Buying Local at the New Braunfels Farm to Market

As I prepare for the annual family trip down the Comal, I'm looking forward to visiting the New Braunfels Farm to Market on Saturday morning.  This fairly new market, launched this Spring, is located on South Castell next to Friesenhaus in New Braunfels' quaint downtown.

The market has quickly attracted a lengthy list of vendors who also serve the Pearl Farmers Market in San Antonio and the Austin markets.  On my last trip to the market, I was delighted to find some of my favorite vendors including CKC Farms and their delicious goat cheese, Montesino Ranch, Ottmer's Family Farm, Harvest Time Farm Stand and The Mediterranean Chef.

In addition to a wide selection of produce, you can also buy olive oil from Texas Olive Ranch, bread and baked goods from several bakeries, salsa from Kelly Jo's and granola from Cowgirl Granola.

The market is very well attended, packed with shoppers starting at 9 am.  I highly recommend getting their early if you are looking for something particular.

I also recommend showing up hungry.  There are several vendors serving up barbeque, tacos and even kettle corn.  (Honestly, is there anything that smells better than kettle corn?)

If you are looking for a fun day trip, the New Braunfels Farm to Market is a great way to kick off the day.  Pack a cooler and your shopping bag and enjoy a lovely morning in historic downtown New Braunfels.  On second thought, maybe you should bring two shopping bags.

See you at the market!

Celebrating the Gulf with Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Some of my fondest childhood food memories involve shrimp and crab boils.  What an amazing creation - food that you know only got to eat with your hands, but you get to be as messy as you want.  Glorious!

I was so disappointed when I had to miss the Gulf Coast Disaster Relief Benefit at the Hotel San Jose last week; a giant shrimp boil with great music, all to benefit the victims of the gulf oil spill.   To lend moral support, I decided to make a shrimp and corn chowder for family dinner Saturday night.

Saturday morning I shopped at the Cedar Park Farmers Market with my friend Beth Ann and was delighted to find a seafood vendor at the market.  Originally I had only planned to buy shrimp, but they also had blue crabs from Kemah and I couldn't pass up the chance to add them to to the mix.

I was pleased that I was able to buy everything except the garnishes - avocado, cilantro and lime - from the farmers market or my Farmhouse Delivery box.  I was even able to use the shrimp stock I made from the shrimp shells I saved from a dinner earlier this year.  I felt like I was doing my part to stretch my little piece of the Gulf even further.

I researched a number of chowder recipes and most called for one to two cups of heavy cream.  We are trying to substitute fat wherever we can in our family so I decided to experiment a little.  I used a cup of milk and then made a puree from some canned corn that I had leftover from the food bank challenge.  The puree helped thicken the soup.  Adding the crab gave it some additional lusciousness that would have been missing without the cream.  If you don't want to go to all that trouble, use cream instead.

The chowder turned out to be a great way to celebrate our Gulf Coast seafood traditions.  If you are concerned about the future of the Gulf and all of those who have depended on it for their livelihood, I highly recommend reviewing the new booklet from the Renewing America's Food Traditions alliance to learn more about the effects of the spill on our wildlife and future.  If you'd rather have a hard copy, I picked one up at the Downtown Farmers Market.

See you at the seafood stand!


Shrimp & Corn Chowder

2 tbsps butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 large poblanos, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1 lb new potatoes, cut into quarters (or 1/8 depending if they are large)
3 cups broth, I used shrimp but you could use chicken
1 can corn, processed in food processor with 1/2 cup of liquid
1 tbsp salt
1 cup milk
2 lbs shrimp peeled and deveined - chopped
2 lbs crabs boiled, meat removed
1 avocado, sliced
a handful of cilantro, chopped
1 lime, sliced for garnish

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large pot.  Add the onions and poblanos and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the corn kernels, potato, pureed corn, 1 tbsp salt and the broth.  Cook for about 10 minutes, until the flavors begin to meld.

Lower the heat, add the milk and cook for another five minutes.

Add the shrimp and cook another five minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through.

Ladle the soup into a bowl and top with a small handful of crab and a slice of avocado.  Serve with cilantro and lime as garnish.

Note:  If crab meat is not easily available or affordable, you could substitute a few of grilled shrimp as a topper for the chowder.  I suggest grilling them in their shells and then removing the shell before you serve to make it easier for your guests to enjoy the dish.

Slow Money Picking Up Speed

Sometimes I lay awake at night worrying about sustainable food.  I wonder how we can ensure the sustainable food movement isn't just a passing phase.  I fret about making sure local food is available to everyone, not just people in higher income communities.  I ponder how we get people to stop buying Twinkies and start buying from great local vendors like Hope & Glory Pastry or Retro Bizzaro.  

How will we build the infrastructure to keep it going?  How on earth will we pay for it all?  Toss, turn, toss, turn....

Fortunately, I am not alone.  Apparently, Woody Tasch, founder of the Slow Money Alliance and author of Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money, and many other like minded folks worry about the same things.

If you aren't familiar with the idea, Slow Money is a movement that is working to build a financial network that will invest in sustainable food endeavors from soil preservation to farms to food artisans to food distribution networks - the whole gamut.  These investments may not have as high an ROI (return on investment) as traditional markets, but will have a greater return to the community and our future.



This grassroots movement, named by BusinessWeek as one of the Big Ideas of 2010, has gained incredible momentum since I first heard of it at the Texas Book Festival last fall.  In less than a year, a small group of volunteers formed Slow Money Texas and organized a Showcase and dinner in April to introduce and explore how we might support a sustainable food ecosystem here.   Since then, the Texas chapter has appointed an Executive Director, Joanne Marino, and begun building chapters in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and El Paso.

Last month, three Texas sustainable food companies were selected to present at the National Slow Money conference.  Greenling, Coyote Creek Organic Feed Mill and Rhythm Superfoods each pitched their company and investment needs to a national gathering of Slow Money devotees.

Investors are choosing to back these ventures because they care as much about the future of our food industry as they do about their dividends.  With a strong support system, hopefully both can thrive and grow.

Intrigued?  Wondering how you can learn more and get involved?

The Slow Money Alliance offers a list of 10 Things You Can Do Now.  Some of them are as simple as watching a video and signing a petition. Come on, be bold, go click on the link.

You can also learn more about Slow Money this coming Thursday, July 29th at a Slow Money Primer hosted by Slow Money Austin from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at Ventana del Soul Cafe & Cultural Center, 1834 E. Oltorf.

Whether you are flush with cash or have time to give instead of dollars, I hope you'll consider how you might be able to help the Slow Money movement.  After all, in addition to investing in our future, you'll be helping me sleep through the night, and I appreciate that greatly.