Flying Toaster

This is our tribute to Steve Jobs and Apple, the Flying Toaster, inspired by one of the original Macintosh screen savers.

I took the day off, but hope you all have a wonderful Halloween weekend.

xoxo

Darya

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

Good stuff this week, particularly the new data about why diets don’t work, why probiotics do work and some interesting examples of how the food industry is responding to the food movement. Oh yes, and the invention of super broccoli.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Study Shows Why It’s Hard to Keep Weight Off <<Some interesting new data explaining why diets don’t work. (New York Times)
• Consumers ‘don’t pay attention to nutrition labels’ <<Am I the only one who thinks this might be a good thing? The labels are only there to confuse you. (BBC News)
• UK scientists grow super broccoli <<BS of the week. Hate to break it to these guys, but broccoli was already perfect. Seriously, aren’t there bigger fish to fry? (SF Gate)
• In Defense of Industrial Food <<I disagree with this, but I’m not calling BS because he brings up some important points that should be answered by the real food community. (TIME)
• Lunch with Michael Pollan: Two Words of Warning <<Pollan is right about what the food industry is doing in response to the food movement (spin!), and the next few articles illustrate exactly what he means. (Michael Ruhlman)
• Marketers use artisan label to evoke more sales <<I noticed the artisan pizzas at Dominos and the farmers market pizza at RoundTable. Who is falling for this stuff? (USA Today)
• The Candification of Our Food: The Case of the Fruit-Less Fruit Snack <<This is very important and everyone with kids (or planning to have kids) should read it. (The Atlantic)
• The ineluctable return of the McRib <<This is so well-written I had to share it, and I applaud Francis Lam for his bravery. (Salon)
• Science Probes How Probiotic Yogurts Affect Your Gut <<Super cool new research about how probiotics affect the function, not the population of gut flora. (Medline)
• The apple orchard and a savory squash, apple and quinoa crumble <<This is a delicious looking fall recipe, I’ve been all about the winter squash this year. (Cannelle et Vanille)

What inspired you this week?

Minneapolis Farmers Market

Bruce Bradley is a consultant, author, blogger and lifelong foodie from Minneapolis, Minnesota. After working for over 15 years as a marketer for several of the world’s largest food companies, Bruce finally awakened to “the green side of life” and is an avid supporter of the eat local, real food movement. He now offers his unique insider’s perspective on processed foods via his blog and a soon-to-be-released novel, FAT PROFITS. To learn more about Bruce Bradley you can subscribe to his blog, follow him on Twitter @authorbruce or check him out on Facebook.

Farmers Market Update: Minneapolis, Minnesota

by Bruce Bradley

Minneapolis Farmers Market Sign

The Minneapolis Farmers Market has been a long-standing fixture of the Twin Cities fresh produce scene. Its current Lyndale Market location opened in 1937, but its roots trace back to a fruit and vegetable market established in 1876. Located on the outskirts of downtown, the Minneapolis Farmers Market is held outdoors under three huge red sheds and stakes claim to the title “Largest Open Air Market in the Upper Midwest.”

Run by the Central Minnesota Vegetable Growers Association, the farmers market is open from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., 7 days a week from May to December. On Thursdays, a special farmers market is held downtown along Nicollet Mall, a place made famous by Mary Tyler Moore’s hat toss in the opening credits of her 1970′s sitcom.

Minneapolis Farmers Market

I decided to visit the farmers market downtown this week. It was a beautiful, sunny Indian Summer day in Minneapolis. Fall is at its peak here, so the red, orange, and yellow trees lining the streets created a wonderful backdrop to my shopping adventure.

Although many summer vegetables like tomatoes, green beans, and corn were still plentiful, fall vegetables have taken center stage. Brussel sprout stalks and squashes were available at many vendors and a number of local Apple Orchards were showing off their amazing crop.

Apples

During the summer my CSA keeps me pretty well stocked in vegetables. Although I love the CSA experience, what I miss about the farmers market is getting to choose exactly what I’m going to buy. That said, the hardest part of shopping at the farmers market is wanting to take home a little bit of everything and this week was no exception. Take a look at these squash! I love squash, especially all the fall varieties. Although these beautiful Carnival Squashes were calling my name, after reading Summer Tomato’s recipe for Delicata Squash, I knew delicata was on the top of my shopping list.

Winter Squash

If you love food and you haven’t gone to your local farmers market, you’re really missing out. It’s a great place to explore different varieties of vegetables that you just can’t find at your local grocery store, like these white radishes …

White Radishes

and these Indian eggplant …

Eggplant

Spinach is one of my personal favorites, and these were so green and fresh. I love making spinach salad, sautéed spinach, or … some creamy spinach soup would be especially perfect on a cool fall day. The vendor assured me she would have some more spinach this weekend, so I passed on it for now. But believe me, it was tough call.

Spinach

Raspberries are my son’s favorite, and I think the best varieties ripen in the fall. Not only are they more flavorful, but they’re also a little bit sweeter than the ones that are available during the summer. These will be perfect for dessert or breakfast in the morning, so they’re a definite addition to my bag.

Raspberries

Variety is the spice of life, and it’s always fun to check out things you’ve never seen before. Seed heads from sunflowers were new to me this trip. Although I love experimenting, my bag was already getting pretty full, so I passed on these beauties for now.

Dry Sunflowers

I also was tempted by these red moon beans. Their rich purple color was very alluring, but the vendor didn’t understand English so I couldn’t learn anything about them. I Googled them when I got home, but unfortunately I still couldn’t find anything about them. Does anybody know about this variety of bean? I’d love to learn more about them so please share what you know in the comments.

Red Moon Beams

Fresh smells are one of my favorite parts of shopping at farmers markets. I was standing a few stalls down wind from this huge bunch of dill weed and it caught my nose’s immediate attention. Yum!

Dill

Next to the dill was a colorful array of chili peppers, tomatoes, beets, and potatoes. I LOVE beets, so they were an easy choice for me to add to my bag.

Chilies and Beets

When you read Summer Tomato’s Farmers Market updates, you learn how each area of the country (and world) has their own specialties, so I thought I’d feature a couple items that I think are a little more unique to the Upper Midwest:

Pickles are a local favorite in Minnesota. Everyone seems to have their own secret recipe, and it’s something I’d like to try my hand at making sometime. The pickle bar at the farmers market is a great place to figure out exactly what your favorite type of pickle is and buy it. Bread and butter pickles are hands down my top choice.

Pickles

Two other local foods from our neighbor to the east, Wisconsin, are cheese and cranberries. I had never heard of “cheese curds” until I moved to Minnesota. Although I don’t buy them very often, they’re amazing especially when fresh. These curds were made yesterday from rBGH free milk, so I couldn’t resist them. And as any Wisconsin native will tell you, the only way to know if your cheese curds are fresh is to taste them. If they squeak between your teeth, they’re fresh, and these were squeakingly delicious.

Cheese Curds and Cranberries

Now while everyone knows cheese is a huge Wisconsin favorite, not many people know that Wisconsin is the country’s largest producer of cranberries. I didn’t pick up any of these plump berries this week, but I made a mental note to get them in a couple weeks. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and there’s nothing better than a fresh cranberry relish.

My Purchases

What I bought (pictured above):

• Corn
• Delicata squash (I’m going back for more. I just made Darya’s Delicata Squash recipe and it was AMAZING!)
• Butternut Squash
• Ambercup Squash
• Beets
• Green Beans
• Cheese Curds - Ellsworth Creamery
• Raspberries (Unfortunately they got a little crushed. Maybe I should order one of Darya’s new Mercado bags.)

I <3 Farmers Markets

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

We have some fabulous reading this week including a dose of reality for the cavepeople in the room, some scary news about the effect of pollution on birth defects, and a TV commercial that makes me want to ride my bike to France.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• The Five Failings of Paleo <<As many of you know I agree with a lot of the paleo diet tenets, but have been known to criticize it as well. This post sums up my objections brilliantly. (Free The Animal)
• Hitting the Road to Get to Work, and Back <<I love this. I’m a huge fan of the active commute. (New York Times)
• FDA Asleep on the Job? New Study Has Harsh Criticism for How Agency Determined that Gulf Seafood was Safe <<From the new report: “53% of Gulf shrimp samples were above levels of concern for pregnant women.” Nice one FDA, you are now the proud distributor of today’s BS of the week. (On Earth)
• Pollutants Linked to 450 Percent Increase in Risk of Birth Defects in Rural China <<One reason to consider going organic during pregnancy, 450% is a big number. Scary stuff. (ScienceDaily)
• IOM releases tough report on front-of-package labeling <<Excellent analysis of the new food packaging label debate. I hope this gets implemented, though I doubt it will. (Food Politics)
• Is MSG Safe? (Part 1 of 2) <<People ask me about MSG sometimes, and this is promising to be a good analysis. Note: I didn’t link to the full article because it has an annoying auto-play feature. You might want to turn down your volume before clicking over. (Nutrition Over Easy)
• Hold the fries! Men who eat junk food are more likely to be infertile <<Want to test it out? (Daily Mail)
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids Shown to Prevent or Slow Progression of Osteoarthritis <<More good news for fish eaters. (ScienceDaily)
• Pulled Pork & Roasted Tomato Donburi (Rice Bowl) à la Ivan Ramen <<I’m infatuated with Japanese food right now, and can’t wait for my trip to Tokyo in April. Thanks for the preview Fuji Mama!
• Exercise can’t always be this much fun, but it can be enjoyable <<Why doesn’t America have commercials this cool?! (note: hide your kids, hide your wife) Also, the article I link to above makes some good points about exercise. (via Los Angeles Times)

What inspired you this week?

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