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

It’s no secret that citrus is one of the reasons I could never live on a 100% local diet — at least not without moving back to California first. As soon as the weather dips near freezing, I start stocking up on grapefruit, oranges, Meyer lemons or, my favorite, clementines. As much as possible I buy organic citrus from Florida, but for clementines it’s the real thing, all the way from Spain. (I actually spotted those newfangled California “Cuties” at Whole Foods the other day, but stuck with the Old World variety.) When I was a kid, we always got a clementine in our stocking, and devoured it while waiting for Christmas breakfast to be ready. I’ve planned to do the same for the boy, but considering how many clementines we eat in the weeks leading up to Christmas, I’m not sure it’s quite as special a treat.

Today I had a meeting near one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Jaleo, so I stopped in for lunch. Imagine my delight to see the “Clementina Festival!” sign in the window. I couldn’t resist and enjoyed a three-course clementine lunch. First up, seared clementines with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and microgreens. Simple yet bursting with flavor. For the main course, seared squid with artichokes and clementines, the citrus contrasting perfectly with the silky squid. And then dessert. Clementine ice cream atop clementine curd, with some almond/graham cracker crumbs and fresh clementine slices — drizzled with olive oil. Perfection. It was like being transported to sunny Spain for an hour, and left me inspired to do more than just eat our way through the box of clementines straight up. The clementine curd in particular has me pondering a clementine tart … stay tuned.

Do you cook with clementines? What’s your favorite way to use them?

If you’re in DC, the Clementina Festival continues at Jaleo through December 20.

So, I don’t know if you’ve heard me mention it, but last week was National Farmers Market Week. Unfortunately I didn’t top last year’s personal record of five markets during the week; in fact, I only made it to four as our weekend plans were curtailed by a sick child. But, I did take advantage of the chance to revisit the McLean Farmers Market for the first time this season, and to finally check out one of the markets managed by Smart Markets, Inc.

One of the things I love about farmers markets is that it feels so European to pop by a market and pick up something fresh for dinner that night. Unfortunately, the after work/school rush to get something to eat on the table doesn’t exactly evoke the leisurely French lifestyle I have in mind most nights. So when we can visit a market and get something already cooked, or that we can eat right on the spot, that’s a winning formula in my opinion. Here are a couple prepared food options that we came across on our market crawl.

McLean Farmers Market: This market is held on Friday mornings, so if you time your visit near the end you can pick up lunch in the form of Emine’s savory baklava, some fresh peaches from Reid’s Orchard, and dessert of Middleburg Creamery ice cream or a whoopie pie (pumpkin or chocolate) from Valentine’s Country Bakery & Meat. Be sure to take home a Shoo-Fly Pie from Valentine’s for later. If there were an award for most colorful market stand, I’m pretty sure Mt. Olympus Farm would win hands down with their amazing rainbow array of sweet and hot peppers. (McLean Farmers Market, Fridays, 8:30am-12:30pm; Valentine’s can also be found at the Fairfax County Oakton, Annandale, Mount Vernon and Reston markets, not to be confused with the Reston Smart Market, below.)

Reston Smart Market: This market was lighter on produce and heavier on the condiments and baked goods, including two pastry shops and Anne’s lemonade and bread stand. There’s also a winery table, for your after-work happy hour sipping, and a children’s story-time area in the center. There was a kids’ cooking lesson taking place as well, though I have to confess that my son turned up his nose when asked if he wanted to help make a salad and made a beeline to the man offering free cake samples instead. We met two young men from New York who are learning the farming ropes in preparation for starting their own organic farm in the future; in the meantime, check out their Grinning Greens line of vinaigrettes and marinades.

After a quick round of samplings we made our way to the gleaming silver food cart of Local Sixfortyseven. You may have read about this recent addition to the burgeoning local food cart scene; the husband-and-wife team of Derek and Amanda Luhowiak are taking farm-to-table on the road to area markets and cooking up juicy fresh burgers from Fauquier County’s Angelic Beef, Polyface hot dogs and soups and salads featuring ingredients from the markets or their own garden — on eco-friendly compostable dishes, no less. (Though I didn’t notice a composting bin at the market?) I’ve always lamented burger joints that don’t serve milkshakes, but after sampling Sixfortysix’s blackberry ginger thyme pie I’m fairly confident in declaring that burgers and pie may just be the new happy meal.

(Reston Smart Market, Reston Town Center, Thursdays, 3:30-6:30pm; but Jane Black notes that Local Sixfortyseven is not guaranteed to be at Reston every week. Find them on Facebook to stay up-to-date.)

Don’t Forget! Submit a photo of your tot(s) at the market to the Foodie Tots <3 Farmers Markets Flickr pool by August 31 and you’ll have a chance to win a kid-sized reusable market tote filled with foodie goodies. For an extra entry into the drawing, blog about your local farmers market with a link back to this post &/or retweet a link to the “Foodie Tots <3 Farmers Markets” contest. More bonus points for sharing why you love your farmers market.

Part 2 of 3 in our Oregon travelogue. Read about our farmers market visit, or skip to the end for some Maryland local food events this weekend!

As I mentioned previously, it is berry season in Oregon and the food theme of our trip can be summed up in three words: berries, berries, and berries. We found more than a few at our market destination of choice this trip. The Beaverton Farmers Market, one of Oregon’s largest markets, is located in a western suburb of Portland and has a distinctly family-friendly vibe. From the balloon man to the kettle corn to the live music, kids have plenty to tempt their eyes and taste buds, not to mention the fountain to cool off in and adjacent playground.

Have you ever met a Superfood in person? We did, the charming Super Blueberry who handed out recipe pamphlets courtesy of the Oregon Blueberry Commission. (Really, blueberries need marketing? How do I sign my kid up for that gig? They could pay him in berries.) My son was thrilled to receive a bookmark “with smiling blueberries because blueberries make me happy!”

I could go on all day about the wonderful produce – artichokes, sweet sugar snap peas, Walla Walla onions, Rainier cherries, apricots, dried cherries – meats and seafood, bread and baked goods, wine (yes, wine tasting at market), flavored vinegars and of course some of my favorite cheeses, not to mention the coffee truck (Pony Espresso) and cold drinks served in compostible cups — or the fact that I didn’t even make a complete pass through the market and still left green with envy — but I’ll just point you towards two favorites to wrap up your shopping trip with a satisfying brunch: Zest crepes and Hot Lips local berry sodas.

You might be surprised to hear such a ringing endorsement from me for a soda, but Hot Lips Soda is truly a special treat that kids will love and you can feel good about. Hot Lips is a Portland pizza chain I had more than a few pies from during my high school years, but since I’ve left town they’ve branched out to create their own line of all-natural, locally-sourced fruit and berry sodas. The ingredients are simply carbonated water, fruit, cane sugar and organic lemon juice. In that order. While sweet, they taste of pure, ripe fruit, without that chemically-sweet aftertaste of conventional sodas. Strawberry is so fruit-laden it is almost as thick as a smoothie, and the strawberry flavor is so intense you may have a hard time settling for a plain old berry after drinking this. My favorite is the boysenberry, the heady, fragrant berry just tastes of summer. Pear is crisp and clean, and you can get a few limited-edition flavors, like currant or loganberry, on tap at their stores. And not only are the ingredients local, but the bottles are manufactured from recycled glass in Portland.

Zest crepes are made to order from market-fresh ingredients, fun for the kids to watch and of course they have their own menu options to choose from. The boy enjoyed the “Cheese Louise,” naturally, and I had the “Sweet Basil” with basil, tomato, feta and mozzarella. Delicious. If only I had had room to try a sweet version as well, with flavor combinations including berries and mascarpone, berries and Nutella, and lemon curd and ricotta. Zest debuted at the market this year and plans to open a stand-alone shop in the near future, but for now you can find them at the market on Saturdays, 8am-1:30pm, May through October. (The market is also open Wednesday afternoons, June through August.) See more pictures of our market finds here.

Note for DC-area local food lovers: Maryland’s Buy Local Week is wrapping up this weekend, and you can celebrate the best of the Old Line State close to town with the Montgomery County Farm Tour or venture further afield to St. Michaels for the 2nd annual Chesapeake Folk Festival on Saturday — my favorite local foods event of the year. And if these crepes have you drooling, visit Farm Fresh Chef up at the Clarksburg Md. farmers market on Sunday (or make your own).

And, save the dates for National Farmers Market Week, August 2-9, which will be observed in Virginia with a Virginia Grown recipe competition.