I’m kicking myself that I didn’t have my camera charged and ready to go to capture the beauty of the lovely woven baskets overflowing with artisan bread placed in the middle of the island and on the dining room table.  And I missed out on a chance to get some sweet pictures of Rachel and Tarek’s colorful and creative bottles of super-duper kombucha that they generously shared with our guests through the morning.  Lucky for me, (and for you) both Mill Pond Bakery and Unity Vibration Living Kombucha Tea have

terrific websites with great pictures.  I’ve included a couple of photos to spark your interest, but be sure to follow the links and check out their websites for yourself.

Mill Pond gave us two terrific specials.  First, a plate of softly scrambled buttery eggs from Dry Bucket Farms, served with a side of TMZ’s grass fed beef tenderloin and some hoop house greens.  This was the kind of breakfast that can keep a cowgirl going ’til supper.  The second special showed off the specialty breads of Mill Pond.  Slices of Mill Pond stollen and schnitzbrot (dried fruit and nut infused enriched whole wheat breads) soaked in eggs and cream made incredible French toast, topped with house made creme fraiche and served with Mama Mofoods seitan a rich and savory fermented wheat meat alternative.  We also had our weekly specials of whole grain waffles and blueberry bread pudding to round out the options.

I’ve never been a fan of Kombucha until I tried what Rachel and Tarek are brewing up in ypsilanti.  They brought lots of bottles with lots of flavors, including pineapple ginger, grape and pear.  The bottles are the perfect size for taking to a party, a potluck, or any other event where you want to share something gently fizzy, refreshing and fun with your friends.

We’ve had a wonderful surge of new volunteers, who along with those who’ve been around for a bit, combine to create a fun and efficient crew for Selma prep night.  Mill Pond’s exceptional crew was a bread-y trinity, with John Savanna (Mr. Mill Pond himself), Gabe Blauer and Sarah Ladd keeping everyone on track and with a job to do.  The other prep’sters were Michelle Fortin, Gary Hochgraf, Robbie Moore, Matt Burton, Joanna Campbell, Nick and Olivia Roumel, Garin Fons, Nevon Clark, Kate Long, Anita Sherman Moran, and last but not least, Remi Holden who has created some new protocols and organizational tools that really make the whole prep night run more smoothly.

Friday morning helpers this week included Rob Foley, Siri Gottlieb, Robbie Moore, Kate Long, Laura Matney, Ruthann Nichols, Evan Dayringer, Zoya and John Erdevig, Janet Shane, Matt Burton, Shawna Jo Lee, Remi Holden, and Susie Baity Stearns.  Big props to the early shift–they manage to get themselves here in the cold and dark of a January winter morning at 6:00 am to get things going on time and with a smile on their faces.  Huge thanks to one and all who made this past week a fun and delicious event–all for a great cause.

Please come help us keep FM@Selma sustainable.  Looking forward to seeing you in our kitchen soon,

Lisa

Kate Mathews, along with her husband Steve and her cute as a button daughter Tess have been Selma regulars  since we started.  Kate has also volunteered for nearly every volunteer spot we offer.  After some encouragement and gentle nudging, Kate agreed to take on the big job– special guest chef, with Olivia May as her sous. Kate came up with two creative and delicious specials, both vegan, to give the non-meat eaters a little treat.  Although bacon was an option for both specials, these two dishes were wonderful on their own– gingerbread pancakes with cashew “cream”, made from cashews and maple syrup, served with roasted ginger apples, and a beautiful casserole of potato and greens served with spicey ketchup and roasted winter vegetables.  It was a cozy morning on Soule Blvd. with Kate and Olivia plating up the food with exuberance and fun.

On hand Thursday night for prep was a nice big crowd–Leah DiRamio, Amanda Schott, Dawn Tilbury, Nevon Clark, Claire Maitre, Vicki McClellan, Rex Roof, Nate Ayers, Mikey Formisano, Alexis Bogdanova-Hanna, Kate Long, Evan Dayringer, Jennifer Jensen, and Remi Holden.  It was really gratifiying to have so many helping hands.  We were all able to enjoy a relaxing meal together, and share a glass of beer or wine before we finished up for the evening.  A big round of applause and a nice loud thank you to all!

We had a fresh crew in at 6am Friday to set up, serve and clean up after breakfast.  Big thanks to Rob Foley, John Erdevig, Siri Gottlieb, Evan Dayringer, Nate Lada, Carol Bardenstein, Remi Holden, and Susie Baity-Stearns.

As Friday Morning @Selma rounds the curve to our one year anniversary, there’s been lots of discussion about whether our breakfast salon is sustainable.  A year is a long time to keep an all volunteer, weekly event operating effectively while maintaining a spirit of fun and enthusiasm.  We are invested in keeping breakfast happening, but we need your help to maintain it!  If you have considered volunteering, but are on the fence, jump off on the side of Selma, come on into the kitchen, and have some fun with us.

Looking forward to seeing you in our kitchen soon, either as a guest or a volunteer,

~Lisa

Now that we are on a two week FM @Selma break, there is time and energy to slow down, focus in, reflect on these last many months and send out a huge thank you to everyone who has been part of our breakfast salon– by volunteering with food prep and service, blogging about us, helping with the hoop house builds, supporting us with wonderful fundraisers, or simply coming to share a meal with us.  We are deeply appreciative and grateful for your support.

What started out as a small idea for sharing home baked toast, tea and coffee with friends has taken on a life of it’s own.  With weekly specials ranging from eggs Benedict with hollandaise sauce to oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts, vegan blinis to home cured pancetta, Friday Mornings @Selma, nee Selma Cafe’ has served more than 3,000 plates of delicious repasts.

In addition to supporting the local food economy by sourcing our food locally and seasonally, creating affiliations among people sharing the same interests and mission around sustainable agriculture, and using the proceeds from all those thousands of breakfasts to build two hoop houses, FM @Selma has shown folks that working together on a grassroots level can make good and important things successfully come to fruition.

People routinely ask Jeff and me, “how do you DO this every week??” Our answer is always the same.  “We don’t do this alone!!”  Without the consistent and energetic support from our volunteers, FM @Selma could not continue.

First, massive thanks to Susie Baity Stearns who stepped up months ago and took on a huge organizational role, including facilitating volunteers for prep night and Friday morning service, supporting the chefs in menus and food decisions, and creating protocols for training volunteers, all while making her multi-tasking look easy.  Garin Fons, Olivia May, Remi Holden,  Nevon Clark, Evan Dayringer, Brad Wicklund and Riva Jewell Vitale are just a few of the many regular volunteers who keep the wheels smoothly turning.  JD Deucher-Rubin, who at 12 years old is our youngest volunteer, is enthusiastic, hard working and a lot of fun.  He certainly gives me hope about the next generation’s interest in healthy local food, and taking care of community.

Next, a big, big thank you to our chefs who have creatively approached the challenge of FM @Selma with grace and ease, coming up with delicious breakfast specials that amaze and satisfy.  Thank you Max and Ari Sussman, Scott Macinnis, Silvio Medoro,  Oliva May, Elizabeth Edwards, Jeremy Lopatin, John Roos, Dan Vernia, Emil and Monica Bosh, Eve Aranoff, Bad Fairy and Wonder Woman, Sylvia from Pilar’s Tamales, Heather Leavitt and Roberto (Beto) Dominguez, Eric and Ines Storhok, Tammy Coxen, Brian Steinberg, Aren Stebby, and Linda Diane Feldt.  Please let me know if I’ve forgotten anyone!

It’s difficult to write a thank you post and realize that I can’t name every person who has shown up in our kitchen to help out over the last 10 months.  It’s been more than 8 weeks since my last post, and my system for keeping track of who has volunteered fell apart when my mom’s health started to decline and I was back and forth to Los Angeles.   Since my mom’s death, and my dad coming to live with us, I haven’t had the time or energy to pull all the names together.  My lack of time and organization is no reflection on the appreciation and heart felt gratitude that Jeff and I both feel about the community interest and support of both FM @Selma and our Repasts, Present and Future goals and mission.

Please, if you have volunteered in any capacity, or want to mention others who have helped out, join in the thanks in the comment section of the blog, or pop me a message and I will add them myself!

FM @Selma is ready to start up again in the new year Friday next–Jan. 8, 2010, with Dan Varnia from Mind Body & Spirits as our guest chef.  We are very excited to have Dan back again,  but we still need volunteers to sign up and make it all happen smoothly.  Whether you are an old hand volunteer or a newbie, we would really appreciate your help!

Wishing you all the best in the new year, and we’re looking forward to seeing you in our kitchen soon,

Lisa

***Susie came through once again with a list of volunteers who helped Selma happen on Thursday evening prep:

Jeff Tenza
Dawn Tilbury
Janet Shane
Erin Shumacher and her mom
Rob Foley
Christine (JD’s mom)
JD Rubin
Emily Stearns
Nevon Clark
Shaelyn Smith

AND Friday morning:

Becca Brooke
Rachel Chadderdon
Sarah Burns
Judy Stone
Shaelyn Smith
Laura Kowal
Nevon Clark

Thanks everyone!!

Big thanks to Linda Diane for leading the way in our search for new Selma chefs.  With help from her friend Gary Hochgraf and a cast of thousands (really more like 15 of us food prep volunteers), Linda Diane made the vegetarians happy, and the rest of us too.

Did you notice my “cast of thousands” comment?  I spent some time this afternoon looking in all the likely places for my list of volunteers from both Thursday night and Friday morning, and it’s no where to be found.  So I tried to avoid having to confront my error by side stepping it with the cast comment, but the thing is, I’m really  sorry I can’t individually thank everyone, since it was an extra big, extra fun group!  My memory is bad enough where I might just miss someone if I try to recreate the scene in my head of all of us gathered around the dining room table Thursday evening, noshing and imbibing and laughing and talking…sounds like fun doesn’t it??  It is! Come join us some Thursday soon and see for yourself.

Anyway, where was I?  Right, since my memory can’t be trusted, please let me know who I am forgetting, and I’ll update the post when someone, namely Susie tells me who was here.  Hey, Friday was great too, with lots of servers and helpers for an easy and relaxed time, rain and all–but my memory isn’t any better about that either!  Susie, you out there?

Back to Linda Diane!! She came up with two very different specials–both warm and comforting and toothsome, which is just what people needed on one of the first really cold and rainy Fridays we have experienced this fall.  The first special was a potato and corn polenta,  layered with kale, red beans and a cumin flavored cheddar cheese, served hot with a tasty tomato salsa on top.  The second special was  slow cooked oats with raisins and almonds, served with honey, yogurt and wild apple sauce.  Wow! I started the morning with the oats, and took the polenta with me to work so I could have it later for lunch.  What a treat! Both specials were equally delicious in their own ways.

We also offered blueberry and raspberry bread puddings served with bacon, whole grain waffles served with bacon and fruit, and Tantre’ Farm house made raw milk yogurt served with fruit and house made granola as our weekly stand-bys.

Come by on a Friday soon, and we’re sure you will find something delicious that you will love! Stay cozy ’til then! ~Lisa

I knew it would all come together with Roos in the house.  Specifically in the kitchen.  Specifically cookin’ eggs the Roos way–4 pans going at once and each egg perfectly cooked.  Sure, we all know Roos makes the best coffee in town.  And, of course we all know he’s an artist too. But the man can cook some eggs! Thanks John for stepping up and helping us out on Friday. Can’t wait to make some food with you again soon.

Our Thursday night prep volunteers were awesome as usual–thank you Emily Stearns, Judith Rontall, Elizabeth Edwards, Amber Webster, Joanna Campbell, Janet Shane, Kerby Smithson, and Susie Baity-Stearns.  There was lots to do, and you did it well!

Friday morning volunteers included Susie Baity-Stearns, Jorg Zeller, Rob Foley, Laura Wetherington, Joanna Campbell, Rachel Chadderdon, Lily Bahren, Laura Kowal, Nevon Clark and Eva Stern. What a great crew–so many little details to take care of, and they do it with grace, ease and fun.

Please remember, FM @SELMA can’t operate without the energy and dedication of the volunteers who continue to show up and make it all happen.  Come join the fun and adventure with us! 

Hope to see you soon in our kitchen, ~Lisa