MPLS Swappers

New Event! Food Talks with the MPLS Swappers

Kim Christensen — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:34:32 +0000

It’s no secret that Mandy, A-K, and I miss seeing your beautiful faces and homemade foods each month. The absence of our food swaps creates a noticeable hole in our social life and our pantries! So, while we are working hard to determine the future of our food swaps, we have developed a new way to grow our community and share in lovingly prepared food.

Please welcome our new event, Food Talks!

What is Food Talks?

Food Talks is intended to create a forum to build community, share knowledge, tell stories, and encourage discussion around a variety of food-centered topics. Each Food Talks event will feature a potluck-style meal and a series of short talks given by attendees. Share a story about a traditional family recipe. Discuss issues of food access in your neighborhood. Talk people through what to look for when buying a new knife. Share your experience with going gluten-free. The options are endless, and anyone is welcome to attend! This is a family friendly event.

We will also be giving an update on the status of our food swaps and our discussions with the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, so we’d love to see some of our food swap regulars in attendance.

Event Information

Food Talks with the MPLS Swappers

Saturday, March 31, 2012, 4-6 p.m.

Minnehaha Free Space

3458 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis MN

Cost: $5 suggested donation at the door.

(No one will be turned away. Money will be used to cover space use and other incremental costs.)

Potluck

Food Talks will kick off with a dinner potluck. Please bring a dish to pass as you are able!

If possible, please bring a list of ingredients in your dish to be sensitive to the dietary choices and restrictions of those in our community.
Please bring your own dish, silverware, and cup. Minnehaha Free Space does not provide these items and we do not want to use disposable.
Please do not bring alcohol to the event.

Note: If you are unable to bring a dish to share for significant personal reasons, please feel free to attend regardless. We will have plenty of food to share.

Presentations

After we eat, we will sit back and listen to 4-5 informal presentations with food at their core, lasting 5-10 minutes each. We are looking for presenters for our first event, and nearly any topic dealing with food is fair game! Share your passion, knowledge, and interests with a like-minded community.

Example Topics

storytelling: family food traditions, travel food stories, favorite recipe history, best meal you’ve ever had or made, etc.
how-to/instructive: vegan cooking, recipe substitutions, tips for grilling, basic canning equipment, favorite flours for baking bread, how to sharpen a knife, basics of a kitchen garden, etc.
topic exploration: food access, food politics, nutrition, dietary lifestyle choices, food allergies/intolerances, healing foods, philosophy, etc.
anything else food-related you can dream up!

If you are interested in presenting, you will have the opportunity to share your interest on the registration form. We will contact you to discuss your interest further.

Note: We will accept presentation topics on a combination of first-come first-serve and topic/preparedness. Please keep in mind that we are not able to accommodate cooking demonstrations using kitchen equipment – at this time we are only accepting discussion-based presentations. A projector, screen, and large white board are available for our use. Please share your needs in the form if possible.

Interested in Attending?

Complete a registration to reserve spot for each person attending (children under 12 do not need to register). We will be opening the event to 40 registrations. If you are interested in presenting, fill in the designated area in the registration form and we will contact you to discuss your interest further.

If you register and find you are unable to attend, please email MPLSSwappers@gmail.com as soon as possible so we can release your spot.

Please email mplsswappers@gmail.com with questions.

Food Swap Update and Exciting Developments

Kim Christensen — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 01:11:51 +0000

Hello food swappers! Mandy, A-K, and I hope that you are having a wonderful February and enjoying our disturbingly mild weather as much as we are. Oddly enough, I find that my desire to hole myself up in my kitchen is drastically lessened this winter. Is it because stepping outside doesn’t feel like torture? Possibly, yes.

Thank you for all your supportive emails over the last few months as we’ve been living swap-free due to our conversations with the Department of Health and Department of Agriculture (learn more about that here and here). We’ve been, as one might say, in a bit of a pickle - albeit it a really good homemade one.We miss seeing your smiling faces and tasting your marvelous foods. Most of all, we miss the warm feeling of community and friendship. Your questions and comments have shown us that you are truly committed to our community and the idea behind this event. If you’ve sent an email or commented on the blog and didn’t get a response, please rest assured your message did not go ignored! We have been working with our contacts within the city and state to get clarification on a number of issues, and until recently, were struggling to find a clear direction. All of this in addition, of course, to our full-time jobs, busy schedules, and other commitments. Yikes!

Our contacts at the city and state have told us that one of the primary issues at hand is the way that state statutes define a sale. According to their interpretation of state statute, exchange and bartering, according to state statute, is a form of sale. In their view, that could mean a transaction at one of our swaps needs to be regulated the same way as if it were a cash transaction for a product. Because of this, they believe we are technically required to abide by all laws and regulations dealing with the sale of food.So, what about the Pickle Bill? Doesn’t it protect us, you ask? This is one of the most common pieces of feedback we have received over last few months. The “Pickle Bill” (M.S. Chapter 28A.15 Subd.10) is a piece of state legislation that allows the limited sale of certain home-processed and home-canned foods. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s a easy fact sheet.

Unfortunately, according to the Department of Health and Department of Agriculture, this bill doesn’t exactly apply to our situation and offers us little to no protection. Additionally, even if we were to abide by the rules of the Pickle Bill, it would likely drastically limit the types of products that we would be able to exchange (see the fact sheet for further details). It would also require that participants clearly label all their foods and pH test everything. And, regulatory authorities could still request proof of pH results and recipes. Mandy, A-K, and I have no interest in wading through this kind of regulation in order hold these events and exchange our lovingly produced food items with each other. That level of government regulation stands in polar opposition to the kind of empowerment that we hope to instill in our community.

We miss the food swaps dearly. And certainly, we could continue to hold swaps in private locations. However, our organization group is now very much in the public eye. We’re trying to keep a good rapport with city and state regulatory bodies, and because of this, we are still choosing to postpone food swaps until further notice.

Given our organization’s visibility, we don’t want to share our plans and ideas here about how we hope to handle this until we have a clearly defined action plan. Within the next month, we should have a clear, definitive path and be able to cut through the vague discussion of this issue. At that point, we’ll be very excited to partner with as many of you as are interested in creating and supporting an action plan.

In the meantime, we want to keep our community engaged. We are passionate about using food as a means to bring people together and create dialogue. Thus, A-K, Mandy, and I are working on an event called FoodTalks, to kick off in late March. FoodTalks will feature a potluck-style meal and a series of short talks given by attendees about a variety of food-centered topics. Share a story about a traditional family recipe. Discuss issues of food access in your neighborhood. Talk people through what to look for when buying a new knife. Share your experience with going gluten-free. The options are endless! We are imagining that each FoodTalks event will have 5-6 presenters, with talks lasting 5-10 minutes in length.

Talking about food while eating food with like-minded folks. Is there anything better?

Mandy, A-K, and I are currently pinning down the final details of the first event, and will share information as soon as it is available in regards to registration and how to sign up to give a talk. Until then, hold tight and brainstorm ideas. We are feeling really positive about the future of the MPLS Swappers, and will let you know when we are ready to engage you in this process.Thanks for your continued enthusiasm and support, and stay tuned!

Food Swap Update

Kim Christensen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:28:11 +0000

Hello, swap family! A-K, Mandy, and I hope that you enjoyed your wintery celebrations and have ushered in 2012 with joy.

What a year we’ve had, huh? One year ago, I was pulling together the pieces for the first food swap in March 2011. Never in a million years did I expect that it would go over so well. Within no time at all we had a loyal following and loads of publicity. Our presence drew attention from all over! The mayor. Professional chefs. Home cooks. Foodies. Expert canners. Gardeners. Authors. Journalists. Oh, and let’s not forget, the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture.

As we discussed in this post, we were contacted by the Minneapolis Department of Health in November due to their concerns regarding our organization’s format and the types of foods we swap. Multiple conversations with our contact at the Department of Health, each one yielding more and more questions and frustration. Pressed with time to find an adequate solution, and questioning possible issues with the legality of our event, we chose to cancel upcoming swaps. Truly, the timing of the inquiry couldn’t have been more inconvenient. We struggled to address the matter amidst a flurry of holiday commitments and winter colds, and finally decided to shelve the matter until January.

Refreshed by the new energy of the New Year and with more time on our hands, we are ready and rarin’ to go. Mandy, A-K, and I are working with our contacts to clarify the concerns at hand and develop actionable solutions that will allow us to re-establish our food swaps. Thankfully, we have a great support system of passionate policymakers and advisors to provide guidance along the way. We have appreciated all of the supportive messages we’ve received and we deeply value your commitment to and enthusiasm for food swapping. We will be sure to loop you in and ask for your support when it is appropriate. In the meantime, we hope you continue to celebrate food and friendship in your own unique ways.

This situation has encouraged us to explore our goals and interests for the MPLS Swappers. In addition to encouraging the culture of home food production and exchanging food with members of our community, we want to facilitate the exchange of ideas and knowledge and create a space for empowered and accessible food-focused conversation. Inspired, we have spun up a framework for another type of event that will do just that (no city or state regulatory issues involved). We are really energized about the potential for awesomeness here and will share information when we’ve pulled the final pieces together.

We are excited for these two types of events to grow and play off each other, and look forward to sharing details when the time is right. We find ourselves constantly inspired by your passion and can’t wait to see your smiling faces again sooner than later.

Happy creating!
Kim, A-K, and Mandy

December event cancellation and an important update

Kim Christensen — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:59:54 +0000

Over the last 9 months, the widespread interest in and awareness of the MPLS Swappers have allowed our food swaps to grow and our community to strengthen. Everyone involved has had the opportunity to feel empowered, excited, and passionate about producing high-quality and delicious food and sharing it with others.

Apparently, awareness of our event has even filtered up to the regulatory bodies of state government. Last week, organizers Mandy, A-K, and I were contacted by the ~~Minnesota~~ Minneapolis Department of Health. The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health both have concerns over the format of our swap, the types of food being exchanged, and the unregulated nature of the event. The Department of Health informed us that they believe that under the current statue, the one-for-one exchange of homemade goods constitutes a sale, and therefore, the type of foods we are “selling” and the absence of regulation and licensing with which we are doing so is not legally permitted.

We are working to confirm this and clear up some of the grey areas in the law. Because there is a chance that our swap format does not comply with state law, and being pressed on time to find an appropriate solution, we have chosen to cancel the December 11, 2011 food swap and postpone creating events for 2012.

This is deeply disappointing and unexpected, and we apologize to everyone that has registered and started planning or cooking for next week’s event.

We are currently working with our contact at the Department of Health and other legal sources to obtain as much information as possible about current laws and regulations so we are fully informed, and get the specifics in regards to which statues they feel are in violation. We plan to explore new formats for our food swaps that will allow us to exchange our lovingly prepared food items, grow our community, and maintain a strong grassroots spirit, all while keep us safe from further investigation.

Additionally, we want to express our gratitude to Open Arms of Minnesota, our gracious and generous host for our recent swaps. Open Arms has been incredibly supportive of our events and we deeply appreciate the space, materials, and friendship they have offered to us over the months. We sincerely hope that they have not experienced any negative consequences from their association with us during this investigation by the State. No matter what form our food swap takes in the future, we hope that our organizations can maintain a positive and mutually beneficial relationship.

All things willing, we will hold a food swap in January, and will share information as it is available. As we embark on this new path we will let you know when and how we will need your help. Thank you for supporting the MPLS Swappers from our humble beginnings to the lively, thriving community it is today and will continue to be in the future.

Yours in the fight!

A-K Thordin, Kim Christensen, and Mandy Ellerton

Organizers of the MPLS Swappers

December Food Swap Registration is Open!

Kim Christensen — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:43:21 +0000

Registration for the December food swap is open! As usual, we will be making 40 tickets available to happy swappers.

Date/Time: Sunday, December 11, 2011, 2-4 pm

Location: Open Arms of Minnesota, 2500 Bloomington Avenue South, Minneapolis

Registration: Registration is limited to 40 people. For more information and to register, click below!

Please register quickly, as our food swaps fill up more quickly than a tummy on Thanksgiving. Therefore, we recommend registering quickly (like, now) if you want to attend. If the event is sold out, please sign up for the waitlist – people often cancel and it is likely you will be able to attend.

Happy cooking, we can’t wait to see you there!

November Food Swap Recap

Anne-Kristin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:37:40 +0000

This month’s swap at Open Arms was another success! It’s such a great feeling to see so many excited and smiling faces (especially involving home-grown, home-made food!).

We had several new people attending, and a large group of familiar faces as well. Setup involved a lot of getting our food cozy with the neighbor’s or creating some makeshift surfaces, as we were slightly shorter on tables but, more excitingly, packed to the brim with goodies for swapping.

After Kim’s introduction and breakdown of the activity to come, Open Arm’s outgoing executive director Kevin Winge was on hand to explain the non-profit’s mission, outcomes, and plans for the future. We were happy to have Kevin and Gwen as new pointpeople at Open Arms, as well as several more Open Arms volunteers and employees participating in the swap itself. Every month we have worked with Open Arms we feel just as grateful to have access to their space as the first time.

As fewer fresh vegetables and fruits are available in our northern climate, many of the offerings leaned toward baked goods, farm fresh eggs, and various cooked and canned items. There was an incredible variety, and I felt particularly impressed with the level of presentation people brought to this swap in particular – table coverings, handmade signs, lovely packaging, and festive decorations.

Some of the items people brought included:

kombucha SCOBYs
drunken molasses and mesquite chocolate chip cookies (both gf and vegan!)
duck and chicken eggs
fresh-caught fish
pesto brie tortas
cola and lavender syrups
pickled butternut squash
many kinds of berry jams
pork and chicken tamales
pumpkin truffles
pear water kefir
spiced applesauce
dairy kefir
green tomato relish
and much much more!

The bidding is on!

Lacto-fermented pickles

Homemade Danishes!

The ever-popular kombucha SCOBY

Thank you to everyone for coming to the swap, for inspiring everyone with your goods, and for keeping this event so successful. Word is getting out…we even made the City Pages this month! Stay tuned for registration to open up for December’s MPLS Food Swap, which will be taking place at Open Arms on Sunday, December 11th.

November Food Swap Registration is Open!

Kim Christensen — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:19:43 +0000

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE REGISTRATION FOR THE NOVEMBER FOOD SWAP IS OPEN!

Date/Time: Saturday, November 12, 2011, 2-4 pm

Location: Open Arms of Minnesota, 2500 Bloomington Avenue South, Minneapolis

Registration: Registration is limited to 40 people. For more information and to register, click below!

Our swaps have been filling up very quickly, so we recommend registering as soon as possible (like, NOW) if you are interested in attending. If the event is sold out, please sign up for the waitlist – people often cancel and it is likely you will be able to attend.

Happy cooking, we can’t wait to see you there!

Recipe Swap: Coconut Curry Pepita Brittle

Kim Christensen — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:07:39 +0000

I brought this brittle to the October food swap and it was a hit. So, I figured, why not share a little recipe love? This batch is big, so it is perfect for food swaps, parties, or for gift giving. The holiday season is approaching, after all! I love this recipe because it is quick to throw together, has an addictive sweet-salty-spicy-crunchy combination, and is free of common allergens and cane sugar. The flavor of the maple syrup is brilliant with curry powder; if you’ve never tried using them together, you must!

Do you have a food swap-friendly recipe to share? Email us your recipe, a photo, and of course, your name and whatever other info you’d like to share about your recipe. We’ll post it on the blog for you!

Coconut Curry Pepita Brittle

yield 6 cups

This makes a very large batch, big enough for a party or perfect for gift giving. Feel free to cut this recipe in half or thirds if you want to make a smaller batch. The spice from the curry powder is tempered by the sweetness of the maple syrup and coconut. And the saltiness combines the holy trinity of flavors to keep you going back for handful after handful. Keeps for two weeks at room temperature, but I promise you, it won’t last that long.

1 cup real maple syrup
6 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons curry powder (mild or hot, the choice is up to you)
1 tablespoon unrefined salt
6 cups raw unsalted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 1/2 cups finely shredded coconut

Heat oven to 350º F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place curry powder in a small saucepan and heat over low flame until it is lightly toasted and fragrant. Be careful not to let it burn! Then add maple syrup, coconut oil, and salt, whisk to combine and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat.

Meaure pepitas into a large bowl, then pour maple mixture over them, stirring to mix. Divide pumpkin seeds evenly between two parchment-lined cookie sheets, spreading coated seeds evenly over the surface in a thin layer. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, stir in coconut evenly between the trays, rotate pans in the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes, the remove from oven. Seeds should be golden. Place sheets on wire cooling racks and let cool completely. It will harden as it cools. Areas of the brittle will be very crisp, while other areas will be a little chewy and caramel-like. That’s okay!

Break cool brittle into chunks. Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container and consume within 2 weeks.

bags of coconut curry pepita brittle, awaiting bids at the swap!

October food swap recap

Kim Christensen — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 05:05:13 +0000

On Sunday, October 9 the MPLS Swappers gathered for our seventh food swap. About 30 participants filled the sunny space at Open Arms of Minnesota with armloads and basketfuls of homemade food. It was a sight to behold! While half the group were veteran swappers, the other half were newbies and got a warm welcome to the swap family. They fell right into step and everyone was soon snacking, chatting, and swapping their hearts out. I was unable to attend the swap in September and was going through serious swap withdrawal, and today’s event filled the swap-deprived hole in my soul in a way nothing else ever could! Among some of the offerings today were…

chipotle lime butter and lemon herb butter
horseradish mustard
homegrown kale, horseradish, squashes, herbs
hand-harvested wild rice
frozen crappie and perch filets
various chicken and duck eggs
coconut curry pepita brittle
salted caramel choco-beer cupcakes
rosemary-lemon kombucha
Belgian-style homebrew beer
gluten-free apple cranberry bread
roasted chickpea pepita mix
various pepper jellies
chive flower vinegar
cherry key lime jam and many, many other fruity jams
roasted red pepper jam and other savory jams
pear cardamom butter
pizza dough
quick pop-in-the-oven cassoulet
chocolate chip cookies
homemade mozzarella cheese
pickled garlic, pickled banana peppers, giardiniera
canned roasted red peppers
canned harvest vegetable soup
exotic pickled cucumbers
Korean marinade sauce
hummus
and more!

exotic bread and butter pickles

salted caramel choco-beer cupcakes

lemon rosemary kombucha

just a few of the swap tables!

quick cassoulet - just bake and serve!

Belgian-style beer

homegrown horseradish

kale!

giardiniara

homegrown squash and peppers

garlic-pepper jelly

raw truffles

hand-harvested wild rice

Pretty amazing, right? And that’s just a small cross-section of the items that were available. The diversity of the offerings this time was incredible! And for snacks, we had lots of hot tea, gluten-free brownies, chocolate-dipped marshmallows, and blue cornbread (the latter provided by the chefs at Open Arms). Check out our Facebook page for a full album of all the photos from the event.

The next food swap will be Saturday, November 12, 2011 from 2-4 pm at Open Arms of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Registration information will be available 2-3 weeks before the event. Mark your calendars and be sure to stay tuned to the blog, our Facebook page, and our Twitter account to find out when registration is available. Also, if you join our mailing list, you will also receive an e-mail when registration is open. The swaps fill up very quickly, so you need to act fast once registration opens! A big thanks to our friends at Open Arms for providing the space. We are hoping to get some of their chefs involved at the next swap! And remember, Open Arms is always looking for volunteers to help prepare and deliver homemade meals to their clients. Check out their volunteer information page for all the details!

swap in action!

How to check your canning jars for a good seal

Kim Christensen — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:40:45 +0000

After a long day of canning, you may think that you are off the hook the minute you take those jars out of the water canner. Oh, how wrong you are! One of the most important things about canning won’t happen until those jars are nice and cool. What is it?

You need to check the seal!

If your lids haven’t formed a good seal with the rim of the jar, your food will not be properly preserved. This means that pathogenic bacteria and fungus can form easily and make the food unfit for consumption. While keeping unsafe food in your own cupboard is bad enough, swapping or gifting unsafe food is even worse, as the person receiving the food may not recognize signs of improperly preserved food. While mold will be visible, some bacterial growth in the food may not be, and if someone consumes the food they may become very ill. Plus, opening a jar full of moldy jam is really nasty.

Thankfully, illness, shame, and sadness can be easily avoided with a few simple steps. Rejoice!

Here are a few tips to help ensure that you almost always get a good seal.

Always use new canning lids. It is unsafe to reuse canning lids for water bath processed foods.
Do not use really old canning lids, even if they are unused. While the box of canning stuff you found in the cellar of your rental house or the unwanted canning stuff from Grandma may be really exciting, treat yourself to new lids. The adhesive compounds on old lids – even if they are unused – tend to break down over time and may not seal properly. To be safest, use canning lids that are no more than 1-2 years old.
Check the rim of your jars. If there are chips or cracks, do not use for canning.
Thoroughly wipe the rims of your jars after filling. Use a damp, clean cloth and wipe up any of the contents that may have spilled on to the rim. I like to use a canning funnel to fill the jars to make it less messy – there’s less to wipe up!
Process for the designated amount of time in your recipe. Remember to account for changes in elevation if you are canning above 1,000 feet.
Remove your jars from the water canner gently after processing, keeping them as level as possible. Do not tip to pour off water that may have collected on the lid – it will evaporate. Place the jars on a double thickness of towel on a level surface. Keep away from drafts and let sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours.

Then…

You may hear a “ping!” sound as the jars cool – this sound means that the jar has sealed properly. But listening for this sound alone is not a reliable method for checking the seal. Plus, the “ping!” is an easy sound to miss and some well-sealed jars never “ping!” at all.

Once the jars have cooled…

Press down on the center of the lid. Does the lid move up and down or does it feel solid and concave? Solid and concave means a good seal. If the center of the lid moves up and down, your jar has not sealed and the food is not safely preserved.
Tap on the lid. If it makes a tinny, ringing sound your jar is sealed. If it sounds like a dull thud, the seal is poor or non existent and the food is not safely preserved.
Here’s the big one: unscrew the canning jar ring. Then pick up the jar holding on to nothing but the lid. If you succeed, your seal is awesome. If not, well, you guessed it – bad seal.

If your seal passed the test, you have successfully preserved your foods!

Nice work. Remove the band and wipedown the rims and sides of the jars to remove any residues from canning. Replace the band if you’d like by screwing it on and leaving a bit of give, or leave band-less so you can use the band for other canning projects. Then label the jar with the contents and the date, store in a cool, dark place and consume within one year for best freshness.

If your seal did not pass the test, you have a few options.

You can eat the contents immediately
You can refrigerate the jar and eat soon. Within 1 – 4 weeks, depending on the food.
You can reprocess the jar. Unfortunately, you can’t just screw on a new lid and band, and drop in a pot of boiling water. Rather, you need to start over from the very beginning. Clean the jar(s) and band(s) thoroughly and use a new canning lid(s). Heat the jar (sterilization not needed if processing over 10 minutes). Then heat the contents back to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Then fill the jar as directed in the recipe and process for the designated amount of time.

Easy, right? That said, don’t feel bad about your canning abilities if you have a jar (or two) that doesn’t seal. It happens to the best of us sometimes! Just be thankful that you caught it and didn’t stash it in your pantry unsealed. And besides, it gives you an excuse to dig into some of your tasty foods now rather than later.

In closing, pretty pretty please remember to check your seals thoroughly whenever you can, especially if you will be sharing your canned goods with with friends, family, or at a food swap. Food safety is fun, right? Happy canning!

xo, Kim