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  • Listen Up, Philly! Eat Local Year Round: Philly Farm and Food Fest

    Listen Up, Philly! Eat Local Year Round: Philly Farm and Food Fest

     

    farmers market stuff

     

    We are indeed much more than what we eat,

    but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are.

    -Adelle Davis

    I posted this over on our local family-centric blog but wanted to share here too. I’m wicked excited about this event!

    The Philly Farm & Food Fest promises to be an inspiration to buying local all year round, but I’m hoping to find local sources of flour so I can really take my summer eat local challenges one step further. I also love getting to know the people behind the local companies that I support.

    When:

    Sunday, April 1st from 11am -4pm (exclusive wholesale buyers’ reception from 4:30-6pm)

    Where:

    Pennsylvania Convention Center Annex Hall G

    What:

    This kid-friendly inaugural event is a collaboration between Fair Food and PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) and features:

    • over 100 local farmers, food producers, artisanal food businesses and other providers of sustainable goods and services from across our region: check out the full list of exhibitors here.
    • samples and sales of locally made products like “zip code” honey, cheeses, cured meats, jams, small batch ice creams, organic flour, baked goods
    • workshops on seed saving, hands-on seed planting skills, the ABCs of beekeeping, a guided tasting to artisan cheeses, and a healthy foods scavenger hunt for kids

    Why:

    It’s so important to know where your food comes from, and to support local businesses (keeping dollars in our area). An event like this not only helps you recognize and support local farmers and producers, but introduces you to the people behind the businesses. Remember when businesses meant people you could trust? Plus, a great opportunity to educate the kids about how food gets from farm to table.

    Tickets:

    General admission tickets are $15 in advance for adults or $20 at the door, children 12 and under are free. Group discounts are available for advance purchase only on the website; group of 15 or more pays only $10 per ticket. (I think I’ve got a group of about 20 area bloggers meeting up for this!)

    Find out about local CSAs and farmers markets, and bring your reusable bags for shopping.

    Like Philly Farm and Food Fest on Facebook and follow @PhillyFarmFest on Twitter for more updates 🙂

     

     

  • Homemade Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt

    Homemade Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt

    pumpkin

    He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton;

    he who does not cannot be otherwise.

    -Henry David Thoreau

    I’ve pretty much overcome my love of sweets.

    Except for a few glorious weeks of the year, when Cold Stone Creamery features pumpkin ice cream.

    I like to order it with graham cracker and caramel mix-in. Yuuuuummmmmm.

    My mission: to come up with a slightly healthier version that was still rich and creamy, that I could indulge in all year round.

     

    pumpkin frozen yogurt

     

    Ingredients:

    1 1/2 cups plain kefir
    1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
    1/2 cup sugar
    2 tablespoons Pumpkin Torani syrup
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I use Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract which I buy at Williams-Sonoma; I’ve found a good vanilla makes a huge difference in the richness of taste.)

     
    DIY frozen yogurt

     

    Instructions:

    Mix together ingredients.

    Pour into ice cream maker.

    Run through ice cream maker until thick and creamy.

    Top with warm caramel and crumbled graham cracker (I tried adding caramel “ribbons” at the end of the churning, that didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped; no dramatic striping and made it way sweeter than I like. Don’t bother.)

    That’s it! Sooooo easy!

    Kefir-only recipe:

    I tried this again with just kefir, no heavy cream (which I originally used to get that creamy quality). That ingredient list looked like this:

    1 1/2 cups plain kefir
    1/4 cup sugar
    2 tablespoons Pumpkin Torani syrup
    1/2 teaspoon vanilla

    This is more like fast-food soft serve (more icy) but I liked it better, as it was less sweet. It made two generous servings: one for dessert tonight, and one I froze to be mixed with vanilla protein powder tomorrow for a protein packed milkshake!

    Making your own traditional ice cream at home is a bit of a pain— you have to cook the base and then freeze it overnight (although, generally speaking, the results are well worth it). I love that these kefir concoctions can be thrown together on a whim; all I have to do is wash out the bowl and stick back in the freezer for the next time the urge for something cold and sweet hits me 🙂

    Any other DIY ice creamers out there?
    Do you find it worth the trouble?

     

     

     

  • Getting Dirty, Girl

    Getting Dirty, Girl

    digging springtime

    In the spring,

    at the end of the day,

    you should smell like dirt.

    -Margaret Atwood

    From Margaret Atwood’s pen to Cassidy’s ears.

    In the middle of the area Jeff usually fences off for our veggie garden attempts, there once was a big ol’ tree stump.

    The tree stump was apparently Jeff’s white whale for reasons that are quite beyond my understanding, and he totally got all Captain Ahab on its ass once the weather warmed. He was out there chop, chop, chopping away, every evening and on the weekends, but in the end he conquered that sucker.

     

    DIY tree stump removal

     

    Once it was all broken up and dug out, there was a massive hole in the ground that I wanted to fashion into a dinosaur footprint and photograph for the tabloids, but my family assured me that this idea was even more ridiculous than my usual array of ridiculous ideas. Can’t win ’em all, I guess.

    Cass got to help fill the hole back in and tamp it down (the photo is post-tamping). Jeff shared in secret that she’s the hardest worker of all the kids, but seriously to Cass there is no better way to spend your time than getting all dirty with permission.

    Please, do not buy this child any toys for her birthday. Just ask her to come dig and refill holes in your yard and she will be a happy camper, modeling her dirty face and clothes like the trendiest of Parisian finery.

     

    kid covered in dirt

     

    Mucking about in the dirt is good for you, you know. There have been plenty of studies suggesting that spending time in green spaces improve your well-being: reducing stress, helping you sleep, boosting immunity, reducing allergies. But Mycobacterium vaccae, a harmless bacteria found in dirt, measurably boosts serotonin in your brain (low serotonin levels cause depression).

    It’s one reason I’ve learned to deal with stained clothes and dirt under her fingernails. But it’s also because I’d rather she be outside than inside, shoveling than sitting, and beaming with a smudged face than worried about messing up her clothes. The kid is a tomboy and I like her that way.

    She reminds me of me.

    Speaking of which…

    Cassie’s not the only dirty girl around here. I’m going to be getting a little dirty myself.

     dirty girl logo

    I’m joining my boss-lady-in-chief Kelly Olexa and a handful of FitFluential Ambassadors in Atlanta April 28th for the Dirty Girl Mud Run.

    Dirty Girl is a ladies-only, untimed, no pressure obstacle course 5K mud run for all fitness levels that puts the emphasis on good (un)clean fun. It’s a revisiting of that childhood joy from just mucking around and making everyday things into physical challenges.

    The course consists of obstacles like “H2 Oh My God,” “Utopian Tubes,” “Slippery When Wet” & “PMS” (Pretty Muddy Stuff), is manned by off-duty firefighters & ends with a sloshing crawl through a 40 ft long mud pit. Each one gives you the option of going around if you don’t think you can handle it. And afterwards, you’re awarded with a t-shirt, charm rather than medal, music, entertainment, pampering, adult drinks, shopping opps, and of course: an overwhelming sense of freedom and accomplishment.

    For this novice, reluctant runner (starting week 4 of the Couch to 5K program tomorrow) it’s something to work towards. You’re as young as you feel, as they say, and I predict I’ll feel seven years old when I’m done. And I hope I can carry a spark of that feeling into my every day.

    A portion of Dirty Girl proceeds are donated to National Breast Cancer Foundation, and every run city reserves 250 free registrations for cancer survivors. You can find and register at a Dirty Girl location here, and they are planning to expand into 40-50 cities next year.

    On April 5th we’ll be co-hosting a Twitter chat with @GoDirtyGirl about the Dirty Girl runs (9pm EST, search for the hashtag #GoDirtyGirl). I’m the one behind the @FitFluential handle. Come hang out with me and find out more about the event and how to prepare… Run registrations good for any 2012 Dirty Girl location will be given away to five randomly chosen participants.

    Come on. You know you wanna talk dirty and get dirty with me.

    (If you’re not on the Twitter, you can also like Dirty Girl Mud Run on the Facebook for updates.)

    Truth be told, I’m kinda nervous about making a dang fool of myself. Words of encouragement are welcome in the comments 🙂

     

    Disclosure: I’m Community Manager for FitFluential and Dirty Girl is a client. I received a complimentary run registration for the Atlanta run. I will buy another for Scranton if enough people say they’ll join me. All long-winded musings are my own.