Mushrooms and a blogworthy move

We got some lovely mushrooms in today from Ozark Forest. The oyster mushrooms were so lovely (they look like sea anemone) and aromatic that I had to bring some home for dinner. Yum. I sauteed them with a little yellow onion and then tossed them with saffron pasta from Mangia, chevre from Our Garden, and fresh parsley (all items available at LHG). It was so yummy and fresh. I felt so fortunate to have access to all this great food.

On another blogworthy note....Had a couple come into the store today who had recently moved to the area. I assumed they'd just moved from another part of the city and so I was surprised when they said they moved to Juniata from Honolulu. Really? What? Do people really live in Honolulu? The best part of this story though is that they came across our website when they were researching where in St. Louis to live and decided to move to the neighborhood b/c of LHG. Maybe they were exaggerating, but maybe not. I'm not gonna lie--it's a lot of pressure, but we're up for it. I think.

Spring Cleaning

As I was walking through the store the other day I noticed that we have a lot of bottles of the "Cedar Cleaner" from Cheryl's Herbs. This made me sad because it is a really great cleaner. I think the name is a bit confusing--I've had people ask me if it's literally for cleaning cedar. The answer is a big ol' "NO!" When I bought it I was afraid the cedar smell might be too strong and that I'd feel like I was camping every time I used my bathroom. I love camping, but wasn't sure I wanted to think I had to check for ticks each time I stepped into the lou (sp?). I was really surprised at the light aroma and at how well it cleans. So I'm giving it a big thumbs up.

And on the subject of spring cleaning I hope folks have heard of "Herb'n Maid" which is a green cleaning business. Check them out at http://www.herbnmaid.com/. It is my hope to one day employ them for my own home. (I'm fantasizing about it right now.......) They make their own cleaning products which I was able to check out at Earth Day. They are so great. We hope that we'll be able to carry their cleaning products soon at LHG.

Have fun cleaning or if not, at least clean green.

Quinoa Salad anyone?

Last night I made a super yummy and super easy dinner. This meal was adapted from a salad that LHG employee Laura makes regularly. Many thanks to her for this fantastic salad idea.

All ingredients are available at Local Harvest Grocery.
1 bag of arugula (or other spicy salad green)
1 cup of cooked quinoa (I prepared it with a broth made from Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base instead of water to add a little more flavor)
1 small red onion (cook in olive oil)
1-2 cloves of garlic`
1 can Aduki beans
a squeeze of lemon (optional)
balsamic vinegar (about 1-2 TBLS)
Goat cheese (I used Goatsbeard this time which I always love)
tamari sunflower seeds
(serves 2-3)

Prepare the quinoa which takes about 20 minutes to cook. When you have about 10 minutes left to go, saute the onion and garlic until nice and soft. Add aduki beans and heat until warm. Splash with some balsamic vinegar and stir. Set aside.

Place arugula on a nice big plate. Sprinkle with a little olive oil. Layer a scoop (I'm not very precise) of quinoa. Then layer some of the onion and beans. Top with crumbled goat cheese, a sprinkling of sunflower seeds, and if you want a squeeze of lemon. It's super easy and so tasty.

Can't wait for fresh asparagus, because that would be a great addition.
Yours in eating,
Maddie

Earth Day

Okay, so LHG (Local Harvest Grocery) participated in our first Earth Day. It was an amazing day. We had a food booth and many thanks go out to our employees who helped make it happen. Clara made literally hundreds of pounds of dip and worked lots of hours to help prepare. Laura and Clara both worked a long 13-hour day at the festival. And our newest employee Andy helped us make lots of Morganford Mediterranean wraps and had face time on Channel 11 news along with Clara and me. Even Mayor Slay came by and I could tell that he wanted to put his face right in that hummus and just have a field day, but his handlers were holding him back.

This was one of our largest food events thus far and to quote Clara Moore "You can do anything if you have a system." We were all thankful for her systems. We all discussed how great it's going to be when we have our new space. Food prep for hundreds is a wee bit tight at LHG. Our new cafe and catering space will seem like a warehouse in comparison.

Thanks to all our customers who dropped by to show their support. It feels good to have so many people pulling for LHG and for local foods.

-Maddie

Is it really Spring???

I'm hesitant to believe given all the false starts this year (and yes, I think it's more than usual) that Spring is really here. But I believed it enough to get into the yard today to plant some seeds in the vegetable garden. Granted, I hardly need the produce now since I have constant access to yummy produce at Local Harvest Grocery, but gardening is super fun and it is amazing to see a tiny little seed blossom into a big ol' plant. I know there are all kinds of explanations for how it happens, but truly it seems like a miracle to me every year.

And for all the things I don't grow from seed (and that's a lot) I'm super excited about the fact that this year it is going to be easy to get organic plants for the garden because we are selling plants from Biver Farms at LHG starting 4/17/08. This first batch includes mint, basil, sage, chives, broccoli, and tomato plants. Who knows, this year I may even plant my herbs earlier than usual because I am so ready to embrace this recent bout of warm weather.

All for now.
-Maddie

Global Ecology Conference

I am bummed that I cannot attend this. So, if you go, you have to come into the store and let me know how it was.

Global Ecology: A Creative Opportunity to Design a Sustainable Future
Saturday, May 3, 10a.m.-5:30 p.m. at Webster University
Dinner at 6:00 featuring locally grown food.

Featured speakers include:
Frances Moore Lappe, Dennis Kucinich, Wes Jackson, Satish Kumar, Thomas Moore, and Madhu Suri Prakash

Register by April 24 at www.webster.edu/kumar

A whole new blog

That's right folks--Local Harvest Grocery has entered the blog world. I'll be your blog host, and I'm looking forward to sharing my most intimate thoughts and feelings with you. Okay, not really, because I'd like you to stay awake. I do hope to share thoughts on food, eating, more eating, events, what's new in the store, updates on our new venture "Local Harvest Cafe and Catering" and of course yummy recipes.



So, first things first. You have to get into the store to try the tasty treats from Veruca. The brownies are super gooey and delicious. I bought one for a friend as a thank you and then stared at it so long while she was eating it that I forced her to share it with me. How sad is that. Then I made my husband share his with me. I didn't tell him I'd had half a brownie earlier in the day. There is also this very inventive cola cake dessert called "Sodalicous" and it is only $2. It is very decadent and the portion is small enough that you don't feel guilty about it.

STORE NEWS

You'll be seeing some new faces around Local Harvest Grocery. We're excited to welcome Anne Tkach to the store. Starting in May you'll see Anne a lot more. She'll be helping us with a lot of our local ordering and will be an "all around Local Harvest Woman." Andy Cohen is also now a member of the LHG crew. Andy will eventually be working more at the Cafe, but for now he's learning the grocery store ropes.



This concludes this first ever Local Harvest blog entry. If you'd like to see recipes or "reviews" on some of the products, you're welcome to send comments and I'll post what I can.

Yours in eating, revitalizing, health and happiness,

Maddie