February Green Drinks is Tuesday, February 22nd from 6 pm – 8 pm in the Main Street Landing’s Lake Lobby. As always, the first 125 pints of Wolaver’s are generously donated by our sponsors!!!

Our sponsor(s) of the Month are:

Burlington Electric Department:  “Burlington Electric Department is the Energy Efficiency Utility for Burlington. Because of our programs, overall electricity use in 2010 was only 2 percent greater than in 1989. During the same period, statewide use of electricity increased by 17 percent. Thus, we are meeting the needs of a growing local economy with about the same amount of electricity as we used 20 years ago. The efficiency investments saved Burlington customers $13.2 million in 2010 alone.”.

Vermont Gas Systems is Vermont’s only natural gas supplier providing fuel service to Chittenden and Franklin counties. Vermont Gas has provided its Residential and Business customers comprehensive energy efficiency programs since 1992. These are comprised of New Construction, Building Weatherization & Equipment Replacement incentive based offerings.

A few words from & about our sustaining sponsors:

Burlington Young Professionals presents 2 great events this week!  On 2/23 we present Managing UP! Seminar with Dr. Sean Collins at the Flynn Gallery from 5:30-7:00 p.m.  Cash bar and food is available, $5 admission with canned item to benefit the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf.  On 2/24, join us at Bolton Valley Resort for some YPG night skiing from 4-8 p.m. Must register in advance, tickets are $20.  http://www.vermont.org/btvypg/vermont_young_professional_events.aspx.

A BIG thanks to our host sponsor, the Main Street Landing Company who would like to send the message, “Open your Hearts……Learn to Forgive…….Embrace those you Love.” Right on, MSL!!!

Green Drinks Burlington loves Seven Days (www.7dvt.com). Seven Days b rings you the Daily 7 – Vermont’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.  Get the day’s most compelling stories across all media – print, radio, TV and web.  Sign up today: http://www.7dvt.com/daily7

Finally, last but certainly not least…Wolaver’s Organic Ales (www.ottercreekbrewing.com/wolavers.html) helps keep Green Drinks going in a big way. For the uninformed, Wolaver’s is: “One of the nation’s original certified organic breweries, Wolaver’s is committed to producing the best beer in the most ecologically sound way.”

VYCC is hosting their wonderful annual event, Bolton To the Barns, on Saturday, March 5th: “The Bolton to the Barns ski tour is a mid-winter Nordic event for experienced backcountry ski enthusiasts where skiers will have a great opportunity to spend a day in the hills of Vermont and help the VYCC create opportunities for young Vermonters wishing to play an active role in conserving the Vermont landscape.” More info on the event can be found here: www.vycc.org/home/ski.html.

How will Vermont manage the difficult social, environmental, and economic challenges that lie ahead in the coming decade? What role should businesses play in ensuring that economic development and job creation is socially, environmentally, and economically innovative? How does the next generation of Vermont business leaders envision the state’s future?

Please join a panel of young Vermont business leaders from a variety of industries to discuss the Green Mountain State’s current challenges and how best to design a more sustainable future.

FREE and open to the public; please forward this invitation to business colleagues who may not have received it.
Any questions can be directed to Tom Helmstutler at crvt@uvm.edu, or 656-4389.

Our sponsor of the month:

The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps:

This wonderful VT organization is hosting their equally wonderful annual event, Bolton To the Barns, on Saturday, March 5th: “The Bolton to the Barns ski tour is a mid-winter Nordic event for experienced backcountry ski enthusiasts where skiers will have a great opportunity to spend a day in the hills of Vermont and help the VYCC create opportunities for young Vermonters wishing to play an active role in conserving the Vermont landscape.” More info on the event can be found here: www.vycc.org/home/ski.html.

More on the VYCC: “The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps is a non-profit youth, leadership, service, conservation, and education organization that instills in individuals the values of personal responsibility, hard work, education, and respect for the environment. This is accomplished by using conservation projects as the vehicle for learning in an intense environment.“

And, of course, we couldn’t keep Green Drinks crankin’ like we do without the help of our friends at Seven Days newspaper! Seven Days brings you the Daily 7 – Vermont’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.  Get the day’s most compelling stories across all media – print, radio, TV and web.  Sign up today:  http://www.7dvt.com/daily7

The Hearty Winter (Montpelier): Roasted Winding Brook Farm Lamb Shoulder, Cider Jus, Taylor Farm Gouda and pickled red onions. $11.95

Burlington: we are featuring a 4-course prix fix Valentine’s menu Friday through Monday nights for $65. Please visit our website for details!

NOFA-VT Annual Winter Conference
nofavt.org/annual-events/winter-conference
Saturday, February 12 – Monday, February 14
$50 – $60 per day or $95 – $115 for all days.

“Farmers, gardeners, localvores and other players in the state’s local food community gain momentum for the movement through keynote speeches and more than 70 workshops. Visit nofavt.org for schedule and locations.” – Seven Days

first, a quick note on Pete’s Greens: as some of you may have heard, Pete’s Greens suffered a major fire this week, destroying a very large barn (pictured here). Some updated info can be found at the following link: 7d.blogs.com/blurt/2011/01/more-on-the-petes-greens-fire.html. We are lucky to work with Pete’s Greens & his fantastic produce throughout the year and so saddened to hear of this news. Pete & his crew are an innovative & energetic lot; we know they will bounce back. That said, they’ll surely need the help of the wonderful local foods community here in VT. Please stay tuned for more info…

Now onto our regular scheduled programming…

Happy snow day to you! For the Skinny P, there is a quirky inverse relationship between the amount of snow that falls and the number of customers that come through the door. As the inches turn to feet, the foot traffic diminishes dramatically. Thankfully, the great silver lining is that as foot traffic drops, it frees our staff up to go PLAY! Don’t get me wrong, we’d love to see each & everyone of you. But at least we get this spoon full of sugar as the medicine goes down…

As a friend said recently, “Love the snow and it will love you back.” Below are a few fun ways to play in the snow locally…

Gettin’ after it in snowy VT:

Below is a triffle of a sampling of the many ways to engage in the VT winter outdoors…remember, ‘love the snow & it will love you back.’

Keep it Simple: explore your own back yard with a midwinter walk on the Intervale or Hubbard Park!

Go big with The Catamount Trail (www.catamounttrail.org/): “At 300 miles in length and spanning the state of Vermont from bottom to top, the Catamount Trail is one of Vermont’s treasured gems. It is a cross-country ski trail that has been in the making since 1984 and was fully linked together in 2008. Thousands of skiers and snowshoers take to the trail every winter season — most for the day, many on Catamount Trail Association (CTA) tours, and some to ski end-to-end — all enjoying the backcountry, touring center, farmland and village surroundings along the way. Be sure to explore our winter tours and special events held throughout the year.”

Nordic Skiing at Bolton or Stowe (www.boltonvalley.com/mountain/nordic_center/, www.stowe.com/activities/nordic/): both of these locations offer a bounty of well-maintained, aesthetically gorgeous trails. Stowe has 75 km of trials, Bolton offers 100 km of trails. There is rental equipment & maps for both locations. Also, know that there are many other Nordic centers in VT…

Walk the Notch: drive up to Stowe or Smugglers Notch and enjoy a walk on Rt 108, which is closed for winter. You’ll see some of the most dramatic ice falls, cliffs & overall terrain in all of Vermont while walking on a safe, casual, wide trail. You might also notice alpine skiers ‘dropping into the notch’ through the trees in either direction.

Here’s the scoop: the term ‘localvore’ was coined by chef & writer Jessica Prentice in 2005. Its usage quickly spread and in 2007, the Oxford English dictionary declared ‘localvore’ the ‘word of the year.’ The trouble is, people hold different understandings for the word. A brief survey of definitions on the internet found the following variations:

• Merriam-Webster: “one who eats foods grown locally whenever possible.”
• Wikipedia: “Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food sometimes call themselves locavores or localvores.”
• Dictionary.com: “a person who attempt to eat only foods grown locally”
• Thefreedictionary.com: “locavore is a word…to describe and promote the practice of eating a diet consisting of food harvested from within an area most commonly bound by a 100 mile radius.”
• Answers.com: “A locavore (or localvore) is someone who is committed to eating food that is grown or produced within their local community or region.

As exemplified above, the required level of commitment by a localvore to eating local varies based on the source; this reality is consistent in colloquial usage. Some people regard a localvore as one who only eats local, just as a vegetarian is someone who only eats vegetables. Others regard a localvore as one who prefers to eat local.

What’s our take on the situation? We believe it is better to have a lower barrier to entry, so that more people can consider themselves localvore. Requiring that an individual consume a 100% local diet to be defined as a localvore creates a very small pool of participants. For a movement that is trying to swell its ranks and persuade people to join in, the purist definition simply excludes too many people.

Apparently, we’re not alone…Jessica Prentice explained her take: “And just for the record… I am hardly a purist or a perfectionist…Personally, I don’t use the word as a whip to make myself or anyone else feel guilty for drinking coffee, cooking with coconut milk, or indulging in a piece of chocolate. There are things it makes sense to import because we can’t grow them here, and they’re either good for us or really delicious or both. But it doesn’t make sense to watch local apple orchards go out of business while our stores are filled with imported mealy apples. And if you spend a few weeks each year without the pleasures of imported delicacies, you really do learn a whole lot about your foodshed, about your place, about what you’re swallowing on a daily basis.

This week, I have taken the localvore challenge: my diet is 100% local from Sunday, 09.12.10 through Saturday 09.18.10. I’m fortunate to have the resources of the Skinny Pancake to support me in this effort, but even still, I’ve found the diet to be a substantial challenge. Meanwhile, throughout the year I am strongly inclined to ‘eat local.’ Personally, I consider myself a localvore.

But not everyone agrees. In 2008, we began advertising with VPR. We described ourselves as a ‘localvore creperie’, but the kind folks at VPR were not comfortable with the usage as our products are not all 100% local. After some debate and constructive dialogue on the definition of the word ‘localvore’, we resolved to refer to ourselves as “nurturing localvore values.” As a result of this debate and others, we are careful in our marketing. We rarely refer to ourselves as a ‘localvore restaurant’ anymore…though we believe we are, we simply don’t want to mislead people who have a more stringent definition of the word.

What is your opinion on this subject? Tell us what you think below or tell us on our Facebook page for a discussion on this subject!

A bit about these trees:

Donating apple trees to the Riverside Garden is a simple way to give back to our community, who has provided us with steadfast support. We look forward to watching these trees grow & fruit in the years to come.

and…HAPPY EARTH DAY!!! There’s a bunch of good stuff going on, so I’m just going to launch into it:

First: in the name of Earth Day, please mark your calendar for the 40th Annual Green-Up Day, Saturday May 1st. This statewide effort is a beautiful example of civic participation…come join the fun!!! Much more info at www.greenupvermont.org/.

Now, on to a number of great events happening this week:

1. Earth Day Celebration (Montpelier): Hunger Mountain Co-op hosts their annual Earth Day celebration today. Meet the people who make your environmentally friendly products, Take away free samples, Raffles, Great food demos, Coop canvas bag giveaways! Kids will get a chance to plant their own seedlings at the kids gardening table. For more information, please contact Krystal 223-8004 x 202.

2. Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants of the Intervale (Burlington): City Market invites you to join naturalist, herbalist, and registered dietitian Melanie Putz Brotz for a Wild Plant Treasure Hunt in the Intervale. There are so many amazing edible and medicinal plants growing in this region; come join the adventure. Participants in this workshop traditionally uncover many delectable surprises, from Wild Pheasant Back mushrooms to Stinging Nettles, Burdock Root, Lambs Quarters, and invasively prolific and delicious Garlic Mustard Greens. Meet at the small parking lot on the right after the dirt road begins, by the entrance to the Rena Caulkins trail. Sign up at the Customer Service desk. Free.

3. Art Walk (Montpelier): Montpelier hosts the annual spring Art Walk on Friday, April 23rd from 4 to 8 pm. Pick up a guide (available at the Skinny Pancake and other participating venues) for a list of exhibits, free artist receptions, and events. The Skinny Pancake hosts artist Christa Manns exhibit “She Falls to Pieces”, a mixed media display of collage, black and white photography and oil paintings.

4. Tree Planting (Burlington): this Sunday, the Skinny Pancake will join forces with Grow Team ONE and Shelburne Orchards to plant two apple trees at the Riverside Community Garden. We will be planting a Cortland and a McIntosh, both about three years old.

A bit about these trees: Every McIntosh apple has a direct lineage to a single tree discovered in 1811 by John McIntosh on his farm in Dundela, a hamlet in Dundas County, Ontario, Canada. He discovered the tree as one of several apple seedlings while clearing a farm which he had just purchased. The Cortland is red with some yellow spots.  This all-purpose apple was developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York in 1898. The apple was named after nearby Cortland County, New York.  As a result of crossing a McIntosh and a Ben Davis apple, the flavor is a bit sweeter than McIntosh and it’s considered to be a wonderful dessert apple.

Folks…we’re in the heart of foraged fiddlehead & ramp season…get ‘em while you can, ‘cuz supplies won’t last!!!

Ramp It Up Lasagna (Burlington): Lasagna inspired layering of locally foraged Fiddleheads and Native Wild Mushrooms blended with a house made Ramp Pesto Ricotta and tied together with a béchamel sauce. Served with our classic side salad. $10.50

Music this week at the Skinny Pancake:

First, a quick plug for a hot show tonight in Montpelier:

The Low Anthem on TODAY at the Bethany Church. Doors open 6:30 p.m and show begins at 7:30p.m. The show is open to all ages and is $13 in advance or $15 for the day of the show. Order tickets online or by calling 510-888-7409.  Tickets on sale now at Burlington Records or at http://nekmf.frontgatetickets.com.

The Low Anthem are one of the most dynamic, up and coming new-folk bands worldwide, coming off sold out shows across Europe, The Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, and a recent appearance on the David Letterman Show. The church sanctuary where the show will take place has excellent acoustics and an austere atmosphere that is perfect for The Low Anthem’s exquisite music.

Now, onto music at the SP in Burlington:

Thursday, 04.22.10
The Sleepwells (Indi-Folk-Rock)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/thesleepwellsmusic

Friday, 04.23.10
The Points North (folk)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/thepointsnorth

Boston-based band The Points North www.myspace.com/thepointsnorth bring their creative acoustic folk to Vermont. Soulful vocals meld beautifully with flute, strings, accordion, tamborine. The Points North compose hushed minimalist New England-inspired folk songs, delivering a twenty-first century take on traditionalist country folk songs.

Boston Globe- “By turns somber and joyous, sturdy and delicate, this debut was a folk feast fashioned by the campfire and drawn from hearth-warmed living rooms. A tapestry of piano, mandolin, and wintry atmospheres made this one of ’09’s most enigmatic local releases.”

Call it Folk- “[The Points North] isn’t folk pop, or twangy sounding acoustic guitars with soundhole pickups, played unknowingly, by singer-songwriters singing banal little nothings about themselves. These songs are socially relevant to our times and speak to issues not often tackled by the progressive arts community…contrary to what the old timers think of as in-your-face protest music. This is more musically satisfying…a hauntingly brilliant performance.”

Performer Magazine- “[The Points North's] sound is cohesive and their vision of creating pure, traditional folk music is apparent. Light, beautiful vocals by Regina Peterson are grounded by Chris Alspach’s and Dylan Clark’s steady leads. Their instrumental arrangements – haunting mandolin, resonating bass drum, tambourine, occasional foot stomping and ethereal flute – flow together, weaving an intricate pattern of phonetic and auditory story telling.”

Saturday, 04.24.10
Birch Bones (acoustic/folk)
David Rhynhart (modern folk/americana)
***$5 suggested donation
http://www.davidrynhart.com
http://www.myspace.com/birchbonesband

Former Burlington resident (and short-term housemate of mine), David Rynhart returns!!! It’s been a few years since David departed for the West. But from ’06-’08, he was a jewel of talent for the Burlington music scene….David was a regular at open mics, coffee shops & stages. A uniquely talented instrumentalist, I often felt David was in a league by himself. Come & help us fill the room & welcome him back to VT this Saturday.

In the pipeline…

Thursday, 04.29.10
Mandarax (formerly known as the Harrison Shulman Quintet) (jazz)
***$5 suggested donation

Friday, 04.30.10
Slick Martha’s Hot Club (gypsy jazz)
***$5 suggested donation
www.facebook.com/video/video.php

Saturday, 05.01.10
Patrick Coman (singer/songwriter)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/patrickcoman

Earth Activist Training (EAT)

From their site, “An Earth Activist Training can set your life on a new path…or show you how to save the world. Green solutions are sprouting up all around us, but permaculture shows us how to weave them together into systems that can meet human needs and regenerate the natural world. Practical earth healing, with a magical base of ritual and nature awareness. Teaching that integrates mind and heart, with lots of hands-on practice and plenty of time to laugh.

Our two week intensives are Permaculture Design Certificate Courses, offering the basic, internationally-recognized 72 hour permaculture curriculum with an additional focus on social permaculture, organizing tools, and spirit.”

The Skinny Pancake is a proud supporter of the Earth Activist Training! Learn more, get involved, & register here: http://earthactivisttraining.org.

]]> http://blog.skinnypancake.com/green-news/skinny-pancake-proudly-sponsors-vts-earth-activist-training/feed/ 0 http://blog.skinnypancake.com/news/big-news/ http://blog.skinnypancake.com/news/big-news/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:11:33 +0000 skinnypancake http://blog.skinnypancake.com/?p=362

Howdy folks,

we’ve got even more big news to announce this week:

The Skinny Pancake on the Burlington Waterfront will be CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS for 12 days starting Monday, March 22nd.

Whew! I’ve been waiting a long time to make that announcement…

If all goes according to plan, we’ll be back open on Saturday, April 3rd.  The good folks at the Main Street Landing Company (our wonderful landlord) have consistently bolded and underlined their verbal statement of “if all goes according to plan.” Here’s to hoping…and to diligently trying.

What gives? Well…after last summer, we took a very serious stock of our performance with the ravenous determination to become a world-class semi-service establishment. We found that at peak volumes, the shortcomings of our physical space sometimes frustrated staff & patrons alike…so we very deliberately set out to fix those problems.

While we are not expanding our footprint, we will be improving our kitchen layout to help get the food out faster and altering the seating arrangement to remove some pesky bottlenecks. We will also be adding a 10′ bar, two more beer taps, a wine cooler and a customer water spigot!!!

Please note: if you or anyone you know experiences symptoms of withdrawal from your crepe addiction, we strongly encourage you to visit our Montpelier location.

---

This week’s specials:

The St Patty Fatty (Burlington): Classic Corned Beef and Cabbage on a Whole Wheat Crepe. $9.00.

Just Ducky (Montpelier): Labelle Farm Duck Confit with VT Cranberry Co. Chutney, Local Spinach from Screaming Ridge Farm and Candied Walnuts on a Gleasons Whole Wheat Crepe. 10.00

---

Saturday, 03.20.10
Lokum Trio (world/indi/roots)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/lokummusic

Burlington’s own Lokum performs as a three-piece poly-rhythmic Baltic percussion powerhouse. They joined us for jazzfest as a 9 piece and had people dancing in the streets.

The word lokum literally translates as a Turkish delight and this nine piece band is certainly sweet. Lokum performs music of the Balkans, Turkey and Armenia using authentic instruments and oriental modes (makams). The upbeat, dramatic tone of their music is driven by beautiful, complex melodies artistically woven through tight percussion. Lokum masterfully puts a fresh contemporary spin on traditional world music. Check ‘em here www.myspace.com/lokummusic and come on down, it will be sweet!

RENOVATIONS!!!!
At our 60 Lake St location in Burlington
Monday March 22nd through Friday, April 2nd
Planned re-opening: Saturday, April 3rd.

tomorrow (Thursday, 02.25.10) marks the start of a new tradition…the Farm to Fork Film Series debuts at 7 pm at the Montpelier Mini-Skinny, 89 Main St.

Here’s the scoop: there are a slew of great localvore films out there…but nobody is actively airing them and its not likely that you’re going to go out and buy them. SO…we thought we’d help spread the good word and generate conversation in the process. Thus, we will be showing one or more “Localvoriented” films on the final Thursday of each month starting tomorrow!!!

Locavore, Local Diet, Healthy Planet new documentary about the inevitable return to the local diet. Less than a generation ago human beings worldwide traveled less than 10 miles to obtain the majority of the food they ate. Today the average conventionally grown vegetable has traveled more than 1500 miles by the time it has reached your pantry. Our food today is over processed, stale, and lacks nutrition. This new film, featuring some of the neo-pioneers of the Locavore movement will educate, inspire, and revitalize bringing health to our bodies AND our communities.

February Thaw (Burlington): BBQ Misty Knoll Chicken, our new and improved Rookies Root beer BBQ Sauce, Cabot Cheddar, on a Butterworks Cornmeal Crepe. $9.00.

This week in music at the Skinny Pancake:

Thursday, 02.25.10
Mohanty-Krag Duo (Jazz)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/katemohantysax
www.myspace.com/peterkrag
http://www.myspace.com/themohantykragduo

Saturday, 02.27.10
Shane Hardiman Trio (Jazzin’ up Mardi-Gras)
***$5 suggested donation

Shane…friend of Burlington. Please accept my apologies for burying your plug beneath the art above. Well…at least it was for a good cause.

For the uninformed: Shane Hardiman is a staple in the Burlington jazz scene. He’s an eminently talented pianist and a very understated guy. Take, for example, the fact that he does not have a myspace page and this is the only photo I could find of him on the internet. Thanks for keeping it real, Shane.

Thursday, 03.04.10
Phineas Gage (acoustic/bluegrass)
***$5 suggested donation
www.reverbnation.com/phineasgage

Friday, 03.05.10
Jim Seem & Melissa Hyman (R&B/Soul/Acoustic/Bedroom Pop)
***$5 suggested donation
www.reverbnation.com/jimseemandmelissahyman

Saturday, 03.06.10
Holy Ghost Tent Revival (Dirty Jazz/Thrash-Grass/Roots)
***$5 suggested donation
www.myspace.com/hgtr

Sueno & the Skinny Pancake crew are rolling out on the streets of Burlington for the 15th annual Magic Hat Mardi Gras Parade. Pancaker Kelly Coons is busy clearing, detailing, and funking-out Sueno in full Fat Tuesday style for Saturday’s Mardi Gras celebration. Raucous revelers can look forward to catching moonpies & the scent of french fries when Sueno & the Skinny Crew pass through.

Sueno at '09 MRG SIPtember Fest

A former school bus salvaged & converted into a bio diesel vehicle by Benjy Adler, Sueno is a steadfast partner in Skinny Pancake capers— serving mainly as chief mobile crepe unit, festival tour bus, & dutiful winter storage.  When not parked in Burlington’s Old North End, Sueno can be found at regional music fests, beer tastings, and foodie events.

The Art of Sueno

You can’t miss this beast of a bus with the brightly spray painted exterior–which even captured the attention of artist Don Shall, who paid homage to Sueno’s metal beauty in this digitally produced piece o’ art. Nice!

Not only is Sueno eye-catching AND utilitarian, but also a really fun ride–just our kind of thing. With spring nearing, we’ve got many crepe makin’ adventures ahead. We’ll keep you posted—and be sure to keep an eye out for Sueno at great local events near you!!