The Small Things
Good Morning Friends,
Does anyone else feel like life is the opening scene of the Wizard of Oz? We're all being gobbled up by various tornados, waiting for a house to fall on us?
Maybe that's too fatalistic for a newsletter about local food but that's the feeling I get. That folks feel like everything is barreling by so damn fast it's hard to take a moment, pump the brakes and realize a flying house isn't actually coming your way.
House Warming at the Farm
Good morning!
Please meet Stacey and Alex, owners of Iron Ox Farm in Hamilton, MA. These wonderful and hard working folks just opened a farm stand on their property. This dream has been a long time coming and the doors have finally swung open! They have their own certified organic produce, fresh milk, cheese, butter and eggs and a variety of grass-fed and pasture raised meats! Oh, and all kinds of yummy local pantry items. If you're in this neck of the woods this weekend check them out and show some local love. They're open Wednesday - Friday 12-6 and Saturday/Sunday 10-4.
Getting spicy!
This week Joe and I packed a cooler with beers, seltzers and snacks and hit the road to visit some of our favorite farms and see what they are up to. (Hit the road with us some time! The snacks are good, the beers are great and the company is abjectly just ok.)
Along with some other stops, we hit up Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland, MA and got the royal tour of the 50-acre certified organic spread from Lilly Israel. Lilly took ownership of the farm in May 2023 with fellow longtime employee Max Traunstein. (Happy Farmaversary guys!)
Pierogi Party
Not to brag, but we're famous. Well technically our friends are famous so I'm gonna call it close enough. Our friends Vanessa and Casey, the founders and owners of Jaju Pierogi are going to be on Shark Tank tonight!
Check them out at 8pm Eastern on ABC as they swim (in the pierogi suit!) with the sharks.
Starting a small business is such a grind; on your time, your money and sometimes your sense of worth. The highs and lows can feel like whiplash. To see these women getting national attention for their years of grit and hard work fills our cold dead New England hearts with joy.
Seasonal Goodies
Good Morning,
Joe here, stepping in for Erin.
I'm a tad very enthused that we're FINALLY seeing some seasonal goodies coming around.
Foraged fiddleheads from. Sauté and see what the fuss is all about.
Chives from Langwater Farm. Ingredient and garnish wunderkind.
A spicy mix from Kitchen Garden Farm that is my go-to for most salads, especially the all time best salad: Niçoise.
A great read
In a torrent of tariffs and other malarkey from the administration, I was keen to understand the potential effects on the food system. From cuts to SNAP to deregulation to rising food prices - it ain't a pretty picture.
For a point of reference I turned, as I so often do to Mark Bittman, renowned chef, author and person I would cut off a pinkie to have a beer with. The Bittman Project is an oeuvre of excellence that covers a broad horizon of food related topics.
Sunday Supper
Good morning friends,
Easter is right around the corner and Joe put together a delightful little pop up in the store to celebrate. There are fan favorites such as bagels from Mamaleh's, pasture raised lamb from Clark Farm, and this stunning smoked brisket from the Rusty Can. The brisket is a dream, smoked for hours by Sully and his team before being chopped and taking a dip in his house made sweet and tangy BBQ sauce.
Maybe you're asking yourself: is it too early for this near pornographic close up of smoked meats? Absolutely not, and we will not be taking any further questions.
Some Fancy Taters
But first : BAGS! BAGS! BAGS!!
Hey friends, we sure are desperate to get our bags back. You may have noticed your shares coming in paper bags (sigh) over the past few weeks. We are not making any changes in our aim to be a zero waste company, we just don't have a ton of our bags to reuse. If you have 3 or 333 of them, please leave them out for your driver and let us get them back into rotation!
Newbie at the Keys
Hi friends!
I’m Brian! In addition to being one of the friendly folks on the other end of hello@sharefamilydinner.com (write in! I love hearing from you!), the fool that disappeared for 7 months to hike the Appalachian Trail (I still can’t believe they took me back), as well as one of our delivery drivers, I am capable of writing in complete sentences and Erin needed someone to do the newsletter this week, so here we are!
Nerding out with Clark Farm
Joe and I have been working with the incredible team at Clark Farm (above, check out the Fam Din gear on Andrew!) to do crop planning for the season.
If you like to nerd out about the resiliency of the local food system, follow me and read on! If you have an actual life and friends and things to do with your time, just skip to the Share contents and find out what glorious cookies A&J King have on offer this week (lemon rosewater, ooooooh!).
Puttin' on the Ritz
This week we have fresh haddock coming your way from Red's Best. Fish this fresh can stand into any dish your heart desires; maybe a fish curry or creamy chowder. Delicious as those are, I only have eyes for baked haddock and all of its buttery, crunchy splendor. Though the fish is divine, a sleeve of Ritz crackers is the real MVP.
You can be a good doobie and follow the recipe to the letter. Or you can be like me smash up far more Ritz into inordinate amounts of melted butter than the recipe calls for. It's a quick rewarding weekend dish.
Doctor's Orders
Despite the recent merciful bursts of sunshine, these have been some dreary days. Maybe you're feeling a bit run-down or a tad overwhelmed. Maybe we are all at that point in winter where we most resemble that small pile of snow that refuses to melt in the Target parking lot. We're a bit gritty, a bit grey but somehow still stubbornly resilient.
With my advanced medical degrees (all imaginary) I would like to offer a three point prescription. My wisdom tells me that we all need some elastic waist pants, Season 3 of White Lotus and homemade hamburger helper from the New York Times, pictured.