On the Market.

Article by Matt Johnson

All of us have heard something about pollution and the depletion of the environment at some point in our lives. Even the media is constantly bringing up the topic of conservation of our environment and much emphasis is being laid on how every individual can contribute to saving our planet from contamination. One thing that all of us can do is to incorporate nature in our daily tasks like cleaning, bathing and laundry. We can prevent tones of chemicals from becoming a part of our drains and our future.

So how can we incorporate nature in our lives? Look no further, soap nuts are here! Soap nuts are small berry like fruits that grow in warm, tropical and sultry climates. They are native to India, Nepal and some other South Asian countries and consist of a small yellowish Brown fruit covered by a hard outer covering. It is the former that is mostly used in the various products that are now available in the market. The main ingredient in soap nuts is saponins which make them an excellent cleaning utility that can be used to clean almost everything ranging from clothes to dishes and regular household cleaning.

There are a number of ways in which soap nuts can be used to make our living greener, natural and more environmental friendly. Let us look at some ways in which soap nuts can be made a part of our daily chores and eliminate the use of chemicals.

Washing Clothes

Soap nuts are excellent for dong your laundry without using chemical detergents. All you have to do is tie together 4 to 6 shells of soap nuts in a thin cloth like a muslin cloth and add it to the washing machine drum. This will take care of 4 to 5 loads of laundry. The advantages of using soap nuts as laundry detergents are:

Fabric is soft after wash and no fabric softeners need be added separately

It leave the colors intact and fading does not occur after wash

It removes dirt and smell form the clothes leaving a neutral fragrance

Soap nuts are ideal for people with allergies to chemical detergents and synthetic perfumes, children’s clothes and pets.

Bathing

Soap nut can be used instead of soap for bathing and also for washing your hair, eliminating the need for shower gels, soaps and shampoos. They leave the skin feeling smoother, softer and protect it from infections. Soap nuts are completely natural and even babies and pets can be washed using them. They reduce skin problems like itching and infections. Washing your hair with soap nuts leaves it smoother, thicker, shinier and rids the scalp of dandruff, lice and other problems.

Around the house

Soap nut solution can be used to clean your house and to clean items you normally clean using chemical solutions. A mild soap nut solution can be used to spotlessly clean almost every item of your house such as windows, statues, decorative pieces and so on. A few drops of soap nut solution added to your car wash water followed by a polish will result in a cleaner shinier car. Soap nuts have insecticidal properties which makes them very useful in the garden. Black flies and Aphids can be kept at bay by spraying a diluted soap nut solution on the plants in your garden. Soap nut solution can also be used to wash dishes. Simply take a small bowl. Add little soap nut powder and some water and voila your cleaning solution is ready. This solution can be used to wash cutlery, glasses, pans and the usual dishes. Keep in mind that since soap nut is totally natural it does not contain any foaming chemicals and no foam will be seen while cleaning.

Detoxifying and cleaning food

A spoon of soap nut powder added to a litre of water acts as a solution for cleaning and detoxifying food at home. Fruits and vegetables can be soaked in this solution for about ten minutes then rinsed and used. This will remove any residue or chemicals from the food.

Where to find soap nuts

http://www.BuySoapNuts.com

http://Stores.HotterThanHealth.com

Tuesday, April 22nd

Bluegrass Tuesday featuring Acoustic Endeavors starting at 7pm.

Wednesday, April 23rd

Wing Wednesday with 35cent wings starting at 5pm.

Thursday, April 24th

Guys night with drink and appetizer specials starting at 7pm.

Friday April 25th

Live music featuring Jesse Ray Carter starting at 9pm.

Saturday, April 26th

Live music featuring Jack Wayne & The Blue Notes starting at 9pm.

Sunday, April 27th

Seinfeld Sunday starting at 7pm.

Visit Blues BBQ Co. online for location, hours, phone and menu.

Daily Specials at Blues BBQ Co.

Monday: Fried Chicken Club, fries, & drink $8.95

Tuesday: Chopped Brisket Sandwich, fries, & drink $8.95

Wednesday: Blues Traveler (Our hand-made burger topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, fried pickles, and our own spicey sauce), fries, & drink $8.95

Thursday: Muddy Waters Grilled Chicken Salad & drink $8.95

Friday: Crab Combo, fries, drink $12.95

Weekly Happenings at Blues BBQ Co.

Movie Monday, Starting at 9p.m.

Bluegrass Tuesday, Featuring Acoustic Endeavors, Starting at 7p.m.

Wing Wednesday, Wings 35 cents! Starting at 5p.m.

Guys’ Night Thursday, Drink and Appetizer Specials! Starting at 7p.m.

Friday: Live Music featuring Jesse Ray Carter Trio, Starting at 9p.m.

Saturday: Live Music featuring Grass Monkey, Starting at 9p.m.

Seinfeld Sunday, Starting at 7p.m.

By Sherry Palmer

Recycling your kitchen wastes using a home worm bin is an easy, ecologically sound way to dispose of kitchen wastes. Just think about how much water is used every day when you wash garbage down the garbage disposal in your sink!

Besides saving water, a worm bin produces an organic compost that can be used instead of chemical fertilizers in your garden and on your house plants. This is a fun and educational activity for youngsters. They will learn something about the biology of worms and also the importance of reusing and recycling to preserve resources.

Here are 10 easy steps to setting up your worm bin:

1.Select a container to house your worms. Both wooden boxes and plastic storage bins work well.

2.Determine what size you need based on the amount of waste you generate per week. An average household of 4 creates 6 lbs of food waste per week. They would need a 6 sq ft bin. (2’ x 3’). Keeping your container fairly shallow 12”-18” helps keep the bedding from compacting and makes it easier to handle.

3.Your bin should also have a lid to keep predators out and protect your worms from exposure to light and sudden temperature changes.

4.Drill some holes about 1/8” diameter and about 4” apart in the sides and bottom to provide air circulation and good drainage.

5.If you keep your bin indoors, set it up on blocks and place a tray or thick layer of newspapers under it to catch any excess moisture that may drain out of the bottom.

6.Add damp bedding to the bin. Strips of old newspaper, shredded paper, leaves, or peat moss all work well. Use what you have. Make the bedding about 6” deep.

7.Add the food waste. You can add the food in piles or spread it out into a shallow layer. But cover it with about another 2” of damp bedding. Worms will eat anything that has once been alive including paper. Vegetable scraps, spoiled leftovers from the fridge, cereal, fruit rinds, coffee grounds (including the paper filters), and stale bread all make great worm food. Don’t feed raw meat, dairy products, or pet feces.

8.Each time you add food, stir the bedding up to loosen it and keep it from becoming packed down. It is important to keep the air circulating to allow the rotting process plenty of oxygen. If your bin gets stinky the food is not getting enough air as it decomposes. Frequent stirring will prevent this. Always cover the food with additional damp bedding.

9.You may need to add moisture from time to time in addition to the food. Never let the bedding dry out. Sprinkle lightly with water. Fruit juice is even better. If the bin is too dry, the food will stop rotting and the worms will not be able to eat it.

10.Place your worms into the worm bin. Be sure to dump in all of the old vermicompost that came with your worms. This compost material contains lots of micro-organisms that your bin needs to help keep the wastes decomposing so the worms can eat it.

The process is fairly slow at first. You won’t see much change from day to day. The worms will grow if you provide the basics:
Moist dark environment
Rotting Food (kitchen wastes)
Bedding to allow air circulation
Stable temperature between 60-75 degrees inside the bin.

You can learn more about your home worm bin or order Red Wiggler Worms at our website.

About the author: Sherry Palmer studied horticulture at South Puget Sound Community College and established a small organic farm, Creekside Gardens, on the land where her parents and grandparents once farmed. She raises Red Wiggler compost worms and promotes recycling of kitchen wastes using a home worm bin. Her web site WormLady.com is a great guide to raising worms and offers online sale of Red Wigglers.

There are a lot of foods that are a challenge for me to eat, and certain foods that I simply don’t like or would never consider eating - like foie grois for example. However, 202 Market always brings out the adventurer in me. The chefs there have an amazing talent for making my most feared foods taste good. Here’s a look at the current tasting menu by Chef Chad Scott. This menu was particularly challenging for me because I’m a) not overly fond of fish, b) the thought of eating the liver of anything makes my stomach turn, and c) I have never liked goat cheese.

The goat cheese apple soup was fantastic. I could eat it all day. My husband and I sipped ours out a cute little cup and relished the flavor. Maybe goat cheese isn’t so bad after all. I really dug it in this dish. Adam thinks it’s the texture of the cheese I’m ordinarily not fond of. Melted into soup it’s transformed into something wonderful.

I’ve never been a big fan of fish. I enjoy tuna and will tolerate salmon. However, this BBQ Snapper was wonderful and very steak-like. It came with a bit of smoked bibb lettuce and sorbet. It was fun pulling off the “lid.”

I was a bit apprehensive about the Foie Gras. I shouldn’t have been. While the texture was a bit strange, sort of scrapple like, the flavor was impeccable. I mixed everything on the plate together and delighted in the individual flavors all melding into one.

Next up was the paella. This is the only dish I’ve ever had at 202 that I didn’t like. However, it wasn’t because it wasn’t good. My husband loved it. I am not at all a fan of Mexican food, and the thought of eating a mussel turned my stomach. I mean, it looked like a muscle. I did try it, but it was a no go. However, it is not something I would eat anywhere regardless of who makes it. I just picked out the shrimp and chicken and sausage and a bit of scallop and ate that, leaving the rest.

Well, Mr. Manager wasn’t at all happy with my discontent over the paella. He very happily brought me the Steak Wagu so “I wouldn’t go hungry.” I loved it!

Finally, we finished off the dinner with a Creamsicle-Ginger Float. It was both fun to eat and delicious.

The next time you stop in 202 why not give the Chef’s Tasting a try? You get to sample a little of everything rather than having to choose just one or two items from the menu, and you leave with your stomach full and content!

For dinner reservations please call 540.343.6644 Monday-Sunday beginning at 11am. They’re located at 202 Market Square in downtown Roanoke.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Trio Bistro-Bar-Bottle has been around for quite a while, and Rebecca and I have enjoyed dining there on occasion, especially when we were in the mood for a great glass of wine to go with the meal. However, Trio has seen fit to hire a new chef, change up their menu, and get down to their southern roots. Trio now caters to those favorites from your childhood, like say, fried green tomatoes. And let me tell you, these are not the maters your grandma would make you eat either. I would literally make this appetizer my main meal it is so mouthwatering. Imagine, nicely corn meal breaded and fried green tomatoes, slightly covered in a bit of gorganzola cheese, some pancetta, and a balsamic reduction drizzled over ever so finely. The balsamic offset the bite of the tomatoes quite well, and the addition of the cheese and pork, well, who doesn’t love bacon with everything? Simply scrumptious. Rebecca tried a grilled fig and prosciutto salad with a pancetta and lavender dressing. I had a small taste, and it was absolutely wonderful. For my main course I gave the crabcakes a go. These arrived beautifully prepared, with an apple vinegar slaw, and rice and beans. The cakes were generously filled with crab, and had just enough spice to be flavorful, but not overloaded so that it covered the flavor of the meaty goodness inside. The slaw was wonderful, with enough vinegar astringency to offset the sweetness of the apples. While I’m not a great fan of rice, the rice and beans were wonderfully flavored, and I found myself enjoying it thoroughly. Rebecca ordered the honey glazed quail, not sure what to expect since she has never experienced the small foul before. It had a nice spicy crawfish stuffing, and was piled on a flavorful risotto. I have to say that the combination of flavors was amazing, and although Rebecca didn’t finish her meal, it wasn’t due to not loving the dish, she simply just didn’t have any more room. I on the other hand decided to pig out, and ordered dessert. Rebecca and I had discussed what could possibly be southern enough to make the new desert menu, and we were pleasantly surprised to see some classic southern favorites, such as bread pudding, and my personal favorite, pecan pie. Now, this was a Bourbon and Chocolate Pecan Pie with a brown sugar whipped cream, as described on the menu, so it made it even more appealing to me. Let’s just say I was hooked from the first bite. Overall, the menu works well, and it definitely is something that anyone, yankee or southerner, should enjoy. Call (540) 904-5887 for reservations.

Adam and I headed out to the new BBQ place, The Blues BBQ Company, Saturday night. We’d been hearing rave reviews, and while I’m not particularly a BBQ fan, my husband is. Lucky for me, there’s not just BBQ on the menu. They also offer starters like Grit Cakes, Fried Mac n Puppies, and Lemon Cajun Shrimp.

The atmosphere of Blues BBQ was really nice. It was very cozy and warm, and the staff was friendly. Adam and I sat at the bar, however, as all the tables were arranged for parties of four or more and I didn’t want to be a table hog as we’d planned on staying a while. The bar, while shiny and new, was apparently built a bit too tall and bar stools had to be special ordered to fit. My toes scraped the bar rail as a result and after a few drinks it seemed like quite a long trip down. But honestly that was the only flaw I really found with the place, and I thought it more humorous than troublesome.

For dinner Adam ordered The Blue’s Pulled Pork - a dry rubbed, slowly smoked pork shoulder using Apple & Mesquite woods, pulled and mixed with a special tangy BBQ sauce and stacked high on a Kaiser roll topped with slaw. The sandwiches are larger than average and Adam really enjoyed this one. BBQ is the specialty here and it only takes a taste to know they’ve hit the nail on the head. I ordered a half rack of Baby Back Ribs - which I don’t really consider BBQ, thank you very much - with a side of fries and collard greens. The ribs were tender, nicely smoked, and perfectly seasoned. The fries, well, they are probably bordering on best in town. They remind me a bit of Steak Escape’s fries as they have skins, but they’re seasoned differently. As for the collard greens - oh my God! - they are the best collard greens on the planet. They’re cooked in fat back and just too tasty to describe. I ordered an additional side of greens after I’d eaten the first side with my meal. That’s how good they were.
I should also mention that several couples had dinner at the table behind us over the course of the night. Two of those couples ordered the Brisket. Both of those couples could not say enough about how fabulous it was. The food rocks. Enough said.

After dinner and drinks we stayed a while to listen to the Jesse Ray Carter Trio. Jesse and his band play every Saturday night starting at 9pm and admission is free. I really enjoyed the tunes, and the rest of the crowd seemed to as well. There was much applause and lots of swaying and quite a bit of Bob Dylan. The restaurant produced a steady stream of business most of the night.

Open four weeks today, The Blues BBQ Company, looks to be a winner. Adam and I enjoyed it so much we ate there again on Sunday for lunch. I got the ribs again. And the collard greens. And the fries. What can say? I’m an addict. And Adam tried the Smoked Brisket Chili. The chili was a big hit, both with Adam and our friend Kyle who ordered it as well. Cheryl, who was also on the Market Sunday, had the Lemon Cajun Shrimp and was very pleased. And then there was the carrot cake. Don’t know how I could forget to mention the carrot cake. All handmade with thick, real, cream cheese icing, the carrot cake was to die for. A gargantuan slice was a mere five dollars and large enough to share. It was extremely moist and extremely edible.

The Blues BBQ Company is located at 107 Market Square and is open everyday from 11am to 2am. Sundays they’re open from 11am to 8pm. Patrick Maggi, the proprietor of Blues BBQ describes his restaurant as the coolest place in town with the best BBQ around. His staff boasts bright red t-shirts that tell you “It’s all about the love.” If you like BBQ, then you’ll love this BBQ. I hope to see you there. For more information on The Blues BBQ Company or for reservations call (540) 344-LOVE. Oh, and don’t forget to ask about the all inclusive, daily lunch specials.

Click here to check out their menu.

Lindsey Nair’s blog - Fridge Magnet - recently had a post on restaurant service. Comments were taken and one reader recommended Martin’s Downtown Bar & Grill as a restaurant with top notch service. So I took that reader’s suggestion and ran with it. Despite my fellow market vendor, Brian, believing it’s really nothing more than a bar that reminds him of a cafeteria - he must be on drugs, truly, though of course he’s never actually EATEN there - they do serve quite a tasty line up for dinner with dishes like Prime Rib, St. Louis Style BBQ Ribs, and Angus Steaks along with starters that include Baked Brie, Portabella Brushetta, and Mini Crab Cakes which are new to the menu. Adam - my geeky, yet gruff hubby - and I took the opportunity to eat at Martin’s last night.

Our dinner started with a fabulous server named Suzi, who I will give credit right off for earning every penny of her tip. She was not only courteous and attentive, but had that great knack for predicting our needs beforehand - a gift that too many servers seem to lack nowadays. We promptly ordered the Baked Brie to wet our appetite. The Brie was delicious and came with an assortment of fruit, bread, and marinara sauce topped with parmesan. It’s definitely worth having if you decide to stop in yourself. Adam and I cleaned up the plate on this dish.

As for the actual meal, I ordered a Caesar Salad and a half rack of the St. Louis Style Ribs with Tangy Carolina BBQ Sauce. After having received some soggy, just plain bad salads from other restaurants, I was truly impressed with Martin’s Caesar Salad. The lettuce was nice and crisp, the croutons were good, and there was just the right amount dressing that not only tasted great, but was obviously made with real anchovies. And the ribs? Oh my god. Wonderful. They were oh so tender and very tasty - some of the best I’ve had in a very long time. The only other ribs in the area that I know of that come close are those at Brambleton Deli. And even then, there’s no comparison.

Adam ordered the Western Burger for his dinner. Which is kind of funny as our friends Jake and Lisa from our Wii nights showed up at Martin’s not five minutes after we did, and Jake ordered the Western Burger as well. Both Adam and Jake ordered a medium burger, and both Adam and Jake got a medium cooked burger. Which personally for us is a miracle as it seems no matter where Adam goes the burger is never cooked medium despite what he asked for. Also, coincidentally, Jake and Adam considered the new Bourbon Glazed Angus NY Strip. As Adam’s burger was cooked to perfection, we’re going back so he can try the Strip next go round. Anyhow, the Western was stacked with what looked to be between 1/3lb. and 1/2lb. of meat along with smoked bacon, cheddar, and a jumbo fried onion Ring that held in the BBQ sauce. Adam could barely get his mouth around it, and ended up finishing most of it with a fork. He couldn’t even eat the whole thing as he amazingly ran out of room in that stomach of his. He was also pleased with the fries as they were not only tasty, but crisp, and everything came straight out of the kitchen nice and piping hot.

For dessert, Lisa, at her table a few spots up, enjoyed the Chocolate Lava which she described as super rich and definitely the “decadent” dessert Martin’s describes it as. Adam and I enjoyed after dinner Martinis. I had a Godiva Martini made with Godiva Chocolate Liquors, and Adam gave the Wild Berry Martini which sort of shocked me. He’s normally a beer man and comes across as very gruff and man-like, yet he completely fell for this *cough* girly, blue drink. *snicker.* And geez, how could a Godiva Martini not rock my world? Even better, they weren’t stingy with the alcohol.

Anyhow, we loved the food and we loved the service. Our bill was under $50 and we left full and happy. What’s more, Martin’s has officially replaced 202 Market as my favorite all time restaurant. So we just have to go back now and try everything else on the menu.

Martin’s, by the way, also serves lunch. I read on their website that they will deliver if you work downtown so guess what I’m having for lunch this coming week! They are located at 431 1st behind the Texas Tavern at the corner of Luck and 1st, and you can call (540) 985-6278 for reservations or more information. Hope to see you there!