Get Your Passport and Spend the Day Tasting The Best of the Adirondacks

FlavorFest gets tasty Thursday August 15th, 2013.  This year, we will feature maple, the best sweet stuff in the world.

Pick up your Food Passport when you arrive at the Center and travel the tastes of the North. There will be local breweries, local artisanal suppliers, farm to table tastings and all day fun for kids. Each visitor will get a Passport good for all the tasting stations, and for valuable food event discounts after FlavorFest. There will be local flavors the whole family will enjoy.

Your passport will allow you to taste Adirondack delicacies like local cheeses and meat, seasonal vegetables and gazpacho, berry rhubarb crisp and homemade ice cream, and locally brewed beers.  The tasting stations, catered by Adirondack Artisan Catering and located throughout the Center’s campus, will focus on the best food and flavors found in the Adirondacks.  

Many of the ingredients highlighted at tasting stations will be available for purchase from the vendors of The Adirondack Farmers' Market Cooperative, Inc. and The Wild Center’s special Farmers Market. FlavorFest is the perfect opportunity to meet some of our local farmers and take home some local seasonal foods for your family.  

Chris Ericson of the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery will talk about brewing different types of beer, how to taste beer, how to pair beer with food and provide free tastings of five of the Brewery’s remarkable beers, including Ubu Ale, Lake Placid IPA and 46er Pale Ale. Real beer offers the consumer a wide range of flavors. Chris will briefly examine the ways in which beer, both on the whole and with the differences between all the different styles, pairs with different foods. Many times, beer actually pairs better with many foods than wine. 

Herbalist Jane Desotelle will give an edible food presentation, lead a walk showing how to identify edible and medicinal plants that can be found on Wild Center and other Adirondack trails and sell her locally-made products including herbal teas, wild foods and catnip toys. 

A century and a half ago, lumberjacks and farm workers ate a lot of bread, providing them with quick energy from complex carbohydrates, but it wasn’t as easy as just picking up a loaf from the store.  Hallie Bond of the Adirondack Museum will show the pleasures and pitfalls of being a baker a century ago. 

Learn how mushrooms grow, where to find them and the best practices for mushroom collection from Susan Hopkins.  She will also lead a walk discovering what mushrooms can be found on Wild Center trails. 

Worried about what the kids will be doing while you taste the Adirondacks?  There will be plenty of family games and activities focused on food throughout the day to keep the little ones occupied.  Visit with farm animals from Harmony Hills Farmstead, strike a pose in the food photo booth, hand crank your way to your own ice cream treat, make a real Mr. Potato Head, and hop to the finish during a potato sack race.  Enjoy live music all day on the GreenLeaf pond featuring the bluegrass old time flavor of The Barn Cats and foot stomping tunes of Big Slyde, an expanded Farmers Market to pick up some fresh items for dinner, and Master Gardeners on hand to answer all of your growing questions, FlavorFest has something for everyone. 

FlavorFest will be a special chance for you to meet the people driving the rich growing side of the Adirondacks, and have some food fun.

Media Sponsor (Thanks to NCPR!)

Farmers Markets Vendors

Adirondack Beading & Designs - Hand-crafted jewelry, clothing, purses and accessories
Adirondack Glassmith - Fused dichroic glass jewelry, sun catchers, mirrors and more
Bakery @ Conroys Organics - Artisan breads, pastries and cookies
Corky Originals - Hand-crafted beaded and wire jewelry
Custom Woodworking - Hand-made wood products
Early Dawn Confections - Baked treats
Earth Girl Designs - Nature inspired jewelry and art
Hid-In-Pines Vineyard - Wines from the Champlain Valley
Irish Hill Farm Fresh - Vegetables, fruits and baked goods
Nottingham Hollow Trading Co - Fudge and baked goods
Peter DeFina - Adirondack photography
Rinas Apiary - Honey and handcrafted products
Sandy Hill Farm - Family-run farm selling meat, produce, maple and honey
Summit Farm - Bedding plants, vegetables and fruits
Sunwarm Gardens - Sustainably grown fruits and vegetables
ThunderCrest Farm - Plants, produce, baked goods, jams, jellies, maple products and crocheted winter caps
Windance & Be Jeweled - Hand-dyed clothing & accessories, beaded jewelry
Winding Brook Farm  - All natural grassfed beef, pastured poultry, eggs and pork