Veg*n Thanksgiving

Aw, aren't they adorable? That's Kelly and Justin, the head chefs of Veg*n Thanksgiving 2006. Justin and Mikey started Veg*n Thanksgiving seven years ago with this is mind:

"It's that time of year again. It's getting close to Turkey Day, with it's focus on gluttony and family bonding/spiteful arguing. It's also that special time of year where we somehow manage to all get together before/instead of/after the family crap to commiserate and eat dinner and/or dessert."

Perfect :)

In years past, I've only been able to make it for dessert or not at all if I was in Rhode Island with the fam. This year though, after a visit with Jason's family, we were there promptly at 4pm.

I think there were ten of us for the actual dinner; over the course of the evening, there were about 20 lovely noshers, and just about everyone brought a dish or two. [We brought a green salad, apple walnut stuffing and a big bottle of Pinot Noir. Note, I did said bottle, not box. We wanted to do something special for the holiday ;) ] Here's Mike - er, M Fen preparing some drool-worthy risotto:


Of course, the obligatory Tofurky porn:


*Part* of the spread. Yes, this is only about 2/3 of the dishes, not including four pies:


My plate had green salad, canned cranberry sauce, Tofurky, M Fen's five year beans, carrots, corn, string bean casserole, apple walnut stuffing, the best yams ever and peas:


Me, Kelly and our empty plates:


I had every intention of taking some up and close sexy photos of each dish and a nice group shot, but I was far too distracted by lovely conversation and the anticipation of eating one of everything. Besides, a bit of yummy Thanksgiving wine had me nicely wrapped up in her arms and feeling just content enough to sit still for a bit and simply enjoy the amazing friends and family around me. Sigh...

Burp.

;)

PS: For the record, L farted on me. Twice.

Bakers on Broad open hizouse

After sending off Awesome Miss L, Jason and I bummed around, straightening up a bit here and there until it was time to go to the baker's open house. Linda and Rafael of Bakers on Broad celebrated their first anniversary in business by inviting everyone in for a tour, conversation and snacks. It was a brilliant way to spend a Sunday afternoon after a busy weekend. Even better? Well, the wine of course.





























Jase and I sat at the front window bar (a refinished slice of a very large tree), chatted with some fantastic people (bottom right), drank wine and nibbled on bread (duh) and local cheese from Hendrick's Farm in Telford before we went down a set of spiral stairs to check out the kitchen. I don't know what exactly we were expecting, but the kitchen is huge. There are three rooms, the most impressive one housing a gigantic oven (top left). Rafael went through the baking process, though, to be honest, I was half in the bag by the time we left and can't remember the delicate details of baking through which he walked us.

I do know however, that we were quite impressed.

Jase and I joked about how we pictured Rafael awaking at the break of dawn to shuffle downstairs into their regular ol' kitchen to bake bread in their oven. Then, as the sun rose, Linda would take over, moving the goods to the front room and working with the customers. Apparently, we aren't the only ones with this impression and that is precisely why they had this open house.

Their operation is quite impressive, and it made me realize just how much they must have scrimped and saved and researched and constructed in order to open a bakery of their very own. The tour also explained why it took them so long to open once they took ownership of the building - which happens to be their home, as well. Those two clearly worked very hard.

Jason and I were lucky enough to meet some of Linda and Rafael's super nice and very proud family (middle right). I'm pretty sure they were only being super nice so that we would finally go home. And yes, we were the last to leave.

We've begun our campaign to convince Baker's to have an event like this every Sunday. Hey, it could happen...

Join the campaign!
Bakers on Broad
503 East Broad Street
Souderton, PA 18964
215.703.0518
http://www.bakersonbroad.com/contact.html

;)

Montgomery Theater date night

Being the clever and wonderful and sweet girlfriend that I am, I naturally gave Jason an equally clever and wonderful and sweet gift for his birthday last year. I would like to note that the gift is even extra super special because his birthday is on 31 December. As in, NEW YEARS EVE. Had I known this before I fell in love with him (I should have requested a thorough inspection), I would have made him change it. But, whatever. We're here now, AREN'T WE?

So anyway. This year, I bought a season subscription to our local playhouse, the Montgomery Theater in Souderton. This, in and of itself, is an awesome gift. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The theater just rocks. The building is gorgeous, the staff is dedicated and passionate, the programs are inclusive, the shows seem to be handpicked and parts singularly crafted for the actors that play them, it has a perfect, central location and every seat in the house is good. It's a great, local establishment.

For Jason's birthday, I bought the season subscription, but made it sweeter by actually picking the dates out on the calendar, and creating five Date Night packages. Each package is really a bottle of wine (Pinot Noir, Red Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon) that has a handmade tag listing the date, time and show tied around top, a certificate good for a dinner (homemade or at a restaurant, his pick), and a description of the play from the theater's program.

See, it's the birthday gift that gives all year. And, it's insanely caring and thoughtful. I know, I know, I'm just good like that.

[Please, don't mind that nagging thought in your head. The one that's saying something like, "Heeey... wait a minute. Mikaela's the one who likes the theater so much...she's going to the plays, too...hrmmm." I am selfless and goddess-like. I did it for Jason. It's all for him!]

We've enjoyed three shows so far: Psychopathia Sexualis, The Drawer Boy, and Butterflies are Free, We went to our fourth show, The Last Five Years (by Jason Robert Brown), over the weekend. Jason's dinner choice was sushi from Kira and the wine was Ravenswood Red Zinfandel.


After dinner, we walked to the theater. Luckily we got there a little early and had time to visit the Sharon Moore Gallery across the street. Sharon just moved her gallery from a crowded store front on Broad Street, to this newly renovated, high-ceiling space in one of Souderton's famous old cigar factories. You must visit!

I purposefully don't read the descriptions of the plays. A fun effect of this, is that there's always something that surprises me. Like The Drawer Boy is a drawer, like with markers and pens, not like, his parents couldn't afford and didn't have the room for a crib, so he slept in the dresser drawer as an infant. It was an honest misunderstanding, people! One can imagine my surprise - In my mind, I had built a gritty story about a down-on-their-luck, young couple living in Brooklyn, who had a baby, but no money and little space in their one room apartment.

The Last Five years, was surprising as well, but not quite in the same way. I knew it was a love story (by seeing the logo), and was surprised when it turned out to be un-sappy, and rather brave. And also when I realized it was a musical. I'm not a big fan of musicals. It was hard for me not to groan and tell myself that we could leave at intermission. Which, of course, we didn't. Because the play was fantastic.

The format was brilliant for this story of unfortunate timing and missed opportunities for understanding. The woman's point of view (Jessica Edwards) starts in the present and works back to the couple's first meeting, while the man's (Michael Philip O'Brien) begins at their first meeting and progresses to the present. The couple's stories intersect only at the mid-point of their relationship, the wedding.

Date Four was definitely a winner :) Our next and final date is The Desk Set and a bottle of Barefoot Reserves Pinot Noir (our favorite). Stay tuned - or better yet, go see the show!

Univest Grand Prix

(Check out that rainbow!)

Yes, the Univest Grand Prix is a world renowned bicycle race. Yes, it happens right here, in our front yard (well, a half block away from the front yard). Yes, it's sponsored by many local community-minded businesses. Yes, international professional cycling teams compete right next to beloved locals in the race each year. And yes, this gem of a race was born from the spirit of local Merrill Moyer, and has continued to grow larger, more exciting, and more challenging each of its nine years.

But really? The honest-to-goodness reason why people flock from all corners of earth to visit little Souderton each year? Yeah, it's is for the kids race. You know it :)

Avery ran into his super friend Alex during the sign up and line up for the race.


The kids race is separated into age groups, and takes place on part of the real race course (on Main Street).


I don't know if they declare an actual "winner," but I don't know that the kids even notice :)



The competitors gathered for a group photograph post race.



Avery also ran into super friends Danny and Benjamin at the race; here they're getting ready to be interviewed by a local television station (WFMZ).



Check out some links for this awesome race:

• http://ramblings10.blogspot.com/2006/09/univest-grand-prix-2006-bike-race-in.html
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/oryl/239445760/
• http://www.univest.net/univestInTheNews_082206.asp
• http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/47-09112006-710572.html
• http://www.stmainst.org/grandprix2006.html

Then, mark your calendar and ready your cow bell for the Univest Grand Prix 2007 - we'll meet you there!

Univest Grand Prix:
http://univestgrandprix.com/

Pennypacker Farm, the other CSA

Our friends Justin and Kelly (not that Justin and Kelly) belongs to the Pennypack Farm in Horsham. The farm, actually called Pennypack Farm Education Center for Sustainable Food Systems, was was established in 2003 by an 11-member Board of Directors, and is a registered 501(c)3 non profit educational organization. Their mission is to:

"Increase public understanding of the health, economic, ecological and social issues involved in sustainable local food systems. We work with individuals, families, communities, environmental and educational institutions to raise awareness about sustainable local food systems by offering educational programs and a community supported agriculture (CSA) demonstration project."

Which in part means, that they put together and host some super awesome classes. Classes like, Food Preservation Workshop (Drying/Freezing). Although Kelly's been pretty keen on "playing things by ear" lately, and I cherish my Sunday afternoons, she signed us up for the one hour Sunday session. And, I'm really, really glad we actually made it there :)

The workshop was run by farm member and food preserver extraordinaire, Jo Ping. JP has that certain earth mother vibe every food preservationist needs, but it's uniquely infused with just enough bespectacled scientist to make you pay close attention and take notes when she's speaking. See how she's got her hands on her hips? Yes, ma'am! :)



















JP walked the group of eight through the basics of storage, pickling, freezing and jarring seasonal produce to last through the fall and winter months. Some gems I picked up from the session:

• Go ahead and freeze herbs, there is no benefit to drying them. Chop and place into plastic freezer bags, then tear off pieces as you need them.
• When freezing basil toss the stems, but when freezing parsley, use the stems.
• Always filter tap water that you use for pickling and jarring. The chlorine in tap water can deter the fermenting process needed for these types of preservation.
• Use sea salt or kosher salt when pickling, it just does a better job.
• When blanching veggies for freezing, retain the water for soup stock.
• Yes kids, you really need to blanch before freezing. See how they turn pretty, bright colors when you do that? That's a good thing.
  
• The best veggies for pickling are anything firm; radish, kohlrabi, carrots, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli stems.
• Jarring tomato pulp seems to preserve more flavor than freezing it.

The best part of the class though, was JP sharing her Kim Chee recipe:

Cut in half, one head of nappa or Chinese cabbage. Hint: to reduce loose pieces, cut only through the stem, then tear the halves apart. Then quarter halves. Rub leach leaf with salt, using about three tablespoons per quarter. Place cabbage into a lidded plastic or glass container (not metal because the salt will corrode it), to let leaves soften, anywhere from one to five hours. Meanwhile, mix the following in a bowl to form a paste:

* one grated carrot
* one julienned green onion
* two TBS of sugar
* three cloves of garlic
* one TBS of ginger
* two TBS of hot pepper powder

Remove quarters and rinse off the salt in clean, cooled boiled water. Paint the mixture onto each cabbage leaf, place back into container, cover and store on counter top for two days. Then, place into refrigerator and store up to two months - although, it is best eaten sooner :) Serve with a protein (barbecue tempeh or chicken, fried egg) and steamed rice.

Of course, I'll post here when I tackle the Kim Chee. If you have the chance, check out the other classes offered by Pennypack farm - I highly recommend them :)

Pennypack Farm: http://www.pennypackfarm.org/joomla/index.php

"Farmers Market"

It's in quotes you see, because it's not actually a market. But as these photographs prove, we're all farmers, especially this time of year. These roadside stands are one of many reasons why it's great to live around here - in August ;)

We saw the following on our 12-mile drive to Ott's. There was also a place with a "Fresh Eggs!" sign, but I couldn't get the camera together in time. Just imagine it, somewhere between photo number two and three :)



I'm not sure how common this is outside of Montgomery and Bucks Counties, PA, but these "stands" in our neighbors' front yards are so usual, that I didn't think to include them here until recently :)

Ott's!

One of the most fabulous benefits of living in this area is Ott's Exotic Plant and Nursery. What is Ott's, you say? Well, it's a plant place.

That has a rain forest.

And two ponds with fish, turtles and frogs.

And a mountain that blooms pansies in the spring and mums in the fall.

It houses fruit trees, exotic plant species, and when went today, we saw a hummingbird and a swallowtail butterfly inside one of the greenhouses.

I'll stop talking now, just look :D Clicking a photograph will open a larger version in a different window. Check out the purple passion flower. To. Die. For.

Oh, and when you're done looking, go see everything - and much more! - for yourself (853 Gravel Pike, Schwenksville, PA 19473).