A food cart, by definition, is a mobile kitchen that is set up on the street to facilitate the sale and marketing of street food to local pedestrian traffic.
On a recent visit to Portland, Oregon, for a college reunion, I experienced the growing trend firsthand. Food carts have evolved! Airstreams and Shastas are serving it up all over the city. Food for this farmgirl’s heart, for sure.
We decided on grilled cheese sandwiches from an Airstream called The Grilled Cheese Grill … had to be good, right? And this was not just any old grilled cheese! I had the Jersey, which consisted of sauteed mushrooms and Swiss on rye with added sauerkraut. The fan favorite at our table was definitely the BABS, made with bacon, apple, blue cheese, and Swiss. Consensus? A grilled cheese made in an Airstream is delish!
We topped off our choices with cold, Northwest-brewed beer—served farmgirl-style in canning jars—from the Captured By Porches bus next door. Yes, this farmgirl would definitely say that Portland can serve up some good eats and drinks in the most fashionable of ways.
Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … April Choate!!!
When a Farmgirl Sisterhood member earns a certificate of achievement in the Farmgirl Legends category, it is a really big deal. That means that this Sister has taken on a particularly monumental farmgirl task and met the challenge head on.
April has earned a certificate of achievement, and the honorary title of – Chapter Guru. The requirements for earning this distinction takes a lot of planning and work. Here is how it is listed:
So what does April do?
Over the last 3 years April has hosted TEN meetings. That’s more than 3 times the effort required and deserves a standing round of applause! Here’s the full report…
“Presentation Number 1
The second meeting that I held after the startup of River Valley Farmgirls in 2010 was on Square Foot Gardening. I could hardly believe the attendance! There were 13 of us in my small living room. I took them through the basics of what Square Foot Gardening was using Mel Bartholomew’s book as my guide. I had a handout for them to write notes on and everyone had a bazillion questions. It was a super successful and fun evening of learning about the ins and outs of Square Foot Gardening. From that one meeting, 7 of the ladies started their own Square Foot Garden in their backyards and still have them today!
With so many cows running around the farm these days, we have plenty of milk for things like a weekly batch of Parmesan cheese, butter, and occasionally some ice cream. Nevertheless, we were more than happy to receive a special ice cream delivery from Susan at Halo Top Creamery. “Why, yes, of course, we’d be happy to taste-test ice cream made with a gamut of organic ingredients, cage-free eggs, and hormone-free dairy.” Hmmm, but we have all this milk of our own and … wait a minute, this sounds like a recipe for 4th of July MILKSHAKES!
It’s been a little warm around here and our crew is pretty awesome and we have an important holiday to celebrate this week and we’re swimming in fresh strawberries and milk …
Saralou was the first to take the taste test and … it’s good!! Like, really, really, really good.
Karina was wide-eyed with amazement. At only 80 calories for one 4 ounce serving of ice cream, it’s as healthy as it is delicious!
Happy 4th of July from all of us at MaryJanesFarm!
QUICK N’ EASY MILKSHAKES
1 cup Halo Top Ice Cream
1/4 cup organic milk plus things like chocolate chunks, fresh plucked strawberries, apricots …
To set the stage for how it felt to walk away from my baby for the first time, here’s a 32-second Subaru TV ad that says it all. (I love this commercial.)
And here’s my “baby” in her new home-away-from-home for the next week or so.
Buy props used in MaryJane’s books and magazine!
5% of profits will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Here’s how:
MaryJane will post a photo and a description of a prop and its cost along with a few details as to its condition here: https://shop.maryjanesfarm.org/MaryJanesCurations. It’s a playful way to be the new owner of a little bit of farm herstory.
