edible Metro and Mountains

edible METRO & MOUNTAINS focuses on local, sustainable food sources and the people who work the land to bring this bounty to our tables. The first issue was launched a month ago and the summer issue is almost out. Please check out the magazine and a few of my pieces. I really enjoyed writing about Heritage Turkeys!

Check out the latest issue online. Click Here

JOIN ME ON THE FIELD

Starting in June I will be going on tour with Outstanding in the Field. A organization that re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food, and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it.

Follow me as I blog about my new adventures with the staff as we tour all over the United States and put on farm-table dinners. Please join the table and meet us in the field for a dinner. There are many great 2009 dinners. I hope to meet you out there!

Click here also for the OITF BLOG. We will be updating that throughout the tour.

You Can Change The World With Every Bite

A pre-showing of Food, Inc. came to Atlanta last week. Members if the CDC and Slow Food Atlanta gathered to watch about the corrupt and the drastically changed food system in America. Over the past 60 years America is changing how we eat and what we eat.

The film will be released in June and I feel that everyone needs to see it. It taught me a lot about what is going on in our food system and opened my eyes to current issues. "Food, Inc. reveals surprising -- and often shocking truths -- about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here."

How much do we really know about the food we buy at our local supermarkets and serve to our families? In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner shows American the corruption and issues in the food system that has been hidden from the average consumer. He goes through the issues and shows American the truth. Including: Why we have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of e coli--the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. Current companies are not producing chicken-but food....It is a mass production-not farming.

Here you can watch the first three minutes of the film

Just remember: 3x A Day You Can Vote For Change.

Southern Food & Arts Festival

If you have never been to Oxford, Mississippi then you should pack your bags! Double Decker Festival is coming up on Saturday, April 25,2009. You will find the best pottery, art, music and food in the south.



Oxford is filled with southern history and southern cuisine. My favorite place to go is Taylor Grocery. Know for its Catfish and Motto: Eat or We Both Starve- people drive from all over the south to eat here. The store was originally a dry goods store built in the 1880's. Starting in 1977 the dry goods store started frying up catfish and serving it to customers. Catfish is a local staple and favorite to loyal Mississippians. Leave a piece of of you when you leave as patrons are able to sign the wall.


Bottletree Bakery is another local favorite. The air filled with the smell of baked goods and southern cheer. This cozy spot in Oxford bakes their pastries from scratch daily. It is a classic European style bread and pastry bakery with a southern influence flare. All of the tables and chairs are old, miss-matched and wooden- some are even painted added to the folklore-art-filled room. Single diners enjoy the bar style dining experience with a book and a cup of coffee, while large groups gather at square tables. The sausage biscuits are out of this world and the Apple Humble Pie was on Oprah's Favorite Things.

"She knew that there could be a spell put in trees, and she was familiar from the time she was born with the way bottle trees kept evil spirits from coming into the house -- by luring them inside the colored bottles, where they cannot get out again."
---Livvie by Eudora Welty

Slow Food’s Southern Regional Leaders Meeting

On March 22 Slow Food members came together at Love is Love Farm to hear esteemed food activist, Dan Imhoff, author of "Food Fight: A Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill," and Josh Viertel, Slow Food USA President speak about current issues with the Farm Bill, Good Food Movement and Where Slow Food USA is heading in the future.

Slow Sustainable Supper- Slow Food Atlanta

A few weeks ago I was able to help put on a Slow Food dinner honoring Michael Pollan. The event was a huge success and we were able to raise a lot of money. The menu featured a "Taste of the South" from some of the best chefs throughout the south. (See below). Michael Pollan's visit to Atlanta was an amazing experience and I hope that people are able to see a change in the food system. The South has so much to offer the Good Food Movement...and it is great to see our local leaders stand up and make a difference.

Starters

Pickled vegetables, condiments and breads
Linton Hopkins, Restaurant Eugene, Atlanta, GA

Kentucky Bourbon tasting,
Mark Williams, Lexington, KY

Selection of house-made sausages, crafted from our own livestock, with condiments
Matt Palmerlee and Eddie Russell, farm 255, Athens, GA

Tartine Grillé with White Oak Pastures Beef Tartar, Swank Farms Watercress-Breakfast Radish Salad, Winterpark Dairy Bleu Cheese and Local Pink Peppercorns
Zach Bell, Café Boulud, Palm Beach, FL

Radish and butter sandwiches
Scott Peacock/Steven Satterfield, Watershed, Atlanta, GA

Salads

Spring Greens, Farm Egg Vinaigrette, House Cured Bacon, New Potatoes
Anne Quatrano, Bacchanalia, Atlanta, GA

Organic Quinoa and Local potato salad, sea vegetables, crispy shallots, spicy garlic dressing
Joe Truex and Mihoko Obunai , Repast Restaurant, Atlanta, GA

Pane Rustico Italian flatbread with olive pesto topped with dressed arugula, preserved lemons and shaved parmesan
Alisa Berry, Bella Cucina Artful Food, Atlanta, GA

Seasonal Salad featuring Belle Chevre artisan goat cheese
Carvel Grant Gould, Canoe Restaurant, Atlanta, GA

Sides

Butter Braised Baby Carrots with Red Curry, Ginger & Chervil
Ron Eyster, Food 101, Atlanta, GA

Local beets, Local Delicata squash with kale
Margo McCormack, Margo Café and Bar, Nashville, TN

Anson Mills Farro Piccolo “Risotto” with roasted root vegetables,
Mike Lata, FIG, Charleston, SC

Stokes County purple sweet potato ravioli from Via Elisa and White Oak Pastures braised beef ragout
Butch Raphael and Scott Crawford, Whole Foods Market, Atlanta, GA


Mains

Salt-grilled North Carolina mackerel with pickled onions, pickled beets and green sauce
Andrea Reusing, The Lantern, Chapel Hill, NC

North Carolina Bay Scallops with house-cured pancetta, spring onions, and local shiitakes
Andrew Smith, Atkins Park, Atlanta, GA

Braised Katahdin lamb from Gum Creek Farms over heirloom grits from Riverview Farms
Todd Mussman, Muss and Turner’s, Smyrrna, GA

Spit roasted pork middle with spring onion and farm sausage
Kevin Gillespie, Woodfire Grill, Atlanta, GA

Desserts

Key lime pie coupe, key lime pie ice cream, lime cream, graham cracker crumble, brown sugar meringues
Jonathan St. Hiliare, Trois, Atlanta, GA

Warm Steen's Cane Syrup Pudding,
Shaun Doty, Shaun’s, Atlanta, GA

Bourbon Pecan Jam Cakes,
Mark Williams, Brown-Forman, Lexington, KY

Welcome Foodies.....

In this new world of blogging and media- I finally decided I needed to have a blog. My life is surrounded by food and I feel that it is time to share my experiences with the world.

I am a strong believer in eating fresh and local food. I also think it is important to support the mom and pop (hole-in-the-wall) restaurants that makes a city unique and special.

I hope you enjoy my experiences that are infused with recipes and good meals. Come to my table and share, eat and learn. It is time America starts talking about food!