More Bus

Everyone keeps asking me about the bus...Here are some more pics!

Calob in Chicago with the Bus

Inside the bus! These sofas turn into Bunk Beds at night. & Kitchen Area.

We took the Bus on a Ferry to get to Vermont from New York!

Outstanding in the Field in Chicago

I am enjoying traveling across the country and visiting different types of farms. It is fascinating to see how each place is different - everything from the ways the farmers grow their crops to the environment around the farm. City Farm in Chicago was an unique experience compared to our other farms we have visited.

I enjoyed learning about urban agriculture and seeing how it positively effects a city and the people in it. City Farm is on an acre and a quarter of city-owned land that is mile and half away from the city's largest skyscraper. It was founded in 2000 by Ken Dunn to give opportunities for fresh produce, jobs and learning for children in surrounding neighborhoods (Cabrini-Green and the Gold Coast).
They grow thirty varieties of tomatoes as well as beets, carrots, potatoes, gourmet lettuces, herbs and melons. All produce is grown in composted soil generated from various sources, such as restaurant trimmings from some of the city's finest kitchens.

When we first arrived to the farm children from the community were painting a mural that went along the outskirts of the farm that they have been working on for two years. Each Season they add an image to the piece and the names of the children that help around the farm. I talked to them the farm and enjoyed watching their enthusiasm as the worked on the moral. The farm is a community that brings people together.

Mindy Segal & Mark Steuer with Hot Chocolate were our guest chefs for the evening. Mark grew up in Charleston, South Carolina - so the meal had a great southern influence. Mindy's desserts were fabulous and an amazing treat to our guests. Mindy won the Jean Banchet award for Best Celebrity pastry chef in Chicago, Chicago Magazine’s pastry chef of the year and the James Beard Foundation 2007 nomination for outstanding pastry chef in the country.

Menu:
Deviled Farm Egg Mousse on Mindy's Blue Marble Family Farm Buttermilk Cracker.
Frogmore Soup: Puree of Nichols Farm Sweet Corn, Baby Red Potato, House Made Gunthorp Farm Pork Sausage with Cilantro & City Farm Coriander Seed.
Rachel's House Made White Bread with Nichols Farm Heirloom Tomatoes, Farm Egg Mayo, Sea Salt & City Farm Chives.
Plapp Farm Gruts with Grilled Head On Prawns with Cremini Mushrooms, Baby Purple Onions, Bacon and Chilis.
Braised & Fried Gunthrop Farms rabbits, braised City Farm collards, "pickled" potato salad, Plapp Farm Corn Bread & Honey Butter.
Sow Little Farm's Rasberry Granita with "Dreamsicle" Blue Marble Farm Cream.
Peach Cobbler & House Made Buttermilk Ice Cream.
Pecan Pie with Carmel Cream.

Riverbend Farm

We went to Riverbend Farm in Delano, MN last week. Our Guest Chefs were Scott Pampuch, Corner Table and Mike Phillips, The Craftsman. Riverbend Farm is located about 30 miles west of Minneapolis on the North Fork of the Crow River just west of Delano, Minnesota.Vegetables are produced on 30 acres that are in a four-year rotation. Their main crops are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salad and cooking greens, radishes, onions, winter squash, and potatoes. Their focus is on high quality, good tasting produce. They are committed to sustainable practices and organic methods. They have been certified organic since 1994.

Chef Scott Pampuch with Corner Table and Mike Phillips with The Craftsman Restaurant in Minneapolis were our guest chefs. Chef Scott Pampuch was named as a James Beard Award semi-finalist for Best Chef; Midwest. Both chefs cook with regional and organic ingredients.

What a memorable dinner! The past few dinners we have encountered some rain. Rain never stops a farm dinner- we just have to plan accordingly. Jim has a doppler application on his iphone- which we use to track it. During this dinner we soon realized that rain was approaching around 8:00 p.m. We pushed on the dinner and the guests enjoyed a meal in the breezy warm summer storm weather as they watched a storm come in over the farm. We were able to get through all of the main courses and moved the dessert to the greenhouse.

We set up candles along the walls of the greenhouse – and huddled together as a storm rolled in and ate cheesecake and drank II Follo Prosecco.. The mix of the rain hitting the roof and the thunderstorm- gave a very unique dinner. Everyone was so excited to experience a dinner in the field and the storm in the greenhouse.

Menu:
Sampling of Charcuterie: Headcheese, Coppa Salami, Ham, Nilette, Mortadella, Pickles, Mustard.
Farmers Salad: Carrots, Beets, Potatoes, Sheep's Milk Ricotta, Pheasant Eggs, Salad Grees, Shallot Vinaigrette.
Cured Star Prairie Trout with Cucumber, Breakfast Radish, Cabbage Cole Slaw.
Fischer Farm Fennel Sausage with Riverbend Farm Grits, Braised Greens and Honey Gastrique.
Mark Simon Veal with Riverbend Swiss Chard and Cornmeal Tamale0 Sweet Corn & Black Turtle Bean Succotash.
Veal Demi.
Riverbend Cornmeal & Star Thrower Farm Sheeps Milk Cheesecake.

NEW BUS - And the Adventure....

Caleb met us in Boulder with the new bus! Jim's Flexible could not make it across the country this year. So now we are traveling in a 1950's GM. Ill post pics of the instead later- but they built twin bunk beds in the front and double size bunk beds in the back. There is a kitchen and bathroom that works! (Unlike the Flexible). We are making our way across country in the bus. We are now on the East Coast- The Bus has touched both coasts! I enjoyed the drive with Caleb from Chicago - Vermont last week. Upstate New York was beautiful to drive through.

Caleb (picture to the left) is our bus driver. We are glad to finally have him back on tour.

We had to call a tow truck to come pull us out. We got stuck in the mud in Kingsville, MO.Also throughout the journey the bus has gone in the shop a few times...but we are loving our new home.

Outstanding In The Field Dinners

It is hard to blog when I am traveling across the country. We have back-to-back farm dinners and on days off we are on the bus traveling. August seems to be crazy- but I will update the best I can. Here are details from some amazing dinners over the past few weeks. We have had some crazy experiences and we have had some of the top dinners so far this season. It is an amazing experience to traveling with a group of people across the country. I am learning so much about food and eating different things. I am also seeing part of the country I have never seen before.

Some Dinner Details:

Blue Willow Farm – Stevensville, MT
July 25th, 2009

Blue Willow Farm has dried and fresh flowers at the market. Chef Scott Gill with Scotty’s Table was our guest chef for the evening. He is originally from northern California and grew up in the restaurant business. Blue Willow Farm also plants vegetables for chefs in the area including Scott. They have a great relationship and work to bring fresh ingredients and food to the city.

The table was placed in the middle of the Farmer’s (Kevin and Kimberly) flowers with an incredible mountain view. It was one of our smaller dinners- but the location was great. The guests enjoyed the meal with a small rain storm. For about 15 mins a beautiful rain storm approached the farm - non of the guests cared and went about their dinner. The rain blew over and an amazing sunset ended the evening.

MENU: Larry Evans late season stuffed morels
Bitterroot Organic Farm Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Cucumber Salad
Pasta Wrapped Braised Paradise Farm’s Beef Field Greens with Life Line Farm Feta
Braised Pork Belly with Wild Huckleberries
Lemon Pound Cake with Local Berries

Munson Farms - Boulder, CO
Monday, July 27th, 2009

Munson Farms was a beautiful site in Boulder. We ate fresh sweet corm as farmer Mike showed us around his property. Mike’s folks started the farm in 1976 on 2 acres. It has since grown to over 70 acres and now grow spinach, green, sugar snap peas, beets, beans, tomatoes, melons, 20 types of winter squash and pumpkins, summer squash, 15 varieties of sweet corn, popcorn, and herbs.

Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson with Frasca Food and Wine was the guest chef. He won the 2008 James Beard Winner- Best Chef of the Southeast.

Our Boulder dinner was a great time with a crazy rain storm. Jim pulled our his Doppler Program on his iPhone and saw the storm approaching. Some of the guests went into the barn to wait out the storm some pulled out their umbrellas at first; however, eventually went to the barn. When they walked back to the table after the storm there was a beautiful perfect rainbow over the table.


Powell Gardens – Kingsville, MO
July 29, 2009

Powell Gardens is a beautiful botanical garden in Missouri. Executive Chef Jonathan Justus with Justus Drugstore was out guest chef for MO. He is the former Executive Chef of La Motte du Couchant outside Montpellier, France, Executive Chef of The Liberties in San Francisco, CA, and the Charcutier of Golden Gate Meat Company. He is a former designer (including restaurant and retail design in cities such as San Francisco, Tokyo, and Singapore).

We set the table along a path that over looked the garden. Chef Jonathan Justus steamed pork shoulders in a pit he dug on the property. The guests watched him pull the pork out of the pit halfway through dinner.

MENU:
Caramelized Onion & Apple Berkshire Pork Corn Cake, Rhubarb, Pecan, with Port Cinnamon Clove.
Squash Blossom with Bourbon Red Turkey & Berkshire Pork Mousseline
North Farm Terrine Suckling Kid with Wild Gooseberry, Sumac Mustard
Watermelon with Dawn Sherman’s Goat Cheese, Basil, Hemp Seed, Mulberry Red Clover Vinegar Gastrique.
Wild Juniper & Eastern Gamma Pork Two Ways- Newman Farm Berkshire Rib Eye Chop & Forage Prairie Grass Steamed Shoulder with Wild Elderflower, Polenta, Mint Scented Zucchini and Lemon Vanilla Vinaigrette
Torte- Blueberry, Basil, Lemon Ginger, Gelee, Sabayon

Now we are off to West Star Farm in Madison, WI. These past few weeks have been incredible experiences with good company. Starting tomorrow the whole crew will be back together as we tackle August. Please follow me as I write about our journey..or meet me in the field!