Year: 2012

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Face to Face

I often find myself appreciating the fact that I am alive now. I mean now, as in 2012. The technology available to us today, I never could have imagined would even be a possibility. Back in the 90s, when my dad installed a 12” long “car phone” in his silver Jeep, I thought we had arrived. Now, I find myself explaining to my children that the square shaped object with the circular cord on the desk in our hotel room is actually a phone. All they know are iPhones, and they think nothing of the fact that in an instant we can be talking to Grandma and Grandpa’s face on a 3” screen and then moments later they can return to their game on the same device as if what had just happened was really no big deal at all.

I utilize technology in order to help out with the task of managing a family of five. I often get groceries and produce delivered to my door. Now I realize deliveries have been occurring for centuries but Grandma never placed her order online at midnight only to have her groceries waiting for her when she woke up the next morning.

On an evening where I simply don’t feel like cooking I reach for the computer, tell it what I want and in under an hour dinner is at our door. I have even managed to build a social network around technology, creating deep friendships with many and some whom I’ve yet to meet.

I’m so grateful for many modern conveniences, as they’ve helped ease my burden in many areas of my life. But then I find myself in a room with real people – people who are more than just a ¼” avatar that shows me who I am talking to on Twitter. I see their expressions, I hear their inflections, I feel their touch, and I am reminded that there is never a replacement for the real thing.

Last year, Gabe and I had the pleasure of attending the 1st annual Farm to Fork dinner hosted by Klesick Family Farm. The room was ripe with conversation and studded with beautiful produce. Having had the privilege of sharing with you all for quite some time now through this newsletter, it was such an honor to meet many of you face to face and not just on Facebook.

To hear some of you say that you’ve made the recipes and enjoyed them made me smile for weeks after. To be able to come out from behind the computer and meet the farmers who tirelessly work to grow the produce that I, and I’m sure you as well, enjoy cooking with on a daily basis. It was an honor.

Technology is a blessing and has the ability to do great things, but it can never recreate the real life. I am so excited to be able to have the opportunity to attend the 2nd annual dinner. I’m eager to hear your favorite ways to use fennel and what vegetable you enjoyed for the first time this year. What recipe you can’t make often enough and what you are anxious to try. Most of all, I’m excited to meet more of you, face to face.

by Ashley Rodriguez
www.notwithoutsalt.com
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From Farm to Fork – A Celebration of Real Food

You are Invited to our Second Annual Dinner Party!

Welcome to 2012!  I can’t speak for you, but it is time for me to take a deep breath after racing through the Holiday season! Youknow—to stop and enjoy some quiet time before the farming starts to demand my attention again.

I have been watching Cinderella with my little ones, and I have to admit, I am enamored with Cinderella’s pumpkin. So much so, that I plant them every year. Last year, I called up Osborne Seed in Mt. Vernon and ordered my Cinderella pumpkin seed. And Ada, bless her heart, asked me, “Which type of Cinderella pumpkin seed?” In my naiveté I didn’t realize that Cinderella had her own personal line of pumpkins. Of course, being a purist and true to Disney’s original Cinderella, I order the Rouge de Estampes (French) variety—the beautiful flat reddish orange type. Their taste is rich and they are so beautiful.

Klesick Family Farm is bringing a little of that Disney wonder and excitement to our From Farm to Fork dinner party on the 20th of this month. We are going to be having Cinderella Pumpkin Bisque soup. And while Chef Larry Fontaine and his team aren’t using magic wands to transform these Cinderella pumpkins from my farm to your plate, he is using his repertoire of culinary skills to delight our palettes.

Please join Joelle and I at Comcast Arena at Everett for an elegantly catered evening connecting with KFF team members, farmers, vendors, and other customers. This is a great opportunity to converse in an adult-only venue while savoring organic, non-GMO culinary masterpieces prepared by Chef Fontaine.

This year we will enjoy appetizers and a four-course meal with your choice of Crab Stuffed Wild American Shrimp or a Garlic Herb Grilled Vegetable Stuffed Portabella. There will also be a cash organic wine and beer bar.

We will also have a panel of farmers so that each of you will have the opportunity to connect with those who make our boxes of good taste so incredible!

Last year we sold out quickly, so order your tickets early! This is going to be an amazing evening.

We look forward to sharing the evening with you!