Awesome Arugula

This week we will be featuring arugula at the market. It is one of the first items that sell out at our booth. People usually describe arugula as having a peppery taste. Actually I think it has its own taste that is indescribable. If I had to say, I'd choose the word "nutty" more than "peppery".
It is definitely my favorite green. Arugula salad, arugula on sandwiches, arugula pesto, arugula as a garnish on pizza, arugula straight out of the garden with no embellishment necessary - it all works for me.
Arugula and strawberry salad is a favorite this time of year. The two seem made to go together and pack a nutritional punch. It is like having a strawberry vinaigrette dressing just by adding some balsamic vinegar. I love fruit in salads anyway and will use dried wolfberries or raisins when fresh fruit isn't available.
Arugula flowers are edible and just as tasty. We'll try to make sure we have enough of those available as well.

Exotic and Elegant

It is our desire that you love food as we do. Healthy is not boring. Healthy is real food, fresh living food that still has its living energy to offer to you; and then Vittles de Vine is about making it fun. While we believe in healthy food, we also believe in lagniapping until you understand what the food is giving you. We make healthy food beautiful. We make healthy food elegant and we bring you exotic food no one else thinks to give you from simple farmers – grape leaves, chop suey greens and flowers, and flowers, flowers, flowers. Food should make you feel rich and abundant. The filet mignon of the vegetable world is at your whim with a new way of thinking. We love giving you this. But it isn’t about us. It is about you creating, being involved with food as an art form renewed. The exotic is at your fingertips. What minor addition of an herb or flower haven’t you tried? It is easy and not for the few chefs that have studied and made it a way of life. Why make the same boring dishes every day and night when a few flowers or a new herb can bring a sense of elegance into your life, while it secretly brings you greater health behind the scenes?
This week’s market is all about this as we bring you roses and herbs. Visit our booth, look at our book, and discover a few ever so simple ways to learn how to lagniappe yourself. And that should be a way of life.
Aunt Farmer

The No-GMO Challenge

Ordinarily, I would refrain from tainting our colorful and fun blog with the "dark side" of agriculture - GMO (what a very bad 3 letter acronym), but in my defense I have posted this rather charming lad with his super cape so I feel comfortable with the following discourse.


GMO is a ubiquitous term that induces a variety of feelings, opinions, and back-ally fists fights (so I've heard). It is a term rapidly approaching conversational infamy akin to politics or religion. So, rather than have you leave the party or challenge me to an wrestling match, I will refrain from sharing my opinions on the subject and ostensibly assume that we are both interested in learning how to avoid this 3 lettered monster lately hiding in the supermarket closet of every American.

I can't say with certainty how I stumbled upon this website: realfoodmedia but I know it started with a Russian scientist discussing how GMO potatoes used in fast food french fries are linked to the swine flu virus... Anyway, what matters is that I found the above site, which is starting a much needed dialogue on understanding GMOs. And more importantly, for those who do understand them, the site along with the Center for Food Safety offers a how-to-circumvent-immanent-GMO-ingestion-when-navigating-the seizure-inducing-isles-at-the-grocery-store otherwise known as the NON-GMO SHOPPING GUIDE. Refraining from entering into the religious arena (I'm doing well, huh?) I liken this guide to the irreplaceable "Handbook for the Dead" so vital to those navigating between worlds in Beetlejuice (click the link if you wish to tarnish all traces of my credibility).

So in conclusion, I encourage you to take the NO GMO challenge, as I will. At least take a look at the guide and see how many GMO items you already purchase and identify non-GMO substitutes for your current shopping excursions. Mostly I want to entice you to do your own homework and contribute to the dialogue. It's so important. Ultimately it boils down to personal responsibility and caring about how our food is grown. Do you?

Have You Been Lagniapped Today?

If lagniappe were only a noun before, meaning "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure," I can proudly state that for us it has become a verb. We've been "lagniapping" our customers in joyful Vittles de Vine style for three weeks now at the 6th Ave Market, and yesterday at market and in the past week elsewhere, we've found others have lagiapped us as we never even thought to expect. From an armful of peonies to a loaf of fresh-baked olive bread, we're feeling the abundance coming back to us and enjoying it beyond words. The smiles on people's faces as they left our booth at market yesterday were the greatest of all the lagniappes we received. It was a day of wonderful, crowded enthusiasm where it was obvious that people really are learning the value of knowing not only where their food comes from but also who the people are that grow it and, of supreme importance to us, the spirit in which it is grown. I can hardly wait for next week!
Boo Boo Farmer

Lettuce Soup

This is one of my all time favourite soups, and this can be a great way to use

our salad mixes. The soup is also very satisfying chilled, especially

on a hot summer's day.

Bon Appetit!

Lettuce soup

(makes about 6 medium bowls)

2 large bunches or heads of lettuce

or outside leaves from 3-4 bunches

2 cups chicken stock (or other light soup stock)

2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or to taste

1teaspoon honey or sugar

pepper, salt optional

1-2 tablespoons butter or cream

Shred the lettuce and put it in a pan with the soup stock.

Simmer gently till the lettuce is soft. Puree in a blender .

Return to the pan, add the milk, and season with nutmeg, honey or sugar, salt and pepper.

Heat without boiling.

Just before serving stir in a little butter or cream.

This delicate soup is said to have a soothing or tranquilizing effect.

This recipe comes from the book "The Craft of the Country Cook" by Pat Katz.

This Week at Market Features Red Giant Mustard

This week we're featuring Red Giant Mustard. Dan Hutchinson, the fabulous chef at Il Fiasco, is going to use it in his demo. He cooks the most tantalizing dishes and hands out the recipe. All the ingredients used may be found right there in the market.
Red Giant Mustard is an Asian green, rich in nutrients, medicinal lore and tangy taste. For those who like it hot, eat it raw in salads or on sandwiches. It tastes almost like horseradish. I am personally going to shred the leaves, add them along with Young Living lemon essential oil to mayonnaise, and then use that to dress my fresh salmon from a 6th Street farmer's market vendor.
If you don't like it quite so hot, or if you just like variety, sauté it. You can start with a light oil of your choice, add the stems chopped fine, and add garlic and onion. (Yes we'll have garlic and onions at the market this week too). Then when those are translucent and cooked to your liking, add mustard greens, cover and turn on very low. In just a few minutes you have a very easy and tasty meal. Cooking the greens makes for a milder flavor. For more fun, add herbs that you've never tried before.
And, of course, we will have the mustard flowers there for your salads or to add beauty to any meal you've cooked.
Looking forward to seeing you there,
Aunt Farmer

Thanks Ed Murrieta and Diana Prine

Things are moving fast for us and we couldn’t be more pleased. We just got to participate in the Tacoma Symphony’s Honor Thy Farmer dinner. We weren’t there but our salad greens were. Chef Diana Prine of Fife City Bar and Grill used our greens in her Northwest garden salad creation. In honor of this we have officially named the particular mix that we provided her the Symphony Mix. Thanks so much to Ed Murrieta for making it happen. Ed, though you only interacted with a few of us, you are now part of the buzz of excitement in the whole Lagniappe family.
Aunt Farmer

Grape Leaves This Week

This week we will have fresh deVine Grape Leaves at the Tacoma Market on 6th.
Here is a very simple way to use fresh grape leaves that will make you feel like a gourmet chef.

Make any kind of filling you like. You can make a rice mixture including meat or nuts, grated vegetables, raisins, shredded radish leaves, and anything else that suits your creative fancy. Make sure you add some interesting and healthy herbs, like mint.
Wash the leaves and remove the stem. Boil water in a pot. Remove the pot and add leaves. Leave them in the hot water for about 3 minutes. You’ve now officially blanched them.
Put a single grape leaf on a work surface like a chopping board.
Put a small amount of filling close to the stem area.
Fold the bottom points over the filling first. Then fold the side points in.
Roll from the bottom toward the top until there is no more to roll.
Put into a baking dish and go on to the next leaf.
Many recipes say to pour a broth, like chicken broth, over the grape leaves before baking. Bake for about ½ an hour.

There are loads of good recipes on the internet if you want to get more specific your first time!

Aunt Farmer

Lagniappe

I'm surprised no one has asked what 'lagniappe' means. They either already know or don't realize its significance. Alas, I can't wait any longer and have to spill the beans.
Vittles de Vine is a subset of Lagniappe Family Enterprises, LLC. And the Lagniappe Family, and its choice of name, is what therefore defines Vittles de Vine. Lagniappe is defined as "a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)". The Lagnaippe family cannot help but gift gifts as the entire business is based on the concept, hence its name. More specifically the word is Cajun in origin and means a completely unexpected and nice surprise. Pronounce it lan-yap and if you love the concept, know that we love it even more. Being a giver is that much greater than receiving. Where most businesses are lucky or even expect to receive tips from their customers for a job well done, we consider ourselves abundant to be able to give tips and gifts to our customers for being so special to us. We love giving gifts just as bountifully as Nature gives its gifts to us.
Aunt Farmer

My obsession with Orach

I must admit I have been a spinach man since my first encounter with Popeye back in the day. I used to order it from a Luby's cafeteria in Texas every time my family would go there for dinner and as I grew older and bolder began to enjoy it raw as a substitute for salad greens. My limited palate considered the flavor and texture of spinach unmatched. Then I was introduced to Orach.

Almost identical in texture to spinach, this beautiful and tasty plant comes in colors ranging from light green almost white to deep and dramatic purples and will literally change the way you look at salads. Compared to spinach, this hardy plant can grow in less friendly soils, can sustain warmer temperatures and will grow up to 6 feet tall. These characteristics have earned this plant the name of mountain spinach (think: toughness of a mountain man versus an ordinary man), yet with such charming names as Magenta Magic and Aurora, you'd just as soon ask it out for a night on the town.

The Day After Market

We did it, We loved it, and Vittles de Vine is officially born and on it's way. The market was a resounding success for us. What fun. From the harvest to the cleaning of produce, from transporting to sighing and settling in, it was all pure adventure and manifested with the greatest of chaotic ease. Everyone in the Lagniappe family seemed to be going in different directions, concerned with different aspects, finding their niche and throwing themselves wholeheartedly into it. And in some miraculous way, everything arrived exactly on time with energy and ease.

We were all wide eyed in our new experience.... and waiting for you. We had plenty of time to meet the other vendors and enjoy their creations as well. It was exactly the atmosphere we wanted to be in; we were in the midst of those just like ourselves and all of us were creating and living our dreams.

And then the people arrived, you showed up. To all of you who visited us, thank you so much for sharing our first market ever with us. You stand out in our minds. If you enjoyed our lagniappes, come again as it will only evolve and get better. We're over our shy beginnings. Next market is a new day, a new week. Our desire is to decorate your salads with such beauty and nutrition that it is beyond any gourmet phantasm and right into your reality... Simple elegance and medicine for the soul. We already start with the best salad, a salad that actually has taste, but we intend to improve on that. We want to gift decorating and add beauty until each meal you carry away is your own private elegance or your personal ostentatious display - whatever your individuality chooses. That requires us to be able to know you, that requires your participation!

Please let us know what you want and we'll let you know if we have it in season. If we can we'll supply it and if we don't have it, we'll consider planting and loving it right into your life. We really are listening and caring. Read our book at the market, or write in our book and tell us about you. It is evolving like we are. Be part of that, scribble notes, make your mark!

Thank you all for making this a most spectacular experience for us, such a wonderful beginning.
Aunt Farmer

Breathing life into business

This video offers a fun and evolutionary view into how Vittles de Vine came about. From a single garden space to a beautiful and bountiful small scale farm, we have grown tremendously in a short time. To us, this video represents how each of us that makes up Vittles has learned from our experiences and grown as a family company. But most of all, it gives you a glimpse into the inner-workings of our beloved gardens, from which springs forth the produce we bring to you. We have transferred our individual gardening knowledge and passion for fresh, local, all-natural foods, into successful methods and steadfast standards for our little farm. We invite you to come take a walk inside our secret garden.