Announcing the June Food Swap

We're thrilled to announce our next food swap which will be held in the gorgeous Savory Spice Shop in Hinsdale, IL. Vanessa was there yesterday and came home loaded down with new spice mixes and recipe cards. It is an intoxicating and exciting space, filled with light and amazing flavors: an ideal place for foodies to gather.

JUNE FOOD SWAP

Sunday, June 3

3-5PM

Savory Spice Shop, 42 S. Washington Street, Hinsdale, IL

Please RSVP to guarantee your spot.

You have 6 weeks to prepare and brainstorm what you'll make for the next swap. So start scouring blogs and magazines for inspiration!
 
As usual, we ask that you pre-register if you plan to attend. We'll be limiting the number of swappers to 30 so be sure to rsvp quickly. We have a feeling that we'll need a waitlist for our first summer swap.

The Second Chicago Food Swap

Zuzu was not leaving without these cupcakes

The second Chicago Food Swap took place today, St. Patrick’s Day, and it was a huge success! I am still glowing from the foodie love.
After the December food swap, which was small but fun, my co-founder, Chef Druck, and I had looked around in vain for a more centrally located space that we could use. Our problem was price. We wanted to pay nothing. Every space we talked to wanted us to pay something.  Chef Druck and I are passionate about the food swap but we are also adamant about not charging our swappers a registration fee, so paying hundreds of dollars for an event space was simply not feasible.
When no free space emerged, we decided to try the swap again at our previous location: the basement of the Forest Park craft boutique, Pretty Little Things. The owners of Pretty Little Things, sisters Signe and Binky, could not have been more supportive of our efforts and we love them for it. Pretty Little Things has adorable, handmade clothes and home furnishings — I actually bought an organic cotton blanket for a baby present while I was setting up for the swap — which is really in keeping with the whole zeitgeist of the food swap movement.  I encourage locals to check it out.
Between December and now, the word had started to spread about the Chicago Food Swap and the response was exciting. We had twice as many swappers today as we had last time. Table space was at a premium. And the offerings were diverse, ranging from flavored syrups to chocolates to jams to baked goods to spice mixes and even alcoholic infusions! This time, it was a true swap. In December, everyone had ended up trading with everyone else because we were such a small group. Today, by contrast, there were a few items that we in high demand and negotiations got intense. But everyone was very polite and there was plenty of interest to go around.
I brought some cherry syrup that I had made with frozen sour cherries from last summer. (I used this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey and it’s a keeper. I served the syrup to my friends Friday morning with ice and seltzer and let me tell you, it was delicious.) I also brought some cranberry orange bread and some of my jams and jellies from last summer. Zuzu also got into the act and whipped up a batch of my grandmother’s famous Halfway Cookies as her swap item.
Zuzu’s Halfway Cookies were in high demand. She netted two bottles of chocolate syrup, a beautiful bottle of Tahitian vanilla syrup — what does she think she is going to do with it? — and — the main prize — a homemade version of those iconic Hostess chocolate cream-filled cupcakes. My haul was even more impressive: curry powder mix from my Sri Lankan cooking class instructor, English toffee, truffles, salad dressing, limencello (!), jalapeno jam, strawberry-rhubarb-orange jam, blueberry port mustard and more. And I missed out on the lemon and orange curds, the ketchup from Chef Druck and her daughter and the cheddar-scallion monkey bread! But that gives you a sense of the array of offerings.

Lemon curd sits next to cheddar scallion monkey bread

I think all of our swappers had a good time and enjoyed the beautiful array of goods. Many expressed their interest in doing it again. My friend Melisa, who came with her sister, wrote an enthusiastic recap on her blog. I’m glad to hear it because in the past few weeks, we’ve had at least two store owners express interest in hosting a swap at their place. Although we are very grateful to Pretty Little Things for their gracious hospitality, Chef Druck and I really like the idea of moving the swap around the Chicago area to reach the most people.
If you want to stay abreast of the latest swap happenings, be sure to “like” our Facebook page and check out our website. We hope to host another swap in May and you definitely don’t want to miss it!
If you aren’t in the Chicago area, don’t despair. There are food swaps popping up all over the country. Many cities, including Los Angeles, Austin and Brooklyn have very well-established food swaps. To find a food swap in your city, check out the Food Swap Network, which lists as many food swaps as it can all over the United States and internationally. No swap in your town? Start one! The Food Swap Network will help you get started.

March Chicago Food Swap

We are excited to announce the second Chicago Food Swap will be taking place on March 17 at 3 pm. Pretty Little Things has graciously offered to host us again, for which we are very grateful.

Pretty Little Things, a charming alternative craft boutique, is located in the heart of downtown Forest Park at 7324 Madison Street. Forest Park is easily accessible from 290 (take the Harlem exit) or by the Blue Line of the El. Madison Street is home to numerous boutiques, antique stores and restaurants, which make it an appealing destination for locals and tourists. So, if you are coming from another part of the Chicago area, plan to come early and shop or stay after the swap for a nice dinner.

Just to remind you, the Chicago Food Swap is an opportunity for home cooks, bakers and gardeners to trade their homemade and homegrown items. No commercial sellers are permitted and no money exchanges hands. But you don't need to be a gourmet cook to participate! As long as you can make one yummy thing to trade -- a batch of cookies, a spice mix or a drink syrup -- you are more than welcome. Some examples of popular swap items include baked goods; jams, pickles or other canned goods; granola and spice mixes; homemade pasta; and even drink syrups. The idea is to show off a bit, bring home some yummy treats and to meet fellow cooks. Feel free to bring samples for tasting or just to share!

It is free to participate in the swap. But, to help us plan, we do ask that people register in advance. You can register here. For more information and to chat with other swappers, be sure to check out our Facebook page.

See you March 17th!

First Chicago Food Swap Recap

This is cross-posted from West of the Loop, the blog written by one of the Chicago Food Swap organizers, Emily. 

Last weekend was the inaugural Chicago Food Swap organized by me and my partner-in-crime, Chef Druck. As I have explained before, food swaps are the latest foodie craze and are sweeping the country from Los Angeles to Austin to Philadelphia.  These events bring together passionate home cooks, gardeners and social media mavens in a friendly, non-commercial atmosphere to swap their homemade (or homegrown) edibles. No money changes hands. Everything is done by barter. The end result is that participants meet like-minded people from their own city, everyone diversifies their pantry and, with any luck, walks away inspired to push their culinary boundaries a little further.

As with any new enterprise, our first Chicago Food Swap started small. But our little group brought a wide variety of offerings and was very convivial. I naturally brought some of my jams and pickles, including strawberry balsamic jam, pickled asparagus and apricot-habañero jelly, to swap. Local personal chef and food blogger Angie brought several varieties of cookies, including the best gingerbread men that I have ever tasted. (They are chewy, not crispy, which is the key to their deliciousness.) Food blogger and digital media guru Jessi brought 16 loaves of homemade foccacia topped with carmelized onions. Wow. My family polished off a loaf of that foccacia that same night. Chef Druck brought her homemade jam as well as cookies. And among the other delicious offerings were pumpkin bread, currant scones, ginger martini syrup (!) and hot buttered rum mix — just add rum and boiling water. Unloading my bag when I got home that evening was like a foodie Christmas morning.

One of the best things about the first Chicago Food Swap was that it turned into a family affair. Chef Druck announced the week before the Swap that her eldest daughter, Bella, who has become something of a baker lately, wanted to participate in the Swap. I shared this information with Zuzu, who is two years younger than Bella and therefore thinks Bella is pretty much the coolest person ever. Naturally, Zuzu wanted to come as well. Bella made adorable Reindeer Rice Krispie Treats to swap and Zuzu whipped up some mini-loaves of her favorite weekday snack, chocolate chip banana bread. Another swapper Jacky, of the hot buttered rum mix, ended up bringing her eleven-year-old, and my friend Rowena of the fashion and lifestyle site She She Shoppers brought her daughter. The four girls had fun sizing up all the swap offerings and browsing at the upstairs boutique.

Speaking of upstairs, our hosts for the swap, the Forest Park alternative craft boutique, Pretty Little Things, was almost as much of a draw as the food was. When I approached the owners about using their downstairs space for our swap, they immediately expressed their interest. Their store is all about featuring unique handmade items so the zeitgeist of the food swap movement — which showcases handmade products — really appealed to them. Sisters Signe and Binky could not have been more gracious and accommodating hosts and Chef Druck and I are very grateful to them for letting us use their space for free.  They did get a little something out of it. All of the girls found some items at the store that they could not live without. Both Bella and Zuzu went home with a pair of hand-knitted fingerless gloves, which I suspect will be come The Next Big Thing at their elementary school. If you are looking for unique holiday gifts this season and are local, definitely check out Pretty Little Things for unusual and handmade apparel and home decor.

Chef Druck and I are already gearing up for the next Chicago Food Swap, which is tentatively scheduled for February 11. Location TBD. As much as I would love to be at Pretty Little Things again, we are hoping for a larger group this time around. And with that, a more central location. If the idea of a food swap sounds at all appealing to you, I hope you will join us in February. To hear about the latest updates of the Chicago Food Swap and to find out when registration for the February Swap opens, check out our website, follow us on Twitter or like our Facebook page. And stay tuned!

Join Us on December 4th for the First Chicago Food Swap!

Food swaps are the latest foodie craze, bringing together neighbors and strangers to exchange food and get to know each other in a truly non-commercial setting.

No money changes hands. Food is exchanged in a very old fashioned way: by bartering. One bag of crunchy chocolate chip cookies might be swapped for a pretty jar of apple jelly, or for a gleaming loaf of challah bread.

LA has been holding them for a while. Philadelphia recently got their own. And now Chicago is getting in the game.

You don't need to be a card-carrying foodie to participate, you just need to register and bring something, anything that you prepared or grew yourself.

So what are you waiting for? The registration form is right here.

Looking forward to swapping with you on December 4th!