Shop Girl Eats: Indianapolis FOOD CON

Last night the first ever Food Con in Indianapolis raised its fork in celebration of Indy’s local food purveyors and lovers alike.
The Harrison Center gym was packed with farmers, produce growers, beekeepers, chicken wranglers….all were artists with their particular food genre, and all were activists in the local food movement that is growing so popular in our community.
In the gym you could pick up samplings from Country Mouse City Mouse, fruits and veggies from various orchards and farmers markets, honey and beeswax products from local farms, and much more.

City Market booth

Various local products...

Yum!

One of my favorites, Traders Point Creamery, showcased some of their delish cheese spreads (ignore the ice cream sign).

Spreads from Traders Point Creamery

The 38th Street Farmers Market had a very popular sampler to help promote their upcoming market season, which is open May (possibly  June) thru October.  The Caramel Extreme popcorn is addictive – the recipe is below so you can make it for your next movie night.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE!

Along the way, we also met a poultry farmer who raised Heritage chickens.  To waste nought, she used their feathers to create some beautiful jewelry and decorations.

Heritage Poultry farms

Heritage Chicken feathers used in hair clips.

Heritage chicken feathers as a mask...

The next room contained some plant themed exhibits and an enchanting murals of pictures from what I am pretty sure was the Broad Ripple Farmer’s Market — but there could’ve been more included in the hundreds of photos on the wall…

Mural of Farmers' Markets

Captivated by the mural...

Mural detail...

Plant Art.

Outside, despite the still obviously cold weather, there were plenty of people milling around.  This is why:

Nice seat by the Fire...

And tasty marshmallows to roast!  These ladies were selling flavored marshmallows and s’mores kits!  My favorite?  The Blood Orange flavored roasted marshmallows.  Yum!

Flavored Marshmallows - roasted samples.

The main gallery was packed.  There were some awesome art displays, and free local food, and some good friends…

Purple cauliflower!

Apple art.

Hand-sanded and hand-made utensils!

And, of course, the perfect ending to any meal:

Cupcake Painting

Shop Girl Eats: Caramel Extreme – recipe

Caramel Extreme - from 38th & Meridian Farmer's Market - discovered at FOOD CON.

3/4c      Margarine
1.5c       Brown Sugar
1/3c      Light Karo Syrup
3/4tsp  Vanilla
1/2tsp  Baking Soda
1 bag    plain Puffcorn

Combine margarine, brown sugar and syrup in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla and baking soda.  Pour 1/2 the puffcorn into a roasting pan.  Pour half of the butter/sugar mixture over it and mix well.  Pour in remaining puffcorn and remaining mixture and mix well.  Bake at 250-degrees (F) for one (1) hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Once cool, break apart and enjoy!

Store in an airtight container.

Shop Girl Shops: Hair Fix

Bad!  Bad Bangs!  Get back!  Bad bad bangs!

I find myself silently lamenting the decision to go “Zooey Deschanel” all over my hair.
This is what I wanted my hair to look like — and if I had the time and talent to style my hair, it possibly could…

But, Maintaining wavy bangs, constantly styling, blow-drying, then curling has been driving me crazy.  Either I cut them to get them out of my eyes, or I try bobby pins and headbands to keep them out of my face.

Hair in a pony-tail, bangs falling out of a bobby-pin, I stopped in to Nurture, a baby/kids clothing store  on Massachusetts Ave.  About 8 people I know are pregnant, so this store is sure to see a lot of me this year.  As I was browsing, a cute display at the register caught my eye:  Bad Bangs Clips $2
Oh, really?  Yes, these clips are SO cute!  Well, see for yourself.  And, they’re locally made.  And, Nurture is owned by the fabulous Kristin Kohn – owner of legendary Silver in the City/At Home in the City chic-ery downtown.  So you know this stuff is first-class adorable.

Bad Bangs Hair Clip, from Nurture

Do they work?  Yes, better than bobby-pins.  They hold my hair back all day.  All day.  I get so many compliments on it when I wear it, too.

Get yours at
NURTURE
433 Massachusetts Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 423-1234

and check out
www.nurtureonline.com

Shopping Local: Art

Happy Birthday to me!

My 28th happened to, luckily, fall on First Friday; so I had the art world as my playground.  I spent the evening downtown and at Fountain Square.  Mass Ave shops had the Holiday Hoopla event, so it was as active as ever.  I stopped at the Stutz Art Building to see future-mother-in-law’s art exhibit — her first as an official Stutz resident artist.  I’m not sure if “Resident” is the right word — she doesn’t live there, but she now proudly rents space there!   I see so much of Ben’s mom’s creativity reflected in him.  They both take items and images that don’t seem to be much of anything and work with them until the end result is just amazing.

The Wheeler Arts Community was our destination in Fountain Square.  The time had come for me to invest in one of Lindsey’s pieces, and she just so happened to have made some very affordable purses and clutches recently, so

here’s my new baby!  I had a very hard time choosing between a couple of them;  this particular clutch won over the others because of the zebra skin flap.  Please don’t throw red paint on it.  Or me.

Lindsey designed, cut, and sewed this all by her lonesome; and I’m so excited to own something of hers.  She inspires me to do art of my own.  Then I get home and forget about it.  Mainly because I’m hungry.  So I just leave it to her.

You can find Lindsey on facebook.com/lindseybird – and contact her about anything you want to buy;  a commissioned portrait, statues, drawings, paintings, textile art, etc.  She has a lot of pictures of her stuff up, but not everything.  But you can find her at the Wheeler Arts Community Open Houses every month!

Eating Local: Maria’s Pizza

——————

Fountain Square is my #1 Favorite Place in Indy right now.  So many exciting changes are going on right now:  iMOCA moves into their new location soon, about 3 new restaurants and a Caberet joint are moving in, and a hip vintage store that I can finally afford has taken up residence in the Murphy Building!  So I look forward to every excuse I get to go down there.

In my previous posting about La Parada, you’ll see that Ben & I tried to eat at Maria’s Pizza first.  We have tried to eat at this place a dozen times, and it has never been open.  The painted text on their glass windows promises me that they serve lunch, yet they do not.  And they are not open on Sundays.  Or Mondays.  Or past 10pm.  Or 9pm if they don’t feel like it.  All this makes me feel like they’re not so much in business for *me*, but rather for *themselves*…
So when my friend wanted to take me out to celebrate my <belated> birthday, Maria’s was the first place I suggested so I could finally try it.  The background:  I’ve heard nothing but good things about their pizza; it’s apparently an old neighborhood staple;  the owner of Hero House comics next door swears it’s some of the best pizza he’s ever had.   There is definitely something different about this pizza.  Our server tells us that everything is made from scratch, starting with the crust, which comes out paper thin, and butter-cracker tasting.  I’m a hand-tossed or pan-crust kind of gal, so I don’t know what thin crust should live up to.  We’ll get to my favorite part in a second.

The sauce was spicy, but sweet, but tangy?  But it was sweet, too.  Sw-i-ngy?  Ok, the sauce confused me, I just couldn’t place it.  There was a lot of it, though, and it was topped with PLENTY of cheese, without having to ask for extra.  The toppings (pepperoni, onion, and sausage) were buried underneath the cheese, there was so much of it.

I love onions on my pizza.  I prefer red onions, but these were white, and they were the best white onions I’ve had on a pizza.  They were sweet, and dominated the taste.  Some people won’t like that.  But I do.  That was my favorite part of this pizza.  The sausage tasted somewhat like breakfast sausage, and didn’t go well with the rest of what was happening in my mouth, so I elected not to eat them.

Weekends must be where it’s at for Maria’s Pizza.  Frank Glover plays on Friday nights, and the waitress says she has seen an influx of customers since the recent new activity in Fountain Square.  I’m excited to see Fountain Square become a vibrant neighborhood where the future lives harmoniously with the past.

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies.

How much more “local” can you get than your own kitchen?

Here’s a favorite recipe for when I have severe chocolate cravings — I’m licking the spoon from the moment the sugar/butter/cocoa mixture starts to boil.  Yeah, totally good for me.

MY MOM’S NO-BAKE COOKIES
2c sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 c cocoa
1/2 c milk
– Bring the above ingredients to a boil in at least a quart-sized sauce pan and let boil for 1 to 2 minutes. HINT:  THE LONGER THE MIXTURE BOILS, THE HARDER YOUR COOKIES WILL BE.
While you’re waiting for that, prepare:
1/2 c peanut butter
3 c quick/instant oats
2tsp vanilla extract
– Once the previous ingredients have boiled for a minute or two, stir in the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla thoroughly.  Taste it to make sure it’s delicious !
On a sheet of wax paper, scoop spoonfulls of the mix, one inch apart, and let set for about an hour. Then, they’re ready to enjoy!