Hey folks,

well, it’s hard to believe it has been two years now, but we’re proud to announce…

~~Main Street Landing Presents~~
Burlington Green Drinks Two Year Anniversary Celebration!!!

From its humble beginnings in the fall of 2007 through its ever prouder heights, Burlington Green Drinks has had a great run of meet-ups and monthly sponsors…we’re thrilled to welcome this month’s non-profit sponsor, Smart Growth Vermont to this prestigious & ever growing list!!! Here’s the details:

Once again this month, we will have a full 100 drinks available to you at no cost from 5:30 to 7:30 on Tuesday, September 29th in the Main Street Landing’s Lake Lobby. There will be two types of cold, crisp Wolaver’s Organic Ales on tap as well as wine, non-alcoholic drinks & free food available.

Did someone say “Free food?” YUP! The Skinny Pancake will have our regular spread of chips & dips out for your enjoyment. Back by popular demand, Bite Me Pizza will be delivering a half dozen of their wild organic pizza combinations…also 100% FREE to you!!! All you need to do is show up between 5:30 & 7:30 next Tuesday, September 29th. Oh, and bring your friends!!!

Now, onto our non-profit sponsor of the month:
Smart Growth Vermont (www.smartgrowthvermont.org/).

From their website: Smart Growth Vermont is a state-wide 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to forging innovative solutions to the challenges facing Vermont.  We work with local officials, developers, non-profit organizations, political leaders and businesses to understand the factors that are changing our state, and to develop creative land use and development policies to increase our prosperity and protect Vermont’s distinctive landscape.

At Smart Growth Vermont, we believe that for Vermont to grow and thrive we need to carefully integrate growth, environmental protection and economic opportunities into our local planning framework.  This will require the participation of citizens, local and state officials, developers, business leaders and non-profit organizations.  Our future depends on careful analysis, dialogue, cooperation and leadership.

A Smart Growth Vermont Fun Fact: “The size of the average home has increased 55% while the size of the average family has decreased 13% since 1970 (Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), Building the Case for Energy Smart Growth, July, 2005).”

As always, we are uniquely grateful to our Host Sponsor–The Main Street Landing Company–for generously sharing their wonderful space with us. You can rent their great spaces too…start by visiting www.mainstreetlanding.com.

We would also like to thank our sustaining sponsors:

Wolaver’s Organic Ales (www.ottercreekbrewing.com/wolavers.html):  Pssst: next time you head out for a pint or buy a six pack…show your appreciation for their ongoing generosity and choose Wolaver’s!!!

Seven Days Newspaper, Vermont’s Independent Voice (www.7dvt.com)

The Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce (www.vermont.org/)

Skinny Pancake Food Specials…
***100% LOCAL FOR THE LOCALVORE CHALLENGE!!!***

The Simple Sautée (Burlington): Sautéed local sweet corn, onions, and bell peppers & beets, sprinkled with shredded Cabot cheddar & wrapped in a Gleason’s Grain whole wheat crepe…$7.50. Localvore Carnivore? Add any of the following meats: ham, sausage, chicken, beef, bacon…ALL LOCAL!!!

Pete’s Pumpkin Crepe (Montpelier): Spiced Pete’s Greens Pumpkin Puree, Champlain Orchard Apples, Bee Haven Honey, Vt Chevre in a Gleason’s Whole wheat crepe. $10.00

What’s with the photo? Take a closer look at those peculiar kayaks!!!

Harvest Season Events:

Are you enjoying the harvest season? Surrounded by a cornucopia of local fruits & veggies last night including exotic local foods (is that an oxymoron?) like Vine Cherries & Tomatias, it occurred to me that we are just about at that peak time in Vermont produce…so make sure you take advantage of it while it lasts!!!

In keeping with the theme of “harvest,” there are a bunch of related events this time of year…making content for “The Skinny” easy to come by…of course, the slower days of late fall & winter are around the corner, so I’m trying to bone up on the self-stylin’ commentary again, have you noticed? In the meantime, here’s another great list of activities in the next week:

First, in keeping with the theme of Green Drinks…
SIPtemberfest, Mad River Glen
~~Saturday, September 26th~~

This Saturday, the Skinny festival crew will be serving up crepes along side Vermont’s top breweries at Mad River Glen’s 2nd Annual SIPtemberfest. Come join us in the Mad River Valley Saturday September 26th from 11 am to 5 pm for an afternoon of food, foliage chair lift rides, and of course–BEER–a plethora of local micro-brews on hand for your tasting pleasure. Try pairing our Green Mountain crepe (Champlain Orchard Apples and Cabot Cheddar) with the Alchemist’s Harvest Ale. Or how about a Cheesy Pesto crepe alongside a Long Trail Imperial Porter–yum!  Over seven brewers and over 30 crepes varieties to try at SIPtemberfest. For more information, visit http://siptemberfest.wordpress.com. and we look forward to seeing you there!

Next, hopping over to our state capital…
Montpelier Art Walk
~~Friday September 25th from 4 pm to 8 pm~~

Montpelier’s art venues will be hosting a Fall Foliage Art Walk this Friday. Art Walk is a self-guided tour starting at any of the twenty plus participating venues. Visit www.montpelieralive.org/art_of_action for more details on each venue, a list of artists, and other art projects downtown.

Featured at The Skinny Pancake for Art Walk (attached a photo) is the exhibit Zorn/Bissex Works. Local artists Sandy Bissex & Arthur Zorn meld mediums to create synergistic compelling forms.
Bissex photographs Zorn’s abstract impressionist paintings & creatively incorporates the images into her sumi brushwork collage.

Along with an opening reception for Sandy & Arthur, the SP will have a spread of “Jimmeny Crepeties” (crepe bites) and live jazz by Shane Hardiman & Anthony Santor from 5 pm to 7 pm. If the weather is nice, the music will be held on the patio and sent to waft through the center of the city.

Now, dropping down to Southern Vermont…
The Second Annual Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival
~~September 25th-27th in the Mount Snow Valley~~

This special Vermont Life event features “a weekend showcase for Vermont wines, Vermont specialty foods and artisans of all types celebrating the rich uniqueness, quality and ingenuity of Vermont producers. Set in the backdrop of our world renowned Vermont fall foliage; attendees will discover, savor and enjoy Vermont vintners, small specialty food producers, painters, publishers, cheese makers, potters, jewelers, chefs, photographers and farmers.” For more information, visit, http://www.thevermontfestival.com/

Finally, a Vermont-wide fundraiser for NOFA-VT
Share the Harvest
~~Thursday, October 1st, EVERYWHERE YOU WANT TO BE!!!~~

Share The Harvest is a NOFA-VT fundraiser held on the first Thursday of October. Participating restaurants pledge between 5-15% of their sales on the day of the event to benefit our Vermont Farm Share members. A full list of participating restaurants, including the Skinny Pancake, can be found here: www.nofavt.org/annual-events/share-the-harvest.

From their website: NOFA-VT is looking forward to the fifteenth annual Share the Harvest fundraiser for limited-income Vermonters on October 1, 2009.  This event raises funds for NOFA Vermont’s Farm Share Program. Since 1994, the Vermont Farm Share Program has made locally grown vegetables and fruits more accessible to limited-income individuals and families by helping to purchase “shares” in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms, providing fresh produce to eligible individuals and supporting local farms.

Music this week at the ‘Cake

This week’s selection features one fresh face and two familiar acts to our scene. All three are great fits for our acoustic/folk atmosphere. We also have a number of exciting acts in the pipeline for October which you can see at www.skinnypancake.com/proddir/prod/281/178. One exciting show just outside our calendar postings to keep in mind: Brown Bird on 10.24.09, www.myspace.com/brownbird . Now, onto this week’s listings…

Thursday, 09.24.09
Phineas Gage
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/phineasgageproject

A lovely acoustic trio from the Mad River Valley, Phineas Gage, joins us at the Skinny Pancake, TONIGHT Thursday September 24th. Visit the link above…I just did and it sounds great!!! In fact, I’ll be there later tonight…come say, “hi!”

Here’s another familiar combo…two local singer-songwriters working hard to hone their craft…

Andrew Parker-Renga is well known about town as a singer/songwriter as well as the former talent buyer/booking agent for the Parima acoustic music series. Friday night he joins forces with local talent Zach DuPont for a dynamic set of indie, rock, folk, new genera yet-to-be categorized music.

Thursday, 10.01.09
D Davis & Kevin Greenblott (folk double bill)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/dsdavismusic

Friday, 10.02.09
Joshua Panda & Sarah Blacker (folk double bill…again!!!)
***$5 suggested donation
www.sarahblacker.com
joshuapanda.com/

Saturday, 10.03.09
Skellig (celtic/world)
***$5 suggested donation
www.skelligmusic.com/

Hey folks,

another week, another list of great activities to do around VT. Please note, the following four events are NOT listed in chronological order…

First, a plug for a fundraiser here at the Skinny Pancake in support of the Green Mountain Club:

The Skinny Pancake will be donating 10% of ALL proceeds from BOTH our Burlington & Montpelier locations to the Green Mountain Club this Tuesday, September 22nd. If you enjoy our food, atmosphere or company, please consider visiting one of our locations on Tuesday to help raise these funds to support the great work GMC does to maintain our state’s trail systems & shelters. Want to know more about the GMC? Just go for a hike in Vermont (or visit them at www.greenmountainclub.org). And then come eat at the Skinny Pancake this coming Tuesday, September 22nd!!!

The Montpelier Downtown Music Festival:

This Saturday September 19, 2009 downtown Montpelier comes alive when The Montpelier Downtown Music Festival begins at 3:00pm. The event will commence with family-friendly fare sponsored by The City of Montpelier, featuring clowns, street performance, puppetry and more, as well as performance art from central Vermont teens and a non-amplified busker style set from Montpelier based purveyors of invasive-acoustic music, Didymo. At 5:00pm, Julio’s Cantina and The Three Penny Taproom will open their beverage gardens, with Julio’s serving up their famous margaritas and other creative cocktail fare.

Le Tour De Farm:
Sunday, September 20th 2009

This event looks incredible…and I, for one, am planning to do it!!!

From the organizers: “Last year’s Tour de Farms proved so popular that organizers have scheduled another for Sunday, September 20, 2009. The Coalition, Rural Vermont, and ACoRN will again offer three routes (10, 25, and 30 miles) that depart from and return to Shoreham. Bicyclists will enjoy a variety of food samples from farms located along the routes. In 2008, samples included bread, cheese, chili, yogurt, cider, apples, and quiche. There will be some additions this year, including food and a celebration at the finish as riders arrive back in Shoreham.

More information and registration details can be found at www.ruralvermont.org

This week’s specials at the Skinny Pancake:

The Gord Man (Burlington): ***100% local***Mixed Local Squash & Blue Pumpkin from the Intervale’s Gord Man, Duclos & Thompson Farm bacon, local onions, mixed with Vermont Herb & Salad fresh herbs and Vermont Butter & Cheese Creme Fraiche.  Topped with a Salsa Verde of fresh local herbs and shallots. Wrapped in a Gleason’s whole grain crepe shell. $9.75

Green Mountain Meatloaf (Montpelier):***100% local***VT Grown Beef and Pork Meatloaf with Dog River Farm Blue Potatoes, Petes Brussles sprouts and Whole Grain Mustard Creme fraiche wrapped in a Nitty Gritty Grain Company Savory Crepe shell…$10.00.

The 31st Annual Shelburne Farms Harvest Festival
~~With Energy Fair by Green Mountain Power~~
Saturday, SEPTEMBER 19th 10:00 am – 4:00 pmFee: $8/adult; $5/child; Free to members & children <3

The Skinny Pancake is proud to be vending at this special annual event for the second year…

From the organizers: Celebrate the autumn traditions of Vermont’s farms and forests with musical entertainment (schedule), hay rides, demonstrations, farm-fresh food from Shelburne Farms and neighboring farmers, antique farm machinery and farm animals. And Green Mountain Power Energy Fair is joining us again with demonstrations and exhibits! Fun for the whole family. Want to volunteer? call 985-8686. Please no pets.

For more information, visit Shelburne Farms online at www.shelburnefarms.org/

MUSIC THIS WEEK AT THE SKINNY PANCAKE:

In the pipeline…

Thursday, 09.24.09
Phineas Gage
***$5 suggested donation
www.jameskinne.com/

Friday, 09.25.09
The Medicinals
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/themedicinals

Saturday, 09.26.09
Andrew Parker-Renga & Zach duPont
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/aprmusic
www.myspace.com/zackdupont

Howdy folks,

alas, so much to say, such short attention spans in the modern era…Yet another behemoth newsletter below. Enjoy!

The following is an update from PJC’s monthly newsletter:  As of September 1, 2009, the PJC will have completed our move. Our [new] space, including the store, is accessible, so we welcome our differently-abled members and friends to come in and see us, to shop in the store and to use the Center’s offerings. We will still offer a library, with a smaller selection of books, and free access to a computer and wi-fi. We also have a conference room that is available for use during Center hours—which now include being open until 8 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Food Specials This Week:

Local Lasagna (Burlington): 100% local!!! A crePasta made with Gleason Whole Grain Pastry Flour. Housemade marinara sauce with local tomatoes, onions & garlic. Stuffed with local veggies including eggplant, zucchini, kale, broccoli, scallion, and carrots. Topped with Maplebrook farm mozzarella cheese. Served with a side salad. $9.50.

The Big Talbot***(Montpelier): Misty Knoll Turkey, Vt smoke and cure bacon, Champlain Orchards Paula Red Apples, Pete’s Green’s Spinach, Screaming Ridge onions and Boucher Family Farm Blue cheese…$9.00.

***in honor & at the request of very early Pancaker (2003), Talbot Beck, seen here. Talbot, don’t say I never do anything for you!!!!

The Localvore challenge has begun!!! Here at the SP, we have committed to conducting an audit of our food costs to determine the percentage of raw produce and value added products that we source locally AND we are challenging ourselves to providing localvores with a food special each week in September that is 100% local (allowing for Marco Polo rules as described above). In exploring this second challenge, we have begun experimenting with Gleason Whole Grain Pastry Flour. With any luck, it’ll become a permanent addition.

Want to take your own localvore challenge? Visit ww.vermontlocalvore.org/challenge/.

News Flash: PICK YOUR OWN RASPBERRIES!!!

Adam’s Berry Farm is ripe with plump raspberries. Picking berries is always a great activity with a partner, friends, kids or all alone. Travel from the epicenter of downtown to Adam’s PYO berry farm takes 10-15 minutes on bike…that’s extraordinary!!!

Adam writes: The fall raspberries are great! The warm days and cool nights create a rich and complex raspberry flavor that the summer raspberries never achieve. The longer ripening  period also allows the sugars in the fruits to fully mature so that they reach their optimal flavor. I look forward to them every year as the final treat of summer.

“At Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), we feel a responsibility as a health care organization to help our patients and communities make the link between human health and the products we use in our homes, in our schools, and on our bodies. That’s why we are presenting A Critical Link: The Environment and Women’s Health conference on September 10, 2009 in Burlington, Vermont. This ground-breaking conference will feature a keynote address by ecologist, author, and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber.

For more information on the conference and about the affects environmental contaminants have on our reproductive health, visit our blog www.good-chemistry.org.”

Capital Cash…

Buy your next crepe with your Capital City Cash! The Montpelier Skinny Pancake now accepts the local Montpelier currency.  Capital City Cash is a pre-purchased gift certificate used exclusively in participating downtown Montpelier businesses. The purchase of Capital City Cash ensures your money or gift of CCC goes to support downtown businesses–like the Cake! Certificates are available in $10.00 and $25.00 denominations and are good at over 60 participating downtown businesses. By purchasing Capital City Cash, not only do you support your downtown businesses but you keep your local economy strong.  For more information on Capital City Cash, visit the Montpelier Alive website at http://www.mdca.org/capital_city_cash.

Music This Week At The ‘Cake:

Thursday, 09.03.09
Dave Keller (blues)
***$5 suggested donation
www.davekeller.com./

Dave Keller is a singer/guitarist who has forged a style uniquely his own — intense and soulful, gritty and sweet. Like the best blues and soul men before him, Keller learned his art firsthand from the masters: Mighty Sam McClain, Paul Rishell, Fontella Bass, and the late great Robert Ward. Keller is a featured singer and co-writer on Living In The Light, the newest CD by legendary guitarist Ronnie Earl.

Based in Vermont, Keller’s reputation for dynamic, soul-stirring performances extends throughout New England. We are always pleased to welcome him to the Skinny Pancake in Burlington. Learn more about Dave at www.davekeller.com./ and come down Thursday September 3rd for a chance to see him live in Burlington.

Your music is just very, very beautiful.” –Ronnie Earl, renowned blues guitarist
“He’s for REAL.  Y’all check him out!” –Mighty Sam McClain, deep soul legend

Friday, 09.04.09
Flood In The Fizzy Factory (electro-folk)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/floodinthefizzyfactory

Making their second performance at the Skinny Pancake is a new invention to the Burlington music scene: Flood In the Fizzy Factory. Led by local realtor Dave Kleh, this group’s original compositions have an electronic influence, perhaps a Talking Heads flare…very curious, very creative…

Saturday, 09.05.09
Prana (alt-rock)
**$5 suggested donation
www.thebandprana.com/

In the pipeline:

Thursday, 09.10.09
Richard Edward McCormick (acoustic/progressive)
***$5 suggested donation
profile.myspace.com/richardedwardmccormick

Friday, 09.11.09
The Porters (Folk/Indi)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/theportersmusic

Saturday, 09.12.09
Jim Osborn (original acoustic)
***$5 suggested donation
www.moosebearbuffalo.com/

Hey folks,

sometimes “The Skinny” just turns out awfully fat…such it the case this week. There is a lot of good content below, so don’t let the obesity of verbiage (verbosity) dissuade you from reading through it all…

Summer Thursdays at the Intervale…

Hard to believe we’ve come to the end of August already, isn’t it? The cool beginning of summer ate up a bunch of the year…and last night we had our first frost warning for the season for northern valleys of Vermont.

But it’s not over yet! One way to relish the rest of summer is to head down & join the crowds for “Summer Thursdays at the Intervale.” Each Thursday, farmers, musicians, food producers and many community members gather at the Calkins Community barn 5:30 to 7:30 for food, music and mingling.

Each week’s events include rotating vendors, slow food tastings, live music…and lots of friendly families & community members. Unless you’re looking for a beer (which is also available), the event is a mostly volunteer economy with the opportunity to donate when you arrive or enjoy the food. This week there is “farmer’s appreciation night” with a slow food tasting of heirloom tomatoes, a book signing and a barn dance. Oh, and one of the friendly vendors giving away food will be the Skinny Pancake!

For more information, visit the Intervale Center at:
www.intervale.org/whats_happening/calendar.shtml#summer_thursdays

It takes a Village…
One plug for Burlington, one for Montpelier…here goes:

This week in Montpelier the Village Building Convergence hosts a community-wide celebration of sustainable living, practical homesteading skills, and visions of a more resilient local community. Featuring daily workshops such as Wild Mushroom Foraging, Edible Landscape Installation, Root Cellars, Wine Making with Local Fruit, this VBC event focuses on hands-on education in collaboration and commitment to the local community.

From their website,“Projects are geared towards developing strong local relationships, social capital, placemaking, ecological design, and supporting our local economy.  In these changing times, we support the vision of “Transition Towns”: developing our city and bioregion as a network of interconnected and resilient village centers.” Now that’s something to support!

Most events are free and open to the public. For more information & the schedule go to  http://villageconvergencevt.org/.

Late Blight

It’s been a tough year for some farmers in Vermont. Along with the cool & rainy start to the season, a nasty tomato blight has bit. “Late Blight” flourishes in these weather conditions and can rapidly spread & kill tomato crops.

The following are two important passages from the VT Agency of Agriculture explaining how to spot the blight and what to do if you have it in your garden:

“Late blight spores are easily carried long distances on the wind, so anyone growing tomatoes or potatoes should be watching their plants for signs of the disease, and act quickly to destroy them in order to limit spread of the disease to other growers. Please inspect your tomato and potato plants on a daily basis! Late Blight is already widespread and has caused serious economic losses. We need to do what we can to limit the scale of this epidemic.

The symptoms of late blight on tomato and potato leaves and stems and fruit are dark, water-soaked spots of irregular shape, about the size of a nickel to a quarter, often beginning at leaf tips or edges. These spots become abundant when the foliage has been wet due to rain or dews. The infected areas often become covered with light layer of white fungal growth that contains the spores of the disease. Infected tomato fruit develop large brown areas, either on the plant, or a few days after harvest.”

To read the full article, visit Vermont.gov here: http://www.vermont.gov/portal/government/article.php

Specials this week at the Skinny Pancake:

A Peach, A Poach, A Raspillow (Burlington): A Poached Pennsylvania Peach Half, Resting on a local Raspberry-filled Crepe Pillow, Garnished with fresh VT Mint & Finished with a Raspberry Coulis And Chocolate Fondue Sauce Drizzle…9.50

Localvore Roar (Montpelier): Greenfield Highland Beef slow cooked with Screaming Ridge Tomatoes & Bell Peppers, Local garlic and onions. Fresh Pete’s Baby Spinach and Cabot Cheddar.

I would if I could, I will if I can…

I missed this plug for last weekend’s run, but thankfully the Red Stage Theatre Company is running their performance of Adam Bock’s “Five Flights” for two weeks in a row. Catch a performance this Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday evening in the Main Street Landing’s Black Box. Present your ticket at the Skinny Pancake on the evening of the performance and get 10% off your dinner crepe.

What is the play about? Red Stage explains: “A quirky and achingly touching comedy about a family dealing with loss. This beautiful play touches issues of religion, sexuality, fear of commitment and longing for something just out of reach.”

For more information, visit Red Stage Theatre Company at www.redstagetheatre.org/.

Music, Sweet Music…
~~this week at the ‘Cake~~

Thursday, 08.27.09
Nicole Erin Carey & the Toy Soldiers (folk/americana)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/nicoleerincarey

Nicole Carey is a rare example of musician turned Pancaker. Upon her first tour through the Green Mountain State, she declared that she wanted to live here. About a year later, she showed up with guitar in hand. Not long thereafter, she packed her bags, hopped on our veggie-powered school bus and hit the road for a series of bluegrass & folk festivals where she made pancakes, heard masters perform & honed her chops. Now she returns with “Toy Soldiers” for an evening of indi-folk music. 

Friday, 08.28.09
May Fly & The Stripmall Ballads (Old Timey/Bluegrass)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/mayflygirls

Hopefully, “May Fly” is becoming a household name by now. This is real VT folk music, ladies & gents…Katie Trautz, co-founder of the Summit School of Traditional Music & Culture, returns with her partner in crime, Julia Wayne for an encore performance at the Skinny Pancake in Burlington. But this isn’t just any show as they join with Stripmall Ballads to throw down a phenomenal night of roots, americana music.

In their own words: May Fly is a duet of sweet harmony vocals and folk instrumentals influenced by southern appalachian old-time, and new england blues, ballads and soul music. This music is an off-shoot of the folk rock based band Sugarblue.

About Stripmall Ballads: While compared by some reviewers to Woody Guthrie, Kurt Cobain adn A.P. Carter, Stripmall Ballads has developed a style entirely his own: poetic, dark, energetic, possessed, and reluctantly romantic. An obvious devote student of US roots musical tradition, he fuses virtuosic historical convention with contemporary lyrics. Not afraid of musical experimentation or the power of words, his prolific performances and recordings have earned him a reputation for being somewhere in between “a fire and brimstone preacher and a beat poet.”

Saturday, 08.29.09
Call Kettle Black
Days Weight
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/patrickjmcdermott

In the pipeline…

Thursday, 09.03.09
Dave Keller (blues)
***$5 suggested donation
www.davekeller.com./

Friday, 09.04.09
Flood In The Fizzy Factory (electro-folk)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/floodinthefizzyfactory

Saturday, 09.05.09
Prana (alt-rock)
***$5 suggested donation
www.thebandprana.com/