Gone off up North

thanks mr. blount.

A week ago last Saturday, Mom and Dad flew up to Atlanta. We had a great meal at the Feed Store, and Mom and Dad are no longer stupid for not eating at the Feed Store. Everyone else in the metro area who has not eaten at the Feed Store is still stupid.

Next morning the four of us met up with my Aunt and her husband at the Atlanta airport as she flew in from Mobile. Then together we all got on a plane and flew to Portland, Maine. We were all flying standby, which means we only get seats if there are any that didn’t sell. We were lucky and all got a seat. Flying back home was another story.

Uncle Buck picked us all up at the Jetport and quickly whisked us away in his oversize Suburban. He immediately made us all fugitives of the law. See, Uncle Buck has his own way of doing things and if it makes sense to him well then….

So as we went through the toll gate without paying our toll, I knew we were in for a wild ride, Uncle Buck style. I saw the squad cars start to pursue us, lights flashing, sirens wailing, but Uncle Buck just stepped on the gas and that was the last we saw of the local law enforcement. For now anyway.

About forty minutes later we arrived at Kennebunk Beach and discover this is our home for the next five or six days.

And this is what we are gonna have to look at everyday.

I’m just glad I was there to help Mom and Dad handle the situation.

Times are Tuff

A couple nights back I stumbled around my house in a food coma. I was eating figs that had just been picked from the tree in our yard. I had planned on wrapping the figs in bacon and broiling them. Didn’t have bacon so I cut them in half, added a dollop of creamy blue cheese, dripped a little truffle honey on them and consumed. I added cracked black pepper to some and they just got better. Lot’s of big, strong flavors that worked very well together. Vodka Martinis were involved as well.

I have been in a food coma for days now. Been in a daze for days. I came home from the cooking demo at Le Cordon Bleu with a fresh truffle about the size of a ping pong ball. A gift from Chef. We were also gifted 5 cheeses from the guy operating the Sweet Grass Dairy booth right next to us, as well as a couple pounds of grass feed beef from Will Harris.

So all week long I’ve been preparing dishes with black truffles. First we made Risotto with the truffles, no meat, nothing else, truffles and risotto with homemade chicken stock. A true classic and good indeed.

The next night we had a tater and goat cheese souffle. Damn good indeed. We had this long side a “Will Harris” beef hamburger. Damn good indeed. Good meat, only a few condiments needed.

The next day I had a three egg omelette with goat cheese and truffles, damn good indeed, I wish I had more truffles.

Then last night we were treated to a nine course tasting dinner at the Feed Store. These guys throw down. I have written about them plenty and you can read for yourself how good they are at what they do. And god bless Sam, Hope, Pepper, Gwen and Gemma, we had a great time with ya’ll.

Now tonight I have just returned from the Feed Store, again. Cooper did not let us down, again. It was another wonderful meal, again and we got to share it with Nancy and Marion.

That’s always a treat.

Rooter to Tooter at the Feed Store

First up, Pig three ways. Plated together was Chicharron , a Pig ear salad and some Pork tenderloin. Chicharron is deep fried pig skin, you see them often in the local taqueria. I have never tried them. Deep fried pig skin just never sounded to good to me. Now when Chef Cooper is offering it I don’t think twice. It’s good. It is what it is, ya got your skin, there’s a little fat on it and it’s been deep fried. It’s all Berkshire pig and like I said before, I know the farmers who raised that pig. Riverview is an organic farm in Ranger, Georgia. They provide some of the top restaurants and food shops in the Atlanta area with pig and produce. You can read for yourself about Berkshire pigs and the Riverview farm right here. RIVERVIEW FARM

So that’s what the chef’s at the Feed Store have done. They got themselves a Berkshire pig and they went to town with it. The menu is full of pork dishes, so I guess they will get a fresh pig quite often. I don’t think they are ready to serve the ears and the skin and the fat, well they are serving the fat, as in “pork belly” dishes. So when some folks like Stacey and I walk through the door, I bet the chefs get excited and say to each other “let’s see what we can get the Hartleys to eat”. So working with that snout to tail, rooter to tooter, nothing goes to waste attitude, Cooper serves us pig ears. We eat them of course. They are deep fried and are served to us on a green salad with some kinda dressing, I have forgotten that detail. The Tenderloin was sliced and served with fresh blueberries and a little blueberries sauce. Never had pork and blueberries, but as a rule I like fruit and meat together. This was a good plate of food, pig parts ya don’t usually get served, although these days your more likely to see strange pig parts popping up at some restaurants. This plate is not on the menu so if your eating at the Feed Store ask your server if the Chef has any pig ears laying around.

The Feed Store has a new menu going these days and like I said, lot’s of pork. One dish ya got to try WHEN you eat there is the Surf and Turf. I’m not sure that’s what they are calling this dish, it may be. What ya get is a beautifully seared scallop resting on a beautiful slice of pork belly, which is resting on sweetgrass goat cheese and tomato grits and topped with green tomato relish. This dish will make you slap your granny. These guys have come up with a really amazing menu, I can’t find anything on it I wouldn’t like to try, and I plan on trying it all.

Le Cordon Bleu

Chef phoned the other day asking if I might like to join him Sunday at the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute for a day of chef demos and an outdoor market. I would set up a booth and sell my art along side of farmers, cattle farmers, cheese makers and others in the food industry. Hell yea, count me in, I love events like this.

From what I learned after participating in the event was this. The Atlanta chapter of Slow Food has teamed up with Le Cordon Bleu and formed a “club” at the schools campus. I believe this was their first effort together and it was a fund raiser for Slow Foods. Whole Foods was one of the sponsors. Whole Foods Market also employees Chef as the Southeast prepared food manager and soon to be the face of their “VALUE GURU” campaign. Click on all three of these to learn more about each. They are all three really good institutes, doing good for the benefit of all, weather “all” know about them or not.

I got to say I really love working with folks in the food industry, especially the likes of those who practice a smart and sustainable way of doing business. I met a fellow named Will Harris and he raises cattle. His farm has been in his family for 141 years and in 1995 they decided to take a more pure attitude to producing beef. Today the cows are grass fed, they are given no antibiotics and no hormones are used to speed up growth. I tasted his ground beef at the market, really, really good. Lean and clean. He gave us a small pack to take home and we had burgers on the grill.

I talked to lot’s of chefs from around town and was happy to learn lot’s of them were familiar with my art. More then one of them introduce themselves as “fans”, that was real cool. One chef show me a tattoo he had of a pig and told me one of my paintings had inspired it. Hell to the yea!

Other vendors there were, Sweet Grass Dairy with their award winning cheese. Antico mercante, they import some of the best cured meats and cheeses from Italy. Whippoorwill farm selling organic produce and some top named chefs did cooking demos. Pure Vida, Woodfire Grill, Rathbuns, Dynamic Dish were some restaurants doing demos.

I hope they do more events like this, it was great success.

Whole Foods Markets

After posting yesterday, Stacey sent me this article. I don’t know where she found it but it really gives you an idea of how Whole Foods is pro-active and the positive approach they take to doing business. Very much UNLIKE companies such as Wal-Mart who seem to do just the opposite, as in putting the small guy out of business. Lot’s of folks complain about the prices at Whole Foods, but doing business like they do ain’t cheap and the effect on the community is priceless.

ATLANTA (May 23, 2008) – Whole Foods Market recently provided more than $500,000 in low-interest loans to three Georgia producers. Sweet Water Growers, Via Elisa Fresh Pasta and Harris Family Heritage Beef all will use this loan money to grow their businesses right here in Georgia.

The Local Producer Loan Program at Whole Foods Market makes $10 million available annually for low-interest loans to small, local producers. An extension of Whole Food Market’s efforts to expand the availability of quality, local, differentiated products for customers, the loan program supports the communities in which the company does business. This program also strengthens Whole Foods Market’s partnership with local producers and therefore reinforces the value of environmental sustainability.

Harris Family Heritage Beef at White Oak Pastures (http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/), Georgia’s leading grassfed beef producer, was able to complete a long-awaited on-farm facility designed to process beef according to rigorous humane animal treatment standards and to minimize environmental impact with its loan.

“Having this plant on our farm means we will never again have to load cattle that were born and raised here onto an 18-wheeler,” said Will Harris, founder and owner of White Oak Pastures. “It is more humane for the animals and without a doubt better for the environment to have a closed production loop on the farm.”

Prior to completion of the 5,329 square-foot facility, White Oak Pastures transported its cattle to a processing plant 100 miles away from the farm in Bluffton, a journey that stresses the animals and contributes to global warming by expending fossil fuels in transport. The on-farm facility will allow White Oak Pastures to significantly expand production and distribution of its beef. Whole Foods Market started carrying the company’s fresh steaks, roasts, and ground beef at its butcher counters in 2007.

Another local farm and family-run business dedicated to bringing fresh culinary herbs and specialty greens of the highest quality to the South United States, Sweetwater Growers, Inc. (http://www.sweetwatergrowers.com/), just received a loan, which enabled the addition of two new greenhouses in order to grow more fresh micro greens, basil and other herbs.

“We currently produce 100 cases of the living products right now and will be able to produce 400 cases once construction on the new greenhouses has been completed,” says James Dault of Sweetwater Growers Inc. “Whole Foods Market has increased their orders with us by 50% since last year, and I hope they continue to grow with me.”

Via Elisa Fresh Pasta (http://www.viaelisa.com/), a genuine fresh pasta shop in Atlanta, received a loan that will pay for a pasta cutter that enables increased efficiency and productivity. Previously, the company cut all of its pasta manually but will now be able to provide additional product with the use of this new machine. Via Elisa uses 100% organic flours, 100% organic semolina, eggs from free-range hens and luxurious cheeses imported directly from Italy and can now provide customers and outlets such as Whole Foods with a larger supply of authentic, homemade Italian pasta.

“Via Elisa has been a Whole Foods Market local vendor for four years and during that time, more and more stores are carrying our products,” says Elisa Gambino, owner of Via Elisa Fresh Pasta. “This demand was too much for our tabletop cutting machine, and the loan from Whole Foods made it possible to purchase a new and much faster cutting machine. The increased speed without an increase in labor costs helped us offset the recent increase in egg and flour prices without changing our exceptional ingredients. Thanks to Whole Foods, we are now faster and more efficient!”

“The Whole Foods Market Local Producer Loan Program was set up specifically to assist farmers like Will and James, and specialty producers like Elisa” said Joey Herndon, vice president of purchasing, Whole Foods Market South Region. “By offering support to their expansions, we are able to strengthen our relationships with local producers and support the development of specific products.”

The loan program minimizes fees, interest rates and paperwork for independent local producers, however, loan recipients must meet the following requirements:

• • Meet Whole Foods Market’s Quality Standards
  • Use funds for expansion (e.g., buy more animals or new equipment, expand crops) and not operating expenses
  • Meet Whole Foods Market’s Animal Compassion Standards (for meat and dairy producers)
  • Have a viable business plan and adequate cash flow to service debt

Here in Georgia, three recent recipients of the local loan program include White Oak Pastures, Sweetwater Growers and Via Elisa Fresh Pasta.

Whole Foods Markets

After posting yesterday, Stacey sent me this article. I don’t know where she found it but it really gives you an idea of how Whole Foods is pro-active and the positive approach they take to doing business. Very much UNLIKE companies such as Wal-Mart who seem to do just the opposite, as in putting the small guy out of business. Lot’s of folks complain about the prices at Whole Foods, but doing business like they do ain’t cheap and the effect on the community is priceless.

ATLANTA (May 23, 2008) – Whole Foods Market recently provided more than $500,000 in low-interest loans to three Georgia producers. Sweet Water Growers, Via Elisa Fresh Pasta and Harris Family Heritage Beef all will use this loan money to grow their businesses right here in Georgia.

The Local Producer Loan Program at Whole Foods Market makes $10 million available annually for low-interest loans to small, local producers. An extension of Whole Food Market’s efforts to expand the availability of quality, local, differentiated products for customers, the loan program supports the communities in which the company does business. This program also strengthens Whole Foods Market’s partnership with local producers and therefore reinforces the value of environmental sustainability.

Harris Family Heritage Beef at White Oak Pastures (http://www.whiteoakpastures.com/), Georgia’s leading grassfed beef producer, was able to complete a long-awaited on-farm facility designed to process beef according to rigorous humane animal treatment standards and to minimize environmental impact with its loan.

“Having this plant on our farm means we will never again have to load cattle that were born and raised here onto an 18-wheeler,” said Will Harris, founder and owner of White Oak Pastures. “It is more humane for the animals and without a doubt better for the environment to have a closed production loop on the farm.”

Prior to completion of the 5,329 square-foot facility, White Oak Pastures transported its cattle to a processing plant 100 miles away from the farm in Bluffton, a journey that stresses the animals and contributes to global warming by expending fossil fuels in transport. The on-farm facility will allow White Oak Pastures to significantly expand production and distribution of its beef. Whole Foods Market started carrying the company’s fresh steaks, roasts, and ground beef at its butcher counters in 2007.

Another local farm and family-run business dedicated to bringing fresh culinary herbs and specialty greens of the highest quality to the South United States, Sweetwater Growers, Inc. (http://www.sweetwatergrowers.com/), just received a loan, which enabled the addition of two new greenhouses in order to grow more fresh micro greens, basil and other herbs.

“We currently produce 100 cases of the living products right now and will be able to produce 400 cases once construction on the new greenhouses has been completed,” says James Dault of Sweetwater Growers Inc. “Whole Foods Market has increased their orders with us by 50% since last year, and I hope they continue to grow with me.”

Via Elisa Fresh Pasta (http://www.viaelisa.com/), a genuine fresh pasta shop in Atlanta, received a loan that will pay for a pasta cutter that enables increased efficiency and productivity. Previously, the company cut all of its pasta manually but will now be able to provide additional product with the use of this new machine. Via Elisa uses 100% organic flours, 100% organic semolina, eggs from free-range hens and luxurious cheeses imported directly from Italy and can now provide customers and outlets such as Whole Foods with a larger supply of authentic, homemade Italian pasta.

“Via Elisa has been a Whole Foods Market local vendor for four years and during that time, more and more stores are carrying our products,” says Elisa Gambino, owner of Via Elisa Fresh Pasta. “This demand was too much for our tabletop cutting machine, and the loan from Whole Foods made it possible to purchase a new and much faster cutting machine. The increased speed without an increase in labor costs helped us offset the recent increase in egg and flour prices without changing our exceptional ingredients. Thanks to Whole Foods, we are now faster and more efficient!”

“The Whole Foods Market Local Producer Loan Program was set up specifically to assist farmers like Will and James, and specialty producers like Elisa” said Joey Herndon, vice president of purchasing, Whole Foods Market South Region. “By offering support to their expansions, we are able to strengthen our relationships with local producers and support the development of specific products.”

The loan program minimizes fees, interest rates and paperwork for independent local producers, however, loan recipients must meet the following requirements:

• • Meet Whole Foods Market’s Quality Standards
  • Use funds for expansion (e.g., buy more animals or new equipment, expand crops) and not operating expenses
  • Meet Whole Foods Market’s Animal Compassion Standards (for meat and dairy producers)
  • Have a viable business plan and adequate cash flow to service debt

Here in Georgia, three recent recipients of the local loan program include White Oak Pastures, Sweetwater Growers and Via Elisa Fresh Pasta.

More on The Order of Myths

Margaret Brown is the film maker responsible for the film “The Order of Myths”. She is from Mobile, Alabama and worked with about 400 hours of footage to put the documentary together. She has another documentary out about Townes Van Zandt, “Be here to love me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt”, which I plan on getting. It’s at amazon. com. Here is a short interview with her and some other sites that have written about the film. Check them out for more info and thoughts on “The Order of Myths”.

http://blog.spout.com/2008/03/12/sxsw-2008-interview-margaret-brown-of-the-order-of-myths/

http://www.cinematical.com/2008/07/27/review-the-order-of-myths/

http://www.indiewire.com/movies/2008/07/review_carnival.html