This evening we’re going to be featured in a Current TV documentary that highlights some of our experiences in the TechStars program.

StartUP takes place in Boulder, Colorado which is becoming a hub for web startup companies.  This story is about Techstars, a mentorship-driven seed stage investment fund, who selects 10 companies made up of young entrepreneurs to join a summer program where they are exposed to many mentors and investors.  We focus on two of the companies in this incredible program, Ignighter & Foodzie. They had the opportunity to meet people like Matt Mullenweg of WordPress to the founders of Photobucket. We hope this inspires any of you out there with an idea and a lot of passion.

We just returned from a week-long trip to San Francisco and as you may have noticed, I don’t quite have the whole blogging-while-traveling thing down. Since the Boulder Market is now officially closed, it was nice to head to California where the markets stay open all year long. Susie Wyshak, a fellow foodie who’s helping us discover new producers for Foodzie, gave us the grand tour of the Ferry Building Farmers Market. If you’ve been to San Francisco or flipped through a Food & Wine, Saveur or Bon Appetit magazine you’re probably familiar with a bunch of the producers we bumped into - many that could be considered celebrities in this town!

I’ve been a fan of June Taylor ever since I discovered her in the Silver Lake Cheese Shop in LA and fell in love with her apricot conserve. It was nice to meet her in person and I truly enjoyed my chat with her about cooking and the idea of expanding our jam horizon beyond just jam and toast. (why not duck, fish, cheese…) June’s a producer of artisan jams, syrups and occasionally, if you’re lucky, she’ll craft her famous shortbread or Christmas Cake. June still makes each flavor just one teeny tiny batch at a time (the jams are cooked on her stovetop). She hand labels each jar and even hand-dyed the tissue paper she wrapped her Christmas Cakes in this year. If you want to get a sense for artisan, just talk to June - she defines it in its purest form.

I just mentioned Steve Sando and Rancho Gordo heirloom beans in my recent post about the Obama Bean Art. I was able to pick up a few bags of his beans, the Mayacoba, Brown Tepary, and Christmas Lima, which will most likely accompany my Heritage Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner this year. He was featured in Food & Wine this month and shares some sophisticated recipes that bring out the best in his beans. The Rancho Gordo brand embodies Steve’s colorful and fun personality that I was able to enjoy first-hand at the market. He’s got a basket of beans out on display that shows off the stunning color variations in the heirloom varieties. I couldn’t help but dig my hands in and play with the beans!

We also got to hang with the guys and gals at La Cocina and I fortunately (or unfortunately now that I am totally addicted…) got to try the famous Clare’s Squares. They are seriously sinful, starting with a buttery, crumbly shortbread cookie base and topped with silky caramel and a crisp layer of dark chocolate. I also got to meet the famous Christina from Kika’s Treats, munch on Gabrielle’s Delights and sip on Morning Glory Chai - all La Cocina producers.

Some like to rag on the Ferry Building Farmers Market, that it’s not a REAL farmers market. Although, yes I will admit - many of the producers are more sophisticated than those that fill other farmers markets at the end of the day, they are still real people, making really good food that they are really, really passionate about. 

It’s always a sad time of the year for me when the farmers market comes to a close. This past Saturday was the last day of the Boulder Farmers Market and in usual fashion, I strolled around to all my favorite vendors. I stocked up and filled my shopping tote until it was practically overflowing. So heavy in fact, that I had to alternate shoulders during my trek back to the car. I completely forgot that we would only be around for three days before taking off for San Francisco on Tuesday. So since then, the veggies have taken center stage to ensure we consume all this good stuff before we go. 

For lunch this afternoon, I whipped up some of the itty bitty brussel sprouts I picked up from the market from Oxford Gardens (also my favorite farm to get beets). If you’ve never enjoyed brussel sprouts, (I once was a brussel sprout hater too…) be sure to try really, really fresh ones before you write them off. They’re tender, slightly sweet and not a bit bitter. 

I started by parboiling the brussel sprouts for about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, I sauteed some fresh Lions Mane mushrooms (looks like cauliflower and taste like heaven) from Hazel Del Mushrooms in Fort Collins, CO. I sauteed them in Balzana Olive Oil, a light grassy olive oil from California that I absolutely adore. I then tossed in the brussel sprouts and sauteed them until they just started to brown on each side. I had just pulled out my last pack of Benton’s bacon this weekend from my first order back in early summer and I had a crispy piece of bacon leftover from Sunday brunch, just waiting to be used. So I added some crumbled, crispy bits of Benton’s bacon, which gave it that perfect subtle smokiness and just the right amount of salt. The recipe cleaned out a few more veggies out of the drawer and better yet, was so, so tasty.

The only produce I have left to put to good use is a bag of fresh salad greens and some of Oxford Farms beets. This evening I plan to do a light salad starting with the greens topped with the roasted beets, toasted pecans and some Chevre from Haystack Goat Dairy. Oh and possibly a honeycrisp apple from First Fruits. Delish!

Beans, beans they’re good for the heart…and wouldn’t ya know it, they’re good for art! I stumbled upon this masterpiece while catching up on the blog over at Rancho Gordo. Rancho Gordo by the way is an incredible heirloom bean producer. They grow the tastiest varieties of beans. Honestly, they are packed with so much flavor you won’t believe the difference from the mediocre beans that get crammed in cans and slapped on the shelf that the majority of us eat. This is what beans used to taste like until we decided to pay more attention to things like size, yield and disease resistance over flavor. 

I don’t think this mural was made with Rancho Gordo beans, but nonetheless it was made with beans, which just blew me away. Talk about some talent. One of the community members on crafster.org posted this project that took about 2 1/2 pounds of beans, lots of gluing and lots of time. 

Oh and if you think I’m trying to send a subliminal message now that we are just 5 days away from election day…I am. Go vote. 

Photo Courtesy of Crafster.org

Our friends at Threadless held a competition for t-shirt designs that embody the spirit of democracy. They picked three winners and now you can not only buy them and wear their designs, but you can drink them too!

Jones Soda - the wacky soda company with outrageous flavors is printing these t-shirt designs on their soda labels for a limited edition run. It feels good to see companies like Threadless and Jones Soda teaming up and using their popularity to spread a great message. Although it’s just a bottle of soda it does help serve as small reminder of how extremely lucky we all are to even have the right to vote. We can decide who becomes the next president of the United States of America. Cheers to that!

According to a survey done by the National Confectioners Association (NCA), consumers are expected to spend about $2.18 billion on candy for Halloween. Looks like we’ve got the candy category covered.

But what are some other goolish goodies you can get your hands on this year? From pancakes, to brownies to spiced pumpkin seeds, check out these halloween-inspired foods, delicious now or any time of the year. 

Frankenstein Mills - Aretha Frankenstein’s made from scratch recipe for light, fluffy pancakes. They claim these flapjacks are to die for. 

Fat Witch - Scary good brownies that come in flavors like Red Witch (brownie with dried cherries), White Witch (white chocolate brownie), and Breakfast Witch (oatmeal, walnut and coffee on a little bit of brownie).

Superseedz - No carving or messy hands required. These punkin’ seeds are ready for munchin’. To satisfy both your sweet and savory tooth, they offer flavors like Sea Salt, Somewhat Spicy, Original Curry, and Sugar & Cinnamon. 

The Thanksgiving edition of my favorite food mags arrived about 2 weeks ago, giving me ample time to peruse the recipes and start testing to see which will make the cut for the Thanksgiving menu this year. I have more than enough time to get recipes figured out, but turkey-time is now! If I want anything other than a Butterball on my Thanksgiving table, planning early is essential.

The past few years I’ve gone with the stately Bell and Evans Turkey that makes its way onto a silver platter and served at the White House every year. Each turkey is fed a diet that consits of corn, soy, vitamins and minerals, never any animal by-products. They’re free to roam, with plenty of fresh air and clean well water. Each house produces only one flock per year to avoid disease and the need for drugs. I’ve always been impressed with the quality and flavor.

 Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia.

This year, I want to go one step further and order a heritage turkey - a variety of domestic turkey which retains historic characteristics that are no longer present in the majority of turkeys sold at supermarkets today. Heritage turkeys are physically capable of being raised in a manner that more closely matches the natural behavior and life cycle of wild turkeys.

Many people have never tasted a heritage turkey (myself included), since these breeds were displaced by the Broad-Breasted White Turkey in the 20th century. Anyone I’ve talked to that has actually tried a Heritage Turkey says the flavor will knock your socks off and beats any Broad-Breasted Whites aka Butterballs. They have a richer, more intense turkey flavor than commercial birds. One hallmark of the heritage turkey is that it mates according to nature, unlike the American Thanksgiving classic, the Broad-Breasted White, which has been bred for white meat and is so top-heavy it can’t walk or breed naturally. Sad huh?

Good Shepherd Turkey Ranch, based out of Lindsborg, Kansas is one of the few farmers in the country raising heritage turkeys and they sell them through their website. Not sure about availability, as I have not placed my order yet, but from the look of their site it seems that they are not sold out just yet. But watch out, I might just beat you to it. : )

All through elementary, middle and high school, I was a packer. My mom primarily (sometimes with my help) would pack my school lunch everyday. My tastes certainly weren’t as sophisticated then as they are now - but it was clear to me even then that corn dogs, pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, and honeybuns (the crap they served at school) weren’t my idea of a desirable, much less palatable lunch.

The school lunch programs across the country need change - serious change. It inspires me to see people who are starting to make that happen. Ann Cooper, the director of the school lunch program in the Berkley school district, has made some big strides towards changing the way children learn about food and what they eat in school. She spoke at the TED Conference last year and her presentation was just recently published on their site. Check it out for an inspiring, more in depth look at the state of the school lunch programs and some of the ways she’s changing it for the better.

When I first learned about the La Cocina food incubator program, I thought to myself, man…what a good idea, why isn’t anyone else doing this? I guess I just wasn’t looking hard enough. After a little bit of research, I was pumped to find plenty of other food incubators that have popped up across the country to help small producers get off the ground.

From Texas to Vermont to Colorado, here are some of the incubators I stumbled across.

Chef’s Kitchens Los Angeles, CA

Kitchen Incubator Houston, TX

Western Mass Food Center Greenfield, MA

The Starting Block Kitchen Incubator Hart, MI

Vermont Food Venture Center St Albans, VT

Northern Colorado Food Incubator Fort Collins, CO

If you don’t read 101cookbooks, a food blog focused on super healthy recipes, you are seriously missing out. The blog, run by Heidi Swanson, is one of those blogs that I check on everyday to make sure I haven’t missed Heidi’s latest masterpiece. The pictures alone are some serious food porn and honestly make me want to jump out of my chair and head straight into the kitchen. Why I didn’t rush to make Nikki’s Healthy Cookie Recipe the moment I saw it is something I now sincerely regret. Yesterday, after nearly 3 weeks of simply thinking about making them, I finally took action. And they were fantastic.

How are they healthy you might ask? Well…instead of butter, sugar and eggs - oh and flour (yes I was skeptical too!) she uses substitutes like bananas, coconut oil, almond meal and oats. Then you throw in some really good dark chocolate chunks. I used Seth Ellis Chocolatiers 65% organic dark chocolate bar (not yet available on the site, hmm… sounds like I need to get on Rick about that! :). It tasted something like a banana bread/oatmeal/chocolate chip cookie and it was delish! I’m always looking for healthy recipes (fruit just doesn’t always cut it) to satisfy my often unrelenting sweet tooth. This one is certainly a keeper. Check out 101cookbooks for this recipe and of course many other fine examples of Heidi’s culinary work.