Buckwheat Pancakes! 100% Local !!

Love this time of year!!! -Heirloom Tomatos!!

Fresh Garden Potatoes!

Local Eating

Starting today to eat Local before the September Locavore Challenge. I have picked 4 of my 5 "exceptions' to local eating. 1. Coffee 2. Olive Oil 3. Eziekiel Sprouted Bread 4. Vinegar and I will have to wait and see what number 5 will be :)

Check out the challenge for yourself! https://www.nofany.org/events/ny-locavore-challenge

Harvest time!

Branchport Farmers Market!

Come visit the Branchport Farmers Market- Tuesdays at the Branchport Fire Department Pavilion 4:00 pm - 7:00pm Also visit them on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/branchport.farmers.market

Lunch at the NY Wine and Culinary Center-Canandaigua

Had a very good lunch yesterday at the Culinary Center! Really a great place to visit and escape for a while! http://nywcc.com/

Spotted Duck Apiary Raw Unfiltered Honey

I purchased this fantastic 'Spring 2011' honey after seeing it featured in the summer 2011 edition of "edible Finger Lakes" magazine. It is offered at Galen's Homestead Acres in Clifton Springs where I purchase raw milk. Worth every dime. It is the best honey I have ever had. Check out their website: www.spottedduckapiary.com

The Peeps Are Here!

Steak Anyone? -Big Mamou Hereford Porterhouse!

2nd Annual New York Locavore Challenge!

NOFA-NY ANNOUNCES 2ND ANNUAL NY LOCAVORE CHALLENGE

This September, NOFA-NY will sponsor its 2nd Annual NY Locavore Challenge. The NY Locavore Challenge is a first of its kind, month-long campaign aimed at engaging consumers across the state in actively supporting the local organic food movement.

The Locavore challenge starts with the theory “vote with your dollar,” and takes it a few steps further, by appealing concerned citizens to participate in a wide variety of events and challenges that support their local economies, encourage organic and sustainable growing practices and propel the movement forward. The aim is for 5,000 people state-wide to participate in the challenge this year. By signing up, you can be part of a movement that is hungry, active and ready to change our food system.

How Does it Work?:

First, participants choose a level of commitment.
-Choose from a Bite-Sized (3 mini-challenges), Meal-Sized (6 mini-challenges) or a Feast-Sized Challenge (9 mini-challenges)

Second, choose your mini-challenges from three fun categories:
-Grow, Cook, Eat; Join the Movement; and Take Action

Within the Grow, Cook, Eat category, explore fun mini-challenges such as: Gardening, Composting, Foraging or taking a 250 Mile Diet Challenge for a day, a week or the full-month of September.

Within the Join the Movement category, explore fun mini-challenges and events such as: Blogging, Attending a Potluck, or Hosting a Locavore Book Discussion.

Within the Take Action category, explore fun mini-challenges and events such as: Volunteering, Donating, Starting a Community Garden, or Speaking with your Representative to support local sustainable farms and food businesses.

How Can you Sign-Up to Participate?:

Registration is available online at www.nylocavorechallenge.com or by calling the NOFA-NY office at (585) 271-1979 ext. 512.

NY Locavore Challenge -http://www.nofany.org/events/ny-locavore-challenge

How Orange Are Your Yolks? !!

Hay is for Horses...and Cows and Chickens!!

Canandaigua Lake Trout! Before and After-Fantastic!!!!

Lunch at Lakeside!! Hammondsport NY

Never enough Radishes!

Breakfast! Local Berries and Maple Sugar

Spring is finally here!

Spring is finally here in the Finger Lakes. I am starting to clean out flowerbeds and also planning the garden. Yesterday I stopped and purchased onion sets, seed potatoes and gladiola bulbs! Truly anxious to get into the garden!

The Whole Grain Mystery

With all the whole grain hype we see on labels today, it is easy to get confused and mislead! Every knows that whole grain is better, but why? Unlike refined grains, whole grains have the nutrient rich bran and germ intact. The bran and germ account for most of the wheat's nutritional value. In common white flour the bran and germ are removed. Wheat Bran is the outer shell of the wheat kernel and contains 12 grams of insoluble fiber per ounce. One ounce also contains 40% of the daily RDA for both niacin and magnesium and 15% of the RDA for iron, along with 60 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fat. Wheat germ is the embryo of the kernel, and contains a high proportion of polyunsaturated oils. One ounce contains 100 calories, 9 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of fat. It also contains about one-third of the RDA for thiamine and vitamin E, as well as 10% of the RDA for iron and riboflavin.

Finding the best wheat bread maybe harder than you think. Bread labeled "multi-grain", "stone ground" or "100 % wheat" are often made with refined flour. To be sure you are getting bread with the benefit of whole grains, look at the ingredient list. If "bleached white flour", "unbleached enriched wheat flour" are listed as a top ingredient skip that loaf. Look for the word "whole" in the first few ingredients. Many breads that claim they are whole wheat are mixed with a large amount of refined flour. Even the label whole grain can have added whole grains like rye, but still mixed with refined flour.

Want to try a great healthy alternative to typical store bread? Try Ezekiel 4:9 bread, available at health food stores (and some really great chain grocery stores, too). Usually in the freezer section ( a great sign that whole or sprouted whole grains are used!!) To learn more check out the Ezekiel website: http://www.foodforlife.com/