Take it From Julio...

Any Biggest Loser fans out there? I’ll admit, the show hooked me and now I sit on the couch (ironic?) every Tuesday night crying right along with the contestants. Pathetic, but true. This week’s episode made me even happier to watch the show. In the “where are they now” video clip showing the contestants’ continued weight loss journey, Julio says, “my love for food isnt gone, I’m just changing the way of doing it.” He continued, “I’m buying fresher food. When you buy local food, it has good flavor already…it doesn’t need any additives to make it taste good.” Hurray for Julio! We’ve said it all along, and you, as our reader, know too– local is best. Even in the pouring rain and gusty winds, the owner of Lipinski Farm was ready and willing to pack up a wooden crate full of fresh butternut squash for our prepared pasta. While handing us each a fresh ear of corn (delicious), he told us about the devastating effects of a hard rain on his mums, how corn, usually thought to be long gone by October is still in its peak, and explained to us what vegetables could last the longest in our cellars to be used throughout the winter. Listening to him passionately speak about his vegetables, flowers and land actually makes the experience of eating his produce all the better. There’s nothing better than chucking an ear of corn, biting into it raw, and knowing exactly where it was grown, who grew it, and how much time and care it took to nurture from seed to full growth. While not everyone may have the opportunity to actually listen to a farmer talk about his crops in his own field, we are lucky that the farmer comes to us, at our local farmers market, and we reap the benefits of better nutrition, better growing practices and most importantly, better taste! So here’s to all the farmers for making our food choices all the easier and to Julio for explaining a simple message to millions of Americans who might not know: it’s fun to eat fresh produce when it tastes so darn good!

Onto our menu… as you can guess from our morning field trip, its take 3 on our rigatoni with maple glazed butternut squash, brown butter thyme sauce, parmesan and toasted butternut squash seeds. We’re happy to say we’ve dressed up our samples as well. While we can’t actually serve the prepared pasta itself because the brown butter sauce hardens when cool, we did make a variation of the dish with the roasted squash, parmesan, fresh thyme and extra virgin olive oil in lieu of brown butter. For raviolis this week, we’ll bring our “fall harvest” variety for those Boston customers who have yet to try it. Roasted butternut sqash and Cortland apples, carmelized onions and garlic, fresh thyme and a blend of three cheeses- this ravioli pretty much screams fall. Try it with our brown butter sage (or thyme) sauce listed under the recipes section on the blog. We’ll also have our trusty staples: classic white capellini and whole wheat with ground flaxseed linguine. Come by tomorrow at the Prudential Farmer’s Market from 11-6 for some great fall flavors, a newly re-decorated autumn tent and of course, samples! (and I promise, no more lectures).