Date: July 8th 2010

FridayMornings@SELMA invites you to pull up a chair and share your vision for the future of food.

Pastry chef Chris Wick takes the FM@SELMA apron for the first time.  Chris has helped with a couple breakfasts and is jumping right into the hot seat.  She has a couple of “way seasonal” specials from our area farmers competing for your enjoyment:

• In the savory corner, we have - Crepes au Sarrasin (that’s buckwheat y’all) with a sunny-up egg, bacon and fresh greens
• And representing sweet we have: Cherry Clafouti – with a seasonal berry coulis, chantilly cream and almond brittle.  And a side of bacon or sausage on there if you like.

Don't forget our fruit seasonal regular breakfast choices: Waffles with cherries or blueberries and Lisa’s bread pudding (this week: peach with a raspberry sauce!!)

A bunch of news (that keep’s on changing as the day goes on!):

Summer Hoop build applications are out!

We will again be building hoops with breakfast proceeds this August.  You can fill out an application to get a hoop at your place, and/or sign up to help us build hoops here.

Now get this - The food cottage industry bill has passed the state senate!  Wow.  I don’t think I was really holding out much hope for it this go ‘round as I wrote those emails to our state politicos.  Did any of you write some also?  It seems to have worked!  And now word comes that the governor’s signing ceremony will be at Growing Hope in Ypsi this coming Monday morning.  More details to follow, though yours fooly has been asked to say something about the impact this measure could have.  Your ideas welcome.  And while we are at it, how about we start talking about a collective booth at the Farmers Market of all the home produced stuff we have been itching to make all this time.  I have the whole wheat bread.  Talk to me.

Coming up: Ann Arbor Summer ReSkilling Festival, Saturday, July 17, 10-4:30, Rudolf Steiner High School.  Free.  Learn skills for resilient, low-energy living-from preserving local fruits and vegetables to beekeeping, singing in harmony, or homebrewing.  Part of the Transition Towns movement, the concept of reskilling is about preparing for our low-energy future by acquiring new skills related to what we eat, wear, use and live in.  Here’s the schedule and description of workshops.

Slow Food Huron Valley (SFHV) is raising money to send local farmers, chefs and educators to represent our region at Terra Madre, the biennial worldwide Slow Food conference in Turin, Italy.  SFHV will be organizing a community-wide weekend of “Slow Days of Summer” house parties. The idea is that on a single weekend (July 9-11), hosts will organize slow food meals for friends and family in exchange for a small, tax-deductible donation ($5-$20).  The house party can have any food theme you like. Some on the list so far include: pancake breakfast, Scrabble Scramble Sunday Breakfast, wine and cheese picnic, backyard BBQ and pie extravaganza.  We’ll help with ideas, invitations, and receipts. You invite your friends, enjoy a wonderful meal, and support your local farmers, chefs and educators! For more information, email: marnreid@umich.edu.  You can also help by donating at Support Slow Food Huron Valley.

And also just in from SFHV: The 4th annual Pie Lovers Unite! Will be on July 24, from 7-9 p.m. at the Ypsilanti Ladies Literary Club. This year we're asking everyone to reserve a ticket in advance.  Your ticket is free if you're bringing a homemade pie, otherwise throw in $8 for an evening of all-you-can-eat homemade pie, Stucchi's ice cream and Mighty Good coffee.  We'll have a fantastic PIE CONTEST with PIE PRIZES, some themed PIE WALKS (be prepared to shake your tailfeathers to win a Zingerman's pie), PIE MUSIC all night, and the ever-hilarious PIE-KU poetry recital (win a prize for yours!).  A couple more volunteers needed as well.

Check out the Repasts blog to read about all of our recent hoop-house builds as well as other event news.

And finally…

So what the heck is this FM@SELMA thing anyway?

FridayMornings@SELMA is your local-foods breakfast salon.  The suggested donation for breakfast is $12 - $15.  All proceeds go to the farmers and producers of your food and our small farms-small farmers initiative.  FM@SELMA is here for you every week 6:30 to 10:00 am - 722 Soule - check out: Repasts, Present and Future for more information.  Early arrival is suggested for those on the go (we get wait-listed around 8:30).  FM@SELMA is all-volunteer.  We need your help to sustain this local-foods breakfast salon.  Please reply to this email or click her e to let us know what you are thinking, and how you would like to participate.