My mom, brother and sister-in-law were in town this past weekend, so naturally I took advantage of the opportunity to have extra hands and dragged them out to an orchard for peach picking. (I have a little one to carry, after all.) We went to Hollin Farms this time in Fauquier County, a hilltop orchard and farm with views that can’t be beat.

And we were in for an extra treat with pick-your-own-corn. The boy and his aunt and uncle picked a dozen ears of Silver Queen sweet white corn, which we then took home and immediately grilled up for dinner, along with our Cibola Farms buffalo burgers. It doesn’t get any fresher than this!

Now typically when we make corn-on-the-cob, I cut the kernels off for the boy. I know some kids love biting into a big ear of corn, but I guess it’s a little intimidating when the ear is bigger than your head. Yesterday, Jan from Family Bites shared a recipe on Twitter for “corn coins,” and a light bulb went off. These “coins” are simply short pieces of corn, cut into kid-sized lengths, wrapped in foil packets with butter and seasoning and cooked on the grill. It’s proof that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best. Sure enough, they boy devoured five of them with dinner. (Thanks, Jan!)

I could eat plain old grilled corn-on-the-cob all summer, but I’ve seen some other corn recipes lately that look pretty tempting, too. Like this corn-and-asiago-cheese bread pudding from the Tennessee Locavore. Yum!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy summer’s sweet corn?

If you’ve got a favorite corn recipe, please share it below — or anything else you’ve cooked up lately from the farmers market, CSA or your garden!

Local Potluck Tuesday — a few guidelines:
1. Share a relevant post — a recipe, menu or pictures of a meal featuring local foods, from the farmers market, CSA, farm stand or your own garden — using the MckLinky widget below. In the link title field, enter both your post title and your name &/or blog name, e.g., “Lemon Cucumber Salad — Colleen @ FoodieTots.”

2. Bonus points if you included your kids in picking, growing, purchasing or cooking the ingredients for the meal! (And by bonus points, I mean increased likelihood of seeing your post featured in a future post.)

3. In your post, please link back to this post here at FoodieTots, so your readers can find the potluck and be encouraged to join in as well.  Of course if you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to share in the comments.

That’s it! I hope you’ll join in and share what you’re cooking up that’s fresh & local to you!

Last night I attended a blogger event* at the Silver Diner here in Arlington, part of a chain of 18 diners in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I got the invitation announcing their new “fresh and local” menu, but I couldn’t resist seeing what they were up to. Company founder Bob Gaiamo explained that past attempts to change menu items in response to diet trends received poor feedback, but that they now felt confident that diners are interested in healthy, local food — so much so, that they’re now willing to pay 50 cents more for an omelette made from better eggs.

Among the improvements: hormone-free dairy products, hormone- and antibiotic-free beef from partially grassfed cows (in New Jersey), local in-season produce (today, strawberries and asparagus from Delaware), reducing high fructose corn syrup products, breads delivered daily from local bakeries, local wine and beer, and more lower-calorie and gluten-free menu options. They also have an extensive children’s menu which now includes whole wheat spaghetti, organic grilled cheese, and teriyaki salmon with brown rice. Now, when we go to a diner it’s usually to satisfy a grilled-cheese-and-milkshake craving, so it’s nice to know these items are improved, too.

The food may not be perfect — they use soybean oil for frying — but I applaud their effort to provide cleaner, healthier food. The dishes we sampled — from salads to salmon sliders, burgers and pasta — were quite flavorful, and a far cry from your typical greasy diner foods. And more changes are in store: they’ll be getting nitrate-free bacon in a few months, looking to host farmers markets in front of their restaurants, and trying to improve other ingredients over time.

Now on to our regularly scheduled links for the weekend…

1. We’ll be exploring our new neighborhood’s many dining options at the Taste of Arlington on Sunday.

2. It’s also the Loudoun County Farm Tour weekend — and many u-pick strawberry fields are open for business!

3. Nancy, the local mama behind Learning As I Go, is also writing about nature finds over at The Magnifying Glass. This week, she tips us off to a place to go fossil hunting in Maryland — this is definitely going on our summer adventure to do list!

4. My favorite tweet-of-the-week:

@JoshViertel: Kraft asks us to “join the home farming movement.” http://bit.ly/9hrMl5 Sorta like me asking them to “join the cheese wiz movement”

5. And last, should you wind up with an abundance of strawberries after the weekend, try Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Strawberry Preserves with Mint and Black Pepper. Yum!

* Disclosure: I received a free meal at the Silver Diner to learn about the new menu. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

We may live in (Northern) Virginia, but aside from my occasional, tongue-in-cheek “y’all,” we haven’t adopted too many Southern mannerisms. But every once in a while, you just get a craving for something artery-clogging, particularly on a cold, snowy January day. Rather than channeling Paula Deen and deep-frying something at home, we opted to head out to one of our neighborhood restaurants, Evening Star Cafe. I was eager to try their new Saturday breakfast dishes — the fried chicken and waffle, to be precise. Though I will admit it was a tough decision between that and the biscuits and gravy, something I learned to love when visiting my grandparents in Florida many years ago. (The trip that ended my vegetarian phase, coincidentally … just couldn’t resist Grandmom’s daily bacon.)

Despite its casual neighborhood restaurant vibe in the kid-filled neighborhood of Del Ray, Alexandria, Evening Star doesn’t have a kids’ menu. On past brunch/lunch visits, we’ve been offered choices like chicken tenders and pasta off the secret menu, and I’ve even seen patio patrons order hot dogs for their dogs. (It was one of the pooches’ birthday, their owner explained. I can only assume they topped off their meal with puppy pops from the Dairy Godmother.) Anyway, I was able to order a plain waffle and scrambled egg for the boy today, which worked out perfectly. The husband had the huevos rancheros, a colorful and flavorful dish, artfully arranged and kicked up with another Southern nod, Andouille sausage.

Back to my meal, I never really understood the appeal of fried chicken and waffles — chicken for breakfast? — but I have to say I get it now. A touch of sweet honey butter on succulent, savory chicken wrapped in the warm carb embrace of a waffle, it really is perfection.  When I was pregnant with the boy, I had a freak KFC craving one night. I regretted indulging the craving for days after… now that I’m pregnant again, it’s nice to have such a delightful alternative should the fried chicken craving strike again. (And to assuage any guilt over the calorie-heavy meal, Evening Star uses local and organic ingredients “whenever possible,” according to their website.)

Evening Star is open for brunch from 10am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. The fried chicken and waffle is only available on Saturday, while Sunday has the more traditional eggs benedict, French toast, etc.
2000 Mt Vernon Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1310
703.549.5051

After an extended holiday absence, we finally made it back to the Del Ray Farmers Market this past weekend. The winter market is small, with ringleaders Tom the Cheese Guy and Smith Meadows meats holding down the fort. There’s a new vendor this year, The Dressed Up Nut, selling sweet spiced nuts and gluten-free biscotti. I had a hankering for stew and picked up the convenient pre-cubed lamb meat from Smith Meadows.

I was also craving some fresh produce, so it was off to Dupont Circle’s FreshFarm Market on rainy Sunday morning. It was the off week for Next Step Produce (who alternates weeks in the winter) so I missed out on my watermelon radishes. These pretty carrots were a welcome shot of color in the dreary weather, though, and made their way into my Sunday night stew as well. (I think they were from New Morning Farm, but I’m not positive.) I also picked up some ravioli from Copper Pot (newish to the Dupont Market, I reviewed Chef Frigerio’s pasta last spring) for a farmers-market-fast-food dinner later in the week.

When it came time to cook the stew, I wanted to keep it relatively light, so I went with Moroccan seasonings as found in an Epicurious recipe. I added fingerling potatoes and those carrots, and instead of using the orange zest called for in the original recipe, I just squeezed the juice from a clementine into the pot at the end. (The husband has a thing about citrus zest.) Served over cous cous, it was a flavorful, warming winter stew. Best of all, it elicited a hearty, “I LOVE it,” from the boy, who asked for seconds of both meat and carrots. (And ate the side salad, but that’s another post.)

Recipe: Moroccan-Spiced Lamb Stew
adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound fingerling potatoes, washed and cubed
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
• juice of 1 clementine or mandarin orange
• fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions: Combine salt and spices in a bowl, then add lamb cubes and toss to coat. Heat olive in dutch over over medium high heat. Brown lamb on all sides, about 4 minutes. Remove lamb to a bowl. Lower heat to medium and add onion and garlic to pot; cook until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and return lamb to pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover, reducing heat to medium low, and simmer for 1 hour. Add carrots and cook another 15-20 minutes, until lamb is tender. Remove from heat and stir in orange juice. Serve over cous cous and garnish with chopped parsley. Makes 6 servings.

@ South Mountain Creamery

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, it’s time to pre-order your local turkey! If you read a lot of food magazines (or blogs) to prepare for your Thanksgiving feast, you’ve probably seen a lot of talk about brining the turkey in recent years. Soaking the bird in a saltwater is supposed to add succulence to the meat. But here’s a secret: turkeys are naturally juicy. Conventional turkeys, like conventional chickens and other animals, are raised in confined quarters where they are stuffed full of grain (often genetically-modified, aka GMO) and antibiotics to grow rapidly. Turkeys who eat a natural diet of bugs, grubs and grasses will naturally produce meat that is juicier and more flavorful. And, birds who roam in fresh air lead happier, healthier lives.

What is a Heritage turkey? Today, 99% of all turkeys raised in the U.S. are the “Broadbreasted White” variety, which have been bred specifically to produce unnaturally large breasts. The breasts are so large, in fact, that these turkeys are unable to reproduce naturally! (Source: Sustainable Table/UN Food and Agriculture Organization)

free-ranging @ Fields of Athenry

Sustainable turkey farmers raise various traditional species of turkeys, Heritage breeds such as Narrangassett or Bourbon Red, to protect the genetic diversity and provide tastier options for your Thanksgiving table. Heritage birds take longer to reach market size — 24 to 30 weeks compared to 18 for supermarket turkeys — which is one reason why they more expensive. (Source: Heritage Turkey Foundation) The article on Sustainable Table has a more detailed explanation of the difference between heritage, organic and sustainable birds and questions to ask your farmers.

Wondering how to find a local, organic, free-range bird for your holiday meal? Here in the DC Metro area, organic turkeys are harder to find, but several local farmers and butchers provide heritage and/or free-range turkeys. Organic birds will be the most expensive, but they are fed only organic feed, not treated with antibiotics or hormones, and required to have access to the outdoors. Ask your farmer or butcher what their free-range turkeys are fed. Organic grain feed is less important if they are truly free-range, as turkeys prefer to eat bugs and grasses anyway. Where “all-natural” is used below, it means turkeys are not treated or fed with any antibiotics, steroids or hormones.

EcoFriendly Foods (Moneta, VA)
type: all-natural, free-range, Heritage and hybrid breeds, 12-20lbs.
price: n/a
order: order at Arlington Courthouse or Dupont Circle markets, $40 deposit required.

Fields of Athenry (Purcellville, VA)
type: all-natural, free-range, Heritage, 15-35lbs.
price: $7.25/lb.
order: download order form online and send $40 deposit; pick-up at farm only; likely to sell out early.

Let’s Meat on the Avenue (Alexandria, VA)
type: Amish-raised from Pennsylvania and Minnesota; organic from Fauquier County VA; all free-range, all-natural, fresh
price: $3.95/lb. for Amish turkeys
order: call 703-836-6328 or stop by the shop; orders will be accepted until about a week prior to Thanksgiving (or until sold out)

MOM’s Organic Market (VA and MD)
type: all-natural, free-range from Maple Lawn Farm (Fulton, MD) and Eberly’s Organic
price: $1.99/lb. Maple Lawn, $3.49/lb. Eberly Organic
order: call or visit store (locations in Alexandria, College Park, Columbia, Frederick and Rockville)

Smith Meadows Farm (Purcellville, VA)
type: all-natural, free-range turkeys, 10-12lbs. or 13-14lbs., frozen
price: $4.25/lb.
order: Place a $10 deposit at their markets, pick-up on Saturday 11/21 or Sunday 11/22 at the market where you place your order. Orders will be accepted until about mid-November. You can also call 877-955-4389 to place your order by phone.
markets: Arlington Courthouse, Del Ray, Falls Church and Chevy Chase on Saturdays; Takoma Park and Dupont Circle on Sundays

South Mountain Creamery / Hillside Farm (Thurmont, MD)
type: free-range, fresh
price: about $2.50/lb.
order: existing South Mountain delivery customers must reserve a turkey by Saturday, November 7; they will be delivered with your regular delivery the week prior to Thanksgiving.

If you don’t want to cook, The Butcher’s Block in Alexandria will have ready-to-go Thanksgiving meals available; visit the website for details.

To find a local, Heritage turkey in your area, search the listings at Local Harvest — or ask your favorite meat vendor at the farmers market!

Shared with Real Food Wednesday — visit the round-up @ Cheeseslave for more Real Food inspiration.