This weekend my mom & I attended the Family Farmed Expo at UIC in Chicago. It's always nice to attend an event that showcases things I love: food, farms, and friendly faces. I enjoyed speaking with local farmers & sampling lots of sprouts! I left two hours later a happy owner of some tasty goods: raw honey, sprouts, kombucha, and homemade tofu. We also sampled some AWESOME nut butters. For real the most delicious take on walnut, cashew, pecan, and almond butter I have ever had. Naturally sweetened with a touch of raw honey, coconut oil for creaminess, and a touch of sea salt. wow wow wow. I am already soaking some almonds to make my own...
I was REALLY excited to find the kombucha... I left Hawaii without shipping my mother culture home so I could continue my brewing I started there. For those unfamiliar with kombucha... it is a fermented tea loaded with probiotics. It is really simple and delicious (some may disagree so I'd say it's an acquired love). A local kombucha company hooked me up with one of their brews that I can actually produce my own mother from-never knew you could do this! Normally you wouldn't be able to do this with the more commercial brands since they strain the drink so much. The mother culture, formerly called a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria & Yeast), runs the fermentaiton show-without it you'd be drinking regular tea. So I now have a jar with my brew in the cupboard waiting to grow a new SCOBY- I can't wait to show my Dad in two weeks. I'm certain it will rank on the gross scale at a solid 9 or 10.
Besides the tasty treats I found... the expo reminded me to share resources to shop local, how to find local CSAs and farmers markets. I have always found Local Harvest to be an excellent resource for all these. You can search restaurants, coops, CSAs, farmers markets, etc. for the entire country. Not only is this helpful for finding all the great places local to your home but a great way to know places to eat & find fresh food when you are traveling!
Happy local eating!
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