AMP Fest Winner and Fresh Fork

T.G.I.F. I need this one. The weather forecast is looking good, Cleveland is packed with interesting events this weekend, and it's bound to be a good one. Let's end someone's week on a good note too.

It's time to announce the winner of the two tickets to AMP Fest at AMP150 on June 27th. The random winner is...Jen Hartle! Congratulations, and thanks for entering. Please check your email, and reply by Monday to claim. If you didn't win, you can still purchase $40 tickets by calling 216-706-8787.

It was also a fun week for us because we had our very first Fresh Fork Market bag.

"R" and I decided to take the plunge this year, and buy into a Small Summer Share.

From their website:
Fresh Fork Market is a weekly subscription service to fresh and local foods.  You sign up for a subscription, then every week for 22 weeks over the summer we meet you at one of our pick up locations and give you a package of groceries.  This package is a “grab bag” of fresh and local ingredients that meet our exacting quality standards.  Our program includes meat and dairy, as well as high quality local produce.  For those with special diets, we offer vegetarian and vegan options as well.  For one low price, you will receive a weekly subscription basket, offering you the best selections, savings, and convenience.

We picked up our first bag on Saturday at the Tremont location. It included a couple of types of greens, black beans, eggs, flour, and a whole chicken. We also purchased some "extras" by pre-ordering online by Tuesday night.

One of these "extras" that we purchased were some Chicken Patties. We purchased other goods from the West Side Market, made some of "R's" famous guacamole, and ta-da...yummy burgers on our patio!

We took the whole chicken, cooked it beer-can style on the grill...

...and then adapted Fresh Fork's recipe for Pea Shoot Salad with Black Beans for a tasty and healthy meal.

We adapted the recipe by soaking the beans for 10 hours, chilling in the fridge, and adding tomato and avocado.

Tonight, we're taking a Fresh Fork Skirt Steak (another one of our "extras" purchased) and making some fajitas.

It's Week Two of the Summer Program, and we're already enjoying the experience of waiting for the highly anticipated newsletter that includes the bag's contents for the week and recipe ideas. Then, we menu plan for the week, and look forward to cooking at home a little bit more. I feel good about where our food is coming from, we've been satisfied with the products so far, and it's only just beginning. This program just fits our lifestyle, and now I'm scratching my head wondering why it took us so long to do this.

We're now officially Fresh Fork fans! What about you?