ALL THINGS PUMPKIN

by duluth, October 28, 2009 | Permalink

Autumn is orange. It is the bright pop of the leaves as they dot the trees that line up “Apple Alley” into Ellijay. It is the color of a lick of flame at a bonfire with s’mores on the menu. It is one of the colors sported by fans of my favorite football team.

And it’s especially pumpkins.

At Whole Foods Market Johns Creek, the throbbing red heirloom tomato has surrendered center stage to the opulently orange pumpkin. We’ve got stacks of them, ready to be cut and carved into whatever design budding pumpkin Picassos can create.  Our carving pumpkins are still 3 for $12, so you can get one for each member of the family and still have some left over for a harvest vignette on the front porch. It’s a veritable Pumpkinpalooza of varieties—little warty pumpkins, petite baking pumpkins, even white pumpkins.  On Halloween—yes, this Saturday–from 11 am to 3 pm the whole family can get in on the act.  You can taste recipes made with variations on all things pumpkin, and the kids can wear their costumes and partake in some nifty crafts. And since all this festivity ends at 3 pm, you can get home in time for the Georgia-Florida kickoff and whip up the recipe for Pumpkin Seed Pesto.  Whether you’re tailgating or parked in front of the big screen, this pesto is easy to make and spread across some good crusty bread.  You can also smear it on a sandwich, toss it with pasta or serve it over roasted or steamed vegetables.  It’s the third-most popular recipe on our website!

Pumpkin Seed Pesto

2 cups unsalted hulled (green) pumpkin seeds

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste

3 garlic cloves

1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 375˚. Toss pumpkin seeds with 2 tablespoons of the oil and salt and then spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast until seeds are puffed and fragrant—10 to 15 minutes—then set aside to cool.

Combine seeds in a food processor with water, lemon juice, garlic, cilantro and remaining 4 tablespoons oil. Pulse until mixture forms a coarse paste, then season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until ready to use.  Makes about 2 ½ cups.

Flooded Farms Relief Fund update:  A gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who shopped in the store and our Farmer’s Market, bought lunch at our grill or won a bid at our silent auction last Wednesday.  Our store raised $4,370 dollars for the Slow Food Atlanta’s Flooded Farms Relief Fund.  In total the Atlanta stores raised almost $24,000. We’re continuing our “Donate your Dime” program to aid the Fund through October 31^st, so be sure to come down and help out your fellow Atlantans recover. If you’d like more information please visit www.slowfoodatlanta.org.

Will Harris is our hero.

by duluth, October 26, 2009 | Permalink

Just like Willie sings, my heroes have always been cowboys.  They don’t necessarily have to come in the form of horseback-riding, chaps-wearing tough guys (although that certainly doesn’t hurt.) No, cowboys come from all walks of life, in all shapes and sizes, all demographics and nationalities, but they share one commonality–they ride to the rescue.

Will Harris is one such cowboy.

Will owns White Oaks Pastures and Harris Family Heritage Beef, a sustainable farm located in the far southwest corner of our fair state near Bluffton, Georgia.  The beef his cattle provide is one of the most popular products in our Johns Creek store.  His cattle are born on the farm, graze on grass in the warm Georgia sunshine and are harvested on site, providing a humane and sustainable process that doesn’t include any artificial hormones, containment feeding, animal-by products or antibiotics.  

Will changed his production model for cattle after re-thinking about what was best for the animal and his land. He rode to their rescue, and now his farm is a shining example of all that is good about sustainable, artisan farming. He rides to the rescue of the consumer who has been wary about the content of their beef and provides them with a product that is wholesome and delicious. He also rides to the rescue for those who believe in the cause of good food by serving as president of Georgia Organics and working with Whole Foods Market to educate and advocate to consumers about healthy eating choices.

And this past Wednesday, when our store hosted a benefit for Slow Food Atlanta’s Flooded Farms Relief Fund, Will Harris rode to the rescue of those devastated by the September floods. He came straight off a big, white airplane and drove through Atlanta traffic to our store to sell his beef and chat with the crowd, working his cowboy charm on everyone who came by that day.  We made some hamburgers with his grassfed beef and sold those as part of a box lunch, with all the proceeds going toward the relief fund.  So to Will we say—thanks, pardner. We couldn’t have done it without you.

A DELICIOUS—AND URGENT—WAY TO AID FLOODED FARMERS

by duluth, October 14, 2009 | Permalink

  “It’s like moving to a new city, except you didn’t know you were moving in the first place.”

David Lennox’s words are an apt description of the circumstances he and his family face after last month’s floods. David and his wife Leslie own and operate Hope’s Gardens, LLC, a small specialty business named after their daughter. The floodwaters of Nancy Creek wiped out 4,000 of their basil plants, David’s entire garden and the electrical elements of their greenhouse. The waters engulfed the lowest level of their 3-story home and rose two and a half to three feet into the second level.  Despite their losses, David and Leslie plan to have Hope’s Gardens’ back up and running before Thanksgiving—“beginning a new normal,” David says.

At 2 am Monday, September 21^st, David awoke to the sounds of a struggling sump pump. At 7 am the family was moving furniture from the lowest level of the house to the second level. By late morning the waters of Nancy Creek had reached the greenhouse on their property, and by 3:30 pm there was approximately three feet of water in the main house and in the greenhouse. With water rising 6 inches an hour, the family evacuated to a hotel with their two cats and watched the flood coverage on the local news.

The next day, with the full extent of damage revealed, the family began the arduous task of assessment and recovery of their home and the little company that had grown as quickly and fruitfully as David’s garden.  Hope’s Gardens began in 2007, when Leslie was invited to come to the Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market and sell some of her homemade greeting cards. While at the market they noticed the “buzz” around locally grown food and persuaded her husband David, an avid gardener, to come down and sell some of his produce.  When 15 bags of lettuce sold in one hour Leslie decided that the next week they would bring some of her homemade pesto, which had been winning raves from friends and family for years. They sold out at the end of the day and decided to procure a producer’s license for the product. Through a friendship with Elisa Gambino of Via Elisa Pasta, they started to build their business.  Alisha Bess at Whole Foods on West Paces Ferry tasted the pesto at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market and helped them make the proper introductions to Whole Foods.  Hope’s Gardens pesto has become a favorite on the specialty shelves at Whole Foods stores across Atlanta.

Though spirits are low and frustrations high, David and Leslie plan to have their jars of sweet basil, roasted jalapeño and sundried tomato pesto ready for customers before the holidays.  They have found a rental house 3 miles from their current home and are working with FEMA and GEMA to get their lives righted.  “This business is our family”, Leslie says, “it grew out of family days at the market.”

Besides the Lennox family, many local growers and producers have been deeply affected by the September floods. To help them out, all Whole Foods Market stores in Atlanta will donate 5% of their net profits on Wednesday, October 21^st to Slow Food Atlanta’s Georgia Flooded Farmers Relief Fund.  Our Johns Creek store will be having a special farmer’s market that day from 11am to 2 pm with some of your favorite vendors such as Will Harris and his grass-fed beef, Stokes’ famous purple sweet potatoes, Mercier apples, Sweetwater Growers, the Bee Factory and others on hand to provide samples and help out. Make plans to come visit us that day and shop for a most delicious—and urgent—cause. 

Feeling All Squashy Inside

by duluth, October 7, 2009 | Permalink

I’m excited. It’s a cool early autumn day, the sun is finally shining and there are all kinds of pretty, funky winter squash in the store. They’re on sale, too: $1.69 cents a pound for all varieties.  And these are some of the stoutest squash I’ve ever seen.   One of my fellow team members put a single butternut squash on the scale and he weighed in at a whopping six pounds. Six pounds! That’s heavier than some Chihuahuas.

Squash is one of those transition vegetables that mean business when it comes to a change of season. They’re a great reason to fire up the oven to 400 degrees and roast away. Acorn squash, nutty and fibrous with a deep orange exterior, is perfect for slicing and stuffing with a whole grain. Those big butternuts are good all cubed up and roasted. (Note to whoever buys that six-pounder:  that squash would be perfect for freezing and using for soup later.) The fashionably striped delicata is sweet with a custard-y texture. It’d be delicious in a light buttery sauté with other vegetables. We’ve got the cutest little pie pumpkins, so you can get a head start on making and freezing batches of pumpkin soup.  And for those of you watching your carbs—that’s fine, but you need your fiber, too. You can get it with spaghetti squash. Slice the squash in half and seed it; then place it cut side down on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cook in a 350˚ preheated oven for 30 minutes and then let it cool until it is easy to handle. Flip the squash over and run a fork through the meat and make “spaghetti” strands. You can eat it as is, with a little salt and pepper, or add sautéed veggies.

Since I’m dining solo tonight it’s the perfect time to try new squash recipes before I spring them on dinner guests or tailgate pals.  The one below is brand spanking new from our website, and it adds an extra healthy kick of spinach.

Roasted Butternut Squash with wilted Spinach and crumbled Blue Cheese

1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 (5-ounce) package baby spinach
4 cups cubed and roasted butternut squash, warmed

Use a fork to mash together blue cheese and lemon juice in a large bowl to make a thick smooth dressing. Season with salt and pepper; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook, tossing often, until slightly wilted and warm, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer contents of skillet to bowl with dressing, add squash, salt and pepper and toss to combine.

To roast Butternut Squash: preheat oven to 400˚. Halve the squash lengthwise and scoop out and discard seeds. Peel squash with a vegetable peeler, if desired; cut into 1-inch cubes. Transfer to a large rimmed baking sheet. Toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and then spread in a single layer. Roast, tossing occasionally, until the squash is tender and golden brown, usually about 30 minutes.