The  4th of July has come and gone but hopefully you're getting some down time to enjoy friends, Family and some delightful food. Hot grill, cold beers, maybe?

It's so easy to get wrapped up in the whirling dervish that is everyday life (work. emails. family. chores. laundry. more emails, even more laundry.)

We hope you can steal some time away from this week to take a breath and enjoy the ride. (Just the Frank the Dog here on our small road trip this week.) All that stuff, and your never-ending list will be there when you are done.

Broth: 

This week we have Vegetable Ginger Broth from John at Five Way Foods for the whole and double shares. John had a dream of starting a company to topple the broth business by making real-deal, from scratch broth. (Most of the stuff you see on the shelves is full of preservatives and other malarkey.) Its a real love - the simmering takes forever! We wanted to share this with you for your sautéing your summer veggies or for the perfect chilled soup or smoothie addition. We also love to keep you guessing in the shares!

From John:

"Five Way Foods takes proud in producing healthy and fresh broths.  Our Veggie Broth is slow-simmered using locally sourced vegetables (leeks, carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, celery, and more) along with herbs and spices (sea salt, peppercorn, rosemary, thyme) and a good size portion of ginger.   It’s a flavorful broth that is low in salt with no gluten, dairy, soy or preservatives and 100% Vegan."

Berries:

We have berries from Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA. This is an IPM Farm, which is not certified organic but used environmentally conscious pest management. We have been searching for organic berries but have learned its incredibly difficult to do in New England at scale.

The farm and the fields are gorgeous, if you are ever out that way, stop by the store! You can find their goodies in some of the best restaurants in Boston. If you visit them at the Union Square market early enough you might see Chef Tony Maws picking out produce for Craigie on Main. ( Good Lord, that BURGER.)

Bike Ride:

One of our Family Dinner Members, Corrine, is doing the Pan Mass Challenge this year. This is 192 mile bike route across Massachusetts to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Corrine's youngest son Joey was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and had to undergo many harrowing treatments. From the wonderful community of excellence at Dana-Farber, he is now cancer free and a total rock star. 

Family Dinner has donated a dollar from each share sold this week to Corrine's ride. They are just shy of their $10,000 goal if you want to learn more!

We love to support the local community, if you have any ideas for us, please let us know!

(Photo Credit Michael Piazza for Edible Boston)

According to an Edible Boston article, Magic Bites Bakery and Café in Arlington " is not just a bakery."  Walking into their corner shop on Mass Ave is Arlington is a wonderful experience. Its a dreamy, cozy space that is brimming with delicious products, smells and temptations.

Trying to make a selection feels near impossible, but Husband and Wife team Atilla and Elif are there to help -cooking up a storm and delighting customers with tastes of their meze, soups and pastries. The love and pride they have in their food is obvious and contagious- which is why we had to bring you some of their goodies this week. From Atilla:

"We are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, to serve the best quality of healthy food to the valuable guests and customers from a relaxing, clean, boutique designed environment for takeout, delivery , wholesale and catering .

Every product is prepared and baked from scratch with the REAL, healthy and first quality  ingredients; no fake additives, preservatives, mixtures. We only serve the products that we will feel confident to serve to our little kids; healthy and natural. We are committed to the best experience of our guests and customers."

We have brought you their Muhammara "the best spread ever". A red pepper paste made with spices and the best walnuts.  (Contains bread crumbs!) Use it on veggies, with fish, or as a simple and perfect Meze.

And when you are craving more; check them out at 916 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington. 

But, if you go there and take the last piece of their spanikopita, and there's none left for me, we are no longer friends.

....It ain't easy being Green.

This week you have a share that's chock full of greens. A veritable verdant Vesuvius! Late Spring in New England = Leafy greens for days.  Let's load up on iron and Vitamin C, folks!

Seeing all that leafy loveliness can overwhelm some as they open their fridges. We share a few recipe ideas below and link to an article from Cooking Light to fire up your creative engines.

Also, its steak time from Tad at Feather Brook Farm. We order whole animals from Tad and so we have a whole variety of steak cuts this week, and a few ideas on how to cook each. (With a healthy serving of greens on the side obviously.)

Finally, and maybe most importantly, which Muppet are you? (These are things I think about.) Kermit gets a lot of attention but I think I'm more of a mix of both Waldorf AND Statler with a pinch of the Swedish Chef. 

We brag a lot at Family Dinner; about our incredible farmers and makers, about our wonderfully enthusiastic customers (I see you Amy R and Mel L!) and about the joys of warm donuts from Union Square Donuts. Something we don' talk nearly enough about is our amazing team behind the scenes. These are the folks who lovingly sort, pack and drive your goods to your home.

There's a wide spectrum of talents on our team: we have a lawyer, a banker, non-profit workers, musicians and teachers. There's a professional glassblower, a designer, a new Dad, a new farmer and a Chuck. Chuck is just a legend, I'm not sure what else to say.

Each of these folks shows up early Saturday morning, a bit sleepy but ready for a few hours of bad 90's music, terrible Dad jokes and the good work of packing all of your shares.

We are so proud of our team and honored that they work with us. 

Outside Family Dinner, and outside their day jobs, many of them lend their talents to charitable organizations. This week both Shannon and Rachel (pictured) will be leading youth empowerment workshops; Shannon with Massachusetts Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (MA HOBY) and Rachel with DivestEd and the Better Future Project.

Both these women are working to make the world a better place through their energy, time and activism. We couldn't be prouder to support them with our time and our food :)

Friends, meet Vikram Mathur, owner of Yatra Tea Company. Vikram is a local guy, born is India and is completely passionate about tea. His company direct sources tea from estates India (no middleman, which is music to our ears!) and they are "fanatical" about quality and freshness.

When Vikram first approached us about including his hand-selected teas in our shares, we paused a moment, given that - you know- we are a local food company. Unless your goods grow on the rolling hills of Belmont, we said, no deal.

But his insistence on touring the terroir, knowing his producers, sourcing directly and giving back to the community made us think again.

We are obviously very keenly dedicated to eating locally. But we know that isn't always possible/easy.  (Case in point: they don't make much coffee or white wine in Somerville and those are definitely part of the food pyramid in our house.) 

We realized that when you can't buy from your neighbors, when you can't source it from your backyard- its best to go to someone who knows the product, the producers and the supply chain inside and out and who obsesses over every step of the process. 

So we are trying this out. We are brining his tea to our whole and double shares this week.  We would LOVE to hear what you think!

From Vikram:

"The tea itself is a lightly oxidized black tea produced in the Spring. It is the highest grade of tea (SFTGFOP1) produced by the estate. It brews a lovely golden liquor and is extremely fragrant with pronounced floral notes. The taste is smooth and well rounded."

For more info, visit their site!

This week we got to head to Lexington Montessori School to check out their greenhouses, their farm and their farming curriculum. It was amazing! All the students from Pre-K to Middle School participate in creating a beautiful environment and a delicious bounty.  We were GIDDY thinking about kids learning about the importance of food and treating it with respect throughout its life cycle.  Heck Yes, LMS! We bought some seedlings for the double shares too!

About the program, from their site:

"Children discover where food comes from, how it is grown sustainably, and begin to appreciate the hard work it takes to grow nourishing food on a small “farm”. We spend time learning and discussing nutrition, aiming to understand the importance of eating a rainbow of colors. In addition, the middle schoolers take a compassionate look at food insecurity in America and the lack of fresh fruits and veggies for those in need. From toddlers to 8th graders, the farming program allows students at LMS to explore their surroundings, challenge themselves, think deeply, and participate in growing and nurturing new life."

What a dream. To start the mission of all of THIS early. We know we sound like a broken record**, but thank you all so much for supporting the mission of Family Dinner and spreading the good word of local food.

** To all of our 20-30 something customers: "records" are an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. It's how we all listened to music when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

WOMEN.

 Women are crushing the Boston food scene, and Somerville just might be leading the way. From Lauren Friel at Bow Market's dreamy wine bar, Rebel Rebel to longtime baking rockstar Jen Park at Forge Baking Co- there is a lots of inspiration for female food entrepreneurs.

This week's share highlights two more:

Sarah Murphy at Vinal Bakery sends us her English Muffins -they are impossibly light little pillows of deliciousness. 

Sarah "opened Vinal Bakery as an homage to her New England roots. She opened it to create a place of creativity, community, and food! As a longtime resident of Somerville, she was very excited to find a location to build her bakery. To be in such a vibrant city such as Somerville and an evolving area like Union Square, was truly a dream for her." If you haven't been to the bakery- run, don't walk, to get one of her breakfast sandwiches. You'll probably see us there :)

Melissa Stefanini from Buenas brought the amazing Chimichurri and Pebre sauces to the whole and double shares. She says: " Founded in 2016, Buenas is an homage to the cultural limbo we grew up in. Sebastian and I were born in the U.S. to parents from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and we took all their recipes and turned it into Buenas, a line of South American-inspired goods to aid in all kinds of home cooking. We know the inspiration to cook is just half the battle, so we’re hoping to arm people with ingredients that make getting really good food on the table as easy as possible.

Oh! And SPEAKING of woman-owned, did you see us in the Boston Globe this week? How awesome is that???

WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

HALF SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Half Chicken from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm
Pescatarian Protein - Red Fish from Red’s Best; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm
Vegetarians -  Empanadas from Buenas; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm
Paleo Proteins - Half Chicken from Feather Brook Farms; Eggs from Brookford Farm/Feather Brook Farm
Fruits and Veggies - Asparagus, Fingerling Potatoes; Baby Lettuce Mix and Yellow Onions from Busa Farm
Grain - English Muffins from Vinal Bakery
Special Treat - Donut Holes from Union Square Donuts

WHOLE SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Whole Chicken from Feather Brook Farms; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm; Chimichurri OR Pebre Sauce from Buenas
Pescatarian Protein - Red Fish and Scallops from Red’s Best; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm; Chimichurri OR Pebre Sauce from Buenas
Paleo Proteins - Whole Chicken from Feather Brook Farms; Eggs from Brookford Farm/Feather Brook Farm
Vegetarian Protein - Empanadas from Buenas; Eggs from Brookford Farm/Feather Brook Farm; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm; Chimichurri OR Pebre Sauce from Buenas
Fruits and Veggies - Arugula from Brookford Farm; Cucumbers from Five College Farm; Asparagus, Fingerling Potatoes; Baby Lettuce Mix and Yellow Onions from Busa Farm
Grain - English Muffins from Vinal Bakery
Special Treat - Donut Holes from Union Square Donuts; Gluten Freen Dairy Free Cookie Balls from Girlfriend Baking

DOUBLE SHARE

Omnivore Protein - Whole Chicken from Feather Brook Farms; Red Fish from Red’s Best; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm; Chimichurri OR Pebre Sauce from Buenas; Eggs from Brookford Farm/Feather Brook Farm
Pescatarian Protein - Red Fish, Cod and Scallops from Red’s Best; Greek Yogurt from Brookford Farm; Chimichurri OR Pebre Sauce from Buenas; Eggs from Brookford Farm/Feather Brook Farm
Fruits and Veggies - Tatsoi from Heron Pond Farm; Apples from Champlain Orchard; Arugula from Brookford Farm; Cucumbers from Five College Farm; Asparagus, Fingerling Potatoes; Baby Lettuce Mix and Yellow Onions from Busa Farm
Grain - English Muffins from Vinal Bakery
Special Treat - Donut Holes from Union Square Donuts; Gluten Free Dairy Free Cookie Balls from Girlfriend Baking

GLOSSARY

Chimichurri: (in South American and Mexican cooking) a piquant sauce or marinade traditionally used on grilled meat, typically containing parsley, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and flakes of chili pepper.

Pebre: is a Chilean condiment made of coriander, chopped onion, olive oil, garlic and ground or pureed spicy aji peppers. It may contain also chopped tomatoes

Thanks Dictionary.com!

RECIPES

Vinal Muffins - These guys are fresh baked, so enjoy in a day or two or pop 'em in the freezer. I like to lightly grill mine in butter with a touch of Maldon salt. They also make an amazing bed for a tuna sandwich (don't forget to smash your chips in there like a five year old.)

Roast Half Chicken - We have heard that the half or whole chickens can be intimidating, so we always include this simple, simple recipe with the chickens. Thanks, Martha- we love you! Here I will use olive oil instead of butter and top with the Buenas sauce before serving with a light salad.

Roasted Veggie Salad with Chimichurri - I always, always have a few roasted veggies lying around that are B-team candidates. I've ignored them for just too long and its finally time to face the music. Roast 'em up and top with a bit of the Buenas to brighten your meal up.

Grilled Fish and Tatsoi: I am omitting the chilis, because I'm wimpy like that. 

The title of this week's email may sound the start of a bad/uncomfortable joke - but is just shorthand for three nuggets of news we would like to share with you!

Ted: The TedX Natick talk that we gave a few months ago is now live! You can see us gush all about local food on the YouTube link.  

Blondies: This week's treat is Chocolate Sea Salt Blondies from Dirty Blondies Bake Shop. Dirty Blondies Bake Shop was founded in 2018 by a dirty blonde, Alyssa Nadeau, after she discovered the glory that is brown butter. With its toasty flecks and nutty flavor, this 'dirty' butter is at the base of every Dirty Blondie. In four signature flavors, bite-sized so you can try more than one, Dirty Blondies are the dessert you saved room for...even if you didn’t!

Follow them at www.dirtyblondies.com and @dirtyblondies on instagram & facebook!

Vegan Loaves: This week we went to Mandarava Organic Kitchen in Newburyport to taste some of the vegan goodies coming out of Akara, their newest culinary concept. Mary is a lovely lady and her food is crazy delicious- we are so happy to share with you!