Thursday, October 29, 2009

Holiday Parties!

Are you interested in bringing a tast of Food Creates Community to your holiday party?

Let Vestals Foods create a memorable locally inspired dinner party for you and your loved ones.

Contact - Jordan Swim - 214-755-3014

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Turkey.

Just ordered my turkey yesterday from Rehoboth Ranch. Here are the details...

TIME TO ORDER THANKSGIVING TURKEYSIf you plan to order a Thanksgiving turkey from Rehoboth Ranch, now would be a good time. We hate to disappoint people by not having what they want, but every year in November, we get dozens and dozens of phone calls from people wanting a turkey, but we are sold out. There are two simple ways to order a turkey:1. Come to one of our farmers' markets (Dallas, Coppell, or McKinney) and sign-up for a turkey. You pay a $25 deposit now to hold the turkey for you, and $25 is subtracted from the final purchase price when you pick up your turkey.2. Send us an email saying that you want to order a turkey, and we will send a reply with some simple questions to answer - how many, how big, where do you want to pick up, etc.? Send us a check for $25 for the deposit, and your turkey is reserved.For more details about types of turkeys available, sizes, prices, etc., please see the turkey ordering section of this newsletter.

They have broad breasted whites and heritage bourbon reds. Who else do you know sells heritage turkeys?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Foraging.

I love to forage...forage through used bookstores, eclectic boutiques, thrift stores (I am looking for old Le Creuset pans), small grocery stores, and especially I love to forage for ingredients. Daily, you can find me at one of these spots Whole Foods, Sprouts, Central Market, Kroger, Natural Grocers, and Braum's buying something for tonight's meal, but when it comes to FCC my food scouting becomes obsessive. I spend at least the 7 days prior to an FCC event scouring the shelves, stalls, and food stores all over Dallas. Here is a sample of the places and purveyors that stock the FCC pantry...Hope you too, will support these local businesses!

Dallas Farmers Market
Georgia' Farmers Market (Plano)
Treaty Oak Rum (donated to FCC) Fabulous Product!
Tom Spicer (Fitzghugh area)
Nitschke Beef - (has donated to FCC in the past) - grass finished beef!
Oak Cliff Coffee - (has donated to FCC in the past) - wonderful roaster
Henry's Homemade Ice Cream
Lucky Layla Dairy
Rehoboth Ranch
Windy Meadows

Maybe you know people or CSA's that I do not...let us know.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Celebrating Fall in Texas

And what a celebration we had! From the beautiful weather to the gracious location and friendly people, last night's dinner was the perfect gathering of friends over a warm, autumn meal. We want to send a special thank you again to our gracious hosts, Tricia and Mark, for opening up their home and backyard to us to enjoy such a great night together.




With around forty attendees (one of our best attended yet), there were people from all over Dallas, who made the trek into the country-esque dining adventure.






The menu focused on locally-grown, seasonally available foods, fresh from local farmers' markets.



Pecan & Lucky Layla Wafer, Rusk Apple Butter
Treaty Oak Cider


Amuse of Beer Braised Cabbage with Deer Sausage in Persimmon Mustard


Fennel Soup, Hazelnut Crisp—Cranberry
Llano Signature White


Texas Butternut Squash Risotto
Llano Meritage


Overnight Braised Nitschke Roast, Sweet Potato & Turnip Puree, Seasons First Brussels Sprouts
Becker Claret



Pumpkin Beignets, Henry’s Maple Ice Cream,
Caramel
Oak Cliff Coffee—El Salvador



Thanks again to all who attended and we hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we enjoyed providing this meal! We hope to see you at the next Food Creates Community event!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Fall in Texas.

The crisp air, Treaty Oak apple cider, Nietschke Roast, Pumpkin Beignets...their is just something about fall in Texas.

Thanks to all who made tonight truly tasteful. Lets hear about your thoughts.

We appreciate your support of Vestals Foods and look forward to serving you soon.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Celebrating One Year!




Saturday marks one year for Food Creates Community.





It has been a tremendous pleasure to have many of you at our table. On this anniversary, we renew our commitment to our community by serving responsible, local, and organic foods in unique settings, for the purpose of bringing people together around the table.

If you have not experienced Vestals Foods we hope you will soon.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Enjoying Lectures.

Last week NN from Side Dish linked to this wonderful site full of culinary lectures.

http://onlineschool.net/2009/10/06/50-incredible-lectures-for-the-ultimate-foodie/

I am enjoying watching these food thinkers discuss their ideologies and research, it is intriguing the food conversations that are happening all over. Maybe we can organize a food summit of sorts here in Dallas?