NW Farmers and Land Trust Program

I was at the Boise Farmers Market today – yes it was rainning, but not enough to dampen my spirits – and Janie Burns, Meadowlark Farms where I get my eggs, was distributing this flyer. The Local Farmland Program is produced by the Treasure Valley Food Coalition. Tjhis looks like an interesting program in Boise. Even if you are not in the Boise area, there are some wonderful BNB’s and AirBNB’s in the area. Here is the flyer that Janie was distributing.

From the Treasure Valley Food Coalition webpage,

Been There, Done That: Conversations About Farmland Preservation in the Pacific Northwest” Regional Farmland Trust leaders and farmers telling their stories. Guest speakers: Hilary Aten, Conservation Director, PCC Farmland Trust (Seattle, Washington), Kristin Troy, Executive Director, Lemhi Land Trust (Salmon, ID), Two Lemhi County producers, and Julia Freedgood, Asst. Vice President of Programs, American Farmland Trust. Monday, April 10th at 6:00 pm – BSU Yanke Research Park – 220 E. ParkCenter Boulevard – Free Admission

St Lawrence Gridiron Visit

Tags

bistro, St Lawrence Gridiron

Really a good visit. Good burgers, some of the best succotash I have ever eaten, some of the best shrimp and grits and good selection of beers and wines. Nice interior – different but friendly. Great interior design and artwork, including the lighting. Ww would definitely go back. Here is their inportant information – St Lawrence Gridiron Boise Website, Downtown Boise, ID, 705 W Bannock St,(208) 433-5598. Monday – Thursday, 11 – 11, Friday 11 – Midnight, Saturday 9:30am – 12am, Sunday, 9:30am – 9pm, Brunch On Weekends 9:30am-2pm. A great patio area weather permitting. They do their own smoking of brisket and turkey and I hear it is outstanding. They also try very hard to source their products locally. Definitely a really good bistro in downtown Boise. 4-Stars and well wworth the trip. Here are some photos of our visit. Enjoy!

Happy Hour information.

Smoking brisket for 9 – 12 hours, and turkey.

Part of the interior.

I do like these lights. Interesting.

Exciting time in Boise!

Time for a Barley Brown’s Headshake IPA and a dark and rich Full Nitro. It was 5:00 somewhere!

Shrimp and Grits

Rebellion Burger and a side of Succotash.
Some of the best succotash I have ever eaten.

The Rebellion Burger
is fantastic. Their own dill pickles, onion, lettuce and tomato. Well woth the $11.00 price tag. There is a lot here.

Winter At The Boise Farmers Market

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BFM, Boise

The “Spoon”

It’s winter! Snow in the mountains where it should be. In the high 20’s at night. And the Boise Farmers Market has moved inside at 8th and Fulton in the Linen Building. Free parking for the first hour, but you will need to get a receipt for that hour at the pay booth. They are open each Saturday now, through December 19th, from 9am – 2pm. Then we go through “Produce Withdrawl”. You can follow the BFM on their website at Boise Farmers Market. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter on their web page. Here are two photos that I took this morning at The Market. I have my specific vendors who I look for: Meadowlark Farms, Purple Sage Produce, Rollingstone Chevre, Acme Bakeshop, Desert Mountain Farms, True Roots Produce, Gaston’s Bakery, Next Generation Organics, The Mushroom Farm and Neckar Coffee, to name a few. There are more. Left-Click any of the photos to see them enlarged. These are panoramic photos and quite large.

The Boise Farmers Market

I was asked this morning, “Why do you come to the market?” I told him: I go to see the people. To visit with the farmers. To support our local farmers as much as possible. To make “my rounds” at the above listed farmers. And I miss the Market between December 20th and March 1st. I totally believe in Buying Local and I support that philosophy as much as possible.

The Boise Farmers Market open indoors now through Dec 19th.

It ‘s Summer! Time For Macaroni Salad!

Tags

black olives, Macaroni Salad, picnic food, Ree Drummond

Sum…Sum…Summertime! In Boise, the summer temps are supposed to be for the next week 102 – 109 degrees F. Oh yuk! AC best be working. Time for a cooling salad. How about a Macaroni Salad and this is a good one. Inspired by the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond; This altered recipe hits the spot. Chock full of small dice ham – use any typ you want – smoked, BBQ’d, etc, celery, and black olives. But the key to this salad is really the dressing. AS wonderful blend of mayo, red wine vinegar and fresh ground black Tellicherry pepper. Really surprisingly good. Give it a try. Left-Click the photo to see it enlarged.

A really good and easy to make Macaroni Salad. Great for hot summer days or a picnic! Enjoy!

Mai Thai Restaurant and the Idaho Foodie Meet-Up

Tags

asian food, Boise foodie, Mai Thai

On Thursday, November 21, the Idaho Foodie Meet-Up group met at Mai Thai in Boise for a delightful gathering and some scrumptious food! Our very good Waiter Benjamin, suggested that we try their Buffet Lunch, 11am until 2pm daily, because we can try a large variety of menu items for a very reasonable price. We highly recommend the Mai Thai restaurant for their Asian cuisine and their service. Easily a 4-Star, out of 5, rating. We will have to try their buffet. Thanks, Benjamin. Eight of the Meet-Up group were in attendance and here is some of the food we had. But first, the ambiance. Enjoy and Left-Click any of these photos to see them enlarged. Please VOTE above. Cheers!

Some of the glass work and water works in the restaurant. Beautiful!

Neither this lamp, nor the one above, were made by Chihuly, but rather by a local artist. They are simply marvelous.

Each table had one of these candles on it. The Missionary’s Downfall goblet (left) Hawaiian Mai Thai goblet (right) were not on each table. Just on ours.

The bar area. As you can see, the lighting in the restaurant was awesome. A fun place with superb food and service.

And at any party, there may be door prizes. Here was one of several. A mouse pad, at that!

And now …. The food!

Chicken Pot Stickers

Braised Oxtail Gyoza

Koi Cucumber Wrap

Seared Salmon

Kakitage – Corn and Red Onion Fritter
with
Spicy Curry Sauce

Maitaki Mushroom Tempura Fritter

Tuna Tartar

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Mai Thai Noodles with Pork

Chocolate Cake

Robin and I had an excellent time. Good group! Good food! Until next time ……………….

Lunch At Mazzah

Tags

Mazzah, Mediterranean Grill

And it was a good lunch! Huge servings. Robin and I should have shared a plate. I ate too much and she brought half of her’s home. Very, very good. Great flavors. Here is a link to Mazzah – Mediterranean Grill. They are located at 1772 W State Street in Boise. (208) 333-2566. They also have a grill at 404 E Park Center Blvd., Suite 250. (208) 333-2563. My only problem is that the service was a little slow. The Chicken Kabobs that I ordered were fresh made, but it took almost 20 minutes. We were there at the lunch hour, so that may have been part of the problem. The restaurant is small. Still good food, though. Just be prepared to wait. Here are some photos from today. Enjoy!

Robin, Janine and Gina enjoying the experience.

One of the mixed chicken kabob platters.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry ……………….

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DineOut Boise

………….. For tomorrow you may be dieting! Boise had this wonderful program called Dineout DowntownBoise where some of the restaurants offered a 3-Course dinner for $30. I have posted earlier on the subject, but it only lasted a week, so one had to hurry to make all of the eaterys. We didn’t make them all, but we tried.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the sponsors of this week long event: Boise Weekly, Sysco, the River – 94.9FM, Agri Beef Co., I Support Idaho Wines, Pepsi, DOWNTOWNBOISE Assoc. and Downtown Parking. Thank you one and all for offering this program. It was a joy!
And for the last dinner we went to Le Cafe de Paris where we met Michael and Sandra. Wonderful and fun people. He plays a mean guitar!! Ed K, we must introduce the two of you.

Can not have a good meal without a good wine …….

and can not have a good dessert without a good wine. (Both of these were from our cellar.)

When there is a choice on the menu, as there was at Le Cafe, Robin and I will usually get “one of each”. That way, we can try all and share. Le Cafe offered two entrees of each course. Here is what we had.

Salade de Bettraves et noisette
Butter lettuce topped with gold and red beets, toasted hazelnuts and served with a mustard vinaigrette

French Onion Soup

Confit de Canard
Duck confit
served with
roasted potatoes and Calvacios flambe apples

Saumon Papillotte Salmon with white wine, tomato and shallot baked in parchment paper

Dessert. Need I say more?

One each, then share!!

And then on Sunday night we made a 5-Hour Roasted Chicken. The recipe for a 5-Hour Roasted Duck is in the recipe section of the blog – See the headings above. We used the same recipe for the chicken.

5-Hour Roasted Chicken

Michael and Sandra joined us for the dinner party. Lots of wine. Some Scotch, Amarula, B&B, Guinness and Armagnac.

Grand Opening-New Boise Farmer’s Market

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fiddlehead ferns, food, goat cheese, potted flowers, tomato plants

The New Boise Farmer’s Market at 10th Street and Grove in downtown Boise, held their Grand Opening today – it rained the day they had originally scheduled the Grand Opening. Today was crowded, no rain and sunny, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the food, the produce, the beef and buffalo and lamb and chicken. Fresh herbs are also available along with fresh tomatoes and tomato plants. Do you like goat cheese? See the Rollingstone Chevre booth for fresh made goat cheese. All types. Bleu Goat Cheese is coming in about 3 weeks. Here are some photos from today. Enjoy. Left-Click the photo to see enlarged and don’t forget to VOTE above. Thanks.

Potted flowers. Here are some Pansy’s.

Food is available at the market. Here is a Waffle Stack.

Fiddlehead Ferns

Fresh, hard to find mushrooms.

January At “The Buzz”

Tags

Buzz Bistro, food, restaurants, Wine Dinners

Yes, it’s that time again. The start of a New Year. And the events at The Buzz in Boise are off to a fantastic start. Here are the latest words from Cristi! Hope to see you at these events! Cheers!

Events at the Buzz
January 2013

We, at Buzz, hope that everyone had a safe and fun filled holiday season. We look forward to getting together with all of you in the new year. Some fun events planned to kick off 2013 in style. Music on January 4 is Tomorrow Never Knows, Wine Club Jan 8 and 9, and Blaze and Kelly January 11. Carter Freeman will be joining us January 18 and we will Celebrate our 6th Anniversary that night. Saturday nights will be game nights at the Buzz with a new game featured every week (always a big choice of games to play), bring some friends down enjoy wine tasting and learn a new game. Bountiful Baskets starts again on January 12 (orders to be placed on the 7th and 8th), and Grab Your Groceries is now open for business.

Don’t forget we have a large selection of catering ideas for any size gathering drop us a line or an email and lets talk about how we can help take the stress out of entertaining for you.

Hope to see everyone soon.
Sincerely,
Cristi and Tommy Takeda
Buzz Coffee and Wine

Wine Club
As many of you know, we do not just send you a shipment of two bottles of wine which you know nothing about. We all get together on the Second Tuesday or Wednesday of the month at 6:30, and learn about the wine and food. This is a dinner and wine tasting, with an educational component with all the wines being on sale after dinner. The cost is only $15.00 per person and Reservations Are Required. It is a plated meal so please let us know of dietary issues when placing reservations. This year we are going to focus on the wine regions of the world. Starting with Argentina. Reservations can be made at buzzwine@cableone.net or (208) 344-4321.

About Us
Thank you for your continued support of the years and we look forward to an exciting and event filled 2013.

Buzz Coffee and Wine
2999 N Lakeharbor Lane
Boise, Idaho 83703

MickeyRay’s BBQ Opens Second Restaurant In Boise

Tags

lb beef brisket, lb catfish, prime rib dinner, restaurants, texas smoker

Yes, another BBQ restaurant in Boise. This one is locally owned and operated with two locations in Boise and one in Eagle. (See the graphic) I had a short, but very interesting, visit while I was there and I was impressed by the operation. This new Boise location is located where the Macaroni Grille was, at 980 Milwaukee by Staples. You can see their website at MickeyRay’s BBQ. There is also a link in the sidebar. Be sure to check these links for complete menus and the like. Let them know you saw the information here on the Boise Foodie Blog.
It was interesting to hear that they use only local maple for their smoking process in a Texas made smoker, one of only two of this type located in Idaho. There is a photo below. They try very hard to use only locally produced products, the smoker being one exception. The menu is extensive and complete, with specials on Thursday – MickeyRay’s Big Ol’ Beef Rib ($16), Friday – 3/4 lb. Catfish Fillet and Hush Puppies ($15) and Saturday – Complete Prime Rib Dinner ($18, $23 and $29) and I believe an everyday special, it takes that long to eat it, The Trough – 1 lb. Chopped Pork, 1 lb. Beef Brisket, 1 Full Rack of Ribs, 1 quart Beans and 1 lb Fries. And all for $60! That’s over 4 pounds of vittles! They have kid’s menus, sandwiches, rib plates and much, much more. (I’m getting hungry!)

MickeyRay’s BBQ on Milwaukee in Boise

They were kind enough to let me photograph their Texas Smoker – it is BIG!

Let’s have a party some evening and meet at MickeyRay’s BBQ and try their fare out. Dutch, of course. Let us know. And if you get there before we do, let them know that we suggested it to you and let us know how you like it. Cheers!