As you’re planning for your Thanksgiving, remember to buy local whenever and wherever you can. Let’s give our local producers a last shot of financial support before many of them go into hibernation for the winter.

A few things you might be interested in knowing about:

• The Food Bank of South Jersey is opening up its wear house in Pennsauken for direct donations of food this Saturday, November 19th. Their need is great, so if you can’t get there to donate food, you can always make an online monetary donation to help offset the costs of the busiest time of the season for the food bank.
• The Down Home South Jersey blog compiled a list of wines from SJ wineries to go with the different dishes and courses of your Thanksgiving meal. Thanksgiving is a great time to introduce your friends and family to local wines. Whether your hosting or a guest, there’s bound to be someone at dinner that’s unaware that our wines are great.
• Remember last month when I was doing some reviews of local cheeses, and I mentioned that one of the cheese stands at The Reading Terminal Market had told me they stopped carrying local cheeses because the quality wasn’t there and they cost too much? Well, take this, snooty cheese stand: Lawrenceville’s Cherry Grove Farms (whose Herdsman cheese I reviewed) had their Toma cheese selected as one of 17 finalists out hundreds of cheeses in the National Good Food Awards. Congratulations Cherry Grove Farms!
• With next week’s hustle and bustle, a slow cooker meal early in the week could be just what you need. Over on MNN, I have a recipe for Slow Cooker White Bean and Kielbasa Stew that my whole family loved. If you’re going to the Collingswood Farmers Market this weekend, stop by the Hillsacre Pride table and buy some kielbasa form them if you’re planning on making this.
• New Jersey lawmakers might soon be deciding on a raw milk bill in our state. If raw milk is something you’re interested in, you’ll want to read this piece on Newsworks.
• Asbury Park Press has the obligatory pre-Thanksgiving piece on New Jersey’s cranberry crops. In case you didn’t know, we’re the third largest cranberry producing state.
• The Garden State Wine Growers Association will host their Holiday Wine Trail on November 25, 26, & 27.

One of those recipes was a a crunchy Napa Cabbage Salad that I found on allrecipes.com. The other week, I needed to take a salad to the luncheon that was held after my new godson was dedicated, and I thought I’d give it a try. It was a hit.

Napa cabbage is in season right now. I was able to buy organic Napa cabbage from DanLynn Farms at The Collingswood Farmers Market to use in this recipe, and the green onions came from the market, too.

The recipe called for shredded, not chopped cabbage, but I found the large, soft leaves difficult to shred, so I chopped them into small pieces. No one seemed to mind.

Ingredients

• 1 head napa cabbage
• 1 bunch minced green onions
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, broken
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Finely shred or chop the cabbage, and combine it with the green onions. Place in a sealed container and keep in the fridge until cold.
3. Melt the butter in a medium pot. Then mix in the noodles, sesame seeds, and almonds. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet and bake them, stirring frequently, in the oven until they are browned and crunchy. I stirred every 3 minutes for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet.
4. In a small pan, bring the vinegar, oil, sugar and soy sauce to a boil for one minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. Immediately before serving (but not before so everything doesn’t get too soggy) combine greens, crunchies, and dressing.

My notes

• The size of heads of cabbage will differ, and  in hind sight, I would have added a third head of cabbage to my recipe. There ended up being far too much dressing for my salad, and I only used about 2/3 of it. You can see in the photo above, it could have definitely had more greens in it.
• This entire salad could be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator with the greens, crunchies and dressing separated until serving.
• There’s a lot of fat in this salad. I consider this a once-in-a-while recipe to made for something like potlucks, not a regular evening meal salad.

I had the opportunity to witness and photograph the first lady, the White House chefs, and students from local D.C. schools at the fall harvest of the White House kitchen garden.

What a week! The sun finally came out. I spent Wednesday at The White House getting an up-close and personal look at the kitchen garden, the kitchen, Michelle Obama at the fall harvest, and had quite a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m the featured blogger today at Blog for Family Dinner. And, there is no soccer this weekend, so I’ll be able to relax a bit and enjoy the gorgeous weather.

I did have a full week’s worth of blog posts planned for you this week, but that unexpected trip to Washington, D.C. turned my week upside down (not that I’m complaining). I didn’t want to end the week without a few odds and ends, though.

• The Cape May Wine Festival is this weekend. The beautiful weather this weekend will make it a perfect trip to Cape May to enjoy some of our state’s great wines.
• If you’re hitting the wine festival on Saturday, you might also want to stop by West Cape May’s Annual Lima Bean Festival. It begins at 9am so stop by there first before hitting the wine festival.
• Velenzano Winery in Shamong started construction of a new solar panel system at the vineyard off Route 206 as part of their goal to eventually use 100% renewable energy. Good for them!
• Food Day is a new national day that’s meant to spread the word about safe, healthy food. I wrote a bit about for Mother Nature Network, and the city of Philadelphia is turning the day into two whole weeks of activities.
• Sesame Street is addressing food insecurity with a primetime special this Sunday evening. They’ll be introducing a new muppet, Lilly, whose family is facing hunger.
• The Barrington Harvest Festival is tomorrow, and Grace Bible Church will have a drop off point where food can be donated. The food pantry at the church services people in Barrington and surrounding communities who are in need of help.
• Sharrott Winery is also a drop off place during the month of October for food donations that will go to the Food Bank of South Jersey.
• And one last place to donate food, at the Collingswood Farmers Market, the Friends of the Farmers’ Market (FOFM) is taking “canned good” donations for the St. Paul’s Food Pantry, sponsored by St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Collingswood. The term “canned goods” is only a limited description of the items needed that can make a difference.

Enjoy this absolutely beautiful weekend

• The Jazz It Up Wine Festival is this weekend at Allstaire State Park in Farmingdale. Saturday and Sunday Sept. 3 and 4, from noon to 5 p.m. 25 New Jersey Wineries will have tasting tents, there will be food, and of course, jazz.
• Congratulations to The Collingswood Farmers Market for coming in first in the state in Americas Favorite Farmers Market contest. It’s my favorite farmers market in the region, and I think it deserves it’s first place status!
• Sustainable Cherry Hill kicks off the fall schedule with Green Drinks at PJ Wheelinhans in Cherry Hill on September 7. Check out their full fall calendar of events on their website.
• The Cape May Forum will host a ten-day event titled “Guess What’s Coming for Dinner? The Politics of Food in the 21st Century.”
• Head to the mushroom capital of the world the weekend of September 9-11 for the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. They’re going to have mushroom ice cream!
• Join Chef Mark from Tortilla Press at Duffield’s Farm on September 17 for Fiesta on the Farm. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Camden Children’s Garden.

I’m off to enjoy my weekend! I hope you do the same.

There are some other things going on that you’ll probably want to know about, too.

• The Haddonfield Farmers Market will not be opening tomorrow as I previously told you. I’m not sure if they pushed the date back or it was always set to start on May 21st this year, but if Haddonfield’s your market, circle the 21st on your calendar. It’s also been moved from the parking lot it’s been held in previous years to King’s Court right off King’s Highway.
• Kress Wine in Cherry Hill is now an official drop off location for your wine corks. Kress will give them to ReCork where they will get recycled.
• Cork Restaurant in Westmont will host a wine tasting of 7 of Sharrott Winery’s wines on May 16. Larry Sharrott III will join Phillip Silverstone for a 90 minute presentation. Cost $30. Reservations required.
• Duffields Farm in Sewell wrote this on their Facebook status yesterday, “Made room today for the STRAWBERRIES! Yep, pickin some tomorrow!Come and get them while they last!! The early bird, gets the berry!” I don’t think I’ve ever seen a status update I’ve loved so much.
• Philly.com has a piece on a winery I’m not familiar with, Cedarville Winery in Logan Township, Gloucester County. The piece credits the winery, as well as other wineries in the county, for helping to increase tourism nearly 7% in the last year. (Explain to me again, someone, why the state legislature would even consider passing a bill that would mean the end to our wineries tasting rooms and most likely the wineries themselves?!!!)
• NJToday.net has information on the USDA investing in New Jersey Organic Farmers.

Recipes I came across this week that I want to make:

Grilled Portobello “Steak” Sandwich with Blue Cheese Sauce – I’m going to give this a shot this weekend.

Enjoy your weekend, and if you see me at the farmers market tomorrow morning, stop by and say hi. I’ll be the one with a large coffee and a quesadilla, trying to juggle bags of yumminess!

Yesterday, Chef Mark from Tortilla Press tweeted his excitement for the opening day of The Collingswood Farmers Market on May 7. I’m just as excited. It’s my 2nd favorite day of the year (my first is the Haddonfield Library Book Sale day). Every year I feel like the months between the closing of the market in November and the opening of the market in May drag on and on, and this year was no exception. But, we only have one month to go until the first of the farmers markets start to open up for the 2011 season. Are you as excited as I am?

Here’s what I found in the way of May 2011 opening dates. If you know of any others or any corrections, please let me know in the comments. Thanks.

Burlington County

• Burlington County Farmers Market – Saturday, May 14 8:30-1pm. 500 Centerton Road, Moorestown. I’m not sure of a closing date yet.

Camden County

• Collingswood Farmers Market –  Saturday, May 7 and be open every Saturday through the weekend before Thanksgiving. 8am – noon. I’ll see you there!
• Haddonfield Farmers Market – Opening Saturday, May 21 and open every Saturday through sometime in October (unsure of exact last date). 8am – noon. The locationof the market has also changed. It will be held this year in King’s Court on King’s Highway.
• Merchantville – There’s no specific information for this market that opened last year in May on the website yet, but it looks like their website is getting an update so their should be information soon.
• Westmont Farmers Market – The mid-week market returns for its second season on Wed. May 4 and will run through October from 4-7pm. Located on Stratford Ave right off of Haddon Ave. Parking is in the Westmont Theater Parking lot.

Salem County

• Salem Farmers Market – Last year, this market opened on May 21, but there’s no information yet on this year’s opening date. When I find out the information, I’ll pass it along.
• Woodstown Farmers Market – The Woodstown Farmer’s Market is now permanently closed. The website says it’s due to pending construction near the site of the market and the inability to find a new site.

I want to thank Shober Orchards for the Christmas present and for the lovely note that was included with the apples. I’ll be sharing these apples with my son’s third grade class during their holiday party. I’m thrilled to be able to include good, healthy, local (& free) food for their snack.

Here’s hoping traffic isn’t that crazy the rest of our weekend as we run around doing our holiday shopping and attending holiday parties. As if you don’t have enough to do already this weekend, I’ve got a few things for you to read.

• For those of you that frequent The Collingswood Farmers Market, tomorrow, Saturday, December 18th from 9-noon, Shober Orchards will be at their regular market spot for their annual Christmas gift to market goers – a free basket of apples and a free gallon of apple cider.
• Today’s Philadelphia Groupon is for half of tickets to The Nutcracker performed by The Pennsylvania Ballet. The deal will run for a couple of days, but there is a limited amount so I don’t know exactly how long the deal will real really last.
• As of January 1, we’re going to be legally obligated in NJ to recycle our electronics instead of throwing them in the trash. Philly.com has all the details about this law that might be a bit of a hassle but will also be a very good thing.
• Philly Beer Scene has declared that South Jersey has become a craft beer scene and outlines its reasons.
• This isn’t about anything local to South Jersey, but I loved this piece from The Atlantic this week by Hank Shaw and his adventures truffle hunting in Oregon.
• One of the arguments the large wine importers have against allowing direct shipment of wines to homes is that it will make it easy for kids to drink. It’s a ridiculous argument, and the Fermentation blog outlines exactly why. There’s still no movement that I can see on the New Jersey direct shipping bill that’s languishing in the House right now, by the way.

Recipes from other blogs that have caught my attention this week:

• Garlic Butter Roasted Mushroom on Smitten Kitchen
• Apricot & Rosemary Baked Brie Bites on Zesty Cook

I’ve got a bottle of Flying Fish’s Exit 13 Chocolate Stout that I’m going to open this weekend. I’ll have a few words about it to say next week. Enjoy your weekend and drive safely!

Image: photo credit: mary_gaston22

More:
Tutti Toscani in Cherry Hill grows their own

• America’s Grow a Row has one last volunteer opportunity for the season. They need volunteers on Monday, November 15th up at Peaceful Valley Orchards in Pittstown at 9:30am. It’s a bit up north – about an hour and a half drive from where I live, but if you have Monday free and want to do some good this is a great opportunity. The harvest will be donated to those that need it. If you can volunteer, please contact Colleen at americasgrowarow dot org.
• It’s Schober Orchard’s “Apples for Vets” day this Saturday at The Collingswood Farmers Market. Veterans get a half-basket of apples, a gallon of cider, and heartfelt appreciation for their service. They must be there in person to get the apples.
• Andrea Trattoria  in Newfield is hosting a wine tour and dinner starting at 11:45am this Sunday. For $75 you get transportation by Arrive in Style Luxury Limousine to Bellview, Amalthea, Sharrott, and DiMatteo wineries. Pick up some wine at the wineries because upon return you’ll return to Andrea’s for dinner where you can drink your wine and enjoy a delicious dinner. For reservations call 856-467-2760.
• The East Coast Wineries blog shared 10 reasons why East Coast wineries will shine in coming year and NJ wineries and wines get a few mentions.
• Springdale Farms is declaring it a foodie weekend. They’ll have pie tastings all weekend, and on Saturday they’ll have wine tastings from Four Sisters Winery, pasta tastings from Severino’s and cheese tastings from DiBruno’s Brothers. They’ll also have Jersey fresh cranberries, cauliflower, broccoli and lettuce for sale.
• I discovered a website that might of interest to you that I didn’t know about before – Philly Beer Scene. If you’re into the craft beers of our region, this is a very informative site.
• If you’re missing the wine festivals of the summer and you have some time this weekend, head up the turnpike to The Meadowlands for the Wine Tasting Weekend. Auburn Road Vineyard, Laurita Winery, Bellview Winery, Ventiiglia Vineyard, Unionville Vineyards, Wagonhouse Winery, Amalthea Cellars, and DiMatteo Winery will all taste their wines. There will also be local bakeries and locally produced cheeses.
• Edible Jersey is looking for nominations for their 2011 Heroes of the local food community. You can vote for your “best of in the following categories: chef/restaurant, food shop, farm/farmer, food artisan, beverage artisan, and non-profit organization. Winners will be announced in the Spring 2011 issue.
• Johnson’s Farm in Medford has hayrides this month to pick popcorn, sweet potatoes, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. They’ve also got a pie tasting going on this weekend. If you order your Thanksgiving pies at the tasting, you’ll get 10% off.

• The Tortilla Press and The Tortilla Press Cantina will be celebrating Off the Hook Week. For $25 a person, you’ll get a three course menu which features delectably fresh, juicy seafood from New Jersey and beyond. Make sure to phone for reservations.
• Most farmers markets in the region have closed up shop for the season, but the Collingswood Farmers Market has three Saturdays left. If you want a local turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner, you can order one from either Springdale Farm Market or Hillacres Pride right at the market.
• Oh, and speaking of Springdale Farms, for the next two weekends they’ll be having pie tastings so you can decide what to serve on Thanksgiving. I can personally recommend their delicious pies.
• You can accomplish a lot with one visit to Sharrott Winery over the next couple of weeks. On Sunday November 14 & 21, they will have a certified Sommelier on site to help you pick the perfect wine to accompany your specific holiday menu. You’ll also be able to do a little good by dropping off a donation for Toys for Tots or the South Jersey Food Bank.
• Don’t forget about Grape Adventure at Great Adventure this weekend. You can taste over 100 from Tomasello, Valenzano, Silver Decoy, Cream Ridge, Laurita, Wagonhouse, Plagido’s, Coda Rossa, and Aurbun Road. You could get all the wine you need for Thanksgiving dinner at one place.
• You could remove the word Virginia and replace it with the word New Jersey in this piece in the Washington Post (poorly) titled Local wines aren’t necessarily good, but it’s a mistake to ignore them and it would be just as relevant to us here in NJ. It touches on topics such as price, the fact that local wines used to all be bad, and myths about growing conditions.
• I’ve got to get me one of these. I did a piece this week on MNN about two creative college grads that started an urban mushroom farm using used coffee grounds as the growing medium. They’re now offering mushroom growing kits that you place on your window sill and in as little as ten days, you’ll have a crop of oyster mushrooms. Head over to their website, Back to the Roots for ordering information, and use the coupon code bttr20 for 20% off your order (I don’t know how long the code is good for).
• Fruit and vegetable farmer John Melick of Oldwick will be honored as 2011 Outstanding Young Farmer by the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture. Melick, age 29, is a 10th generation farmer who farms the same land his ancestors did. You can read all about it on NJ.com.

Image: Version: eraphernalia vintage