If the concept of eating locally and buying fresh produce from the desert sounds foreign to you, Friday’s Panel Discussion at Changing Hands Bookstore might clear up some confusion. At 7:00 p.m. January 27, Edible Phoenix Magazine will moderate an interactive panel with Cooking the Wild Southwest author Carolyn Niethammer and Southwest Comfort Food author Marilyn Noble. Along with a tasting of Southwestern foods and a book signing, the authors will discuss how to shop smart at the farmer’s market, how to find locally-produced grassfed meats and how to utilize desert vegetation in your own kitchen.

Changing Hands Bookstore | 6428 S McClintock Dr. Tempe, AZ | 85283

Are you a food fanatic? An avid cook? Or maybe you’re just a Farmer’s Market junkie. And hey, we can’t say that we blame you. Fruits and vegetables always seemed to just taste more wholesome when purchased directly from the grower. You’re in luck. The Valley hosts some great Farmers’ Markets where you can pick up your favorite fall foods, fresh and delicious. Just the way they should be. Below you’ll find a quick schedule of this fall’s Farmers’ Markets. 

The New! Avondale Farmers’ Market
Begins November 5
Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Friendship Park by the lake
12325 W. McDowell Rd.

Recently we read something that was sweet news to our ever-hungry bellies. Yes, it looks like Young’s Farm is back in the corn-growing business, five years after this popular veggie patch located outside of Prescott abruptly closed due to a fight over water supplies and the lure of easy money from real estate developers. Now run by the Mortimer family (the Young family relocated to a farm in Oregon), this scenic farm was blessedly saved from the bulldozer by the real estate crash. And although the new owners won’t be bringing back Young’s famed all-natural turkeys or annual pumpkin patch, they’ve already planted a new crop of the farm’s finest product: Sweet Summer Corn.

Come July, you’ll want to steer your SUV directly to Dewey, AZ, where you can get a true taste of Arizona’s farming heritage. In fact, Northern Arizona is home to some of the nation’s best summer corn, says Jeff Smedstad, chef/owner of the award-winning Cafe Elote in Sedona.

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Amidst a sea of gourmet cupcakeries and trendy frozen-yogurt shops, the mother-daughter duo of Donna Gabrilson and Stacey Barnes have taken the desert’s dessert world by storm with their brainchild, Goodytwos Toffee. Launched in 2004, Goodytwos has expanded to include a storefront complete with a commercial-grade kitchen that is baking up seven traditional and contemporary toffee creations sure to please any palate. And rest assured, there’s no cookie cutting here, just handmade, hand broken and hand packaged product available in your backyard or shipped to your door anywhere in the world.

Like most company’s, Goodytwos started out small. Donna Gabrilson was ready to start fresh after a divorce and opted out of a career in Corporate America in order to go back to the kitchen, a place she connected with as a young girl. With a little encouragement from friends and family, Gabrilson began selling her traditional toffee recipe at Farmer’s Markets and relied on word of mouth from fans to spread the delicious gospel which lead to an upsurge in corporate gifting.

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The food gods giveth and the food gods taketh away. Mere weeks after we pondered whether the new BonTerra Farm Market could finally bring the gourmet market/eatery/to-go counter trend to the Valley, comes word that it’s closed its doors. Read the original story below:

Recently, we’ve been obsessing over bodegas and Batali. Never heard of either? Well, grab your passport and your insatiable appetite because we’re going on a quick jaunt to Eataly. As seen in GQ, the NY Times and pretty much every major food publication, Eataly is a new 50,000-square-foot gourmet market and food court offering hungry Manhattanites the best of Italian cuisine under a single roof.

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Phoenix’s new BonTerra Farm Market promised to brings the best of Europe and New York to Valley foodies, but Scoop Factory wants to know, will it put down roots?

As we count down the hours ’til Thanksgiving (aka the foodiest day of the year), we’ve got food on the mind even more than usual. Today, however, we’re not thinking about Tom Turkey or Sally Stuffing. No, we’re obsessing over bodegas and Batali. Never heard of either? Well, grab your passport and your insatiable appetite because we’re going on a quick jaunt to Eataly.

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