen, where a visiting chef will whip up earthy delights that might include chickweed salad with persimmon vinaigrette, stinging nettle pesto, and morel and ramp ragout. Sounds wild.

Locally harvested bamboo shoots ready for cooking. Photo by Kevin Gregory.

Details: held monthly on a Saturday from 3 to 9 p.m., $125 includes foraging, cooking demo, live music, and five-course dinner with local wine. 828-774-1922, www.notastelikehome.org

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Asheville’s Tupelo Honey Cafe puts out cookbook

Posted on May 25, 2011 by didaniel

Tupelo Honey Café is one of those landmark dining spots that actually deserves its popularity. Tourists and locals alike go to the Asheville restaurant for Southern comfort food with a modern twist. It’s a high-volume place (and a second location was added last year), so I don’t know what the local-sourcing ratio is, but for sure it’s there. You can read a little more about that below in the entry I wrote on them in my book.

Longtime fans and newcomers will enjoy their just-out cookbook, “Tupelo Honey Café: Spirited Recipes from Asheville’s New South Kitchen” (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $29.99), written by Asheville writer Elizabeth Sims with Tupelo chef Brian Sonoskus. (For you local readers, the pair will be doing signings and tastings at A Southern Season on June 5 from noon to 2, and The Regulator Bookshop on June 6 at 7 p.m. I can’t get to either, dangit.)

Writer Elizabeth Sims with Tupelo chef Brian Sonoskus

The hardcover book is highly stylized, heavy on the design side and filled with fantastic photos of both mouth-watering dishes and Asheville scenes, past and present. Recipes (they all look fairly simple) include Green Tomato Salsa, Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower, Nutty Fried Chicken, Mondo Mushroom Ragout, and Goat Cheese Basil Grits. The beer pairings for each main dish are my favorite touch (don’t worry, there are wine pairings too), a nod to the city’s numerous breweries and brewpubs.

Here’s my Tupelo entry in “Farm Fresh North Carolina”:

Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville (Photo by Andrew Collins, www.gaytravel.about.com)

Tupelo Honey Café opened in downtown Asheville in 2000 as a laid-back breakfast and lunch spot for southern comfort food with an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients. In its first decade, it grew into a tourist mainstay, adding dinner hours and a line of merchandise. In 2008 new owner Stephen Frabitore stepped things up even more, opening a second location and arranging a deal for a Tupelo Honey cookbook, to be published in 2011. Throughout this time, chef Brian Sonoskus has continued to draw customers with his creative, affordable dishes, many relying on area farmers. Much of the produce comes from Sonoskus’s own Sunshot Organics, a twelve-acre farm he started in 2007. He grows vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, loads of blueberries, and even raises some laying hens. As for the Tupelo honey found on every table? That’s from Florida, but we’ll let it slide.

12 College Street, 828-255-4863; 1829 Hendersonville Road, 828-505-7676; Asheville (Buncombe County), www.tupelohoneycafe.com.

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‘Farm Fresh’ tour visits Hendersonville and Flat Rock

Posted on May 18, 2011 by didaniel

Hendersonville, apple capital of North Carolina

Loads of fun planned in western NC, specifically Henderson County, starting  Thursday, May 19, at the cute Flat Rock Tailgate Market and ending Saturday, May 21 at the Blue Ridge Bookfest, with several stops in between. Hope you can make one of them! I’m also looking forward to my stay at the Claddagh Inn , which has generously offered to host Bookfest authors, and to dining at Square One Bistro , an entry in the book. Here’s the schedule:

Thursday, May 19, 4-6 p.m., Flat Rock Tailgate Market, 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock

Friday, May 20, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hendersonville Community Co-op, 715 S. Grove St, Hendersonville, 828-693-0505, www.hendersonville.coop

Friday, May 20, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Blue Ridge Bookfest, author reception (tickets $25), , Blue Ridge Community College, 180 Campus Drive, Flat Rock, 828-694-1700, www.blueridgebookfest.org

Saturday, May 21, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Henderson County Curb Market, 221 N. Church St., Hendersonville, 828-692-8012, www.curbmarket.com

Saturday, May 21, noon to 1 p.m. mingling, 2:15 slideshow presentation at , Blue Ridge Bookfest, info above, in the Killian Building library

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Special ‘Farm Fresh’ dinner May 18 at Zely & Ritz, Raleigh

Posted on May 15, 2011 by didaniel

I can’t wait for this one. On Wednesday, May 18, I’m teaming up with two Raleigh entries in my book — Zely & Ritz and The Little Herb House (their write-ups are at the end of this post) for a special three-course herb-to-fork dinner at Zely & Ritz on Glenwood Avenue in Raleigh.

We start at 6:30 with my lively (I promise!) narrated photo show featuring farms and farmers across the state. Then Little Herb House head herbalist Lisa Treadaway will say a few words about her offerings, and finally we’ll get to sample them in Chef Sarig Agasi’s creations. Price is $35 and reservations should be made through Zely & Ritz, 919-828-0018.

Here’s the amazing menu, which showcases both Lisa’s herbs and other offerings from local farms:

First Course: Poached Eggs over a Salad of Arugula and Parsley with Horseradish Dressing

Second Course: Sage Infused Pasta with Dandelion Greens and Grilled Chicken

Third Course: Rose Geranium Pound Cake with Lemon Thyme and Olive Oil Ice Cream

Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you’ll join us at this special gathering! Here are their entries from “Farm Fresh North Carolina”:

The Little Herb House

Like the thousands of plants she raises, Lisa Treadaway’s herb business south of Raleigh keeps growing. In 2000 she began planting an herb garden that has since multiplied many times over and blossomed into The Little Herb House. Inside and outside of former horse stables, Lisa has developed a 10,000-square-foot herb garden, a production field, a greenhouse for potted herbs (which she propagates and sells), a gift shop, classroom space, and an herb library. Over the years she has added several open-house events and classes, and morning and afternoon teas. Her garden is laid out in eight pie-slice sections, each with a theme, including Kitchen Garden, Butterfly and Bee Garden, and Potpourri Garden. Most interesting was the Herbs of the Bible Garden, containing plants commonly found in the Bible. 5800 Holland Church Road, Raleigh (Wake County), 919-772-3543, www.littleherbhouse.com.

Zely & Ritz

When chef Sarig Agasi teamed up with Coon Rock Farm in 2004 to supply produce and meat for Zely & Ritz, they brought the first farm-to-table restaurant to Raleigh, and one of the few then in the Triangle. Sarig grew up on a kibbutz, an Israeli agricultural community, and understood the importance of fresh, naturally grown ingredients. The cuisine is Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, much of it in small servings, or tapas. All locally sourced items on the menu are printed in green, which makes it the prevailing color. 301 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh (Wake County), 919-828-0018, www.zelyandritz.com.

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Where to find organic U-pick strawberries

Posted on May 12, 2011 by didaniel

Just ask the farmer about the use of pesticides

Several people have asked me where to go for organic or organically grown U-pick strawberries. As many folks know, most strawberry fields in North Carolina are treated with pesticides. (Strawberries on No. 3 on the “dirty dozen” list published by the Environmental Working Group.) For consumers who want pesticide-free berries, there are a decent number of choices at local farmers’ markets. Just ask the farmer or look for farms that advertise “no-spray” berries. But the choices for U-pickers are pretty meager.

I’ve identified only a handful of U-pick farms that do not use chemicals on their berries or use only approved chemicals under Certified Organic regulations. All are in my book, and I’m sharing their entries below. If you know of other U-pick berry farms that are certified organic or use organic growing methods, please let me know and I’ll add them to my list. (Update: Before I got rained out of Southern Village Farmers’ Market today, I met Willie with Eco Farm in Orange County and he said they have no-spray U-pick strawberries on Sundays. www.ecofarmnc.com)

Most U-pick strawberry farms in NC use pesticides

In the Triangle: Vollmer Farm, Hilltop Farms, Whitted Bowers Farm.  (Turns out Hilltop didn’t have enough for U-pick this year.) In the Mountains: Flying Cloud Farm. On the Coast: Indigo Farms.

This just in: add Faucette Farm in the Triad. They’re not in my book because they weren’t organic when I was doing my research.

Listings below are reprinted from “Farm Fresh North Carolina.” Contact information is at the end of each listing.

Vollmer Farm. Few in the state do agritourism at the level Vollmer Farm does. What’s most admirable is that the Vollmers operate a working farm, having made the switch from tobacco to produce, while also attracting thousands of visitors a year to their “Back Forty” entertainment complex. In the spring and summer, certified organic strawberries and blueberries are ripe for the picking, while some farm produce, snacks, and ice cream are for sale in the large gift shop. Starting in mid-September, the action really picks up. Tractor rides take hundreds of visitors and school groups a day to the “back forty” acres, filled with games, playgrounds, mazes, and other agriculturally themed attractions. 677 Highway 98 East, Bunn (Franklin County), 919-496-3076, www.vollmerfarm.com. Open April to October.

Hilltop Farms. Turns out NO U-pick berries in 2011, but they do still sell them. Put on list to check out next year!  When Fred and Virginia Miller moved from Greensboro to her family’s former tobacco farm outside of Raleigh in 1990, Fred became the only current family member to “get my hands in the dirt,” he said. Virginia, meanwhile, opened a horse-boarding business. In 2002 Fred left his longtime office job to take up the life of a full-time farmer. Two years later, his thirty-acre Hilltop Farms became Wake County’s first and possibly still only certified organic farm. Fred sells his vegetables through a CSA, an organic wholesaler, and, on Saturdays, out of a former tobacco shed turned farm stand. Fred also has one of the state’s few organic strawberry fields, offering an acre of U-pick or prepicked strawberries. 6612 Kennebec Road, Willow Springs (Wake County), 919-552-5541, www.hilltopfarms.org. Open Saturday afternoons April to November. Tours by appointment.

Cheri Whitted and Rob Bowers started the first certified biodynamic farm in the Carolinas

Whitted Bowers Farm. The first conversation Cheri Whitted and Rob Bowers had was about how each of them dreamed of growing biodynamic fruit. Now married, the couple moved from California to Orange County, where Cheri’s family has farmed for seven generations, to start the first certified biodynamic farm in the Carolinas. Customers lined up almost as soon the fifty-five-acre Whitted Bowers Farm opened in 2008. “The reaction has been stupendous,” Rob said. “People are thrilled that there’s a biodynamic farm.” Biodynamic farming, a type of organic agriculture, emphasizes soil health and the position of the moon and planets. While Rob acknowledges that “occasionally we get rolling of eyes,” many people are tuned in to the approach. Offerings on their growing roster include blackberries and blueberries, figs, heirloom tomatoes and melons, apples, sweet potatoes, and the state’s only U-pick biodynamic strawberries. “People tell us, ‘I’ve never tasted a strawberry this good.’” 8707 Art Road, Cedar Grove (Orange County), 919-732-5132, www.whittedbowersfarm.com. U-pick strawberries in May. Sales and tours by appointment.

Wooden berries, however, are organically grown

Flying Cloud Farm. While most of the naturally grown produce from Flying Cloud Farm’s eleven acres is sold at farmers’ markets and through a CSA, the farm also operates a small and very tidy self-service roadside stand. Not only does the two-sided cart sport covered containers for the items, the produce is put on ice. Owned by young farmers Annie Louise and Isaiah Perkinson, Flying Cloud also sells a small amount of beef and pork and offers U-pick strawberries in May and June and blueberries in June and July. 1860 Charlotte Highway, Fairview (Buncombe County), 828-628-3348, www.flyingcloudfarm.net. Open June to October.

Indigo Farms. Sixth-generation farmer Sam Bellamy and several family members offer visitors much to see at their combination certified organic farm, retail store, bakery, and nursery. The farm, behind the store, is known for its sweet and juicy U-pick strawberries, but also grows blackberries, blueberries, and vegetables. Livestock raised here includes fowl, sheep, turkeys, and the famed “NASPig” racers, which run on Farm Heritage Day, the first Saturday in October. In October and November, the Bellamys set up hay rides and a hay bale maze. Unlike a corn maze, it’s dark, so you have to feel your way through, with no baling out. 1590 Hickman Road, Calabash (Brunswick County), 910-287-6794, 843-399-6902, www.indigofarmsmarket.com. Open year-round. Tours by appointment.

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