This Week's Food

I am the only one who gets in cooking ruts? We have access to the most beautiful, fresh,  local food yet in my abject laziness I will still return to the same things: everything is a taco, anything can be a pizza.

We all need some inspiration to pull us out of the depths our Everything is a Taco Hell. For that, I turn to Chef Dan Souza.  He's the Editor in Chief for Cook's Illustrated and a friend. If you're wondering if it is exhausting to have such beautiful and talented friends, yes. Yes, it is. It's the worst.

We went to visit him last week at America's Test Kitchen, to tour the space and learn about what he's been up to. ATK is pure nirvana for anyone who cares about food. A library with thousands of cookbooks, room after room of beautiful equipment and perfectly organized pantries. ( I actually have not left ATK yet. I'm penning this email from the cookbook room, and hope to be protected by the Squatter's Rights Act in the State of Massachusetts.)

Dan has a great channel on YouTube called "What's Eating Dan". They're short, smart takes on simple food topics that are informative and approachable.  Everything from egg yolks to cauliflower.  Check it out to improve your kitchen savoir faire and fall in love with things you never thought were in your wheelhouse.

Enjoy the weekend folks!

Erin + Tim

News Flash!

There are two new products on our a la carte offering! Delicious almond milk from Nectar and Green;  and Chickens from Tad at Feather Brook Farms! You can still get your coffee fix from the folks at Tandem as well as all the other add ons. Keep your eyes peeled for more news in the a la carte aisle!!

The Good Stuff:

So many of our members share their incredible creations with us week-to-week on social media, text messages or email.  We love seeing what you do with the goodies we carefully curate for you every week. Most of the time it makes just hungry and jealous.... but we love it.

Some folks have asked about more food resources and recipe ideas- so we want to share resources as they come across our desk/table.

It's exciting to learn that some of our members are food nerds themselves and it gives us great pride to share their work with you, to help create a community around great local food; how to source it, how to cook it and how to love it. 

News Flash!

There are two new products on our a la carte offering! Delicious almond milk from Nectar and Green;  and Chickens from Tad at Feather Brook Farms! You can still get your coffee fix from the folks at Tandem as well as all the other add ons. Keep your eyes peeled for more news in the a la carte aisle!!

The Good Stuff:

So many of our members share their incredible creations with us week-to-week on social media, text messages or email.  We love seeing what you do with the goodies we carefully curate for you every week. Most of the time it makes just hungry and jealous.... but we love it.

Some folks have asked about more food resources and recipe ideas- so we want to share resources as they come across our desk/table.

It's exciting to learn that some of our members are food nerds themselves and it gives us great pride to share their work with you, to help create a community around great local food; how to source it, how to cook it and how to love it. 

This weekend we are honored to be involved in the Let's Talk About Food event at Harvard University.

This all-day, FREE event features local chefs, food entrepreneurs and experts. There are presentations, demonstration and plenty of fun things to do. 

The mission of the event sounds exactly like ours at Family Dinner:

"We start at the beginning of where and who grows our food, who brings it from the oceans, coaxes it from the soil, who works with our food in industrial kitchens and labs, in large greenhouses and in small craft cellars, etc.

We care about the supply chain of how food gets from here to there, and how much of it gets left behind. We care about food waste, we care about food insecurity and justice. We care about how many miles food travels to get to us. We care about humanity."

That sounds so much like the working goals of Family Dinner, just more eloquent. (Which leads me to wonder: is plagiarism actually illegal? Could I just borrow their text?)

So come on down, and pahk your Prius in Hahvahd Yahd.

We go on at 1pm at the "Endless Table" - we would love to see you there!

Erin + Tim

One of our amazing teammates at Family Dinner, Olivia (professional glassblower, teller of horrible makes and maker excellent Spotify playlists) came to us once and asked if we had ever had the goodies from Quebrada Baking Co in Arlington (and Belmont! And Wellesley!). I hadn't and next thing I knew Olivia brought us an assorted box of cookies, rolls, and croissants to try- thinking it would be a great fit for Family Dinner.

To ensure a well-run experiment; I did what any data obsessed foodie would do and I ATE THEM ALL.

To be honest, I did what I used to as a child with boxes of Chocolates and I ate the best bites of each one and put them rest back in the box for Tim. (I'm an Only Child, folks). 

We were really impressed with what we tried. You can taste the delicious ingredients, the quality of the butter and the freshness of goodies made just that morning. And we echoes of our mission in theirs:

"We are a family run neighborhood bakery with unrelenting dedication to our product, our team, and our communities.

Everything is baked in house, starting in the early hours of the morning to ensure freshness.  We use the highest quality ingredients and are committed to sourcing locally. We strive to bring the freshest, simplest and most wholesome Ingredients in every decadent bite."

We hope you enjoy the treats this week and we can't wait to hear what you think.

We also always love your suggestions on new products and new things to carry! Like this week's garlic salt from Hippy Pilgrim- we put that stuff on EVERYTHING. (Pucker up, people! It's garrrlicky!)

Bon Appetit,

Erin + Tim

First note: BAGS!! BAGS!! BAGS!!! Please (pretty please!) return your bags and ice packs to your driver. We clean, sanitize and re-use them! Please hunt around and see if you have a treasure trove of them somewhere and leave them out for your driver! Thank you!

This week's vegetable hero is Pak Choi. 

Pak Choi, sometimes found under its alias "Bok Choy" is a variety of Chinese cabbage. This kind doesn't form the giant head of cabbage that we are used to, instead forming these petite clusters of greens. The good folks at Wikipedia let me know that this is also sometime called the "soup spoon" vegetable because of the shape of its leaves. They may look spoonish but we don't recommend eating your cereal with them (gross.)

Even if you've never cooked this vegetable, its has a delicate flavor and is easy to prepare a variety of ways. We think simple is best, just a quick trip to the cast iron, some garlic and a splash of sesame oil- more on that later.  If you don't have sesame oil, but like a little punch of flavor- we recommend picking some up. It's a great pairing for many of the wonderful veggies that come with Fall.

You asked and we have heard your cries for coffee. Folks started asking over a year ago when coffee (and for some folks, when WINE) would be available in the a la carte offering for the shares. It took us some time and some sleuthing around for the best folks to partner with, but we are ready to bring Tandem Coffee to the Family Dinner table.

We have long been fans of their incredible coffee, we drink it by the gallon at Vinal Bakery in Somerville, and at Tandems two locations in Portland, ME. The more we dug into their story and talked with their incredible staff, the more hooked we are.

"In 2012, after working in coffee in Boston, Martha's Vineyard, San Francisco, and New York, Will and Kathleen Pratt found a home for Tandem Coffee Roasters in Portland, Maine. With Will’s background in carpentry and Kathleen’s immaculate painting and sanding skills (plus the occasional libation from their neighbors at Bunker Brewing Co.) they built a cozy cafe and roastery in a beautiful 1930s brick building nestled in East Bayside—a neighborhood they are excited to call home.

Tandem wholesales to businesses who share their commitment to quality and detail. They travel to origin every year to source the best tasting coffees they can find, as well as to build the relationships they've already started with farmers, exporters, and importers. Their coffees are roasted on the lighter side of things to highlight the unique flavors each one has to offer, and to represent all the hard work that has gone in throughout the entire process. "

We love that commitment to detail and respect of the origin of the product.

We are bringing you their West End Blues offering. The folks at Tandem say:

" West End Blues is a complex blend of flavors and textures.  Fruity but not fruit forward, grounded in chocolate and sparkling with zesty notes of baking spices and tea, WEB shines when combined with milk but stands on its own as a killer drip coffee." 

SO! How do you get it?!?!

Add it on to your weekly share in the a la carte section. We are running a special for $13 bag through September. The price will increase to $16/bag in October. Each week they will roast on Wednesday and we will deliver to you that Saturday. Doesn't get any damn fresher than that.

Some folks are saying that Summer is over. The slight chill in the air, the drastically early Halloween candy and the perpetual Pumpkin Spice pushers are singing the the death knell of the season.  

At Family Dinner, we say NAY.

Summer is not over. Not in the fields anyway, and certainly not in your shares-  your grill wants to flex its muscles for at LEAST another month. So let's summer it up for a few more weeks and celebrate the sweetest corn around, the juiciest heirloom tomatoes and the peachiest peaches New England has to offer.

Also, keep an eye out folks! We have heard your cries to add to our a la carte options and we are responding. Get ready for new fun options coming soon. 

Happy Labor Day folks!

Friends, meet Shannon. Shannon is one of the wonderful team members at Family Dinner, lovingly packing and delivering your shares to you each week. She is the maker of great playlists and the teller of terrible (but wonderful) jokes.

Shannon is also an entrepreneur who started her own organic vegetable, flower and herb farm this year!

She's no spring chicken in the farming world, having grown up on Feather Brook Farm where we source our amazing meats.

She went on to get a BBA Marketing with Certificate in Sustainable Food and Farming via UMass AND a Master of Science in Sustainability Science with a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. Smart cookie!

She traveled to Ghana interning with an oil palm mill and  farmers implementing regenerative agriculture and then finally returned back home, starting her farm with a firm mission in mind:

"I wanted to take an active role in combating climate change here at home through agriculture.

Local food is an act of defiance against the corporate ag machine. Sovereignty in the local food system from seed to plate is giving power back to the community and empowering local food producers and consumers."

HECK YES!

We love what Shannon is doing at Blossom Brook Farm and are excited to support her as she grows. Keep an eye out for her produce in your shares and follow her on IG to check out the progress! @blossombrookfarm

We hear from folks sometimes that they are intimidated by the chickens in the shares, they're not used to cooking a full or half bird, so they tuck it into the freezer to be used "some other time".

Have faith people! It's time to stare down that bird and conquer your fears. 

Carpe Poulet!!!

Today might be the day that you use your chicken right away. Let it defrost and plan your attack. Grill, stovetop, or slow-cooker- just get it done and enjoy for the rest of the week.

As always it is chicken from Tad at Feather Brook Farm.  As always they are treated with love (and a few curse words) and its the best damn chicken, ever.

Enjoy friends!

Erin + Tim

.... Because they Cantaloupe!

This week we have Melons from Brookford Farm in Canterbury, NH. We love supporting Luke and Catarina and their incredible work at this 613 acre farm.  This beautiful land used to be a sod farm and for years and years was depleting the soil, robbing of its nutrients; making it weaker from year to year. 

Luke, Catarina and their team (including their 4 boys) have been tending to this land and nursing it back to health since 2012. They have 35 acres of organic produce and beautiful herds of cattle (hello Maple Greek Yogurt!), pigs and chickens.  The land is happy to have the love and gave them a bumper crop of melons this week. We are passing all that love on to you.

Enjoy!

Love,

Erin + Tim

Did you know that Washington State is the top producer of blueberries in the United States? And then Georgia, then Michigan? Washington State alone produces over 95 MILLION POUNDS of them a year! That's a lot of berries friends! 

And, in case your fingers are itching to Google the distance between Boston and Washington State, let me save you the time and just tell you its about 3,000 miles (or 423,000,000 Jet Blue Points).  It makes me wonder what a delicate fruit has to be treated with to survive a journey that long. Or if it's organic, how long ago it was picked before it arrives on our plates.

Last week one of our members said that the berries she got in her share were the "the most blueberry tasting blueberry" she had ever had.  It made us smile.

That's what we are always going for at Family Dinner, local produce, from local growers delivered to your door at the peak of freshness. The most Tomatoey Tomatoes. The Blueberriest Blueberries, brought to you with love.

Thanks for the support, and Bon Appetit!

Love,

Erin + Tim