Are you taking the farmers market pledge?

This summer markets the sixth year for American Farmland Trust's "I Love My Farmer's Market Celebration," a campaign to raise awareness of farmer's markets.

To take part, you just go online every week and pledge the amount of money you'll spend at farmer's markets that week. It's not binding and you don't have to give money, just promise that's what you'll try to spend.

When AFT sent around a press release about it July 24, North Carolina was in second place in the number of pledges, but we've since slipped to third, with 301 pledges, behind Connecticut (406) and Virginia (349). You can make a pledge (take that, Hartford) and see how other states rank (so low, California?) here.  

Chocolate and wine: Food business edition

Checking around the food world:

First there was the Wine Shop, a great store on Park Road that opened in 1985, the year I moved to Charlotte. When I started learning about wine, that was the place for personalized advice from mighty wine dealer Frank Redd. The shop moved around, sticking close to Dilworth. Then a second location opened in the SouthPark area, so there was The Wine Shop Dilworth, 2442 Park Road, and the Wine Shop on Foxcroft, 7824 Fairview Road. More changes, more years. The stores split apart, and the Foxcroft store added food, a nice lineup of small plates to go with wines by the glass. Now it has a new name: The Foxcroft Wine Co. One thing has never changed, though: They're both great places to ask about wine, buy wine and learn wine.

The Secret Chocolatier is also a business that has had a long trip to a great destination: The Dietz/Ciordia families started selling chocolates at local farmer's markets and providing desserts at farm-to-fork dinners before opening a shop at 2935 Providence Road, near Sharon Amity. This summer, they opened a second store, at Ballantyne Commons Road, 11318 N. Community House Road. Now, the latest news: They won six awards from the TasteTV International Chocolate Salon. In the Best White Chocolate category, Cardomom Crunch Bark won gold for best ingredient combination, silver for most unique and bronze for best white chocolate. In the Top Artisan Toffee category, the sea salt butter toffee won bronze for best ingredient combination and best taste, while white chocolate honey toffee won bronze for best texture. Congratulations, Bill et al.

Get teens off the couch, into the kitchen

The new CityKitch cooking and teaching facility is marking the end of summer with a cooking camp for teenagers 9 a.m.-2 p.m. daily from Aug. 11-15. Taught by CityKitch owner Carrie Hegnauer, a chef-instructor at Johnson & Wales University, the class includes making a cooking demonstration video in the kitchen.

The class is aimed at high school students, and includes kitchen basics, creating recipes, script writing and feedback. The Friday session concludes with a guest lunch and tour. The class is $349, but you can get a $100 discount with the code "TCK811."

CityKitch, 9545 Pinnacle Drive, is a kitchen facility that includes rental commercial space and a variety of classes. Details and registration: citykitch.com or call 704-499-3046.

One Great . . . roasted okra

The story on okra doesn't start or stop with fried okra. There is a lot more you can do with the fuzzy pods, including roasting it.

Georgia cookbook author and chef Virginia Willis certainly dug deep into the okra oeuvre when she took on the assignment to come up with 50 recipes using okra for her book, "Okra," in the Savor the South cookbook series from UNC Press. (Disclosure alert: I have two books in the series, "Bourbon" and "Pecans," but I bow to Ms. Willis for sheer bravery in taking on "Okra.")

Her herb-roasted okra adds a bright flavor with a hint of lemon. Pick around in the bins of freshly picked okra and try to find the smaller pods, the ones about the size of the first two digits of your index finger. But longer pods are acceptable here, too.

Herb-Roasted Okra

From "Okra: A Savor the South Cookbook," by Virginia Willis.

1 pound okra, stem ends trimmed
Leaves from 4 mint sprigs (about 12 leaves)
4 large basil leaves, freshly torn
1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons good-quality olive oil
Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with a nonstick silicone liner or nonstick foil.

PLACE the okra, mint, basil, onion, garlic and lemon zest in a large bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil. Season with the salt and pepper. Toss to coat well. Spread out on the prepared baking sheet and roast until tender, about 20 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately.

NOTE: If you want a bit of heat, you could add crushed red pepper flakes or a more exotic pepper, like Aleppo or smoked paprika.

YIELD: 4 to 6 servings. 

Blues Traveler heads beer festival

Blues Traveler and a beer celebration sounds like the making for a beautiful evening. You'll have to wait, though: The first Charlotte Beerfest at BB&T Ballpark won't be until 5-9 p.m. Sept. 20.

The festival plans announced this week include national and local beers -- Olde Mecklenburg, Foothills, D9 and Natty Greene's locally, plus SweetWater, Oskar Blues, Leinenkugel, Stella Artois, Magic Hat, Blue Moon, RJ Rockers and Goose Island, among others. Musical acts will be Blues Traveler, Charity Case and Simplified.

The event will include brewing information, sampling, games and events. Admission will be $50, or $100 for a VIP admission that gets you in an hour early. The event raises money for the USO and Ace & TJ's Grin Kids. Details and tickets: www.charlottebeerfest.com.
 

Matthews market makes a big change

The Matthews Community Farmers Market is dipping its toe into new waters with its latest vendor:

Starting Saturday, Tim Griner of the Charlotte Fish Company will sell fish sourced directly from the N.C. coast. Griner already sells to local chefs and will start bringing fresh fish to the market. This week, he expects to have grouper, black sea bass, red snapper, cobia and mahi mahi.

Adding Griner to the lineup was a big step for market manager Pauline Wood. The Matthews market is serious about its rule that vendors have to grow or make their food within 50 miles of Charlotte. And the coast isn't within 50 miles.

But Griner, she said, has the same values as the market's leaders, and she felt he would be a good seller to work with customers. She also felt that the demand for locally sourced fish was so high that it was worth making an exception.

Still, Wood is so careful about making the change that she had already altered the signature on her weekly newsletter when she sent it out Friday morning: "Everything is grown, raised or made within 50 miles of Matthews and sold by the farmer, baker or artisan who produced it, with the exception of fish, which must be landed on the North Carolina coast."

In other market news, Matthews also is adding freshly made Italian cheeses from Zack Gadberry of Uno All Volta. Get updates on the market and its fare here. 

The Matthews Community Farmers Market is open 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays year-round and 6-8 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 5 at 188 N. Trade St. in Matthews.

Get out your food calendar

What's coming up in the food-focused world? Consider these:

Miss May's Garden Tea, 2-4 p.m. Aug. 3 at Historic Rural Hill Cultural Center, 4431 Neck Road, Huntersville. The tea is in honor of center benefactor May Davidson; tickets are $15 for adults and $7 "per well-behaved, supervised child" (which may be my favorite sentence in a press release all week). Includes light hors d'oeuvres, tea and other beverages. 704-875-3113 or www.ruralhill.net.

August beverage tastings at the Gallery Restaurant at the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge. These will go on every week through August. Each one is $25 and begins at 6 p.m. Pick your favorite subject: N.C. wines, Aug. 1; Liquid Art cocktail tasting, Aug. 8; N.C. beer, Aug. 15; wine-flight tasting, Aug.  22. Reservations: 704-248-4100.

Scotch Society meeting, also at Ballantyne:  6-9 p.m. Aug. 29, $40. Seating is limited, reservations are required. Again, 704-248-4100.

Astrological afternoon teas at the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge: These will go on from 1-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays all year. They'll serve teas chosen for the zodiac sign of the moment. $32 for adults, $16 for people under 18; 704-248-4100.

Charlotte Beer Fest, planned for Sept. 20 at BB&T Ballpark. There will be more details on this after a press preview today, but we can tell you there will be music and involvement from the breweries now featured at the park, including Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Foothills Brewing and Natty Greene's, as well as national brands like Sweetwater and Magic Hat.

The Feast of the Hunter's Moon, an antebellum-theme dinner, will be held Oct. 27 at Historic Rosedale Plantation, 3427 N. Tryon St. It's a long way off, but if you want to get on the list to buy a ticket, contact Deborah Hunter, dhunter@historicrosedale.org.