This class is full! If you wish to be on a waiting list in the case of cancellation, please email the address below.

Sharpen your skills and improve your confidence with a 3-hour hands-on bread-making class on Sunday, June 5, from 2 to 5 pm. Paula Marcoux, Edible South Shore magazine’s food editor and a food and beer historian, will teach participants

• How to tackle the basics of natural leavening and store-bought yeast
• How to make home-baked bread work on YOUR schedule

Participants will learn various dough-handling techniques while fashioning, baking, and sampling some great breads to be shared at the Slow Food Seacoast “Bread, Yeast, and Beer”-themed Sunday Dinner to follow at 5:30 pm.

DATE: Sunday, June 5

TIME: 2–5 pm

PLACE: Stoodley’s Tavern, 17 Hancock Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801

DIRECTIONS: Stoodley’s Tavern is part of Strawbery Banke Museum. (Directions to Strawbery Banke are available on the museum’s website.) Please park in the Strawbery Banke Main Visitor Parking Lot at 14 Hancock Street (or along Hancock Street itself). From the parking lot, cross the street diagonally and to right to “Stoodley’s Tavern Education Center” at 17 Hancock Street. Jiggle the latch of the old front door until it opens! We will meet in the room to the left after you enter the front door.

COST: $25/person ($20 for Slow Food USA members)

SPACE IS LIMITED for this class, and preregistration is required. Please send an e-mail to Slow Food Seacoast with “I want to bake bread!” in the subject line. This class is full! If you wish to be on a waiting list in the case of cancellation, please email the address above.

More Info

• Read more about Paula and her love of wood-fired baking on Boston.com.

RAFT tomatoes 2010

Celebrate maple season with a Localvore Brunch and Heirloom Seed Plant-In! Slow Food Seacoast is partnering with the Tidewater Waldorf School to bring you a delicious truly local meal and activities for all ages.

• The meal will feature pancakes, maple syrup, eggs, sausage, yogurt and apple compote—all grown, raised, and produced in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. (Fair-trade coffee and tea also will be served.)
• Slow Food Seacoast will distribute at-risk heirloom seeds featured in the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) Alliance and offer seed-planting tips.
• The Tidewater Waldorf School will offer nature-based craft activities for kids.

EVENT: Localvore Brunch and Heirloom Seed Plant-In
DATE: Sunday, April 3, 2011
TIME: 11 am–2 pm
PLACE: Kittery Lions Club, 17 State Road, Kittery, ME
COST: $12/adult (Slow Food USA members $10); $5/child under 12

Tapping maple trees at Tidewater Waldorf School

Volunteers are needed on the day of the event! If you are interested and available during any of the following times, please send us an e-mail with “I want to volunteer” in the subject line. Tell us when you’re available to help, and include your phone number and the best time to contact you. Thanks!

10:00am–11:00 am: Set up tables and chairs; prep food
11:00 am–12:30 pm: Cook and serve food
12:30 pm  - 2:00pm: Cook and serve food
2:00pm –3:00 pm: Clean up kitchen and hall

Are you going to be around the Seacoast this holiday weekend? If so, you will have lots of ways to make it “slow” while being outside and enjoying the sunny fall days!

Saturday, 10/09

• 3rd Annual NH Fall Festival & 21st Annual WHEB Chili Cook-Off at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH
• Portsmouth Farmers’ Market
• Newmarket Farmers’ Market (closing day)

Sunday, 10/10

• Brookford Farm Quark Festival & barn movie in Rollinsford,  NH
• Other 10/10/10 (Global Environmental Action Day) events, searchable by ZIP code
• Newburyport Farmers’ Market

Monday

• 3rd Annual Fall Eco-Fest at Clay Hill Farm in Ogunquit, ME

All weekend

Search the online database of Seacoast Harvest: A Local Food Guide for a farm near you for

• pick-your-own apples
• pick-your-own pumpkins

Have a wonderful weekend!

Via Cooking on a Star:

Cooking Up History: A Seat at the Islander’s Table

Photo courtesy Cooking on a Star

Don’t miss this marvelous culinary adventure! Join Chef Patrice Gerard for an epicurean journey. Enjoy an abundance of edible wisdom and savory fare. The freshest seasonal local ingredients grace our table. The scent of delicious baked goods will sweeten the atmosphere. Our Shoals historian shares lore and legends. Rejuvenate, explore and cook up a memorable experience!

WHEN: Monday–Wednesday, Sept. 13–15, 2010

WHERE: Star Island, 10 miles east of Portsmouth Harbor, one of the Isles of Shoals; sail on the Thomas Laighton out of Portsmouth Harbor

CONTACT & MORE INFO: Email Susan Wallack, (603) 828-3503

Cooking Up Comfort: Goodness and Well-Being from the Kitchen

Appealing and wholesome comfort food is our flavorful focus. Join Chef Patrice Gerard in creating dishes to nourish both body and spirit. Much-loved classics made both delicious and nutritious. The aromas, colors, textures, and taste of familiar ingredients will engage all of our senses as we prepare the recipes. The “demystifying” of how simple components comprise well-made food will increase your sense of competence and confidence in the kitchen. This will be a fun, interactive and delicious experience!

With wellness in mind, using fresh local ingredients we’ll spread our table with regional, seasonal favorites. Enjoy just from the oven treats!

WHEN: Wednesday–Friday, Sept. 15–17, 2010

WHERE: Star Island, 10 miles east of Portsmouth Harbor, one of the Isles of Shoals; sail on the Thomas Laighton out of Portsmouth Harbor

CONTACT & MORE INFO: Email Susan Wallack, (603) 828-3503

We had such a great time at the Blue Moon Market & Café (8 Clifford St., Exeter, NH) last spring that we are happy to be heading there once again. This year, participants can sign up for a special cooking class (preregistration and fee required) before the potluck. The potluck will feature dishes prepared during the class, and the meeting will feature some thoughts from Kathy about growing, preparing, and eating greens.

4:00 pm Class: Cook Your Greens and Eat Them, Too! with Blue Moon Chef/Owner Kathy Gallant. You must register in advance for this class by sending an email to Alison. A few spots are still available; $15 per person. Read about this event on the Slow Food Seacoast website.

5:30 pm Potluck Dinner: The theme is … greens! (What else?) Please remember to bring your own dining kits … read About Our Potlucks on the Slow Food Seacoast website.

6:30 pm Meeting: We’ll quickly announce upcoming events (like the 4th Annual Slow Food Seacoast Down-on-the-Farm Picnic on August 1—details to come!), and Kathy will share some thoughts about growing, preparing, and eating greens.

The Jenness Farm Spring Open House/Open Farm Weekend is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, April 17 & 18, 2010, from 10 am to 6 pm, rain or shine. Enjoy fresh donuts; browse the new-and-improved Jenness Farm store (there’s so much more than goat milk soap!); buy products from several vendors. Visit with chicks, piglets, baby goats, lambs, and crazy turkeys—not to mention Rhun the Frisbee Dog, official farm greeter! The weekend-long event will offer lots of fun for children of all ages. Bring a picnic lunch and any questions that you may have. WHAT: Jenness Farm Spring Open House/Open Farm Weekend WHEN: April 17 & 18, 2010, 10 am–6 pm WHERE: 77 Garland Road, Nottingham, NH 03290 WEBSITE: http://www.jennessfarm.com

It’s less than 2 months until the the first Seacoast Growers Association summer farmers’ market opens in Portsmouth, and the winter farmers’ markets in Newburyport, MA, and Northwood, NH, have finished for the season. But thanks to the efforts of local consumers, craftspeople, food producers—bakers, beekeepers, farmers, ranchers, vintners, and more—and the fabulous local organizations that bring us all together, we in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire are fortunate to have several more winter markets to get us there.

Final Winter Markets

Come check out what the vendors have to offer at the last indoor markets of the season.

• March 13 - Seacoast Eat Local Exeter Winter Farmers’ Market at Exeter High School, 1 Blue Hawk Drive, Exeter (GPS users, please use 315 Epping Road)
• March 20 - Rye Farmers’ Market - 10 am to 2 pm at Rye Junior High (note new location!), 501 Washington Road, Rye
• March 20 - Newmarket Farmers’ Market - 9 am to 1 pm at the Stone Church, 5 Granite Street, Newmarket
• March 27 - Seacoast Eat Local Rollinsford Winter Farmers’ Market at Wentworth Greenhouses, 141 Rollins Rd., Rollinsford
• April 10 - Seacoast Eat Local Exeter Winter Farmers’ Market at Exeter High School, 1 Blue Hawk Drive, Exeter (GPS users, please use 315 Epping Road)

Spring Markets

• April 17 -Newmarket Farmers’ Market - 9 am to 1 pm at the Stone Church, 5 Granite Street, Newmarket
• April 24 - Farmer’s Market at Heron’s Pond Farm, 299 Main Ave, South Hampton

Summer Markets Opening Soon!

The first summer farmers’ markets of the season usually feature early spring greens and locally grown plants to decorate your flower beds, create a vegetable garden, and add color to your life after a long winter. Other food and nonfood products will be available, too. Come see what they have to offer.

• May 1 - Portsmouth Farmers’ Market, Saturdays, 8 am–1  pm, 1 Junkins Ave., Portsmouth
• May 2 - Newburyport Farmers’ Market, Sundays, 9 am–1 pm, Tannery Marketplace, Newburyport, Mass.
• May 6 - Exeter Farmers’ Market, Thursdays, 2:30–6 pm, Swazey Parkway, Exeter
• May 15 - Newmarket Plant Sale & Farmers’ Market - 9 am to 1 pm, 5 Granite Street (Stone Church), Newmarket
• May 22 - Newmarket Plant Sale & Farmers’ Market - 9 am to 1 pm, 5 Granite Street (Stone Church), Newmarket
• May 27 - Northwood Farmers’ Market, Thursdays, 3–6:30 pm, Junction of Route 4 & Route 202A & 43, Northwood
• June 7 - Durham Farmers’ Market, Mondays, 2:15–5:30 pm, Pettee Brook Lane (Pettee Brook parking lot), Durham
• June 8 - Hampton Farmers’ Market, Tuesdays, 3–6 pm, 289 Lafayette Rd/Route 1 (Sacred Heart Church parking lot), Hampton, NH
• June 9 - Dover Farmers’ Market, Wednesdays, 2:15–6:00 pm, corner of Central Ave. and Sixth St. (parking lot of the new Dover Chamber of Commerce), Dover
• June 26 - Wentworth Greenhouses Farmers’ Market, Saturdays, 10 am–2 pm, 141 Rollins Road, Rollinsford (parking lot)

For More Information

Want to know which vendors are scheduled to be at the market, check a venue address, or get directions? Go straight to the source!

• Newburyport Farmers’ Market
• Newmarket Farmers’ Markets at Stone Church
• Northwood Farmers’ Market
• Seacoast Eat Local Winter Farmers’ Markets
• Wentworth Greenhouses Farmers’ Markets (Rollinsford)
• Rye Farmers’ Markets
• Seacoast Growers Association (Dover, Durham, Exeter, Hampton, and Portsmouth)

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More via Slow Food Portland:

Due to some last-minute cancellations, Appleton Creamery (Appleton, ME) still has space left in the 2-day Home Cheesemaking workshop, February 27 and 28. Visit the Appleton Creamery website for details and fees.

Have you ever have considered raising your own chickens or other poultry, for eggs or meat? For years, many people have been raising backyard birds—just a few, or a sizable flock—because that way, they can be sure what the animals eat (good, clean, and fair food for them, too!), how the animals live (running and pecking around the yard, truly free-ranging), and how fresh the food is (like, eggs harvested just this morning).

Joseph Marquette and Robert Gibson of Yellow House Farm in Barrington are wonderful local resources of all things related to heritage poultry husbandry. They are friendly faces at Seacoast farmers’ markets, not to mention active planners and participants in Barrington Farm Day and the NH Natural Heritage and Agricultural Fair. And they aren’t selfish about sharing what they know, either! For example, at Slow Food Seacoast’s 3rd Annual Down-on-the-Farm Picnic (held July  12, 2009, at Osprey Cove Organic Farm in Madbury), Joe graciously shared his time and knowledge with a rapt circle of listeners. He talked about the history of domesticated poultry and explained why preserving old-fashioned heritage poultry breeds is important.

If you are ready to raise your own laying hens or broiler chickens, Yellow House Farm can help. They currently are accepting orders for Ancona and White Dorking chicks.  Learn more about these two heritage breeds and how to order Day-Old Hatchlings on their website.

In 2009, Joe and Rob launched Yellow House Farm School (a.k.a. Chicken School) with great success, and the spring 2010 seminar schedule has been announced. One-day seminars that cover choosing, raising, managing, and marketing heritage poultry will be held on Saturdays, 9 am–4 pm, biweekly from March 6 through May 29, 2010. Each 1-day class is limited to only 10 participants, so learn more about the Homesteading Heritage Poultry class and calendar online, then follow instructions there to register—as soon as possible to guarantee your spot. The cost of the 1-day seminar is $45.00.

Learn how to peel, cook, store, and enjoy the delicacy that is Northern shrimp in a 2-hour workshop on February 10! Chefs from the UNH Thompson School Culinary Arts Program will demonstrate how to prepare these locally wild-harvested gems in many ways for you to taste. You will leave the workshop with recipes and educational materials so you can enjoy Northern shrimp at home.  Register online at the UNH website.

Shrimp Local, Eat Local

Date: February 10, 2010

Time: 6-8 pm

Registration fee: $10

Registration form: www.tinyurl.com/localshrimp