I decided to attend the 1st ever Slow Foods Nation in San Francisco on August 29. Slow Food Nation is a subsidiary non-profit of Slow Food USA & part of the international Slow Food movement. Slow Foods was started by Carlo Petrini in 1986 in response to the opening of McDonalds in Rome's Piazza Spagna. Wonder if its still there?? Carlo would be happy to know that I haven't had a McDonalds in four years. Per Alison Cook's Friday Burger Blog, we have lots of great burger places here in h-town. This picture was taken at the Civic Center were the farmer's market, food vendors and victory garden were.
The victory garden at the Civic Center is dubbed the urban garden for us big city folks. I will have to say it inspired me to start a garden in the spring of 2009 and although its not as beautiful as this, I do have a few cukes and tomatoes growing. Only a few as the birds like tomatoes too!
Over 1000 pounds of veggies were harvested in November and donated to people who had limited access to healthy produce with the help of the SF Food Bank.
I couldn't resist smelling the sausage and onions at the Fatted Calf cart. So on to the 'Slow on the Go' where you had to wait in long lines for something to eat. I decided my impatience comes from the big city here in Houston.I'm told to go slow....
One of the food vendors, Primavera, grinds organic corn and mixes it with lime to make masa for its tamales and tortillas. Mmmm.. a hour wait for this line!
The lines at the Farmer's Market were much better, and there were samples too! My hunger soon went away.
Edible flowers on fresh goat cheese disc make for a neat
display.
Mushroom vendor had some great looking stuff!
Check out the beautiful colors of mushrooms.Never knew fungi could be so pretty!
This was Kathryn Lukas of Farmhouse Culture who makes the best artisan sauerkraut and pickles. Haven't seen anyone at any of the markets here doing this. This had to be my favorite booth.
This is the famous Cowgirl Creamery at the Ferry Building on the Wharf. They make some wonderful cheeses besides selling many other varieties.
Cheese tasting at Ft Mason on Saturday night.
Saturday night was the big food and wine tasting at Fort Mason which was close to the Argonat Hotel where I was staying. The Slow Food mascot 'The Snail' was the highlight of the evening as it was truly a piece of art using such unusal shapes of breads.
It was a fun trip but now back to the craziness of Houston and am I going slow. I don't think so!
