And the best cupcakerie in Charlottesville is…

The Occasion

Cheenius had a birthday, and her birthday wish was to eat ALL the cupcakes. So, she and Mr. Cheenius hosted a cupcake tasting featuring cupcakes from four Charlottesville bakeries. Below, I present the science of the great experiment.

cupcakes

The Contenders

(Descriptions from the bakeries’ websites)

Sweethaus: All of our cupcakes and frostings are small-batch, homemade treats and they come in 2 sizes, mini and regular.

Pearl’s: Our products are perfect for any celebration, offering nostalgic classics and retro creations combined for flawless presentations.

Cappellino’s Crazy Cakes: Featuring over 20 flavors of cupcakes that are as delicious as they are beautiful, Cappellino’s is quickly becoming known as Charlottesville’s premiere cupcake bakery.

Charlottesville Cupcake: Farm fresh eggs, organic ingredients, and the best chocolate and vanilla obtainable will always be our preferred choices. (Available by pre-order only)

cupcake tasting

The Method

Mr. Cheenius ordered basic chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting from each of the bakeries, and cleverly asked for no decorations, such as edible glitter, that might give away the origin of the cakes. He also went to great pains to cut the cupcakes into uniform slices, masking another clue: some bakeries are known for smaller or larger cakes.

The testers were instructed to sample a slice from each new platter and rate them on the following attributes: appearance, aroma, texture, frosting taste, and cake taste. We were able to try any of the cakes again after we completed the rotation of the four to minimize positional bias, and were encouraged to cleanse our palates with milk and/or pretzels between cakes.

cupcake tasting

The Results

Our initial glee at the bonanza awaiting us quickly gave way to sugar jitters and groans of indigestion. Hearts racing, we waded through the tasting and bravely soldiered on to demolish many of the unique flavors, such as red velvet, pistachio, lemon, and Oreo, from each bakery that Mr. Cheenius presented upon completion of the tasting, to keep us occupied while he tallied the results.

cupcakes

The unanimous winner was Pearl’s, although the pistachio cupcake from Sweethaus may have been the overall favorite. We’ll have to do a separate experiment to rate the non-standard flavors.

The sugar overload made us a little batty…

cupcake icing on toilet

Yes, that is glittery icing from an Oreo cupcake. The amount of sugar consumed in a cupcake tasting is not for amateurs. Don’t try this at home, kids! Or do, and invite me.

Pescatarian no more.

I voluntarily ate half a piece of this for dinner last night:
chicken - before

(after it was cooked)

I’ve been mulling it over for a while now: perhaps if I got more protein I’d see improvements athletically and in my daily energy levels. I am loath to add to the million eggs I eat per week, and for whatever reason I don’t cook fish very often. Experimenting with chicken seemed logical, if I could get past my meat-related issues.

Saturday morning at the City Market we stopped at the Tall Cotton Farm table, our attention caught by their heritage Thanksgiving turkey advertising (is it really October already??), and left with some pastured chicken breasts for the Grand Chicken Experiment.

chicken - after

It had been about ten years since I ate chicken. Since becoming a pescatarian, my thoughts on the ethics of eating meat have evolved to the point where I have no theoretical problems with the consumption of happy (humanely treated, pasture raised, drug free), local (the farmer is accountable to the customer, and the environmental impact is small) meat. But chicken was (oddly?) the first to go when I initially quit meat, and my memories of its taste and texture have not mellowed over time, so I was nervous.

To go with the chicken, I made a hearty rainy day soup based on a Curried Butternut and Red Lentil Soup recipe, adding a ripped up bunch of Red Russian Kale leaves (locally grown, purchased at Feast) and leaving the skin on the butternut.

butternut lentil soup

Coincidentally, I had just read about Red Russian Kale in this review of the Crazy for Kale cookbook when I was browsing the produce at Feast, so I HAD to add it to my soup, and it was a great addition. Even Mr HP, who usually doesn’t appreciate it when I go off-recipe, raved about the soup.

How was the chicken, you ask? It was… ok. The taste was nice (and not how I remembered it at all!), but the chewier-than-fish consistency will take some re-getting used to. I’ll keep at it. Energy and strength gains TBD.

Local food, lovely lodging in Salem, MA

On a recent trip to Salem, MA to visit family, I was fortunate to stumble upon Scratch Kitchen in my quest to escape (what I assumed would be) crappy, uninspired food in the touristy downtown area. Scratch Kitchen

…is a quality driven restaurant with a focus on regional and local farm fresh ingredients. We feature house smoked meats & homemade bacon, breads, condiments and pickles.

We believe in helping our regional and local producers in showcasing their efforts to the best of our abilities in creating dishes that let their hard work stand forward. We also offer a fine selection of craft beers and wine.

The weather was perfect for sitting at one of the small outdoor tables, but the never-ending procession of roaring, souped-up motorcycles on the adjacent road (is this a thing in Salem??) drove us indoors.

Scratch Kitchen dining room

We enjoyed our brunch dishes: a little basket of cornbread that was so good we ate it all before I could take a picture; squash and red pepper quiche; and a big, bacony breakfast sandwich with potatoes. One warning: Scratch Kitchen doesn’t have a full liquor license, so they make their Bloody Marys with sake. Mr. HP, an optimistic sake disliker, nervously tried one sip of his and immediately exchanged it for a mimosa.

Scratch Kitchen brunch

Scratch Kitchen proudly displays the long list of local farmers and vendors they source their ingredients and products from–including eggs, meat, dairy, produce, beer, and wine–and seasonal produce they are featuring. They also make their own bread in-house and it is delicious.

Scratch Kitchen local food list

While in Salem we stayed, via Airbnb, at the House of Four Gables. The guest lodging is a basement apartment with a comfortable bed, a full kitchen and bathroom, and a backyard to die for.

House of Four Gables

Dale was a gracious host, answering all our questions on Salem activities and beaches. The price and value of this rental absolutely cannot be beat. From their Facebook page:

Enjoy amazing views from this charming lower level 2 room apartment in an 1885 Victorian Home. Located in Salem Willows, a mile from downtown Salem, it offers a fully equipped kitchen with granite countertops, stove, refrigerator and microwave, a recently renovated bath and large bedroom with queen sized bed. TV, internet and cable are also included.

If you are looking for lodging in Salem, I highly recommend contacting Dale on Airbnb.

Cheers!

Raleigh Farmers Market

Today we have a guest post from Nadia Cempré! Thanks, Nadia!

I have been dying to find an opening in my insane life to visit my sister Lamya in Raleigh–and this weekend when I finally made it happen, I could hardly sleep thinking about it for three very clear reasons:

  • I couldn’t wait to see my sister’s new condo.
  • I couldn’t wait to try out a Middle Eastern restaurant she’d been promising to take us to for good ol’ home-cooking.
  • The promise of the Raleigh Farmers Market in Summer time!

This last one is something I have been excited about for no less than 7 or 8 years, dating back to when my interest in the local food movement was first sparked. I distinctly remember watching the Travel Channel as they counted down the top 20 places for singles in their late 20s to meet others – and lo and behold in the top spot they name… the Raleigh Farmers Market.

I go to the Charlottesville City Farmers Market just about every Saturday morning during the season–it is my absolute favorite thing to do after my long marathon training runs, and the open and close of the Farmers Market season demarcate the start and end of a significant chapter in my life annually. I come alive when it’s announced in April, and retreat into a period of melancholy and reflection when it converts to a Holiday Market in November.

So you can imagine my surprise, as we took our time getting ready yesterday morning that the Raleigh Farmers Market is open year round, all day long, seven days a week!

Raleigh Farmers Market

The local food movement took its time inching its way out East from the West coast of the United States– but as it did, North Carolina and its Research Triangle area became leaders in the endeavor. Proximity to the heart of Southern farmland, combined with research, education, and support from the three surrounding universities conspired to produce a community hungry to support their families with local and responsible meats and produce.

The market is sponsored and supported by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, so it is very much a state-funded endeavor, and the state also sponsors a North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council:

It is the purpose of the North Carolina Sustainable Local Food Advisory Council to contribute to building a local food economy, thereby benefiting North Carolina by creating jobs, stimulating statewide economic development, circulating money from local food sales within local communities, preserving open space, decreasing the use of fossil fuel and thus reducing carbon emissions, preserving and protecting the natural environment, increasing consumer access to fresh and nutritious foods, and providing greater food security for all North Carolinians.

For the past few years, the Charlottesville City Government has struggled with decisions regarding finding a permanent space for our quaint group of vendors and farmers. The Raleigh Farmers Market venue is the dream of every vendor–and every mom with a stroller in the middle of August. When we arrived we walked into one of the two massive permanent shelters that had constant fans blowing in every direction, and a permanent roof protecting from what can be a sweltering North Carolina sun.

As a matter of fact, they had Big Ass Fans.

Big Ass Fans

Right away, it was clear that this, just like in Virginia, was the month of the peach! They were everywhere! Plump, and beckoning, and promising of sweetness. The vendors were practically begging us to try samples, and even though we could hardly breathe from the local brunch offerings we’d just had, we couldn’t resist the peach slices.

Peaches

Speaking of my brunch, I have been pleasantly surprised by all the local, responsibly-raised offerings in restaurants and have had no trouble finding poultry and meat options in Raleigh I can feel happy about. Here was the brunch I speak of, consisting of local eggs on Carolina crab cakes with seasonal fruit salad:

Raleigh Brunch

My youngest sister Mona had grand plans to make her famous Eggplant Lasagna for Lamya so the main purpose of the visit was to purchase the freshest ingredients for that. Eggplants were everywhere, and debates regarding the right size, color, and variety were intense.

Raleigh Eggplants

In the end however, fresh and local garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, and basil were all successfully agreed upon and taken home for the lasagna. The tomatoes were glorious and it was all I could do to stop myself from grabbing a pint of the cherry ones and munching right there and then!

raleigh-tomatoes

The market was set up in an impressively organized fashion, and I quickly learned that produce was designated to either the right or the left of the shelter. One side was for vendors exclusively selling self-grown and farmed produce and plants. The other side was designated for items that might be re-sale. Everything under that first roof had to be North Carolina-produced. Interestingly, they didn’t define ‘local’ by radius, but rather by state. The rules meant that if it came from 4 hours away in North Carolina, you could sell it. However, if it came from 3 hours away in Virginia you could not. That was a designation of ‘local’ I hadn’t heard before but it made complete sense since the entire thing was an endeavor of the state.

The variety was staggering! Having done a fair amount of travelling I thought I had pretty much come across anything we can grow in America, but I found a delectable item called a canary melon that I had never seen before! It was delicious!

Canary melons Canary melon

The shelter was divided into three sections: produce, prepared and baked foods, and garden. Next on our agenda was to purchase three new indoor potted plants for my sister’s condo. I have never had a green thumb, and never been one to care about flowers, but it was hard not to get mushy at all the beautiful and unique floral and plant arrangements.

These plants in particular caught my eye; their bright purple veins appealed to the biologist in me, and my sister took home a darker variety.

Raleigh plants

Raleigh plants

Three plants later, we made our way to the most dangerous area, the prepared and baked goods section. Good thing we were so full already! I was able to control myself when it came to my weakness: fresh baked salt pretzels! But Lamya didn’t win her battle and walked away with a gorgeous loaf of ciabatta (for garlic bread with the lasagna!)

Raleigh pretzels

I learned that the huge sheltered building next door was a further expansion of this market. That building was where farmers from all over the country could share their goods. It was not limited to North Carolina produce, and there you could find Florida oranges, and Virginia eggs! Truly a one-stop-shop experience!

My favorite part of the Raleigh Farmers Market were all the little helpful signs that seemed to be a trend amongst vendors. Everywhere you looked, there were notes telling you how to cook, tend, water, and care for the various offerings.

Raleigh market signs

Raleigh market signs

The vendors were cheerful, friendly, and happy to be there, and the sense of safety and community abounded. I can’t wait to come visit again, and this time I’m bringing massive coolers so I can take things home to Virginia!

Locavore surprises in Saxapahaw, NC

On a recent visit to Burlington, NC, home of the world’s cutest nephew, HP was happily surprised to find a locavore haven in nearby Saxapahaw. The Saxapahaw General Store carries local and organic produce and groceries, local beverages and baked goods, and serves up a pretty extensive menu of breakfast, sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and more using local ingredients. We had a tasty lunch of sandwiches and salads and picked up a few heirloom tomatoes for tomato sandwiches for breakfast the next day. [Brookville Restaurant in Charlottesville is the master: toasted white bread, Duke’s mayo, and sliced fresh, local, heirloom tomatoes. So simple, so unbelievably good.]

Saxapahaw General Store

The Saxapahaw General Store has a mission I am happy to support:

They decided to become stewards of local foods, good wine and beer, nutritious snacks, and eco-conscious dry goods.

We stopped by sister pub The Eddy for a post-lunch local beer. The Eddy’s interior of brick, wood, and antiques harkens back to the building’s former life as a mill. I didn’t realize how impressively environmental the refurbishment of the space was until reading their website:

To honor the space outside the mill, we have equipped the whole building with geothermal wells for heating and cooling  of the spaces.  The kitchen’s water is heated with solar electricity, and much of its daytime lighting comes in naturally from a clerestory constructed in the center portion of its roof.  A series of ramps and stairs allows full access to the spaces without the use of an elevator.  New double paned windows in the fashion of the original windows add efficiency of heating and cooling.

The Eddy serves local, seasonal pub food, maintains a busy live music schedule, and has a lovely patio and event spaces.

If you should happen to find yourself near Saxapahaw, you should check out these two locavore havens. Cheers!

A Day of Cheese-making at Caromont

Guest post from Cheenius! Thanks, Cheenius!

At last!  Cheenius‘ dream has come true:  She was able to spend a whole day (with spouse even!) at Caromont Farm, learning about cheese-making, complete with hands-on experience!  Here was the itinerary:

7:00 AM  Help milk goats
8:00 AM  Feed baby goats and visit rams in the pasture with Stuart, Intern
9:30 AM  Make cheese with Bridge, Cheese Maker
4:00 PM  Cheese tasting with Gail, Owner

baby goat feeding

Feeding the baby goats

The goats seemed to have a great life — lots of sun and pasture, and shelter from the rain (which they really don’t like).  They get their high-protein grain when they come to milk, so jostle each other to move up in line.  Of course, the baby goats were the highlight of the morning!

Milking the goats

Milking the mama goats

The milking process seems pain-free, and the goats aren’t given any weird chemicals or forced lighting to increase production.

Vat of curds and whey

A vat of curds and whey

Once we were properly suited up for the cheese-making area we made chevre and feta, and helped with some other cheese-based tasks.  The workspace is small but efficient, with cheeses waiting to be salted and turned, cheeses still in liquid form needing stirring, and cheeses ready to be “caved” (put in a refrigerator specially engineered for the proper cold and humidity).  Bridge patiently taught us all about proteins, fats, flocculation, whey, and resting times.  Turns out successful cheese-making means knowing a lot of biology and chemistry, as well as understanding the craftsmanship side of the product.  It’s also a lot of cleaning!  They’re very careful about who and what goes into the cheese-making area, and recognize the importance of cleanliness in every aspect of production.

caromont cheese tasting

An educational cheese tasting

Afterwards, Gail taught us how to properly taste cheese and some of the finer points of the craft, and then sent us home with some of Caromont’s first rate cheeses.  We left full, happy, and newly appreciative of the art of cheese-making.  Cheenius may try to make some feta or chevre at home, but is humble enough to admit that some things are best left to the experts . . .

Lucky egg

Now that Spring has sprung, I’m back to buying eggs from the vendors at the Charlottesville City Market rather than from the good folks at Market Street Market.

Liberty Farm eggs, Bentonville, VA

Saturday’s purchase was from Liberty Farm and included an unusually large egg. Sure enough, when I cracked it open–

double-yolk egg

two yolks! It was (they were?) delicious. But why do double-yolk eggs occur? They’re usually produced by young hens with immature reproductive systems that release two yolks at once. Less often, stress could make an older hen could pop out a double-yolker. Double-yolking can be hereditary.

For a household of only two humans, we go through A LOT of eggs, but this was my first double-yolk experience. In fact, double-yolk eggs are quite rare: apparently, the probability of getting a two-yolk egg is 1/1000, but I couldn’t find an explanation of that number and what it takes into account. One would think the relative probability of finding a double-yolker in a carton of local, small-farm eggs would be much higher than finding one in a carton of graded commercial eggs, because the USDA grading and sorting process typically excludes these abnormal eggs.

I read that finding a double-yolk egg is good luck. Seems it’s also good luck for the chicken, as the layer of your lucky egg is more likely to be a local, small-farm hen, and good luck for the farmer who sold you the lucky egg and pockets your cash. Everybody wins when you buy local eggs!

If you’re interested in other wacky eggs, check out http://www.poultryhelp.com/oddeggs.html.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_yolk#Double-yolk_eggs
http://www.wilcoxfarms.com/news/how-common-are-eggs-with-double-yolks/
http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/2011/04/13/what-causes-double-yolks/
http://www.eggsafety.org/consumers/consumer-faqs
http://keep-hens-raise-chickens.com/eggs/double-egg-yolks
http://curbstonevalley.com/blog/?p=3612

Fruit Grafting and Propagation Class

Guest post from Cheenius; also posted on the Transition Charlottesville blog.

You have to love a class where one of the first questions the instructor poses is: “Does anyone here faint at the sight of their own blood?” Good stuff. Luckily, Cheenius is known for being fearless and intrepid.

About a dozen current and wannabe orchardists met for a one day workshop led by Alexis Zeigler of Living Energy Farm. Alexis has hundreds of fruit trees at various properties, and this self-taught expert provided a wealth of information as well as hands-on experience. He pointed out that we have all been duped by a culture of deception when it comes to fruit, thinking that the shiny apples and plump peaches of the grocery store are desirable. In reality, those fruits have been sprayed with fungicides and pesticides up to 14 times during their growth. Meanwhile, because industrial farming only serves up a relatively small number of fruits varieties, we don’t realize that fruits like the paw paw, persimmon, and muscadine are much better suited for the mid-Atlantic and are incredibly disease and insect resistance. In some cases, these little-known fruits also offer more vitamins and even protein than we get from the ubiquitous red delicious apple. I was definitely inspired to think about my fruit tree choices in a completely different way.

Alexis Zeigler

After learning the characteristics and hardiness of some of the main fruit and nut tree families, we moved on to propagation. We covered seed and root cuttings, and then spent the rest of our time learning to graft. Turns out, once you know which parts to line up, it wasn’t that hard, but it was invaluable to have Alexis there — definitely not the kind of thing you can learn from a book. Along with knowledge, we all left with some actual grafts that we should be able to plant in 4-8 weeks. What did I end up with? Pretty excited about some blight resistant pears, hardy almonds, and some paw paw seeds that I’ve already put into pots. Planning to add kiwi and persimmon to my yard as soon as I can figure out a good location. Great class!

Grafted Plants

Thanks, Cheenius! Can’t wait to hear how your new plants turn out!

Veal.

Over the holidays, the HP family spent time in West Virginia, and ate dinner at the lovely Panorama at the Peak. The view was gorgeous, the restaurant was homey, the menu emphasized local food, and the dishes were tasty. I recommend a visit if you are in Berkeley Springs. Mr HP and I were discussing the menu when the manager (I believe) passed and overheard “veal”; apparently she could tell how we feel about veal, because she offered up this nugget of reality:

If you want milk you have to have babies, and some of them are gonna be boys.

Discuss.

Week 3 in Halifax

Day 8, Tuesday

Dreary morning at Paper Chase working, staring out the window, working, and anticipating a lunch meeting at Wooden Monkey. In case you forgot, it is “…where the menu is based on organic, macrobiotic, and locally grown fresh ingredients,” and it’s delicious. Just around the corner from the Monkey is a new patisserie, Le French Fix. The buttery aroma that hits you when you walk in is overpowering, and coerced us to order a [tiny] pastry we weren’t planning on. Le French Fix Patisserie

Delicious. Not really a sit-down-and-hang-out kinda place, though.

Day 9, Wednesday, Halloween

Branching out! Tried Second Cup on Spring Garden for morning coffee. I’d been admiring its window seats as people-watching perches, and the coffee and internet were perfectly adequate. My view (yes, that’s a Starbucks in the background):

Second Cup Coffee

I was nervous after reading a review about the questionable bathroom odors, but fortunately did not have the same experience as that poor soul. It poured all morning with no signs of stopping, so I postponed plans for a food adventure, and instead got a salad and some groceries from Pete’s and trekked home in the rain.

Rainy Halifax

I had two Halloween goals: 1) go out after dinner and do some people-watching; and 2) drink a Propeller Pumpkin Ale. Pumpkin beers are hit or miss for me, and more often miss than hit, but tis the season–and the Propeller brewery is just down the street in Halifax. It took 3 stops to find the elusive ale, and was it worth the anticipation and happy-discovery dance? ……….eh. Didn’t really dig it. It tasted like a hoppy-ish ale with some pumpkin pie spice mixed in. No real pumpkin flavor, just the spices to represent the pumpkin.

Propeller Pumpkin Ale

Day 10, Thursday

What did you do this morning before breakfast? Oh, yeah, well I just went surfing. No big deal. !!! Before coming here, I would not have guessed Halifax had a surf culture, but then I saw the surf shops, and heard tales of year-round surfing made possible by thick neoprene. This morning I had the opportunity to check out the blue crush at the point break at Cow Bay, a popular spot a short drive from Halifax. It was a great time, and thanks to the hooded wetsuit, gloves, and boots, I wasn’t cold at all.

Coffee time at Just Us! on Spring Garden. Much cooler setting than Barrington, in a historic house with lots of small tables scattered around. I had another Bliss Ball for a snack. This one was more honey-y than the last, less bitter. Yum.

Just Us Coffee Spring Garden

Fancy dinner at Chives! So, so good, but kinda heavy food, and lots of it = we were hurting after. Starting with those amazing biscuits, we ate our way through all sorts of local, seasonal vegetables, meat, and seafood. My top two favorite bites were actually 1) sauteed local greens, and 2) a local pickled yellow beet. Chives has won many awards for its creative, responsible cuisine, and glowing reviews are all over the internets.

Day 11, Friday

Heading home to Charlottesville! Can’t wait to get home.