How to Eat Dessert & Monday Farmers Market

Wednesday’s Portland Daily Sun includes a report on the Monday Farmers Market,

Hopes are high that a new Monday farmers’ market in Monument Square can succeed where others have failed, including an effort last year that fizzled after only one vendor showed up.

This year is doing better, thanks in large part to a market manager being in the right place at the right time.

and a column from Natalie Ladd on her inherited love of dessert which is peppered with recommendations on where to go for a good final (or only) course.

Dessert is a subject I take very seriously, and it requires great restraint for me pass it up. As a diner, it’s often the shining highlight or disappointing deal breaker of any meal. As a restaurant person, it’s a great way to build up the average check by up-selling and padding the check, resulting in more money for house and server.

Local Sprouts Profile & A Wedding Garden

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Local Sprouts Cafe/Bomb Diggity Bakery,

The counter service restaurant is sure to give both ventures a boost. While anyone can walk in and purchase off the menu, those who plan to be regulars may want to consider investing in a community-supported kitchen membership. When members dine at the cafe, their meals are deducted from the paid-in-advance balance, and they receive a 10 percent discount.

and a feature article on a couple in Central Maine that are growing/raising all of the food that will be served their wedding this September.

“But then we also really just like providing for our own needs,” Davis said. “We make our own maple syrup and we brew our own beer and we’ve smoked our own bacon. We cut our own wood. We’re not the kind of people who just sort of sit around. We like to be active and doing things, so we thought this would be a good project for the summer.”

The paper also published a survey of the food and drink to be had at last nights celebration/commiseration parties held by gubernatorial candidates.

Some candidates went frugal – opting to gather in the campaign office and munch on chips – while others spared no expense at posh destinations with lavish drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Local Sprouts Profile & A Wedding Garden

The Food & Dining section in today’s Press Herald includes a profile of Local Sprouts Cafe/Bomb Diggity Bakery,

The counter service restaurant is sure to give both ventures a boost. While anyone can walk in and purchase off the menu, those who plan to be regulars may want to consider investing in a community-supported kitchen membership. When members dine at the cafe, their meals are deducted from the paid-in-advance balance, and they receive a 10 percent discount.

and a feature article on a couple in Central Maine that are growing/raising all of the food that will be served their wedding this September.

“But then we also really just like providing for our own needs,” Davis said. “We make our own maple syrup and we brew our own beer and we’ve smoked our own bacon. We cut our own wood. We’re not the kind of people who just sort of sit around. We like to be active and doing things, so we thought this would be a good project for the summer.”

The paper also published a survey of the food and drink to be had at last nights celebration/commiseration parties held by gubernatorial candidates.

Some candidates went frugal – opting to gather in the campaign office and munch on chips – while others spared no expense at posh destinations with lavish drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

Crash Barry, The Garlic Man

Columnist Crash Barry has penned a feature article for the new issue of The Bollard about working at Nezinscot Farm, a biodynamic farm in Turner, Maine.

Raw garlic oil, alive and intense, overwhelmed my taste buds, scorching my tongue and the insides of both cheeks with a Jalapeno heat. I chewed the clove a couple more times, gulped and swallowed. I felt an electric charge pulse from my brain to my toes, from stomach to fingertips. My body radiated a throbbing, rhythmic energy that moments before had been buried beneath the fertile soil of the Nezinscot Farm, atop a hill overlooking a river in the western Maine town of Turner.

Three Days in the Sun

There have been several food articles in the Portland Daily Sun this week. On Tuesday the newspaper reported on the collaboration between Sparrow Arc Farm and Bar Lola on a CSA for the central Maine farm in Portland,

This means the impending CSA will include a wide, eclectic sampling of the 300 varieties of veggies grown at Sparrow Arc, including heirloom tomatoes and cornichons, a type of baby pickling cucumber. “We will be able to offer a really mind blowing amount of veggies to our CSA,” said Linehan.

on Wednesday there was a profile/history of Micucci’s.

Miccucci Grocery Company launched in 1949 and was located in the trunk of Leo and Iris Micucci’s car. Licensing and the official launch came a couple of years later in 1951 so the family splits the difference and says the company began in 1950. From Middle Street to Commercial then to its current home, Leo and Iris moved the location but kept the name.

and on Thursday there was a report on the soon-to-open Bayside Bowl,

A draft menu offered a promise of relatively high-end food for $15 and less. Bayside Bowl plans to serve Focaccioa bread pizzas, mini chicken chimichangas, veggie stir fry, garden burgers as well as traditional hamburgers and cheeseburgers, crab and lobster cake dinners, reuben sandwiches, fish, grilled rib eye, roasted lemon chicken, cocoanut curry chicken poppers, grilled wings, fries, hush puppies, and a variety of kids’ dishes and desserts.

Monday Farmers Market

The Natural Foodie column in today’s Press Herald has a report on the new Monday Farmers Market in Monument Square. The article includes a full list of the food vendors slated to participate.

Last Monday, there were nine vendors in the square, but as the season progresses, the market will grow to include more than 20 farms.

The market’s expansion to three days comes as a result of the number of farmers who wanted a spot at either the Saturday or Wednesday markets and have been languishing on the waiting list.

Frost Impacts Apple Crop

Saturday’s Press Herald included an article on the early May frost will impact  this year’s Maine apple crop.

Some Maine apple orchards have lost virtually their entire crops two weeks after being hit by a killer frost.

Although many blossoms and early apples appeared to have survived the freeze that began the morning of May 10, they are now wilting and falling to the ground in huge numbers.

Farms, Foraging & Farmers Markets

Stacey Cramp has published photos from her visit to Fishbowl Farm and a wild food foraging field trip with Tom Seymour.

Shopping at the farmers’ market is all well and good, but you will appreciate the produce even more if you witness the planning and hard work that goes into each pea you pop into your mouth. If you get the chance, visit one of your farmers on his/her turf and see exactly what goes into growing and cultivating those gorgeous veggies you are eating. I’m guessing they’d be happy to have you take a look around. We’re very grateful to Chris for generously spending his time educating us about a small piece of organic farming.

The Munjoy Hill News has published a brief report on the new Monday Farmers Market.

Veggies, frozen meats, flowers, cupcakes and much more can now be bought at the new Monday Farmers’ Market on Monument Square – pretty much anything you can purchase at the Wednesday Farmers’ Market you can now buy on Monday if you can’t wait until Wednesday.

Farms, Foraging & Farmers Markets

Stacey Cramp has published photos from her visit to Fishbowl Farm and a wild food foraging field trip with Tom Seymour.

Shopping at the farmers’ market is all well and good, but you will appreciate the produce even more if you witness the planning and hard work that goes into each pea you pop into your mouth. If you get the chance, visit one of your farmers on his/her turf and see exactly what goes into growing and cultivating those gorgeous veggies you are eating. I’m guessing they’d be happy to have you take a look around. We’re very grateful to Chris for generously spending his time educating us about a small piece of organic farming.

The Munjoy Hill News has published a brief report on the new Monday Farmers Market.

Veggies, frozen meats, flowers, cupcakes and much more can now be bought at the new Monday Farmers’ Market on Monument Square – pretty much anything you can purchase at the Wednesday Farmers’ Market you can now buy on Monday if you can’t wait until Wednesday.

Sparrow Arc @ Bar Lola

Sparrow Arc Farm and Bar Lola are teaming up to bring a CSA to Portland. Chef Hernandez from Bar Lola and Matthew Linehan from Sparrow Arc announced the CSA tonight when the pair spoke at the Food+Farm showing of the movie Ingredients. The film showcased the partnership between farmers and restaurants, and Bar Lola and Sparrow Arc have worked together for several year.
Now they’re taking that relationship one step further with Bar Lola serving as the in-town pick-up point for the CSA. The CSA will operate weekly starting July 8 and through to Thanksgiving. For more information about CSA shares email Sparrow Arc Farm at sparrowarcfarm@gmail.com or call (207)-948-6105.
For additional reporting see the June 1 article in the Portland Daily Sun.