From the Arcadia Blog

We're excited to be expanding our Mobile Market team this year to include Janet Hofman.  She'll be helping to increase our capacity to ten weekly market stops per week. She's a great addition to the team, with a wide range of experiences. 
What most excites you about joining Arcadia?I am most excited about meeting new people and teaching them about the variety of food that is grown locally, right in our own region.

What have you done in the past that's prepared you for this work?When I was a Park Ranger, my main job was to develop and present a variety of programs to our visitors, educating them about our resources and, more importantly, hoping to inspire them to appreciate and care for our environment.
I think my passion for food and the farm-to-table process began when I became a vegetarian and, for the first time, was really aware of what my food was and where it came from. That passion has grown over the years while working in various restaurants, a retail food market, taking culinary classes, and traveling. I'm pretty sure my cooking has improved during these journeys as well!
If you were a vegetable, what would you be? I would like to be a watermelon radish because it is vibrant and spicy.
Which season has the best produce, and why?Although I enjoy being creative with root veggies in the winter, I am always longing for more fruit and delicious tomatoes!  So, I'll have to say summer.  As a kid, I always looked forward to going up north in Michigan to pick wild blueberries. 

Arcadia is announcing a two new contests to support our Spring2Action Campaign to Launch a 2nd Mobile Market. Both contests will end at 11:59 PM on April 9th, 2014.

Facebook Contest
Prize: Two tickets to Arcadia's Spring Farm Dinner on June 8th, 2014 at Woodlawn Estate in Alexandria, VA. If you are unable to attend the Spring farm Dinner, you may transfer your tickets, or exchange them for 2 tickets to an available Arcadia Master Course.

How to Enter: Enter at Arcadia's Facebook Page by posting a comment to the original contest post. We appreciate, but do not require shares of the original post.

Rules:
- One entry per person
- You must be over 18 to enter the contest
- Comments must be made before 11:59 PM on 4/9/2014
- You may enter both the Facebook and the Twitter contests

Legal Stuff:- You do not need to donate to the campaign to enter the drawing, but we'd like it if you did. - This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, facebook.- By entering, you release Facebook of all liability for this contest.
Winner Announcement: Winners will be selected by random drawing and announced on Facebook by 5 PM on April 10, 2014.
Twitter Contest
Prize: Two tickets to Arcadia's Spring Farm Dinner on June 8th, 2014 at Woodlawn Estate in Alexandria, VA. If you are unable to attend the Spring farm Dinner, you may transfer your tickets, or exchange them for 2 tickets to an available Arcadia Master Course.

How to Enter: Enter by retweeting the original contest tweet from @ArcadiaFood. Only retweets of Arcadia's original contest tweet will count toward entry. Include @ArcadiaFood in your retweet so we can track your entry.  

Rules:
- One entry per person
- You must be over 18 to enter the contest
- Retweet must occur before 11:59 PM on 4/9/2014
- You may enter both the Facebook and the Twitter contests

Legal Stuff:- You do not need to donate to the campaign to enter the drawing, but we'd like it if you did. - This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter.- By entering, you release Twitter of all liability for this contest.
Winner Announcement: Winners will be selected by random drawing and announced on Twitter by 5 PM on April 10, 2014.
Please contact Info@ArcadiaFood.org with any questions.

Arcadia is participating in Spring2Action's Day of Giving on April 9, 2014, and we're trying to raise $30,000 to grow our Mobile Market program, and purchase, and outfit, a second Mobile Market vehicle. The new vehicle will support ongoing Market activities through transportation and distribution, and will help us to increase our number of Market stops. You can schedule your donation to support out campaign today HERE.       
  

Over the past two season's, Arcadia's Mobile Market has increased access to fresh, sustainable, healthy, local foods in the DC area's underserved neighborhoods. We've sold over $110,000 of food in those communities, with over $40,000 in sales to households receiving SNAP, WIC, Seniors FMNP, and other nutrition benefits. We are able to keep our food affordable by working directly with farmers and producers, and by accepting, and doubling nutrition benefits through our Bonus Bucks program. In 2014, we're expanding our number of weekly Market stops to 10. We would love to continue to grow this program to meet the need and demand, but we need a second vehicle, and we need your help to make that happen. All contributions made to our Spring2Action campaign are tax deductible, and will support the Mobile Market program. Schedule your donation today, or make sure to give on April 9th. And don't forget to ask your friends to do the same.      


Looking for another way to support the Mobile Market? Order a copy of the Arcadia Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook, and receive an incredible cookbook with delicious seasonal recipes, while supporting the Mobile Market program and helping us provide free cookbooks to our low-income customers.
We'd like to thank Bon Appetit Management Company for their support of the Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook, and Inova and Wholesome Wave for their ongoing support of the Bonus Bucks program.

Arcadia is proud to announce that the Mobile Market Seasonal Cookbook by JuJu Harris is now available for sale online, and will be available on the Mobile Market during the upcoming market season.

The Cookbook costs $20 (with a $5.60 priority shipping fee when ordered online).

Order your copy now by clicking HERE.

Arcadia is honored to be associated for the fourth year with Outstanding in the Field's nationwide tour in September. Chef Kyle Bailey and Chef Tiffany MacIsaac -- the talented and award-winning chefs behind Birch & Barley, Bluejacket, GBD, and Buzz -- will once again be cooking in the field.

But there's a change of meadows: After three gorgeous years at our home base at Woodlawn Mansion in Alexandria,  Outstanding in the Field wanted to showcase another great farm. So our dinner this year will be held in Middleburg at Hunger Run farm.

Our farm director Stephen Corrigan recently moved to Hunger Run where we have started a larger and more intensive vegetable production program to meet the rapidly growing appetite of our Mobile Market customers for local, sustainably grown fresh fruits and vegetables. It's an exciting project, as Arcadia is putting another old farm back into production.

Never fear: We continue to farm, host dinners, and hold field trips and events at Arcadia at Woodlawn! It's our home base, and we are deeply connected to the progressive agricultural and social history there -- a history we are proud to be adding to as a mission-oriented non-profit organization.

Keep an eye out for our soon-to-be-announced Annual Spring Farm Dinner at Arcadia at Woodlawn! As always, Arcadia Members get first crack at the tickets. It sells out quickly, so don't hesitate when we make those tickets live!

To learn more about the September dinner in Middleburg click HERE.

We’re thrilled to share the details for this summer Arcadia Farm Camp! For dates, camp themes, and registration info, view here. Registration opens January 31st.
Farm Camp 2013 was incredible. We went from 2 weeks with 48 campers in 2012, to 4 themed weeks with 114 campers in 2013! It was quite an expansion, but one that opened up farm learning experiences to so many more children.
We also increased the number of scholarships we were able to offer. A total of 23 campers from low-income families received full scholarships funded by donations from Arcadia supporters. Hear the camp families stories in this video and learn how to give to our Farm Camp Scholarship Fund. We aim for 30 full scholarships this year -- a quarter of our campers.
We're making a few changes this year to make camp even more fun-filled and accessible. We are again offering round-trip transportation from Old Town Alexandria to Arcadia Farm, and we’re extending the hours for this service. To better accommodate busy parents, drop off will be at 8:00 am and pick up at 4:30 pm. See full details on the website.
Early Bird Registration is discounted for those who sign up before March 1, 2014, and we also offer sibling and multi-week discounts. See our Fees and Discounts page for more details.
Farm Camp is open to children from ages 6-11 years old.
Every week of camp includes Farming, Food, and Fun, but each week also has a special theme with additional enrichment activities. This year we’ve added a week focused on all of the bugs and animals on the farm: Farm Creatures week!   Farm Camp 2014 weekly themes are:

• July 7-11: Young Farmers
• July 14-18: Seasonal Eaters
• July 21-25: Farm Creatures
• July 28-Aug 1: Small Chefs

All the features of Farm Camp everyone loves will remain the same... because why mess with a good -- and delicious -- thing? Campers will do morning chores (like weeding, watering, collecting fresh eggs, and bug squish’n), participate in chef demonstrations, learn with Educators & Farmers, play water games on hot days, and harvest veggies for the snacks we’ll make together during the day.
Come out and see us! Attend our free Farm Camp Open House on Saturday, April 26th  from 1-3pm. Your budding farmers will get to explore Arcadia Farm and all the learning spaces we use during Camp. They’ll also get a sneak peak at a few of our  hands-on activities. Register here to let us know you're coming.
In the meantime, before registration opens on January 31st, head over to our Farm Camp page and our FAQ page to learn more!
         



                         

Soup.  I am all about soup these days.  It's easy to make and it fills the house with delicious smells. Making soup is a good way to use up slightly wilted vegetables and leftover grains or noodles. You can throw everything together into a big pot, and leave it to simmer for hours while you make a loaf of bread.  What's better than a bowl of hot soup on a cold day?  I can't think of anything better.

YUMBO TURKEY "GUMBO" -- serves 6

1 package turkey legs (3 in a pack)
1 peeled, sliced red or yellow onion
2 peeled, diced sweet potatoes
3 carrots, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, diced, or 2 TBSP sundried tomatoes, or 1 can diced tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water or apple juice/cider
1 cup dried apple slices, or 1 apple, peeled and sliced
1-2 TBSP salt and pepper
1 TBSP dried marjoram, thyme and oregano, or 4 sprigs of each herb, fresh

1-2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 handful of frozen peas
1 cup precooked rice, barley or noodles, that have been drained and rinsed 

Optional:  1 TBSP miso paste

Directions:

Plop the turkey legs into a roasting pan, and spread the veggies and apple slices around them.  Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and herbs.  Pour the water or apple juice into the pan, and bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  

Remove the veggies and apples from the pan with a slotted spoon, and put them in a soup pot.  Dispose of any juices that have accumulated in the pan. 

Pour enough water or vegetable broth over the veggies to cover them, and put the pot on simmer.  

Return the turkey legs to the oven, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes.  Remove the legs from the oven, cut the meat off them and add them to the soup pot with the rice, barley or noodles, and the peas and miso paste, if using.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Another way:  My friend taught me this, and it is divine.  Perfect to make on a long, chilly day when all ya wanna do is putter around the kitchen.

Simmer a turkey carcass (leftover from a holiday dinner) in 3 bottles of beer (cheap is fine) and a cup of water, with 2 stalks of mashed, fresh lemongrass  stalks, some oregano and parsley, and salt and pepper for 4 hours.  Stir every now and then.  Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and cook for another 15 minutes.  Oh, it's SO good!

I was a big fan of the Little House on the Prairie series when I was little, and I used to pretend that I was in my log cabin during a blizzard. The other night it was 4 degrees. Four degrees! Not a blizzard, but still freezing cold! I wanted to cook something quickly so that I could spend as much time by the fireplace as possible.  So I put on my "homesteader woman" thinking cap, looked in my larder, and pulled out the ingredients for dinner.  The  vegetables roast up sweet, the bacon adds a smoky flavor. Our family camped out in the living room by the fireplace and shared this meal together. The wind was howling outside, but we didn't care.  We were together and warm, inside and out.

Gnocchi with Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4

3 sweet potatoes, peeled & diced small
1 red onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cauliflower, broken into small pieces
1/4 cup water
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup raisins, plumped in hot water, then drained
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 package gnocchi
1/2 pound bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sweet potatoes, red onion, garlic, cauliflower, and water in an oven-proof skillet or roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and stir to coat. Cover and roast until the vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the lid, add the raisins and almonds and let cook another 10 minutes until the vegetables are slightly browned. Fry the bacon until crispy, then drain and crumble. Cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Drain the gnocchi and mix with the vegetables and bacon.

JuJu and Morgan Maloney serve up some greensThis past Saturday, I made what's become my signature dish, Kale Salad with Garlicky Dressing.  To promote the produce that was available at the Columbia Heights Farmers' Market, I did a cooking demo and I added roasted butternut squash for a sweet twist.  This is wonderful, quick to make salad, that can be served as a side dish, or as the main course with the addition of beans, cheese and toasted nuts.  Everyone who has tried it, loves it.  It was freezing cold, but the smiles of the markets' customers warmed me up.  Now, if only I had a dollar for every time someone said, "Oh, this tastes so good"....

Kale and Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Garlicky Dressing
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into dice1 Tablespoon dried oregano1 teaspoon salt1/4 ground cinnamon1/4 olive oil
Dressing:3 cloves garlic, peeledJuice of two lemons 1/4 cup soy sauce3 inches fresh ginger, peeled1/2 teaspoon black pepper1 cup olive oil1 bunch fresh kale, washed, leaves removed from stems, and cut into small pieces
Optional:1 grated carrot1 cup grated or shredded red cabbage1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)1 cup cooked garbanzo or red beans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the oregano, salt, cinnamon, and olive oil together and spread it over the squash.  On an oiled cookie sheet, spread the squash and cover tightly with foil. Bake until tender, 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more, until squash is brown. 
Put all dressing ingredients, except oil, into blender and puree.  Slowly add oil with blender running on low.  Pour dressing over kale (and other optional ingredients if using) and mix thoroughly, adding optional ingredients if desired.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Serve topped with several pieces of roasted squash on top.