Dancing Spoon

Farmers in the City

Food Slow

If you live in the Boston area, wander into the parking lot of the Whole Foods Market in Brighton on Tuesday afternoons this summer and fall. Each week a local farmer will be setting up a portable ‘farm stand.’ You’ll be able to chat with the people who grow the food and learn about their local farms and agriculture in Massachusetts.

Working in cooperation with Whole Foods Market, Slow Food Boston has invited “local heroes” to bring their fresh, locally grown produce directly to consumers in Brighton.  Farmers taking part in this cutting edge program include Spencer Brook Farm, Allandale Farm, Silferleaf Farm, Butter Brook Farm, The Herb Lyceum, Nourse Farm, Siena Farms, Hutchins Farm, Belkin Family Lookout Farm, Old Frog Pond Farm, Natick Community Organic Farm, Many Hands Organic Farm and Land’s Sake.

Each week you’ll be able to meet a different farmer and buy their products directly from them. Whole Foods Market is donating the space and the time and so the money you give to the farmer, stays with the farmer.

Slow Food Boston is the local branch of the international organization Slow Food, a group dedicated to creating a community of people who believe in a promoting a better food system, one that is ‘good, clean and fair’. For more information see www.slowfoodboston.com

The Wine Comfort Zone

Change Wines of

by David Haley

Wines of Change or Leaving Your Wine Comfort Zone
The promise of spring and early summer ushers in change on all fronts; the rebirth of trees and flowers is the catalyst to break us out of our winter mold. New seasonal foods arrive daily. So why do we insist on selecting the same wine when we visit our local wine shop? Easy answer: our desire to remain in our comfort zone takes over. Change is constant, healthy, and should be part of our exploration of wine. Resist the urge to buy that same Chardonnay or Merlot.

Break your comfort zone of wine.

Here are some affordable off-the-beaten-path reds and whites that can be enjoyed with a variety of foods. Prices listed are an average retail price.

The Right Coffee Roast

RoastMaster From the

by Adam Desrosiers

The Right Roast 
The prevalent philosophy among roasters in the U.S. today, influenced by the success of Seattle-based companies like Peets and Starbucks, almost wholly relies upon the smoky, simple intensity of dark roasts. Even to a fault, large and small roasters alike have relied upon the popularity of roasting coffees to the point at which the beans' oils have been brought to the surface and many complex flavor and aromatic compounds have been simply baked out.

Not to say that we disrespect any and all dark roasts (our own Diesel Dark Roast is a favorite both of ours and of our customers) but not every coffee is best suited by such an approach. It is rather our goal to set aside simplistic formulas for roasting and, instead, to treat every coffee individually – to find what is, for it, the optimum roast degree. This emphasis on flexibility continually leads us to exciting discoveries in the flavor potential of new coffees.

Hair Conditioning Wrap

Eating Beautiful

Hair Conditioning Wrap
The Mayans from Central America, Mexico, and Guatemala use their natural local resources to adorn their bodies and create their own unique beauty. We can learn from their approach toward natural beauty using foods. I love this Hair Conditioning  Wrap using their local produce of bananas and avocado to create a luscious hair treatment. It will help moisturize your scalp and hair, strengthen your hair, and give it a shiny luster.

The first time I made this hair wrap at home, my boys were keen to help puree the ingredients in the food processor (they love helping me in the kitchen, especially pressing the buttons on the food processor!). When they realized I was going to put this green stuff on my hair they were a little shocked! “Mummy, are you sure that’s a good idea?” they asked! But after they watched me massage it into my hair for a few minutes, they thought it looked like fun and wanted to have some in their hair too!

David Haley

Contributors Our

Any fool can buy good wine: just open your wallet and dig deep. But how do you find those little gems that won’t break the bank?

As president of Haley Marketing Group, a New England based wine brokerage, David Haley travels to wine regions around the world to discover exceptional wine values. (He calls it work, but that’s debatable.) His background in wine spans sixteen years in the wholesale and wine import business with some of the most prestigious importers in America.

David is our guide in our continuing exploration of wine. He’ll help us find exceptional wine values at an all price levels. And he’ll offer insights into our relationship with wine as part of our culture.

David encourages you to share your wine finds and wine experiences with him. Contact David with questions, comments or suggestions at  .