Slow Food - City's Edge

We try very hard to become active in the communities that are home to each of our shops. We look to make connections with people who are really into food, families, cooking. One easy way to do this is for us to be involved with Slow Food . Members of this organization are pretty serious about food and its sources, and naturally cooking and eating. I truly believe this is a worthwhile organization, it is dedicated to making sure the food we eat is good, clean and fair. I served on the board of directors for the Chicago chapter of Slow Food for almost 8 years, and consequently, was very excited to hear a new chapter was being formed in the same area as our newest Geneva Spice shop, the Western suburbs. They called the chapter City's Edge. This photo was taken at one of their first convivial dinners, a pot luck held at a local gem of a farm, Heritage Prairie Market, where we dined on the most wonderful dishes. The star of the meal were a few of these Heritage turkeys that were brought by the Cavenys of Caveny Farms (visit this website if you want to order an outstanding Heritage turkey to grace your Thanksgiving day meal.) It is now time for the second annual pot luck dinner. 

Poprocks in Paradise

 
One of our favorite vacation spots is in Mexico, on the Caribbean ocean known as the Mexican Riviera, near Playa Del Carmen. While we feel a bit guilty that this is not a spice mission vacation, many factors seem to lead us back to this same spot. We have enjoyed many Caribbean Islands and worked spices in as a factor, Jamaica for allspice and ginger, St. Lucia had an artisinal cocoa plantation. Grenada in particular was a wonderful education on the growing of mace and nutmeg and we thoroughly enjoyed our day visiting the nutmeg cooperatives. In St. Vincent we took a three hour drive, each way, to visit a tiny arrowroot plantation.  Yet it is pretty much an all day affair to reach these islands. Cancun is a very brief 3-1/2 hour trip, another 45 minutes south we reach our destination, the water is beautiful, the golf is world class and we have an all inclusive hotel chain which we enjoy called Iberostar. So, while we really enjoy the spice seeking vacations, sometimes we just really take a vacation that is not work related, sorry to disillusion anyone!

Spice House wins LTHForum's Great Neighborhood Resource award.

If you are any sort of a foodie who lives in the Chicago area, you probably already know about LTHforum.
Their website describes their forum as "the Chicago based culinary chat site", although often their discussions roam far off the radar from just the Chicago area. They are known to get in their cars and drive 100 miles to follow up on a hot tip for a good sausage, burger, bbq, fried chicken, ice cream, a farmer's market, a special Asian market, in fact, if you name it delicious, they will come. These people really know their food. You won't find a better forum out there filled with intelligent discussions about food, inspired recipes, photos ranging from wonderful home cooked meals to fine dining in top notch restaurants.This is no flippant toss-out-any comment-forum, so think your posts through thoroughly before you make them, or you may be taken to task! On a recent long road trip, we were having a conversation about molecular gastronomy, and we greatly enjoyed going online via the phone and searching the LTHForum site for this subject. What turned up was some very entertaining verbal volleys in this post about molecular gastronomy started by a high end chef. About two months ago, we were greatly honored to be nominated....

When a seed begins to sprout -

Two summers ago I fell in love with the city of Madison, Wisconsin,  while attending a governor's conference for Slow Food. While Chicago hosts no shortage of fine farmer's markets, I was blown away by the Madison farmer's market, held in a square anchored by the glorious capitol building. One of my twin nieces is attending college there and she has a strong interest in environmental sciences. While we had lunch, I tried my best to coerce her into joining the University of Wisconsin chapter of Slow Food. We had all agreed at the conference meetings that it is extremely important to the future of the Slow Food movement that its vision is embraced by these young students, whose vibrancy and energy will lead to the dedication to continue the cause. At the time I tried to view my suggestions through her eyes, the intellectual college student listing to her aunt, most likely humoring her. I figured that my suggestion probably got lumped into one of those categories of helpful advice like “If your room was neat and organized, you would not believe how much easier it would be to concentrate on your homework!” So I was delighted to receive an email the following year (a seed takes awhile to sprout) saying she was going to a Slow Food potluck that night.

Chefs who give 110%

We are fortunate to have some very talented chefs as customers. Over the years these have turned into some really nice relationships. We are in awe of the talent these chefs possess. When we dine out, we choose restaurants whose chefs are our customers, and luckily, we have plenty to choose from. Currently, our filtering parameter has become whether the chef focuses on local ingredients and supporting both our local farmers and our local food community. There are many chefs on this list, and I would like to introduce you to the chefs that REALLY get it, over a series of posts. (Obviously if you are an active part of our food community, you don’t need to read this, you can’t help but already be aware of it.) The first chef on our list is Bruce Sherman of North Pond Bruce is currently nominated for the James Beard award “Best Chef: Great Lakes”.

The Flavor Bible - Happy One Year Anniversary!

The folks in this photo are waiting in line at the Milwaukee Public Market to have authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg autograph a copy of The Flavor Bible. This was about a  year ago when the book was first out. We were  lucky enough to have this dedicated couple do book signings for us in not just one, but THREE different Spice House locations!

 Since we are a spice store, not a book store,  we are extremely selective about which books we carry. We choose only four titles a year, as the books will use up valuable shelf space that is very necessary to showcase our 400 plus spice products in our tiny shops. We  usually swap out books from year to year, yet The Flavor Bible remains on the first string roster. Simply put, this is an AMAZING book. It is a classic reference guide that is a must for any kitchen, from the uninitiated cook to the most seasoned veteran. When I need a thank-you or hostess gifts for chef friends who already possess all things culinary, this is what I bring. All the chefs I have given it to loved it, with the exception of Carrie Nahabedian. I tried to give the book to her before I read it; it ends up that she is one of the experts quoted in the book and naturally she had her own supply of the book!  EVERYONE loves this book. Why does The Flavor Bible earn such high praise and accolades, enough to keep it a hot seller even after a year on the market?

We all need some home cooking

Michael Pollan, one of the best food writers in America today, just published an article in the New York Times Magazine bemoaning the fate of modern cooking.  He points out that despite the increasing popularity of the Food Network, people are spending less and less time actually turning fresh ingredients into meals.  This, he argues, is bad for both individual and societal health.

I’ve read the statistics and I don’t doubt them, but here at The Spice House, it can be hard to remember how little interest most Americans have in the act of cooking.  The staff here are excellent cooks, passionate and adventurous about food.  Many of them have culinary degrees and extensive kitchen experience.  Our customers are eager to share their favorite recipes and ideas, and will often spend half an hour debating the best spices to use with the latest ripe produce from the local farmers market.  Those of us who work here spend our days in a rarified bubble of culinary experience, often forgetting about the apparently vast numbers of people who wouldn’t know how to use paprika or have never heard of Chinese 5 spice powder.  We just don’t encounter them very often.

Cherry Picking

Three Spice House staffers (myself, Desi, and Roxanne) took last Sunday off to drive up to Door Couny for a day of cherry picking.  This is an annual trip for me, to stock my freezer for winter pie making, but it was fun to have company this year.  We left right after work Saturday, still smelling of spices, and spent the night in Manitowoc before driving into Door County to look for orchards.  I've gone to Choice Orchards in Sturgeon Bay before, so we headed in that direction, but we found Cherry Lane Orchard just over the Door County line and went there instead.  It's a gorgeous little orchard run by a friendly, helpful gentleman who set us up with pails and belt clips and sent us out into the trees. 

Organic Spices and Herbs Line

We have followed the take off in organic and sustainable food products with great interest over the last ten years. We have been unsure of what our role should be here. We are big proponents of shopping locally whenever possible and it is one of our great weekly pleasures to shop at our local farmer's market.
Yet if you were only to cook with locally grown products, your food would be sadly lacking, as you would be spiceless. The climate in this country simply allows for the growth of herbs, but never spices. The third world countries that spices grow in, are not necessarily on the organic band wagon yet, and in some scenarios, we feel it is not our place to force our American demands upon these poor farmers. We have also made it our lifelong mission to bring you the highest level of quality in our spices, would we find organic spices with our desired level of quality?

Geese at Kendall Culinary College

Does anyone besides me get anxious when Dad takes us past here? Did anyone tell him that ban was lifted?