We are heeding lots of feedback that our current rolls are too dense and too sour for the sandwiches, causing eggs yolks to burst prematurely and even forcing patrons to eat their sandwich open-faced! It has been quite hard to find certified organic perfection in a 4 ounce body.

Well next week, my friends, all of this will change. We have found our dream roll and can’t wait for you to eat a sandwich on it.

In our last blog post and newsletter, we discussed the detriments of corn-finishing. In no way did we intend to insinuate that Painted Hills beef is unsafe – they consistently deliver great product. Our issue with corn-finishing is a critique of the meat industry as a whole and in no way did we intend to talk badly about Painted Hills or their products.

Thanks,

Homegrown

Over the last month, we have bought Painted Hills, of Fossil, Oregon, clean out of supply. That being said, we are not in love with Painted Hills in the first place, because although they never use antibiotics or hormones, they do dabble in corn-finishing, (edit: which can potentially cause) diseases that stem from the malfunctioning of cattle’s Rumen, the fermentation organ in their stomachs where microorganisms break down feed, as well as other health problems like abnormally acidic digestive tracks, which can cause pathogenic E. coli to become acid-resistant and more harmful to humans if digested.

Thundering Hooves, of Walla Walla, is one of a stark few local ranches that are raising beef that fits our stringent standards. The problem is that there are only two flanks per animal, making it next to impossible for small ranchers to fill our weekly flank steak orders of sixty pounds plus.

Our flank steak sandwich is a house favorite and it will be missed. We’ll pour some Malbec out for our lost Argentine-inspired homie. In it’s place, Thundering Hooves top sirloin will top the Grilled Steak Salad and a spicy jalapeno Meatloaf BLT, made with Thundering Hooves ground chuck and Green Bank Farm’s raw-milk white cheddar, will replace the Flank Steak Sandwich. We apologize to everyone who lost their lunchtime staple but we are looking forward to everyone trying the new sandwich!

**New HG Capitol Hill Hours**

Sunday through Thursday, we’ll be open from 8am to 8pm, serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Friday and Saturday, we’ll be open from 8am to 3am, serving a late night menu from 10pm on… embracing our love of beer and fried food.

All went well except for the heat wave taking down one of our reach-in refrigerators, causing us to throw out a day’s worth of flank steak and chicken mole. Quite a bummer, especially for the customers who came in for dinner that night looking for none other than a flank steak or chicken mole sandwich…

This morning’s clouds are offering a nice reprieve to tell you the truth. Boy, it’s been hotter outside than our spicy po’boy sauce! With our Late Night menu dropping this weekend, it’s good to rest up before working late into the hours of the night to fry up some delicious creations, like jalapeno Catfish Hush Puppies, “Steak Frites” and a deep fried version of our Bluffernutter.

The Fried Bluffernutter is in essence, a regular Bluffernutter (Crunchy Peanut Butter, Homemade Marshmallow Fluff and Zoe’s Bacon) cut into a circle, pinched around the edges like an empanada and dipped in pancake batter and deep fried to golden brown perfection. We call this process “Donutizing.” Sold for $6, and $6.50 with our creamy raspberry dipping sauce.

Of course there will be a breakfast sandwich on the menu; it is the AM after all. Our Bacon, Egg and Cheese, made with Zoe’s Bacon, a fried Mad Hatcher egg and Beecher’s Flagship has just the right spread of our homemade, organic roasted garlic aioli.

Late Night Hours: 10pm to 3am, every Friday & Saturday night.

Feel like participating in a friendly throw down? Homegrown needs your vote!

In a campaign to raise awareness about the virtues of buying local, Washington’s own Verity Credit Union is hosting a serious food throw down between Homegrown and our friends Blue Moon Burgers and Po’Dog.

Inspired by the 3/50 Project, “Pick 3. Spend 50. Save your local economy,” We’re putting our Turkey, Bacon + Avocado sandwich up against Po’Dog’s Po ‘nam and Blue Moon Burger’s Onion Burger.

Here are the stakes: 3 lucky voters will win either a $25 gift certificate to the champion business or a $10 cert to dine on Verity at the runner up.

To enter the drawing, you must follow @VeriDee on Twitter. To vote, tweet “@VeriDee, I vote for @Homegrownian!!”

The contest will run from August 15th to the 31st, whoever gets the most votes wins!

With Zoe’s Turkey and Bacon, Appel Farm’s Gouda, Organic Avocado, Organic Roma Tomato, Organic Mixed Greens and Our Roasted Garlic Aioli on your choice of Organic Wholegrain or French from Essential Baking Co, we’re rooting for our Turkey, Bacon + Avocado to rake in the most votes.

For extra umphhh, add our homemade honey jalapeno bbq sauce or homemade hot sauce to take it to the next level.

Follow @VeriDee and tweet “@VeriDee, I vote for @Homegrownian!!” If you vote for Homegrown, it is us who will be the wieners!!!

Don’t Vote until August 15th, and make sure @VeriDee responds to your vote!

On Friday and Saturday, we’ll be open ’til 3am, serving lots of deep fried foods, including our new catfish hushpuppies, a deep fried version of our Bluffernutter and “Steak Frites”, french fries topped with sliced flank steak and a bleu cheese Béchamel. Of course you can get a little Bacon, Egg and Cheese as well, you know how important breakfast sandwiches can be at nighttime.

Sunday – Thursday: 8am to 8pm

Friday & Saturday: 8am to 3am

See you next week for extended hours!

Read more about Homegrown Dinner & Latenight on Seattle Met’s Nosh Pit Blog

Okay, we may be exaggerating a little on this one. Our summer seasonal menu features the best local ingredients the state of Washington can grow, but eating our delicious sandwiches won’t completely offset the pollution emitted by our beloved Blue Angels, hydroplanes and pirates.

Beyond bringing lots of Homegrown sustainable sandwiches to your Seafair party, here are three helpful tips to further offset the dirtiness of our favorite holiday:

Go with a squirt gun over water balloons. They are just as much fun and they leave no trace of latex at the bottom of the lake or on it’s shores.

Ride your bike to the party. With bridge closures, traffic will be a headache. Bring a large backpack or handlebar basket for transporting large quantities of sandwiches from the Homegrown nearest you to the party. Pin a pirate flag to your seat for instant roadside props.

Spring for the keg and buy local. No need to waste all that energy recycling all those bottles and cans, let alone shipping them from Milwaukee. Check out the keg-able beer lists at Pike Brewing and Georgetown Brewing Company for some of our favorite local beers. For summer weather, Pike’s Naughty Nellie and Georgetown’s Manny’s are highly recommended hot weather sandwich chasers.

That being said, we might want to start thinking up some cleaner holidays all together.

Also, at Homegrown Capitol Hill, we’ll be open for dinner until 8pm starting Monday, 8/16. Hours will be as follows:

Sunday-Thursday – 8am to 8pm

Friday & Saturday – 8am to 3am (HG Late Night starting at 11pm!)

as seen in Seattle Magazine, 8/2010, pg 80

]]> http://www.eathomegrown.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=866 0 http://www.eathomegrown.com/blog/?p=853 http://www.eathomegrown.com/blog/?p=853#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:03:50 +0000 Homegrownian http://www.eathomegrown.com/blog/?p=853

There is no better day at the office than the day your beautiful and talented office manager orders Homegrown for the catered meeting. With Tote Lunches, Sandwich Platters and Salad Bowls, everyone can get food they feel good about eating – and without all the trash at the end of lunch.

We are now serving our salads in less expensive, smaller sizes so you can order more variety for the same price. Plus, they’re delivered in re-usable Pyrex bowls that don’t require any wasteful saran wrapping. Our new small salad bowl is 2.5 quarts and serves 5 people for $25. Or try our 4-quart regular salad bowl for $50, serving 10. Along side one of our sandwich platters, this lunch is hard to beat. Even the vegan in Accounting will be pleased.

All the ingredients used in our catered meetings are selected with the same steadfast attention to sourcing that you find in our sustainable sandwich shops. By mid-August, when we switch to our new custom wood sandwich boxes, our catering line will be 100% compostable and recyclable. If you’re not getting Homegrown at your office, politely ask that beautiful and talented office manager of yours to get with the program. Better Food. Less Waste.

The Market was packed all weekend and though we are still getting our footing up there, learning how to work that tiny kitchen, we so enjoyed seeing all of your faces, glistening from the 80 degree weather. Inside the Market, we kept cool with our big ceiling fans working overtime under the high ceiling.

To that end, it is officially decided that the storefront of Marigold and Mint is the most refreshing storefront in the world. Looking through the arbor-like entrance to their shop feels like jumping in the lake and taking a bite out of a freshly picked pear, at the same time.

The further back you go in the Market, the cooler it gets. A walk-in dinner at Sitka & Spruce’s communal chef’s table is an amazing way to get out of the afternoon sun and you can see the flower shop from your seat, so it’s really doubly refreshing.

So many peeps came into HG for the first time this weekend and it’s always so fun to talk to everyone about the foods they like and hear of their interest in where it comes from and how it gets into their hands in sandwich form.

We started this business to highlight small sustainable farms and we’ve grown to the point where it’s become really challenging to pull from single farms – especially for items like flank steak! It’s really rewarding to feed so many conscientious people, it makes those challenges worth stepping up to.