Locavore odds and ends

I’ve gotten a few new freelance writing clients recently, and I’m really psyched about my business growing, but it’s left me little time to focus on this blog and A Little Greener Every Day. I don’t expect regular posting to resume until March 15th, but I’ll be posting if there is something timely to tell you about.

I’ve got quite a few odds and ends for you today because I’ve been saving them up for a couple weeks.

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  My beef bourguignon served on top of mashed potatoes. So good on a snowed in night.

  It’s snowing as I write this. I know we’re all ready for spring, but one thing all this snow has given many of us is time to cook and bake a little bit more. A couple of weeks ago, I took on the challenge of making beef bourguignon during one of the snow storms. That led me to do a piece on MNN called the Top 10 Snowmageddon foods about what people were cooking while snowed in. The ever fabulous Dori and Val from More Hip Than Hippie, living in sunny Chico, CA, were curious about all this cooking while snowed in and interviewed me for their podcast about surviving Snowmageddon.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer has a piece called Local does it that talks about sources for local foods during this season.
• There’s an Iron Cupcake Challenge happening this Sunday from 1-4 at The Tortilla Press Cantina in Collingswood. Proceeds will go to help the victims of Haiti. You get to eat cupcakes. People in need get help. Win/win.
• Speaking of The Tortilla Press Cantina, there will be another #SJTweetup there on March 9th. This will be the first Tweetup I will be missing.
• The Rutgers NJAgricultural Experiment Station will hold a Make your own rain barrel workshop on March 6. Cost is $35 and includes the materials to build a rain barrel.
• Alba Vineyard will be holding a Wine 101 class each Saturday during the month of March. Cost is $20 for a 90 minute class – a bargain. Classes like this in the city would cost a lot more.
• On March 4, The Hazon CSA of Southern NJ invites you to meet  farmers Jim Kinsel and Sherry Dudas of Honey Brook Organic Farm to learn about the farm’s fresh organic produce as well as how Hazon CSA operates. Registration for the 2010 season is now open and closes March 15th, or when fully subscribed. RSVP: HazonCSAsnj@gmail.com. Temple Beth Sholom, 1901 Kresson Road, Cherry Hill.
• John and Lisa reported this first, but I had to link to it to because it’s something for us all to look forward to. Johnson’s Corner Farm Market reopens on March 19th. That’s only 3 weeks away. Spring. It really is close. Hard to believe right now, isn’t it.
• Finally, it’s Open That Bottle Night this Saturday night. In it’s 11th year, it’s the night when you’re supposed to open that bottle of wine you’ve been saving for a special occasion but that special occasion never seems to come up. I’ll be opening a bottle of Unionville Vineyard’s The Big ‘O’ that I bought at last year’s East Coast Food & Wine Festival.