Acre Gourmet

End Subsidies for Junk Foods

kristentruchinski — Thu, 24 May 2012 16:17:02 +0000

It is easy for me to see why large subsidies to large agribusiness in the US is making access to cheap junk food too easy for our youth. I’m not the only one with this view – you can see a video with President Obama and Glenn Beck saying the same thing.

Fun at Bay Day!

kristentruchinski — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:20:01 +0000

Acre Gourmet was delighted to participate in Bay School’s annual Bay Day yesterday at McNear’s Beach. We grilled hot dogs right there at the park and served it up with yummy salad, natural potato chips and strawberry cake with whipped cream!

The day was full of beach activities like volley ball, sand castle building, tug of war and swimming. This was so much fun and it was great to spend a work day in the sun

Here are some pictures of our part of the day:

Just before the kids arrived (calm before the storm)

Staff grab a bite before student lunch - ahhh.... relaxing beach lunch

Yum! Bay School loves picnics as much as we do

"Manning" the grill

Nourish

kristentruchinski — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:33:09 +0000

Many of our schools and those who know Acre Gourmet know about Nourish. It is a short film released last year about the issues around our food systems and it was created for use in the classrooms. It is an interesting and informing film narrated by Cameron Diaz.

The film is accompanied by curriculum and classroom aids which have grown since the release and are worth exploring if you’re an educator. One piece that caught our eye was this amazing food system map.

A little tidbit – Acre School lunch is in the film if you look closely

Acre Gourmet and Slow Food

kristentruchinski — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:20:20 +0000

Slow Food San Francisco interviewed Acre Gourmet’s executive chef and co-owner, Britt Galler, last week and you can read about it HERE.

Britt Galler, Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Acre Gourmet

Lunch Guru Ann Cooper on NPR

kristentruchinski — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:15:25 +0000

NPR features TED Talks and interviews presenters – this one is with Ann Cooper talking about school lunch – have a listen!

Farmers’ Markets are Opening!

kristentruchinski — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:36:19 +0000

The Agricultural Institute of Marin operates several markets in the Bay Area and they’ve been opening these past few weeks. Wait no more – our seasonal markets are back! Enjoy fresh produce right as apricots and cherries are coming back into season. Happy shopping!

Rhubarb Cake

kristentruchinski — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:28:17 +0000

Rhubarb isn’t as great of a tradition in central, coastal California as it is in the rest of the country, but that isn’t to say that it isn’t welcome and enjoyed! The students we feed just can’t say enough lovely things about our favorite spring cake:

Rhubarb Cake

1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
2 tsp nutmeg grated or ground
5 cups large diced rhubarb
2 cups buttermilk
2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 cake pan.
Cream together the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs, salt and vanilla. Stir in the flour and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl mix together the diced rhubarb, buttermilk and baking soda.
Stir the rhubarb mixture into the batter and pour into the prepared pan.
Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar (1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 Tbsp cinnamon) and bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

*A thank you to my Minnesotan mother for her recipe

Summer is inching closer

kristentruchinski — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:18:54 +0000

We’ve been in the heart of spring for a while now. This week our schools are seeing that asparagus is going out (such a short season) and we’re having strawberries and rhubarb in our dessert. While some of these foods are pure joy to see, it can’t help but be noticed that they are few.

Spring is a surprising time in the kitchen. We’re so full of energy and excitement for new, fresh foods and we find that winter foods aren’t available while summer foods are still just baby plants. The larder is a bit bare in choices.

However, this week we see summer on the horizon – summer squash is in! Central California’s farms have had enough heat to be giving us summer squash and now snap peas too. Within a week or so we look forward to apricots and cherries too. It won’t be long before cucumbers and tomatoes from the hot central valley can find their way to our plates too…

Act Now! to keep Agent Orange away from your family

kristentruchinski — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:09:35 +0000

There is still some time left to make sure that Agent Orange isn’t approved for use in our country:

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_agent_orange_corn/?akid=533.29136.TVbO8C&rd=1&t=1

Urban Agriculture Across America

kristentruchinski — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:31:02 +0000

PBS is airing a new episode of the series “Food Forward” called “Urban Agriculture Across America”. It looks at food production in cities… the way it was done before the very recent advent of urban population booms. Check it out!