It's Been A While

Howdy out there in Philly Food Feed land. Should I say, what's left of you. I have been really really lazy lately and well, I guess it is less lazy and more due to circumstances. I recently broke my leg going down some steps and when I went to the hospital and found out I suffer from Type 2 Diabetes. Hoorah! Years of the Industrial food chain have caught up with me! Well, probably not just that but it wouldn't be the Philly Food Feed without the rantings of the left-wing foodie. So now I sit, two incomes become one, I can't walk, and I have to begin monitoring my blood sugar and pay attention to what I eat more closely.

So now with all that being said, my first "outing" was this past Saturday at The Piazza at Schmidt's,(2nd and Hamilton, Northern Liberties) where I attended the opening day of Philadelphia's newest farmers' market. From the Piazza's website -

[The Piazza is] a beautifully landscaped, 80,000 square foot open-air plaza with free events year-round, surrounded by three new buildings including 35 artist’s studios and boutiques, four new restaurants, 500 apartments and 50,000 square feet of office space in the Northern Liberties neighborhood

So there we were, Sarah, Ethan and I. I was on crutches and after about 10 minutes it became obvious that my other leg was not going to cooperate for the long haul. All of my girth on one leg = pain! So with the haste of a one-legged man at an ass-kicking contest, we looked around long enough to say hello to a couple of old friends and make some new ones.

First, I made a B-line to Mark Skinner at Natural Meadows Farm. It has been too long since I enjoyed some burgers made from pastured ground beef and Natural Meadows is my place to go. Not to mention the pastured organic eggs that we constantly purchase from the Farm. If you have never had these eggs, you really have nveer had eggs. The eggs from corn-fed chickens cannot compare to the ones that feed off of grass. Not only is the taste better, but pastured eggs contain more healthy Oomega 3's. Nothing too good for baby Ethan. Speaking of which, Ethan has been needing some more protein in his diet lately and last night we made burgers from some of the pastured meat we purchased. If I said he inhaled the burgers, I wouldn't be doing justice to his eating prowess. YUM! Looks like I'll be back next week to visit Mark.

We also saw Tom Cullen, our friend from the Headhouse Farmers' Market. Tom specializes in organic and heirloom produce. Tom is an interesting guy who is very knowledgeable about what he grows. If you have never met him, go to the Piazza next week and say hello. You will walk away with some delicious vegetables and some smarts about produce to boot.

While I was resting on a bench, Sarah and Ethan paid a visit to Highland Orchards, a farm out of West Chester, PA. Talk about local. Sarah bought some onions, tomatoes, a huge green pepper, and some of their delicious Apple Cider Dougnuts (I can only take her word for it regarding the deliciousness, damn Diabetes). We used the onion in the aforementioned burgers last night. MMMMMMM MMMMMMM MMMMMM

So there you have it. We will be returning to the Piazza in the near future as well as some of the other year round markets. Look for me if you go, I'm the guy on the crutches.