What I'm Excited About #7

Clemenquat Salad: My contribution to this Sunday's party food.

Collaboration: I worked with +Ryan Johnson, +Jamie Bain, and +Mary Vitcenda to bring this blog post to fruition: SNAP-Ed: Our Expanded Focus. I think it turned out real nice. Then again, it is color-coded, and that counts for a lot in my book.

Kombucha: A MNYFP'er hooked me up with a symbiotic community of bacteria and yeast.

A photo posted by @jastrd on Jan 31, 2015 at 8:25am PST

Homemade kombucha, here I come!

What I'm Excited About #6

The Cold: Good-bye cloudy skies, hello crisp air! This is the Minnesota weather I signed up for.

Dad and grandkids.

The Collaborations: I'm lining up a couple peeps to write guest posts for this blog. I also asked a friend to collaborate on a poem with me – I have no idea how that's going to go, and I'm super interested to find out!

The Condiment Clean-Up: I am on a mission to extinguish all the condiments in my refrigerator by January 20th. The other week, I made a dressing with the remaining chipotle peppers, curry powder, and fennel seeds. That went real nice with the endless sweet potatoes and beets I roasted for holiday potlucks.

Lot of chipotle, but the curry and fennel came through.

The Coming Year: I know already what some of transitions will be (moving once or twice, my parents leaving the country), and I know that unexpected challenges will arise. But all in all, the unknown opportunities of 2015 are so beguiling.

What are you looking forward to?

What I'm Excited About #5

Includes the following:

Visual recipe by Stacy Stanley.

• Tapping URSA: A black IPA made by Fulton with Mighty Axe Cascade Hops? I'm there. 
• MNYFP December: A mini-launch of the Minnesota Food Charter next Wednesday at Gigi's Cafe, hosted by Donald Warneke and (who else) Eric Sannerud. For details and to RSVP, bop over to the Facebook event.
• Visual Recipes: Local artist Stacy Stanley records recipes, illustrates them, and shares the creation. She recorded my recipe for, well, something tasty and will be posting the result on her blog, 
• Condiment Clean-Up: I am on a mission to extinguish all the condiments in my refrigerator. Today I defeated a small bottle of Maruso Soy Sauce.

What are you looking forward to?

What I'm Excited About #4

April showers bring... myriad May marvels.

• Mississippi Mushroom's Kickstarter Finale: Lawrence University transfer student Ian Silver-Ramp runs this local-yet-exotic urban agriculture operation out of Northeast Minneapolis. Fungi you've never heard grow in neighborhood waste products and yield real nice compost. Triple win, right there. Kick in!



Look how much fun we have working!

• MNYFP May: Inaugural work night for Minnesota Young* Food Professionals** on Monday, Happy Hour on Wednesday. Follow the #MNYFP hashtag on Twitter or like the Facebook page to stay in the loop.
• Minneapolis Forum: Misleading lead-in, perhaps, but alliteration's important. The Union of Concerned Scientists presents "Science, Democracy, and a Healthy Food Policy: How Citizens, Scientists, and Public Health Advocates Can Partner to Forge a Better Future." I'm swooning over the panelists already. RSVP (you can join remotely!).

What are you excited about this week?

* "Young" is a state of mind.

** "Professional" means working at SOMETHING (an education, side project, full-time job) related to food.

What I'm Excited About #2

Sometimes I am struck by several exciting things at once. 

• Upcoming guest post from Kelsey Hotle about the Sangnam market in South Korea.

Root vegetables on display at the Sangnam Market.
Stay tuned to discover their origin!

• Lunch with former Lawrence University classmate Ian Silver-Ramp of Mississippi Mushrooms

• The CFANS Speed Networking Event I attended last week (view pictures on Fb), where I met a dozen interesting students.



Finally, I'm on the "professional" side of the table!
Photo by Masha Finn.

• The Hunger and Environment Nutrition DPG membership drive, ably lead by Ashley Colpaart and carried out by HENlet(te)s Holly Sostock, Amber Noterman, Garnet Bruell, and myself. Join today!

What are you looking forward to this week?

What I'm Excited About #1

Includes the following:

• Tour of the St. Paul Public School's central kitchen this Thursday


• Lesson plans I'm designing, aimed to increase cruciferous vegetable consumption


• Heirloom beans I purchased yesterday from Paula Foreman (Jacob's Cattle Gold and Orca)


• Order I got last week from Whole Farm Coop (pretty soon I won't have to shop at all!)


• Focus group I'm attending next week that's NOT organized by me


• An Eat4Equity I can finally attend!

And last, but not least, Mike Mason's Halloween party.
Photo of orca beans by Ataradrac.