Some Fresh Sausages

There was a great article in the New York Times the other day discussing whether the old saying, “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made” is still true. The comparison is hilarious! My favorite was a quote by Alan Rosenthal, who said, “In a real sausage plant, everybody is on the same team, trying to produce bratwurst or knockwurst. In the legislative sausage factory, at least half the people don’t want to make sausage. Or they want to make a different kind. For the last few years, Republicans have said, ‘We won’t make sausage unless we control the recipe.’” Haha!

Fortunately, the factory was able to churn out a couple of tasty-sounding sausages, er…laws recently: one on food safety and the other on child nutrition. For those of you who are interested in food policy, these bills are a pretty big deal! Here they are:

The Food Safety Modernization Act: this bill is meant to strengthen the FDA so they can do more to prevent outbreaks like the recent scandal involving (billions) of salmonella-infected eggs. Here are some interesting facts I learned:

• this is the first time in over 70 years that the FDA food safety laws have been updated
• only about 1 in a million pounds of imported food is inspected by the FDA (!!)
• before now, the FDA could not actually demand food recalls. The could just ask for them. Hmm.
  

This next part may be of particular interest to Relay-ers who like buying local: the contentious part of this bill was the amendment that allowed certain inspection exemptions for small farmers. Some senators got their panties in a bunch saying people were just as likely to get sick from food from little family farms. I guess they’ve never seen how an industrial sausage plant might differ from a local family-owned sausage joint.

Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act: this bill sets new standards for school lunches, stipulating that they should include more fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. It also expands school lunch and after-school meal programs to include more children. Although the name of the bill makes it seem like a no-brainer, it also had its sticking points. One was that the money to fund this program involves cutting spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps) and raising the price of school lunches for families over 185% of the poverty line. A vocal dissenter, Representative Paul Broun (he’s also a physician), said, “This bill is not about child nutrition. It’s not about healthy kids. It’s about an expansion of the federal government, more and more control from Washington, borrowing more money and putting our children in greater debt. The federal government has no business setting nutritional standards and telling families what they should and should not eat.”

My personal opinion is that, since schools are funded by public dollars anyway, the government has the right to stipulate that those schools are feeding students high-quality food. Unless I’m misinterpreting the extent of this bill, it seems that the government is just trying to ensure that students are fed well in school, not trying to determine what individual families do. But I’m interested in what you all think! I know there are a lot of parents with young kids who use Relay, so how do you all feel about this?

Where do you get your recipes?

I love trying new recipes, but just like most people, I have a few trusted sources that I always go to. Here are some of my favorite food blogs and cookbooks…I hope you’ll check them out! Please share some of your favorites in the comments section…there can never be too many good recipes to go around.

Websites:

http://simplyrecipes.com/ - One of my primary go-to sites. Great variety of recipes (especially Mexican/Tex-Mex), I’ve never gone wrong with Elise’s advice. She also has excellent photography tips.

http://smittenkitchen.com/ - Another great go-to. Good recipes and hilarious commentary.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ - If you aren’t afraid of butter, you’ll love the Pioneer Woman. Her recipes are simple, delicious artery cloggers ;). If cooking isn’t your thing, she also blogs about gardening and homeschooling, among other things. Lots of fun giveaways too!

http://www.101cookbooks.com/ - Blog by Heidi Swanson, author of the cookbook “Super Natural Cooking”. That pretty much sums it up…awesome vegetarian recipes.

http://annies-eats.com/ - I don’t understand how Annie, a doctor, has time to cook this much. I aspire to be this put-together one day. Lots of delicious baked goods and tips on meal and party planning.

Cookbooks:

How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman – Mark Bittman is all about simplicity…recipes that you can look at once and just remember. This is a great reference if you’re unsure how to use a particular ingredient or make basics like vinaigrettes.

Local Flavors by Deborah Madison – Some of her recipes are a bit complex and others use unusual ingredients, but if you cook seasonally there are lots of gems in this book. Carry it to the farmers market with you and you’ll never be at a loss for what to do with all those colorful veggies!

I’m Just Here For the Food by Alton Brown – Alton Brown in the Bill Nye of the Food Network, and in his book he explains the science behind cooking…good to know, since cooking is essentially a science!

Magazines:

Cooks Illustrated – I just recently started getting their magazine and love it! Like Alton Brown, they use science to explain why certain techniques work and others don’t…like how the saturated-to-unsaturated fat ratio in a cookie determines its chewiness…who knew!

Again, please let all of us at Relay and around Charlottesville/Richmond where you get your favorite recipes and tips!

Buy local eggs, save Virginia agriculture

I wasn’t lucky enough to get to attend the Monticello Heritage Harvest Festival this year, but I recently watched some of the “Meet the Farmer TV” videos that were made at the event. Relay’s very own Neal, Lindsey, Cameron and Brittany were interviewed! Neal made some really good points about what the Relay business model can do for the community. Of course we want Relay to be convenient for our customers. That’s why our founder, Zach, came up with the idea…so he could spend more time with his kids and less time at the grocery store. But what can Relay do for our communities in Charlottesville and Richmond?

After the election on Tuesday, there is no doubt it anyone’s mind: it’s all about the economy these days. Creating jobs, stimulating growth, etc. etc. It seems like a daunting task, but many knowledgeable people at the Heritage Harvest Festival mentioned the same thing…that we can do a lot, just by keeping some of our food dollars in the local community. After doing a little of my own research, I stumbled across this article from the Virginia Cooperative Extension (an incredible resource for anything agriculture-related). First of all, agriculture is huge in Virginia, accounting for around 357,000 jobs in 2006. Second, many small- and medium-sized farms are struggling to survive, especially due to the tough economic environment. But here’s the kicker, in a direct quote from the article: “A similar study by the Virginia Cooperative Extension showed that if each Virginia household would spend just $10 of their total weekly food budget on local food and farm products, this purchasing decision would annually generate $1.65 billion in direct economic impact for Virginia’s economy.”

Of course we can’t dismiss the fact that there is a lot more work to be done to both improve the economy and create a truly vibrant regional food system, but that’s a big step! A big step that requires just a little extra effort on the part of the consumer…and here’s where Relay comes in. There are plenty of ways to spend those $10 on local foods if you so choose: farmers markets, CSAs, restaurants that serve local products, but we’re just trying to make it a little easier. So…how would I spend my $10 on local Relay products?

Richmond:

Harmony Hill Farm eggs - $3.09 (fresh and super tasty!)

Deer Run Farm butternut squash - $1.75 (Thought you didn't like squash...HA! This will change your mind.)

Granny Smith apples - $0.77 (Virginia grown. For snacking or in pie!)

Mountain View Farm Swiss cheese - $4.22

Charlottesville:

Meadow Run Farm green onions - $1.75 (I can never seem to have enough green onions…try them in miso soup!)

Hardy Farms Swiss chard - $3.00 (delicious and comes wrapped like a bouquet of colorful, edible flowers)

Belle Haven Farm soft dinner rolls - $2.49 (they smell amazing and taste even better)

Meadow Run Farm pie pumpkin - $2.00 (with the holidays coming, this needs no explanation)

Yum!

Sources and links:

Monticello Heritage Harvest Festival videos:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Virginia Cooperative Extension article

The Hook picture gallery of the Harvest Festival

Baby Carrots

I just about died laughing the first time I saw one of those new baby carrot commercials on You Tube. My first thought was "...REALLY?" The commercials are completely ridiculous, complete with machine guns, carrot ammo, explosions and scantily clad women. I had recently heard a radio report on NPR on the new carrot marketing ploy, so I figured I should see the ad for myself. According to the radio report, "a bunch of carrot farmers" were trying to increase carrot sales essentially by marketing them as a junk food. There isn't a whisper about the health benefits of carrots or meeting your daily 5-veggies-a-day mark. The thing that makes the over the top ads bearable is that they know it's over the top. The machine guns and exploding shopping carts are certainly meant to draw the attention of young people, but they're also very clearly mocking similar commercials by the junk food industry. Their website is just as hilarious...they have a carrot video game (no, I didn't play it...looked tempting though), videos of their ads, another series of short videos called "Munchies" and even a "Karrut Kruunch Track" you can download (yep the sound of someone crunching a carrot...I know I want that as my ringtone!).


After learning more about this new craze, I started thinking...what exactly is a baby carrot, anyway? It took me a while to realize this, but baby carrots are not just miniature carrots. They're pieces of regular carrots that have been cut and peeled into "baby" sizes! When I learned this, I thought, what a waste...I bet a ton of perfectly good carrot is wasted just to make them into cute, peeled bite-sized pieces. Well, shows how much I know about carrots...that theory was also wrong. Baby carrots were actually created in the 1980s by farmer Mike Yurosek who wanted to find a way to use carrots that were too misshapen to sell but perfectly good to eat. Hmmm...makes me feel better about eating baby carrots if they actually reduce waste! (Of course, there are some issues with baby carrots...they cost more than buying an equivalent amount of whole carrots, but we're talking about getting kids to eat more veggies here...got to start small and make it easy! They are also grown from a variety of carrots that ripens faster and has less beta-carotene. Sigh...lower-quality food always seems to end up in schools. We'll save this issue for another time.)


Now that we're familiar with this new generation of carrot farmers who are more adept at social media than I am (not that hard to accomplish, honestly) and have figured out what a baby carrot is, there is one question outstanding in my mind: will this ploy actually work? I am all for healthier food in schools, but will the expensive commericals and new baby carrot vending machines actually make more kids eat vegetables? It's definitely true that brand recognition can have a major impact on food choices, especially if kids are exposed to it at a young age. However, real junk food has a leg-up over carrots: salty, fatty and sugary foods are tastes that are rare, and therefore valuable in nature. Biologically our brains are wired to desire those things (not to mention how unhealthy foods are frequently associated with comfort). I think the new carrot marketing will help increase the consumption of vegetables by young people, but I worry that it won't last. To significantly change food habits, I think the culture of food in schools needs to shift: away from serving what is cheapest and easiest to what is most healthful and truly tastes good. The point shouldn't be for vegetables and Doritos to compete to spend the most on advertising, but for us to appreciate, and teach our kids to appreciate, that healthy food can taste better than junk food and is better for you. Then perhaps kids will be eating carrots long after the fad fades away...

In case any of you were wondering, I got my information (and pictures) for this post from these sources:
www.babycarrots.com
Home website for the new marketing campaign. They have 3,000 likes on facebook!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130321785
NPR story on new baby carrots marketing campaign. Also includes links to these USDA sources:

http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/hsmrs/NJ%20Quick%20Steps/NJ_Qk_Steps_Participant/Carrots.pdf
Quick history and info on carrots.

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/vgs/2007/03Mar/VGS31901/VGS31901.pdf
Detailed report on carrot consumption in the US.

http://www.wisebread.com/baby-carrots-the-frugal-idea-that-isnt
Interesting blog post on baby carrots.

Ronnie and Roxie

Many of you may not know this, but we have a true, honest-to-goodness old-fashioned multi-generational Virginia farmer in the Relay family. Ronnie Crickenburger and his wife, Roxie, from Meadow Run Farm, are not out at the City Market every week, they don't get stories written about them in Flavor, Edible Blue Ridge or Albemarle Magazine (some of our favorite publications over here at Relay), but like most farmers, they are up before the sun and work 'till it goes down just so we can have fresh Virginia produce on our tables.

I believe that all of farmers are heros, but some are more "un-sung" than others--Ronnie and Roxie are the perfect example. Ronnie's grand-daddy and his grand-daddy before that have been farming in this region for years--he knows the land, he knows his crops and he knows the community. Ronnie's knowledge about the land doesn't come from books or the internet, it comes from the wisdom passed down from generation to generation of trial and error, old-fashioned farming. One of our customers once asked how to know when her rhubarb was ready to harvest--I called Ronnie immediately. He rambled on for a good 15 minutes telling me all about how "now, ya got yur green varieties and yur red varieties...if it's the red variety ya gotta wait till it gets good an red but don't wait too long, ya dont want it to get spongy on ya"

Ronnie runs both Meadow Run Farm and Fishersville Farm Market, which means, if Ronnie doesn't grow it himself, he has a friend in the area who does, he always finds whatever we need and always keeps prices more than fair. Did I mention that he picks fresh for Relay in the morning and drives over the mountain in the afternoon, EVERY SINGLE DAY.

While he's picking and driving the freshest produce over here, Roxie is taking care of her kids on her daily school bus route. She is by far one of the sweetest, most gentle women I've ever met--I'm sure all of her kids love her. Once both Ronnie and Roxie get back to the farm they gather up all of their grandkids who are around for the day and work the land until the sun starts to set. On top of all that, Ronnie works odd hours several days a week at Wal-Mart in Waynesboro.

These are people who haven't forgotten what it means to work hard for what you love, to put family first and to work together for the community and for the land. They are more than heros in my book.

Here are some photos of the farm and the family:

We're on TV!

Check it out!

Watermelon Capers

We have a delightful young film maker in among our ranks over here at Relay...maybe you've heard of him...maybe you'll be hearing about him in the coming years...Here's a new Lance Warren original (in conjunction with Relay studios...of course):

What a month!

WELL! It's been a crazy month for the Relay team. I think a photo recap is in order:

Relay's new mascots are here!! Ms. Cow and Dr. Bird still need names, if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments box of this post. A few of our guys worked hours in the blistering sun to get our new friends on our trucks...we're so happy to have them!

We had our first official company party to release our new mascot friends (looks like we piqued the curiosity of a few neighbors as well...)!

Zach's daughter, Addy, really enjoyed the brownies!

All of our food was sourced through Relay--particularly our local farms (yes, those are Dick Proutt's quail eggs from Down Branch Farm)!

The hippest new thing in Charlottesville...localicious Relay shirts and stickers...seriously. Add a few of these to your cart this week (only $0.01 for the stickers)!

The Relay Marketing Team had an absolutely delightful time with our foodie friends at the City Market Connect the Dots event! We spent some quality time with our friend, Frank Mellie, of Meet the Farmer TV--I think Charlottesville will be seeing much more of Frank and Meet the Farmer soon, they really are working to change our food system. Check us out with a few of our farmer (and pie-making) friends on the latest episode!

There's one of our pals! Thanks for noticing our new truck decorations, Dawn!

Up and coming: Relay Richmond's young, hip team is busy at work adding products from Richmond's best local grocery stores, bakeries and farms!

As you can tell, this is an exciting time! Keep your ears and eyes peeled, you'll be seeing more and more of us soon!

WHOLE FOODS!

It's a big day for Relay! You've probably noticed that we've been adding wonderful new vendors, specifically farms, just about every week for a while now... but we've been keeping mum about our biggest Relay Family addition. Now that the store front is up and running, we're proud to announce that Relay carries products from Whole Foods!

The 19 folks who started the original Whole Foods in Austin, Texas in 1980 were certainly a forward-thinking bunch. Just think about how much our food-system consciousness has changed in the past 30 years! They were at the forefront of the movement, they believed (and continue to believe) in the value of quality food, real food, WHOLE food from transparent sources.

There's so much media hype about Whole Foods these days it can be hard to sort out what's what. We looked into their core values: "...selling the highest quality natural and organic products available, satisfying and delighting our customers, supporting team member happiness and excellence, creating wealth through profits & growth, caring about our communities & our environment, creating ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers, and promoting the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating education."

At Relay, we've got our own set of core values. Our goal is to provide a way to for folks to support local farm and community businesses while offering the kind of selection that comes with larger vendors, like Whole Foods. For our smaller vendors, it is a balancing act -- competition and opportunity. They have told us they accept the challenge of competing with the bigger boys in order to receive the opportunity to be in the same arena -- offering their uniquely grown and produced items to the wider audience they need to achieve growth and sustainability. In this way, Relay becomes the market that levels the playing field. They get to compete for your favor (and patronage!). You get to follow your pocketbook, your conscience, and best of all your taste buds.

Right now, we've begun with Whole Foods' 365 items, which offer incredible value and taste. Soon we will branch out to into other categories. Meantime, happy browsing!

Community

I'd like to let you in on a few secrets...maybe not true secrets, I suppose there's been plenty of press about them, but those sorts of things that make you feel they’re secrets because they’re just so delightful and community-oriented. The Charlottesville League of Urban Chicken Keepers (CLUCK), The Charlottesville Wine Guild, C’ville Foodscapes and Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest are invaluable resources for our little trendsetting area.

Surely you’ve heard of the Charlottesville League of Urban Chicken Keepers—their acronym is CLUCK—could that be any more adorable!? These chicken gals and guys, led by the local legend Guinevere Heathcote Higgins, are all about education and community awareness. They’re “a network of backyard poultry enthusiasts dedicated to raising chickens humanely in Charlottesville” which they accomplish by working together, sharing chicks, inspiring creative coops, and educating each other about poultry disease and distress. It’s so wonderful to see members of the community coming together to pool resources and educate each other!

This is Charlottesville, of course we have a Wine Guild! Their mission is to have "More people drinking better wine more often." The Wine Guild is not here to be uppity or snooty about wine, they’re just passionate about it and willing to spread their knowledge (and wine discounts) to others in the community! Their blog tells the tale of many a delightful bottle from Cali to Chile and the cheeses to pair. They keep us up to date on local wine events and even meet up on Wednesdays to talk wine and build community.

C’ville Foodscapes and Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest have built up some serious buzz in our food-centric community--for good reason! These folks are forward thinkers, trendsetters, community builders and world changers!

Over here at Relay, we know that people in Charlottesville are smart, they care, they want to eat locally and organically, but they also work hard and take care of beautiful children who need to be rushed to swim practice and chorus recitals. We’re here to provide an alternative—a way to connect you to your farmer while reducing your carbon footprint, allowing the farmer to spend more time on the land s/he cares about.

The hip Charlottesvillians involved in C’ville Foodscapes and Blue Ridge Backyard Harvest have realized the same thing. They know you want to have a beautiful garden that produces food for your table, but it takes a lot more time than you might have to devote to it. A good veggie garden is one of those things that everyone is going to do “next weekend.” Well, these folks are here to spread their knowledge and get their hands dirty this weekend so you can actually pull your dinner out of your backyard. They are available for consultation, implementation, and maintenance of your backyard garden for a very small fee.

Charlottesville is a beautiful community. We have so many resources here that are not utilized nearly as much as they should be. If we all work together to spread awareness, knowledge, and lend a helping hand every now and again our whole community will benefit and we may even be able to rework our atrocious food system into a truly beautiful, sustainable community endeavor.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from Shelia Talbott

Mmm Mmm I think this dreary Monday calls for a little fresh Strawberry Rhubarb Pie straight from our delightful Belle Haven baker, Shelia Talbott. Don't forget, Gary from Twin Springs Farm picks fresh strawberries on Thursday mornings for Thursday orders only--they go fast so get your local strawberry orders in today!

Some measurements are approximate because I kinda eyeball the sugar as it depends on how sweet the strawberries are. Hope you like it. Obviously, you can use a pre-made crust, but I think fresh crusts are better.

Crust:

1 cup all purpose white flour
1 cup fresh ground soft white wheat flour (Can just use 2 cups all purpose)
3/4 cup cold butter cut into cubes
1/4 tsp salt
approximately 1/4 cup ice cold water

Mix the flours and salt together. Add the butter and cut in until flour
resembles coarse corn meal. Slowly add the ice water, tossing the flour
mixture with a fork until it starts to hold together. Don't work the
pastry too much or it becomes very tough. Gather pastry mixture together
and divide in half. Roll out crusts to desired size. Will make 2- 9 inch
pie crusts

Filling

16 oz fresh Strawberries, cored and sliced
5 - 6 stalks fresh Rhubarb, diced
approximately 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar or to taste depending on sweetness of
strawberries
1/4 cup small pearl tapioca
1 tsp ginger (optional)
2 tsp butter cut up

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix together the sugar, tapioca and ginger.
In a large bowl, mix together the fresh strawberries and rhubarb.
Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the fruit and toss to coat fruit. Pour
into prepared pie crust. Dot the top of the mixture with the butter and
cover fruit with the top pie crust, cutting 4 - 5 small slashes in the
top. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, then decrease temperature to 350,
cooking until pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbling and thick
(about 1 hour). Serve warm or cold with fresh whipped cream.

Roasted Kale Chips with Sea Salt and Vinegar

Happy Monday to all! One of our new customers just sent us an email suggesting that we include recipes with links to our products on the site...Thanks for the suggestion, Nicole--we agree! We'll be starting this delightful new feature soon, but in the meantime, here's Nicole L.'s favorite kale chip recipe ('tis the season!):

Roasted Kale Chips with Sea Salt and Vinegar

From Kalyn's Kitchen

(Makes 2-3 servings of kalechips, recipe adapted by Kalyn with inspiration from many other bloggers who also made kale chips.)

one small bunch of kale, about 6 oz.
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T vinegar (I used Spanish sherry vinegar, but any vinegar you like the flavor of will work)
sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 300F/150C.

Cut away inner ribs from each kale leaf and discard, then tear the kale leaves into same-size pieces. (I made my pieces about the size of a small potato chip.) Wash torn kale pieces and spin dry in a salad spinner or dry with paper towels until they're very dry.

Put kale pieces into a large Ziploc bag (or use a bowl if you don't mind getting your hands oily.) Add half of the 1 T of olive oil, seal bag, and squeeze the bag so the oil gets distributed evenly on the kale pieces. Add the other half tablespoon of oil and squeeze the bag more, until all kale pieces are evenly coated with oil and slightly "massaged."

Open the Ziploc bag and sprinkle the 1 T sherry vinegar over the kale leaves, then seal bag and shake to spread the vinegar out over all the leaves.

Arrange kale leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet, then roast until they are mostly crisp, about 35 minutes. I checked every 10 minutes or so and turned some pieces over. I also found I didn't mind if there were a few softer parts on some of the kale leaves, I liked the combination of crisp and softer parts.

When chips are done to your liking, sprinkle with a generous amount of sea salt and eat immediately.

We always love customer suggestions, so if you have any, please do let us know by either typing them into the suggestion box at the bottom of each page on the Relay site or emailing us directly! If you have any recipes you'd like to post, I'd also love to have them for the blog--just send them over to me (cecilia@retailrelay.com)!

Slow Money Relay

Dear Relay Friends,

As we go about our busy, base-covering lives, every now and then we're reminded -- sometimes with a jolt -- that we are not alone, that our goals are shared by others across the nation, and that there are many efforts underway to bring farms and people together, to their mutual benefit.

Recently, Relay was nominated by the folks at Slow Money, a grassroots, not-profit seed capital fund, to participate in a contest to high-light small businesses that support sustainable agriculture, community food systems, and what they call a "restorative economy."

We went to their site and what an awakening! Right alongside the Relay we found small companies like us -- each a bit different -- but all searching for the best way to create ways for folks to eat better food, source that food locally, and build better communities. The contest will reward the business that receives the most "votes" with an advertising campaign cash award (a line item in our small budgets that often doesn't get much love).

Please take a moment to support Relay by visiting Slow Money at this link:

http://bit.ly/dkXi88

You get 10 votes. You can vote up to 3 times for Relay -- and spread them around, if you like. You may also vote for 10 different businesses, or anything in-between.

Thanks in advance!

Looking Through a Glass Onion

We get all kinds of calls to the Relay customer service hot line. The reach of the Internet is such that anyone, anywhere, can find anything -- and when folks Google, say, Temeraire - Authentic Dijon Mustard - 30 oz. or the big bottle of Gold Medal Imitation Vanilla, 8 fl. oz. they find these not-available-everywhere items from the vendors in the Relay Family, like Foods of All Nations and Reid's Super Save. Of course, they simply click through and order it up! And we wind up on the phone explaining that Relay serves the C-ville-area only, that we don't (as yet) ship items, and that we are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. All in a day's work.

Today, A.J. called from the Catskills with a new twist. Said she held in her hand a bottle of Hanover Superfine Whole Onions, 15 oz. that had an expiration date on the lid that had been rubbed away so that the year was not clear. We chatted awhile. Seems A.J. makes a mean Spiced Pork Tenderloin, the leftovers of which she likes to toss in a skillet with these particular pickled onions. Get it all hot and steamy, she said, then stuff the mixture into half-a-pita. Pure heaven.

Of course, there was no way a jar of Superfine Onions at Reids would have any bearing on the jar she was holding in her hand. We thought about going into the intricacies of the Relay business model -- the baton-passing that our Operations-folk accomplish every day, the Internet, our vendor-partners who collect the orders we transmit. None of it answered her question -- and such complexity was inadequate to the task. Best keep it simple.

We chatted some more, discussing the general shelf life of pickled items, like onions. We even ventured that she ought to go ahead and use them -- which probably wasn't very prudent -- but seemed like the reasonable thing since the seal had not been broken and she'd picked them up within the last year. We gave her our email to let us know how it turned out.

A little later, A.J. sent an email with her recipe for Spiced Pork Tenderloin attached. She didn't say how the pita sandwich turned out. It's tempting to say you only hear about things when they go wrong -- especially in the Customer Service world -- but it was such a pleasure talking, it seemed like a risk worth taking.... Thanks for the call, A.J., you made our day!


A.J.'s Spiced Pork Tenderloin Recipe

1 T. olive oil

1 large garlic clove, mashed

¾ t. ground cumin

¼ t. ground cinnamon

¼ t. ground cloves

1 = ¾ to 1 pound pork tenderloin=======================

1/3 cup canned low-salt chicken broth

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 450 degrees…Blend first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Sprinkle pork with spice mixture, salt and pepper. Place in 13x9x2 inch pan. Roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150 degrees F, about 20 minutes (maybe longer). Transfer pork to plate.

Add broth to pan. Set pan directly over high heat and bring broth to boil, scraping up browned bits. Simmer until pan juices thicken slightly, about 3 minutes. Slice pork into rounds, place on plates. Top with pan juices and cilantro…….ENJOY!!!

Cuties!

What a cute week! The weather's beautiful, the birds are chirping and the Relay guys (and Annick) helped mini-relayers plant Dragon Tongue beans when they picked up their orders! Check out a couple of these mini-relay cuties...and make sure you bring your kids to the trucks next week!!

Ps--kids of all ages (1-100) are more than welcome to plant a dragon tongue with Relay, don't be shy!

Local Lamb Lovers

So, as it turns out, the road to Sperryville that seems far too long on a rushed Friday is actually really quite short when time and the Blue Ridge Mountains are on your side. This week I had the pleasure of passing Popham’s Ford Road and continuing on through Sperryville (cute!) and on over to the perfectly delightful Mount Vernon Farm. Driving into Mount Vernon Farm the Thornton River rushes by your right side suggesting you find an old inner tube and a few good friends while up to your right the bright green pastures gobble up Turkey Mountain. Rolling white dots of fur speckle their way up the steep mountainside and leap onto cliffs in a seemingly perpetual game of King of the Mountain. On a cool, overcast Monday it feels like being in the Irish countryside.

Mount Vernon Farm is another one of Relay’s many sustainable, humane, happy, grass-fed animal farms. Cliff Miller and his family have been have been farming their 830 acres since 1827! Mike and the few farmers employed on the land practice Management Intensive Rotational Grazing which involves moving the sheep every 3 days and rotating them with the pigs and cows thus allowing all of the animals to work together to maintain the health of the grass, the land, each other, and eventually, us. More CLA’s, more Omega 3’s, fewer calories and better taste—all wrapped up into one sustainable package!

The whole farm is protected under a conservation easement and has won awards for its Chesapeake Bay friendly riparian conservation and grazing practices. They also work with the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) through the USDA to keep cattle out of the Thornton River (and other waterways) on the property. All and all, a really wonderful place to live whether you’re sheep, cow, pig, or human!

Give Mount Vernon lamb a try during these Holy days (until Sunday) and take 15% off the price by typing MOUNTVERNON in the coupon box at check out!

Club Med For Pigs

Come back in time with me for a minute…it’s Friday afternoon, you have places to be, people to see, appointments to make. It’s been one of those days where nothing seems to go quite like it should and everything takes a good 30 minutes longer than anticipated--not to mention the traffic. OH Charlottesville, when did the gods of frustration vomit all of these cars on our beautiful city?! Your knuckles are white and your speedometer reads 85 as yours eyes dart around every tree that a policeman might be lurking behind. You turn into the town of Madison…could it be any cuter—the color comes back to your knuckles and you take a deep breath. The road to Sperryville stretches farther than you care to go on this Friday afternoon but the sun starts to warm your cheeks making your shoulders sink back and your lead foot get a little lighter. As the rolling pastures crawl up the spreading fingers of our soulful Blue Ridge Mountains your own fingers stretch, that country warmth crawls through your body and really, why are you rushing anyway?

Turn onto Popham’s Ford Rd. The Hughes River greets you and winds along besides you like an old friend leading the way…this is one of the most peaceful, beautiful places you’ve ever seen—your Friday night plans are left in the dust as you creep down the dirt road. You turn around a corner out of the woods and away from the river only to see a rolling green hill topped with the most idyllic red farm house and barns, the Blue Ridge Mountains serving as the perfect backdrop…yes I do believe we’ve entered some sort of paradise (not to mention my personal dream home…). Welcome to Meadow Green Farm.

The whole place is quiet--almost deserted--until a wagging tail and a quick snoot greet you, followed closely by the two seemingly shy eyes of a 7-yr old Pierce Kiser. John Kiser is out with the pigs, of course. As you approach the barn you come across some unexpected new friends, a bunny roaming free in the yard, peacocks showing off their colors and guinea hens picking and pecking to the soft cooing of doves. The pigs oink a little hello before a muffled 'hey' rumbles out from deep inside the freezer.

John Kiser is far from your typical pig farmer. He has a BA from UNC, an MA from Columbia and an MBA from U. Chicago. He was a private consultant to the US Department of State, a writer on the technological potential of the Communist bloc countries in the 70’s-80’s and the president of his own consulting and brokerage business in DC. He left all of that behind in 1995 to become a freelance writer, lecturer and pig farmer.
John’s piggies live on a gorgeous swath of property complete with creek, ample mud bath space and more land than they care to explore. When they don’t feel like roaming the grounds they relax in the comfort of an 18^th century barn…club med for pigs as John says. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such happy creatures, especially as John gets in with them, gives them a good pat on the back and dumps their grub into the trough. Their clover and fescue diets are supplemented with a little cow feed and the scraps from the Inn at Little Washington—high class, indeed. Their teeth and tails are never clipped their noses don’t have rings and they are only given humane, hormone free meds when they’re sick. What a life! At this very moment, I don’t think I’d mind swapping places with them...

On top of all that, they taste DELICIOUS! John came by our office a few weeks ago to grill up some chorizo, sausage, bacon and chops and OH BOY was it good. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of pork and really don’t even eat much meat, but whoa, I’d eat that stuff every day if I could—much more flavorful and juicy than your typical pork, which is not something you necessarily expect from naturally raised meat.

Needless to say, I didn’t get back to Charlottesville until 8 pm but after experiencing the Hughes River, the late afternoon sun at the base of the mountains, happy pigs and the delightful company of John Kiser, son, dog, and peaceful doves, I didn’t mind in the slightest.

Crocuses and the taste of summer

Do you feel the sunshine hit your skin and instantly rush up through your blood into your heart causing one hard beat that ripples all the way up to your face turning the corners of your mouth up to meet the squinting corners of your eyes into that nearly forgotten sunshine smile? This was a long winter in Charlottesville…it made life heavy and thick--dreams of warm soup prevalent and a warm blanket the only reprieve. But here we are, midway through March (really?!), the crocuses are in full bloom, birds are singing into kitchen windows and the slow stroll of winter life is turning into a spring sprint.

Seems like these days all I have time for is a good ol’ five-minute peanut butter and jelly sandwich. While running into the house to let my dog out and gobble my rushed lunch, I saw all of my crocuses gently dancing in this unexpectedly chilly spring breeze and literally stopped in my tracks. I fixed my PBJ with my new favorite raspberry jam from Brightwood and got down on the ground to take a few minutes of peace with my summer sweet berry jam and my early spring purples, oranges and whites.

If you’ve never tried Susan Vidal’s jam from Brightwood, you need to. Until I tried it last week I would have probably gotten into a physical fight with anyone who tried to tell me that my grandmother’s jams and jellies weren’t the best in the whole world…but sorry Meem, you’re out. While sitting with my flowers, my dog and a sandwich full of pure, organic summer raspberries, I think I actually transported 3 months into the future when the berries are so ripe they look like they're about to explode and the very slightest brush with a red-stained finger makes them fall into my hand (which leads directly to my mouth...).

For 10 years Susan and Dean Vidal have been striving to be good stewards of the land on their 100-acre farm and vineyard in Madison County. Their diversified farm is home to chickens, goats, sheep, donkeys, certified organic berries, grapes and veggies all thriving in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Plus they recently renovated a cottage overlooking the Robinson River into an eco-friendly bed and breakfast get-away…delightful, really. I do believe I visited it in my summer daydreams.

Get outside, stretch that sunshine smile, taste a little summer, bond with your crocuses and enjoy the spring sprint!

MMMona Lisa

The Man.

The Machine.
The Ravioli.
MMMona Lisa ravioli. Thank you. YOU are DELICIOUS.

And, all you Mona Lisa ravioli makers, you are wonderful, too.
So many smiles, so much pasta made with love and care...
4-6 mins in boiling water...really?! Really.
Steamy.
Herbed Chevre Cream Sauce...a little herbed goat cheese, a little cream, a little flour, a little butter and salt and pepper to taste...
Yum. seriously. YUM.