Vegetarian Fall Harvest Dinner at Sugar & Olives

Benefiting CT NOFA  

Fall Vegetarian Harvest Dinner

Saturday, December 3

7 pm - 10 pm

Sugar & Olives in Norwalk

Chef/restaurateur Jennifer Balin
$100 per person ($700 for a table of 8) 

Includes event sourcebook with menu, recipes, and farm and food sources

Join us for an elevated farm to table dining experience in a charming industrial space to celebrate fall, support CT NOFA, and dine on cutting edge vegetarian cuisine showcasing the season's bounty. 

This elegant vegetarian feast features fall vegetables proudly grown by CT NOFA farmers and cocktails crafted with small batch local spirits and seasonal ingredients.  

3 Star Certified Green Restaurant Sugar & Olives has been a lunch sponsor at our Annual Winter Conference for the past five years and is a celebrated destination for enjoying and learning how to prepare local food. 

Tickets to this CT NOFA fundraiser dinner are $100 per person or $700 for a table of 8 and must be purchased online before the event. Click here to book your seat or table today! 

Enjoy live music and an opportunity to dine with the growers and producers whose food and drink is being served at the event.

Tomorrow is the first day of fall!

Fall is upon us in Connecticut - which is one of the greatest times to visit and support Connecticut's farms!  Connecticut's farmers market season continues through the fall, into October, and sometimes November (and at some markets - all winter, check if there's a year round market near you!)  Look at all the crops available in September and October in Connecticut!

Many farms and towns in the state are also celebrating the fall harvest season, check out our (incomplete) list of upcoming agricultural events:

September 21-23 & October 6
51st Chrysanthemum Festival
Bristol

September 21-23
Guilford Fair

Guilford

September 23 12:00pm - 4:00pm 

The Nutmegger Cheese and Wine Festival
Hosted by Jones Family Farms in Shelton
Proceeds support the Working Lands Alliance

September 27-30

93rd Durham Fair
Durham

September 28 - October 7 (2 weekends)
Apple Harvest Festival

Southington

October 5-7
Berlin Fair

Berlin

October 7
Downtown Country Fair
Windham
*Attend the Downtown Country Fair to learn about opportunities to join Community Supported Agriculture at Connecticut NOFA's CSA Fair!

October 12-14
The Portland Fair
Portland

October 13

Photo Credit: Hartford Courant

Fourth Annual Family Fun Day at Massaro Farm

Woodbridge

October 13
Sullivan Farm Fall Festival
Sullivan Farm
New Milford

October 28
Phillips Farm Fun Day
Southbury

Check out ctvisit.com for a list of fall fairs which celebrate Connecticut agriculture, foods, and crafts!
Visit the Department of Agriculture's agritourism page to find fall activities at a farm near you including PYO apples and pumpking. For corn mazes, you can look at this list of Connecticut's corn mazes (also not an exhaustive list).

You can also search for all of this on BuyCTGrown.com. This search site will also give you a thorough list of farms with the produce you need for this fall's apple crisp, pumpkin pie, and jack-o-lanterns!  Just type in your zipcode and which product you're looking for (you can even search for 'corn mazes') and narrow down the results by choosing specific kinds of farms and markets!

Happy Autumn Everyone!
Kristiane

Enjoy the Bounty of Summer All Year!

It's nearly August! The bounty of summer is in full swing, and in Connecticut there is no shortage of delicious, fresh, and varied produce to put in our kitchens. Produce, however, has a pesky habit of going bad over time, especially when you're dealing with highly perishable fruits like berries. This month, when all the tomatoes in your garden are ripening at the same time and you have more access to fresh local produce at the market than you know what to do with, use some of these methods to preserve the harvest so you can enjoy it all year!

Drying: Out of the three major food preservation options, drying is the most economical. It requires the least amount of energy input, and much of the work is done in the background while you're off doing other things. Here's an article by Jean Nick from Rodale that details the process of dehydration, complete with tips and recipes sure to make your mouth water.

Canning: Canning takes some time and skill, but it's the only way wet foods can be preserved without refrigeration. If you want to learn how to can just about anything, peruse this blog by Canning Granny. She provides a wide variety of recipes and tips from her own kitchen and from readers' submissions.

Freezing: Freezing is arguably the easiest food preservation technique, requiring relatively little time or preparation, but it requires a lot of freezer storage space and, therefore, a lot of energy. Good Housekeeping gives a good introduction to freezing, including what not to freeze and how to properly prepare and wrap food for freezing.

And if you want to learn more in depth guidelines and tips, the Cornell Extension has a great webpage about all three food preservation techniques. Check out our webpage as the summer draws to a close to learn about our fall food preservation workshops as they are scheduled.

Have a bountiful day!
-Melissa

Create a Slow Food Thanksgiving!

With Thanksgiving only 3 days away, cooking and celebrating is on everyone's mind, and for those of us who are spearheading the cooking this year, the task may seem a bit overwhelming.  But fear not, holiday kitchen crusaders, for there are resources you can use to make your holiday run smoother and be more eco-friendly.  The folks at Slow Food have developed a guide complete with recipes, information, and helpful tips that will help you have a more delicious, less time consuming, and more sustainable Thanksgiving.  Check out these tips for saving time and money while boosting the nutritional content, flavor, and appearance of your cooking.  And the list of recipes is very comprehensive, taking into account both vegetarian needs and what to do with the leftovers after the big day.  The guide also delves into the history behind the holiday, avoiding the sugar coated story often taught to us through advertising and the school system. 

A couple weeks ago, I posted about the advantages in buying a local, organic, sustainable, or heritage turkey.  Slow Food's guide also has information and resources about sustainable and heritage turkeys, and in my opinion elegantly describes why it's ultimately in your best interest as a consumer to go this route.

Thanksgiving is, as a modern holiday, a time to celebrate the bounty and joy of life with family and friends.  We live in a fast-paced technologically advanced society, but that doesn't need to overwhelm us this holiday season.  Finding the time to relax and enjoy your local harvest is not only good for the economy and the environment, but good for you as well.

Wishing you the best of luck in your pre-holiday preparation,
-Melissa

Mark your calendars for our Winter Food Workshops!

 

 We invite food lovers, gardeners and farmers to learn how to freeze, dry, can, cookand grow autumn and winter crops at our “Winter Food Project” workshop series at Common Ground High School.
“Preserving the Harvest (on a budget) – Freezing and Drying” on Saturday, October 15 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm will focus on preparing blanched kale, frozen beans and dried tomatoes and fruit. 

“Preserving the Harvest – Canning” taught by Wyatt Whiteman, owner of 1760 Farm House LLC, will also be on October 15 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm.  Participants will prepare and can different types of foods and will take home a sample jar to enjoy.

“Cooking with Seasonal Food” will be led by Jane Maher wonderful cook and former owner of Snooty Foods in Oxford, CT on Saturday, October 22 from 1:00pm – 3:00. Ms. Maher will share and demonstrate delicious recipes featuring local winter vegetables including kale, sweet potato and winter squash.
“Indoor Food and Flower Gardening” will be held on Saturday, November 12 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm. Come and learn about the best varieties, containers, growing methods and harvesting techniques to keep growing vegetables and flowers through the winter!

Check out photos from our canning workshops in 2010!

 

 

All fall workshops cost $10 and will be located at Common Ground High School at 358 Springside Avenue, New Haven.  For more information or to register please visit CT NOFA’s homepage: www.ctnofa.org or call our office at (203)888-5146.  For more information about Common Ground High School visit www.nhep.com.