Cheeseburger, Local Cheeseburger!

The cheese isn't local this time, but the beef is!  So, where's the beef ???  There's a new vendor at the Beaver Farmers' Market on Saturday.  It's Pflugh's Country Market and they're bringing their own beef.  I was caught by surprise, so I didn't have a cooler, but you can be sure LFLF will pick up more beef in the months to come.  Here's what a pound of ground beef looks like after the grill. 
Sorry foodies for the sad excuse for cheese, but we'll fix that next time! :(

100% Local Feast!

You're looking at the serving line for the 53rd Annual Beaver County Farm-City Banquet held at the Big Knob Grange on Wednesday night. Reservations were capped at 150 and it was a sell out! The Farm-City Banquet exclusively showcases Beaver County produced food from vegetables to beef to ice cream.
The Big Knob Grange, New Sewickley Kiwanis, & Penn State Cooperative Extension of Beaver County organize the dinner every year. The food is donated by the farmers' market members of the Beaver County Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association and other local farmers ...... this year, Rovidale Farm and Brunton Dairy helped support the dinner with beef, milk, and ice cream. Proceeds were donated to the Beaver County 4-H Foundation.

Local produce items on the menu included spiced beets, sweet corn, butternut squash with local honey & butter, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and that perennial favorite (where else could you get it?!?) roasted turnips being dished up below!
Follow that up with apple pie and ice cream and everyone left the tables feeling grateful for our local farmers ............

Sewickley 2.0 - Me & Mrs. Jones

Me & Mrs. Jones ---- how many times have they heard this line?!? I came across a couple of great products at the market on Saturday after just missing the morning rain. I didn't get to meet Mrs. Jones, but I did sample her potato salad and her "Multi-Purpose Sauce!". http://www.mrsjonesthesauce.com/ After heeding the call to "Taste What You've Been Missing", I brought a jar of the sauce home. I was making stuffed peppers for dinner with a recipe that called for 1 & 3/4 cups of tomato sauce ....... I used 8oz. of tomato sauce and substituted Mrs. Jones Multi-Purpose Sauce for the rest of the sauce. The stuffed peppers were great! It added great flavor & a bit of a kick to the stuffed peppers. What next ....... brush on as a barbeque sauce?

One of the farmers at the market who suggested the use of the sauce as a beef marinade or barbeque sauce was Dave McElhaney of McElhaney Family Farm. http://www.familyfarmbeef.com/ They have a steady stream of customers buying their dry aged beef from the freezer truck. Later in the season, I'd like to get over to their place and get some pictures at the farm ...... stay tuned. Here's a great chance to get local beef to stock your freezer or for the grill!

More about the market on my next post ........

Waynesburg PA Farmers" Market Visit

We had a trip planned to the Waynesburg area, so I tied it in with the Wednesday farmers' market, of course. It was overcast today --- the first rain that we've had in nearly a month. The market vendors set up in the rain, but it cleared up until the market closed. The Waynesburg Farmer's Market is sponsored by Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful and is located on High Street in the First Baptist Church parking lot. This is one of the markets that I worked with in the past, so I knew Carol, the on-site market manager. She opens and closes the market by ringing a school bell. I got to ring the bell at closing today --- thanks Carol! Today was "Senior Day" so there were some added booths providing information, blood pressure checks, etc. Look closely at the picture of my market goodies and you'll see the tomato stress ball "squeezie" ...... today's featured freebie! The stuff you can pick up at the market, eh? I also bought a copy of the market "Recipe Collection" cookbook, available for $10 at the market or by ordering from WP&B. http://www.waynesburgpa.org/index.html

This is one of the markets in the area where you can purchase meats including pork and beef. The beef is from Strath an De' Farm --- they raise Scottish Highland beef cattle. http://www.strathande.com/

There were some beautiful heirloom tomatoes from Stewart's Farm. Couldn't resist picking up a piece of fudge .......

The Auction - hard work pays off!

Tonight was the 4H livestock auction at the Hookstown Fair. Here are a few pictures of the livestock that were auctioned and the crowd doing the bidding. The animals will be custom processsed to each buyer's specifications by local butchers. Livestock purchased for retail sales or restaurants must be slaughtered under USDA inspection, just like the meat in your grocery store. What a great way to buy local! We didn't buy this year ---- we're still finishing the pork from the hog that we purchased last year ........ We spotted several bidders who got together and divided up their steer between 2 to 4 families. Another interesting feature of the sale is that you can purchase an animal & "donate it back" to the scholarship fund. You pay the price you've bid - those $$$ go to the 4H member - and the proceeds from the 2nd bidder go to the scholarship fund. It's another way to support our youth if you don't want to fill your freezer.