Food Revolution Day

On Saturday May 19, 2012 was the first Food Revolution Day.  Pioneered by Jamie Oliver and his efforts to fight the obesity epidemic, this was a day that people took time to celebrate real food all over the world.  I did intend to host a mini event of my own but when I had no takers on my first couple of attempts, I decided that we would celebrate by going to the Farmers Market and seeing what new and exciting things we could try.

We started with lunch from our favorite Laotian/Thai place, Lao Village.  It's such a bonus that they have a booth at the Farmers Market.  This Pad Thai is so good and about a hundred times better than getting the run of the mill, everything tastes greasy and the same Chinese food.

We also had my favorite, Panang Chicken.  Red curry and coconut milk is pure genius as far as I'm concerned.

After a bite to eat we went in search of some fresh herbs for planting.  Hayden really impressed me with his ability to guess some of them by smell.  This kid loves his food.

We did get there a little late due to the soccer games in the morning.  Many of the vendors were packing up shortly after we finished eating....

Which makes for the perfect time to visit the fish monger.  He gives some great deals at the end of the day.

He gave us these blue crab for a steal.  We had never cooked them before so we thought it might be a good time to try them out.  I think we got 15 crabs for $8.00.  He also gave us a great deal on some sea trout and porgy (I think that's what they were called).

When we got home we planted the oregano and Thyme in the flower boxes.  I find that a little goes a long way with these herbs so it's not necessary to plant them in the garden.

Who's got the thyme?  I do.  And it smells really good.  These are planted together in the same flower box.

Once all the planting and other yard work was done we called my Dad to come over for some food.  Busted out the steamer and the Old Bay and got ready to give this thing a whirl.

Nelsy cleaned the fish.  I suppose that can be the tricky part about buying your fish at the market.

Hayden thoroughly enjoyed the process.  I think it's important that kids understand where their food comes from.  If you don't talk about it they can be surprisingly clueless.  I recently read something about a large percentage of kids thinking that pasta came from an animal.  For real.

Say cheese!  I'm pretty sure he's smiling but I could be wrong.

As it would happen, the Run for the Black Eyed Susan's was taking place in Baltimore that day.  How fitting.  I think I'll Have Another.

The boys and I worked pretty hard on those crabs.  I think we all agreed that it was a lot of work for very little reward, and we probably won't buy them again.  But we tried something new and had fun doing it.