Though I helped organize the Big River Food Swap that took place last Sunday afternoon, I didn't know what to expect as I carried eleven jars of my spicy tomato chutney over to 449 N. Euclid. The food swap idea was something jeweler Jennifer Walker, a tenant in the building, and I had been kicking around most of the summer. Based on Jennifer's enthusiasm and what I had read about food swaps in other cities on Facebook, we decided to give it a try.
As each of the twelve participants, including tenants of the building, neighbors, and friends from South City, arranged their contributions and put out samples, the 1st Big River Food Swap stoked love at first bite–or sight.
One of the first impressions I had was how clever and varied the array of foods and handmade items were. For instance, neighbors Kate Donnelly & Nick Frisch brought a basketful of Baskerville Farm eggs from Nick's family's farm, above, with handmade labels.
Designer Kelly Reding, who restyles vintage clothing, made greeting cards and gift tags using old stamps from her collection.
Kelly's husband, writer Nick Reding, brought delicious wild Illinois smoked duck breast complete with a detailed ingredient list. My chutney occupied the same table as Nick's duck and we quickly found that the combination was quite delicious.
Each swapper listed the ingredients in her/his offering on the blue swap sheet, shown above, and then walked around the room sampling and deciding which items they wanted to swap for. Some of us worried that we may not have enough of our own product for each person, but somehow the swapping worked out, and everyone seemed pleased with their choices.
An interesting and not surprising sidebar to the afternoon were conversations between swappers about how some of the foods were made. Jennifer Walker, who is passionate about candy making (see her pecan logs and cranberry clusters above), and Kate Danna, who brought a tray of delicious candy apples, waxed poetic about the joys of tempering chocolate, which I know from experience is anything but joyful.
Kristie Chromie and Liz Sloane, photographers who form LPhotographie, are new tenants in the building. The pair unexpectedly dropped off mimosas and a fabulous lunch that included orzo salad, sugared bacon, and a cheesy strata, before heading upstairs to continue working on their airy studio. Someday I'll have to pry Liz's drop-dead-delicious gooey butter cookie recipe out of her to share with you.
When I got home I laid out my basketful of goodies for a photograph. In addition to the eggs, cards, pecan log, and duck breast, it includes jeweler Christiane Danna's basil pesto, neighbor Carter Hand's Swedish cookies complete with baking instructions hand-written on the wrapper, Barbara Scott's sweet potato soup, and a package of neighbor Anne Scheuerman's thick bing cherry scones. In the upper right of the photograph you'll see the remains of Kate Danna's candy apple that didn't last long around here.
All of us who took part are still talking about how much fun it was. In fact, we are already discussing a holiday version of the Big River Food Swap, which will include more crafts and definitely more food.
Everything was fabulous, but not all were complicated or overly crafty. What could be more “Made in Missouri” than bison burgers from Bowood Farms, Connie? Pack those into a cooler next time!
Wow! How fabulous everything looks! Sort of intimidating to all us less talented cooks and crafters. All of you talented ones, to which it comes so easy, don’t know how hard it is for the rest of us to attempt to make anything -yet alone such imaginative products. Maybe you could have a “novice” category for the next swap. Like anything that is new, though, I guess one just has to try!