Farmers’ Market Role Call

With the spring showers and sun in full effect, you may have noticed a few Farmers’ Markets popping up on the weekends.  May marks the beginning of the season for many of these local hot spots, which can draw quite a weekly crowd.  The recent resurgence of enthusiasm for buying local and buying healthy has helped to make farm markets a weekly tradition for many.  Bucks County is fortunate enough to have a number of fantastic seasonal outdoor markets for shoppers looking to buy fresh produce and other products that were made or sourced locally.

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Feast Your Eyes on Stockton Market

There’s no doubt about it; Bucks County residents love their local, especially when it comes to farm fresh food. In a country dominated by fast foods and genetically modified meats, we’re lucky to be surrounded by sprawling farms and passionate locals who work hard to provide the community with top-quality products.

Bucks Happening recently stopped in at Stockton Market, located just seconds away from the Delaware River in the heart of Stockton, NJ.  The deceptively spacious store is home to a unique indoor farmer’s market, which is open year-round with regular vendors including local purveyors and artisans, farm fresh produce, artisan cheeses, savory fresh breads and pastries, organic beef, free-range chicken, seafood, organic coffee and teas, smokin’ good BBQ, a chocolatier, hand made baskets and more.

On a lazy Sunday morning, we mosied on over to browse through Stockton Market’s unique vendors, several of which come from Bucks County including Simple Living 101 of Erwinna, El Mariachi of Plumsteadville, and My Fresh Coffee Scoop of Pipersville (more…)

Calling all Bakers: Peddler’s Village’s 50th Anniversary Birthday Cake Recipe Contest

Believe it or not, Peddler’s Village is celebrating their 50th anniversary in 2012, which means there will be even more amazing events & promotions held throughout the year! More than 25 million guests have visited Peddler’s Village with family and friends over the past five decades.

First up- they’re kicking of the year-long celebration with a Birthday Cake Recipe Contest, in which the public is invited to submit personal cake recipes to be judged at the Cock ‘n Bull on January 21, 2012. The winning cake will be available on the restaurant’s menu from February 14 through December 2012. (more…)

Marsha’s Signature Sides Spice Up Thanksgiving Feasts

Have you started planning this year’s magnificent Thanksgiving Day feast?  Whether the endless list of Thanksgiving dinner dishes has you feeling a tad overwhelmed; you’ve decided to give yourself a break this year and order in; OR you just love fantastic food,  Marsha Brown’s in New Hope has you covered for Thanksgiving dinner 2011.

Place your orders now (or up to 48 hours in advance of Thanksgiving) and you can spice up this year’s feast with a bit of Creole flavor. Choose from Marsha Brown’s signature Sweet Potato Casserole or Twice Baked Potato Souffle (or both!).  One order serves 6 to 8 people. Call Marsha Brown Restaurant at 215-862-7044 to place your order for Thanksgiving 2011. (more…)

You’re Invited: Holiday Entertaining with Belle Basket

Believe it or not, the holidays are just around the corner, which means it time to start planning your big 2011 holiday bash!  This is YOUR year to throw the holiday event of the season.  Guests will be raving about your party well into the New Year…

“How?” you ask…

You are invited to join Bucks Happening for an evening of Gourmet Holiday Entertaining Tips from Belle Basket, the home of Italian wine & imported Italian gourmet foods. Prepare to make your friends jealous!

What: Join Belle Basket & Bucks Happening for a fun evening of wine tasting, food sampling, cooking demos, & more to help you get ready for a season of amazing holiday entertaining! You’ll get to sample local wines and watch a cooking demonstrating from Altomonte’s Italian Deli!

When: Wednesday, November 30th from 7pm to 8:30pm

Where: Belle Basket, 89 North York Road, Warminster, PA 18974

RSVP here. Space is limited.

More details to follow soon. See you there!! (more…)

Fresh local food, even when it’s not always sunny in Philadelphia

With the unseasonably warm temperatures we’ve been enjoying this October, it’s easy to forget that winter is just around the corner.  However, whether we’re prepared or not, in just a couple months we’ll be bundled up in heavy winter coats preparing for the latest snow storm. For those devoted to eating healthy, local food, the cold temps can post quite a problem, limiting local produce options to root vegetables and storage crops.

Winter Sun Farms provides fresh, LOCAL produce all winter long

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A Local’s Guide to Pizza Making

Pizza Making Book from Casa Casale in Lahaska

A recent trip to Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, PA sparked quite the culinary adventure. It all started at Casa Casale. While perusing through the heavenly Italian specialty store, tasting their many delicious samples, a book in the corner caught our eye. “Pizza. Grill it. Bake it. Love it.”

If you read Bucks Happening, you know we certainly “love it”, but making our own pizza from scratch was uncharted territory.  “Why not?” we thought.  And so, the book was purchased along with “00″ pizza flour and a few helpful tips from the staff at Casa Casale. And so our Bucks County pizza making adventure began… (more…)

Embrace Local Living at the 1st Annual Smallholding Festival

Have you ever wanted to keep bees for honey? Do you think raising chickens sounds like fun? Want to learn how to make cheese and yogurt? Have a longing to make vinegar for your pantry or cure your own bacon? Want to build your own wood-fired pizza oven? Well, there is an upcoming Bucks County event made just for you.

Pull together your locavore spirit, your DIY sensibilities, and a carload of friends and family and head to the The First Annual Smallholding Festival Saturday, July 9, 2011, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Linden Hill Gardens in beautiful Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

A smallholding offers its owners the pleasure of backyard self-sufficiency through the raising of animals and the growing of fruits and vegetables. The Smallholding Festival will be a day of learning devoted to becoming self-sufficient in your own backyard, garden, and kitchen. (more…)

Detox: Half-way there!

Everyday begins with a Green Monster- Kale, Romaine, Garlic, Lemon, Ginger, Apple, & Cucumber

We’ve officially made it halfway through our Nutrition-in-Motion detox. (Woohoo!) Over the past 7 days, we’ve experienced ups and downs, but overall, we feel great, have lost a couple pounds, and aren’t having as much trouble sticking to the cleanse as anticipated.  Being that we’ve been surrounded by lasagna, ravioli, wine, FREE appetizers, movie theater popcorn, and other delicious goodies throughout the week and still stuck to our plan, we are feeling pretty confident and bet that most everyone could stick to this plan for two weeks.
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Pairing Bucks County's Wines with Thanksgiving Dinner

While food may be the star of Thanksgiving Day, an extra special array of drinks can greatly enhance the holiday.  In Bucks, we are lucky to be surrounded by a trail of local vineyards with fine, hand-crafted wines.  Scattered across the county, you can find just about any type of wine to pair with your meal- dry, sweet, white, red.

Best of all, as Thanksgiving marks the end of the harvest season, it makes perfect sense to mark the occasion with one of Bucks County’s newly released harvest wines.  Read more about Harvest Wines and other popular pairing options for Thanksgiving dinner as recommended by local experts. (more…)