Will Work For Food Project

Farm to Table Dinner Wellesley Reads Together

2011-10-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

A wonderful Farm to Table Harvest Dinner in conjunction with the Wellesley Reads Together Program. We created the logo as well.

Wellesley Reads Together Website

2011-10-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

We designed this interactive site for a library reading program featuring two locavore books - one of which inspired me to create the Will Work For Food Project.

New website for Iowa farm

2011-04-08T12:39:00.001-07:00

New name - New logo - New website for Iowa farm

2011-03-10T12:31:00.001-08:00

Over the past year we have been working with a lovely family-run farm in Iowa that raises free-range cattle and offers antibiotic-free meats as well as produce. We worked with them on changing their name to better reflect their philosophy and offering and created a sweet new logo for them that features their pet cow "Jill". We also designed a dynamic new website that will launch in a couple of weeks.

Peapod meets CSA?

2011-02-16T05:50:00.001-08:00

Cranky Consumer tests services that deliver organic and locally grown produce to your doorstep.

Secret World of Trader Joes

2011-02-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

In Fortune, Beth Kowitt had an eye-popping piece called “Inside the Secret World of Trader Joe’s.” The funky, gourmet grocery chain is actually owned by the secretive Albrecht family from Germany. Many of the products are made by large corporations — the pita chips are made by a division of PepsiCo and the yogurt is actually made by Danone Stonyfield Farm.

The company has brilliantly seized on the growing sophistication of American food tastes. It offers a much more limited selection than its rivals, thus reducing the anxiety of choice. It has an efficient supply chain (the Tasty Bite Punjab Eggplant that sold for $3.39 at Whole Foods in Manhattan sold for more than a dollar less at the Trader Joe’s in Stamford, Conn.). It fosters community and makes shopping a form of belonging.

Abel Sanchez - the techie at 1000radishes.com

Walmart as the new champion of local farms? (The Atlantic

2011-02-01T09:24:00.000-08:00

My last post of 2010 has a perhaps appropriate world turned upside down feel to it. Who knew that Walmart has a senior director of local and sustainable sourcing? Or that Walmart now sells locally grown foods? The author, Corby Kummer, is a champion of the Slow Food movement. What is the world coming to?

"The first thing I saw, McIntosh apples, came from the same local orchard whose apples I’d just seen in the same bags at Whole Foods. The bunched beets were from Muranaka Farm, whose beets I often buy at other markets—but these looked much fresher."

Tod Dimmick - Foodie of 1000radishes.com

How 'bout them (local) apples?

2011-01-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

In years past, I used to buy apples from 2,000 miles away in December. But an increasing number of local orchards have invested in cool storage rooms which means apples are available for months after they are picked, sometimes right through the winter. One of my favorite locals is Dowse Orchards. This family owned farm in Sherborn, MA has been in business for 200 years, and in December if you walk past the Christmas Trees you'll find their own apples, several different kinds. I've been paying a weekly visit for Cortlands (baking) and Macs (crunching). If it's a cold day, they usually have hot cider, too. Buying apples at a place like this is infinitely more fun than buying jet lagged ones at the grocery store.

- Tod Dimmick - foodie at 1000radishes.com

Fresh Veggie Omelette

2010-10-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

This is a great recipe for your CSA's fresh vegetables.
Ingredients:

* Tomatoes
* Sweet, warm, or hot peppers (we used a combination)
* Onions (choose your favorite)
* Chard (the star ingredient)
* Fresh farm eggs

Add your vegetables into your favorite skillet, add salt, and oil.

After a couple of minutes, add the eggs and cook to taste

Enjoy!

Abel - Techie at 1000radishes.com

One of our heros reminds us what is important

2010-10-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

At Harvard last week, Team 1000Radishes took part in a seminar led by Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement, and Corby Kummer, editor of the Atlantic Monthly. After hearing, in Italian with Kummer translating, about the principles of Slow Food, we were reminded that kindred spirits worldwide seek similar goal to our own.

Right now, busy consumers are forced to make food decisions based on speed, convenience and price, and most of those choices are bad in every sense, unhealthy for our bodies, environmentally destructive, and economically unsustainable. 1000Radishes technology aspires to support democratization of access to good food (define good as you like, few would argue against "local" being part of the definition). We seek to offer another choice by helping to make good food fast, convenient, and affordable by supplying real time information about Where (a choice vs McDonalds), What (visualize what to eat, and it doesn't have to be a Big Mac), and How (Recipes).

AKA What's In Season, Where to find it, What to do with it - the original Radish tagline. And that's just for starters.

This is a worthy goal, and worth talking about. Stay tuned.

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and "The Foodie" at 1000radishes

12 Famous Farmers' Markets

2010-10-14T09:39:00.001-07:00

The season is winding down but here are some of the most famous farmer's markets.

Montpelier, VT, Montpelier Farmers Market

New York, NY, Union Square Green Market

Madison, WI, Dane County Farmers' Market

Des Moines, IA, Des Moines farmers market

Washington, D.C., Dupont Circle FRESHFARM Market

San Francisco, CA, Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market

Portland, ME, Portland, ME Farmers' Market

Portland, OR, Portland, OR Farmers' Market

Saint Paul, MN, St. Paul Downtown Farmers' Market

Seattle, WA, University District Farmers' Market

Austin, TX, Barton Creek Farmers' Market

Santa Fe, NM, Santa Fe Farmers' Market

Raven Hill Farm

2010-08-25T12:46:00.001-07:00

Just came back from a stay in Maine and discovered a wonderful out-of-the-way farm/coffeeshop/bakery/restaurant/orchard called Raven Hill Farm in Waterboro ME. Steve the owner makes a mean expresso and the place is absolutely charming and authentic. Stop by for a visit if you can - you will be in for a treat!

Grilled Zucchini

2010-08-25T12:38:00.001-07:00

Versatile Zucchini can be prepared in many different ways. One of the simplest, and the most tasty, is to grill slices like this. Yum.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes
Serves: 4 (or 2 if you really like your squash)

2 small zucchini, washed, ends cut off, and sliced lengthwise into pieces into pieces 1/2 inch thick
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Lay the zucchini slices in a baking pan. Mix the garlic, oil, and vinegar, pour over the zucchini, and turn the slices to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Ideally marinate for an hour or more.

Preheat the grill. Grill the slices for 4 minutes per side or until zucchini is tender.

Zucchini is perfect to prepare alongside other grilled foods to make efficient use of that grill.

Served up by Tod Dimmick,
AKA "The Foodie" at 1000radishes

New logo for The Back Forty

2010-06-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

I was also asked to create a new branding for The Back Forty part of Rural votes. In this case, we wanted to merge old and new so we though the cow contemplating the turbines was a nice touch.

New logo for Rural Votes

2010-06-25T07:45:00.001-07:00

I was asked to design a new look for Rural Votes in Western MA this past week under the WWFF project and it was a wonderful experience working with Debby and Miryam. We wanted to create an eye-catching logo that incorporated patriotism as well as a rural scene and I think we did it!

Lasagna Rolls with Fresh Spinach

2010-06-15T07:03:00.000-07:00

Lasagna rolls turn a traditional recipe on end - literally. The result is an entertaining, picturesque dish. Fresh spinach lets us add flavor and color to a quintessential comfort food.

1 lb whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 jar (25 oz) tomato sauce (or your own!)

8 oz thinly sliced prosciutto

2 cups ricotta cheese (whole milk adds indulgent creaminess)

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1 container (1 lb) fresh mozzarella balls (small)

Parsley to garnish

Preheat the oven to 350. Cook the lasagna per package instructions, removing noodles when al dente and quickly rinsing them under cold water to stop them from cooking further. Layer the noodles on a plate, lightly spraying each layer with cooking spray to keep them from sticking.

Set out a 9 x 13” baking tray, and spread 1 cup of the sauce across the bottom of the tray. Lay one lasagna noodle flat on a cutting board, and top with one of the prosciutto slices. Leave 2 inches of the pasta on one end clear. Spread about 3TB of ricotta on top the prosciutto, spread a thin layer of marinara (about 1 TB) on the ricotta, and top with a layer of spinach leaves. Carefully roll the lasagna towards the uncovered end (the filling will spread in that direction). Set the lasagna roll on end in the baking tray with the seam towards the edge to keep it from unraveling. Repeat with other lasagna noodles until the baking tray is full. Pour remaining sauce over the lasagna rolls, tent foil over the tray, and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly. Remove, top each lasagna roll with a mozzarella ball, and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes.

Serve with a big salad, and a good Chianti or dry red wine.

Submitted by Tod Dimmick,
AKA "The Foodie" at 1000radishes

Arugula Pesto

2010-06-11T08:16:00.001-07:00

There's no one in the middle when it comes to pungent, spicy arugula. Its strong flavor inspires either passionate fans, or vehement detractors (who have yet to see the green light -grin).

For arugula fans, imagine taking that bright green "spring" flavor and distilling it into its concentrated essence. That's what I see in arugula pesto.

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

1 bunch (about 2 cups) fresh arugula, rinsed, dried, and coarsely chopped
3TB toasted walnuts (or pine nuts)
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil

Add the ingredients in order to a food processor equipped with a cutting blade and pulse into a chunky paste. Add more olive oil if necessary.

The photograph shows pesto tossed with whole wheat shells, diced fresh mozzarella, and leftover grilled chicken chopped into bite-size chunks. A dry rose alongside makes this a terrific summer meal.

Submitted by By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and "The Foodie" at 1000radishes

Sauteed Broccoli with White Beans

2010-05-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

Versatile broccoli starts in the spring, and then keeps on going throughout the growing season. The plant is a culinary marvel - the leaves, the stems, and of course the crowns, can all be enjoyed in many ways. This version features fresh broccoli, cooked tender crisp in garlic and olive oil, and tossed with white beans.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4 as a side dish

3 TB olive oil
1 TB chopped garlic (or more if you like garlic)
12-16 oz. broccoli crowns, coarsely chopped
1 can (15 oz) white ("Cannellini") beans
Shredded parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and saute the garlic, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until the garlic begins to turn light brown. Add the chopped garlic and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the texture you like. Add the Cannellini beans and their liquid and heat for a minute, stirring. Distribute to serving plates, top with parmesan cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Submitted by Tod Dimmick,
"The Foodie" at 1000radishes

Healthy meals on the quick

2010-05-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

These days, we are all interested in eating as healthy, locally and seasonally as possible even when we don't feel like shopping and preparing the meal. Healthy Habits Kitchen owner Sue Schochet tries to use as much seasonal and locally sourced ingredients as she can when she is creating the complete dinner kits that get cooked at home. Last night we tried the pork tenderloins with black bean pico de gallo, and Barry was pleased that he only had to cook the meal not prepare it!

Asparagus-Parmesan Quiche

2010-05-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

Herbed, green asparagus flavors framed creamy, custard-like quiche. Yum.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6

2 TB olive oil
1 pound fresh asparagus, cleaned, woody section of the stem snapped off, and sliced into 2-inch sections
4 eggs
½ cup nonfat cottage cheese
1/3 cup low fat sour cream
½ cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup skim milk
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Dash pepper sauce (optional)
Salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 350F. Place a large baking pan with 1“ of water in the oven. This pan should be large enough to hold your pie plate in the water bath.
Lightly spray a pie plate with canola oil

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the asparagus until tender, about 5 minutes.

While asparagus is cooking, whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl, then whisk in the sour cream and cottage cheese. Mix in the mozzarella, Parmesan, milk, oregano, pepper, crushed red pepper, and salt. When the asparagus is done, stir it in to the egg mixture, and scrape the mixture into the pie plate. Gently settle pie plate into the water bath in the oven, and cook for 20 minutes. At this point, test to make sure the quiche has set (the middle will be just firm). If it is still liquid, give it another 3-5 minutes, or until done.

Remove quiche from the oven, and let cool for 5 minutes. Slice, serve, and enjoy. If it’s breakfast, toasted sourdough bread and black coffee are perfect alongside. If it’s for lunch or dinner, swap that coffee for a glass of dry rose.

Alternate cooking method: This can be cooked in the oven without the water bath – it will brown more, and cook more quickly. To do this, omit the water bath and test for doneness after 15 minutes instead of 20.

Options: Quiche is the quintessential flexible dish. Add diced ham, prosciutto, or bacon. Caramelized onions and/or chives. Diced red peppers. You name it!

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

Thin Crust Pizza with Asparagus, Bacon & Scallions

2010-04-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Pizza crust is a fun "make or buy" decision. A number of stores carry whole wheat pizza crust these days, including Trader Joe's. But if you have a bread machine, homemade pizza dough is easy and quick - 5 minutes to set it going, and in an hour you've got homemade.

Homemade Crust - basic recipe

2 cups lukewarm water

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup medium grind cornmeal (optional - for a nice crunch in the crust)

1 tsp salt

1 TB yeast

Put all ingredients in the bread pan and set it on the pizza dough cycle. Watch it for a few minutes - if necessary add more flour to get to the elastic, moist dough consistency good for rolling (or throwing if you're brave)
The toppings

3 strips bacon

10-12 asparagus spears

olive oil

1 tsp garlic

3 scallions

pizza sauce - homemade or store bought

mozzarella cheese

pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt (optional)

While the pizza dough is doing its thing, preheat the oven to 450F, and cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain bacon on paper towels. You now have in front of you a health/taste dilemma. You could saute the asparagus in that bacon fat, and it would taste great. But it is, after all, bacon fat. I usually pour off most of the bacon fat, keeping a little for flavor, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to the skillet, and then saute the asparagus, garlic and scallions for 5 minutes or until the asparagus spears are tender. Chop the bacon.

When the dough is ready, roll it out on a floured surface. Depending on the size of the pizza you are making, you will be able to make 3-5 crusts from this batch. Unused dough can be frozen to rescue a future weeknight. Roll out a ball of dough to the size you like. If you are using a pizza pan, move that dough to the pan, or if using a peel, to the peal. Spread with pizza sauce, top with mozzarella cheese, and decorate with asparagus, bacon, and scallions. Top with pepper flakes if using, and salt to taste. Bake for 15 minutes or until crust is crisp and cheese is melted and bubbling.

Serve with a Chianti or a young, "tart fruit" red wine with acid to match that tomato sauce. Now that's a great meal.

by Tod Dimmick - 1000radishes.com

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

2010-04-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

Pizza crust is a fun "make or buy" decision. A number of stores carry pizza crust these days, including Trader Joe's. For my money, whole wheat has the best flavor and the best thin crust crunch (without going in to the health benefits). If you have a bread machine, homemade pizza dough is easy and quick - 5 minutes to set it going, and in an hour you've got homemade.

Homemade Crust - basic recipe

2 cups lukewarm water

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup medium grind cornmeal (optional - for a nice crunch in the crust)

1 tsp salt

1 TB yeast

Put all ingredients in the bread pan and set it on the pizza dough cycle. Watch it for a few minutes - if necessary add more flour to get to the elastic, moist dough consistency good for rolling (or throwing if you're brave)

Tod Dimmick - 1000radishes.com

Quick Skillet Fish Chowder

2010-03-25T12:35:00.000-07:00

A hearty simple chowder resplendent with chunks of white fish. Potato skins have a lot of the nutrition, but make sure they are organic because conventional potato skins have been shown to contain a lot of chemical residue.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4-6

2 large organic potatoes (about 1 pound total), scrubbed and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks.

3 strips of bacon

2 medium onions, chopped

3 cups milk

1.5 lbs white fish filets, cut into bite-sized chunks

1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

salt to taste.

Heat water to boiling in a saucepan and cook the potatoes for 15 minutes or until soft. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. When the bacon is crisp, remove to dry on paper towels, and drain off the fat, leaving just enough to cook the onions. Saute onions for 10 minutes or until translucent and soft. Add the milk and bring to a simmer, watching carefully to avoid boil over. Add the fish and cook for 5 minutes or until just done. Drain the potatoes, add them to the chowder, and ladle into bowls. Yum.

By Tod Dimmick - 1000radishes.com

Poached Cod with garlic cream sauce

2010-03-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

Easy, fast & tasty.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Poaching liquid

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 sprig oregano

1 sprig tarragon

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups white wine

1-2 cups water

1.5 pound cod filet

2 tablespoons olive oil (separate from oil above)

1 tsp chopped garlic

4 fresh sage leaves, finely minced

1 TB fresh oregano, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup sour cream

Watercress for garnish (1 bunch)

Heat the oil in a saute pan or skillet over medium heat and saute the garlic for a minute, stirring. Add the oregano, tarragon, bay leaves and salt, and cook for another minute. Add the wine and the water and bring to a simmer. Lower the fish into the poaching liquid and simmer for 8 minutes or until the fish flakes easily.

While the fish is poaching, heat the final 2 TB of olive oil in a small skillet or saucepan over medium heat and cook the garlic, sage, and oregano for 2 minutes, stirring. Turn off the heat, and stir in the sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This is your sauce.

Arrange cod over watercress, pour sauce over, pour a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and enjoy a great meal.

by Tod Dimmick - 1000radishes.com

Mark Your Calendar for Spring!

2010-02-10T07:33:00.000-08:00

It may not be spring yet, but 1000 Radishes are about to sprout up, and with them potentially far-reaching ways to connect local growers with the people who crave their wares.

You may recall, we told you about 1000 Radishes last summer. It’s a high-tech way to find what’s in season, connect with the people who grow it, and cook it up in delicious recipes. And it’s an offshoot of Will Work for Food, started by our energetic friend, Valerie Gates. She’s been offering barter and reduced rate services from her award-winning design firm to small New England farmers for about a year now. In return, they have been providing the bounty of field, pasture, henhouse and ocean to Valerie and her family.

1000 Radishes was the brainchild of MIT Professor Abel Sanchez, PHD who approached Valerie about ways to use technology to enhance her project, and Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of tastingtimes.com.

But what looked fairly straightforward last summer has grown more complex. Valerie and partners will now be offering more than the original phone app enabling consumers to locate the freshest in-season produce and foods. And, there is going to be a formal “launch” in the Boston area on March 22^nd, just two days after the Spring Equinox.

As the team worked on the dimensions of the phone app during the fall of 2009, and with MIT “being a hotbed” for emerging technologies, they realized they could offer something more cutting edge. “One of the challenges,” says Valerie “is that technology is growing by leaps and bounds in a short space of time. No sooner did we do one update, than new possibilities would emerge.” While it is a longer development period than anticipated, the best part, Valerie believes,” is that it is going to really help farmers, and going to strengthen the connection between families and farms.” And it will take the “where hip meets crunchy” idea and “make it even cooler.”

Details of the expansion are being kept very quiet for now. “We’re working on a fun location for our debut,” says Valerie, adding that it would be especially nice to have the “launch” in one of the barns at a local farm. There is also the possibility of a celebratory dinner featuring local foods. Wherever they decide, she notes that the 1000 Radishes creators want the occasion to acknowledge the consumer love and support that has given family farms a new lease on life.

Valerie has also stayed busy during the fall and winter months with Will Work for Food and has fielded inquiries from as far away as Iowa and Washington, D.C. She encourages more niche farmers to contact her, as she still has available slots for reduced fee services that would help with branding, marketing and design.

One organic meat rancher in the Midwest contacted Valerie after reading an article about her. Her work with the Bar 20 Ranch in Ames, Iowa includes branding the ranch and its food product line. But they are also exploring the farm “as a destination.” Located two hours from Chicago and St. Louis, Bar 20 could offer consumers something they are longing for: a close-up look at sustainable food production. This could well be “the new entertainment for the green family!” Valerie says with enthusiasm.

The desire to connect with farmers and small scale food producers is something Valerie and her colleagues are hearing about from “a lot of people.” In fact, she was amazed at how many calls she has received from college students who want to volunteer on farms during school breaks and summer vacations. There is a very real need “for a clearinghouse to connect kids with farmers.”

Since an integral part of the work is experiencing and relishing fresh, locally grown foods whenever possible, Valerie and friends also held a harvest dinner “in which everything was sourced from within a ten mile radius.” Chef Dimmick created a mouth watering menu that included ratatouille and grilled burgers with buns that used flour ground at a Sudbury grist mill, as well as pear desserts and wine. And, with a tongue in cheek nod to the ideal of eating “hyper local foods,” Valerie adds that the group savored “well water from 40 feet away.”

Valerie has also kept her husband, Barry Friedman, and her two children very much involved with her work. In fact, the family spent Labor Day weekend building a stone wall where the family garden will again be this year. She admits it took a little bit of a bribe. “But I said, ‘look, we can hire someone to build the wall or we can do it the old-fashioned way.’” And in the end, the activity turned out to be as much fun as it was heavy work.

It’s worth remembering that Will Work for Food and 1000 Radishes, and the ripples both projects are continuing to create all began because Valerie read two books. “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” by Michael Pollan and “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” by Barbara Kingsolver both explore the ways in which food is produced in this country - from industrial farms to backyard chicken coops. For Valerie, reading the books spawned a desire to find and feed her family the healthiest local foods, as well as to connect them with the people who produced them. The ways in which that seemingly simple goal developed has gone “far beyond what I could ever have imagined,” she says.

So, mark your calendar for March 22^nd and the rollout of the 1000 Radishes application. We’ll be sure to fill you in on all the details, and let you know when the food is ready.

Posted on February 9th, 2010 by DebbySKoz

Roasted Root Vegetables

2010-02-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

Roasted Root Vegetables
Adapted from a Wolfgang Puck recipe

Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Serves: 10 to 12

2-3 large beets

4-5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1” chunks

3 small turnips, peeled and cut into 1” chunks

2 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1” chunks

6 to 8 potatoes, scrubbed and and cut into 1” chunks

1 or 2 large parsnips, peeled, trimmed, and cut diagonally into 1-inch-thick slices

1 or 2 medium onions, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1” chunks

1 celery root, trimmed and halved, halves cut into 1” chunks

1 whole head garlic, separated into cloves, unpeeled

2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, sage, or thyme

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

Heat 4 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat. When the water reaches boiling, boil the beets for 15 minutes.

While the beets are cooking, preheat the oven to 400F.

Place the beets in ice water for a minute, and slip off their skins. Slice beets into 1/5 inch slices. Put the beets and the rest of the vegetables and the herb sprigs in a large baking dish. Season well with salt and black pepper, drizzle generously with olive oil, and toss them with your hands to coat them evenly.

Put the baking dish in the preheated oven and cook, stirring the vegetables occasionally, until they are tender and golden brown, about 45 minutes.

By Tod Dimmick - 1000radishes.com

Country Lamb & Vegetable Stew

2009-12-02T08:21:00.000-08:00

Magic with leftover lamb. The flavor is distinctive and rich, but more of a vegetable than a meat stew.
Serves 4-6

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 pound cooked lamb, cubed into 1/2” pieces
2 cups chopped tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
1 16 oz. package frozen spinach
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 bay leaves
1 16 ounce can Cannellini beans, drained
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat the onion in a large stockpot over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent and soft. Add the garlic and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring. Add other ingredients and simmer for 1 hour.

This is delicious served with couscous.

Tod Dimmick - tastingtimes.com

Lightning Veggie Bean Chili

2009-11-09T11:03:00.001-08:00

Loads of flavor in a veggie chili. This version is tailored for convenience (hence “2 cans” etc) however it will taste even better with fresh ingredients.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6

3 TB olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans (15 1/2 oz) kidney beans with juice
2 cans (15 1/2 oz) cannellini beans with juice
1 can refried beans
1 cup cut corn
4 cups tomato sauce
3 TB chili powder
1 TB cumin
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. oregano
Dash hot sauce

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until the onion pieces are soft and translucent. Add the remainder of the ingredients and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chili is gently bubbling. Serve in bowls topped with sour cream and/or shredded cheddar cheese.

by Tod Dimmick - tastingtimes.com

Kale and Leftover Meat Stew

2009-11-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

This delicious stew is a waiting host for just about any leftover meat. Sausage? A natural. Steak? Sure. Chicken, duck, pork? Yes, yes, yes!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes, unattended half of the time
Serves: 4

3 TB olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, then sliced into strips with the vegetable peeler (eat the unpeelable center section)
6 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
8 large kale leaves, cleaned, stems removed, chopped coarsely
1-2 cups chopped cooked leftover meats

Heat the olive oil in a stockpot over medium heat and cook the onion and carrot strips for 10 minutes, stirring. Increase heat to high, add the stock, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Add the kale (It will be tough to fit at first, but will shrink), return just to the boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until kale is tender. Add the meat, heat for 5 minutes, and serve.

Variation: For a richer, add cooked brown rice. A pinch of crushed red pepper will add a little kick.

By Tod Dimmick - tastingtimes.com

Savory Tomato and Rice

2009-10-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

A delicious way to use an abundance of fresh garden tomatoes and herbs.
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6

6 cups hot cooked rice
4 large tomatoes, stem-ends cut out, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
3 TB olive oil
3 TB chopped garlic
1/4 cup diced prosciutto
Salt, pepper to taste
Shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Pulse the tomato pieces, basil, and rosemary in a food processor to a thick chunky sauce.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the garlic for 3 minutes, or until the garlic begins to brown. Add the prosciutto, stir, and then add the tomato sauce and cook, stirring, for one minute.
3. Distribute hot rice to serving bowls, ladle tomato sauce over, stir to combine, season to taste, and serve.

By Tod Dimmick -tastingtimes.com

Broccoli & Bacon Frittata

2009-10-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

A tasty, nutritious way to make good use of tender broccoli stems.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 18 minutes
Serves: 4

2 strips lean bacon
Stems from 3 small heads of broccoli (about 2/3 lb) washed, ends removed, and sliced lengthwise.
Be sure to use broccoli stems that are tender – the woody kind, sadly, should be reserved for compost
1 small onion
Pinch ground cumin
Pinch paprika
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Salt and pepper.
Parmesan cheese

Cook the bacon in a 10” ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Preheat your broiler. While the bacon is cooking, use a food processor with a shredder attachment, and shred the broccoli spears and the onion. When the bacon is done, make an executive decision about using the bacon fat for cooking (good taste, lots of saturated fat) or pouring it out and adding a little olive oil to the skillet. Some of that bacon fat flavor will remain. Add the shredded broccoli onion mixture, the cumin, and the paprika, and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 10 minutes or until broccoli pieces are tender. Stir the mozzarella, salt and pepper into the eggs, and stir the egg mixture into the broccoli in the skillet. Cook, without stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the edges of the frittata are firm. Turn off the stovetop. Sprinkle the frittata with the Parmesan cheese, and slide the skillet under the broiler. Broil for 3 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and the frittata is firm. Remove from the oven, slice, and serve.

- Tod Dimmick - Editor of tastingtimes.com

This is the season for a Real Greek salad

2009-08-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

In Greek mythology, Prometheus deceives Zeus by giving them the choice between two offerings. One offering was skin and bones, covered with snow-white fat. The other was the edible beef, covered with unappetizing entrails. Zeus chose the pile covered with fat, and was angry to find the contents. Today some local restaurants seem to offer a similar choice, where a seductive layer of cheese in a “Greek” salad hides greenish tomatoes, soggy cucumbers, and Iceberg Lettuce! For years I thought this was what a Greek should be, but then happy chance brought me to the real thing.

I remember it like it was yesterday. At the outdoor restaurant on Crete, we were served what I thought at first was a simple platter of vegetables, resplendent with chunks of juicy tomato, cucumbers, savory onion, and crisp sweet peppers, all topped with fresh basil and Kalamata olives, and glistening with olive oil and wine vinegar. On this mas-terpiece reclined a wedge of feta so creamy I wanted to eat it alone. I looked around at other tables: one man carefully assembled a bite that included every ingredient. We at-tempted the same. “You know” my wife whispered to me, “this is the best Greek salad I’ve ever tasted”. Of course it was. It was not only the best; it was a link I didn’t even know was missing when I crunched on lettuce in my stateside Greek Salads.

2 fresh tomatoes cut into bite size chunks
2 fresh green bell peppers, seeds removed, cut into bite size chunks
1 fresh cucumber, half peeled into “stripes”, split lengthwise, and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 a large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, cut into small pieces
Fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
About 25 Kalamata olives
4-5 oz. Feta cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Red Wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, and basil, drizzle to taste with vinegar and olive oil, and mix. Top with olives and wedges of Feta, and salt and pepper to taste.

The kids meet the "kids"

2009-08-27T09:19:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Maine where we ran into Jean at a Maine farmer's market. Jean was selling some of the most delicious goats cheese we bought for our dinner and she invited us to stop by her farm - Kennebec Farm in Sidney, ME the next day to meet the goats that provided the milk for our cheese. It was lunchtime for all the goats and Cam and Liv got to feed them. This crew all had C names since it was her third group and there were some that hadn't been named yet. All the way home, the kids thought of names for the "Kids" they just met.

Grilled Zucchini

2009-08-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

In some neighborhoods, this is the season when zucchini arrives faster than traffic on the Mass Pike during rush hour. Some people resort to leaving zucchini “gifts” in the back of unlocked cars and stuffed in mailboxes. But all that is needed is a little creativity. Here’s one somewhat approach. Grill these babies alongside those burgers.

Note: If you have time, marinate your zucchini an hour or more in advance for added flavor. Other summer squashes are also delicious with this method.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4-6

3 TB olive oil
3 TB balsamic vinegar
1 TB minced garlic
2 – 3 medium –sized zucchini (about 10” long)
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt and coarse black pepper

Preheat the grill (to “Medium” if it’s a gas grill). Mix the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and garlic. Rinse the squash, cut off the ends, and cut into long flat slices about 1/2” thick. Arrange a layer of slices in a baking dish. Spoon the oil mixture over that layer, sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and then top with another layer of squash, and dress those slices. Continue until the squash is all seasoned.

Arrange in a single layer on the grill and cook for 8-10 minutes, turning once and driz-zling with any remaining marinade. The Zucchini is done when it’s soft and a fork easily penetrates.

Grilled Zucchini is a beautiful thing on the summer dinner table.

Snow Peas with Dill Dip

2009-06-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

Crunchy and cool snow peas are at the farmstand (or in the garden) right about now. Their flavor is so good that my kids tend to eat them before they even make it to the table. But if they do survive the trip in from the garden, this is a good way to serve them. Serves 4-6

3/4 cup low fat sour cream

1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise

3 scallions, dark green leaves removed, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried Dill

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 lb crisp, fresh snow peas (oriental flat-pod peas), washed, stems removed.

Mix all ingredients except the snow peas in a serving bowl. If possible, chill this dip for several hours to allow the flavors to meld. Serve surrounded by snow peas as dippers.

WWFFP on Rural Votes

2009-06-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

Where Hip Meets Crunchy

by Daphne Bishop

When we first met Valerie Gates a few months ago, she’d just started Will Work For Food Project, which offered her design services through barter and reduced rates to help eastern and central Massachusetts farmers market their wares. The project was also about connecting her family to healthy, local foods. Since March, Will Work For Food Project, has grown to embrace farms in Maine and Rhode Island, and products from goat cheese and rhubarb to eggs laid by marigold loving hens.

With the help of an MIT professor and a noted cookbook author, the project is now sprouting 1000 Radishes, a high-tech way to find what’s in season, connect with the people who grow it, and cook it up in delicious recipes.

Or as Valerie says, laughing, “It’s where hip meets crunchy.”

Here’s how it will work: It’s time to do some food shopping and you want to know what’s in season. You have a cell phone with GPS and you just got this new phone app. Where can you find some carrots or those heirloom tomatoes you keep reading about? Using the app, you will be able to click on your phone and if carrots are in season, a GPS map will appear with little carrots marking the locations of nearby farms that have them.

Want to try something new with that fresh produce? You will be able to retrieve recipes that are creative, economical and geared to what’s in season.

Valerie’s partners for 1000 Radishes are MIT Professor Abel Sanchez, Ph.D., and Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of Tasting Times. Sanchez approached Valerie after being inspired by what he had learned about Will Work for Food Project. He suggested there was a way to introduce technology “for added value to the farmer and to connect consumers with farms,” says Valerie.

Dimmick contributes recipes like asparagus vegetable soup and humorous columns like Kohlrabi 101 to the Will Work for Food Project blog. He is developing the 1000 Radishes cookbook, which will offer practical cooking guidance to the growing numbers of consumers demanding locally grown food.

There’s even more. The 1000 Radishes web site will soon have an “Ask the Farmer” column where consumers can glean everything from growing advice to favorite recipes. There will be profiles of the farms Valerie is designing for, a chance for readers to swap recipes (and maybe find theirs picked for the cookbook) and even swap produce. Too much kale and not enough zucchini? Like a 19th century trading post, the web site will allow consumers to connect with each other in a way that “gets neighbors back to sharing with each other face to face.”

With a tag line of Farm Fresh Fast, the creation of this online community is “ultimately a much bigger project,” says Valerie. Will Work for Food Project began as a way to rekindle sustainable relationships between farmers and smaller consumers and to make the sourcing of food a conscious “natural part of everyday life.” Valerie sees 1000 Radishes as something with potentially global reach, able to be replicated anywhere.

”This really is the sexy part,” she says with enthusiasm, “The high tech meets low tech thing.” The phone app piece of 1000 Radishes will debut in the Boston area, in time for this year’s fall harvest. Then, the partners “are hoping that Massachusetts will be a model for the rest of the country.”

By the way, if you want to take another step in promoting local farmers, Will Work For Food Project now has T-shirts for sale at its web site. Valerie was approached by a husband and wife print company, Image76, who “loved what we are doing” and traded organic cotton shirts in exchange for her design work. Another successful barter and the shirts come in tasty colors like blueberry and spinach with a sleek yellow pepper on the front.

All of these exciting developments reiterate what Valerie said back in March. The Will Work For Food Project really is “the right idea at the right time.” It has inspired people, as she hoped it would, to offer their skills in response to economically challenging times, and by doing so, connect with their neighbors and their world.

Valerie’s idea, like the best produce available, just keeps growing and growing. We’ll keep you posted!

WWFFP on Greater Boston on WBGH

2009-06-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

Will Work For Food Project featured on Greater Boston on WGBH.

1000radishes.com

2009-06-23T15:07:00.001-07:00

Founded by Valerie Gates, the creator of Will Work For Food Project, Abel Sanchez, a MIT professor, and Tod Dimmick, a foodie, cookbook writer and organic gardener, 1000 Radishes exists to establish a connection between people and local farms. We want to make that connection a useful, natural part of everyday life; just like connections between people and farms a century ago.

"What's in Season, where to find it and what to do with it?"

The App
The 1000radishes iphone “app” enables users to easily find what is in season, find where is the closest farm that has it, and decide what to do with those ingredients using latest technology

The website
The 1000radishes is a community where you can meet the farmers, ask farmer's questions, trade and submit recipes, rate and find local farms and even find people to trade backyard produce (ie tomatoes for cucumbers).

Join us at 1000radishes.com

Running Brook Winery Site Redesign

2009-06-18T10:53:00.001-07:00

We just launched the redesign of a lovely winery in Southern Mass called Running Brook Winery. We especially liked their Vidal Blanc and Unoaked Chardonnay.

"Valerie and Barry, Thank you again for helping us with something we most likely would not have had, were it not for your talents and interest in local, sustainable agricultural business."

Scott at Running Brook Winery

Kohlrabi 101

2009-06-16T09:43:00.000-07:00

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

Kohlrabi looks sort of like a cross between a turnip and Sputnik; a big greenish white globe (some are purple) with a few leaves sticking out of the top at odd angles. The flavor is that of mild broccoli or turnip. It’s technically a bulbous stem, a member of the cabbage family, and it’s hard to find in grocery stores. The first time many of us see it is on the table at our local farm. It’s also an opportunity for an easy, tasty vegetable dish. In early summer, fresh kohlrabi can be eaten skin and all.

Kohlrabi can also be boiled, steamed, or sautéed in oil. I chose baking for this recipe to take advantage of the oven, already going strong with a roasting chicken.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 as a side dish

2 kohlrabis, scrubbed and cut in to 1/2-inch chunks (Peel if you prefer)
1/4 cup water
1 TB butter
1 TB olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the kohlrabi in a baking dish with a cover. Pour in the water, drizzle with the olive oil, top with pats of butter, and sprinkle to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and bake for 45 minutes or until tender.

Will Work For Food Project T-shirts

2009-06-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Hot off the presses of our printing partner - Image76 who did a fabulous job with these very soft, subdued colored comfortable t-shirts. Has a yellow pepper image on the front with the WWFFP logo on the back near the collar.

Be the first to wear one to your local farmer's market this summer and let everyone know that you support local farms and small producers.

You can order through the link to the right (scroll down a bit on the page for the add to cart button).

WBUR on Will Work For Food Project

2009-06-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

Valerie Gates will work for food. Standing in her kitchen, the marketing expert, who doesn’t cook much, reaps the harvest of a barter system she devised five months ago.

Salad greens and herbs spill onto her counter top, thanks to Jake Ferreira. Gates fashioned a logo for his fledgling farming company, Beetlebung Farm LLC. Ferreira and his business partner help people and schools build vegetable gardens on Martha’s Vineyard. They also cater using local ingredients.

Ferreira’s here making good on his part of the deal, unloading a cooler packed with fresh, prepared meals: Sole baked in parchment, baby arugula pesto, asparagus with spring garlic and homemade cheese.

The Will Work For Food Project idea came to her because she wanted to find a way to offer her services to farms. “I realized that farms usually don’t have money set aside for a marketing budget,” says Gates. “But they do have produce!”

Jake Ferreira explains why it’s a win-win situation: “We were looking for tools that could better establish our brand, and in turn she wanted to learn more about food and locally-grown produce and the ability to cook.”

While bartering is new to Gates, Jake Ferreira is well aware that the concept is age-old.

“In a down economy it makes sense to return to certain traditions,” he says, adding, “It can work out well, where people can trade for like items. For us in the agriculture field, it’s very easy for us to barter. It’s not quite an apple for an apple, but maybe it’s chives for onions.”

Andrea Shea - Arts Reporter - WBUR

Rhubarb Sauce

2009-06-03T07:17:00.001-07:00

Rhubarb Sauce
By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

Many gardeners have a patch of rhubarb; quietly growing those elephantine leaves and thick red stalks. You’ll also see those stalks showing up now at farm stands. This sauce is dead simple, tart and sweet, and delicious warm or cold.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

1/2 cup water
3 stalks (about 1 lb) rhubarb, scrubbed and cut in to 1-inch segments.
1 cup sugar

Heat the water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Place the rhubarb in a large bowl, pour the sugar over, and mix. Scrape into the saucepan and cover. Cook for 15 minutes or until rhubarb pieces are completely soft and the mixture is more like a thick liquid.

“Important* - The stalks are edible, the leaves are not – they are toxic!

Ideas for use:
• Ladle warm rhubarb sauce over vanilla ice cream, and all is right with the world
• Serve in bowls with a little bit of cream stirred in.
• Add a little rhubarb sauce to your favorite muffin mix for a delicious sweet/tart/moist kick.
• For bread bakers, a little rhubarb sauce adds great flavor and promotes a terrific rise
• Rhubarb is also the perfect match for strawberries in Strawberry Rhubarb Pie – stay tuned!

Spring Green Salad With In-Season Produce

2009-05-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

This spicy-crisp, crunchy salad makes the most of fresh spring produce. The dried cherries add a hint of sweetness. Make the dressing the night before to allow the fla-vors time to blend.

Prep time: 5 Minutes
Serves: 4

The dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
a pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients and chill.

The salad
1 head romaine or other crisp lettuce, broken or chopped and rinsed.
2 cups fresh arugula, rinsed and loosely chopped
5 fresh radishes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Arrange the salad in the order above, topping with shredded Parmesan and drizzling with aromatic dressing.

Option – substitute other toasted nuts – almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios are all great.

New Logo for Beetlebung Farm on the Vineyard

2009-05-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

This logo for Beetlebung Farm on Martha's Vineyard was a pleasure to create because it was designed using a charming old wooden carving of a rooster that Chris' farmer grandfather made -a wonderful connection of old and new...

Asparagus Vegetable Soup

2009-05-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Asparagus Vegetable Soup

Asparagus season is here! This hearty green soup offers a new way to enjoy this perennial favorite.

Prep and cook time: 20 Minutes
Serves: 4 - 6

8 cups chicken stock
2 TB olive oil
1 pound fresh asparagus, cleaned, woody section of the stem snapped off, and sliced into 2-inch sections
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large stalk of celery, diced
Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup prosciutto, diced for garnish (optional)
Sour cream for garnish (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the asparagus, onion, carrot, and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.

Working in batches, place roughly equal amounts of broth and sautéed vegetables in a blender, leaving plenty of room at the top to avoid overflow. Put the cap on the blender and blend on high for 1 minute, or until a creamy consistency is achieved. Pour into a soup pot or large saucepan, and continue blending the remaining broth and vegetables. Stir in salt and pepper to taste, and heat to just bubbling, stirring occasionally.

Divide soup into serving bowls, topping each serving with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of diced prosciutto.

A thick crusty slice of sourdough bread is the perfect “tool” for cleaning up the last bit of soup left in the bowl.

By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.com

Will Work for Food - Wellesley Townsman

2009-04-28T06:51:00.001-07:00

New Logo for Hilltop Farm

2009-04-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

Martha MCDONALD HAS A FARM offering fresh produce and range-free chicken in Lunenburg, MA. Here is the logo Gates Studio designed that fits the style of her rustic farm.

Seasonal Recipes for Locally Grown Food

2009-04-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

I have teamed up with a local cook book author and friend to begin bringing you some in-season recipes for locally grown food on this blog. Not many fresh vegetables are available this time of year in New England but you can usually find some chicken/pork/beef/lamb.

Roast Chicken Dinner
Adapted from The Complete Idiotʼs Guide to Cooking for Guys, by Tod Dimmick

Fun History: Steve Friedman wrote about this recipe in a New York Times article titled Cook and Tell Confessions of a Kitchen Romeo.

A roast chicken takes only minutes of prep, and then the oven does the rest of the work.
Bring out a roast chicken for a dinner for a group of people, serve with your favorite
Merlot or Pinot Noir, and everything is right with the world.
Prep time: 5 Minutes Cook time: 120 minutes
Serves: 4 guys or 6 regular people
1 whole free range chicken, approximately 4-5 pounds. What flavor!
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup water
3 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and cut into pieces about 2 inches square
3 onions, peeled and quartered
5 big carrots, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

Preheat the oven to 325. Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat it dry with paper towels. Chuck the towels. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and chopped garlic. Place the chicken in a large roasting pan without the grill or a large casserole dish. Drizzle the chicken all over (even get a little on the inside) with the olive oil mixture. Then sprinkle the chicken with the Italian seasoning, cumin, and salt and pepper, (get some on the inside, too). Pour the water into the pan (not on the chicken, donʼt want to wash off the seasoning), and slide the chicken into the hot oven. Cook for about 2 hours, and then add the potatoes, onions and carrots around the chicken, adding a little more water if the pan is dry. Cook for another hour (the total cooking time will be about a half hour per pound of weight), or until chicken is fully cooked. If you have a meat thermometer, the meat should be 185 in the thigh.

Pull that masterpiece out of the oven, and let it cool for a few minutes, then carve off slices to serve with cooked carrots, onions and potatoes alongside. The drumsticks and legs are darker, richer meat, the breast is the white meat.

Zephyr Farm new logo

2009-04-06T06:31:00.001-07:00

Farmer Michele has a sweet 'lil farm down in Rhode Island with farm fresh eggs people come from miles away to buy and her new logo adds a nostalgic look to her one-woman enterprise.

Cape Cod Times Article Local Food Seasonal Recipes

2009-04-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

By Sarah Shemkus

sshemkus@capecodonline.com

April 01, 2009

Wanting to feel more connected to the sources of her food, marketer and Woods Hole native Valerie Gates has started trading her design and branding services for locally raised meat and produce.

The "Will Work for Food" project, as she has dubbed it, is already working with about 10 farms; sausage, steak and turnips are already starting to fill her fridge and pantry.

Ecoshock Radio Interview

2009-03-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

Why Farmers Don't Name Their Animals...

2009-03-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

This has been the toughest lesson in introducing Olivia and Cameron to real farm life. Olivia, who is 8, has been a vegetarian and a staunch animal rights activist since she was 5. She will tolerate our carnivorous meals while offering great debates about her point of view, eternally hopeful that we may see the error of our ways sooner than later. But Olivia also falls in love with every baby farm animal she holds and want assurance that THIS lamb or THIS piglet will surely be saved and given a good home for it's natural long life, preferably in our living room.

I guess I am asking for advice here. I truly appreciate her young idealistic values and mores, and I love that I have a self-confident daughter who fights for what she believes is right, but I also want to offer a realistic view of food production and the cycle of life to my children. Perhaps I am unable to come up with the right way to handle this is because I am a bit conflicted with the issue as well...

From Fine Art to Fine Food Article about the Project

2009-03-25T08:27:00.001-07:00

Bartering is Back- see FoodonTheFood blog

2009-03-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

Turnips, turnips, turnips

2009-03-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

I have to be honest here. I have never tried a turnip before Jake showed up with an armful of huge white turnips from the Vineyard. Barry and I put them on the kitchen counter and looked at them. We sniffed them, they smelled delicious - sort of like sweet carrots. Barry prepared them the first night by mashing them and cooking them in butter and garlic. They were very similar to mashed potatoes. Cameron and Olivia were not fooled on the other hand. They both rated the turnips a 2 out of 10. Brussel sprouts are a 2 on the kid's scale. Sigh. The next night we served them chopped up with other raw veggies and Cam ate those fine... I just don't get it...add butter (yum) and garlic (double yum) and the kids "turn up" their noses (sorry, that joke was just sitting there waiting to be said) but serve them raw and they get thumbs up.

Featured on WCVB Boston Channel 5 -link here to story

2009-03-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

We were featured on Boston Channel 5 yesterday. Just wanted to mention that we offer full marketing and design services for our farm partners within the project:

• Branding, logo and style guide design
• Print and collateral design
• Website design and development
• Photography
• Film/video creative and production.
• Media and PR Kit

There is still room in some of the tiers so feel free to contact us today!

Scallop Chowder From Martha's Vineyard

2009-03-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Beetlebung Farm from Martha's Vineyard delivered some prepared dinners made from local goods gathered across the island as the barter trade for some branding work we did for them last week. Barry and I ate the bay scallop chowder caught by a commercial fisherwoman and her friend on the island. As a born and bred Cape Codder, I have to say it was some of the best chowder I have ever had. The broth was milky and sweet with large bay leaves, chunky potatoes, carrots, bacon and delicate little scallops. Thank you Jake, Chris, Mrs. Ferreira and Betty!

Logo Design for Bull Frog Acres

2009-03-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

We have just finished the branding for Bull Frog Acres in West Wareham, MA. This was a great logo to work on because of the frog. He definitely looks like he is having fun jumping over the sunflower. Best of luck with the new branding to Denise and Jeffrey!

Cooking Steak From The Farm

2009-03-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

T-bone steak. Now there's something I know how to cook. Outside on a
Weber charcoal grill. In the summer.

We had received two wonderful T-bone steaks from Round the Bend Farm
recently and they had been sitting in our freezer, and in the back of
my mind, ever since. Broiling I know how to do, but I'm not always
adept at stopping at the right time, and it took me years to learn to
keep the oven door slightly ajar when broiling with an electric oven.
I decided to keep it simple and rub some Montreal Steak spice onto
them, and aim for medium-rare for me and medium for Valerie. On the
side, some steamed broccoli and a crisp Caesar salad.

The verdict? A wonderfully tender, mouth-watering medium-rare steak,
with a kind of a smoothness to the bite that I hadn't experienced in a
steak in a long time. Valerie, on the other hand, got about half way
through hers before she slowed down and then finally stopped eating
altogether. She surprised herself, I think, by not being able to eat
it after having seen the beautiful animals on the farm just the week
before.

The kids opted for mac and cheese -- and even Cam, who usually loves
steak, was fairly quick in saying no thanks to the bite I offered him.
Olivia couldn't stand the sight of the red meat in the kitchen and
quivered her lower lip with every bite I took.

Altogether an excellent meal!

Green Eggs and Ham

2009-03-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Barry and I just met with Zephyr Farm in Rhode Island to create their logo. Michele brought us some lemon pesto and green eggs - should be interesting for Barry to cook with this weekend.

NPR - Public Radio Kitchen Tidbit

2009-03-10T05:41:00.000-07:00

Will Work for Food
“The whole point was to level the playing field for these farms because they have no design budget.” Hat Tip: Julia Rappaport

Seasonal Dinner Series featuring local foods

2009-03-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Will Work for Food Project plans to offer a seasonal series of organic dinners that connect the farmer and farms to urban diners.

Eat. Drink. Memory. Blog Article

2009-03-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

Will Work for Food Project promotes small farms & sustainable food

Too many American children are so far removed from their food sources that they think chicken is a little deep-fried, processed nugget.

Now at a time when the fast food nation falls deeper into an economic slump, more Americans are re-thinking their relationships with the food that they eat. Yearning for simpler times, foods that comfort and nourish, Americans are rediscovering small farms and sustainable foods.

How timely that Valerie Gates, graphic designer and creative director of Gates Studio in Boston, began the Will Work for Food Project. Gates' incredible project - where she barters her design services to small farmers for their locally grown and produced food products - grew out of her own exploration and wonder about sustainable food and the people who produce that food.

"Farming is a dying art," said Gates, who has begun working with six small farms in her area to develop logos, branding and websites. "The people who run these farms work incredibly hard. They start the day at 6 in the morning and end at 11 at night. They want to make it hip again to get back to the land."

Two books influenced Gates' decision to do something positive and creative for small farmers as well as her family. After reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, a book that considers what we eat, how we make those decisions and the implications of those choices, and Barbara Kinsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Magic, the author's chronicle of a year in eating locally and seasonally, Gates dreamed up her project.

Will Work for Food gives farmers access to branding and marketing skills to grow and sustain their way of life and, at the same time, teaches her family about where good food comes from while putting healthier food on the table each day.

The entire family is in on the project. From Dad and business partner, Barry, who is learning to cook all the great food stuffs, to Gates and their children -eight-year-old Olivia, a vegetarian, and 13-year-old, Cameron - the family is on a journey to discover the wonder of where food comes from and the people who grow it the slow and natural way.

"It's fun for me," said Gates, whose energy and enthusiasm is contagious. "I'm pretty much a city girl. I appreciate my food more. I appreciate where my food is coming from more now."

The family went on one of their first farm visits today, an event televised by the local news. The big news? Olivia held a newborn lamb, the family learned farmers don't name their animals (for obvious reasons), and they got to see an ingenious mobile hen house. Better news yet? The family is gaining a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the natural world, the pressing need to be sensitive to the earth, and the vital role of food in daily life.

And the farmers are equally thrilled. Sixteen have lined up to work with Gates Studio. Gates and her family are at the precipice of a trend.

Now, someone get Barry a copy of Ruth Reichl's classic Gourmet Cookbook and Deborah Madison's fabulous Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Boston Globe: Nurturing ties to local farms, by design

2009-03-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

(David Kamerman/Globe Staff)

By Julia Rappaport Globe Correspondent / March 5, 2009

Valerie Gates is not exactly the person you'd expect to go public with the declaration: Will work for food. But that is just what the Wellesley creative-marketing designer and mother of two did last month.

When her business began to lag in the fall, Gates, a 43-year-old who entered the marketing world nearly 15 years ago after working in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, devised a creative way to reach new clients, feed her family, and help the community all at the same time.

The concept was simple: She would offer the creative services of her firm, Gates Studios, to five local farmers in exchange for food or shares in Community Supported Agriculture programs. Gates sent out about 60 e-mails notifying area farms and farming organizations and waited to see if her idea would catch on.

Soon enough, it did.

Sarah Cogswell, the buy-local coordinator at the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, received the e-mail early last month and contacted Gates.

"Any opportunity to help out our local growers, especially in advertising or marketing, and getting their name out is invaluable in a way because it will last a while," Cogswell said. "It's something these growers don't have time for."

Cogswell's nonprofit organization acts as a resource for the region's agricultural enterprises. Among other things, it sends out a weekly newsletter to area farmers, and on Feb. 6 Cogswell included the offer by Gates. By that afternoon, the designer's phone was ringing off the hook. Within a week, 16 farmers from all over Massachusetts and even Rhode Island had called.

Just days earlier, Gates was worried her offer might not generate any interest. Now she wondered how she would choose just five farms.

And the stakes were high. Not only did Gates want to choose local farms that needed her services most, but she also wanted to fulfill the second part of her mission: to make over her family's eating habits.

During the Christmas holidays, Gates read Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma," a look at the many pitfalls of America's industrial system for raising and processing food. She followed it with Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," a memoir about the quest by the author's family to eat only locally grown products for a year. The books changed her thinking about food and farming, Gates said.

"I never really read labels before. I ate like most Americans. I didn't consider where the food came from," she said. Based on her new insights, though, "I said, OK. I've got to do something. I'd run this firm for eight years and had 15 years of experience in design, so I thought, well, that's what I have to offer."

Gates devised her plan on New Year's Day. "The whole point was to level the playing field for these farms because they have no design budget," she said.

The other point was to find a way to boost her own business, pinched by the slow economy. "It was a creative way to deal with a lag in business. January really slowed down for me and I thought, let's refocus," Gates said. "Hopefully this will generate interest in our studio as well."

It surely created interest with the farmers who read about the offer in the partnership's newsletter.

There was a call from a winery on Cape Cod, one from a community farm in Natick, another from a small organic soap maker in Cohasset, and one from a two-woman pesto-making initiative in Rhode Island. The farmers had a range of needs: website design, road signs, branding.

"Each call, we had to figure out how big the farm is and what their needs were," said Gates, who runs Gates Studios out of her home with her husband, Barry Friedman. "And we have to figure out what types of produce they have. We are trying to work out the kinks."

After visiting a number of farms on the Cape, Gates narrowed the pool of 16 to the five operations she will work with: Round the Bend Farm in South Dartmouth, Coonamessett Farm in East Falmouth, Bull Frog Acres Farm in West Wareham, Chestnut Farm in Hardwick, and, closest to home, Natick Community Organic Farm.

"As most small nonprofits do, we rely on a small amount of personnel working a small amount of hours per week. Any time we can get someone's expertise is great," said Lynda Simkins, director of the Natick farm, after learning that it made the final list.

The community farm was just about to hire a firm to redesign its website when the operation's administrator read about the offer and called Simkins in to see it.

"It's an interesting concept and a great marketing tool for her also," Simkins said. "And it continues to keep the money local."

The project will be a challenge for Gates, who will juggle the new clients with her steady list of about 20. Gates will chart her progress online at www.gatesstudio.blogspot.com, and will be learning through trial and error how to prepare meat and produce grown in season by local farmers.

It is a challenge she is looking forward to. "I have an 8-year-old and a 13-year-old and I want them to know that their food comes from a farm."

© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Wellesley marketing designer nurtures ties with local farms - The Boston Globe

2009-03-05T06:00:00.001-08:00

Barry tries cooking from the farm

2009-03-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

My involvement is necessitated by being the chef of the family, and with at least two picky eaters it will be interesting.

Sweet Italian Sausage from Around the Bend Farm was on the menu last night. Never having cooked Italian Sausage before, I turned to my usual first source for recipes: my friend Tod Dimmick's Idiot's Guide to Cooking... series. Some interesting sausage recipes, but nothing specifically for Italian Sausage (how about it, Tod? And while we're at it, is there a Vegetarian Cooking version on the way?).

So then, of course, I turned to the internet. Many recipes called for stripping the casings off, which seemed to defeat the purpose of the casings in the first place (is it just packaging?), and most others called for grilling the sausage with green pepper and onions a la Fenway Park. I decided to wing it and boil the sausage first to make sure they were cooked through, and then brown the outsides in a skillet, chop them and throw them onto some pasta with some leftover "jar" spaghetti sauce dressed up with sauteed garlic, olive oil, a fresh tomato and green peppers. And fresh grated parmesan on top.

The verdict?

- The sausage itself was fantastic, very flavorful with a good texture. Valerie thought it was a great meal -- two thumbs up. Cameron and Olivia have more disappointing stories to tell: as usual they had their pasta plain ("pasta bianca" as they say in Amalfi) and I gave them the sausage and chopped green and red peppers on the side. Cameron ended up not eating the sausage at all, subsisting on only pasta and peppers, and Olivia did the same -- although being a vegetarian, my expectations weren't as high for her.

Barry

Women's Business Boston Blurb

2009-03-02T09:12:00.001-08:00

Small farms and local growers have taken advantage of the offer that Valerie Gates, principal and founder of Gates Studio, Wellesley, extended: her studio’s services on a first-come, first-serve basis. The offer is as follows: for the first five farms, to barter for CSA shares or organic food; for the next five farms, a 75-percent discount; for the next five farms, a 50-percent discount; and for the final five farms, a 25-percent discount.

Snow Day at the Farm

2009-03-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

It is snowing up a big storm here today and Olivia is hoping that the little pigs and new baby sheep are warm enough inside the barn...now that we were introduced to them, they stay on our mind...hmmm... how will that affect our eating habits I wonder...

A good solid starting point

2009-02-27T10:05:00.001-08:00

Here is where our family is coming from:

We were preparing dinner one night and Cameron who is 13 took one look at a baked ham and an unpeeled yellow squash on the table and asked earnestly "Which one is the ham?"

Olivia, age 8, while eating strawberries, asked "Mom - what are these little black dots on the outside for?"

So there you have it - a totally untainted control group for our experiment!

Stay tuned as they learn that chocolate milk does not originate from a chocolate cow...

A note from Georgia

2009-02-20T08:28:00.000-08:00

“Interestingly enough, around here as per the Georgia Organics Association, demand is far exceeding supply. There is a real need in making it easier for people to farm so more people will. The laws are so unfriendly to the small farmer and in favor of industrialized farming. I am so not political....but this sure doesn't seem to be on most people's concern agenda....and it's not only giving adults chronic disease, our kids are riddled with health issues that they just shouldn't have to deal with (for their whole lives!).

I think it is really outstanding that you are doing something - and in such a great way.”

- Holly Thompson - Atlanta, GA

Art Producer Blog article

2009-02-20T07:51:00.000-08:00

http://artproducer.blogspot.com

A day at the farm

2009-02-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

Barry, Olivia (8), Cameron (13) and I visited our first farm we will be working with yesterday. Around The Bend Farm is about the happiest place on earth for farm animals to be. The animals have a million-dollar view of beautiful Buzzards Bay and lots of room to run around inside and outside the barn to play with their friends.
We got to see many goats - some very pregnant with twins we guessed, big momma pigs and their litters of adorable baby pigs - all running around like excited puppies, and sheep including a brand new baby sheep snuggled up with its mom in the barn. Olivia and Cameron got into the pig pen and all the pigs tumbled over each other running up to see them. Olivia got to touch one and named it "Wilbur". We will have to see Wilbur again when we come back in April for a visit.

Theswellesleyreport.com

2009-02-14T12:43:00.000-08:00

How to really farm out work to a Wellesley design firm

Valerie Gates, creative director for Gates Studio in Wellesley, has come up with a novel way to help local farms better get the word out about themselves while also seeing to it that her family eats more healthy food.

For the first 5 farms that respond to the offer, made public initially last Friday via the Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership newsletter, they’ll get Gates Studio design and branding services in exchange for organic food or Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares. The idea being to give local farms a better chance to compete for market attention vs. well-heeled competitors.

“Of the 16 farms and growers that have contacted me so far, they are looking for a variety of branding needs from logo design to website design and development to signage to their farms. One winery also wanted tent cards designed for restaurant tables,” Gates says.

She plans on picking the first 5 farms and starting design work next week.

Gates, who operates the studio with her husband Barry Friedman, has begun documenting her effort in a new blog called “Will Work for Food.” Among other things, we’ll get to follow the progress of the farms’ design work and find out how much her family (including children Olivia and Cameron) enjoy eating organic meats and produce. She says she got inspired in part by reading the books Omnivore’s Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable and Miracle this winter.

It’s possible that the farm project could be the start of something bigger. Gates says she will look to develop a part of the studio into “a venture of sustainable design for green companies.”

organicfoodee.com

2009-02-13T13:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.organicfoodee.com/news/2009/02/gatesstudio

Incredible response

2009-02-13T09:38:00.000-08:00

Well - this is day two of the media response to the project. I think this is just a timely pro-active grass roots venture that is so anti-wall street bonuses and Madoff. People are tired of the bad news and are rooting for the underdogs.

Boston Design Firm Will Work For Food

2009-02-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

Wellesley, MA…When Gates Studio founder and principal, Valerie Gates read Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable and Miracle this winter, she knew she had to do something to help the small organic farms and the local food movement in the Boston area. Gates came up with the idea to offer local growers and farms her studio’s professional design and branding services on a creative pro-bono sliding scale. With help from the non-profit group, Southeastern Massachusetts Agricultural Partnership, she put out the word to local farms that she was offering her studio’s services on a first-come, first-served basis as follows:

First five farms: a barter agreement of design time and services for organic food or CSA shares

Next five farms: 75% discount on rates for services

Next five farms: 50% discount on rates for services

Next five farms: 25% discount on rates for services

By the end of the second day, Gates had over 15 farms and local growers lined up to take advantage of her unique offer. “I wanted to do my part in helping even out the playing field for small growers and help them compete with larger farms and organizations that have larger marketing budgets,” explained Gates. “I also wanted to find a creative way to get my family to eat more organically and introduce them to sustainable farming life by creating a relationship with these local farms.”

Gates Studio is an award-winning boutique design firm in Boston run by Creative Director, Valerie Gates and her husband, Studio Director Barry Friedman. They specialize in complete creative design solutions including branding and style guide design, print and collateral design, website design and development, digital photography, and film/video creative and production.

Gates Studio has won EMMY, BDA, Promax and American Film Institute Awards and their clients include: CBS, Liberty Mutual, United Way, Women’s Entertainment Network, The American Meteorological Society, Charles River Labs, The Medical Foundation, and the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

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