Gold Medallion Awards 2009 San Diego

April 23, 2009 Kelly Orange 0 Comments

Tuesday April 21st, 2009 I had the pleasure of attending the 25th Annual Gold Medallion Awards hosted by the San Diego County Chapter of the California Restaurant Association. It was held at the brand new Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel in downtown San Diego. I spent the first hour trying to cool down from the …

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FARMERS MARKET REPORT: WEEK OF APRIL 19th

April 20, 2009 Melissa Mayer 0 Comments

“Did you see any movie stars?!” This was the most popular question asked of me upon my return from the Santa Monica Farmers Market on Wednesday.  I replied with “No.  I was looking for produce.”  After touring the market, dozens of farmers and over 200 pictures later, I was dizzy with excitement and marvel over …

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FARMERS MARKET REPORT: WEEK OF APRIL 12TH

April 13, 2009 Melissa Mayer 0 Comments

My First Official Farmers Market Report!! As a chef and a true food lover I get really giddy as spring sprouts beautiful nourishment from the earth. All across the state seeds have been sewn and the early birth of spring produce is being harvested. Strawberries are abound in many varieties: eat-from-the-basket fresh to perfect for …

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Garnish lightsaber

April 1, 2009 Kelly Orange 0 Comments

Happy April Fool’s Day!! We’re sending this to the Hash House….

Current and Past Presidents Dinner for Mamas Kitchen

April 1, 2009 Kelly Orange 0 Comments

Dining Details held a fundraiser on March 24th, 20009.  We helped them a little bit by donating some produce, but I’ll have to say they did all the work… and made $29,000 for Mama’s Kitchen. At Mama’s Kitchen we believe that every person is entitled to the basic necessity of life – nutritious food. As …

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Food Safety Alert – Pistachio Nuts

March 31, 2009 spbadmin 0 Comments

Specialty Produce is reacting to the recent alert from the FDA regarding concerns over salmonella contamination of Pistachio Nuts. Last updated 3/31/09 at 4:30pm. Click here for what we are doing about it… Click here for the FDA advisory notice.

Farmers' Market Report – Week of April 1st

March 31, 2009 Melissa Mayer 0 Comments

Happy Monday! How did everyone like their Fava’s? Amanda (our microgreen queen and your FM packer) made the mistake of eating one without removing the 2nd shell!! Ha ha, priceless! But yes, under that waxy shell, they are super sweet and fresh; not ONE BIT mealy. McGrath Farms and Coastal has more this week, supplies …

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Farmers' Market Report – Week of March 25th 2009

March 23, 2009 Kelly Orange 0 Comments

Good afternoon, everyone! NEWSFLASH: Fava Beans are in, from both Coastal Farms and McGrath Farm!! Supplies are a little limited to start, but will do our best to fill all orders! All of the unique lettuces from Coleman and McGrath are still going very strong. Jerry’s Berries, a funny spinoff from the famous “Harry’s Berries”, …

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Farmers' Market Report – Week of March 18th 2009

March 16, 2009 Kelly Orange 0 Comments

Good afternoon, everyone! We have some exciting new items to share with you this week: Weiser Family Farms’ Baby Purple Broccoli, which is a specific seed variety called Red Arrow. It’s not purple all the way through, but the green stem and leaves contrast it very nicely. It has a mild flavor and the farmer …

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Farmers' Market Report – Week of March 11th

March 9, 2009 spbadmin 0 Comments

Happy Monday, all!
Ugh, how about that darn daylight savings time? I am not thrilled to lose an hour of sleep, but at least we get more daylight – another sign that spring is coming, slowly but surely.
After talking to a lot of my farmers, up-and-coming new items for springtime menu’s are: Jerry’s Berries Strawberries (Jerry Rutiz’s version; he uses the “Galante” variety, which is a softer berry but extremely sweet – coming in early April), fresh Fava Beans from various farms – next week, lots more peas and beets and artichokes, purple baby broccoli coming this weekend from Weiser Farm (limited to start!), etc. etc.! More to come, I’m sure.