Welcome Spring and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Whether or not you are Irish, you can still enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at many local restaurants and bars. Triumph Brewing Company in New Hope will hold their annual Irish Fest this Saturday from noon until closing. There will be a party for sure at The Pineville Tavern on Saturday too with traditional Irish food and music. The Green Parrot hosts for the second year the Newtown Irish Festival on Friday, March 16th and 17th with Irish food, drinks, dancers, and music in Newtown. For more information on these events, see the links above.

Many restaurants are preparing special menus in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. The Vintage Grille in Fountainville will serve up corned beef and cabbage, fish & chips, Irish lamb chops, and pan roasted fresh Arctic Char. The Yardley Inn will be offering a special three-course lunch ($15.95) and dinner ($25.95) menu on Saturday in honor of the Irish including appetizers of smoked salmon or fried black pudding, entrees of Irish lamb stew or corned beef and cabbage, and a dessert choice of Guinness cheesecake or Cashel blue cheese with soda bread and honey.

Spring will officially be here this Wednesday (yahoo!) and a fun way to celebrate is to visit the Flint Hill Farm Educational Center up in Coopersburg. This Saturday they’ll be having an Open House from 11 am to 2 pm to meet all the “babies” on the farm, and there are many. Flint Hill also makes their own goat cheese, which is not to be missed.

This Sunday kicks off the 3rd Annual New Hope & Lambertville Restaurant Week. It’s a great opportunity to try restaurants you’ve been meaning to, or to go back to old favorites. Twenty-eight restaurants are participating in the promotion which ends on Friday night. Fine dining restaurants are offering a $29.95 prix-fixe and more casual dining restaurants are offering a $19.95 prix-fixe. What a deal! See the website for more information including participating restaurants and menus.

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Have a great weekend. Follow Bucks County Taste also on Facebook and Twitter.

Friday, March 16:

  • Stockton Market, 19 Bridge St, Stockton, NJ [3-7 pm]
  • Beer Tasting, Phillips’ Fine Wines, 17 Bridge St, Stockton, NJ [4-6 pm]
  • Fish Fry @ Riegelsville Fire Company – 333 Delaware Road, Riegelsville, PA [5 - 7 pm]
  • Wine and Chocolate Pairing – Chaddsford Winery Tasting Room, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA [5 - 7 pm]
  • Lenten Fish Fry – Columbia Fire Co., 177 N. Union St., Lambertville, NJ [5 - 7:30 pm]
  • Lenten Dinner – First Presbyterian Church, 31 N. Union St., Lambertville, NJ [5 - 8 pm]
  • Friday Wine & Music – Hopewell Valley Vineyards, 46 Yard Rd., Pennington, NJ [5-8 pm]
  • Kindle Cafe’s Supper Club – TBA – private location, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 8 pm]

Saturday, March 17:

  • Pancake Day – Doylestown Fire Company #1, Shewell Ave, Doylestown, PA [6:30 am - 12 pm
  • Stockton Market, 19 Bridge St, Stockton, NJ [9 am - 4 pm]
  • Flint Hill Farm Open House – 1922 Flint Hill Road, Coopersburg, PA [11 am - 2 pm]
  • St. Patrick’s Day @ Chaddsford Winery – Chaddsford Winery Tasting Room, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA [12 - 5 pm]
  • Wine Tasting – Phillips’ Fine Wines, 17 Bridge Street, Stockton, NJ [12 - 6 pm]
  • Irish Fest – Triumph Brewing Company, 400 Union Square, New Hope, PA [12 - 6 pm]
  • Cupcake and Cookie Decorating for Kids – Comfort Food, 437 Alden Ave, Morrisville Pa [1 - 2:30 pm]
  • Beer Tasting – New Hope Beverage, 6542-K1 Lower York Rd (Logan Square), New Hope, PA [3 - 7 pm]
  • Annual Ham Dinner – Lehman Memorial United Methodist Church, York Rd and Lehman Ave, Hatboro, PA [4 - 7:30 pm]
  • Saturday Wine & Music – Hopewell Valley Vineyards, 46 Yard Rd., Pennington, NJ [5 - 8 pm]

Sunday, March 18:

  • Breakfast @ Perkasie Fire Co. – Perkasie Fire Co., Fifth and Arch Sts., Perkasie, PA [7:30 am - 12:30 pm]
  • St. Patrick’s Day Pancake Breakfast – Jesus School of St John the Evangelist Parish, Lambertville, NJ [8 am - 12 pm]
  • Breakfast @ Riegelsville Fire Company – Riegelsville Fire Company, 333 Delaware Road, Riegelsville, PA [8 am - 12:30 pm]
  • Stockton Market – 19 Bridge St., Stockton, NJ [10 am - 4 pm]
  • Hunterdon Land Trust Winter Farmers’ Market – Dvoor Farm, Route 12 Circle, Flemington, NJ [11 am - 1 pm]
  • Peace Meal – Trinity Episcopal Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, PA [3:30 - 5:30 pm]
  • The 3rd Annual New Hope-Lambertville Restaurant Week – New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ restaurants [5 - 10 pm]
  • Earth Center Coffee House – Earth Center for the Arts,Historic Barn in Tyler State Park, 10 Stable Mill Trail , Richboro, PA [6 - 9 pm]

Monday, March 19:

  • Evening in the Colonial Kitchen @ Cock n’ Bull Restaurant, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA [5 - 9 pm]
  • The 3rd Annual New Hope-Lambertville Restaurant Week – New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ restaurants [5 - 10 pm]
  • Cocktails for Entertaining (class) – Marsha Brown Creole Kitchen, Main St., New Hope, PA [7 - 9 pm]
  • Artisanal Foods (class) – Carlow Cookery, Doylestown Shopping Center, 432 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA [7 - 9 pm]

Tuesday, March 20:

  • The 3rd Annual New Hope-Lambertville Restaurant Week – New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ restaurants [5 - 10 pm]
  • Gourmet Getaway – Spring Mill Manor, 171 Jacksonville Road, Ivyland, PA [5:30 - 8 pm]
  • Sushi Night in the Wine Cellar @ The Inn at Lambertville Station, 11 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 10 pm]
  • Grilling, Rubs and Marinades (class) – Carlow Cookery, Doylestown Shopping Center, 432 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA [7 - 9 pm]

Wednesday, March 21:

  • Pierogy Wednesdays @ St Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Anne Activity Hall, 1545 Easton Road, Warrington, PA [9 am - 12 pm]
  • The 3rd Annual New Hope-Lambertville Restaurant Week – New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ restaurants [5 - 10 pm]
  • Kindle Cafe’s Cooking Class – TBA – private location, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 8 pm]
  • Wine Down Wednesdays @ Old Bethlehem Road Hotel, 243 Old Bethlehem Road, Quakertown, PA [6 - 9 pm]
  • California Dreamin’ Wine Dinner – Vintage Grille, 3617 Ferry Rd , Fountainville, PA [6:30 - 9 pm]

Thursday, March 22:

  • Clam Bake – Logan Inn, 10 W. Ferry St, New Hope, PA [5 - 9 pm]
  • The 3rd Annual New Hope-Lambertville Restaurant Week – New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ restaurants [5 - 10 pm]
  • Kindle Cafe’s Supper Club a piedi – TBA – private location, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 8 pm]
  • Eating to Energize/Feeding Families on the Run – VIA Auditorium, Doylestown Hospital Health & Wellness Center, Warrington, PA [6:30 - 8:30 pm]
  • Cake Decorating (class) – New Hope-Solebury High School, Bridge St, New Hope, PA [6:30 - 8:30 pm]
  • Indian Vegetarian Cooking (class) – New Hope-Solebury High School, Bridge St, New Hope, PA [6:30 - 9 pm]
  • French Classics: Pates and Terrine (class) – Carlow Cookery, Doylestown Shopping Center, 432 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA [7 - 9 pm]

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Follow Bucks County Taste on Facebook and Twitter.

 

The New Hope & Lambertville Restaurant Week begins this Sunday, March 18 and continues through Friday, March 23. This year, 28 restaurants will participate in the week-long promotion of either a fine dining $29.95 prix-fixe dinner or a casual dining $19.95 prix-fixe dinner. It’s a great opportunity to try some new restaurants or go back to some old favorites for a very good price.

New Hope Chamber committee chair, Caleb Lentchner commented, “As we enter our third annual restaurant week, it’s gratifying to know that it has continued to grow beyond New Hope. Locals and tourists are all looking for a deal and restaurant week is by far the best deal around.”

Here are the fine dining restaurants offering a prix-fixe  dinner for $29.95:

Anton’s at the Swan, Black Bass Hotel, Centre Bridge Inn, Hamilton Grill Room, Hotel du Village, Italian Cucina, Karla’s, Logan Inn, Marsha Brown, Martine’s River House, Inn at Phillips Mill, The Raven and Sprig & Vine.

These casual dining restaurants are offering a prix-fixe dinner for $19.95:

Annapurna Indian Cuisine, The Bistro at Jamie Hollander, Bitter Bob’s BBQ, Caffe Galleria at Lambertville House, DeAnna’s, El Tule, Havana, Lambertville Station, Marhaba, Sandbar, Rick’s Italian, Thai Tida, Tortuga’s Cocina, Triumph Brewing Company and Villa Vito Ristorante.

To view menus, restaurant websites and get more detailed information on participating restaurants, visit www.VisitNewHope.com and www.Lambertville.org.

 

I’m craving real green this time of year and Spring is still not quite here. So I popped into some local greenhouses – Milk House Farm Market in Upper Makefield Township and Blue Moon Acres in Buckingham – to take in some beautiful edible greens.

You can buy these greens at the following locations:

Milk House Farm Market
1118 Slack Road, Newtown, PA 18940
Monday – Sunday: 8 am to 6 pm
Also at the Stockton Market every weekend.

Blue Moon Acres
2287 Durham Road
Buckingham, PA
Tuesdays and Fridays: 10 am to 4 pm

 

Spring mix from the Milk House Farm Market

Collard Greens from Milk House Farm Market

Lettuce from Milk House Farm Market

Kale from Milk House Farm Market

Lettuce from Milk House Farm Market

Bean flowers from Milk House Farm Market

Wheat grass and nasturtium leaves from Blue Moon Acres

Red amaranth from Blue Moon Acres

Red-veined sorrel from Blue Moon Acres

Wheat grass from Blue Moon Acres

Nasturtium leaves from Blue Moon Acres

Firehouse breakfasts, wine & beer tastings, cooking classes – all on this week’s Bucks County food calendar http://t.co/5FuYYagG

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Daffodils. Crocuses. Snowdrops. Oh my! Is it just me or is Spring so much earlier this year?

I’ve been having fun this week visiting some nearby greenhouses that grow edible greens year round. I’ll post the pictures in the next few days. Wow. So green and so delicious. Thanks to Milk House Farm Market and Blue Moon Acres for letting me and my camera wander through.

What’s in the fire house this weekend? Three breakfasts on Sunday and a Ham Dinner at the Sellersville Fire House also on Sunday. See the calendar below for details.

The Wrightstown Farmers’ Market has their “mini-market” this Saturday morning from 10 am to 11 am. Seventeen vendors will be there, from veggies to eggs to meats to baked goods and more. The market takes place in its usual location next to the Wrightstown Municipal Building at 2203 Second Street Pike in Wrightstown.

The County Theater and the Vine & Fig Tree Bistro, both in Doylestown, are pairing up for dinner and a movie. Appetizers and the movie – Babette’s Feast – come first followed by a recreation of the dinner in the movie by Chef Drew Abbate at the restaurant right across the street from the theater. For more information and to buy tickets see their website.

Ice cream, anyone? Dilly’s Corner opens for the ice cream “season” on March 13th and Uncle Dave’s Ice Cream at Shady Brook Farm opens this Saturday, March 10th.

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Have a great weekend. Follow Bucks County Taste also on Facebook and Twitter.

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Comfort Food & Hamentashen #constantcontact http://t.co/gHkyg8l7

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If you’re like me, I start to crave fresh vegetables this time of year. While we are still some months away from our local growing season, it’s a good time to join up with a community supported agriculture (CSA) farm. Here’s some general information and a list of CSAs that still have shares available.

What is it? CSA stands for “Community Supported Agriculture.” In short, it’s a way for consumers to buy into an agricultural enterprise, receive fresh, natural food seasonally and support our local food system.

Most CSAs are farms, and involve vegetables herbs, fruits and flowers, although other types – meat, fish – are popping up all the time, here and in other parts of the country. We are fortunate to have a healthy crop of CSAs here in Bucks County (and nearby) too.  And most use organic, or nearly organic, methods of farming.

How does it work? I’ll use a CSA farm as an example, since that’s most common. You buy a “share” per season (usually beginning in late May and ending in mid-November), which entitles your household to a weekly portion of produce, grown on that farm. Many CSAs offer half-shares, too, which is what Mark and I have since we are only two adults. We pick up every other week. Some people go in with other family members or friends and buy a share together.

Most CSAs also ask that each household volunteer a certain number of hours per season but it’s quite reasonable. Our CSA, Anchor Run Farm in Wrightstown, asks full share members to put in 8 hours over the course of the season, half-share members only 4 hours. Tasks vary from helping with the garlic harvest (an” all hands on deck” type event) to weeding and other necessary farming maintenance.

Why do it? Ah. When I wrote out the check last year, I was a bit taken aback. “For vegetables?” I thought, “This better be worth it.” And it was. Everything they say about eating FRESH vegetables is true: they taste so much better, they last so much longer, and the variety is delightful. Vegetables we had given up on – like radishes – were happily welcomed back into our home. We made new friends, like garlic scapes (the top green part of growing garlic, available for a brief time in the spring). Another aspect of belonging to a CSA is that you truly cook seasonally – you have to; the refrigerator is bursting.

NOW is the time to sign up for CSAs. Here’s a list of CSAs in Bucks County. Please contact them for more details. Share prices vary, so find one that works for you and your household.

Anchor Run Farm
Vegetables, herbs, berries, flowers and other farm products
Dana Hunting and Derek McGeehan
2578 Second Street Pike
Wrightstown, PA 18940
Email: farmers@anchorrunfarm.com
Phone: 215.598.1519
WEB: www.anchorrunfarm.com

Barefoot Gardens
Vegetables, herbs, flowers and eggs
Linda Shanahan and Eric Vander Hyde
Mailing Address:
113 Decatur St.
Doylestown, PA 18901
Farm Address:
380 N. Shady Retreat Rd.
Doylestown, PA 18901
Email: ericv@barefootgardens.net
Phone: 267.629.9349
WEB: www.barefootgardens.net

Blooming Glen Farm
Vegetables, herbs, berries, flowers and other farm products
New this season- drop-off locations in Doylestown! See website for more details.
Tom Murtha and Tricia Borneman
98 Moyer Road
Perkasie, PA 18944
Phone: 215.257.2566
Email: info@bloomingglenfarm.com
WEB: www.bloomingglenfarm.com

The Guzikowski Farm (at Big Oak)
Vegetables, herbs, berries, and other farm products
Sandy Guzikowski
1205 Big Oak Rd.
Yardley, PA 19067
Phone: 215.295.0306
Email: sandygfarm@gmail.com

Myerov Family Farm
Vegetables, herbs, berries and other farm products
Neil Myerov
306 Elephant Road
Perkasie 18944
Phone: 215.421.9413
Email: myerov@verizon.net
WEB: www.myerovfarm.com
Visit the blog: http://sharecsa.blogspot.com

Open Acres CSA
Vegetables, fruits and herbs
Nate Walker and Heather Brady
1073 River Road (@ Schneiderwind Farm & Nursery)
Upper Black Eddy, PA 18972
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 222
Erwinna, PA 18920
Phone: 646.408.1844
Email: openacres.csa@gmail.com
WEB: www.openacrescsa.com

Palovchak’s Produce
Vegetables, berries, flowers and herbs
Gail Palovchak
1541 Lower State Road
Doylestown PA 18901
Phone: 215.272.2200
WEB: www.localharvest.org/csa/M28193

Pennypack Farm and Education Center
Vegetables, fruits, herbs
Andy Andrews
685 Mann Road
Horsham, PA 19044
Phone: 215.646.3943
Email: info@pennypackfarm.org
WEB: www.pennypackfarm.org

Snipes Farm and Education Center
CSA includes vegetables, fruits, herbs
Pick Your Own Apples, Blueberries and Blackberries
Farm to School programs and farm tours
Farm based Summer Day Camp
Susan Snipes-Wells
890 W. Bridge St.
Morrisville, PA 19067
Phone: 215.295.1139, ext. 103
Email: info@snipesfarm.org
WEB: www.snipesfarm.org

 

The Bucks County food calendar is out! Yum, yum http://t.co/dHBG8pVa

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March is a weird month, no? February is gone, and there’s the cheery feeling of one more winter month down. Ah, but what is March? Not really spring and not officially winter – but still capable of producing winter storms. Or dreary cold days (sigh). A tease, really.

And we’ll be getting some of that dreary weather this weekend so a part of me still feels like burrowing, and eating and drinking hearty. How about a wine and chocolate pairing at the Chaddsford Winery Tasting Room in Peddler’s Village? It begins at 5 pm this afternoon. Or stop by Phillips’ Fine Wines in Stockton for a fun beer tasting, also this afternoon, and a wine tasting tomorrow. Triumph Brewing Company in New Hope does a barrel tasting this evening too.

Of course, there are two firehouse lenten fish frys, as I mentioned last week, happening weekly until April 6. One is in Riegelsville and the other in Lambertville. See the full calendar for details. In addition, Metropolitan Seafood makes fish and chips every Friday night at the Stockton Market in Stockton, NJ.

Every Wednesday you can buy homemade pierogies at St. Anne’s Ukrainian Church in Warrington, on 611 just south of Doylestown. This Saturday you can enjoy a whole Ukrainian dinner complete with two pierogy (potato/cheese), a holubschi (stuffed cabbage), kielbasa w/ sauerkraut, rye bread, a beverage and dessert, all for just ten dollars. The dinner begins at 4 pm in their activity hall. Enjoy!

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Have a lovely weekend. Follow Bucks County Taste also on Facebook and Twitter.

Friday, March 2:

  • Stockton Farmers’ Market, 19 Bridge St, Stockton, NJ [3-7 pm]
  • Beer Tasting, Phillips’ Fine Wines, 17 Bridge St, Stockton, NJ [4-6 pm]
  • Fish Fry @ Riegelsville Fire Company – 333 Delaware Road, Riegelsville, PA [5 - 7 pm]
  • Wine and Chocolate Pairing – Chaddsford Winery Tasting Room, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA [5 - 7 pm]
  • Lenten Fish Fry – Columbia Fire Co., 177 N. Union St., Lambertville, NJ [5 - 7:30 pm]
  • Lenten Dinner – First Presbyterian Church, 31 N. Union St., Lambertville, NJ [5 - 8 pm]
  • Friday Wine & Music – Hopewell Valley Vineyards, 46 Yard Rd., Pennington, NJ [5-8 pm]
  • Barrel Tappings @ Triumph Brewing Co. – Triumph Brewing Co., 400 Union Square, New Hope, PA [6 - 7 pm]
  • Kindle Cafe’s Supper Club – TBA – private location, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 8 pm]
  • First Friday in Perkasie – Perkasie, PA [6 - 9 pm]
  • First Fridays in Doylestown – Doylestown, PA [6 - 9 pm]
  • Wine Tasting for Singles – Crossing Vineyards, 1853 Wrightstown Road, Washington Crossing, PA [7 - 9 pm]
  • Fridays Unplugged – Crossing Vineyards & Winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, Washington Crossing [8 - 10 pm]

Saturday, March 3:

  • Stockton Farmers’ Market, 19 Bridge St, Stockton, NJ [9 am - 4 pm]
  • Homemade Pasta (class) – Kitchen Garden Cooking School, 527 Center Hill Road, Upper Black Eddy, PA [10 am - 1:30 pm]
  • Soup and Sandwich Lunch – Sellersville Firehouse, 2 North Main St, Sellersville, PA [11 am - 2 pm]
  • Wine Tasting – Phillips’ Fine Wines, 17 Bridge Street, Stockton, NJ [12 - 6 pm]
  • Cupcake and Cookie Decorating for Kids – Comfort Food, 437 Alden Ave, Morrisville Pa [1 - 2:30 pm]
  • Beer Tasting – New Hope Beverage, 6542-K1 Lower York Rd (Logan Square), New Hope, PA [3 - 7 pm]
  • Ukrainian Dinner @ St. Anne’s Ukrainian Church – St Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Anne Activity Hall, 1545 Easton Road, Warrington, PA [4 - 7 pm]
  • Saturday Wine & Music – Hopewell Valley Vineyards, 46 Yard Rd., Pennington, NJ [5 - 8 pm]

Sunday, March 4:

  • Stockton Farmers’ Market – 19 Bridge St., Stockton, NJ [10 am - 4 pm]
  • Pairing Wine and Cheese – Crossing Vineyards & Winery, 1853 Wrightstown Road, Washington Crossing, PA [2- 4 pm]
  • Empty House Party @ Bucks County Designer House – Spring Valley Farm, 3864 Spring Valley Rd , Furlong, PA [2 - 5 pm]

Monday, March 5:

  • Evening in the Colonial Kitchen @ Cock n’ Bull Restaurant, Peddler’s Village, Lahaska, PA [5 - 9 pm]

Tuesday, March 6:

  • Sushi Night in the Wine Cellar @ The Inn at Lambertville Station, 11 Bridge Street, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 10 pm]
  • Sauteing and Pan Sauces (class) – Carlow Cookery, Doylestown Shopping Center, 432 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA [6:30 - 9 pm]
  • Gluten Free / Healthy Living Support Group – Medicine in Balance, 940 Town Center Drive, Suite F-90, Langhorne, PA [7 - 9 pm]

Wednesday, March 7:

  • Pierogy Wednesdays @ St Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church, St. Anne Activity Hall, 1545 Easton Road, Warrington, PA [9 am - 12 pm]
  • Schnitzel Night – United German Hungarians Club, 4666 Bristol Rd, Bensalem, PA [5:30 - 7:30 pm]
  • Kindle Cafe’s Cooking Class – TBA – private location, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 8 pm]
  • Wine Down Wednesdays @ Old Bethlehem Road Hotel, 243 Old Bethlehem Road, Quakertown, PA [6 - 9 pm]
  • The Tasting Room – Argentina (class) – Carlow Cookery, Doylestown Shopping Center, 432 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA [7 - 9 pm]
  • 3rd Annual Farmers’ Forum – Historic Aldie Mansion, 85 Old Dublin Pike, Doylestown, PA [7 - 9 pm]
  • Meet the Brewer – Spinnerstown Hotel, 2195 Spinnerstown Rd, Spinnerstown, PA [7 - 10 pm]

Thursday, March 8:

  • Clam Bake – Logan Inn, 10 W. Ferry St, New Hope, PA [5 - 9 pm]
  • Full Moon Dinner – Full Moon Cafe, 23 Bridge St, Lambertville, NJ [5:30 - 9 pm]
  • Kindle Cafe’s Supper Club a piedi – TBA – private location, Lambertville, NJ [6 - 8 pm]
  • Kitchen Knife Skills Plus – Resurrection Lutheran Church, 620 Welsh Road, Horsham PA [7 - 9 pm]
  • Pan to Plate Sauces (class) – Carlow Cookery, Doylestown Shopping Center, 432 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA [7 - 9 pm]
  • Italian cooking (class) – Comfort Food, 437 Alden Ave, Morrisville, PA [7 - 9:30 pm]

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Follow Bucks County Taste on Facebook and Twitter.

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Purim is coming next week! Here’s how to make delicious hamentashen http://t.co/wKvAiT0E

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I poked my head in the store front home of Comfort Food a few weeks ago. I was in Morrisville, in a small strip center on a side street. And I wasn’t quite sure what I was in, to be honest. Part kitchen, part retail shop, full of kitchen knick knacks and a cozy sitting area. But then there was Kim. I introduced myself and spent the next hour listening and absorbing Chef Kim Quay’s energy and enthusiasm.

“Convenient, good food doesn’t have to be expensive or full of bad ingredients,” explains Quay. Since starting her business in 2007, she makes sure her food is sourced from local farmers and producers as much as possible. This makes Comfort Food special. There are many caterers around but only a few make a concerted effort to buy their raw ingredients locally grown and produced, including meat.

Quay began her culinary career after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1991. She worked mostly in fine dining, in some of the best kitchens in Philadelphia – Jake’s, The White Dog Café, the Striped Bass – until she and a friend began a high-end catering business in Manayunk. But marriage and her first child brought her back to Yardley where she had grown up. When it was time to go back to work (“for my sanity,” jokes Quay) she began her catering business and started selling at local farmers’ markets. There the light bulb went on. As she got to know farmers at the markets, it changed her focus. “I should be making things based on local produce,” she thought.

“I love being involved with farmers,” says Quay. She finds out what they have, or have too much of, and works with them to produce the food for Comfort Food as well as value-added foods, like jarred hot sauce from extra jalapenos she got from Tall Pines Farm in Rushland. “It almost makes it easier because it’s based on what is available.” You’ll find local produce and meats in all of Comfort Food’s dishes. Quay buys her food from farms in Bucks County and nearby New Jersey, like the Guzikowski Farm (Yardley), Purely Farm (Pipersville), Charlann Farm (Yardley), Gravity Hill Farm (Titusville, NJ), Beechwood Farm (Hopewell, NJ) and Chickadee Creek Farm (Pennington, NJ), many of them organic or transitional organic, and using sustainable farming methods.

The menu changes daily – Quay posts it on her Facebook page every day and posts a photo of the board on her blog – and is priced reasonably. It includes comfort food but goes beyond to a wide variety of dishes. On the day I visited the menu included butternut apple bisque, white bean soup with kale and roasted peppers, tortellini jackpot soup, black bean soup with ham, pulled pork BBQ sandwich, pumpkin sage lasagna and puff pastry topped turkey pot pie. Easy to pick up on the way home, and something to please everyone.

Quay’s vision is to create a “community kitchen” in this cozy space in Morrisville. While the kitchen currently serves her catering and take-out business, she envisions the space being used for parties and farm to table dinners too. Every weekend, she holds cooking classes for kids, and a couple of times a month she puts on classes for adults (it’s BYOB, so it’s a different vibe altogether). The latter are demonstration (as opposed to hands on) classes that include dinner, recipes and even food to take home. The subjects range from “Demystifying French Cooking,” to “Pizzas and Strombolis.”

So whether you’re looking for some quick, nutritious and delicious meals for a weekday night, or catering for a special event, Comfort Food will fit the bill in a very local way. Stop by and poke your head in, and say hi to Chef Kim.

Comfort Food
437 Alden Ave
Morrisville, Pa
Open 11am-7pm, Tuesday – Friday
11am-5pm Saturday
Open by appointment only Sunday and Monday
215-847-5707
comfortfoodlive.blogspot.com

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It’s almost March! Cooking classes, markets, firehouse breakfasts, wine tastings all on the food calendar http://t.co/HCOiGvcZ

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Mardi Gras is over (as is Donut Day). Ash Wednesday here and gone. It can only mean one thing. Lent has begun. And although many of us may not observe these rituals we can certainly partake of some of the food, namely, “fish frys.”

Today, Friday, you’ll find three fish fry dinners occurring locally. In Lambertville, stop by the Columbia Fire Company for their famous fish fry – their 30th year – beginning this week and continuing every Friday through April 6th (Good Friday). You can get your fish baked or fried, and there is a shrimp dinner as well. See their website for pricing and location.

The fire house in Riegelsville puts on a lenten fish fry every Friday until April 6th as well. They also do a great breakfast every 3rd Sunday of the month. I can imagine that the fish fry is done well too. We’ll have to check it out. For directions, see their website.

Finally, the Knights of Columbus in Sellersville is preparing a fish fry dinner today starting at 5:30 pm. This is just (“just”!) a one-time event, however.

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Have a lovely weekend. Follow Bucks County Taste also on Facebook and Twitter.

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Hmmn. What’s to eat and drink in Bucks? See this week’s food calendar http://t.co/CnBQTVvw

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I’m back! Well, mostly. Still got a bit of a cough, but doesn’t everyone these days? And the weather is feeling more like March than February. Will we get a big snowstorm one of these days? I’d bet on it.

Farmers’ markets. This weekend stop by the Ottsville Indoor Farmers’ Market at Linden Hill Gardens in Ottsville. Next week will be their last winter market. They will open their weekly Friday outdoor market on April 27. Makes it feel like spring is just around the corner! The Hunterdon Land Trust’s Farmers’ Market at Dvoor Farm is doing an outdoor market the third Sunday of each winter month. See their website for vendors who will be there. Of course, there is also the Stockton Market every weekend, Fridays through Sunday. It has become quite a bustling market full of produce (yes, even in winter, thanks to Milk House Farm), artisanal goods, meats, seafood, baked goods and tasty prepared foods.

Alba Vineyard will be holding their 11th Annual Wine and Chocolate Weekend on Saturday and Sunday. It’s wine and chocolate, of course, but you’ll also find cheese from Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, gourmet samples from DiSh Catering, as well as wine tasting and pairing with artisanal chocolates. Wine tastings that include samples of Alba’s wines, chocolate and food pairings, an hourly cellar tour and a commemorative etched Alba wine glass for each guest to keep will be available throughout the day for $15 per person.

Cook it up! You may notice as you peruse the calendar the cooking classes that often occupy week days. We’re fortunate in Bucks County to have some great cooking schools – Carlow Cookery in Doylestown, The Cooking Cottage in Sellersville, and the Kitchen Garden Cooking School in Upper Black Eddy, to name a few. The classes are varied – everything from the basics to cuisines from many countries. Look forward in the Bucks County Taste calendar or visit some of their websites to see upcoming courses.

Want to network while enjoying samples of great local food? Stop by the 3rd Annual Locavore Buy Local event at Superior Woodcraft in Doylestown this Thursday, February 23rd. Superior Woodcraft opens their workshop – a  cavernous space used to build cabinetry – for this event and it’s a blast. Local chefs, ice cream makers, bakers, coffee roasters, brewers, winemakers and more, set up tables and offer tastes of their specialties. Come early if you can because last year over 500 people attended and parking was a little challenging. You can find Superior Woodcraft at 160 North Hamilton Street in Doylestown. Learn more about the event here.

For more details on any of these events, please go to our full calendar, Food Events in Bucks County. Have a super weekend. Follow Bucks County Taste also on Facebook and Twitter.

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