Mélange of the Mountains is Haywood’s premier culinary event launching the spring tourism season. It is a uniquely local epicurean partnership of innovative chefs, sustainable producers, crafty microbrewers and local farms.
Visitors, from near and far, will discover that Haywood County is a vibrant and diverse destination for foodies of all ages – well worth a gold star on the regional gastronomy map!
Mélange of the Mountains Culinary Weekend is the perfect invitation to explore Haywood County and the many farm-to-table partners who make our community so flavorful!
CLICK HERE to learn more about the Gala and Culinary Weekend opportunities!
Here is a recipe for a traditional Italian cake that we have modified with a Southern twistby using local apples, Georgia pecans, garden fresh herbs and floral Haywood County honey then baked in a cast iron skillet for a rustic presentation.
Torta di Mele with Rosemary Pecans and Max Patch Clover Honey
Torta di Mele with Rosemary Pecans and Max Patch Clover Honey
(Recipe courtesy of Tina Masciarelli, Buy Haywood Project Coordinator,
and her daughters)
INGREDIENTS 1 1/3 cups unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon dried ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz butter, softened
2 local eggs
3/4 cup Vanilla Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)
1-2 local apples, peeled and thinly sliced
**Adjust the amount of apple depending on size
of the fruit. If the apples are large, use one. If
small, use two. I used NC Golden Delicious for this
recipe**
1 cup Georgia pecan pieces
Sugar in the Raw **To sprinke on top**
1 Tablespoon chopped garden fresh rosemary
Vanilla Ice Cream
Local Clover Honey **I used Clover Honey from Max
Patch, the floral notes added the exact flavor that I
wanted**
PREPARATION Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop 1-2 Tablespoons of fresh rosemary and toss in a bowl of 1 cup Sugar in the Raw. The rosemary will infuse the sugar. Set aside.
Toast the pecan pieces for 5-8 minutes until done. Add hot pecans to rosemary sugar and toss until well coated. Let stand until ready to garnish dessert.
Butter a 9 inch baking dish of your choice. I used my Grandmother’s cast iron skillet – sprayed lightly with cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger and salt. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing just until incorporated after each egg. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Careful not to overmix after each addition. Add half the yogurt, mix just until incorporated. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix just until incorporated. Add the remaining yogurt, mix, and then the last portion of the flour mixture. Let stand while you prepare the apples.
Peel and thinly slice the apple(s). Add to the batter and mix on low until apples are incorporated, careful not to overmix or the apples will break apart and the torta will become tough.
Pour into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with Sugar in the Raw to lightly cover top and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.
GARNISH & SERVE
Remove the Torta from the oven and let rest for 8-10 minutes before cutting. Assemble the toppings: Vanilla Ice Cream, Rosemary Pecans & Local Clover Honey. In each bowl, place a slice of the Torta, a scoop of ice cream, the toasted pecans (making sure to get bits of rosemary and sugar) and drizzle the top with clover honey.
Happy New Year! The Buy Haywood team is back from our winter break and ready to dive right in to our 2015 agenda.
Have you ever wondered exactly what we do here at Buy Haywood? We talk a lot about local agripreneurs, promoting Haywood County farm products (from Christmas trees to honey bees), share delicious recipes and menu ideas while working to support the preservation of our rich agricultural heritage and farmlands. Sounds pretty good, right? What does all that really mean? If you pull back the curtain at Buy Haywood, what would you see?
We’d like to offer you a project summary of our 2014 efforts:
MARKETING
April, 2014, we launched a new & improved website
Expanded our Web Directory with new catagories and listings
Increased our social media platforms to include: Facebook, Instagram, Farm Fresh Blog and a Youtube Channel. Follow our adventures on your favorite platform!
Presented multiple programs to service organizations, community clubs, garden clubs and other groups
Served as the featured guest for three live radio interviews at WRGC 540 AM on the 540 Focus program
Enjoyed multiple interviews that appeared in publications such as Smoky Mountain Living Magazine, Mountain Xpress and Romantic Asheville Blog
Launched our #ShopSmall challenge to coincide with Small Business Saturday. Each of our agripreneurial partners are also small businesses and serve as the backbone to our local economy.
Launched our#ShopSmall Contest that ran from Thanksgiving week to midnight on Christmas Day. Congratulations to Lori Mehaffey Mann who won three nesting bowls from Hemphill Pottery!
COOKING LOCAL TOGETHER: Served 808 participants over 8 events
Our 2014 outreach project was inspired by our highly successful two-year Cooking Local Project (2012-2013). The design of Cooking Local Together drew on the most successful elements of our previous project while also expanded to include interactive components rooted in the national, evidence-based program “Food is Elementary” from the Food Studies Institute.
Through collaboration with other partner agencies and organizations, we had the opportunity to share a rich and engaging selection of materials to increase enthusiasm around making healthy, simple and affordable dishes that can be easily replicated at home.
Educational & Activity Materials provided by the following project contributors:
a) North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (NCDA&CS)
b) Healthy Haywood
c) Haywood County Health Department
d) WNC Healthy Kids
e) Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP)
f) MountainWise
Our Farm Stewards Youth Project was designed to complement existing “Farm to School” initiatives already active in our community by taking learning outside the classroom to offer students an interdisciplinary learning experience layered with connections to farming and agriculture in our home community. Visit the project page for complete information.
Participating Groups:
Roots in Education, Summer Camp
Junaluska Elementary, 4th Grade
Junaluska Elementary, 5th Grade
Jonathan Valley, 1st Grade & 5th Grade
Waynesville Middle School, Exceptional Students 6, 7 & 8
We provided “Activity Packets” for every student and “Teacher Packets” for every teacher and assistant. Materials provided by the following partners:
a) Buy Haywood
b) Canton Branch, Haywood County Public Library
c) Waynesville Branch, Haywood County Public Library
d) Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP)
e) Healthy Haywood / Haywood County Health Department
f) WNC Healthy Kids
g) MountainWise
Buy Haywood’s Farmer to Chef Initiative connects farmers, chefs, and distributors in Haywood County and surrounding counties to provide farmers/growers with expanded market opportunities.
UNIQUELY LOCAL PROJECT
We developed a Haywood County label series designed to expand marketing and branding for Haywood County agripreneurs. Look for the Uniquely Local labels, door clings and property signs around Haywood County!
Our Uniquely Local designations are:
Uniquely Local, Farm Fresh
Uniquely Local, Farm Raised
Uniquely Local, Farm to Table
Uniquely Local, Artisan Produced
Uniquely Local, Haywood Grown
….and through this campaign, developed Uniquely Local, Farm Stewards
To celebrate this project, we facilitated the 2014 Uniquely Local Food Crawl! We had 3,229 entries for the multitude of local prizes.
Funded by a grant from NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund (NC ADFP)
PHEW! 2014 was an amazing season. We watched our agripreneurial community grow by leaps and bounds.
Buy Haywood is a 100% grant funded initiative. If you would like to contribute to our efforts, donations are greatly appreciated! Our parent organization, Haywood Advancement Foundation, is a 501 (c) (3) organization. All donations are tax deductible! Should you decide to contribute to Buy Haywood, your name will be added to our website AND you will receive a tax letter from the Haywood Advancement Foundation.
Donation checks should be made payable to:Haywood Advancement Foundation (with Buy Haywood in the memo line).
Mailed to:
28 Walnut Street, Suite 4
Waynesville, NC 28786
Special thanks to the Haywood Advancement Foundation, Haywood Tourism Authority, Bethel Rural Community Organization & Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) for your 2015 investment in Buy Haywood and our many projects!
We are thrilled to introduce Erika Baltzley, our super dynamic intern! Erika is an upcoming graduate of Haywood Community College’s Low Impact Development Program and brings a tremendous amount of knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication to our many projects.
Looking forward to a prosperous 2015! Thank you for joining us on this journey.
Tina Masciarelli, MLA
Buy Haywood Project Coordinator
info@buyhaywood.com
828.734.9574
Supporting Haywood County farms, locally grown products, farmlands & the preservation of our rich agricultural heritage since 2007
