This Week's Food

Good Morning!

Our Easter page is live with some beautiful meats, new vegetarian entree (ciao, eggplant parm!) and baked goods for your holiday gatherings. Or just for you, 'cause you deserve it.

Hello!

Passover is almost among us and we have a few pop up items for your holiday table. Matzah Ball Soup from Mamaleh's, beautiful grass-fed brisket from Brookford Farm and Chocolate Dipped macaroons from Forge.

If you're ordering in conjunction with your subscription, please use the discount code ADD-ONS to waive the delivery fee for orders < $39.

Just a few little culinary stars to brighten up your holiday. Enjoy!

Erin and the Family Dinner team.

Sometimes when we pen the newsletter, we are bubbling with things we want to share with you. Positively effervescent with bits of news and things to share. Sometimes the culinary puns and not-so-witty witticisms run off the page faster than we can keep up.

And sometimes, like today, we find ourselves at a loss. Not exactly uninspired but creeping toward that general vicinity.

We purchased a whole cow from Gabe and Molly at Cold Spring Ranch. These folks are diligently, lovingly, painstakingly raising animals the right way in New Portland, Maine.  The cows are 100% grass fed and roam freely on the beautiful property. Check out their IG and get ready to fall in love.

The 15th annual Maine Restaurant Week, of which we are proud spronsors, is happening now!

It's wild that 15 years ago, our bud (and wonderful customer) Gillian Britt and her husband, Jim, had a hunch that something like this would be a great way for restaurants from around the state to get some more butts in seats at the slooooowest time of year.

Meet Jen and Tucker, two of the amazing folks behind Forge Baking Co, Bloc and Diesel cafes in Somerville. Forge brings a constant string of delights into the Family Dinner shares including the hearty soup of the week, the pillowy perfection of focaccia and the transcendent chocolate brownies. (Is it overkill to call a confection transcendent? In this particular case, assuredly no.)

Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda was famous for his odes to simple things. His romantic reverence for tomatoes and one to his socks come to mind. Clearly a comfort foodie at heart, I find it somewhat astonishing to not find, in his canon of work, an ode to beef short ribs.

Maybe you're spending this unseasonably warm weekend outdoors, or simply traversing the couch for more snacks. Either way, we hope you're getting some time to kick back, relax and nosh on some good food.

It's going to be a wildly unpleasant tundra tomorrow. Please forgive your drivers and us if it take a wee bit longer to de-icicle ourselves in transit. If you see them, please give them a wave or a high five. This is a labor of arctic love.

Four years ago on January 26th, 2019 we were lucky enough to step on the TEDx Natick stage and share the story of Family Dinner. We talked about the need to shorten and strengthen the local food supply chain, to use data and technology to support the incredibly important work of small local farmers.

It was very slightly thrilling but mostly terrifying. It's a small miracle no one barfed on their shoes.

There is something about this weather that changes the foods our body craves. It's as if with every inch of snow that falls the drum beat of our Circadian rhythm calls ever louder, and with greater urgency, for pasta.

One of those magical places was Pine Ridge Acres in Cumberland, Maine.  Pine Ridge, run by Evan Putnam and his team, is nestled in rolling, verdant hills with cows lazily dotting the horizon. It's the physical manifestation of what your mind pulls up when it hears the word "farm". Simply idyllic.

As firm believer that coffee is the adhesive that holds the universe and our collective good will together, I am forever grateful to the folks at Tandem for their incredible work. 

Portland based Tandem Coffee Roasters was started by Kathleen and Will Pratt in 2012. Tandem offers a rotating list of single-origin coffees and seasonal blends. In 2014 they opened their second location in Portland's West End, Tandem Bakery and Cafe. Along with serving their fresh roasted beans they put a spot light on incredible baked goods. Sticky buns with the optimal level of perfect ooey-gooeyness and a biscuit breakfast sandwich whose subtle alchemy eludes accurate description. (It's insanely good.)