Wood-fired-oven pizza party

If you missed the SFKT pizza party last year, you won't want to make that mistake again! Once again, Richard Knapp, local baker and food enthusiast, has extended an invitation to Slow Food Katy Trail members to sample his brick-oven pizza.

Richard will fire up his wood-burning, hand-built oven early Saturday morning, March 21, to have it ready for pizza baking by noon. He will supply pizza dough, sauce, cheese, a hot oven and some basic vegetarian toppings.

Exotic, rare and beautiful
veggie toppings or sauces are the province of the guests. We ask that each guest pay $10 to cover the costs of the fabulous freshly ground wheat and other ingredients. Beer, wine, juice and mineral waters included.

This is a wonderful opportunity to make and taste some of the best pizza you've had since that last trip to Italy or New York.

Don't delay. Limited to 30 participants

RSVP by March 17 to: slowfoodkatytrail@yahoo.com

Photos are of last year's event and courtesy of Dan Hemmelgarn.

Saving Seed

by Slow Food USA intern Laura Kate Morris

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need” – Cicero

Perhaps you’ve grown your own vegetables in a community garden, infusing them with the terroir of your soil, eating them at your kitchen table. But that is only part of the circle – what about the seeds? Nearly all seeds available today have been shipped from states (if not countries) away, and at the end of the season are lost back to the soil. What if, in the spirit of sustainability, we closed that circle of seed, plant, table… and back to seed?

The Hudson Valley Seed Library in Accord, NY, is trying to do just that. It brings together rare and regional open-pollinated seeds, a sustainable business model, local artists, the conservation of traditional skills, and … your local library? I spoke with the founder of HVSL for further insight into how anyone could possibly fit so many ideas into a tiny packet of seeds.

Co-created by Ken Greene and Doug Muller to support their homesteading habit, the company is committed to staying small and growing food without fossil fuels. Choosing to raise their seeds by hand, HVSL shies away from a bigger size that would require specialized seed-cleaning equipment, tractors, and machinery. They look toward a sustainable, community-focused model and away from the nationalized corporation. (To start finding out more about the corporate seed world, check out this post on Civil Eats.) The Seed Library operates in part like your local library, substituting seeds for books. You can become a member, “check out” the items of your choice, enjoy and learn from them (in this case, grow them and save them), and return them at the end of the season.

Greene also holds workshops teaching the skills of seed saving which, like many heirloom breeds of livestock and varieties of plants, are in danger of being lost if they are not promoted. The Seed Library acts as a forum for skill sharing and to motivate preservation of regional heirlooms in the hands of local gardeners. Focusing on regionality, their goals include selling 100% locally grown seed within 5 years and strengthening the gene pool of rare and local varieties. Saving seed traditionally encourages the plants’ optimal performance by selecting for characteristics that do well in a specific region.

Overlapping with Slow Food, the HVSL also focuses on showcasing genetic diversity to consumers, encouraging us to expand our palates and eschew the generalizations of the corporatized supermarket. The Seed Library’s collection includes heirloom varieties on the Ark of Taste, vegetables featured by Seed Savers Exchange, and others found only in the Hudson Valley. “Hank’s X-Tra Special Baking Bean” is one, re-discovered in Ghent, New York, and now back in production via the Seed Library (check out its great background story). If that weren’t enough, thirteen of the seeds are showcased in “Art Packs” designed by local artists to celebrate the diversity that is a part of these culture of these plants.

Note – you do not have to be a member of the library to buy seeds – they have an online catalogue - and, if you are a member, there are no late fees! Find out more here.

Other small, independent seed companies, perhaps in your area!

Southern Exposure - Grows 45% of their offered seed and with their regional growers, makes for a whopping 70% of regional seed that they offer (located in Virginia).
Territorial Seed - Grow 20% of their offered seed (located in Oregon).
High Mowing Seeds - Grows 30% of their offered seed (located in Vermont).
Organic Seed Sourcing - a listing of small seed companies around the country.

Fed up with the food system?

Those of us in the Slow Food movement applaud the movie, "Food Inc.," that was shown this past weekend at the True/False fest. It joins the pantheon of recent movies (King Corn, The Future of Food etc.) that lift the veil on how our food system operates.

If you saw the movie and feel moved to action, here is a simple way to voice your opinion. Go to
http://fooddeclaration.org/ and send a message to our policymakers. This declaration was signed at Slow Food Nation last September in San Francisco by all the heavyweights in the food-activist movement, including Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Marion Nestle, Daniel Imhoff and Wendell Berry.

It's a beautifully written document that will inspire you to make a difference! Of course, we encourage you to join the Slow Food movement, as well. We're working hard locally, nationally and internationally to promote food that is good, clean and fair.
Join our local chapter (Slow Food Katy Trail) today at http://www.slowfoodusa.org/

Mardi Gras Buffet

A delicious item of interest sent to us from Slow Food member Brook Harlan. Here's what he says:

We will be having a Mardi Gras Buffet at Rock Bridge High School this coming Tuesday,
February 24th; please see the menu that follows.

We will also be making more Andouille on a pre-order basis. Please
e-mail bharlan@columbia.k12.mo.us by Friday February 20th at 5:00 pm.

Please specify if you would like Hot or Regular and how many pounds of
each. Andouille orders can be picked up Monday or Tuesday at the Career
Center (Tuesday Sausage can be picked up between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm in
front of the planetarium during the lunch buffet). It is $5/lb and
checks can be made to CACC Culinary.

We will also have some other items all made by the Culinary Arts II and
Baking and Pastry classes for sale at the lunch.

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo - $5/qt
Kings Cakes - $10/ea
Chorizo Sausage - $5/lb
Italian Sausage - $5/lb
Beef Jerky - $2/pkg
Sliced Bacon - $2.50/pkg
Andouille - $5/lb (if we haven't run out with pre-orders)

Menu TUESDAY 2/24/09
10:50 * 1:00
Served in front of Planetarium

Cajun Sampler Meal Deal
***Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, Macque Choux, Shrimp Étouffée, Boudin
(pork and rice sausage) and Mini King Cake***
$5.00

Vegetarian Cajun Sampler Meal Deal
***Gumbo z*herbs, Macque Choux, Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya and
Mini King Cake***
$5.00

a la carté
Chicken and Andouille Gumbo or Gumbo z*herbs
$2.50

Macque Choux
$1.50

Shrimp Étouffée
$2.50

Boudin
(pork and rice sausage)
$1.50

Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice
$1.50

Vegetarian Jambalaya
$1.50

Mini King Cake
$1.50

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail or call us at
214-3158.

Thanks - Brook


Brook Harlan, Culinary Arts
Columbia Area Career Center
Rock Bridge High School
4303 S. Providence Rd.
Columbia, MO 65203
Ph. (573) 214-3158
Ph. (573) 214-3100
ex. 29832
Fax. (573) 214-3109

Last Sips of Summer Party

Slow Food Katy Trail members Martha Folk, Ann Mehr and Sallee Purcell get ready to sample delectable appetizers at the Last Sips of Summer party in September 2008. Sixty Slow Food members and guests toasted the end of summer with fabulous drinks, hors d' oeuvres made from locally produced food and live jazz.

We've been too busy with fundraisers, our Slow Food in Schools project at Lee School and members' events to update our nascent blog,
but stay tuned--we'll catch up some day! Meanwhile, take a look at some delicious photos taken by Michael Stonacek, a photojournalism student who documented our Feb. 7 chocolate- and wine-tasting event at the Wine Cellar & Bistro.
http://hecooksshecooks.net/2009/02/chocolate-and-wine-tasting/