Do these gray days leave you craving a little color? Well chase away the winter doldrums this Friday at The Artisan Center!

Kim Argenta, owner of Art Ah La Carte is offering an acrylic painting class at 6:30 p.m. at the site of the newly established Artisan Center at 56 Harvester Avenue in Batavia. The four-week workshop is $12 per class and can accommodate both beginners as well as more advanced painters.

Kim says, “I spend time with everyone so I can work at their level.” Art Ah La Carte is located on the first floor, street-side level next to Hot Shots Café & Bistro. Cost of the workshop includes supplies.

Other classes offered this month at Art Ah La Carte include:

ALTERED TINS - A FUN WAY TO RECYCLE OLD TIN BOXES INTO KEEPSAKES FOR YOUR SMALL TREASURES: Tuesday, January12TH and 19TH @ 6:30 PM TO 7:30 PM/ 2 week class; cost is $20. (Suitable for teens and adults)

ACRYLIC PAINTING- Beginners or more experienced invited to attend. Cost is $12 per class. Fridays, starting January 15th running 4weeks @ 6:30pm class runs 1hour.

WATERCOLOR- Wednesday, January 13th & January 27th @ 6:30 pm-8pm. Cost is $10. For beginners or more advanced.

PRIVATE PARTIES: Private parties for adults and children. Also badge earning for 4H and Scouts. Or plan a girl’s night out at your place or mine!

Reservations are required; for additional information, including details about hosting special events or birthday parties, contact Kim Argenta at 585.245.1655 or visit artalc.vpweb.com

For more information about The Artisan Center, contact Patricia Hawley at phawley@mancusogroup.com or by calling 585.343.3329

Back in the day, everyone was a locavore. America was an agrarian society so like it or

not, you ate what you grew. Who could have guessed that the Industrial Revolution would have delivered us to where we are now: wallowing in an anonymous, over-processed, “Big Brother” food industry. Do you want fries with that? Still, deep in the cockles of our comfort food-deprived hearts, it seems that everyone has a home-baked memory wrapped in pastry.

If your mother didn’t bake pies then your grandmother probably did. The art of pie baking – and pie pastry in particular – is deeply ingrained in our cultural vernacular. Pies have been around for thousands of years dating back to the ancient Egyptians. Pies have been documented in England as far back as the 12^th century (the Oxford English Dictionary traces the first use of the word “pye” to 1303) and showed up in America with the first colonial settlers. Early pies were predominantly savory and meat-filled. Flaky pastry fruit-filled turnovers first appeared in 19^th century America and have remained popular ever since.

You’d think that with so much pie history, we’d be…well…to be honest…we’d be better at it! Nothing strikes fear into the heart of an otherwise accomplished cook than the prospect of making a pie. Oh, the filling is fine, easy even. It’s the crust that the tricky part. Piecrust is a funny thing comprised of equal parts alchemy and dumb luck. Attempt to make pastry on a humid day and you’ll end up with a sticky paste. But try to roll out the dough when double-digit wind chills are whipping outside your kitchen window and even your finest efforts will crumble into a floury mess before the crust is lifted, ever so gently, into the baking pan.

As for me, nothing can hold a candle to my mother’s piecrust. Growing up, we enjoyed a freshly baked pie nearly every Sunday. She made her crust the old-fashioned way – with lard. (Yeah, lard! Arteries are slamming shut as I write this.) It was crumbly-crisp with the perfect amount of “tooth” to compliment the sweet, fragrant fruit that was no doubt bubbly inside.

Try as I might, I’ve never been able to master the art of pie pastry. Since I cut my teeth on my mother’s apron strings, this has been a frustrating lesson in Darwinism: only the strong-willed cook will survive when confronted with the successful pie-makers mantra – “You can just ‘feel’ when the dough is right.” The perfect pie dough will be smooth, slightly elastic, and never-ever sticky. So, after several failed attempts to get it right, I think I’ve hit upon the perfect piecrust recipe. No, it’s not exactly like my mother’s – there’s no lard in this version – but it’s consistently delicious and nearly foolproof.

Consult any cookbook for fruit filling directions. If you’re lucky, you can still find blueberries and raspberries. If you’re smart, you’ve frozen some sour cherries last July to use this fall. Otherwise, stop by your local farmer’s market and pick up some peaches; they’re still plentiful but don’t delay. According to Lora Partyka of Partyka Farms, “Peaches will be on our stands for another 1 ½ to 2 weeks.” What better way to showcase the best of summer’s bounty?

Foolproof Pie Crust*

1/3-cup whole milk

1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into ½-inch wide pieces

Whisk milk & vinegar in small bowl to blend. Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl to blend; add shortening and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in milk mixture; briefly knead in bowl just until dough comes together. Gather dough into a ball. Divide into 2 pieces, 1 slightly larger that the other. Flatten each piece into a disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. When ready to bake, roll out larger dough disk on lightly floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 10-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Fill pie with fruit filling. Roll out second disk on light floured work surface to a 12-inch round. Place on top of filling. Crimp edges decoratively to seal. Brush with an egg glaze and bake as directed.    

*The best ingredients yield superior results. And while I’m hoping you’ll use organic flour (Eden Foods makes a good one as does Bob’s Red Mill), you can also get away with a more widely available commercial brand. King Arthur Flour is a good substitute. It’s never bleached; never bromated.

A special “thank-you” goes out to Lora Partyka of Partyka Farms and Gail Christ of Christ Farms for providing the fruit for our test kitchen. Twenty acres of apples on their 600+ acres of farmland in Holley, NY make Gail an apple expert! Her favorite apple for baking? A mix of Cortland and 20 Ounce. Partyka’s produce some of this area’s best peaches on 15 acres at their farm in Kendall, NY. She owes the success of their crop to “good field management and good lakeside weather” at their 400-acre farm. Lora says peaches really shine when they’re baked “in a shortcake with a biscuit, some good vanilla ice cream, peaches, and topped with whipped cream.” Peach Shortcake – and various other treats – is available at her Partyka’s Farm Market, 1420 County Line Road, Kendall. Produce from Christ Farms and Partyka Farms is available at the Genesee Country Farmer’s Market, Batavia Downs Parking Lot, Batavia. Hours: Tuesday & Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.  

How far would you travel for a great meal? Five miles? 25 miles? How about 100 miles? Well that’s the premise behind the 100-mile diet.

Across the country, people are dedicating themselves to a healthier, more sustainable way of eating. If you haven’t heard of it yet…get ready…the “Locavore” movement is here and some culinary pundits think it’s here to stay.

Eating locally grown food is not only good for you, it’s good for our environment too.

Purchasing homegrown produce cuts down on “food miles,” or the distance food has to travel from farm to processing site to market, positively impacting our foods’ carbon footprint. A tomato grown in Southern California has to travel about 2,500 miles before it reaches a grocery store in Batavia. By contrast, researchers at Iowa State University found that locally grown produce travels an average of 56 miles from farm to market resulting in fresher, more nutritious choices for us and for our families.

Surprisingly, a whopping 40% of our fruit is produced overseas then hauled in freighter ships or flown across the ocean before it reaches American tables.

Buying local allows you to enjoy fruits and vegetables at their peak of freshness and flavor. There’s a reason why asparagus is at its tender-best in spring, and why blueberries are so tasty in July.

Visit a farmers market and develop a relationship with a local grower; most farmers are thrilled to share their knowledge and experience with their customers. Ask about the challenges your local farmers face and what they’re doing to address them. Ask about the weather! Any farmer will be pleased to talk about how the growing season is going and how that affects the food they grow. Get answers to questions like: When are strawberries in season? How might I use kohlrabi? What should I do with all this zucchini?

If you’re still not convinced that a Locavore lifestyle is for you …consider this: in a recent survey conducted by CNNMoney.com, 69% of respondents said that it is important to keep food dollars in their communities by buying from a farmer’s market. Buying direct from a farmer sends 90% of those food dollars back to the farm. However, although Americans spend more than $600 billion in food annually, it is most often spent at a grocery store or chain (think Super Wal-Mart, etc.) - with only about 7% of local food dollars staying in the community. The remaining 93% of the modern food dollar travels to pay processors, packagers, distributors, wholesalers, truckers and the rest of the infrastructure that a global food system demands.

More food dollars staying in the community, through buying local, translates into thriving Main Streets and local jobs. It means that more money can be spent locally by the farmer to run his/her business and home, helping to keep the local economy alive. Eating locally grown food raised by farmers who actually live in their communities. What’s not to love about that?

Note: Patricia Hawley is the market manager of the Genesee Country Farmer’s Market. The Market is open on Tuesdays & Fridays from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Batavia Downs parking lot (through October 30).

The Genesee Country Farmer’s Market is pleased to announce the winners of its weekly drawings:
Winner of the $50.00 Oliver’s Candies Gift Card – Nick Dillabough, Newfane, NY
Winner of the Farmer’s Market Bag o’Produce – Bernard Hoerbelt, Batavia, NY

Vendors at the market contribute produce from their stand each week throughout the season. Items are placed in a large, reusable tote bag. To sign up, visit the EBT/Food Stamp table at the Genesee Country Farmer’s Market on Tuesday and/or Friday from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.    
 

(Family)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Have you finally returned to your regular schedule?
JOE: We'll see. The answer is yes for the moment.
CALLIOPE: Did your weekend adventures provide all you expected?
JOE: They did. A couple from Spiritus Christi invited my brother and me for dinner Saturday.
CALLIOPE: How did that go?
JOE: Quite well. We learned more about the history of the community which has been in existence for about ten years now and is going strong.
CALLIOPE: Any revelations?
JOE: I was concerned that they might have some confining dogmas which might give me second thoughts. I thought I might want to just stay with the experience and not try to make too much sense of it.
CALLIOPE: And?
JOE: Discussing it did not provide any such difficulties. It is a community which offers support for acting in a Christian way without the onerous burdens I formerly carried as a Roman Catholic and which eventually drove me from their fold.
CALLIOPE: And then?
JOE: My brother and I and our girlfriends attended the Spiritus Christi service Sunday morning and felt totally immersed in their fellowship and community.
CALLIOPE: It sounds like you have found a new spiritual home.
JOE: I think so. We are trying to let it develop naturally without forcing anything. Talk with you tomorrow.

GeneseExcel Sports is proud to present its first-ever Cheerleading Boot Camp, designed specifically for cheerleaders aged 13 through 18. Scheduled to begin July 20 and continue through July 29, the camp will be held at the Community Fields Complex located on Bank Street Road (at the E. Saile Dr. intersection) in Batavia on Mondays & Wednesdays from 1 – 3 p.m.

Cheerleading Boot Camp is designed for the cheerleader who wishes to prepare for high-school try-outs this fall. Participants will take part in intense stretching and conditioning, jump & sequence, tumbling and basic stunting with a superior coaching staff that includes Krista Shamp, two-time sectional winning coach from Batavia High School. Shamp, a former Buffalo Jill, cheered for Buffalo State College and Batavia High School. She took coached at BHS from 2002 – 2007 where she led two teams to championship titles; the first-ever wins in Section V history for Batavia Cheerleading. She also is a five-time Section V Coach of the Year. “My staff and I are devoted to inspiring young athletes to understand and enjoy the sport of cheerleading.  We have many years of experience collectively ranging from high school cheerleading to college national teams, All-Star performances to professional cheerleading. My hope is that we can bring a new level of expertise and spirit to local cheerleading.”

Cost of the camp is $125; sign-up by July 9 and receive a free t-shirt. For more information call Patty Hawley at 585.343.3329 or email info@geneseeexcelsports.

Basket donations are being sought for the Andrew McLaughlin Benefit, a fundraising event to benefit Andrew McLaughlin, who is currently undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Andrew is scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant in August. The benefit will be held at Pearl Street Grill & Brewery, 76 Pearl St., Buffalo, NY on August 20 from 6 p.m. – 9p.m. $20 donation includes a Chinese auction, music, & snacks. Andrew is the son-in-law of Jeff and Carol Boshart, owners of Boshart Enterprises & Aircraft Services, Inc. located in the town of Batavia.  To donate an item, or for more information about this event, contact Carol Boshart at 585 344-1749 or carol@boshartaviation.com  or Susie Boyce sboyce@lawleyinsurance.com

The local leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run was held this morning in Genesee County. The Law Enforcement Torch Run helps raise awareness and funds to benefit Special Olympics throughout the nation.  

Runners started at the Genesee ARC Day Habilitation Center in Elba, and ended at the Administrative Offices and Work Center at 64 Walnut Street, Batavia.

At the start of the race, Dale Baldwin helped officers carry the torch before the group headed south down Route 98 towards Batavia. 

In the city, due to road construction along Walnut Street, runners entered the ARC property via Franklin Street. 

Martin Gielow, in his wheelchair, helped runners carry the torch for the final stretch, completing the almost 7 mile trek.

According to event coordinator, Detective Todd Crossett of the City of Batavia Police, runners from his department were joined by The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, LeRoy Police Department and the U.S. Army. “It’s a real team effort, for a great cause,” the Detective said.

The Batavia Area Jaycees are proud to announce the 56^th Annual Home Garden and Trade Show is going to be held on March 20-22 at the Batavia Downs!

We are still looking for vendors for this event!  All booth prices will be $279!!!! 

Weekend Passes have been slashed to $1

For contract details visit: www.geneseeny.com/bataviajaycees and click on the home show link! 

Show hours are:
March 20 (Friday) from 5-9pm
March 21 (Saturday) from 10am - 7pm 
March 22 (Sunday) from noon - 4pm

If you have any questions, please contact us at 585-343-5775 or email at info@bataviajcs.org