To Market to Food Market

While it’s fun to write about food and think about what we’ll be eating on Thanksgiving, remember the homeless and people in need and in transition.

Here’s what Primavera Foundation needs:

They still need mashed potatoes for 25 people, two roasted turkeys (20 lbs each), gravy for 30 people, stuffing for 30 people, as well as drinks and desserts for 30 people. 

At the men’s shelter where 110 men will be served, they still need of drinks apple juice and coffee, as well as stuffing for 25 people, green salad for 30 people, a variety of salad dressings, and 4 gallons of gravy for the turkey/potatoes. 

They need several hot food drop offs at one of their transitional apartments on the day AFTER Thanksgiving at noon.

If you don’t feel like cooking, supermarket gift cards will be put to good use.

Please email Jenny Cowen ASAP and tell her what you can bring or pick up the phone.

email: volunteers@primavera.org
phone: 623-5111 x 102

What's in your CSA share this week?

If you read my column fairly regularly, you know I’ve been subscribing to the  Tucson CSA for fall.

I split my share with Sam Brace. We switch off weeks.

It’s worked out well and we both seem to be enjoying our respective weeks.

The Tucson CSA has a few openings for the Friday pickup at the historic Y just west of 4th Avenue.  The Tuesday pickup is full.  You can only go on the day that you sign up for.

Check out the latest newsletter (in PDF) as to what’s coming with the winter share.

If you have any questions, please let me know or if possible, go to the historic Y located at 300 E. University Blvd. (between 4th and 5th Ave.) on Friday or Tuesday between 4 and 7 p.m. to check it out and ask questions.

Due to the El Tour de Tucson, the Oro Valley Farmers’ Market will hold a special afternoon market from 2 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 21. This is in lieu of their regular hours.

Thanksgiving FEASTable will be celebrated following the tour this weekend in Oro Valley where market goers can get farm fresh ingredients for their Thanksgiving table.   Join Chef Ramiro Scavo from Harvest Restaurant for a Chef at the Market demo at 2 p.m.  Watch Chef Ramiro create small dishes featuring local and seasonal items, taste samples at the market, and then prepare at home. 

Apples, pomegranates, winter squash, pumpkins as well as winter greens, watercress, arugula, chard, lettuces and spinach are in season. Pick up your smoked turkey from Rod’s KC BBQ or grab some holiday pies, fresh breads, tortillas, and baked goods.     

The Oro Valley Farmers’ Market is located at the corner of Naranja & La Canada in the Town Hall complex and is open from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday 21 only.  Complete details regarding this schedule change can be obtained by visiting the website.

farmers market at Broadway Village

On Friday – November 20, Broadway Village will host an all day farmers market that celebrates the farmer, Tucson’s culture, and support for the Community Food Bank

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., along with the regular bounty of the farmers market…check out these additional happenings:

–Local chefs will present their favorite recipes
–Native Americans will demostrate artisan crafts
–Native Seeds/SEARCH will provide info about preserving crops
–Redhouse Dancers will perform native songs and dances at 1 p.m. 

Plus the usual (but never boring) produce and products from more than 40 vendors

When the kids get home from school, bring them along for free activities for kids of all ages from 4 to 6 p.m.

–Redhouse Dancers will perform native songs and dances at 4 p.m.
–Storytelling
–KidzArt project 

All the events are free.

Please bring canned goods to help feed Tucson’s hungry through the Community Food Bank.

For more information, visit the Broadway Village website.  Broadway Village is located on the SW corner of Broadway & Country Club.

Thursday, November 19 – 3 to 6 p.m.

It’s the 5th Annual mesquite milling. Bring your mesquite pods to be ground into mesquite flour and sample mesquite  recipes. Please view the Desert Harvesters website for mesquite pod tips and recipes.

Produce and products on hand include tat soi, red and sweet potatoes, organic watermelon (who knew that was still in season?), kale, spicy mustard greens, beets, eggplant, winter squash, apples and apple cider, and more. Scroll down and there’s a recipe for roasted beet salad.

This is the last day of the Santa Cruz River Farmers Market until January 7, 2010 from 3 to 6 p.m. The market takes a holiday break.

I failed to write about my last Tucson CSA pick up and better do it now because Friday I have my next CSA (community supported agriculture) pick up.

As in the previous weeks, my share included produce that I would never – never – never  buy myself.

There were two bunches of fresh beets. While I love beets, I have never personally messed with them.

I also picked up a white turban squash, small carton of green tomatoes that have since turned red, indigenous green onions, bag of roasted chiles, two Mexican gray squash, a ripe gorgeous melon of some kind, and mustard greens. There could’ve been more but I’m old and so is my memory. Oh, and of course my fresh goat cheese share.

I’m happy to report that I have eaten all the food and shared the mustard greens with my friend Ditte Lokon.

The white turban squash was beautiful. It looked more like a home accessory instead of edible. I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds, pricked a bit, dribbled the center with blood orange olive oil, put some water in the dish, and microwaved each half for about 4 minutes. Simple and elegant and not as sweet as the butternut squash which I prepared the same way two weeks prior.

As for the mustard greens, I cleaned them well and chopped. I sauteed green onions, Mexican gray squash and the greens together along with garlic and poured the entire mixture into Trader Joe’s marina sauce and allowed to commingle flavors overnight. The next day I ate chunky tomato vegetable sauce with whole wheat pasta. Excellent!

But then there were the beets.

I scoured the web looking for roasted beet recipes and found this one. The comments after the recipe convinced me this was the recipe to use. I didn’t want to peel the beets.

The recipe was great but it said to roast at 350-degrees for 1 hr. 15 min. If I followed those directions, I would’ve burned the house down. I checked the beets after 45 minutes and they were fork tender. Much to my relief the beets didn’t need peeling.

Then I sauteed torn beet greens with olive oil, chopped yellow onion (from a previous CSA share), garlic, and some freshly grated ginger. What seemed like a mountain of food shrunk considerably. I poured red vinegar over the mix.

Then I took the whole thing over to BK’s house to eat as a part of dinner.

The beets would’ve been great in a salad with fresh spinach, goat cheese crumbles, and a drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette.

My roasting beet days have just begin. Now I want to find golden beets…

AP reported that the grocery strike was averted.  Read the article.

I have driven past this market for years and years. Today my foodie friend Anne from Oracle, Ariz. was in town running errands and suggested we go since she is starting to make more Japanese food a la bento box style from the Just Bento website.

Sandyi is compact but neat. We walked up and down the aisles marveling at the packages written in another language. It was fascinating.

Anne bought a yam that looked nothing like the yams in regular grocery stores. She also bought various Japanese seasonings.

I was just sight seeing because I spent all my money on lunch and didn’t want to use plastic but I will be back.

I didn’t take notes so this is all from memory: There were bags of multiple kinds of rice — green rice, brown rice, instant brown rice, sweet brown rice, black rice, and many kinds of white rice. There was several varieties of barley and malt, even roasted barley tea and panko crumbs.

Who knew there were so many different kinds of sesame oils and soy sauces? 

In the refrigerated section, there was a rainbow of pickled items, tubs of miso paste, and Calpico soft drinks.

In the freezer section, we pondered over many of products but did notice two kinds of gyoza, green tea ice cream, and assorted fish. 

Produce was limited to unusual greens, not-the-usual mushrooms, oddly-shaped root vegetables, and very ripe persimmons.

There was a lot of ohhing and ahhing going on.

Is anyone reading this who is knowledgeable about these products and is willing to give me a guided tour? I’d love to know more about some of the products and how to use them.

Sandyi Oriental Market is located at 4270 E. Pima St. (at Columbus); 320-0389.

What’s your favorite Asian market?

Santa Cruz Farmers Market
The hours are from 3 to 6 p.m. As usual the market brims with garden fresh produce such as green beans, melons, chilies, tat soi, mustard greens, winter squash, (I’m getting hungry), spinach, bok choy, beets, pomegranates, apples, locally roasted coffee, honey, red and sweet potatoes, hot peppers, and more. Fresh eggs are available for $3/dozen. Mark your calendars because next week – November 19, Desert Harvesters will be here grinding dried mesquite pods into flour.

What’s Tat Soi?
Tat soi or tatsoi is an Asian green that is also called flat cabbage, rosette bok choy, and spoon cabbage. It’s a member of the brassica family which includes broccoli, brussels sprouts, collards, and kale. Tatsoi can be used in salads or sautéed, steamed or braised and mixed with sauces, chicken, tofu, and pasta. Tatsoi is low in calories and high in minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.

Mesquite Pancakes
Last week I reported about Desert Harvesters mesquite pancake breakfast on November 7. This was their most successful breakfast ever selling over 2,000 pancakes, and milling over 960 pounds of mesquite pods with three mills on the pancake fiesta day and two mills the next day.

Sprouts Goes Green
Sprouts Farmers Market has joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership and voluntarily committed to decreasing refrigerant emissions through innovative HVAC, refrigeration design and leak-tight practices. Sprouts wants to be your  environmentally conscious neighbor and grocer. Sprouts is located at 7665 N. Oracle Road.

Please send your Tucson farmers market and grocery news to eat.tucson@yahoo.com

It’s possible that Kroger’s Fry’s and Safeway will go on strike. Both chains have advertised for temporary workers to cross the picket lines and pick up the slack.

How do you feel about these two big box food stores striking in such a down economy when unemployment is double digit?

Is anyone who is reading this going to strike?

Is anyone who is reading this going to cross the picket line to shop if there is a strike?

I remember last year or the year before when Ralph’s Market (another Kroger market) in So. Cal. went on strike. It lasted months and in the end, I think the workers lost more then they gained.

The dissent lies with wages and healthcare costs. So what else is new?