Minneapolis Farmers Market

Fresh & Local Radio Show 2012

Past Guests on the 2012 Fresh & Local season:

January 7

Tamar Adler is the author of the recently released “An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace.” (Scribner, October 2011) She is a former editor of Harper’s Magazine, the founding head chef of Farm 255 in Athens, Georgia, and cooked at Chez Panisse from 2007-2009. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, The New Leader, Mother Jones, Salon.com, Gilt Taste, the Atlantic.com, and Fine Cooking. Tamar comes from a family of cooks: her New York-based mother is a personal chef and brother is chef at Franny’s Restaurant. Tamar lives in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

January 14

Keith Adams is Cheesemaker and Managing Partner at Alemar Cheese Company. Founded in 2008, Alemar is focused on producing fresh and soft-ripened cheeses of the highest order from organic, pasture-fed cow’s milk.

A graduate of UC Davis, Adams moved to Minnesota in 1991, and has been involved primarily in the food business for the past 15 years. He has two daughters, Alex and Mari, for whom the company is named.

Alemar Cheese’s Bent River Camembert style cheese is now available throughout the upper Midwest and in California. It was awarded third place at last year’s American Cheese Society Judging and Competition Camembert category, and has been featured in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, and Culture Magazine.

Anthony Leonhardi (born 1982) is an American Chef born and raised in Plymouth Minnesota. Leonhardi’s early culinary career included time spent working at Davanni’s, followed by enrollment in The Art Institute in Minneapolis Minnesota. While at culinary school, Leonhardi landed a position at highly acclaimed Lucia’s restaurant. Leonhardi spent 3 years at Lucia’s working in all of the stations. After Lucia’s he moved to Oddfellows to work under Executive Chef Matt Williams. Leonhardi then spent time in various restaurants; Chef de Cuisine at Opus Lounge, Sous Chef at Northcoast Restaurant, Sous Chef and Sous Chef position at Via Cafe. Leonhardi then moved to Salut Bar Americain as a Sous Chef in 2008, and promoted to Executive Chef in 2010.

At Salut, Leonhardi has worked to develop relationships that support his local community from local farmers, Minneapolis and Saint Paul Famers market, and teaching classes at Cooks Crocus Hill. He also has done charity events for The March of Dimes, and Meals on Wheels.

January 21

Susan Powers, author of “Rawmazing Desserts”, Rawmazing Easy Raw Food...
(There are now 5 cookbooks - how would you like to handle that?) and creator of one of the most popular raw food blogs on the internet, Rawmazing.com is revolutionizing the world of raw food cookery with her inventive and delicious recipes. As a professional food photographer, she knows how to bring the food alive with and beautiful food styling and photography.

Bringing traditional food preparation methods into the raw world, and balancing, flavor, color, texture and mouth feel, Susan is introducing us to a whole new raw.

Rawmazing.com currently gets over 400,000 page views a month and has a dedicated, loyal and growing following. Susan's books and e-books are filled with delicious recipes that are gourmet, easy, vegan, gluten free and raw. Aimed at mainstream, Susan believes that if people are given healthy delicious alternatives that they can easily make at home, changing their eating habits and improving their health will become second nature.

Wild Run Salmon is owned by Matt Oxford. Matt moved from St. Paul, MN to Homer, Alaska in 1989. He got his start running the “Porpoise Room” a popular fisherman’s bar located next to the harbor. The bar cashed checks for the fishermen and it didn’t take Matt long too long to make a career change. He started working as a crab fisherman and continued to work as a Bering Sea crabber for the next 12 winters. In the summer he fished for Halibut and Salmon. He also helped start Coal Point Trading Company, a small processing plant located on the Homer Spit.

It was at Coal Point that he learned the benefits of flash freezing fish that had been handled properly by the fisherman. Frozen fish had the reputation of being inferior to fresh. However, Matt learned that this was because most fish mongers were holding fresh fish as long as they could and then freezing it before it spoiled. But, if your fisherman takes a fresh salmon that has been bled and iced on the boat, vacuum packs it and freezes it within hours of being caught, you get a consistent product that is as good or better than fish sold fresh.

In 2004 Matt bought the F.V. “BLUE OX” and started fishing in the Upper Cook Inlet. He fishes with his three sons George, Sam and Leo on the “Blue Ox” during the salmon season. The Cook Inlet has the best road access of any fishery which makes it possible for Matt to custom-pack his own catch instead of being forced to sell to the cannery. By caring for the fish throughout the entire process, Matt insures that the customers get the very best product.

Best of all, Matt’s customers know they are making an ethical seafood choice. Alaska commercial salmon fisheries are carefully managed to ensure sustainability of the stocks. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has certified Alaska’s salmon as “sustainable.” The Council is an international nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable fishing practices worldwide and guides consumer buying habits through eco-labeling. Numerous organizations have endorsed Wild Alaska Salmon as an ethical seafood choice, including Audubon Society’s Living Oceans campaign and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There are no farmed salmon, not even those calling themselves “organic” that have those endorsements

Registered Dietitian Joy Heimgartner grew up in Southeast Minnesota before moving to Fairbanks in 1993 to study fisheries and marine science at the University of Alaska. Although she ultimately opted for a different career path, she developed a great appreciation for catching and enjoying wild fish.

While working on her dietetics degree and internship, she had the good fortune of holding several unique nutrition jobs in Alaska. This included conducting field research on traditional Yupik Eskimo diets through work with the Center for Alaska Native Health Research, field research on the physiology and energy needs of Iditarod mushers, corporate wellness on the North Slope oil fields, and working for the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service.

In 2008 she left Alaska to join the team at Mayo Clinic Rochester, where she currently works with transplant patients. She also continues to teach as an adjunct professor in the dietetics and nutrition programs at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she is also a member of the statewide Nutrition Degree Advisory Committee.

January 28

Micaela Preston is a green living expert and marketing consultant with an MBA and a passion for sustainable products and brands. Her award winning blog, Mindful Momma, focuses on living a green and healthy lifestyle while balancing the realities of life with young children. Her book, Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making was published in 2009 by Betterway Books (F+W Media).

Micaela lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two boys. When she is not writing, she is busy whipping up a healthy meal or the eco-craft du jour.

The Fresh & Local radio show also welcomes Bertrand Weber. Read the press release below to find out why.

Minneapolis Public Schools names new director of nutrition services

MINNEAPOLIS – Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson on January 4 announced the selection of Bertrand Weber as director of nutrition services for Minneapolis Public Schools effective January 9, 2012. The director of nutrition services leads the MPS Child Nutrition Program, including management of staff, operations, facilities, menu, purchasing, budget, financial operations and community relations.

“Bertrand is a motivated and innovative professional with 37 progressive years of school food service and premier hospitality management experience,” said Johnson. “Our students will benefit from his expertise in food service and his commitment to creating healthy meal options.”

Of the hire, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said, “Bertrand Weber is a leader in the farm-to-school movement and is seen as a hero by the folks involved in our Homegrown Minneapolis initiative, including my wife Megan O’Hara. His proven ability to bring fresh foods to school cafeterias will be great for our kids and key to expanding Homegrown Minneapolis.”

Since 2006, Weber has been employed as director of wellness, nutrition and culinary standards for Taher, Inc., in Minnetonka, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of nutrition standards, wellness policies and culinary standards for 106 school districts in the upper Midwest. He also worked as Royal Cuisine director of operations in the Hopkins school district from 2003 to 2006. In the hospitality industry, Weber was employed as general manager of La Toscana Ristorante from 1998 to 2003; general manager of the Whitney Hotel from 1991 to 1997; food and beverage director at the Wequassett Inn in Cape Cod, MA, from 1988 to 1991; general manager of the New Bern Golf & Country Club in New Bern, NC, from 1987 to 1988; general manager of the Beach Club at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, FL, from 1984 to 1987; assistant food and beverage director at Pier 66 Hotel and Marina in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, from 1980 to 1984; and assistant manager of resort operations at Palm Beach Polo & Country Club in Wellington, FL, from 1978 to 1980.

Weber completed his education at the Ecole Hotelière de Genève, Switzerland.

Of his new position, Weber said, “I welcome the opportunity and challenge of positively affecting the lives of the students of Minneapolis Public Schools. I am committed to making MPS Nutrition Services a national leader in promoting the health of children through nutritious school meals.”

Shaina Olmanson is the home cook and photographer behind Food for My Family and Olmanson Photography. Her first cookbook, Desserts in Jars, is due to come out in the spring of 2012. Growing up surrounded by farms served as a daily reminder of the importance of local, seasonal food. Working from home as a freelance writer, recipe developer and photographer and raising her four young kids with her husband Ole, they strive to teach them the importance of growing, preparing and eating real food in a day and age where many people have turned to convenience foods because they are so readily available, and they hope to encourage others to do the same.

Shaina is a daily contributor to Babble.com's Family Kitchen Blog and the editor of the food channel for Lifetime Moms, a digital property of A&E Networks and contributes regularly to several online media sources. She was recently named one of the Top 100 Mom Food Bloggers by Babble in 2011 and one of the Top 10 Family Cooking Blogs by Life Scoop.

February 4

The MNFoodDudes are a group of local culinary enthusiasts that have set out on a journey to help further the discussion of our current food culture. Through a multi-facted social media campaign, coupled with social dining experiences, the MNFoodDudes are looking to bring the conversation home to your table.

You can find us online at MNFoodDudes.com, on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MNFoodDudes, or on Twitter @MNFoodDudes.

February 11

What makes Tollefson Family Pork unique?
We are one of the very few companies that still offer all-natural meat products. This means that we do not feed antibiotics to our animals, or alter them with growth hormones. Our recent work with flavor based genetics gives our meat that perfect marbling, making our meat products tender and tasty, while remaining lean and healthy. You can see the difference between our products and conventional pork by yourself. Fry some of our original recipe Hardwood Smoked Bacon. Once the bacon grease is removed from heat, you will notice that instead of solidifying rapidly, as common grocery store bacon does, ours stays liquid for an extended period of time. This is because or pork has more poly-unsaturated fat and less saturated fat.
Our unique feed program incorporates soybean oil and fish oil to a one-of-a-kind feed mix that gives our pork Omega 3 fatty acids. Omega 3 stimulates blood circulation, reduces clots, and has been shown to reduce blood pressure. There is strong evidence that it also can reduce blood triglyceride levels and the risk of heart attacks.
Thanks to our one-of-a-kind feed program, we are proud to offer a product that is both great tasting AND great for you!

February 18

Mrs. Kelly’s Tea started in 1992 at the Minneapolis Farmers Market with a few herbal tea blends and has since grown to over 300 locally blended teas and tisanes. Mrs. Kelly has won reader chosen 2008 Local Hero Award in the category of “Beverage Artisan” from Edible Twin Cities publication. “Best Tea of Show” at Calhoun Coffee Fest and “Best Natural Product of Show” at the TC Food and Wine show. She also recently won Best Flavored Black Tea for her Celebration Tea in a blind taste test with over 200 entries in the North American Tea Competition. The Kelly family also host’s the Twin Cities Largest Tea Party every December benefiting Perspectives and Second Harvest with this year’s being the 20th one held!

February 25

Sister Becky Swanson is a deaconess with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serves St. Anthony Park Lutheran Church where she directs a children's choir and works in the area of faith formation and issues of social justice with the congregation. As a deaconess she is called to be a bridge between the church and the world, keeping the attention of the church on the needs of the world and helping the church serve those needs.

She has worked in church music and corporate training for over twenty years. In addition to her congregational call she works in the area of leadership development and training and is the chair of the board of Preventing Harm Minnesota, a non-profit that aims to reduce toxic threats in the food children eat, the water they drink, the air they breathe, and the products they use.

March 3

Get ready to garden!

Guests: Theresa Miesler of Shady Acres Herb Farm, Kevin Blaeser and Cooper Hipp

Learn More:

"Tucked near the nexus of Kevin Blaeser and Cooper Hipp's back yard, not far from a wooden bear scaling a tree, a cascading pond and waves of bee balm and phlox bursting skyward, sits a hammock. As tastefully appointed as the surrounding fountains, furniture and fauna, it might just be the least tended item in this Golden Valley Eden.

"In all these years," Blaeser said, "I think I've used it maybe 2 minutes."

This is no lamentation. Blaeser and Hipp have plenty of other perches -- a cushioned pergola bench here, twig chairs on the flagstone patio over there, rattan on the decks -- from which to survey the distinct areas of the garden that flow together as smoothly as the water features within them.

"We are out here 90 percent of the time" during Minnesota's tolerable season, Hipp said. He declined to say what portion of that time is work vs. leisure. By way of answer, he said "Summer is so short here, we want the garden to always be beautiful in color and texture."

... Full Article found here: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/132070313.html

March 10

Tom and Patty Gregor are the proud owners of Gregor Farm, a small family farm and greenhouse in Medina, Minnesota.

Jen Vertanen is an Ex-IT Project Manager turned Life & Wellness Coach and is the founder of The Wholehearted Life.com where she coaches and inspires women to rediscover the joys and adventures in their imperfectly lovely beautiful messy lives, guiding them on a journey towards courage, confidence, and wholehearted authentic living. Jen is a voracious consumer of the local Twin Cities food scene and is active in the MN Food Bloggers group.

Follow her on:
  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheWholeheartedLife
  Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jenvertanen
  Website: http://www.thewholeheartedlife.com

CeAnn Klug is the University of Minnesota Extension's Associate Program Director of Cooking Matter Minnesota. Cooking Matters is a hands-on, cooking-based nutrition education program that teaches Minnesota families, living on a limited budget, how to shop for and prepare healthy and delicious meals. CeAnn was hired by Extension in late 2009 to lead this dynamic program that connects local (volunteer) Chefs with Extension Nutrition Educators to deliver a six-week course to participants of all ages. Prior to joining Extension, CeAnn was Founder / Chef of a small bistro in Mankato, MN. CeAnn is a graduate of Minnesota State University – Mankato. She holds degree in International Business and French.

For additional details on Cooking Matter Minnesota please visit: http://www.extension.umn.edu/Nutrition/cooking-matters.html

March 17

Michele Schermann, a public health nurse researcher and educator, works at the intersection of human health, agricultural safety and natural resource management, with a special focus on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), helping growers develop their on-farm food safety plans and preparing growers for food safety audits. Michele is the Minnesota collaborator for the National GAPs Program and serves on various food safety advisory and technical committees throughout the US.

Deena’s Gourmet Hummus started with an idea for an appetizer to serve at a summer backyard party. Deena needed something to serve to her friends coming over and after seeing someone making hummus on television that afternoon she decided to throw some ingredients she had on hand into a blender and see what she came up with. This is how the famous Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Hummus was first made. Without any tahini on hand, Deena decided to see what the combination of the chickpeas and garlic would taste like with the feta cheese and roasted red peppers she had in her fridge. It was delicious and a huge hit with her friends at the party! Such a big hit in fact, that requests started coming in from friends and family for Deena to bring her hummus to every social gathering.

After a year or two went by, Deena and her husband David decided they wanted to start a family. Deena started brainstorming of things she could do for income that would allow her a flexible schedule to be at home with her kids. At the time, she was working downtown Minneapolis as a buyer for Macy’s and had a very demanding schedule. David suggested trying out a booth at a local farmer’s market and selling her famous hummus. After a few months, Deena found herself pregnant and Macy’s announced it would be shutting down it’s Macy’s North buying division, therefore laying off all nine hundred employees at the downtown Minneapolis corporate office.

Deena saw this as a blessing. The St. Paul farmer’s market opened just three weeks after her last day at Macy’s. Deena showed up with two flavors: Roasted Red Pepper & Feta as well as Roasted Eggplant. They were an instant hit! She sold out in just over an hour, showed up the next day with double and sold those units out in less than two hours! Sales continued to rise as the summer went on and Deena’s hummus increased in popularity with the local St. Paul and Minneapolis customers. Soon she found herself on the shelves at a few coops. Today, Deena’s Hummus is sold in over twenty retail locations and at five farmer’s markets. She has added two flavors to the product mix: Original and Black Bean & Chipotle….with new flavors currently in the works!

March 24

As a classroom teacher,Tom McComas has been taking 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students from Mpls Public Schools on bike rides during the school year since 2000. About 5 years ago, he started teaching summer school, as well, and started taking students to JD Rivers Garden in Wirth Park a few times a week to learn about planting, harvesting, eating, canning (pickles and salsa), insects, wildflowers, animal habitats, composting, water cycle and more!

Last year was Tom added Cooking Matters to the summer school coursework. Now students learn where the fruits and veggies come from (at JD Rivers), how to create some tasty and nutritious snacks and meals (Cooking Matters), and are riding their bikes and burning up everything they eat!

Many destinations are parks or museums, which combine a tour with a cooking lesson. This summer Tom hopes to tie things together even more and make stronger connections between what students eat, where their food come from, and energy for biking. The course is part of Mpls Public Schools at Green Central Park.

Joy Summers is a food columnist who grudgingly lives in St. Paul over Minneapolis. Her work has appeared in City Pages, Lavender Magazine, the Mix and on her own blog Eating the Minneapple.

March 31

From generation to generation Pahl's Market has consistently grown the finest homegrown vegetables in Minnesota. Pahl's Market harvests and sells sweet corn, cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and pumpkins. Their produce is picked fresh daily to ensure the highest quality. Their farm fresh produce season starts in mid July and continues into October. They farm over 1,000 acres.

For additional information and wholesale requests, contact Gary Pahl at 952.431.4345 or e-mail Gary at gary@pahls.com

Sara Rice is a freelance writer, photographer, and cooking instructor who's contributed to outlets like City Pages Hot Dish blog, TC Jewfolk's Noshin' column, MetroMix, Heavy Table, and The Jew and the Carrot. A three-time presenter at "Sunday Cooks" at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, she's an avid supporter of all things local and sustainable. She learned her baking chops -- and love of all things culinary -- following her award-winning baker mother around the kitchen. When Sara's not playing with her food, you can find her hanging out with her son, Riley.

N.M. Kelby is the author of White Truffles in Winter, which imagines the world of the remarkable French chef Auguste Escoffier, (1846–1935) who changed how we eat through his legendary restaurants at The Savoy and The Ritz. A man of contradictions—kind yet imperious, food-obsessed yet rarely hungry—Escoffier was also torn between two women: the famous, beautiful, and reckless actress Sarah Bernhardt; and his wife, the independent and sublime poet Delphine Daffis who refused to ever leave Monte Carlo. Set in the last year of Escoffier’s life, in the middle of writing his memoirs, he has returned to Delphine, who requests a dish in her name as he has honored Bernhardt, Queen Victoria, and many others. How does one define the complexity of love on a single plate? Kelby brings us the sensuality of food and love amid a world on the verge of war in this work that shimmers with beauty and longing.

April 7

Tom Forti was born and raised in Hibbing. He grew up working for his family every summer, making Potica, and delivering breads and donuts to grocery stores and gas stations all over the Iron Range. After graduating from the University of St. Thomas, he spent 3 years in Sun Valley, Idaho, working in a ski shop, and as a bartender. He moved back to Hibbing in 2004, to work with his family to begin the transformation of their retail store into a wholesale gourmet food manufacturer. His time spent in Hibbing was instrumental in learning various aspects of the business (i.e. production, packaging, distribution, sales & marketing). Together with his parents, they slowly built a customer base throughout the Iron Range, and then set their sights on the metro. Tom then moved to Minneapolis in 2006, and was hired by a local food distributor, where he is still employed part-time. In their opinion, having distribution allowed them to gain accounts with more ease than selling direct. And they noticed when the area co-ops and local independent grocers welcomed their products it gave them a sense of credibility. They've now turned their focus to dry pasta, which they introduced at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market in 2009. Sunrise offers various cuts and flavors, which have been well received, and can now be found in over 100 grocery stores, primarily in Minnesota. Today, Tom works part time with Sunrise, and part time for Trudeau Distributing, which entails working with all the metro co-ops.

Find out more here: Sunrise Creative Gourmet website

Meredith Deeds grew up in the restaurant business and has spent the last 15 years writing and teaching about food all over the country. She writes for various magazines and newspapers, including Bon Appetit, Better Homes and Gardens and Cooking Light and has co-authored six cookbooks, including the James Beard Award finalist Big Book of Appetizers and 300 Sensational Soup, chosen by Good Morning America as one of the top ten cookbooks of 2008. Recently she's moved into the digital world with her multi-media cookbook app Counter Intelligence. She is also the Executive Director for the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Kim Ode is a feature writer at the Star Tribune, where she also does the monthly Baking Central feature in the Taste section. She's a founder of the Baking 101 site on Facebook with more than 1,500 members, and has demo'ed at the Creative Activities Stage at the Minnesota State Fair for the past six years. Her first cookbook, "Baking with the St. Paul Bread Club: Recipes, Tips and Stories" is in its second printing.

April 14

Larry Cipolla has been a master gardener since 2005. But he has also been on the Hennepin County Executive Committee; the State Advisory Board as a Chair for two years; and started the first revenue generating events for the Hennepin County Master Gardener program; like, the first plant sale and first learning garden tour.

He teaches classes to other master gardeners, and to the public, on a wide range of topics: basic and advanced vegetable gardening, container gardening, water gardening, Japanese Gardens, planting by artists, and backyard composting, among others. He has a Japanese Garden, vegetable and herb garden, butterfly garden, 10 water features, and about 40 containers that he uses to grow vegetables, herbs, and tropicals. And he makes his own compost.

Aside from his passion about gardening in general, he manages his own company, which specializes in performance-based 360 feedback. His Web-based products and services are marketed around the world. He has reduced his air-travel time to less than 75,000 miles per year. And, since January I have been to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, and Spain.

Hear what he has to say this Saturday!

April 21

Keith Wood is the chef at Big Bowl in Roseville, where the love of cooking seasonally with just picked produce prevails. He shops the Minneapolis Farmers Market) two or three times a week to find locally grown produce for the restaurant. Wood attended a cooking school in Paris and has held a variety of positions in classic French kitchens, from garde manger to saucier. He then moved to southwest France where he worked at the renowned Hotel Regina in Biarritz and to the famed Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Paris under Jules Verne. Next he moved on to the Ginger Club in Palo Alto, California, where he worked with owner, Asian food expert and cookbook authors Bruce Cost and Ming Tsai.

Wood spent the 11 years helping to expand the concept of bringing Chinese and Thai authenticity to Big Bowl restaurant. Big Bowl’s commitment to quality and its shift to sustainability and supporting local farmers in recent years have been exciting for Wood. He is currently spearheading efforts to bring more seasonal produce to all three Big Bowl locations in the Minneapolis area.

April 28

Tricia Cornell is a writer for The Heavy Table online food magazine and for Twin Cities Business, a former editor for Minnesota Parent and Minnesota Good Age, and a veteran CSA subscriber to Hog’s Back Farm of Arkansaw, Wisconsin.

Book: Eat More Vegetables: Making the Most of Your Seasonal Produce

Mary Maguire Lerman of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society knows everything there is to know about Minnesota growing. Mary has a B.S. in Horticultural Science from the University of Minnesota. She has served as an Education Officer at the Como Park Conservatory and worked with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board for many years. Mary was the designer of Park Gardens, including Longfellow Garden and was the community organizer for the St. Anthony Park Neighborhood Buckthorn roundup. Mary is a contributing writer to the Northern Gardener Magazine and a current Board Member of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society.

May 5

Julia Earl is Executive Director of Preventing Harm Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that aims to reduce toxic threats in the food children eat, the water they drink, the air they breathe, and the products they use. It is the only organization dedicated to getting toxins out of the lives of Minnesota children.

Nicole Navratil is a writer, teacher, and musician from Northeast Minneapolis. She's passionate about changing the way people eat and enjoys connecting with other veggie lovers through her blog, Pepperoni Is Not a Vegetable. Nicole will be a new vendor at the Northeast Farmers' Market this season, and is writing a book on how to create delicious meatless meals.

Past Guests on the 2011 Fresh & Local season:

Brett Laidlaw is a writer and cook who divides his time between the Twin Cities and Bide-A-Wee Station, a tiny off-grid cabin in west central Wisconsin. He writes the blog "Trout Caviar" ( www.troutcaviar.blogspot.com ) which highlights the best of local, seasonal foods in our region, including wild-foraged foods. A cookbook based on the blog, Trout Caviar: Recipes from a Northern Forager, will be published in September 2011 by Borealis Books of the Minnesota Historical Society Press. With his wife Mary Eckmeier, Laidlaw ran the acclaimed home-based farmers market bakery, Real Bread, from 2003 to 2010. He has published two novels, as well as numerous articles on fly fishing, gardening, and cooking. He can be reached at brettlaidaw@eckmeier.com

Theresa Mieseler and her husband Jim own Shady Acres Herb Farm in Chaska, Minnesota. They began farming in 1977 with the growth and sales of Minnesota wildflowers, soon adding herbs, which were then hard to find in Minnesota. The farm started with just one plant shelter and has grown to its present size with eight greenhouses, gardens and a gift shop with a classroom. Theresa and Jim have been active in the MAST (Minnesota Agriculture Student Trainee) program at the University of Minnesota, hosting students from countries including Poland, Ukraine, Brazil, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Theresa is the 2010 Award Recipient of the Nancy Putnam Howard Award for Excellence in Horticulture from the Herb Society of America

Shady Acres Herb Farm is now on Facebook: Like their page to stay informed!

May 21

Amy Boland, author of the food blog "Cook 'Em If You Got 'Em," knows that life revolves around food. She grew up with a large vegetable garden and carries on the family traditions of eating what's in season, pickling and canning, and putting up far too much sauerkraut each autumn. Amy relies on the Minneapolis Farmers' Market as a source of fresh, local, and seasonal foods. Especially cabbage. "Bring your mom," she recommends.

Follow her here: http://twitter.com/amy_boland

Connect http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/432/510

Read http://amyboland.blogspot.com/

And, Warren Anderson will be on the show to talk about perennial plants! Warren is a commercial grower of perennials, vegetables and vegetable transplants with his family. He's always had an interest in agriculture. He has a Bachelor of Science degree is in Agricultural Education. He is married to his wonderful wife Elaine, and has three children that they homeschool. He has many interests as a lifelong learner, especially in politics and religion. He grew up on a dairy, hog and chicken farm. Besides the years of his early childhood, his years in college at the University of MN and a few years in training as a Christian missionary to college students, he has been farming all of his life. The enterprise that he currently manages, Anderson Acres, was started in 1984, so it has been about 27 years growing produce and plants. His grandfather and grandmother bought the farm during the depression, and his children make it a 4th generation farm. He currently grows over 500 varieties of Hostas. For more info, call: 507-352-2451

May 28

Susan and Bonnie welcome Laura Bonicelli and Susan Powers to the show.

Laura Bonicelli is the owner and executive chef of Solo by Bonicelli, a fresh meal delivery service for individuals serving the Twin Cities area. Her innovative recipes feature organic, local, and the finest ingredients possible. In addition to Solo, she works on recipe and product development, photography, blogging, guest writing, and has an extensive library of on-line cooking videos.

Laura hails from Minnesota’s Iron Range and counts that, her Italian heritage, traveling, and 15 years of producing food photography as her influences on her particular style and approach to food.

Susan Powers at Rawmazing.com, is revolutionizing the world of raw food cookery with her inventive and delicious recipes and beautiful food styling and photography.

Bringing traditional food preparation methods into the raw world, and balancing, flavor, color, texture and mouth feel, Susan is introducing us to a whole new raw.

Grower Pat Nelson will also be on the show to talk about potted and hanging flowering arrangements that will spruce up your garden!

June 4

Join hosts Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn as they welcome Brian Fredericksen, Rob King and Jenny Breen.

Ames Farm established in 1995 in Watertown, MN, now manages 500 colonies of honeybees and 1,600 apple trees. Owner/Founder Brian Fredericksen left a corporate R&D position at the 3M Company in 2000 to pursue Ames Farm full time. Since that time, Ames Farm has emerged as a nationally known artisanal honey producer recognized for their Single Source Honey brand of raw varietal honey.

Robert King is a professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. He joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1983 and held the E. Fred Koller Chair in Agricultural Management Information Systems from 1983 to 2004. He served as head of the Department of Applied Economics from July 2004 through June 2008. He has directed The Food Industry Center at the University since July 2010.

Rob’s research focuses on local food systems, on organic agriculture, and on management issues facing food retailers, farmer cooperatives, and farmers. He co-authored a recent USDA/ERS publication on local food supply chains, and he was the guest editor for a special theme issue on local foods for CHOICES Magazine.

Rob s President-Elect of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, the leading professional society for agricultural and applied economists. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), on the Minnesota Organic Advisory Task Force, and on the International Advisory Board of the Wageningen School of Social Sciences at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

USDA/ERS Publication on local food, “Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains.” http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/err99/

Theme Issue in CHOICES magazine “Local Food – Perceptions, Prospects, and Policies" :: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/magazine/block.php?block=44

The Food Industry Center :: http://foodindustrycenter.umn.edu

Jenny Breen has been cooking and baking professionally in the Twin Cities for more than twenty years. She is a co-owner of Good Life Catering (previously Good Life Café) and is a passionate advocate for local and sustainably raised foods. She received a Bush Leadership fellowship in 2009 and returned to school to study public health nutrition and continue her pursuit of healthy food for healthy families in healthy communities on a healthy planet. When not biking or canoeing with her family, she is in her home laboratory, passing along the pleasures of food to her husband, Jon, and their daughters, Solana and Frances.

Wholesome, fun recipes to cook with the seasons—from renowned Twin Cities chef Jenny Breen [PRESS RELEASE] -- Roasted figs with gorgonzola. Lemon miso soup. Harvest lasagna, lentil walnut burgers, and ginger molasses cookies. Veteran Minneapolis chef Jenny Breen knows that cooking at home can be a joyful, rewarding, and healthy experience for the whole family. In Cooking Up the Good Life, Jenny Breen—along with writer Susan Thurston—presents a scrumptious journey through the seasonal ingredients of the upper Midwest with an enticing variety of her most-loved recipes for the family table.

Written with both beginner and experienced cooks in mind, each section in Cooking Up the Good Life—from starters and sauces to soups, salads, main courses, and sweets—is organized by season to help bring our daily meals into harmony with local harvests. Recipes include imaginative “Family Kitchen” segments that suggest safe, fun ways to get kids involved. An advocate for inviting children into the kitchen, Breen has found that they are more apt to eat what they are connected to, whether by growing the vegetables, feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs, or helping prepare the food.

Cooking at home is also an opportunity to discover more about the ingredients we use and the people who bring them to our grocery stores, our farmers markets, and ultimately to our tables. Featuring refreshingly simple, creative, and unfussy recipes, Cooking Up the Good Life’s relaxed and encouraging style helps you cook with ease and serve with confidence wholesome dishes that highlight the natural beauty and elegance of Midwestern seasonal ingredients. Oh, yes—and they’re absolutely delicious. But don’t just take our word for it.

Where to find her book!
http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/B/breen_cooking.html

Jenny's company:Good Life Catering
http://www.goodlifecatering.com/

Kitchen in the Market (Where Jenny is a chef):
http://kitcheninthemarket.com/

June 11

Join hosts Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn as they welcome Jen Emmert.

Jen Emmert is the owner and lead author of the blog PriorFatGirl which she started to document her own healthiness journey of losing 100lbs. A journey in which losing 100lbs was the easy part -- Jen quickly found blogging to be a therapeutic resource as she not only faced dealing with losing weight but also the most unimaginable and tragic of life's events; an unexpected death of her mom and best friend.

Jen has maintained her weight loss since hitting her goal in August of 2009 but is the first to admit she isn't perfect. In fact, Jen has continued to document her almost daily struggles of being healthy in an unhealthy world. Although PriorFatGirl.com was originally intended to be therapy for Jen, PriorFatGirl.com has since turned into a community of support and motivation for readers as they are encouraged to fight through everything life throws at them in order achieve their healthiness goals.

Jen's story and PriorFatGirl.com has been featured in Shape and Woman's Day Magazine, on WCCO-Minneapolis, Minneapolis Star Tribune, aol.com and many other media outlets. Jen lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her fiancé, Carlos and their furry child, Iggy.

Patti Knoll often tells people that she lost a total of 200 pounds with Weight Watchers. She actually did – when you add up that same 40 pounds she lost and gained five times! So, what was the secret this time to losing it and keeping it off for more than half a decade? Patti ditched the diet mentality and joined Weight Watchers to change her lifestyle – for good.

Over the past six years, Patti has helped residents in the Twin Cities lose thousands of pounds by facilitating Weight Watchers four-pronged approach – eating healthy foods; moving more; changing behaviors; and getting support.

For the past six years, Patti has received the prestigious Diamond Leader award for her exceptional service to members; and in 2010 was named Weight Watchers Leader of the year for her territory.

Patti is a resident of Eden Prairie. When she’s not leading Weight Watchers meetings, she stays active by walking, cycling, and sailing.

June 18 - The Greens Show - Live at the Market!

On-site at the North Lyndale Market, AM950 will be broadcasting Fresh & Local live! Susan and Bonnie will welcome Emily Noble and Mary Maguire Lerman to the show to talk all there is to know about greens!

Ever have a question about what that leafy thing is, or how you could possibly use it to compliment your main course? Find out this Saturday at 8 a.m. Then stay to watch our Market Talk at 10:30 with Amy Peterson as she'll send you home with some great recipe ideas!

June 25

Join hosts Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn as they welcome Karen Lee Rosar and Barth Anderson of FairFoodFight.

Karen is an active community volunteer in the North Loop Neighborhood of Downtown Minneapolis where she lives and works. She participates on many levels of the North Loop Neighborhood Association. Currently she is Vice-chair of the organization and a member of its Planning & Zoning Committee. As a North Loop Neighborhood Association member, Karen advocates for walking, biking, transit and livability issues in collaboration with the Minneapolis Municipal Farmers Market, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Initiative, 2020 Partners, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and Transit for Livable Communities.

Karen collaborates on planning and district enhancements in the North Loop neighborhood in the vicinity of the new Twins Target Field, the Municipal Farmers Market, “The Interchange” intermodal transit area, the Heritage Street Plan and the revitalization of the warehouse district. She actively urges community based policy in organizations and participates on a monthly roundtable of Downtown Neighborhood Leaders to consider larger community wide issues. In the past Karen has contributed significant volunteer time to the Hennepin County Mental Health Services Department and KFAI Community Radio. She is involved in a variety of local organizations affecting public policy and is a member of: Transit for Livable Communities, the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, the Animal Humane Society, the Minneapolis League of Women Voters and KFAI Community Radio.

Karen loves to attend many arts, music, and cultural events. She is an enthusiastic biker, walker and dedicated health/nutrition/fitness advocate. She operates her own small business managing Residential Real Estate in the riverfront areas of Downtown Minneapolis. Karen works to foster systems and processes that are sustainable. She believes in a balanced approach for life and supports the ongoing success of Minneapolis. Karen is pragmatic and an optimist by nature. She is a student of life who loves to learn, and be exposed to new experiences.

Barth Anderson has worked in natural foods, organics, Fair Trade, and co-ops for over 20 years. He's a novelist, an award-winning short-story writer, and proud father of two. Barth blogs as "El Dragón" on Fair Food Fight, a social networking hub dedicated to fighting the good fight for small farmers.

July 3

Join hosts Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn as they welcome Lee Svitak Dean, longtime food editor at the Star Tribune, and the author of “Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining With Seasonal Menus,” which is a compilation of essays and recipes from the Taste section. She also produces food-related posters, which can be seen at her web site.

Farmer Jerry Untiedt will be on the show to talk strawberries!

Jerry Untiedt founded the Untiedt's Vegetable Farm 40 years ago. He is in charge of instrumentation of the Untiedt's vision. Enabling team members to accomplish goals (both personal and business related), and guiding his team through difficulties they encounter while pursuing their goals. Before Farmer Jerry started he was a student at the University of Minnesota. Shortly after he and his wife moved to Waverly, Minnesota to follow their dreams.

His farm is the culmination, and continuation, of his dream to contribute to the development of a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, agriculture business. Jerry is a steward of the land, works to enrich the lives of his employees, and cares deeply about the sustainability of his farm to ensure its growth generation after generation. He knows there is a long way to go, but loves doing what he does - and has tons of fun while do it!

July 9

Stephanie Meyer is a home cook, writer, and photographer. Motivated by the belief that all good things come from preparing meals at home, Stephanie shares recipes, cooking tips, and photographs on her accessible food blog, Fresh Tart. Stephanie also writes each Tuesday for Minnesota Monthly magazine’s Dara & Co. blog, where she highlights everyday cooking with local ingredients. Follow her on Twitter @FreshTartSteph or on her Fresh Tart Facebook page.

Michele Schermann, a public health nurse researcher and educator, works at the intersection of human health, agricultural safety and natural resource management, with a special focus on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and preparing growers for food safety audits.

Skilled in multiple qualitative research methods, Michele translates her research findings into innovative, targeted health communication for a variety of audiences, ranging from migrant children to natural resource professionals to Hmong farmers to local fresh fruit and vegetable growers.

Michele’s research interests include the agricultural practices of new American immigrants; pandemic zoonotic disease prevention and control; and the creation of multilingual health education media. She has been described as “an excellent connector of people, communities, ideas, and resources” and has extensive project management experience over a 15-year career at the University of Minnesota.

Recipient of a prestigious US Forest Service Chief's Honor Award in 2009 for work related to Hmong Americans' use of public lands for recreation, Michele has also repeatedly received special recognition for her research, teaching and outreach from the University of Minnesota. She is a masters’ graduate of the University’s School of Nursing, with undergraduate degrees in nursing and in horticulture.

She has published research in various journals, including Society and Natural Resources and the Journal of Agromedicine, and has developed multiple educational products on health and safety for the US Department of Agriculture.

Her work url is http://safety.cfans.umn.edu/

July 16

Join hosts Susan Berkson and Bonnie Dehn as they welcome Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper hosts and is co-creator of American Public Media's national radio show, The Splendid Table®. Taking listeners inside just about every dimension of food is her goal. In its 16 years on air, the show has tracked the great shift in how food plays in our lives. And through that time it’s been named Best National Radio Show on Food on over ten occasions.

With 40 years in the food profession, Lynne’s written, taught, consulted and lectured on food and culture. Her first book, The Splendid Table, was honored as Cookbook of the Year by both the James Beard and Julia Child/IACP Cookbook Awards, and she was inducted into Who’s Who in American Beverage and Food. She’s been an advocate of organic and sustainable foods throughout her career.

July 23

Carol Milligan is the director of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture where she is responsible for securing federal grants and program oversight. She has been working on the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs since its inception in 1988. In her spare time she enjoys the outdoors, the north woods and her ski boat.

When Dave Hawley was 13-years-old, he wanted cash for things that typical teenage boys want money for. To his dismay, his mother said, “no.” So he got a job in a kitchen washing dishes, which put him on the path to a career in restaurants.

Hawley has spent the balance of his career working his way up the ranks, in every possible position. Prior to joining the Big Bowl team last year, he spent several years with Blue Plate in St. Paul, and more than six years prior as Market Chef with Biaggi’s.

Hawley says he has always had an affinity for seasonal food. About 10 years ago, he began the ritual of visiting Nicolette Farmers Market, and since that time has branched out to support the other Minneapolis area markets.

“It is such a pleasure to work with a restaurant like Big Bowl, whose philosophy encourages chefs to visit the markets every week. It is beneficial to our guests, who get to enjoy the great seasonal flavors. It is beneficial to all of our employees, who are proud to serve such excellent products.” he says. “We are very proud to support our local growers, who work so hard and are a vital part of our community.”

Hawley oversees culinary operations al the three area Big Bowl restaurants.

Hawley lives with his family in Minneapolis. He can be found at any Big Bowl restaurant on a given day or at the farmers markets

July 30

Debora Gilson gained her initial from hands-on training with French pastry chefs. She went from not knowing how to turn on a Hobart mixer to learning all of the basics of classical French pastry. She then began working as a pastry chef at various Twin Cities restaurants. She has been the pastry chef for Alex Roberts (Restaurant Alma), Doug Flicker (Piccolo) and Lenny Russo (Heartland). From these chefs, she learned the value of organic, local and fresh ingredients. She has returned to her bakery roots and is now at St. Agnes Baking Company where she is using her knowledge and creativity to produce a line of made-from-scratch pastries using the best local ingredients.

August 6

Marketing professional and grad student in Business Communications, Sabera Photographer has always had a passion for food. Whether it was spiking her mother's vegetable preparations to suit her own tastes as a child, whipping up unusual fusion food for her friends, or experimenting with cuisines in her own kitchen after her marriage, Sabera truly loves to cook.

You can find her at One Life to Eat where she blogs about simple, healthy Indian cooking. You can also find her on LinkedIN, and connect with her on Twitter.

Rob Zeaske, as Executive Director for Second Harvest Heartland, has an overall responsibility for leadership, planning and management of the organization.

He has also directed important organizations like Boston-based Jumpstart, which is nationally recognized for preparing schoolchildren for success and Mercy Corps, where he served as Harvard Business School Service Leadership Fellow.

Rob holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and a B.A. in political science from Stanford University. He lives in south Minneapolis with his wife Jessica and their three young children.

Rob will be on the show to discuss the Fellowship of Fresh program at Minneapolis Farmers Market.

August 20

Crystal Grobe is a local food writer who loves to inspire others to cook, sharing her own experiences on her blog, Café Cyan. Crystal also writes a weekly food blog for WCCO, focusing on local foods and events. Her interest in cooking began in college after becoming tired of boxed spaghetti and ramen for dinner. She was inspired by her catering job and started cooking at home, replicating meals from the night before with decent success.

Since then, Crystal has moved on to healthier options, using fresh fruits and vegetables as a focal point in her cooking. She also enjoys trying new restaurants, street food, and farmers markets to find fun and interesting ingredients.

Cafe Cyan - http://www.cafecyan.com
Bite of MN - http://wcco.com/foodblog
TC Food Finds - http://www.tcfoodfinds.com

August 27 - Live at the State Fair!

James Norton is the editor of The Heavy Table (http://heavytable.com), a daily online magazine dedicated to reporting on food and drink in the Upper Midwest. He's also the author of "The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin" and "Minnesota Lunch: The Eleven Sandwiches That Tell the Story of the State," and is a contributing columnist for CHOW.com.

Shaina Olmanson is the home cook and photographer behind Food for My Family and Olmanson Photography. Growing up surrounded by farms served as a daily reminder of the importance of local, seasonal food. Working from home as a freelance writer, recipe developer and photographer and raising her four young kids with her husband Ole, they strive to teach them the importance of growing, preparing and eating real food in a day and age where many people have turned to convenience foods because they are so readily available, and they hope to encourage others to do the same.

Plus, grower Noreen Berg of Rich Valley Farm will be on the show.

4H'er Jacob Wemier of Bar Five Meat and Poultry will share what its like for a kid from a Farmers Market family to participate in the State Fair.

September 3 - Live at the State Fair!

Kim Christensen is a blogger, a foodie, an artist, and a Lyme Disease warrior. Kim is always learning, educating, and creating. Her lifelong battle with digestive issues, allergies, chronic pain, and other disturbing symptoms stemming from Chronic Lyme Disease encouraged Kim to start blogging in 2008. Inspired by the experiences from her own healing journey, her blog Affairs of Living (http://www.affairsofliving.com) became her place to share ways to eat, heal, and live well. Over the years, her blog has gained become a trusted resource in the gluten-free, allergy-free, whole foods, and Lyme Disease online communities. Desiring a way to share her passions with her local community, Kim has become involved with local foods events, cooking demos at the Minneapolis farmer’s market, and Lyme Disease awareness and fundraising events. Most recently, Kim founded the MPLS Swappers (http://mplsswappers.wordpress.com), an organization dedicated to building community, sharing knowledge, and encouraging sustainable living practices through the exchange of homegrown, homemade, and foraged food. Kim would like to continue to refine and diversify her skills and lead workshops and classes, and eventually pursue a career in holistic medicine and whole foods dietetics.

My personal blog Affairs of Living: http://www.affairsofliving.com

Blog for the MPLS Swappers, which I founded and co-organize: http://mplsswappers.wordpress.com

Twitter: @eatingfreely

Twitter: @MPLSswappers

Liz McMann is the Consumer Affairs Manager at Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op in Saint Paul, MN. She holds a master’s degree in holistic health studies from St. Catherine University and is a Master Food Preserver through UW-Extension. In her spare time Liz likes to garden, cook, make lists, do yoga, hang with her step kids and blog about it all on www.foodsnobberyhobbery.blogspot.com.

Jake Wemier will be back on the show to let us know how he faired in the 4H competition from last week.

September 10

Tucci Benucch has a new chef in Asher Miller, whose passion for local and seasonal ingredients shapes his every perspective about food.

Miller, 30, arrives at Tucci after a three year stint as an executive chef for Wolfgang Puck, overseeing the food at the Walker Center including the restaurant 20.21, Walker Café and the Seasonal Grill.

“The local thing will be big for me and working with local farmers - the people who raise hens and hogs and such,” Miller said of his new position. “Seasonal is number one, developing menu items around it, letting the flavors shine and the great sources for local products.”

At Tucci located in the Mall of America, Miller plans to continue the restaurant’s breadth and depth of seasonal items and high quality products, from the restaurant’s daily menu to the bar offerings in the recently revamped and expanded bar and patio area.

Miller’s proclivity for cooking grew simply out of his love for eating, traveling and excitement for new experiences. While he enjoyed cooking with Asian influences under Puck, Italian cuisine is a better fit, he said, because of his culinary travels through Italy, specifically Tuscany. “It’s great to have authentic flavors to draw upon,” he said. “Italian is also my favorite cuisine to eat.”

“I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but when I was young, we had a garden and we ate what we grew,” he said. “As a kid, we would make these tin foil packages and cook over candles. I never gave it much thought later until I got to college and that memory stuck out in my mind as something that was so impactful.”

Miller majored in English at Carleton College before earning a culinary degree from the Art Institutes International in Minneapolis. Prior to working his way up at Wolfgang Puck’s organization, Miller honed his skills at Café Barbette, Fermentations Wine Bar & Bistro and Al and Alma’s Supper Club.

Miller lives in the suburbs south of Minneapolis with his partner and daughter.

September 17 - Fresh & Local Hip Hop

Northeast Minneapolis natives, Jesse Semanko (Big Jess) and Mike Madison (MaD SoN) have been releasing hip hop albums for over a decade now. The two became friends at Edison High School and soon after formed the group Unknown Prophets. St Paul based DJ, Willy Lose, joined the group after the release of their first album, World Premier, in 2000. The album featured the likes of Slug, DJ Abilities, and Brother Ali.

Their honest and sincere lyrics mixed with melodic and catchy beats attracts fans of all ages. The song "Road Less Traveled" is featured in the Mill City Museum's film, Minneapolis in 19 Minutes Flat. Their song "Summer Heat" has been the quintessential Summer song on 89.3FM the Current for the last several years. In 2009 they released arguably their best album to date, Le System D. The album, named after a term used in Chef and Writer Anthony Bourdain's book Nasty Bits, features guitar driven melodies over boom-bap beats and the UPs signature non-bravdo raps. The album was largely inspired by the culinary world, the album cover itself shot in Chef Alex Robert's Restaurant Alma. Le System D was soon being played in the kitchens of some of the best Midwest restaurants that included La Belle Vie and Graham Elliots. Hell's Kitchen's winning Chef Dave Levy even played the album on his way to Canada to start his new job as head chef for Gordon Ramsey.

The Unknown Prophets are currently finishing up their next full length album WP2. They are set to release the album Fall of 2011.

www.unknownprophets.com

(photo credit: Trey Fortner)

September 17

Scott Pampuch writes, "My cooking career has taken me down some very different roads. I never thought when in culinary school in 1997 that I would get the chance to work for Jim Grell at the Modern Cafe, meet Mike Philips and get a chance to open my own restaurant. Nor, did I imagine I would get to work with a man that I never heard of; Jim Denavin with Outstanding in the Field who made me realize how much inspiration can do for a person’s soul. Then there was the national attention in the documentary, “Troubled Waters,” by Larkin McPhee and, “In Search of Food,”on the Ovation Network with Barton Seaver. I never imagined that I would be talking to people like Andrew Zimmern, and then talking to the folks behind the fundraising efforts for the James Beard Foundation with the Celebrity Chef Tour. I never even thought for a second I would ever get to do any of that and along the way get to meet so many amazing cooks, chefs, waiters, dishwashers, customers, friends and more importantly the farmers that are my true inspiration with their thankless hours, time and devotion to such a humble way to make a living. This is starting to sound like an acceptance speech at some awards show now, so I will stop. But I never imagined any of it. I just wanted to cook."

After 7 years at the helm of his own restaurant, Corner Table, Scott is now Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Manager at the Minnesota Valley Country Club.

October 1

Ari Hoptman is well known for his performances in film and Twin Cities theater especially his solo turns at the Fringe Festival. It is a a scholar of language that he joins us today.

As the Star Tribune wrote, "Something in his ability to scrutinize complex patterns of language demonstrates a native curiosity that helps explain his capacity for quirky sideways glances at the world around him."

October 8

CEO/President Melissa Hanson, MBA, has been with the Säjai Foundation since inception as a co-creator. She has been involved in all Wise Kids program development and is responsible for the successful delivery of the Säjai Foundation’s mission on a day-to-day basis. She leads overall strategy, fundraising and partnership efforts. She is an avid biker and enjoys kayaking and hiking with her husband and three children. Her favorite healthy food is sweet potatoes, but she admits to having a strong love for dark chocolate. Melissa graduated from Bradley University and earned her MBA at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management.

Molly Herrmann grew up on a farm in Florida, which helped shape her farm-to-table sensibility,
before studying Nutrition in college. After years of teaching people what to eat, she now
teaches people how to eat. Molly founded Tastebud in 2007 to engage eaters in her
food philosophies - pleasing vegetarians and omnivores alike; using local, sustainably
produced ingredients; and, the special enjoyment that can be derived from taking a
meal with friends and family.

Molly lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and young son. Find Molly and
Tastebud at www.tastebudtart.com or www.twitter.com/tastebudtart

October 15

Chef Michael “Young Chef” DeCamp is an adventurous cook who loves learning new things and experimenting with different ingredients. Over the years, he has worked at several top-rated Twin Cities and Chicago-area restaurants, including Campiello, at both its Eden Prairie and Uptown locations, Chez Foley in Wayzata, D’Amico Cucina in Minneapolis, NoMI in Chicago, and, of course, La Belle Vie.

But regardless of the number of restaurants and cities he’s worked in, DeCamp seems to be continually drawn back to wherever executive chef/owner, Tim McKee is working at any given time.

“While I’ve left to learn how to do different things or experience different cities, who wouldn’t want to work for the best chef and restaurant in the city?” explains DeCamp. “While Tim knows what he wants, I’ve gotten to a place where he now lets me play and experiment – to try new things and ingredients. I love working with Tim.”

DeCamp first worked with Chef McKee in 1997 when the award-winning chef was still at D’Amico Cucina. Just 17 years old at the time, DeCamp’s youth earned him the nickname, “Young Chef,” which has stayed with him over the years.

In 1998, when McKee opened La Belle Vie in Stillwater, Minn., DeCamp followed. In late 1999, DeCamp left to work at Campiello, but he returned just two years later. In 2002, curiosity – and a wife with ties to Chicago – had DeCamp moving yet again, this time to the Windy City to work at the award-winning, NoMI in the Park Hyatt hotel. While in Chicago, DeCamp took advantage of one of the country’s top food towns by volunteering at several of the top area restaurants to gain even more experience.

He returned to the Twin Cities in 2004 as executive chef for the Twin Cities Grill, Mall of America. However, when Chef McKee announced he would relocate La Belle Vie to Minneapolis in Oct. 2005, DeCamp couldn’t resist, and once again returned to work with his favorite chef and mentor.

La Belle Vie is the Twin Cities top fine-dining restaurant. Featuring French Mediterranean cuisine, it is owned and operated by James Beard-nominated chef, Tim McKee, along with partners, Josh Thoma and Bill Summerville. The dining room showcases an ever-changing chef’s tasting menu, while the more relaxed lounge offers hand-crafted cocktails and a variety of small plates and lighter fare. In 2006, Gourmet magazine named La Belle Vie one of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants” and Food & Wine proclaimed it as having one of the country’s “Best New Wine Lists.

October 22

Over the past 30 years, Jim Riddle has been an organic farmer, gardener, inspector, educator, policy analyst, author, activist, and avid organic eater. Jim was founding chair of the Winona Farmers Market Association and the International Organic Inspectors Association, (IOIA), and co-author of the IFOAM/IOIA International Organic Inspection Manual. Jim served on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Organic Advisory Task Force from 1991-2009, and was instrumental in passage of Minnesota’s landmark organic certification cost-share program. Jim currently works as Organic Outreach Coordinator for the University of Minnesota and is the elected Chair of the Winona County Soil and Water Conservation District Board. Jim is former chair of the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board, and a leading voice for local food systems, soil and water conservation, and organic agriculture.

Paul Douglas has spent 33 years in meteorology, including broadcasting, writing, teaching, and speaking since receiving meteorology degree from Penn State. The majority of those years have been spent in the Twin Cities. In addition he is a serial entrepreneur, having developed three meteorological companies delivering weather information using state-of-the-art techniques. In fact one of Paul’s mottos is “the best way to predict the future is to invent it."

October 29

Mary Holwegwr is a 26 year old who loves sweets. Last February she started a blog, nimmow.blogspot.com, to share her baking adventures from my tiny kitchen.

She started baking just a few years ago because of my grandmother. Her grandmother gave all of her children and grandchildren a cookbook filled with family recipes and by using it she was able to get a taste of home.

She works full time as a nanny and she often cooks the meals and bakes treats with the kids. The family she work for buys and eats local and organic foods and because of that she has really learned to appreciate fresh, real, good tasting food.

Kim Yeager spent almost 30 years in editing positions with the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune. Trained as a business journalist, she contributed to coverage of some of the biggest Minnesota stories during her tenure, from the First Bank loan portfolio debacle to the downfall of Midwest Federal and Green Tree Acceptance, the Al Checchi years and labor unrest at Northwest Airlines. While the breaking news was amazing and fun, she always fed her creative side through a love of textiles, color and finishes. When she left the business desk, she helped redesign the Strib Home + Garden section from tab to broadsheet and settled there as the section's coordinator. In 2010 she retired from the news biz to found Lark Nest Design, a boutique decor business encompassing all aspects of home and party comforts. Her niche is giving new life to old, and the pieces she designs and refurnish find their way to the homes of clients, and as stock for the three-times-a-year popup sales she operate with four junker friends. It's a way to find beauty with what's at hand, and help defray the amount of stuff headed for landfills! It also plays to my Midwestern sensibilities; Lark Nest Design is an homage to the Western Meadowlark, the state bird of her native North Dakota.

November 5

Kelli Abrahamian is totally obsessed with food, nutrition, and everything that goes along with cooking and sharing tasty dishes. A self taught cook who reads cookbooks like novels, and loves nothing more than to entertain friends around a dinner party. She believes that most of life's great moments are spent connecting around "the table" with family and friends. She is the mother to four children (not a picky eater in the bunch) two have already left the nest and are cooking in their own homes, one an aspiring chef. Kelli is a self proclaimed dark leafy greens promoter who tweets under the handle @Crazy4kale and enjoys writing a cooking blog called "I Had a Delicious Time" http://www.ihadadelicioustime.com/

November 12

Beth Dooley has covered the local food scene in the Northern Heartland for twenty-five years: she is the restaurant critic for Mpls.St. Paul Magazine, writes for the Taste section of the Minneapolis and St. Paul Star Tribune, and appears regularly on KARE 11 (NBC) television in the Twin Cities area. She is coauthor with Lucia Watson of Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland (Minnesota, 2004) and teaches cooking classes at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three sons.

Amanda Paa is a self taught cook, Minneapolis Farmer's Market addict, canning junkie, and local food blogger. Her passion centers around teaching people the story behind the food they are eating and creating healthy, flavorful recipes from natural ingredients. When not in her own kitchen, you can find her teaching classes at Local D'Lish in downtown Minneapolis, eating at some of her favorite local restaurants with fellow foodie friends, or blogging about her love for all things food. Amanda's blog - Healthy Life, Happy Cook centers around her wonderful finds from the farmers markets and the creations that evolve from them. She believes that you don't need a fancy recipe with an ingredient list a page long to make a great dish - you just need fresh ingredients, some creativity, and a little love. You can follow her locavore journey through her blog, http://www.healthylifehappycook.com and her Twitter handle, sweetnsnazzy.

November 19

Saveur magazine has called Lee Svitak Dean one of the “unsung saviors of America’s local food scene.” Dean is the longtime editor of the Taste section at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. Taste is an internationally acclaimed food section, with awards from the James Beard Foundation, the World Media Awards in Australia, and the Association of Food Journalists. Over the years, as Dean tested recipes and talked with readers, she realized that busy cooks would like to see recipes in menu form, to make it easier to plan for their time in the kitchen. Her new book, Come One, Come All is the result of many years of testing recipes for the Taste section. Find out more at www.leedeanbooks.com

November 26

The Leftovers Show - Post Thanksgiving Fun!

Link for Fresh Tart: www.freshtart.net
Link for Minnesota Monthly: www.minnesotamonthly.com
Link for Dara & Co.: http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Blogs/Dear-Dara/
Link for Twitter @FreshTartSteph: twitter.com/FreshTartSteph
Link for Fresh Tart Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/freshtartsteph

UNKNOWN PROPHETS

Northeast Minneapolis natives, Jesse Semanko (Big Jess) and Mike Madison (MaD SoN) have been releasing hip hop albums for over a decade now. The two became friends at Edison High School and soon after formed the group Unknown Prophets. St Paul based DJ, Willy Lose, joined the group after the release of their first album, World Premier, in 2000. The album featured the likes of Slug, DJ Abilities, and Brother Ali.

The Unknown Prophets are currently finishing up their next full length album WP2. They are set to release the album Fall of 2011.

www.unknownprophets.com

(photo credit: Trey Fortner)

December 3

Chef Sameh Wadi is known throughout the Twin Cities, not only for serving delicious and unforgettably vibrant flavors at his restaurant Saffron, but also for creating Spice Trail, a brilliant line of spice blends that is sure to help transform the dishes of the home cook into an exotic blend of wonderful. His ability to combine flavors is so noteworthy that he earned himself an esteemed spot as a contender on the Food Network show “The Iron Chef”. Not only was he the first Minnesotan chef to compete on the show, at 25 years old, he was also the youngest! Sameh is a four- time nominee and semi-finalist for the James Beard award in the category of “rising star” (2009-2011)! His exquisite Mediterranean cuisine and the flavors of Spice Trail can be enjoyed anytime at Saffron restaurant in downtown Minneapolis.

December 10

Liesa Helfen has been working at the Minneapolis Farmer's Market, as well as other local markets, for the past 5 years. She has been a patron of the market ever since she was a child and has fond memories of visiting the downtown market with her Father. She is an avid gardener and hobby bee-keeper, just like Mike! She remembers leafing through the seed magazines as a youngster and only wanting to grow "the weird stuff," the first one being Easter egg plant. These look like tennis balls and when she threw them for the dogs, they were eaten up in a hurry! Liesa is an ex-pastry chef and loves the endless inspiration from the fields and markets. She is also gearing up for her third winter with her two huskies and their sled training.

Michael Sedlacek has working at local farms and the Minneapolis Farmers market (and a few others) for the past four years - and has many, many more years as a shopper! An avid gardener and hobby bee-keeper, he began farming with his father as a youngster in the suburbs. Always looking for something different to grow and taste, his urban garden often stops passers-by who ask "what the heck is that thing?" or "you're not supposed to eat that . . . are you?" Michael's gardening plan for each season is to pack as much diversity into Minnesota's short, but intense, growing season and then carry that feeling through the winter.

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Liesa Helfen and Michael Sedlacek founded Worker B in August 2010. Worker B is a Minneapolis based skin care line with an emphasis on honeybee products. We use raw honey, beeswax and propolis from our own hives and those of other local bee keepers. Hand-crafted without fillers, Worker B is hard-working skin care for hard-working skin. We offer highly concentrated lotions and balms for superior conditioning of your hands, face, feet, and body – and great for our four-legged friends too! www.worker-b.com

Bee Collected. Be Nourished. Worker B.

December 17

December 24

A blogger, a foodie, an artist, and a Lyme Disease warrior, Kim Christensen is always learning, educating, and creating. Her lifelong battle with digestive issues, allergies, chronic pain, and other disturbing symptoms stemming from Chronic Lyme Disease encouraged Kim to start blogging in 2008. Inspired by the experiences from her own healing journey, her blog Affairs of Living became her place to share ways to eat, heal, and live well. Over the years, her blog has gained become a trusted resource in the gluten-free, allergy-free, whole foods, and Lyme Disease online communities. Desiring a way to share her passions with her local community, Kim has become involved with local foods events, cooking demos at the Minneapolis farmer’s market, and Lyme Disease awareness and fundraising events. Most recently, Kim founded the MPLS Swappers, an organization dedicated to building community, sharing knowledge, and encouraging sustainable living practices through the exchange of homegrown, homemade, and foraged food. Kim would like to continue to refine and diversify her skills and lead workshops and classes, and eventually pursue a career in holistic medicine and whole foods dietetics.

Mark Dewes is a 32 Southerner from Knoxville, TN who is a computer geek by day and avid homecook & general eater by night. He moved up here five years ago for my then girlfriend and now wife. Thye are now expecting their first child in May and are very excited. He didn't grow up cooking, but did work the line in a restaurant while in college and that really kicked off his cooking / food curiosity. When he lived in Knoxville, he had a fledgling Farmer's Market with maybe 13 vendors (of which only 5 or 6 were farmers). Moving up here really opened his eyes as to how you can really connect the your food all the way back to the farmer. He will try any new foods because he loves new experiences. He goes to the Lyndale Farmer's Market on Saturdays nearly year-round and Kingfield's on Sundays during the summer. You'll see him with his red Saint Louis Cardinals hat on most of the time (he's originally from St Louis). All the cooking in his house is done by himself and he loves it. Cooking at home in his kitchen really is a relaxing exercise for him. His wife can make toast and heat up a pizza; that's about it. He has been homebrewing for the last couple years and have used fruits and spices from the Farmer's Market in his brews. He doesn't blog, but is active on twitter where he talks about making or eating food and local craft beer: @markdewes. Oh, and his last name is pronounced: do-is (like Lewis but with a 'D' is how he tells people).