All Local Lunch

On Sunday, 5/31, I achieved one of my goals of an all local lunch.

I went with friends to the Whole Foods Cherry Creek, Denver, CO. At many Whole Foods stores, local products are marked with tags in store, and I picked up Colorado tomaotes from Honeyacre, in Wiggins, CO, as well as a spinach asiago dip from a Denver company, Wild Thymes. Also, in the store were spelt crackers made by Nita Crisp in Fort Collins, CO.

On the way back from Whole Foods, we discovered that the City Park Esplanade Farmers' Market had opened for the season. I stopped in and picked up salsa, red leaf lettuce, orange peppers, and radishes from White Girl Salsa, McCurry Farms, and Full Circle Farms. The radishes from Full Circle were some of best I'd ever had.

All of these items became my locavore lunch plate, and they were delicious!

Leaving Foggy California

Well, we're headed out today. Soon we'll be back in Denver to pick up the car and continue the road trip.

California has been great. Tuesday and Wednesday were absolutely beautiful, and I got in a great 8 mile walk around Berkeley. Wednesday was a culinary homage for sure. I had lunch at Vik's Chaat Corner and then dinner at Chez Panisse. Yesterday, Frank and I got to Oakland and visited the Museum of California. Definitely interesting. The best part was an exhibit of photographs of giant sequoias.

More to come soon....

The Latest

Today, Frank and I returned from Marin County where we spent the weekend with his aunt (that's Heidi in the picture) and uncle visiting the Bay Model Museum, Marin County Farmer's Market at Civic Center, and Sonoma Valley wineries including:

• Kunde, which is organic,
• Benziger, which has a great tour and is biodynamic,
• Wellington, solar powered and locally owned,
• Chateau St. Jean with beautiful grounds, and
• Jacuzzi for an olive oil tasting.

We had a fabulous time.

Back in Berkeley now, Greet took us to hike at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, I recommend the place highly. On the way back, we took the scenic route through the hills connecting Oakland and Berkeley and saw some amazing views and some amazing houses. Our last stop post-hike, Greer's declared "best ice cream in the world" at Ici. I had a myer lemon ice cream sandwich that my Mom would have loved!

Tomorrow, there are many more culinary adventures in store. I'm planning a walking tour for myself!

Mostly Beautiful

So, that's a LONG drive from Kansas City, MO, to Denver, CO. Shocking, I know.

We arrived to low clouds and bizarre weather (at least as far as we've ever seen) for Colorado. It was green, it rained and even felt a little humid.

Friday morning, we left for Denver's airport and headed west to "mostly beautiful" California, where we are staying with our friend, Greer, and Frank's aunt and uncle. We're in for some fun ahead, and we're without car, so no driving for a week!

Pictures will be coming soon, but since we've had so many friends to visit with my emailing and blog/picture/google map updates may be a little slow in coming!

Long, Long Days

Kansas City, MO

It's been a couple of long, long days, but tons o' fun.

We followed the Missouri River on the Lewis and Clark trail from Defiance to Hermann, MO, stopping at Johann's gas station at a critical moment! Picture to come later!

Spent last night with one of my former VISTAs, Nicole, in Columbia, MO, and got a tour of town and tried their local brewery, the Flat Branch.

Today, we stopped at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO - a great spot.

Tonight, we're meeting up with Buy Fresh Buy Local Kansas City for dinner at the Blue Bird Bistro, and I already uncovered Potpie (near our hotel) for some local fare.

Departure Day

So, here we are in Baltimore - ready to leave!

Tonight we're in Lexington, KY, after traveling through MD, WV, and KY. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great local lunch stop at Sirianni's in Davis, WV, and dinner at Billy's BBQ in Lexington (thanks, Darran).

Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar

Yesterday, friends Todd and Kathleen gave me Betty Crocker's Cooking Calendar from 1962 to take on the road!

On my Support Local Challenge, I'll check it out from time to time to see how the "year-round guide to meal planning and recipes" compares with today's locavore trends.

For May, from page 58, there are "Tips for Buying Asparagus".

• Choose unbroken tips;
• Fresh, green stalks that are straight and 6 to 10" long;
• Brittle. No thin, wilted, old, tough, or woody stalks;
• To prvent drying, store in a moisture-proof bag in refrigerator.

(Image from http://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crockers-Cooking-Calendar-Crocker/dp/B001E20904.)

Packing & Moving Are No Fun!

Some Tips and Advice

• Plan most final get-togethers, parties, etc. 7-10 days before departure so that the last week can be devoted completely to packing and moving.


• Give each room of the house a day. We put everything into piles: going on the road trip, going to Chicago, staying here. It's definitely overwhelming, but a good system.


• Keep track of mail for the last month and call to have name and address removed from system.

We are so excited to be leaving Monday morning! More from the road.

Susan's Best of Baltimore

Before I leave, I'm on a mission to visit some of my favorite spots.

Last Sunday was brunch at Indigma (papadams galore and Indian tastings). Brunch is absolutely the way to go.

Last Wednesday, an uberbuddies girls night at Pazo. We loved the "La Vie En Rose" cocktail, and the night was a homage to asparagus with an amazing strawberry rhubarb tart to end the night.

On Friday and Saturday, I took a favorite walk, my Bly-the-wood walk. Lovely.

Saturday brunch at Carma's Cafe (sesame noodles, salad, yogurt, and the chocolate panino).

A walk through Johns Hopkins' Bufano Sculpture Garden.

Dinner at Woodberry Kitchen. Check out the cappuccino.


Still to come this week, brunch at Golden West, a final cappuccino at Cafe Azafran's, and the Druid Hill Park walk.

Taking the Buy Local Challenge

Starting on Monday, May 18, I will take FoodRoutes "buy local" challenge for my road trip across the United States.

Be on the lookout for my notes and tallies on this effort!

It's hard to say goodbye...

So, I nearly lost it walking home from the farmers' market today. I had picked up my typical ethiopian food fix from Ethiopian Delights. These are truly the nicest people in the world. I love Selwyn and Terunesh Ray.

Every week, we catch up, and I get the most delicious ethiopian food. I'll be leaving them soon, but I haven't told them, nor some of my other stalwart vendors, and I don't want to.

Saying goodbye is too hard....

(Image from http://www.32ndstreetmarket.org/ethiopian.html.)

Homage to Walkers

This afternoon I met one of my kindred spirits, Michelle, at Atwaters at Belvedere Square. Michelle walked from her house in Hamilton and me from mine in Oakenshawe, and we had lunch in the middle with her daughter, Althea.

Walking is one of my favorite passtimes, and I want to pay homage to more of my fellow walker kindred spirits: Emily F., Emily G., Michelle D., Michel P., Todd & Kathleen.

Productive Reflections

Yesterday, I had a lunch meeting, where I introduced the Lions Clubs and LensCrafters to Greater Homewood's Adult Literacy and ESOL Program. Adults in need should be able to get low cost exams and glasses soon. Working with the Lions and LensCrafters for 4 years, this Maryland crew is awesome. I suggest making yourself more aware of what they can offer through their commitment to vision.

Also, my friend Christy helped make improvements to my blog. Pretty fun. Check out my google map to the bottom of this page. Today's task: working on getting more pictures on the blog.