I was invited by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution team to host a #FoodRevParty on Twitter Tuesday evening.

This week’s #FoodRevParty addressed a big topic: how do afford organic foods. Let’s face it. Local is good, but local and organic is better; much better. So while most of the nation has heeded the call for local farmer’s markets, consumers are still faced with a lack of organic food at those markets, leaving them with conventional options grown with pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Organic food from grocery stores, depending on your area, can often be double the price of conventional.

We tackled, in 140 characters or less, how to afford organics and integrate them into your daily life without breaking the bank.

Every person who participated, every person who lurked, is considered a Food Revolutionist. Thank you all for taking steps to change our local and national food systems for the better. I started by defining what organic means to me:

@dawnviola we’re talking about organic food. First would like to define: To me, organic is good/clean/fair, not necessarily certified. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola: good/clean/fair food = yummy, fresh, local, pesticide-free, priced right for farmers and consumers. #foodrevparty

Below are more highlights from our #FoodRevParty – as soon as we started talking about food, everyone got chatty:

Twitter Party: January 31, 2012, 7 pm EST/ 4 pm PST
Theme: Organic Food: how, why, where, and what to do with it once you get it home.

Party Questions and Some of the Best Tweets:
#FoodRevParty Q1: What r ur fav resources for organics? (online, farmers markets, etc.)

@Ciocia i shop at roadside stands, farmers’ markets, look online for CSAs and have delivery service where i order onlie. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola Top three questions to ask at the farmer’s market: where was it grown, who grew it, is it pesticide-free? #foodrevparty

@dawnviola Another great question to ask at farmers markets or CSA, road stand: what kind of fertilizer was used? #foodrevparty

#FoodRevParty Q2: What is your No. 1 tip for anyone looking to switch from conventional to organic?

TheOrganicTrail Start small. Pick one or two items and source them locally. Once you taste local/organic it is hard to go back. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola replace at least 1 processed/packaged food each week with organic produce, meats, dairy. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola Key to affording organics: replace all packed foods, a little at a time. It’s so easy to make crackers, cookies at home! #foodrevparty

@Ciocia Look at Dirty Dozen/Clean 15: Replace Dirty Dozen foods first. They are grown most contaminated methods: #foodrevparty

#FoodRevParty Q3: What is your fav recipe using organic produce?

@dawnviola Average produce travels 1500 miles or more to get to your plate. Crazy, but true. Buying local offers best nutrition + flavor #foodrevparty

@JaimeMorlin During the winter, it is butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage sauce

@TheOrganicTrail Just made Sweet Potato”Fries” for my girls from our local organic farmer. The taste was amazing. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola If you haven’t had a chance, there are fantastic recipes on Jamie Oliver’s Food Rev site, too: ow.ly/8Nntw #foodrevparty

@dawnviola There is also a non-GMO guide here to go along w/ Dirty Dozen/Clean lists to help you w/ food choices: ow.ly/8NnuQ #foodrevparty

@Lunchalicious Butternut squash soup! Yum!

@dawnviola Mine = grilled swordfish with heirloom toms: ow.ly/8NnzM #foodrevparty

@dawnviola Check out @delorganic site, too — she has a wonderful book on organic foods + great tips and recipes on her site. #foodrevparty

@lanaprekprogram Caprese salad- tomatoes/basil/moz chz. Throw in some fresh crusty bread & I am a happy girl. #foodrevparty

#FoodRevParty Q4: How did you get your family on the organic path?

@dawnviola: Check out @crunchacolor’s article on Jamie’s web site this week: ow.ly/8NnY7 #foodrevparty

@lanaprekprogram Ha! They eat what I buy. :) I do the shopping so they have no choice but to get onboard. :)

@JaimeMorlin We started on our organic path by planting our own garden #FoodRevParty

@Ciocia Made senior mom watch #FoodInc. She also watches Jamie by choice.

@TheOrganicTrail Just started swapping out foods. Made our switch at the beginning of summer when produce was freshest. #foodrevparty

@houseofannie we take the kids to the farmer’s market and explain the difference between conv. and organic as we graze #foodrevparty

#FoodRevParty Q5: How do you deal w/ ur kids’ schools when it comes to organic/fresh food?

@crunchacolor I feel so lucky. Onsite organic garden. Use when we can on the school lunch menu. 100% organic. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola I became really involved with @SlowFoodOrlando as a way to change our local food system, including school lunches #foodrevparty

@JaimeMorlin Definitely :) RT @houseofannie: @dawnviola #foodrevparty Q5 We prepare our kids’ lunches at home.

@SeptemberAcres a constant struggle here. Very sad. I pack daughters lunch. #FoodRevPARTY

@TheOrganicTrail I make lunch most days, but we pick 1 day a week for her to buy. Important to learn how to navigate buying own food. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola Have you seen the episode where Jamie makes the sundaes w/the school kids – one of my favorite visuals #naturalflavors #foodrevparty

@sternmanrule A mom at my kids’ school started several gardens. In summer, parents harvest all the food & donate it to the local food bank.

@dawnviola Each of us can make a difference. Instead of a fundraiser at a local fast food joint, encourage school to sell seeds and soil. #foodrevparty

@dawnviola Instead of bake sales, do a community market at school, invite farmers, to your child’s school to sell, do revenue share #foodrevparty

And with that, we wrapped up a very productive discussion, inviting everyone to join the #FoodRevParty next Tuesday with @crunchacolor as host. We also reminded everyone to pop over to the Food Revolution web site and sign the petition:http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/sign-petition

The Superbowl will be here soon, and although we’re not into sports {shamefully, we don’t even know who is playing}, we’re totally into good food and friends. To celebrate, we’ve pulled together our favorite appetizers and game-day recipes; it’s going be a tasty day!

p.s. who is playing?

Appetizers:

Polenta Cakes with Mushroom Ragu {Featured in the Flexitarian Cookbook}

Baba Ghanoush with Curry and Yogurt

Oven Fries with Beer Cheese

Artichoke Poppers {featured on Cooking with Emeril}

Fried Ricotta

Flat French Fries

Deviled Crab-Filled Eggs

Must-haves for Game Day:

Pizza

Italian Meatballs {make them mini for appetizers}

Sloppy Joes

Quinoa Burgers {make them mini and turn them into sliders}

Chicken Chili with Sweet Corn Griddle Cakes

Tarragon Chicken Burgers

Roasted Corn Chowder

Tomatillo Chicken Tacos {Featured on Cooking Channel}

Want something sweet? Check out our dessert recipes!

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It’s always a blast doing segments on The Daily Buzz with Mitch and Andy! This month we celebrated National Pie Day on the air:

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We (yours truly, Jaden and Scott from Steamy Kitchen, Diane and Todd from White on Rice, and Julie from The Little Kitchen are thrilled to be organizing another event to bring everyone together for a weekend of learning, sharing and inspiration. This year’s Food Blog Forum Orlando is graciously hosted by Walt Disney World, with our one-day seminar at Epcot Center.

A full day of presentations and intimate round table sessions are planned, with a stellar lineup of speakers. And everyone can expect a red carpet treatment from Disney like none they’ve experienced. Seats are limited, so head on over to the application page and send your info ASAP as we expect the event to quickly sell out.

Hope to see you there!
-Dawn

Our new home is situation smack dab in the middle of organic orange groves, literally in every direction. Some groves are privately owned. Some have long been abandoned, displaying tangled, untamed branches with plump winter fruit, shamefully never picked. But our favorite, the u-pick citrus groves just a mile down the road, are thankfully at our disposal whenever the trees are bearing fruit. Right now, they’re at their peak.

We piled into the car for the 2-minute drive and were greeted by miles of beautiful tangerines and kumquats. We of course had to taste-test before filling our bags, with kumquats being our favorite treat of the day.

Plucked right from the trees, we popped them into our mouths whole, skin and all — sweet with a tart finish, perfect for pickling or candied fruit. And that’s just what we did.

Candied Kumquats

Makes approximately 1 cup
Allergy info: soy-free, dairy-free, wheat and gluten-free

Ingredients:
20 organic kumquats, washed and cut into quarters, lengthwise
3/4 cup organic sugar
1 tablespoon local raw honey
3/4 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of sea salt

Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine kumquats, sugar, honey, water, cinnamon stick and salt over medium heat. Bring to boiling, reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes.

Strain kumquats; set aside. Reserve sugar syrup; discard cinnamon stick. Return sugar syrup to saucepan. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Cook until reduced by half. Return kumquats to pan; stir to combine. Transfer kumquats and syrup to a glass or ceramic container. Cover and refrigerate up to 7 days.

Serve with sharp cheese and salami, smear on a baguette, or devour all by themselves.

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Last year I made a decision to let my social media go dark for a while and focus my energy on a few bucket list items (no, I’m not dying) that turned out to be life- and career-changing.

I didn’t like where the food blogging industry was headed — bloggers were trampling over each other to nab sponsors, land giveaways, obtain writing gigs, all while throwing ethics out the window in the process just to get their page stats up for revenue purposes. I couldn’t work that way, didn’t want to work with those who did, and needed a break. I took a step back, stopped blogging and tweeting, and watched some amazing things happen:

At risk for glaucoma because of food allergies that had gone undiagnosed for 30 years, I made a decision to go deeper into the nutrition side of culinary, and am working on a dual masters/doctorate in holistic nutrition. The program will take me a while to complete, but I’m excited to be on this path of holistic discovery. Oh, and I’m also now the proud owner of a stylish pair of “over 40″ glasses. Sweet.

I upped my game in getting the word out about Slow Food, and was honored (and still am) to be working with our renegade team of sustainable food system changers in Central Florida. Together with Edible Orlando Magazine, Winter Park Harvest Festival, the Audubon Park Community Market and dozens of additional like-minded sponsors, we presented the community with the most successful Eat Local Week event our area has experienced. Change is happening, and it’s exciting to watch it unfold before my eyes. And, neato organic things, like these kumquats I candied (recipe soon), are more readily available to the general public, which is a wonderful thing.

Because my culinary career went in the direction of research and development rather than restaurant, I felt it was (and still is) important to keep my skills and creativity as sharp as my chef’s knife. I accomplish this by competing in professional culinary competitions throughout the year, testing my knife skills and cooking techniques.

This past weekend I achieved my personal best, with near perfect scores on the knife skills and high marks on my salad during the hot food phase of the competition. The salad went through dozens of revisions and refinements over the last five months — the photo below is where we landed — Frissee salad with smoked egg and potato salad, melange of pickled vegetables, orange-fig vinaigrette. It looks simple, but it took 70 minutes to make, not counting prep time, because of the intricate cuts, the smoking of the egg, and pickling of the vegetables. Our team took home a silver medal for the combined effort, and I took home virtual gold for the personal victory in doing my best.

And so here I find myself feeling a bit like the pickled radishes in my salad: 2011 blanched me in sweet, sour and spicy,  but now I’m refreshed with a new perspective on blogging, perfect balance, stronger purpose, louder voice, and plans for a kick-ass 2012. I’m so glad you’re coming along for the ride.

We’re finally settled in our new house and are concentrating efforts on the yard and garden. As proud owners of a lawnmower, edger, blower, trimmer and other miscellaneous Pleasant-Valley-Sunday upkeep tools, our lawn promises to be lush and green by spring. Our potted herbs, some successfully transplanted from our previous garden, have adjusted well and are flourishing on our back porch. And we’ve plotted the new space for the garden, with heirloom seeds on standby for a late winter planting.

I was perfectly content with our traditional garden plans until last week, when my family surprised us with two hydroponic garden towers. It was one of those gifts that literally leaves you speechless — these aren’t cheap, and despite the savings jar in the kitchen, it would have taken us until summer’s end to buy just one unit.

Santa was good to us indeed, and today we started on our “some assembly required” duties. The units came together in about 20 minutes, and this weekend we’ll prepare the seedlings. Because the unit delivers a nutrient-rich solution directly to the roots, herbs and vegetables grow much faster in the towers than by conventional means. I have no doubt — two of my favorite growers for organic produce in Florida use hydroponic methods — Heart of Christmas Farms and Kissimmee’s Green Place (whom I wrote about in Edible Orlando Magazine not too long ago.)

Determining what to plant was easy — we plan to grow what we buy every week: peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and broccoli  in at least one tower, if not both. With any luck, in about six weeks we’ll have a much smaller grocery bill.

To sign up for a class, click the “Add to cart” button on the schedule below — You must be registered below to attend a class; we unfortunately cannot accommodate walk-ins.

Save the dates! Registration will be open soon:

With her grownup outlook in full swing, we’ve been upgrading to grownup snacks. She’s been asking for more spice, more herbs, more adventures with food, which I love and to which I gladly cater.

We’ve been big on popcorn lately, always making it from scratch on the stove top, and while it’s still hot, adding cheeses, herbs and spices to create different flavor profiles.Our favorite is a kicked up version of kettle corn with organic sugar and ground ginger. Give these a try and let us know your favorite:

After School Popcorn

Yields: one gigantic bowl (about 18 cups)
Prep time: 1 minute
Cook time: 6 minutes
Allergy info: soy-free, gluten-free

Ingredients:
3/4 cup organic popcorn
1/2 cup sunflower seed or canola oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
In a large saucepan add oil and popcorn; shake pan to evenly coat kernels with oil. Sprinkle salt evenly over popcorn. Cover and heat over medium-high heat. Cook 2 minutes, swirling pan every 15 seconds.

When kernels begin to pop, continuously swirl pan over heat to prevent burning; cook 4 minutes. Remove from heat; transfer popcorn to a large bowl, or several small bowls. Immediately add toppings while the oil on the popcorn is still hot (see below).

Topping ideas:
To ensure toppings stick, they should be added and mixed into the popcorn as soon as it comes out of the pan, while the oil on the popcorn is still hot and glistening. Sprinkle mixtures over the top, then mix with a large spoon:

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan + 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper (or)
• 1/2 cup grated Romano + 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or)
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme + 1 tablespoon lemon zest (or)
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika + 1/4 teaspoon cumin (or)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger + drizzle warm sesame oil (or)
• 1/4 teaspoon each ground cumin + ground cinnamon + ground turmeric (or)
• 2 tablespoons organic sugar + 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper (or)
• 2 tablespoons organic sugar + 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

What if the popcorn pushes the lid off the pan?
Keep the popcorn bowl right next to the stove. If you see the popcorn pushing the lid off, tip the lid open just enough to let some of the popped corn fall into the bowl, then return the pan to the stove to continue cooking. The corn will continue to pop, even off the heat, so be careful not to lift the lid too high.

I forgot to swirl and it burned!
It’s an awful smell, isn’t it! Swirling the pan while it’s over the heat is key to preventing the kernels from burning. If it has burned, there’s really no way to save the popcorn. Throw it away, clean the pan, open a window and start again. Do not use the same pan unless you’ve cleaned it first — the smell and taste will transfer to the new batch of popcorn.

Leftovers?
If you have leftover popcorn, save it in an airtight glass jar or simply leave it in the same bowl, cover with plastic wrap and store in the pantry. Avoid storing in plastic containers — popcorn tends to easily pick up orders and flavors that could be hanging out in the plastic.

Other healthy after school snacks you might like (and a few sinful treats):
Homemade Granola
Baba Ghanoush
Lettuce Wraps
Strawberry Milkshakes
Homemade Lemonade
Homemade Soda Pop
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Watermelon Ice Pops
Pecan Blondies
Lemon-Thyme Shortbread Bars

I’ve been writing and testing dozens of new back-to-school recipes for the past couple of weeks, and ironically, neglecting my own lunch in the process.

That all changed this afternoon when I spied in my box of cookbooks (we’re still unpacking boxes at the new house) 400 Best Sandwich Recipes by the amazing Alison Lewis of Ingredients, Inc. Alison and I met (virtually) while developing recipes for a mutual freelance client, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since.

The minute I saw Alison’s book peeking over the top of the half-unpacked moving box, I knew it was time to get the heck out of my lunch rut and make myself something {wicked} good. I was craving vegetables (I’m sure because one had not touched my lips in days) and found the perfect inspiration in her Roasted Vegetable Wrap.

I didn’t have all of the exact ingredients on hand, but was able to substitute with the organic vegetables hanging out in the crisper. That’s the beauty of a sandwich (and probably why we love them) — sandwiches are so easy going. I also used flat bread instead of a tortilla wrap. The poor thing got left in the oven one minute too long and crisped right up. Despite, it was still just as delicious and exactly what I needed.

You can read Alison’s original Roasted Vegetable Wrap recipe on her web site. And if you need to wing it one day, I’m proof that works, too.

I’ll never know how she managed to write and test 400+ sandwich recipes for her book, but I’m sure glad she did. Now no one has an excuse for a boring or uninspired back-to-school or back-to-work lunch.