Patrick's Piece
With the holidays approaching, many Hampton Roads tables will feature a country-style ham, a hallmark of the Old Dominion since early colony days. Since there was no refrigeration available to early settlers, meats were first cured for storage rather than flavor. But the combination of native razorback hog meat, curing spices, and smoking wood made hams a favorite; they were routinely shipped to epicures, from the king down, in Mother England during Colonial times. During the Revolutionary War, an aide of General Washington seized every Smithfield ham available, believing they would strengthen the American troops.

Patrick Evans-Hylton, BFBLHR's food historian, is a Johnson & Wales-trained chef, as well as a food authority on Chesapeake Bay regional cuisine and author of the upcoming book, "Dishing Up Virginia." His work appears in print, television and radio. Read more of his adventures at www.patrickevanshylton.com.

Our friends over at Independent We Stand recently held a taste test with local Hampton Roads food experts to see if they could taste the difference between local food and big box food. Check out the video and see how they did!

Click here to see the video.

This Blog was written and submitted by our partner, Cuisine & Company.

This time of year, you can’t help but take a minute for the senses.  In Spring, you look forward to the sweet scents of flowers, herbs and fresh vegetables!          

          Cuisine & Company Catering looks forward to warmer weather, too, as Colby and Trish, our catering and pastry chefs, start to prepare the raised garden beds, located on the grounds of our 11,000 square foot commissary.  In the fall, we plant kale and other cool weather vegetables for garnish, seasoning, and cooking.  Our delicious home-grown garden vegetables and herbs are incorporated into every menu possible!  Fresh naturally grown produce like crunchy cucumbers, colorful sweet peppers, and several different varieties of tomatoes are just a few of the ingredients in our zesty gazpacho and chopped green salads. Fresh aromatic herbs like basil, cilantro, rosemary, and thyme are included in nearly all of our marinades, sauces, soups and salsas.

          We are very excited to see the fruits of our labor enjoyed by our wonderful customers.  Keeping up with the garden requires precious time, energy, resources, and hard work.  We take comfort knowing where our food comes from, and that it is fresh and delicious.  We support our local farmers and we are proud to be a member of Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads.  We know with all of the delicious and savory menu items to choose from, it may be difficult to decide, but feel assured, Cuisine & Company strives for freshness, taste, and good food in every bite.  So enjoy the Spring!  Enjoy the freshness!

Sunday, January 9th, at the AREC Station on Diamond Springs Road, Buy Fresh Buy Local Hampton Roads hosted its 2nd Annual Partner Gathering. BFBLHR Board Members, Partners, Sponsors, Donors and Volunteers attended the event that celebrated local food, drinks and the accomplishments of the organization in 2010.

Despite the cold weather and mid-winter day, the local food and drink at the event was abundant. Attendees were asked to bring a locally inspired dish and items ranged from Okinawa sweet potatoes to kale and carrot salad to deviled eggs and locally produced cheese. Norfolk Canyon Ale was provided by Norfolk's own O'Conner brewery as well as wines from Holly Grove and Chatham vineyards on the Eastern Shore. Warm apple cider from Virginia Garden Organic Grocery at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market smelled great and tasted even better.
With nearly 50 locavore attendees, good food was not hard to find!

A short presentation was also given than highlighted the accomplishments of BFBLHR over the past year including printing and distributing nearly 120,000 copies of the fall and spring Food Guide, receiving a blue ribbon for their display at the Virginia Beach Home and Garden Show, receiving a $2500 matching grant from Jack Johnson's non-profit organization: All At Once, increasing partner participation, increasing sponsorhips and donors to raise nearly $40,000 and more.

BFBLHR hopes to continue this annual tradition with even more partners and more food next year!

For the last several years, our family has enjoyed the extra fun of sourcing as much of our Thanksgiving dinner as we can within 100 miles.  Most everything but cranberries features a local product.  We start with Lynnhaven oysters on the grill and Blue Ridge vodka, and sit down together to eat local turkey, Edward's ham, kale from our garden, Martin's apples baked with Haymans, and a big dish of roasted root vegetables (butternut squash, carrots and parsnips). I made pumpkin butter and apple chutney in October to serve with both sweet potato and butternut chive biscuits that I make from Wade's Mill flour (Raphine, VA). Our dressing begins with Pungo Creek cornbread, to which I add local sausage, onions and garlic, tart apples, and herbs from the garden. Desserts inspired by local apples or pumpkins are easy.
One caveat:  fresh, local turkeys cook in much less time.  Plan to check yours early, 'cause it's easy to overcook!

Jo Ann Hofheimer
BFBLHR President