! Slow Food Whidbey Island P.O. Box 1545, Freeland, WA 98249 www.slowfoodwhidbeyisland.org

CONVIVIYUM April 2019 Issue #4

MAY 21, 2019 - 5:30 pm Oysters and Wine at Farmer & The Vine Location: Cash Store, 5603 Bayview Rd., Bay #1 Bayview, Langley, WA 98260

Josh and Jen Peters of Farmer & The Vine are partnering with Slow Food for an Oyster and Wine tasting event at their new shop in the Bayview Cash Store in Langley. Farmer & The Vine focuses on Pacific Northwest wines and tapas providing guests an opportunity to sip, gather, and graze. In addition to wine, they also have cider and beer available for purchase.

They will be joined by Taylor Seafood who will supply the raw oysters and talk a little about the oyster industry in Washington. Farmer & The Vine will provide the slow wine. Cost for the event is $40.00 for Slow Food members and $45.00 for non- members. Seating is limited so be sure to register with Jen at [email protected] or call her at 360-321-0791 to guarantee your spot.

SLOW FOOD “GIVE WHAT YOU CAN” DAY ON APRIL 22

Slow food USA has decided to add an extra “Give What You Can” day. On April 22nd, you can join Slow Food for any amount of your choosing. One dollar to $100 will give you a one- year membership or will renew your membership for one year. Contact [email protected] for information on how to get the discount.

May 18th and 19th - Savor Spring Food, Wine and Spirits Tour

The annual Savor Spring Food, Wine & Spirits Tour on Whidbey offers you a true Taste of Whidbey. Participating wineries and distilleries offer handcrafted wines and spirits tasting paired with locally grown and prepared foods. Tickets are $25 in advance at Brown Paper Tickets and $30 at the door. For more information go to https://eventful.com/greenbank/events/savor-spring-food-wine-spirits- tour-whidbey-isla-/E0-001-122538841-7 CONVIVIYUM Page 1! April 20, 2019 Issue #4

May 25, 2019 - Port Townsend Artisan Food Festival

The Port Townsend Farmers Market is celebrating farm-fresh and artisan food at the 7th annual Port Townsend Artisan Food Festival on Saturday, May 25th, 9am-2pm, Tyler Street, uptown. This event features cooking demonstrations throughout the day by talented local chefs; and cheese, hard cider and wine tastings with award-winning Mt. Townsend Creamery, Finnriver Cidery, Eaglemount Wine and Cider, and Port Townsend Vineyards. This family-friendly event also includes kids’ activities, shopping at the vibrant farmers market, 70+ farms, artisan food, and art vendors, live music, and more! Go to http://jcfmarkets.org/ptaff to learn more.

Save the Dates: September 27 to October 6, 2019 - Whidbey Island Grown (WIG) Week Many events will be taking place during the third annual WIG Week. More events will be added as it gets closer. For more information go to www.whidbeyislandgrown.com.

Other Classes Being Offered On The Island

Cultus Bay Gardens in Clinton April 27 - 1 pm to3 pm - Hands-On making with Mary Fisher $49.00. Take home your pie. To register go to www.cultusbaygardens.com

South Whidbey Tilth April 28 - 12 noon to 1 pm - Julie Charette Nunn, will be teaching an herbalism class, “Nettle Is Mother Earth’s Milk” at the Tilth Campus on SR-525. Class is free and no registration required.

Bayview Nursery in Langley April 28 - 11:00 am to 12 noon - Incredible Edibles Brenda Sage from EB Stone will share tips for growing you own edibles in the PNW garden. Free - Sign up in the garden shop or call 360-321-6789

Dancing Fish Winery in Freeland May 9 - 5 pm to 7:30 pm - Learn to make Phyllo and make Classic Baklava and Borek, a spinach, feta and phyllo dish. Contact [email protected] to reserve your spot. Class is $45 for wine club members and $55 for non-members.

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Orchard Kitchen May 11 - Sous Vide Cooking $108.70 May 25 - Foraging with Karen Achabal. $130.44 For more info go to www.orchardkitchen.com/cooking-classes

Educational “Farmer’s Shadow” food growing series 2019. May 7 - 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm - Growing, harvesting and eating greens. Suggested donation $5 to $10 Farmer’s Shadow series will be a class and discussion session on the first Tuesday of every month in the Sears House in Bayview. They will have a topic they want to cover. There will also be time to address any food growing concerns of the participants. Anza Muenchow will be the host of each class. Class will be limited to 25 participants. No registration is required.

Farmers Markets Opening Dates on Whidbey Island

Coupeville Farmers Market Sat. April 6 10:00 - 2:00 Bayview Farmers Market Sat. April 27 10:00 - 2:00 So. Whidbey Tilth Sun. April 28 11:00 - 2:00 Langley Farmers Market Fri. May 3 1:00 - 5:00 Oak Harbor Farmers Mkt. Thurs. May 23 4:00 - 7:00 Clinton Farmers Market Thurs. June 6 10:00 - 4:00

IN MEMORIAM - JAN GROSS February 15, 1946 to March 31, 2019

Jan was a member of Slow Food Whidbey Island and led a sold-out “Jam Making Class” for us in the summer of 2015. She is best remembered for her company, Three Generations Jam, and was a local figure at the Bayview Market every Saturday during the season each year. She will be missed!

Beloved Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Registered Nurse, Jam Maker, Jan believed that the riches in this life are the loving relationships with your family, friends, and neighbors; possessions are just the things you have collected along the way. With that in mind, we encourage you to pause a moment when you think of Jan's impact on your life; to consider your own loved ones and what losing them would mean to you. Now, Jan and I want you to go and tell them before it's too late. All you have for sure is this moment, live fully in it. —Jan and Pete Gross

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IN THE NEWS

The Coupeville School District is very excited to announce that they have hired the owner of Christopher’s restaurant and Masterchef Andreas Wurzrainer to become the new food service director for the Coupeville School District. Andreas was born and raised in Austria and then earned Masterchef status in Germany after he graduated from High School. He has very successful experience as chef on national cruise ships, Four Seasons Hotel, and has run the very successful and popular Christopher’s Restaurant for the past seventeen years. We are excited to have Chef Wurzrainer lead our new Connected Food program that will be focused on scratch cooking with whole foods and local sourcing of food when available and cost effective. We believe his work is important as food and nutrition are connected to important things like learning, behavior, and health. We also believe we need to better connect with our community’s values when it comes to food options for our students. Andreas will launch the new program at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year and we are committed to doing this at no additional costs to our students and their families.

This will make our school district a self operating food service program and will end our longtime partnership with Chartwells who has faithfully provided over many years. We are thankful for their service and positive relationship that they have had with our school district and community.

One of our new director’s favorite quotes is: “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTOR MEMBERS Each month we will highlight one of the members of the Slow Food Whidbey Island Directors BOB FINKE, TREASURER Bob learned about food from an early age when his nickname as a baby was “butterball”. From there, he grew to be 6’4” tall and close to 300 pounds. Part of that was partaking in the Cajun/ Creole cuisine of New Orleans. Bob also excelled at detail work, with a Master’s degree in Computer Science and a 16-year career in software engineering at ROLM / IBM / Siemens in the 1980s and 90s. He followed that with a second career by starting, with his wife Lynn, a financial planning and investment practice and becoming a Certified Financial Planner™. Life greatly improved after he and Lynn moved to Whidbey Island from central coastal California in September 2015 - - where he quickly joined Slow Food Whidbey Island the next January. Along the way, Bob volunteered on some boards - - as Secretary for West Bay Opera in Palo Alto, CA and as Treasurer for the Santa Cruz Chorale in Santa Cruz, CA. CONVIVIYUM Page 4! April 20, 2019 Issue #4

RECIPES

As spring approaches, I find myself becoming overly impatient as I eagerly await the opening of our farmers markets and the arrival of farm-fresh produce here on the island. During this time, when we’re not quite done with winter, but not fully into spring, I start looking around for vegetarian dishes that still work with the organic produce I can find in the grocery store, but that provide a twist or something different from what I have been cooking all winter long. This Root Vegetable Tarte Tatin was a great find and a lot of fun to make. The combination of the crust, the natural sweetness of the roasted root vegetables, and the herbed syrup made for a deliciously rich entrée that needed to be accompanied only by a simple green salad and a glass of pinot noir to make a satisfying meal for your table. Hope you enjoy as much as I did! - Lynn Wenzel Root Vegetable Tarte Tatin Bon Appetit, February 2015 Ingredients: 1 medium Yukon Gold , peeled, sliced into ½ inch rounds 1 medium sweet potato, peeled, sliced into ½ inch rounds 2 medium carrots, peeled, sliced into ½ inch rounds 1 medium parsnip, peeled, sliced into ½ inch rounds 1 small red onion, sliced into ½ inch rounds ¼ cup olive oil Kosher salt freshly ground black pepper 1/3 cup sugar 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage Note: I substituted fresh oregano and fresh thyme, because that’s what I had in the house at the time 4 ounces fresh goat cheese 1 disk All- Pie Dough (See below) All-purpose flour (for surface)

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Recipe Preparation: • Place a rack in lower third of oven; preheat to 400 degrees. Toss potato, sweet potato, carrots, parsnip, and onion with oil on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper and arrange vegetables in a single layer. Roast until golden around the edges and tender, 30-35 minutes. Let cool. • Meanwhile, cook sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan over medium- high heat, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is amber-colored, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and add vinegar and a pinch of salt, swirling pan to combine. Quickly pour caramel into a 9 inch-diameter pie pan; tilt and rotate pan to evenly coat bottom with caramel. Scatter chopped herbs over top. • Arrange potatoes, carrots, and parsnips snugly in a single layer on top of caramel, using smaller carrot and parsnip pieces to fill in any holes. Scatter onion rings and crumble goat cheese over vegetables. • Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch round. Drape over vegetables, tucking edges into pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake until crust looks dry, about 20 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until crust is golden brown, 15-20 minutes. • Let tart cool 5 minutes before inverting carefully onto a large plate. • DO AHEAD: Vegetables can be roasted 4 hours ahead. Keep at room temperature.

All-Butter Pie Dough Bon Appetit, February 2015 Ingredients: 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Recipe Preparation: • Pulse flour and salt in a food processor to combine. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal with pieces of butter still visible, about 20 pulses. • Combine vinegar and ½ cup ice water in a measuring cup. Pulsing, drizzle in vinegar mixture; pulse until dough just holds together when squeezed (it should still be crumbly), about 10 pulses. • Turn out dough and divide in half. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and use plastic to press into disks. Wrap and chill until firm, about 2 hours. • DO AHEAD: Dough can be chilled 3 days ahead. Or, freeze up to 2 months.

Note: I only made half of the pie dough recipe. Probably should have made the full recipe and frozen half of the dough for future use.

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Help is needed at South Whidbey Tilth Farmers Market on Sundays during the season. The first market will be April 28th.

South Whidbey Tilth is looking for helpers to volunteer each week to support the market operation. They also are looking for a folding table you could lend to Tilth for the season. Contact Kristin at [email protected] if you have one to offer. Consider volunteering several times this season. 1. Do you have a skill or item of interest to teach? Do you have a recipe or cooking technique you would like to demonstrate? 2. Can you help in the Laughing Cat Beverage Bar to support the cooks and sell beverages? Shifts are 10 am to 1 pm and noon to 3 pm. 3. Can you help with hospitality such as welcoming visitors, setting up an educational display, counting customers as they arrive? 4. Can you work with Tilth to process SNAP cards and credit cards? Tilth will teach you. 5. Two restrooms need cleaning each week - can you help with that? Contact Prescott at [email protected] or 360-682-8642.

READER’S FEEDBACK

…As for the chocolate chip cookie recipe…I like learning new things with the tried and true classic cookie. My son (knows everything at 21 yrs) says he makes the best chocolate chip cookies and has sold them. He told me his secret...which is browning the butter first and then letting it solidify. I have yet to try this...perhaps when he visits tomorrow. Had to share, up early and happy with the weather. Yes, I did plant some things already! I couldn't contain myself. -Heide Horeth

GREAT newsletter. We are in the South Atlantic Ocean near the most remote town on the planet. We were there yesterday, took a side trip to a UNESCO World Heritage island to enjoy the wildlife there and will be at 2 other UNESCO islands tomorrow, Inaccessible Island and Nightingale Island, both uninhabited by humans. Last week we were on South Georgia Island close to Antarctica and prior to that we flew from Santiago, Chile, one of my favorite cities down to Ushuaia, Argentina to board the Silversea Expedition ship, Silver Cloud. We have been on it before when we went to the Amazon for 3 weeks a few years ago. Now it is reconfigured to explore in Antarctic and Arctic oceans. Silversea is a Relais & Chateaux Slow Food cruise line. Do I need to say more? -Jelcy Romberg

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