Celebrating National Farmer's Market Week

In celebration of National Farmer's Market Week, we're posting links to some fantastic recipes on our Facebook fan and group pages, and on Twitter. These recipes come from some of our favorite food blogs and really highlight the abundance of amazing food available to you at Cheverly Community Market. We hope that you'll try some of the recipes, maybe some new flavors, and share your own recipes for dishes made straight from the farmer's market.

Food for Thought: Slow Food

In our culture, where everything is race, race, race, to bigger, faster, better, there's a group of people who are doing the opposite. Slow Food USA believes that everyone on our planet has the right to clean, fair, good food. They advocate for fair, clean farming policies and fair treatment of farm workers. Some of their activities include: 

• Raising public awareness, improving access and encouraging the enjoyment of foods that are local, seasonal and sustainably grown
• Caring for the land and protecting biodiversity for today's communities and future generations
• Performing educational outreach within their communities and working with children in schools and through public programs
• Identifying, promoting and protecting fruits, vegetables, grains, animal breeds, wild foods and cooking traditions at risk of disappearance
• Advocating for farmers and artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food
• Promoting the celebration of food as a cornerstone of pleasure, culture and community

Slow Food USA has an excellent blog where they explore many aspects of food and food production. You can read about rooftop gardening, biodynamics, gardens in Africa, and a host of other topics. Highly recommended reading. There are also local chapters, SlowFood DC, SlowFood Baltimore, and SlowFood Delmarva. Visit their websites to learn how you can get involved in this movement.

That's Food for Thought this Friday.

May is National Strawberry Month!

Did you know that the very merry month of May is National Strawberry Month? It's true! And because crops are coming in earlier than normal this year (two weeks ahead in Maryland), we're getting an early treat.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture shares these tips for selecting the very best strawberries:

Strawberry Facts and Tips

• Select plump, firm, fully red berries. The small berries are often most flavorful.
• Strawberries measurements: 1 quart = 2 pints = 4 cups and is about the same as 1 liter and weighs 1.25 lbs to 1.5 lbs (or 600 to 700 g). The weight varies on variety and weather conditions.  1 quart is normally enough for 4 servings
• One cup of strawberries contains around 43 calories.
• Unripe berries will not ripen once picked.
• U-pick strawberry farms typically sell berries by the pound. A quart equals 1 and 1/2 pounds of fresh berries.
• It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to pick a quart if the berries are reasonably plentiful.
• You can easily freeze berries that you cannot use right away - just wash, cut the hulls off and pop them into a ziplock bag, removing as much air as possible. Vacuum food sealers do a good job of this! The berries will keep for many months frozen without air.

Cooking Light has a lot of terrific healthy recipes using strawberries -- from a tuned up classic strawberry shortcake to a fresh chicken and strawberry salad to an amazing grilled peanut butter and banana split sandwich for the kids. You're sure to find a delicious, healthy way to include this month's favorite fruit in your menus.

In the Kitchen: Pakoras and Green Chutney

We found a delicious-looking recipe over on one of our favorite blogs, Design*Sponge, for pakoras with green chutney -- a perfect recipe for spring. Pakoras are, like tempura, a fritter-style preparation. In this case, vegetables are dipped in a light batter and fried, then served with a spicy, minty saice (and some plan yogurt to cool things down).

Get the recipe for Tara O'Brady's Pakoras and Green Chutney here, and make an easy, beautiful, tasty meal this weekend!

Food for Thought Fridays

We're instituting a new feature here on the Cheverly Community Market blog: Food for Thought Fridays. Each Friday throughout the season we'll bring you links to thoughtful writing about food. And yes, we know we're not quite in season yet, but we're too excited about this feature to wait!

Today, we bring you a thought-provoking discussion with author Anna Lappé, sustainable food advocate Anim Steel, and chef Bryant Terry. They discuss the benefits of eating local over on Nourish. We hope you enjoy a little Food for Thought this Friday!

The whole Nourish site is fascinating and full of excellent information! Take some time to explore the site -- it's definitely worth your time.


Image courtesy of Farmer'sPal

Thanksgiving Market: Two Oceans Seafood

Stevenson, Maryland's Two Oceans Seafood has been a great resource for responsibly harvested, delicious seafood at Cheverly Community Market this season. We're very happy that they're joining us for our Thanksgiving Market!


Two Oceans Seasood comes in portions which are boned, skinned, individually vacuum sealed, and flash frozen. They're great to tuck in your freezer for the winter months ahead, and would make a lovely part of a gift basket.


We found some great recipes over on Tasteologie for salmon in a variety of preparations -- add a salmon dish to your holiday hors d'oeuvres (mmm...smoked salmon waffles from Lisa Is Cooking!). Or how about an alternative to turkey in grilled pomegranate-glazed salmon from FoodieBride? Or a wonderful brunch with an interesting take on Eggs Benedict from LostPastRemembered? There are all sorts of recipes for you to try and make your own...make sure to include Two Oceans Seafood in your very best creations!

Food Blogs We Love: 52 Kitchen Adventures

The original premise behind 52 Kitchen Adventures was to explore one unusual ingredient each week for an entire year (that was 2010)...that's my kind of cook! Now that the year has passed, Stephanie continues to write about healthy, interesting food. Her recipes tend to be simple, healthy, and family friendly, all things we love.

Here's a great recipe for easy pumpkin butter -- a good way to use up some of those leftover pumpkins. And here's an intriguing recipe for slow-cooked pomegranate beef...I bet some beef from Waltz Family Farm would be fantastic in this one! Make sure to visit this site -- definitely worth your time!

Food Blogs We Love: Post-Punk Kitchen

We know that most people focus on turkey for what could easily be described as THE food holiday of the year...turkey (just like bacon) is delicious! But there are people -- a lot of people, in fact -- that do not use animal products or try to limit their consumption. Thanksgiving can be a real challenge for them, from the "concerned" people who don't know how they can get enough protein to the family member who acts hurt that someone won't eat their turkey to the meat-laden vegetables (yep, bacon is good in just about everything).

Luckily, there are a lot of vegetarian/vegan cooking blogs these days, and they provide great, creative ideas for healthful options for omnivores and veg people alike. One of our favorites? Post-Punk Kitchen. This site has been showcasing great veg food for years, and spawned of one of the most popular veg cookbooks, Veganomicon, a great resource for any cook's library.  The site is definitely worth a visit -- you'll come away with lots of ideas for healthful veg recipes that can satisfy everyone at your holiday table.

Food Blogs We Love: Cooks Illustrated

Cooks Illustrated is like the gold standard for recipe testing, taste testing, technical information and truly well thought out food. We've long been fans of the print magazine with its great illustrations and the ruminations of Chief Editor (and curmudgeon) Christopher Kimball, but the website makes it so easy to access expertise gathered over the years, so it's become a real go-to site.

The site has all sorts of special help for Thanksgiving, from menu and schedule planners to shopping guides to a Thanksgiving 911, but we especially like the How-To guides -- getting definitive advice on the perfect method for creating a mirepoix, removing salmon skin, kneading bread and more will really take your cooking to a higher level fast.

Food Blogs We Love: Cook. Eat. Delicious.

With a multitude of creative recipes and easy ways to search for exactly what you want to make, Cook. Eat. Delicious. is a great website for easy, interesting, delicious food. From roasted garlic & potato soup to  pumpkin cheesecake, this site has great recipes to add to your Thanksgiving repertoire. And there are so many recipes for you to dive into for other meals, that you'll want to add Cook. Eat. Delicious. to your regular foodie website reading list.

Food Blogs We Love: GoJee

GoJee is another great food blog aggregator...with a twist. Sign up and GoJee will learn your preferences and keep track of your favorite recipes. You can also type in what you're hungry for, what you have on hand, what you like or dislike, and GoJee will come up with recipes suited to your tastes. Pretty cool. We live in a golden age!

Today, I'm thinking about plums. And herbs. And liquor. GoJee searched its database and gave me this great recipe for a Plum Tarragon Smash, courtesy The Year in Foods. Can't wait to try it this afternoon!

Try some of these blogs out -- you're sure to expand your recipe base and pick up some new tricks. Have a food blog that you especially love? Let us know in the comments!

Food Blogs We Love: Smitten Kitchen

Smitten Kitchen is a great blog run by a New York City couple. They have a tiny kitchen and concentrate on recipes that aren't too fussy but are "stepped up" a little bit. They're passionate about food...seems like our kind of people!

Things I love about this blog: great photography, imaginative recipes and smart,witty writing. You can search the recipes in a novel way, too: by season. Try summer -- you'll find all sorts of wonderful, simple recipes, including this one for eggplant salad toasts.

Food Blogs We Love: Tasteologie

Tasteologie is really more of a food blog aggregator than a blog in and of itself, but it highlights some of the most gorgeous food photography and best recipes you'll find anywhere. Every day, new recipes are added -- a great site to visit for inspiration!

Here's a great recipe for Pappa al Pomodoro -- tomato and bread soup -- from bell'alimento -- another food blog I found through Tasteologie. It uses fresh tomatoes and basil, stale crusty bread and a few simple staples you're likely to have in your kitchen.

Food Blogs We Love: Food52

The great Food52 blog has a terrific recipe for Summer Corn Pudding. As temperatures finally climb out of the 100+ range, the water in the pool gets a little chilly, the school busses practice their routes, and the scent of fresh school supplies is in the air, this custardy, delicate pudding is a nice way to slide into the fall. The best part? It uses some of the most delicious fresh summertime ingredients -- corn and basil! Rather have something cold? Try this Corn Salad with Caramelized Onions...yum!