If you’ve ever had sticker shock at a farmer’s market meat stand, take a look at Kathleen Purvis’s column in today’s Charlotte Observer. Ms. Purvis points out that while the price per pound of locally-grown meat may be higher than at a supermarket, that farmer’s market meat may well be a better value. She reviews the case of a chicken from Gilcrest Farms (a regular at the Davidson Farmer’s Market). Read the full story

Want to skip Thanksgiving cooking this year? Charles Semail and his Chef Charles Catering are offering to do it for you. Also in this column: Fall hours begin at Davidson Farmer’s Market; local restaurants join the “Tastes of Habitat” fund-raiser Thursday night in Mooresville, to benefit Our Towns Habitat for Humanity; T1 Tapas has a new fall menu; and neighbors in Mooresville fought unsuccessfully to keep a new meat shop from coming into their neighborhood. Plus other happenings in the next week or so. Read the full story

Golabki

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Like many Americans, my family background is mixed, and strands of the family tree have disappeared in the mists. Our family history links us to the part of eastern Europe that at times has been Poland, Russia and Belarus. It’s all a bit hazy, and we didn’t inherit language, culture or food traditions. We’ve tried to pick up what we can.

When I was a child in New England, a Polish-American neighbor – a Mrs. Satagaj – introduced us to golabki: delicious cabbage rolls of ground meat and rice cooked with tomatoes. Read the full story

Starting in November, the Davidson Farmer’s Market will switch to a bi-weekly schedule. During the colder months of the year, the market will still offer products from more than a dozen farmers, including meats, cheeses, produce, seafood, baked goods, and other items.

Produce selections will likely include arugula, Asian greens, beets, cabbages, carrots, greenhouse tomatoes, lettuces, onions, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, turnips, winter squash, and possibly greenhouse strawberries.

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Example of the hot dog cart approved by the DRB.

Davidson could be getting another fast-food hot dog business, and this one it would be right on Main Street. Davidson’s Design Review Board gave its approval last week for a proposed hot dog cart to operate near the Davidson public library and CVS. The cart still needs a town vendor permit.

Friedeh Kariminian of Statesville hopes to operate the cart, which would offer hot dogs, chips and canned drinks. She’s being represented during the approval process Read the full story

Owners Tommy and Anna Barbee with Brent Barbee, right, the farm manager. (Barbee Farms photo)

By CHRISTY SHI

The other night I received a photo from Tommy Barbee, showcasing his supper. “Look at what a farm boy can create,” he said. The picture displayed a bright green salad, replete with cucumbers, tomatoes, and more; all of which he had grown there at Barbee Farms, in Concord.

As a locavore (someone who eats a local diet), this notion of sharing stories about where one’s food came from is the norm.

But this exchange was special. You see, this time last year we weren’t sure Barbee Farms would exist today.

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