Precooked Boston Butts for Thanksgiving

Art Duckworth, of Apple Orchard Farms, has announced:

"I'm taking orders for fully cooked boston butts (hickory smoked for 8 hours) for Thanksgiving and Christmas. These come with a pint of BBQ sauce and will feed up to 15 people for $30.00 each"

For this special case, you will need to order your meat directly from him (appleorchardfarm@bellsouth.net). He is going to cook the first weekend in November, so you need to get your order in by October 30. If you let me know about your order, we can pick it up for you when we do the November 8 farm run to his place.

Art will also do this again in December for Christmas, and we'll serve some of this boston butt at the November 16 local holiday food tasting.

Food Event at Davidson College

The Dean Rusk International Studies Program and PS, the student-run restaurant, are pleased to present Clifford Wright, Thursday, Nov. 1 at 12 noon and at 7:00 pm in the C. Shaw Smith 900 Room.

Clifford Wright is one of the best-known and most respected authorities on Mediterranean food and its role in shaping and reflecting broader cultures. He is the author of twelve books, ten of them cookbooks. He also writes frequently for Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, Saveur and many other magazines. His 2000 book, A Mediterranean Feast, won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Award and the James Beard Award for Best Writing on Food. The book also was a finalist for the International Association of Culinary Professionals' Cookbook of the Year Award. Mr. Wright has lectured on cooking and foodways at Harvard's Center for European Studies, Boston University, Georgetown, and UC-Santa Barbara.

Mr. Wright will present a cooking demonstration at 12:00 noon. He will speak at 7:00 pm on "The Role of the Arabs in the Foundation of Mediterranean Gastronomy." Both events will take place in the C. Shaw Smith 900 Room. Both events are free of charge.

November Farm Run Information

The farm run in November will take place on Thursday, November 8. Please plan to arrive at the Bradford Farm Store between 6:15 and 7:30. If you are unable to come, consider using the comment feature to see if someone from the group can pick up on your behalf. (Or you can send a friend or neighbor in your stead.)

The November farm run will include these farms:

Happy Cow Creamery (http://www.happycowcreamery.com/)

We are a grass based dairy farm located in southern Greenville, SC county. We milk Holsteins, and have been in the dairying business for 29 years, and have been processing our whole milk since 2002. We have not used chemicals or chemical fertilizers in over 17 years, we use no rBGH (bovine growth hormone), and our cows graze 12 months. Our milk is special because we low temp pasteruize the milk, and we do NOT homogenize the milk, therefore the cream is still in the milk.

• Milk (non-homogenized is supposedly better for the body to digest...so drinking whole milk is not supposed to be as harmful as drinking homogenized whole milk)


• Buttermilk (really delicious; great for making pancakes or biscuits)
  
• Chocolate Milk (after doing a wide sampling of chocolates, narrowed it to the three best tasting chocolates and had a custom blend of the three created)

Split Creek Dairy (http://www.splitcreek.com/)

Though I haven't been to visit the farm, I have been a fan of this goat cheese for over a decade. Split Creek has won gold medals in national competitions for their cheeses, fudge and milk, all a result of the care they give to their goats and their process. (I'm a big fan of the fudge!)

One of the great things about these products is their shelflife. Feta in oil, for example, will last refrigerated for almost a year. Dessert cheeseballs and fromage blanc will last 2 months in the freezer; plain chevre logs will last 60-90 days in the fridge. Chevon will keep its best quality in the freezer for 4 months, but can be frozen indefinitely.

• Feta (in oil, brine, or dry-wrapped)
  Traditionally used on a salad but also works well in an omlet, any pasta dish, or pizza. Feta should always be made with goat or sheep milk, but in USA it is legal to make it with cow milk and call it feta (not legal in Europe).


• Fudge (available in quarter-pound pieces or in bulk)
  Winner of three national gold-medals, this stuff is amazing. Forget making your own fudge for Christmas presents...buy it in bulk and dole out a little local love.


• Fromage Blanc (savory and sweet varieties available)
  Soft and spreadable, this light, creamy cheese is preferred by chefs for sauces, dressings, pastas, and other house specialties. Available plain or seasoned with garden garlic herb mixture, or mixed with raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, peach or Kahlua.


• Chevre Logs (plain and flavors)


• Dessert Cheese Balls (apricot or raspberry)
  I've had these...they're great for a dessert platter, or for breakfast, if you're me.


• Chevon (goat meat)
  Goat meat is much lower in saturated fat, bad cholesterol, and calories than chicken, pork, or beef. It does best in stews, is often substituted for lamb, and can also be substituted for beef. I'm planning on pulling out my indian cookbook after this farm run!

Big Sky Farm (http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M18879)

We have a commercial meat goat herd, a dairy goat herd, chickens, emus, peafowl, rabbits, a pig, a goose, turkeys, a Highlander cow, bottle calves, guineas, pheasants, and new ideas and animals coming all the time. We sell goat milk, goat cheese, goat milk soap, goat meat, Nature's beef, range pork and range chicken, emu meat all raised in the Upstate and are chemical free and preservative free. We also have local honey, jams, jellies, ciders and farm fresh eggs.

In addition, these farms will also be included each month:

Grateful Growers (http://www.ggfarm.com/)

Natalie & Cassie made recent news with their successful effort to bring Alice Waters to Charlotte. Working 10 acres in nearby Denver, NC, they raise chicken, pork, and shitake mushrooms. Their animals are raised on pasture which are not treated with chemical fertilizers or herbicides. Animal diets are free from hormones, antibiotics, and meat byproducts. Natalie ensures the animals are safe, free from stress, and able to behave naturally.

During Winter 2007-08, Grateful Growers will provide pork to our club each month. We will also work with them to preorder chickens harvested in Summer/Fall/Winter 2008. Shitake mushrooms have already been harvested for the fall, but will come again in Spring 2008.

• Pork (various cuts)

Apple Orchard Farm (http://www.ncagr.com/NCproducts/ShowSite.asp?ID=2366)

Located on 10 acres in Gaston County, Art Duckworth's farm is a fabulous example of small farming done right. Art's animals are pastured; during my visit his pigs rooted in the woods, cows cooled off in the pond, and chickens ran to and fro picking insects from the dirt. His meats are very lean and free from antibiotics, hormones, steroids, chemical additives and animal proteins.

During Winter 2007-08, Apple Orchard Farm will provide Angus beef to our club each month, as well as pork and brown eggs, when available. Due to the hard freeze in April 2007, the apple crop did not come in, and the honey supplies are gone. For the upcoming holidays, Art is taking orders for fully-cooked boston butts (hickory smoked for 8 hours).

• Black Angus Beef (various cuts)
• Eggs (limited supply)

Farm Ordering Process

Here's how I'm hoping things will work during the pilot (Nov 2007 - Feb 2008).

I will make a farm run each month, each run taking me in a different direction, and thus, to different farms. As a club, we will preorder from the farms on each run, and I will pick up the items ordered. Members will meet me at the Bradford Farm Store the evening of the run to pick up the items you have ordered, at which time you will also reimburse me for the items. This process will involve:

2 weeks before farm run

• Christy confirms farms participating on run and possible products available
• Christy posts information about participating farms and products on blog

1 week before farm run

• Christy gets specific pricing and availability information from farms
• Christy posts ordering information on blog
• Members email Christy with their orders

2 days before farm run

• Christy consolidates orders and notifies farms

Day of farm run

• Christy visits farms and collects orders
• Members meet at Bradford Farm Store to pay for and pick up orders

Welcome to our Local Food Club!

At some point, we really need to come up with a better name for our group, but until we do, it's the Local Food Club (LFC). Pretty generic, but it works for me.

This blog will serve several functions:

• Providing information about food options in our local area
• Sharing your local food thoughts with other members
• Administering club membership

I have not enabled comment monitoring, but will restrict comments to people affiliated with the club.

Please check back here on a regular basis; I will also notify you by email when time-sensitive information is posted.