Fresh, Local Food Fridays!

Locavore (someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles) was the 2007 Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year. Turns out, it's pretty to be a locavore in The Cleve., which was ranked the #2 city in the country by Sustainlane for our local agriculture. It's even easier when that food is delivered to you while you work! My fabulous colleague Emily has partnered with Fresh Fork Market, a start-up that has up until now, been supplying restaurants with fresh, local produce for their menu. Now, they have expanded their services to Dealer Tire, complete with an online ordering system that opens a whole world of heirloom produce, bread, cheese and fresh pasta... all from within 75 miles of where I live... and I never have to go anywhere! Order before midnight on Wednesday through the website, and the food is delivered to work by 3 on Friday. I got my first delivery last Friday, and it looked fabulous. When I got it home, I filled my kitchen sink with cold water and rinsed all of the produce so it was ready for whatever I decided to make!

- Heriloom Black seeded simpson lettuce (great in salad)

- Organic spinach (used for quiche)

- Red bulb green onions (used for quiche #1)

- Rappini (meh, was expecting more broccolini, not all leaves)

- Organic sourdough 12 grain and seed bread (realllly good)

- Organic rustic Italian bread

- 1/4 peck of Melrose (the Ohio) apple (sweet without the grit)

- Tiny little strawberries (I've never seen cuter strawberries)

- Fresh spinach pasta (fresh pasta is totally different than dry)

- 12 pasture raised/antibiotic free eggs (outstanding)

Sunny side eggs over a fresh piece of toast, doesn't get much better than that... I also made 2 quiches with all the eggs I had.. First was OK, but the second was outstanding! Thanks to Rob's caramelizing skills, my use of a less gritty flour (this time I used a brown rice flour) and full-fat Feta (as opposed to the reduced fat I used in the first), it really turned out well... Time to get rid of that 'Domestically Disabled' mug an old friend gave me...

The Cleve 1: Norton Furniture

This is the first installment of what I'll call 'The Cleve', a quick look at what makes The Cleve, The Cleve, including some establishments that any local should know immediately. First up, Norton Furniture. This guy is a cult classic in the area, known for his super weird, low-budget commercials. Spurred by a co-worker catching a glimpse of the local legend on his way to work, a few of us decided to check out the giant multi-level store on a lunch break. The whole building belongs to the store, but we were only allowed up to the 4th floor, leaving us to speculate what craziness is going on at the top levels... If you watched the video linked above, you'll notice a bunch of random life sized figurines... those are all over the store. One of my favorites was this freaky carnivorous french fry (he's eating his own fry!) and Steve was nice enough to pose with Fry's cousin, Hot Dog. Seriously, why is this stuff all over a furniture store!

We ended up seeing the legend, Mark at the store. Steve attempted to walk by him and make eye contact. But, possibly in a motion-less contest with his life-sized buddies, he never moved from his place on the couch. Maybe he has a wax stunt double he keeps around the store. Check out this creepy empty 'break room' where Brian scouted out a crack-den looking mattress and a mini fridge with a handle of liquor on top.

I'm not even going to get into the thousands of Polaroids displayed all over the store showing god knows who... Are these documenting sales? Workers? Victims? Either way, the whole experience was totally strange. Check out some more videos below... It's got to be some of the weirdest stuff on Utube! (thanks for the photos Brian!)


Words can't describe this one..
Fry and Hot Dog make an appearance in this one!
Talking babies?

26.2 miles.....

Saturday (May 2) was my first group run for my marathon training. Yep, I have decided to train for a marathon! My friend from work Archana and I have joined NEOfit to train for our first full marathon, a whopping 26.2 miles. I did surprisingly well, despite the fact that I have been sick (hopefully NOT the swine flu) for a few days. But I managed to breeze through the 3 miles without a problem. Arch is affiliated with a group called ASHA for education, which raises money and resources for the education of tribal communities in Inida. They have parnered with NEOfit (North East Ohio Fitness) to give us access to group runs, training and education (proper hydration, shoe fitting, nutrition, etc.) to get us on our way to our first successful marathon. Check out the bottom of my blog, where I have placed a mile tracker. I should run over 200 miles while training for the marathon. I hope to run one by October. Wish me luck!!!