This Week's Food

Blame it on the grain...

This summer we highlighted some bulgar grains from Koy Pantry for our vegetarian shares. With the chill in the air we wanted to share the grainy love with the rest of the Fam so we are featuring it as the Grain in all shares.

(Elderly that we are we also couldn't help but sneak in a reference to Milli Vanilli's absolute non-banger "Blame It on the Rain" from the late eighties in the title. If you have absolutely nothing to do with your life, may I suggest a trip down memory lane via the above link? For anyone under the age of 40, please forgive us.1989 was a strange time. George Bush's dad, George Bush, was President, televisions had yet to be invented and the average life expectancy was 38.)

Posted on October 18, 2024

Joe Grotto

A spaghetti by any other name...

Before we gab about spaghetti and the medicinal healing powers of melted butter, can we remind you to take a look at the Thanksgiving Turkey page?

All birds will arrive frozen from Misty Knoll farm and deadline to order is Mon., Nov. 11 but quantities are limited so maybe don't procrastinate too much. And we'll have plenty of other Thanksgiving goodies to choose from in the coming weeks!

All Thanksgiving items will be delivered on Saturday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 26.

Now, onto the squash. We have spaghetti squash in all shares this week from our friends at Red Fire Farm. In this girl's humble opinion spaghetti squash are one of the darlings of the Fall harvest. The flesh of these guys is hard when raw but when cooked starts to pell away from itself in long ribbons, creating beautiful spaghetti like strands. Some folks say its even better than pasta. More on that baldfaced blasphemy later.

Posted on October 11, 2024

Joe Grotto

Incontrovertible Proof That Fall is Here?

Good Chilly October Morning friends!

This week the Topsfield fair kicks off to the delight of thousands of fairgoers and the general grumblings of grumpy locals such as yours truly. If giant pumpkins, fried butter on a stick and twirling rides that will push the limits of your intestinal fortitude aren't your thing, may I suggest some farm events?

Our friends at Iron Ox Farm in Hamilton, MA are hosting a pop up market; pottery, plants, pizza and snacks on the front lawn of their beautiful farm.

Next weekend Brookford Farm is hosting their Pumpkins and Puppets event. Pack the kids into your sensible Subaru and head north for some wholesome farm fun.

Posted on October 04, 2024

Joe Grotto

When the moon hits your eye...

Good morning,

It's pizza week here at Family Dinner which has a singing the ole Dean Martin chestnut "That's Amore" (yes, we are very, very old). I feel like everyone knows the first line, "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amorrrreeee".

But the latter verse, which is just as bizarrely iconic, is lesser known:

"When the stars make you drool
Just like a pasta e fasule, that's amore"

Posted on September 27, 2024

Joe Grotto

We're Hiring!

Hi Family Dinner Diners,

It’s no secret that we love our team. They’re a dedicated crew of smart and funny folks that not only help us to keep the wheels on this bus but also make it a pretty dang delightful bus to be on.

But we need more help! So we’re writing to all of you, our lovely customers, for help:

Are you or someone you know interested in helping us get delicious local goodies to our wonderful customers throughout the metro-Boston area? We’d love to hear from you/them. And we’ve got a deal sweetener: if you refer someone who pulls a shift, we’ll send you a $25 gift card.

Posted on September 20, 2024

Joe Grotto

Shoutout to a teammate

Team Shout Out!

One of our own, Maggie Hook, is running the NYC Marathon in November to raise money for Rising New York Road Runners - a free running-based youth program designed to make physical activity enjoyable and accessible for kids nationwide.

Maggie has been with us since High School (used to deliver in her Masconomet High School basketball warm ups) and her family rocks a Pescatarian Half share every week. Super fans!

Posted on September 13, 2024

Joe Grotto

Hoodies and tomatoes!

That's right folks. Somehow it's hoodie season and tomato season at the very same time. That liminal space in the calendar between sundresses and fleece onesies with feet.

You've sent your children, precious little goblins that they are, mercifully back to school. You swell with pride to see them on the bus and sing psalms of relief as their ferocious little faces ride off into the distance, into the capable caring arms of teachers who are certainly not paid enough.

Posted on September 06, 2024

Joe Grotto

Where's the Beef

Boy oh boy, we're unleashing some beefiness this morning...

We've been buying whole, grass fed cows from our buds Gabe and Molly, owners/operators of Cold Spring Ranch in New Portland, Maine for a couple of years now. And a fresh one just came in last week so we're adding some amazing steaks back to the store.

Just in time for your Labor Day cookout, we've got a fresh batch of filet mignon and New York strip steaks alongside the ribeyes and porterhouses. And we've got a couple whopper New York sirloin steaks. Oh... and Gabe came up out west and has been training his butcher in the art of cutting Santa Maria-style tri-tip so here's your chance to get the real deal. Not familiar? Check this magic out. All are priced to move.

Posted on August 30, 2024

Joe Grotto

Prune Plum fairies

Good Morning!

I fully intended to write a serious newsletter profiling the prune plums that are in this week's share from our friends at Kimball Fruit Farm.

Upon further reflection it makes more sense to focus on Professor Plum, my favorite character from the 1985 cult classic "Clue". If you have not seen this absolute gem of a cinematic opus, may I suggest you lock yourself inside like a Hobbit on this beautiful day and catch the hell on up? Like the childhood game the film chronicles 6 strangers invited to a dinner party that turns murderous in a creepy New England mansion (redundant.)

Posted on August 23, 2024

Joe Grotto

A new holiday

Good morning friends,

Today we decided to write the newsletter about our own Joe Grotto, Family Dinner GM extraordinaire. There's no particular cause for writing about Joe today, other than we took a hike yesterday and my tiny squirrel brain can only think so far back at 6am on a Friday. So, we're making up a reason. August 16th shall henceforth be known as Joe Grotto Day, JGD if you're into the whole brevity thing.

Posted on August 16, 2024

Joe Grotto

Keep it Simple, Silly 😘

We love the simplicity of a perfect ingredient and summer is a wonderful showcase of that.

Corn that can be enjoyed with just a touch of butter, berries you can pop into your mouth like candy and of course, the belle of the ball, the ripest of tomatoes.

Posted on August 09, 2024

Joe Grotto

New Items!

Good Morning Friends,

We are always snooping around for new items to put into the store for you. We want the shopping experience with Fam Din to be exciting and new, and we're aiming to meet more and more of your grocery needs everyday.

Now, we're not going all willy nilly; the Family Dinner store isn't going to end up looking like the checkout line at TJ Maxx with rows of random uselessness. (Does anyone need a dog themed cold brew cup that reads "Live, Laugh, Pug"? Like, really need?)

Posted on August 02, 2024

Joe Grotto

Beach Reads

Hello Family Dinner Diners,

Geez... what dreamy weather we're looking at this weekend. Pretty dang perfect for laying around outside with a good book. We've got some recos.

First up, a repost from this time last year of an amazing book Erin got her mitts on:

Posted on July 26, 2024

Joe Grotto