Eating Local by the Jar

As I sit listening to the crusty snow under car tires, I recall the holiday celebrations with friends and family over the past weeks. Twisted Vine in downtown Rockford was one of my holiday destinations at the suggestion of a long-time friend. We arrived early because the tables in this small eatery fill up fast at lunchtime. Twisted Vine is a deli, catering company, bakery, and gourmet retail pantry. They feature Michigan produced foods by Brownwood Farms and American Spoon. These products are essentials for a Michigan locavore during the winter months.

The business opened in September 2010 and is located at 51 E. Bridge St, Rockford, MI. Their phone number is (616) 866-2828. Here is an article by WZZM TV 13.

The catering and deli options are prepared using the Brownwood Farms and American Spoon jarred foods and the owners, Laura DeWilde-Cummings and Dawn Nelson also use the food from the Rockford Farmers Market in the summer. I had a grilled sandwich and potato salad, and my friend had the cherry peach pumpkin chili. The Chili was made from American Spoon’s Pumpkin Chipotle Roasting Sauce and Cherry Peach Salsa.

Anything that Laura and Dawn can do to incorporate Michigan foods and still stay in their target price points, they do. Stop by and tell them that you are shopping and eating there because they serve Michigan products.

Spaghetti Jim’s

I met Ann Abfalter at the Fulton Street farmers market. We became fast friends over packages of pasta. It was early spring and she had set up a booth with the pasta made and packaged by herself, her husband Jim, their partner Lori Fletcher, and a small staff.

They have a passion for pasta and it shows. They make hand crafted pasta in five cuts (spaghetti, fettuccine. linguine, paparadelle, tagliarini) and five flavors (organic whole grain farro, spinach nutmeg, roasted tomato, buffalo wing, and saffron). Ann cheerfully explained the pastas for sale, and I purchased the organic farro – eager to try it right away.

If you are a pasta lover – fresh is the way to go. It has so much more depth and character than commercial dry pasta. It cooks up quickly which helps to keep the kitchen cooler on these hot days of summer.

Spaghetti Jim’s has recently started serving take-out and eat in meals (open M-F 8 am to 6 pm) from the their small commercial kitchen operation; I stopped by last week. I was able to have a delicious lunch and tour the small pasta factory. The ingredients go into a mixer for 15 minutes and then go into a sheeter. After several runs through the sheeter the pasta is held together and flattened. Then it goes through a cutter and is vacuum packaged. They were making the spinach and the farro pastas.

For lunch I had the farro pasta with a basil pesto sauce, cherry tomatoes, and Buzzelli’s hand made mozzarella. The basil and cherry tomatoes were locally grown. Spaghetti Jim’s purchases Michigan eggs for the pasta. They have several meal options and the menu is pasted daily on their facebook page. Their address is 1133 B South Airport Road in Traverse City, MI.

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