Boise Food Truck Rally

25 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by Bob and Robin in Interesting Information, Local Markets, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

I just received this information about the Boise Food Truck Rally from Sheila. If you need or want more information, contact Sheila direct. Her information is listed below. Enjoy!

Hi Bob,

Thanks for posting on the Food Truck Rally Facebook page! I’m glad you found us!

The next food truck rally is going to be at the corner of Chinden and Maple Grove. This is Brown Shuga’s regular spot so I thought it would be nice to come to her for a change. The rally is from 5-9pm.

Food Trucks include:

Archie’s Place
Brown Shuga Soul Food
B 29 Streatery
Riceworks
A Cupcake Paradise
Beer by Payette Brewing

Live music to be announced later.

I will be adding an additional truck but have not been able to confirm details. Once I have that, I will be posting on the facebook wall. Facebook is the rally’s only means of communication as of now because it is relatively new. I will try to update you once I have more information.

We are aiming to have a rally the second Friday evening (5-9pm) of every month with the location changing every month.

Thanks again for reaching out and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Sheila Francis
Payette Brewing Company
Director of Marketing and Events
sheila@payettebrewing.com
208.761.1897

This looks interesting. Keep us informed, Sheila, and I will post the information here.

Garden Classes

29 Friday Apr 2011

Posted by Bob and Robin in Backyard Garden, Local Markets, Special Events, Special Information

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I thought that some of you may be interested in one or all of these classes. Even with the snow this morning, it is Spring and time to think about and dream about those “Victory Gardens”. Anyone remember those? Cheers!

Local Gardens and Farms Have Plants

18 Monday Apr 2011

Posted by Bob and Robin in Canyon Bounty Farm, Interesting Information, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?

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Here is some information on Canyon Bounty Farm that you may enjoy. You can find spring plants here and probably produce. Here is some information directly from their web page. Do check it out and let them know you found the link here. Cheers!

April 2011 Farm News

Greenhouse opens Saturday, April 30*
Open six days a week (Wednesday-Monday)
from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed on Tuesdays.

Remember: Cash and checks only.
We’ve been planting and filling up the greenhouses with delicious vegetables, herbs and beautiful flower starts. For a complete list of all the plants we plan to offer, click on the Shopping List/Clipboard on the left.

New this year is our farm’s own little organic seed line. It features dill, garden beans, arugula, lettuce, tomatoes, flowers, cilantro, Bug Bloom Blend and more. Also new are Hot Kaps (see picture). These handy paper cones are used to protect veggies from wind and cold.

*Easter weekend made me push back our opening one week. If you want to stop by earlier (April 25-29) we will be open and available from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Looking forward to seeing you at the greenhouse, getting caught up and hearing about your garden plans for 2011. Don’t forget to bring your Think Boise First coupon (see below).

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If you go to their web site, there is a coupon there called the Think Boise First Coupon. The coupon book has many specials listed, and some for the Canyon Bounty Farm. “… Check out this fancy coupon book loaded with lots of great deals for local businesses in the Treasure Valley. There are several for Canyon Bounty Farm.” Cheers and try them out and Think Local!

New Restaurant Opening In Boise: "Salt Tears"

14 Friday Jan 2011

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Local Markets, Restaurants, Salt Tears, Things To Do, What's For Dinner?, Wine Dinners

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In the IdahoStatesman and Michael Deeds’ column Words and Deeds this morning, there was an article called Ex-Milkyway Owners Open Salt Tears Cafe and Noshery about Andrea and Mitchell Maricich, previous owners of the awesome Milkyway Restaurant in Boise, opening a new restaurant.

The good news for restaurateurs Andrea and Mitchell Maricich: They live just a few blocks away from their new cafe, Salt Tears Coffeehouse and Noshery, 4714 W. State St., so commuting will be a breeze.

The bad news? Salt Tears plans to open daily at 6:30 a.m. “I’m a night owl. It’s so scary,” Andrea Maricich admits with a chuckle. “I’m trying so hard. I set my alarm for 6 yesterday and I couldn’t even do it. I couldn’t get up. I slept till 7.”

Beginning Monday, Jan. 17, you can bet that Maricich’s kitchen-operating blood will have her bouncing out of bed. That’s when Salt Tears opens next to 20th Century Lanes bowling alley in Boise. It’s the first eatery the Mariciches have launched since closing their upscale MilkyWay restaurant Downtown in 2008. Salt Tears will not be a MilkyWay II, Maricich said.

And then from Salt Tears Facebook page,

Salt Tears Coffeehouse and Noshery is our café and coffee shop showcasing unique sandwiches, soups, salads, breakfast bites, as well as “snacks” or “noshes” (as we say) to accompany a unique selection of beer, wine and occasionally cocktails later in the day. Salt Tears will serve a simple breakfast, the best coffee in town and have an all day menu serving until evening. You are sure to find many “happy places” on our menus! The concept has been developed and brought to fruition by us, Andrea and Mitchell Maricich, formerly of The MilkyWay in Downtown Boise; our focus is on simple, high quality café food and coffee, at comfortable prices.

Salt Tears Coffeehouse and Noshery is about community, creativity, quality and comfort. Our cuisine will have a strong focus on straightforward, perfect offerings made by hand with love. Were going back to the basic dining, delicious food, featuring seasonal ingredients using local, natural and organic products whenever possible…

Breakfast will be easy and fun with five or six or maybe seven items that will hit the spot. For lunch the focus will be on lighter, delicious, homemade baguette sandwiches, fresh salads and daily soup specials. In the evening stop by for a small bite and something to wet your whistle or you can mix it up after breakfast, we have an all day menu.

We’ll have a small, but clever wine list, that will change frequently based on great values along with chalkboard offerings every day. We will be featuring house wines by local winemaker, Angie Riff of Periple Wines. Other awesome selections will be offered, by the glass, carafe, in-house bottles and retail to-go. We will also have a great selection of micro brews, domestics and imports, from near and far, and homemade sodas. The selections will be fun, interesting and reasonably priced too!

Great prices: we will strive to make wonderful food and beverages at reasonable prices. We will keep plate prices down while sticking to an exceptional level of quality, not leaving anything to be desired.

Fun Happenings: Salt Tears Coffeehouse and Noshery will be a hot spot in Boise. We will have a really interesting and ever changing calendar of events including beef cheek dinners, live music, guest featured bartender nights (yes, we will have a liquor license), wine fight nights and pairings, whole roasted pig nights (yep), cooking classes (maybe) and whatever else suits our fancy, or yours!

So there you have it. We will be trying this out when it opens. Hope you will, too! It looks like they are goingt to have an adventuresome event list and maybe menu. Cheers!

Harvest Under The Stars

28 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Interesting Information, Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Party Time, Things To Do

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I received this information from Wes Malvini and he asked me to post it. Looks like it could really be fun.

Harvest Under The Stars

Visit us for a magical, night under the stars where innocence and imagination take you back to the time of being a child! Event organizer, Wes Malvini has brought together Idaho’s finest agricultural producers, local restaurants, businesses, citizens, musicians, and wineries to support the adoption of children from foster care! The event begins in the early parts of the day as a “Family Fun Day”–with games and booths to celebr…ate Idaho’s harvest. Get your children’s photos taken in the pumpkin patch or shop for local produce as your kids jump in the fun house and paint pumpkins! If you’re just passing by, come on in and eat some lunch from Brenda’s Foods and other local, fresh, and organic producers!

Later in the evening come back down and listen to the “joyful melodies, funky grooves, (and) soaring harmonies”* of Finn Riggins and rythmic, acoustic blues by The Quartertons. Fill your stomach muscles with laughter and eye sockets with wonderment as local comedian Heath Harmison and Mentalist, Mental Wes take you down a new kind of rabbit hole.

But that’s not all! The night is catered by Idaho’s Bounty delicious selection of local and sustainable foods! Also Idaho wineries such as Holesinsky Organic Winery, Davis Creek Cellars, and Woodriver Cellars!

Forget your adult shoes at home and become a kid again! All proceeds for A New Beginning Adoption Agency which is a non-profit, private adoption agency licensed in Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. They have been providing adoption services in Idaho for six years and have been involved with the placement of 250 children placed into adoptive families.

The mission of A New Beginning is to create healthy adoptive parents, children, and birth parents through education, preparation, and support throughout and after the adoption process. They have developed pre-placement adoptive training that all adoptive parents are required to complete. They have also developed support groups for birth parents and offered counseling to every birth mother that enters their doors.

When: October 23rd, 2010 from 12:00-4:00 (for children and parents) and 6:00-9:30 (adults ONLY)

Where: North End Nursery North End Nursery, North End Organic Nursery, 2350 Hill Road, Boise, ID

Cost: $20.00 in advance (email Wes Malvini) $25.00 at the door. Or enter our COSTUME PARTY and receive $5 off your tickets a the door and enter to win great prizes!

Sponsors: Idaho’s Bounty, North End Organic Nursery, Holesinsky Winery, Davis Creek Cellars, Woodriver Cellars, Brenda’s Foods, Heath Harmison, Mental Wes, Domestic Jones, BC-Creative.

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This looks like it might be a really interesting and fun affair. Cheers!

Delightful Friday Lunch

24 Friday Sep 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Life's Kitchen, Local Markets, Main Dish, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Things To Do

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Such a beautiful Fall, Friday noontime experience. 74 degrees F, 36% humidity and winds NNW@5 mph. And then lunch at Life’s Kitchen. If you ever get the chance to go here, do so. Support these kids in their endeavor to create their own life experience. And then, go with friends as we did.

Dwain and Debbie Courson Smith

Susan and Roger Courson.
From Seattle via Arizona to visit their daughter. It was a pleasure to meet them!!

Clam Chowder

Fresh Garden Salad

Waffle Witch Sandwich
Ham and Cheese on a Waffle

Treasure Valley Pasta
Fresh Vegetables on Pasta
with
Garlic and White Wine Sauce

And then, one must always do some exercise after such a delightful lunch. How about along the Greenbelt for another 9.52 miles (39.38 total for this week) and see the beautiful

Trumpet Vine

Cheers and thanks Debbie for bringing your parents to meet us. It was delightful! We’ll do it again.

Boise Urban Market News

03 Friday Sep 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Special Information, Things To Do, Thought For The Day

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I received this the other day from Hallie of the Boise Urban Market and thought some of you might be interested. Cheers!

“A team of food enthusiasts and I put on the Boise Urban Market once a month. We provide people a starting point or launching pad into a food-related career by accommodating them as vendors at our monthly markets. This allows product development opportunities to our vendors before having to pay many of the expenses that come with selling food at a traditional farmers market, restaurant, or store. To give you an idea of some of the products enjoyed at our markets, here is a list of a few of the items our vendors have brought since the Boise Urban Market’s inception in April: Artisan jalapeno cheddar bread made in dutch ovens, Dandelion-Mint Jam, Goat Cheese, Ginger-Peach Chutney, Chocolate Tofu Cheesecake, chilled Gazpacho, Kombucha Tea, Andouille Sausage, Falafel and Tzatziki sauce served hot, Walla Walla Onion Marmalade, and Vegan Lemon Bar Cupcakes.

The market has an ever evolving list of vendors, so we definitely keep things interesting by having new foods every month. Our market is only open to members of our club, which allows us flexibility and makes sure everyone who comes, knows that they are getting homemade food, not food that has been made in a commercial kitchen. If this sounds like something you’d like to be a part of, please Become A Member!

The Community Gardens website (a program of the Idaho Foodbank) is the first thing that comes to mind as far as an “all in one” website. I find the community calendar on that site especially useful. I also highly recommend Behind the Menu, Northwest Food News and would keep an eye out for the Treasure Valley Food Coalition (their website isn’t up yet but they are functioning). Aside from these, the North End Organic Nursery has an urban farmers market on Tuesday evenings from 4:00 – 6:30 where people can go to buy (or sell) produce from local gardens. Idaho’s Bounty co-op networks with the sustainable farms in primarily southern Idaho and is a really great non-profit. They are currently re-vamping their Boise drop-off schedule, but Idaho’s Bounty is a wonderful resource for sustainably grown meats, produce of all kinds and they even have many products made from all Idaho grown foods. I hope this helps!

Best,
Hallie / the BUM team”

Saturday Breakfast and the Boise Saturday Market

28 Saturday Aug 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Food, Local Markets, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, What's For Dinner?

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58 degrees this morning when I left for the Saturday Market. Feels like Fall! Robin said she wanted some peaches, so as I was headed for parking, this wonderful, fresh, sweet aroma of peach wafted through the air from Kelley Orchards. Part of my goal was found. If you look in the lower left of this photo, you will see the peaches I bought. And in the center of the photo are tote bags of fresh, sweet peaches.

Part of my goal this morning was to give Janie of Meadowlark Farms some egg cartons and see if she had any Lamb and Apple Sausage. She appreciated the egg cartons and she did have some sausage. I bought some and some eggs. There are folks there also fresh roasting Anaheim Peppers. And Le Café De Paris had fresh bread. So, look at the breakfast menu I made for Robin.

Fresh Sliced Kelley Orchards Peaches

Fresh Meadowlark Farms Free Range Scramble
with
Fresh Roasted Peppers and Farm Fresh Pico De Gallo

Fresh Le Café De Paris Bread

Meadowlark Farms Lamb Chorizo Sausage

I think this was a good and interesting menu. Much like a cross cultural experience. Fun! Usually I make Sunday breakfast, but we are going to brunch tomorrow at Berryhill, so I just had to make breakfast today. There you go. I love summer for these farm fresh treats – the entire breakfast. Cheers!

Boise City Market Is In Full Swing

07 Saturday Aug 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Boise Adventures, Local Farmers Markets, Local Markets, Photos, Photos By: Bob Young, Vegetables, What's For Dinner?

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This time of year, summer is in full swing in Boise, the Boise City Market thrives with participation from both the vendors and the visitors. And, if you look at the photos below, a certain amount of color and beauty. I think I heard somewhere that about 10,000 people visit the Market each Saturday. The photo to the left is an overview of the Market … Well one small section, at least.

The Market now covers a much larger area then they did at the beginning of the season and they have even blocked one intersection for the safety of the people walking. It is good to see that the City of Boise allows this type of activity to take place, even if it does mean that a large section of downtown Boise is for “pedestrians only” each Saturday morning.

Fresh beans and squash are among some of the produce offered.

Many varieties of lettuce are available for that salad tonight!

Fresh beets, turnips and cucumbers can make an enjoyable dinner or salad.

Fresh tomatoes, cabbage, Swiss chard, kale, carrots and turnips!

Hope you make it down to the Boise Saturday Market and support our local farmers in their endeavor to bring us the freshest and most delightful products. Vegetables are not the only thing available: Try some elk, lamb, beef, buffalo, chicken, eggs, fruits, honey, artisan breads, fresh cut flowers, plants and a variety of “take out” dinners. I know I have missed some items, but right now I’m hungry! Probably going to do a Leg of Lamb with Sauteed Chard and Onions.

Boise City Club – "Local Foods"

21 Wednesday Jul 2010

Posted by Bob and Robin in Local Farmers Markets, Local Harvests, Local Markets, Things To Do, Thought For The Day, What's For Dinner?

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On Tuesday, 20 July, Robin and I went to the City Club of Boise to listen to a program about Local Foods. Such a great program and it complimented the PBS program on Outdoor Idaho, Local Food. The panel consisted of Janie Burns, from Meadowlark Farms and Dave Krick, from the Red Feather Lounge and the Bittercreek Alehouse in Boise. The moderator was Marsha Franklin of Dialog on IPTV – Idaho Public Television.

Some very interesting points were brought our during the discussion:

95% of the food in Idaho is imported from other places. We only eat 5% of the foods grown locally in Idaho.
The 20/20 Program. By 2020 in Idaho try to eat 20% locally grown foods
2011 will be the Year of Idaho Food
Cities in the US that have Directors of Food (There are others)