South Jersey Hot Chefs will be hosting their annual Farm to Fork week from July 18-24th. Participating restaurants feature foods from local farms in four course dinners for a special price.

Last year, I had the pleasure of eating at Tortilla Press for Farm to Fork week (imagine that – I ate at Tortilla Press). It was delicious. This year, I may try Catelli in Voorhees. They are beginning a bit early on the 16th, and Brian and I are hoping to head out Saturday night to celebrate our 17th (gasp!) anniversary. I’m glad they are the only one starting early – it would be difficult to choose from all the great restaurants that will be featuring New Jersey’s amazing food.

Are you planning to head out to South Jersey Farm to Fork week? Where will you be dining?

The sign outside of VIVO! in Annapolis.

Ah, the weekend getaway without the kids. Anticipated for months, over before you know it. Brian and I spent this past weekend in Annapolis, Maryland, one of our favorite getaway spots. Annapolis is a wonderful destination for a weekend getaway. Great restaurants, shops, and people.

I thought I’d point you to a few of the things that as a locavore, I appreciated about Annapolis during this trip.

Hell Point Seafood – I did a full write about this waterfront restaurant over on MNN, but I thought I’d give it a quick plug here, too. The restaurant serves local seafood (of course) as well featuring some other local foods on the menu. I had a salad of local mixed greens with goat cheese and a cup of cream of crab (Annapolis is the place to go for all things crab) soup that were really good. The menu changes seasonally.

Georgian House Bed and Breakfast

Georgian House Bed and Breakfast - I can’t rave enough about this cozy B&B or our hosts Ann and Tom. Breakfast featured seasonal fruits, and Ann likes to shop seasonal, local and fresh for her breakfasts when possible. Appropriate food is composted. Water saving devices are in the bathrooms and energy savings light bulbs are in the lamps. Baskets placed around the B&B encouraged recycling. I didn’t know any of this when I made the reservations, but I was pleased at all of the environmentally thoughtful efforts at Georgian House.

VIVO! Boutique – This was a trip where we were there for the experience, not the stuff, so I had to pass over several items I saw in this boutique that focuses on local artists and sustainable clothing and jewelery. There was a lot of jewelery I would have liked to have walked away with. Perhaps if you’re in Annapolis, you’ll be able to do more than just window shop at this cool store.

eCruisers – We got a free ride on an electric vehicle courtesy of eCruiser’s restaurant shuttle. I’ll have more about that on MNN in a day or two, and then I’ll come back here and link to it.

I picked up a copy of the New Jersey Farm & Food Guide at the Collingswood Farmers Market on Saturday. DannLynn Farms, the organic vendor at the market, was giving away copies. The guide is published by the New Jersey Northeast Organic Farming Association. (NOFA)

What’s inside?

• Information about organic foods
• Information about local foods
• A guide to some product labels
• Farm & business listings for the entire state
• A list of NOFA events and workshops for 2010-2011
• A list of New Jersey Farmers Markets
• More

I can’t find any information on NOFA’s site that talks about the guide or says where you can get a copy of one. It seems as if Wegmans and Whole Foods are both sponsors (or large advertisers) of the guide so perhaps there will be copies in some of their stores. You may be able to find them at your own farmers market or you could try contacting NOFA to ask where you can get a copy.

Lists of

But let’s talk about the blueberries. Yesterday, John and Lisa and their kids came to our home for dinner, and they brought with them blueberry pie and a pint of organic blueberries from Emery’s in New Egypt. The pie was amazing. In fact, by the end of the evening when we were discussing religion (yep, I have no problem going there in conversation. I don’t care about the no politics or religion rule), we were able to agree on one thing. We all have faith in pie. A pie that good is inspirational.

This morning, I used the blueberries to make blueberry pancakes. These were the best blueberry pancakes I ever tasted. The sweet, plump, juicy blueberries burst in the mouth with intense flavor making the need to load the  pancakes with tons of syrup unnecessary. A light drizzling of syrup was all that was needed.

If I now have you salivating, you can get your own local blueberries at the farmers market or a farm market. You can’t have mine. The rest are being made into muffins later.

Scallops from off the Jersey Coast - According to Seafood Watch, they're a sustainable choice.

Local strawberries - not sure what farm they are from or if they are all from the same farm.

Asparagus from Sorbello & Wheeler farms in Sweedsboro.

Looks like grocery stores, or at least Wegmans, are beginning to recognize that local is important to people. What are you seeing pop up at your local stores?

Sharrott Winery - Brian and the boys took me there for a Mother’s Day tasting. I’ll have a full report later in the week, but I just have to say how much I loved the wines and the owners.

Tutti Toscani - It’s been about a year since I last visited this restaurant that supports local producers and grows some of its own food in the beds surrounding the outdoor patio. I had lunch there last week with my mom (had the vegetarian panini for the first time – YUM). I wanted to remind you about this little gem of a BYO in Cherry Hill. Anna Maria told me the awnings for the patio would be up in the next couple of days and the gardens would be planted. If you’re heading out for a special dinner, consider Tutti Toscani and it’s outdoor patio. See my original thoughts on Tutti Toscani, here.

Haddonfield Farmers Market - I had a hectic Saturday so I ran quickly to the Haddonfield Farmers market to grab a few things instead heading to Collingswood where I would have spent much more. I got local strawberries. They are amazing. Haddonfield is a small market, but it’s good for a quick trip for fresh, local produce.

Springdale Farms Market – I told my mom I’d pick her up a pie to take to my brother’s for Mother’s Day. After the pies I’ve enjoyed from Springdale lately, I couldn’t even imagine grabbing a pie from the grocery store for her. I had thought I’d hit the Springdale table at the Collingswood Farmers Market Saturday morning, but since I didn’t have the time to get there, I made the time after church on Sunday to stop by Springdale Farm Market to get a strawberry rhubarb pie. So, so, so good.

I was thinking last night about how being committed to supporting local really makes a difference in the choices I make, and that I end up having some really great experiences because of those choices. Where did you end up this past week that you really enjoyed because you decided to support local?

Last year's opening day at The Collingswood Farmers Market was a bit dreary, but tomorrow promises to be beautiful.

It’s ridiculous how excited I am about the opening of the Collingswood Farmers Market tomorrow. It’s going to be such a beautiful day, too. Perfect weather. Who else will be there tomorrow morning.

There are other things besides the Collingswood Farmers Market happening, though. Here are some I thought might interest you.

• The Haddonfield Farmers Market also opens tomorrow morning.
• The West Windsor Farmers Market in Mercer County begins tomorrow, too, if your closer to that area.
• And, if you’re in Philadelphia on Sunday, the Headhouse  Farmers Market returns for the season.
• After you’ve shopped at the farmers market tomorrow, why not join the thousands of people all over the world that will be participating in International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day. It will be my third year participating.
• Terhune Orchards Kite Day - Join the folks at Terhune Orchards for a high-flying weekend of fun. Bring your own kite, choose a ready-made one from the wide selection in the store, or better yet, make a “guaranteed to fly” kite on site.  At this free festival, families can tour the orchards and fields riding in a tractor-drawn farm wagon, walk along the farm trail, ride ponies through the apple orchards. Enjoy country music and entertainment from noon-4 each day, with Mountain Heritage playing favorites on Saturday and Michael’s Cajun Aces on Sunday.  Children (and adults!) will love the barnyard games and activities, or watching the sheep being shorn on Sunday.  And, of course, there will be lots of good country food: Terhune Orchards’ famous apples, cider, donuts, pies, country soup, hot dogs, fresh and grilled asparagus and chicken, salads, soup and more. Call 609-924-2310 or visit www.terhuneorchards.com for more information. Terhune Orchards, 30 Cold Soil Road, Princeton. (info courtesy of Edible Jersey).
• City Paper’s Meal Ticket blog mentions a Philly restaurant, Tweed,  set to open in June where the “food will skew farm-fresh, organic and local.” I’ll have to check it out when it opens.
• Lisa Howard-Fusco had the opportunity to go to the Outer Coastal Wine Symposium and gives us the run down about what she learned about New Jersey wines over at John and Lisa are Eating in South Jersey.
• Philly.com has an interesting piece on students at Williamstown that are “improving drainage and providing wildlife habitats at the sprawling campus, too.” The kids are learning about water quality, water conservation, and the environment in the best way they can – hands on.

That’s it for this weekend. I’m off to work in the garden.

Anyway, as I mentioned in Friday’s odds and ends, there was a representative from Four Sisters Winery there offering a free tasting. As I was waiting my turn, I listened to the woman in front of me express her distaste for each wine she tried.

“Oh, I don’t like that one.”

“That one’s not very good.”

She concluded that all the wines were sweet and her tone  let you know that sweet meant inferior. By the way, two of the wines were not sweet.

Then she asked the young woman who was pouring, in the Four Sisters shirt that was a clear giveaway that she was from the winery, in a snotty tone, “Would you ever drink these wines?”

Are you kidding me?

I’m probably preaching to the choir here because my readers are certainly the ones that want to encourage our local producers, but just in case it, listen up.

Use your manners when being offered the chance to sample the results of someone else’s passion and hard work, please. The wine or the food or the whatever may not be to your taste, but that’s no reason to be rude.

As you’re sampling your way through the farmers market or winery or other place, please be gracious.  Ask questions, but not in a patronizing tone. If you’re uninterested in anything you’ve sampled, you don’t need to buy anything. Just say thank-you and walk away.

I ended up buying a bottle of Four Sisters Seyval Blanc to take to the party last night. At $14, it was a really nice back deck, sippin’ with the cheese and crackers, wine.

I would love easy acess to Alba Vineyard's Dry Reisling.

There’s an interesting piece of legislation going through the NJ legislature right now. New Jersey is one of 13 states that cannot have wines shipped from outside the state or inside the state to its own residents. New Jersey Newsroom reported that last month the state senate approved bill S-766, that “would authorize the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission to issue direct-shipping licenses to holders of either a New Jersey plenary winery license with retail privileges or a farm winery license. Out-of-state shippers also would be allowed to receive a shipping license, with the stipulation that they provide the state Division of Taxation payment for any excise and sales taxes due and an annual report noting quantity and type of alcoholic beverages shipped to New Jersey consumers.”

The state assembly will be voting on its part of the bill, bill A1702, later this month.

Cape May Winery makes a Pinot Grigio that I would drink more often if I could get my hands on it.

So why should  we, as locavores, care about this bill? We should care because it could be a good thing for our local wineries. If the bill passes, not only will wineries from out of state be able to ship to New Jersey, but if I understand it correctly, New Jersey wineries will be able to ship out of state and also within state. Right now, if I want one of the wines from a NJ winery I have to either go to the winery, find a liquor store that sells the wine, or purchase the wine at one of the wine festivals. I can’t have NJ wines, I can’t have any wines for that matter, shipped to my house.

Here’s what the senators, Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), said about how this bill will help NJ wineries.

“Allowing direct shipments of wine to and from New Jersey will not only enhance consumer choice, but would provide essential inroads for our budding wine industry,” Sweeney said. “With our wineries producing better and better wines and winning prestigious awards, we should be expanding, not limiting, access to New Jersey wines.”

“New Jersey consumers should not have to be limited only to what’s in stock at their local wine store, nor should they have to drive half-way across the state to get a quality New Jersey wine,” Stack said. “Likewise, out-of-state visitors who try New Jersey wines and want to purchase them shouldn’t be shut out. It’s time we give consumers and vintners the ability to deal directly with each other.”

Auburn Road's Classico would be my go-to wine for special Italian dinners if I had better access to it.

There are, of course, those who see this is a bad thing for New Jersey – mainly those who may lose a few pennies because people like you and me want a choice in wines instead of being restricted to what is sold at the local liquor store. But my local liquor stores don’t sell a wide variety of New Jersey wines. I want this legislation to pass mainly so that I can drink whatever wines I want, whether it be some great New Jersey wine or the wines that I love from Persimmon Creek Vineyards in Georgia. There are very few liquor stores that sell anything more than our state’s lovely fruity wines like blueberry or cranberry. I want more choices than that.

If you want your representatives to vote for A-1702, head over to Free the Grapes! to find out how to contact the representatives from your district. Tell them you want them to pass the bill and give you the choice to drink the wines from the wineries that you want to support. You can also do something similar through UncorkNJ, and this message will go to everyone from the governor on down. I’ve sent messages through both websites.

What are your thoughts on shipping wines to and from New Jersey?