Spring Queens Swap is Here - at a New Venue

I'm very excited to announce that the spring edition of Queens Swap, our bi-monthly food swapping event is back!  Held in a private home this time, which should give you guys new opportunities to sample the goods, we'll be kicking off the spring season with the latest and greatest cooked, baked, pickled, fermented, foraged, grown or what have you items.

For those of you who came to our last event in February, you no doubt have a good feel for what kind of items to bring in and swap, but in case you need a reminder, take a look at our Swapping Tips page.  We have about 20 spots for this event, so please RSVP soon to secure your space (all guests must be accounted for since we're hosting at a private home).  Meg, AJ and I are delighted to see our regular swappers and to meet some new faces - hope you can join us.  

Spring Queens Swap
Sunday, April 22nd from 2 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location - will be released per RSVP
This event is FREE but donations are appreciated

RSVP here - can't wait to discover the fun, new things you come up with.  Just a heads-up that AJ will be doing a post on useful tools and resources you should know about for the next swap, but as a preview, please take a look at his post on these neat label templates you can use for your items.  I plan to!

The 2nd Queens Swap is Here!

I'm so pleased to announce that our 2nd official Queens Swap, food swapping event is totally on.  Riding on the coat tails of the first successful event back in May, this second iteration of an urban food barter concept will raise the bar yet again. 

For starters, we have a new fabulous organizer, AJ from Handjobs for the Home blog, joining us.  We loved AJ's contributions so much from the last swap, and he's been such a part of our blogger family (both at the Fooditka and We Heart Astoria) that it felt only natural to extend the olive branch.  More than happy to accept, AJ has already made his mark on this program by suggesting a fantastic new venue and cooking up additional great ideas to make this swap even better than the last.

Here are all the pertinent deets of the swap, as well as the most important part - where to RSVP. 

2nd Queens Swap - Saturday, September 17th from 4:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Fresh Start Market - 29-13 23rd Avenue, Astoria

In the spirit of enjoying the great outdoors, the swap will take place in Fresh Start's lovely outdoor patio space and will be limited to 20 ambitious swappers.  So whether you've attended the last swap or are a newbie, I encourage you to take a look at our swapping tips page, which will help guide you.

If you'd like to swap with us this month, please RSVP here - there are only 9 spots left so don't wait, just go for it!

Spotlight on Astoria Artisans - AJ's Jam!

Something new I'd like to start doing on this blog is pay special homage to the Astoria Artisans who have a passion for food.  There are many fanatical food enthusiasts in our nabe, as we know, and they range from your urban farmer (more on that soon), your specialty desserts baker, to the handy diyer, who I'll talk about now.  AJ Simone is his name, and preserving, building and jarring is the name of his game.

Heading up a blog with a humorously provocative name, Handjobs for the Home, you'll find yourself drawn to AJ's creations, which include anything and everything from DIY microwave popcorn to bbq rubs, classic strawberry jam, red onion relish and much more.  I absolutely love his user friendly tips and the charming way he presents all his goodies - very Martha meets Colin Cowie!

I'm proud to say that I know this talented man personally, as we recently forged a friendship at the last Queens Swap I worked on with Meg and Charlene.  AJ totally brought it with his impressive canned goods such as the black onion relish, which I've used on practically anything that's edible and has a flat surface.  I recently saw him at Tuesday's launch party and he generously graced me with another one of his creations, Strawberry Lemon Preserves.

Strawberry Lemon Preserves - As you can see from the above pictures, this delectable spread was packaged in AJ's signature charming-as-can-be style.  I couldn't wait to dig in, tempted to eat them with a spoon right out of the jar, but I waited.  Only a little bit.

Using the spread on a dark, fluffly whole wheat bagel, it totally came to life.  The tart flavor of the strawberry and the zingy essence of the lemon raised these preserves to another level.  They tasted uncannily (pun intended) fresh and summery.  Each bite was a pleasure, as the chunky strawberries tingled your tastebuds in all the right places.  A pretty awesome handjob (or rather tastejob) indeed!

You can learn how to make this fantastic delicacy, as AJ uncovers his recipe for Strawberry Lemon Preserves.