Greenfest Needs Food

Finally. A good use for monster zucchini.

OK. Could all of you event planners get together and coordinate your festivals, openings, shows, events, picnics, garage sales, etc. so they don’t happen on the same weekend in September. There’s nothing to do all summer long, and then, bam!, there are ten festivals and events in one weekend. I’d love to drop by all your events, but if you put them on the same weekend, it’s physically impossible.

I did drop by Greenfest Philly this Sunday to see how Philly is greening and preening, and picked up lots of fliers. I also went to the event with the intent of picking up lunch from some veggie/green friendly vendor.

The only – only – food stand was Cosmic Catering, a local caterer that used fresh, local ingredients. I could have ducked into Whole Foods, but decided to give Cosmic Catering a go, since they bothered to represent.

The tofu veggie burger had plenty of vegetables incorporated in the patty, but squished out the back side of the bun when bitten into. I think if they weren't so swamped and had more time to cook the burger, the patty would have set up a little better. No condiments were offered. Boo.

The veggie wrap had plenty of veggie variety – broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, carrots, and probably something else – but the herbed tortilla wrap is a pet peeve of mine and a no-no; the herbs in the wrap always overpower what it’s holding.

I appreciate Cosmic Catering's presence and the fact that they had two solid veggie offerings, though.

Free food – and pictures of small rodents stuffing their face – makes everyone happy. The chocolate coffee Larabar was my favorite flavor from their line.

Some what timely, as I just decided to eat oatmeal for breakfast (I'm a cereal person, but sporadically go on oatmeal kicks) were the Quaker Oatmeal freebies.

The best score of the day was the Whole Foods' Scratch -n- Sniff stickers. (If only I were going back to school, and had a note book to sticker.) I wasn’t sure if I should inhale popcorn smell after the media popcorn lung scare this week. And I was a little scared to smell the hot dog, but thankfully it didn’t smell like much more than ink and paper. Ice cream sundae and strawberries – sniff-tastic!

Philly Italian Market Festival…

...or what I ate for lunch.

This is not my first time at the Italian Market Festival in Philly, and I must say that this festival is one of my favorite places for wedging myself amongst strangers and walking slowly behind them. Why? Because they have a great selection of food. The festival is essentially food, food, food, crappy merchandise, food, food, food, music stage, food, food, and food. This year I ate food that I had not sampled in previous years.

I started with the Mexican (Mexican? Hey, we’re all Italian, right?) corn on the cob that’s smothered in mayonnaise, cheese, and chili pepper. Oh my! I knew this was going to be good, so have avoided the Mexican corn stand that pops up on occasion at the park across from my Philly outpost, so as not to start a habit. Please don’t set up your corn stand at the park anymore. I’m afraid I’ll be seen sprinting across the park in my pj’s for your corn concoction.

Next were the Mozzarepas. These are tasteless corn pucks filled with mozzarella cheese. Keep on walking. In fact, someone stopped to ask me what I thought of these, and I said,"Not worth it." They kept walking. They can thank me later.

I was not enamored by these pesto filled agnolotti from the local pasta shop, Talluto's. I would never have guessed the bland filling was pesto, and the sauce tasted like Italian dressing from a bottle. Ick.

Free is good! The free salad with mozzarella and orange vinaigrette from Sorrento Cheese, the sponsor of the Italian festival, was actually fresh and tasty.

The boy really wanted cannoli. This $4 log of gold…uh, canolli from Isgro Pasticceria was delectable, but I’d prefer a great éclair any day compared to a great canolli. Just sayin'.

With a cup of coffee (not pictured) to top it off, we escaped down a side street, and moseyed home without a couple thousand people to impede us .

Mushroom Festival

When I first moved to the Northeast for school / work, I moved to Kennett Square, PA – otherwise known as “The Mushroom capital of the World.” This weekend, I went to the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival.

Kennett Square and the immediate surrounding area in Southeastern, PA produce 40 percent of the mushrooms consumed in the United States. Most of these mushrooms get slapped with a sticker from Dole - the main distribution company - so don't disclose their PA origin.

Mushroom production in the area started more than a century ago with Quakers growing mushrooms underneath carnation beds. Italian immigrants were then employed in mushroom farms. Now, the descendents of those Italians own most of the mushroom houses and employ mostly Mexican immigrants. Mexicans, though, are beginning to own and operate their own farms.

Having lived in Kennett Square, PA and Avondale, PA for three years, I know what mushroom farms smell like. It’s not pleasant, if you’re wondering. Imagine a nose burning perfume of manure, rubber, and asparagus tainted urine. What smells is the fresh medium on which the mushrooms grow – a mixture of hay, manure and water.

While I was in school, I had the opportunity to tour some farms and learn about mushroom production. Quite fascinating! The Button, Portabella, and Crimini mushrooms most commonly found in stores are grown in shallow beds of compost in a sort of bunk bed system inside low, windowless, cinderblock buildings. The compost is inoculated with mushroom spawn. Mycelium (fungus roots) then grow. Little white mushrooms, or “pins” then appear. These tiny mushrooms grow into larger mushrooms and are then harvested about 4 to 11 weeks after the growing process starts.

"Pins" to the left and mycelium on the right.

Specialty mushrooms (Shitake, Oyster, Maitake, Enoki, etc.) are grown differently. After having toured the farms, I understand why these mushrooms are more expensive. Shitakes are grown on little composite loafs of oak sawdust and must be rotated by hand. Oyster and Maitake mushrooms are grown in plastic bags filled with sawdust. Enoki are grown in plastic jars. These loaves, bags, and jars take up more space, require different growing environments, and are more labor intensive – hence the higher price in the store.

Beech Mushrooms

Shitake Mushrooms

Grey Oyster Mushrooms

While at the festival, I indulged in fried mushrooms - something I rarely do - and cream of mushroom ice-cream! If you learn anything from Iron Chef America, it's that anything can be made into an ice-cream. Last time I went to the festival I had pumpkin mushroom ice-cream, but the pumpkin ice-cream was too spicy for me to taste the mushroom. This year I tried cream of mushroom. It wasn't bad. It tasted like sweetcream ice-cream with a hint of mushroom soup. There were, of course, hunks of button mushrooms in the ice-cream.

We left with three packages of mushrooms - Oyster, Pom Pom, and Maitake. We briefly thought about making mushroom fajitas, but with all the stroganoff being made out there, I knew exactly what I was craving. Damn, that VWaV stroganoff recipe is good. The only alteration I made, other than mushroom variety substitution, was to replace the soymilk with sour cream.

Wilmington Italian Festival

Just to compare Philly to Wilmington - the city I live in - I dropped by Wilmington’s Little Italy to check out their Italian Festival. It’s much quainter and has more of a neighborhood vibe. I also got to see the beautiful St. Anthony’s church, which I’ve never seen since it’s on a one-way street going the opposite way I normally drive through Little Italy.

And...I’m thrilled to report that I’m still hot in the eyes of prepubescent teenage boys. One tried to pick me up using his Spanish language skills. He threw me there for a bit. I was expecting to be picked up by some old man speaking Italian.

Enjoy!

Philly Italian Market Festival Pictorial

Is that a sausage in your pineapple, or are you just happy to see me?