AgriMissouri

Kansas City Food Circle's Eat Local! 2008

Eat Local! 2008 provides consumers an opportunity to buy directly from local family farms before farmers' market season starts. Below is more information on the upcoming event.

Buy Direct from Local Family Farms

• High-quality, organic vegetables available on-site and through CSA memberships
• Free-range meats, eggs and dairy products
• Veggie seedlings and plants for spring gardens
• Original music by Eco-Troubadour - Stan Slaughter
• Free Directory of Local Organic and Free Range Food Producers
• Free admission & parking

Saturday, April 5

9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Roger T. Sermon Community Center
Truman & Noland Road, Independence, Mo.

Workshop at 9:30 a.m.: "Grow Food, Not Lawns!"
Chef's Demo at 12:00 p.m.: "Spring Flavors from Local Fare"

For more information visit http://www.kcfoodcircle.org/ or call 913-334-0556.

Friday Fixin's

Last week we dyed Easter eggs to help us celebrate Easter on Sunday, now we've got several hard-boiled eggs left. I'm assuming there are others out there in the same boat so today's recipe features Grandma's Cool & Zesty salad dressing in deviled eggs. Enjoy!

Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:
12 Eggs, hard boiled
2 teaspoons mustard
1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Grandma’s Cool & Zesty Dressing

Remove shells from eggs, and halve lengthwise with a knife. Carefully removed the yolks and place in a medium bowl. Mash yolks with a fork and add remaining ingredients. Mix until creamy. Very carefully spoon mixture back into the egg white halves. Garnish with a light sprinkling of paprika to add color.

Taste of Your Town Pizza Battle

That's right, there is a contest to see who can create the perfect home town pizza. This contest is the perfect time to show off the great, tasty, healthy produce that's available here in Missouri from farmers and farmers' markets. The contest is a great reason to let your creativity flow in your kitchen. Below is more information.

Who says New York and Chicago should reign supreme in the pizza world? As part of its 125^th anniversary Bolla Wines, “The Official Wine of Pizza” is inviting all Missourians to battle it out in the Taste of Your Town Pizza Battle. To take part in the battle consumers must submit a pizza recipe that best reflects Missouri– whether it incorporates locally-produced ingredients or the state’s signature dish (think of a honey-based sauce and black walnuts for toppings). And, because wine and pizza is the perfect pair, entries will need to include a Bolla varietal to go with the submitted recipe.

Participants have from February 1 to August 31, 2008, to submit recipes for their region. Competing regions include: Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Far West. Regional winners will receive a pizza oven and other Bolla prizes. The Grand Prize winner will win bragging rights for his or her region and a trip to Europe to visit Bolla’s winery in Verona, Italy, and attend the 2009 World Pizza Championships.

To enter a recipe and wine pairing, pizza lovers 21 years of age and older can log on to http://www.bolla.com/taste.aspx. Contestants are encouraged to use local ingredients in the crust, sauce and topping. Entries will be judged on creativity, taste, and their ability to pair well with a Bolla varietal. The best of each region will be announced at the end of September and the grand prize winner will be decided via an online vote in October, National Pizza Month. Full details are available at http://www.bolla.com/taste.aspx.

Unique Farm Experience

I was trying to figure out what to write about earlier this afternoon and was having a pretty hard time so I decided to look through some of the photos I took when I was in Wisconsin on the NAFDMA Bus Tour. Luckily, the light bulb kicked on and I decided to tell you about the A-Z Farm. This is a great example of an agritourism business that offers a unique experience but is only open briefly during the year.

The A-Z Farm is a working sheep farm. For those who have listened to the podcasts, you know sheep are near and dear to my heart. This farm is only open to the public 4-5 weekends per year. They open two weekends in February for Shearing Days (this is when I was there) and three weekends in March for Lambing Days. Farm Tours are available but those must be scheduled in advance.

It's a great concept because it proves that a farmer doesn't have to be open year round to provide an agricultural experience. Visitors to the farm pay an admission fee to watch the shearing or see the baby lambs, there's the chance that visitors can witness a lamb's birth. I was there on a shearing weekend and it was a lot of fun. I've watched shearing forever but the farmer narrated what was going on and answered all questions, then you could walk into the heated "wool" room to watch the wool being skirted* and then spun into yarn.

There were posters and signs all over explaining the process and different types of fleece. You could even buy a wool item to take home from one of the craft booths that were set up in the barn outside the shearing area. It was a great experience and the visitors seemed to be having a great time.

*Skirting is the process used to remove the dirt and undesirable pieces of wool out of the fleece so that it can be washed and spun. The last photo shows the skirting table with a fleece on it.

Beefalo.....Another Meat Alternative

Everyday I receive alerts from Google based on key words I've selected. One of my key word phrases is Missouri agriculture, today in this alert was an interesting article about beefalo production and John and Karen Fowler, Missouri beefalo producers.

Farmers' Market Season Begins

The Columbia Farmers' Market kicked off its season this past Saturday. Despite the cool weather, it sounds like it was a great day! The Columbia Missourian even came out to cover the opening. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Chilly conditions made little difference to Missouri farmers Saturday as they brought their wares to the opening day of the Columbia Farmers Market.

Two rows of pristine white tents covered vendor tables laden with honeycomb, fresh greens, mushrooms, cheeses, eggs, fresh baked goods, peacock quills and more­.

“It’s been a long winter,” said longtime customer Ene-Kaja Chippendale.

“This is my favorite way to spend Saturday morning,” she added enthusiastically,

The weather didn’t scare away customers. Kicking off its 28th year, the market at Clinkscales and Ash streets behind the Activity and Recreation Center attracted approximately 850 people from 8 a.m. to noon.

The aroma of pie, coffee and herbs was in the air, and Spanish guitar music played in the background.

Friday Fixin's

This week's Friday Fixin's is from Heartland Creamery in Newark, Missouri. Heartland produces a delicious line of goat (chevre) and cow's milk cheeses as well as milk bottled in glass. To celebrate the beginning of spring, I've chosen one of Heartland's salads that features their chevre. Enjoy with lettuces from your farmers' market.

Apple and Goat Cheese Salad

1/2 pound Boston lettuce
3.5-ounce log of plain Heartland Creamery Chevre
1 large apple
1 tablespoon butter

Serve with your choice of dressing or try the dressing below:

Cut apples into 1/2-inch thick slices, do not peel. Melt butter in a sauté pan and cook apples over medium heat for 5 minutes. Slice the chevre into 2 pieces and place on top of apples. Cover and let cook 3-4 minutes. Cheese will melt somewhat and cover apples. Wash lettuce and dry. Divide into 2 servings onto salad plates. Top with cooked apple and cheese blend. Serve with poppy seed dressing. Serves 2.

National Ag Day

First, Happy Spring! Yeah! Today, I'm straying a little from talking about AgriMissouri members and products to tell everyone that it's National Ag Day. Sort of goes along with the start of spring.

Agriculture is important to Missouri's economy. Below is a quote from Governor Blunt that has some pretty big statistics in it, so I thought I would share it.

"Missouri agriculture is a bedrock of our state’s economy," Gov. Matt Blunt said.  "We continue to be a leader in agriculture and produce nearly $6 billion annually in agricultural commodities.  It is important that we take the time today to recognize the

Missouri farm families who provide us with a safe and abundant food supply and many value-added products that are contributing to

Missouri's growing economy."

Watch for tomorrow's Friday Fixin's.

Missouri Farmers' Market Map

The sun is shining here in Jefferson City after two days of almost constant rain. I'm sure in the middle of the summer we'll be complaining because it hasn't rained but for right now, I'm glad it's stopped.

The sunshine reminded me that several farmers' markets are opening this weekend, mainly in the larger cities but still, farmers' market season is upon us. This means we will be able to eat fresh, local veggies from now until late fall. What could be better?

You may be wondering, how can I find out if my farmers' market is open or where is the closest farmers' market? Below area couple links where you can find information online or, shortly, AgriMissouri & the MO Farmers' Market Association will be printing the 2008 Farmers' Market Map. This is a great tool to leave in your car, that way you can reference it while you're traveling this summer.

AgriMissouri Farmers Market Page
Missouri Farmers' Market Directory
A Look at Missouri Farmers' Markets Blog

FYI Markets: contact AgriMissouri ASAP if you have not updated your profile in the AgriMissouri Buyer's Guide to reflect your 2008 season.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Shatto Milk Company

I have to admit, when I get busy I don't get my emails opened as quickly as I should. Last Thursday, Shatto Milk Company sent out their monthly newsletter and I just opened it up. Thank goodness I did! I almost missed telling you about their Annual Easter Egg Hunt coming up this weekend.

Bring your family and friends out to Shatto Milk Company this Sunday, March 23 to hunt for Easter eggs. The hunt starts promptly at 2:30 p.m. Kids of all ages are welcome and prizes will be awarded to kids who find the "special eggs".

This event is free but they do suggest that participants arrive 20 minutes before the event to register. The Easter Egg Hunt is held rain, snow (I hope not) or shine. After the hunt, kids can have their picture taken with the Easter Bunny and a Shatto Milk Company Cow. How cool will that photo be when your kids are dating!

For more information contact Shatto Milk Company and don't even think about leaving Shatto's without having a chocolate milk. It's wonderful!