With Friends Like These

With Friends Like These....

Good Morning!

Today we wanted to take a quick break from ranting and raving about local produce to talk about one of the things that matters to us most - our amazing team. We thought it might be fun to peel back the curtain and highlight one of the folks who lovingly packs your shares every Saturday while listening to "Mega Hits of the 90's" on Spotify. (Chumbawamba, anyone?)

Dave D'Amore has been with Family Dinner for 3 years this month. He started right as we were moving into Foundation Kitchen and were packing, wait for it....30 shares a week. Things were laughably inefficient back then; hand written order slips, white fabric bags, and a thousand other things that have since been left in the dust now that we pack over 600 shares a week.

Starting a business is harder than talking a dog off a meat truck, but it was really wonderful to have a friend like him at our side to do the hard work, make improvements and lovingly mock each other along the way. That last part is mission critical.

Dave likes to make fun of me for :

Wearing overalls when its 90 degrees
Always being late
Having absolutely zero understanding of pop culture
Telling terrible jokes

In turn I like to really roast him with zingers about:

Always being on time
Having the most beautiful, Pantene Pro-V approved curly hair (not pictured above)
Starting too many questions with "Did you see that one episode of the Family Guy....?"
Telling great jokes and being a wonderful friend

We asked Dave what he loves about Family Dinner and he said:

"It's always exciting to see what we're getting week to week as the seasons change. That is something that I've always appreciated about local farm shares, you're beholden to what is in season which I think is a great way to broaden my food options. Forces me to think a little differently about what I'm going to cook and how and it introduces me to new, often tasty things. At Family Dinner, I think we are very good at diversifying what's in the share while still being able to stick to local farms and vendors. I also think the FD crew is pretty swell, seeing them each week is certainly a highlight. Shenanigans always ensue. So many bad veggie puns. It's just wonderful."

Speaking of veggies we then quizzed him on what his favorite veggies are from the shares:

"I love all veggies equally! Especially if they are a little abnormally shaped, means they have extra personality and thus are more tasty. It's science, look it up. However, if I HAVE to choose a favorite vegetable, I'm gonna have to go with Lark Shortbread cookies. They are just so so so tasty."

(Cookies count as produce? That's the same kind of logic that had Reagan counting ketchup as a vegetable in the 80's but I'm all on board with it.)

We could go on forever about the crew and the great people in it. It's a delightfully fun group that works hard each week to bring you your shares and that puts a lot of love, care and the echos of bad jokes into each week.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering if I ever let Dave get the last laugh, here is a photo of him as a child destroying an ice cream while wearing the World's Greatest Hat:

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

Note: If you order a "Meat and Fish Share" you will just receive the meats listed, not the "dairy" items (eggs, yogurt etc). If you order a "Fish and Seafood Share" you will receive the fish listed, and not the dairy items

Add-on Grain of the Week - Pasta from Seven Hills

HALF SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Salmon from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Pescatarian Protein - Salmon from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Vegetarian Proteins - Veggie Burgers from Farmhouse Burger Co; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Paleo Proteins - Salmon from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Fruits and Veggies -Tatsoi from Drumlin; Mushroom from Mycoterra; Greens from Generation Farm and LEF; Apples from Kimball
Grain - Potato Rolls from A&J King
Special Treat - Cookies from A&J King

WHOLE SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Salmon from Red's Best; Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Sophia's
Pescatarian Protein - Salmon and Haddock from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Sophia's;
Vegetarian Proteins - Veggie Burgers from Farmhouse Burger Co; Empanadas from Buenas; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Sophia's
Paleo Proteins - Salmon from Red's Best; Chicken and Eggs from Feather Brook Farms
Fruits and Veggies -Tatsoi from Drumlin; Mushroom from Mycoterra; Greens from Generation Farm and LEF; Apples from Kimball; Radishes from Clark Farm; Swiss Chard from Atlas Farm
Grain - Potato Rolls from A&J King
Special Treat - Cookies and Muffins from A&J King

DOUBLE SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Salmon from Red's Best; Chicken, Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Sophia's; Sauce from Buenas; Sausage from Vermont Salumi
Pescatarian Protein - Salmon, Haddock, and Swordfish from Red's Best; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Sophia's; Sauce from Buenas
Vegetarian Proteins - Veggie Burgers from Farmhouse Burger Co; Empanadas from Buenas; Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Sophia's; Sauce from Buenas
Paleo Proteins - Salmon from Red's Best; Chicken, Eggs from Feather Brook Farms; Sausage from Vermont Salumi
Fruits and Veggies -Tatsoi from Drumlin; Mushroom from Mycoterra; Greens from Generation Farm and LEF; Apples from Kimball; Radishes from Clark Farm; Swiss Chard from Atlas Farm; Honey Nut Squash from Drumlin; Leeks from Brookford Farm
Grain - Potato Rolls from A&J King; Pasta from Seven Hills
Special Treat - Cookies and Muffins from A&J King

RECIPES

S almon and Mushrooms: Check your herb cabinet or harvest what's left in your herb pots!

C rispy Chicken and Roasted Radish : Use your greens and chicken portions to make this nom-ilicious dinner

Honey Nut Stuffed Squash: See what you have in your cabinets for grains and stuff the quite possibly cutest of all the squashes! (Note: Shannon wrote this. The use of the word "cute" plus the exclamation points are a dead give-away.)

Baked Apples: Your house will smell amazing.

Posted on September 25, 2020

Erin Baumgartner

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