Door to Door Organics

Door to Door Organics delivered a local farm share box to my door a couple weeks ago, and, though I have not yet signed up for their grocery delivery service, they’ve been on my mind lately as I’ve been incredibly busy.  Being busy means it is sometimes a hassle for me to get to Whole Foods or the farmers’ market, so coming home to a box of food sounds like a great idea.  Especially a farm share box filled with locally grown organic produce.

The box I tried was filled with lettuce, cabbage, collard greens, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, garlic, and green onions.  Door to Door Organics picked it all out for me, but, if you sign up for their service, you get to substitute up to five items per order.  So, if you don’t like collard greens, swap them out for carrots.  But, I must warn you… collard greens, when cooked correctly, are delicately delicious.  I found this out thanks to Door to Door Organics because I had never actually bought collard greens before, and having them delivered to my doorstep made me get a little creative in the kitchen, which is always fun.

Door to Door Organics isn’t just produce- you can order meats and freshly baked breads, too, as well as a variety of other products through the Door to Door Market.  You can also skip a delivery if you’re away, and cancel any time.  You’re not tied in to a lifetime of deliveries, though I do have some friends who have been hooked for a few years now.  So, unlike a CSA where you pay for the entire farm share up front and then get whatever the farm grows, whether you’re in town to pick it up or not, Door to Door Organics offers a wider variety at a good price for a convenient service.

Door to Door Organics has a great website that helps you shop, plan meals, find recipes, and learn about local organic produce. So, I suggest you check it out.  If you use the promo code “localtabletours” you’ll receive 40% off a bitty box.  You can’t beat that!

Hazel Dell Mushrooms Open House and Tour

I always like to bring groups on our Market tours to the Hazel Dell Mushroom stand to meet my friend Chad and to marvel at the most beautiful mushrooms most people have ever seen.  Hazel Dell Mushrooms are a staple in the best restaurants here in the front range, and once each year Hazel Dell opens its doors for an open house and candid tour of the mushroom farm.  I had it marked on my calendar for months and am so glad I made the drive north to Fort Collins, CO.

Chad often tells my tour guests that Hazel Dell mushrooms are certified organic by the state of Colorado, that they grow a lot of mushrooms in saw dust, and they “fool” the mushrooms into “thinking” it is spring all the time in closely monitored sea freight containers.  Seeing it in person makes for a powerful story of these small fungi.

There are a number of containers on the farm where mushrooms incubate. Then they’re transferred into a larger climate controlled room that is so humid it made my glasses fog up multiple times.

This room was amazing.  You have to see it (or experience it) to believe it, so make sure to visit next year for Hazel Dell’s annual open house!  All of the mushrooms we see at the market each week grow here in the most unique looking packets.

The Hazel Dell Mushroom experts do their best to mimic nature and are able to produce mushrooms year-round.

I felt like I was witnessing a really cool, super complex science experiment as Chad talked to us about how simply tossing each incubated package up to a worker straddling shelves a number of feet above the ground simulates a tree falling in the forest, which stimulates growth.  Really?  So if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, at least the mushrooms will know… and then grow.

It is always nice to see where exactly your food comes from, and learning some behind-the-scenes details about the mushrooms I buy each week was, for me, a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Oliv You & Me

As an avid home cook and food blogger, I often go to downtown Boulder for my cooking essentials.  As co-founding foodie of Local Table Tours, I love bringing my tour guests to some of my favorite foodie hot-spots, especially Oliv You & Me.

Oliv You & Me is the place to explore the varied world of olive oils.  Just look for the Olive Oil sign…

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Upon entering Oliv You & Me, it is clear that there are many different olive oils.  How is one to choose?  Lucky for all of us, Patti Scott, the owner of Oliv You & Me, is an olive oil aficionado and offers samples of olive oil to help you determine which particular oils please your palate.

On our tours, we all gather around the olive oil tasting bar to sample light, medium, and robust oils from all around the world. Patti talks to us about some different flavors and sensations we are experiencing while we slurp down small spoonfuls of premium olive oil.  It is interesting to note which flavors you prefer because each oil is uniquely different.  After you taste a few and distinguish a preference, it is time to start thinking about how to pair that particular olive oil with food.

Patti often tells our tour guests that a good olive oil not only adds flavor to your dish, but also improves your cooking.  She wants people to be inspired by their olive oil and get creative with it in the kitchen.  Patti is full of suggestions for pairing olive oils with foods, so, don’t be shy.  Just ask.

Oliv You & Me is the perfect place in downtown Boulder to find cooking inspiration.  This unique little specialty shop is filled with dried pastas, cookbooks, kitchen gadgets, serving platters, and shelf after shelf filled with olive oils.  Take some time to wander through the store and read olive oil facts, flavoring ideas, and recipe suggestions.

Patti also enjoys supporting local businesses.  Oliv You & Me serves European style coffee using local Coda coffee.  If you’re hungry, locally made salumi from Il Mondo Vecchio might tempt you.  As for me personally?  I’m a big fan of the glass olive oil dipping dishes made exclusively for Oliv You & Me by local artisan Meg Clarke.

These handmade glass dishes have little ridges on them for you to rub garlic, herbs, lemon, ginger, or whatever else you’d like to use to flavor olive oil. I absolutely love mine.

So, join us on a culinary walking tour.  A lot of our tours do make a stop at Oliv You & Me, though not all do. And the next time you’re in downtown Boulder, visit Oliv You & Me and treat yourself and your taste buds to some gourmet olive oils.  But I must warn you: after experiencing such thoughtfully selected olive oils it may be difficult to go back to your store brand oil- and that’s just fine with me.

A Virtual Tour: Market to Table Tour

Last Wednesday was a another beautiful day for a tour through downtown Boulder!  When we met on Pearl Street, there were hundreds of people milling around, enjoying all the performers and the sights and sounds of a perfect Colorado afternoon.  We walked down Pearl Street to our first stop – Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant.

Leaf Dining Room

At Leaf, the group enjoyed 3 perfectly plated samples:  A Raw Wrap with swiss chard and basil almond pâté, Raw Ravioli with beet, and Buffalo Seitan with blue cheese, carrot and celery salad paired with a Spanish white wine from Catalunya.  All our tour groups have enjoyed the beautifully appointed dining room, as well as the samples of delicious creations by Chef Steve Dustin.

We continued on to SALT, where a brandy cocktail with a honey cardamom simple syrup was waiting for us.  We sat at the bar overlooking the impressive kitchen.  Evan, the Beverage Director at SALT, talked with us about mixing the perfect cocktail, and pairing wine with our food samples.  Executive Chef Kevin Kidd talked with us about sourcing local ingredients as we enjoyed crostini with butter, radish and arugula; followed by prosciutto wrapped asparagus, Hazel Dell Mushroom and Haystack goat cheese in filo; all paired with a California Gewurtztraminer.  The extra special treat at the end of our visit was a sample of SALT’s famous dark chocolate caramel salt tart.

Back Bar overlooking the kitchen at SALT

Before continuing to our next partner restaurant, we stopped at Savory Spice Shop to talk with Dan about the variety of spices and seasoning mixes he carries at his shop.  We sampled different kinds of cinnamon from around the world, freeze dried corn, and candied ginger.  The staff at Savory paired up with our tour guests and expertly helped us through seasonings to use with some of our favorite dishes.

As we walked up to the Boulderado Hotel, a bridal party was checking in to this beautiful, historic hotel. The dining room at Q’s is elegant, and we sat on the restaurant’s enclosed glass porch to enjoy the Chef’s garden greens with house smoked salmon and capers, paired with Q’s signature orange- cranberry spritzer.  Q’s manager talked with us about the variety of programs and initiatives they use to be as sustainable as possible, including using wind power and partnering with a local biodiesel company.

We ended our tour at the bustling Boulder Farmers’ Market. First, we took in the sites and sounds of the busy market, stopping to sample Sugar Snap peas from Munson Farms (one of the original farms to participate in the market over 20 years ago), and popcorn from Boulder Popcorn.  Then we met up with Antonio Laudisio, who cooked us pizza in his brick pizza oven using Hazel Dell mushrooms.  We topped off our tour with a small scoop of all-natural, vanilla ice cream from Boulder Ice Cream.

Boulder Farmers' Market

If you would like to experience Boulder’s culinary scene for yourself, please click here for a listing of upcoming tours.  We look forward to seeing you on a future tour.  Each tour varies slightly, and as different seasonal ingredients become available, our chefs will change up what they share with us.

Cheers!

Julie and Megan

CSA’s: Community Supported Agriculture

Want to take that wonderful Market Tour food home with you all season long?

Think about joining a local CSA.

Membership in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a great way to get to know and use fresh, local, seasonal ingredients in your own kitchen.  The Chefs from our Market Tour talk with farmers and make menu decisions based on what is growing in our community.

CSA fresh and seasonal produce from Ollin Farms

This picture represents 1/2 share of the CSA from one of our partners, Ollin Farms.  Mark at Ollin Farms is a talented local farmer with a background in environmental and water resource engineering who believes in sustainable agriculture.  Mark and his family use the farm not only to supply the community with delicious and nutritious food, but also to educate adults and youth about the importance of The Biological Nutrient-Dense Farming Model.

If you are looking for a local CSA, or would like to learn more about what is local, fresh, and seasonal where you live- try your local farmers’ market or check out some of the resources listed below.

Local Harvest

USDA National Agricultural Library

Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association

Land Stewardship Project

If you are looking for some great ideas on what to do with fresh and seasonal produce, check out Megan’s blog where there are many excellent ideas for using vegetables in delicious and nutritious dishes.