April Swap Recap (& Happy Anniversary to us!)

April marked the one year anniversary of SF Swappers! To celebrate we had a food swap (go figure). There couldn't have been a better way to give thanks for all the interest and support we've had in the past year, and to have another opportunity to share food, stories and smiles with our continually growing community.

My nod to my German family heritage: my very first Obsttorte 

As always we had a diverse group of old friends, regular swappers and newcomers. We tried out a theme for the first time: family. In celebration of the upcoming Mother’s and Father’s Days, we thought it apropos to ask people to share their culinary histories, taking inspiration from their heritage, sharing secret family recipes, or making foods that have become new traditions in their current families.

It seemed folks had a lot of fun with it, and on the swapping block we had Claire's great-grandmother's sweet watermelon pickles, Vanessa's grandmother's potstickers, Stephanie's mom's crockpot chili, Christina's English childhood Shepherds Pie and more. For the potluck, I made my very first Obsttorte, a German fresh fruit torte — one of my mom's staples she makes for all kinds of family occasions. And one bite of Stephanie's Curried Cashew Tofu brought me back to college days circa 1990 as it was inspired by her former boss, the chef owner of the venerable Whole Earth Restaurant on UC Santa Cruz' campus where I regularly ate. Yum! 

Curried Cashew Tofu, made by Stephanie, inspired by Bella

Here is the full list of swappables...c'mon, admit it — kind of makes you wish you had been there, right?

Thai Pandan-Coconut Sticky Rice Candy with Palm Sugar, Popo’s Potstickers, Aromatic, Orange & Lemon Bitters, Cordials, Vin d’Orange, Hempseed ‘Ranch’ Dressing, Mom’s Crockpot Chili, Candy Cap Cookies (made with wild harvested candy cap mushrooms), Lemon Curd, Pulled Pork, Salad DeOliveh (Iranian potato salad), Mango Hot Sauce, Serrano Honey Lime Sauce, Slow-Roasted Balsamic Strawberries, Mrs. C’s Sweet Watermelon Pickles, Spiced Kumquats, Indian-Spiced Kumquat Chutney, Honey & Rose Water Preserved Kumquats, Chocolate Pudding, German Pretzel Rolls (Laugenbrötchen), Enchilada Sauce, Maureen’s Creamy Mac, Shepherds Pie, Organic Chard from the garden, Lemony Raspberry Bars, Apple-Banana Chocolate Bread, Sage & Chive Flower Pot Cornbread, Strawberry Blood Orange Marmalade Infused with Rosemary, Coconut Manna, Coconut-Pistachio Manna, Espresso & Plain Brownies, Dried Mango Dipped in Chocolate, Edible Flowers Dipped in Chocolate, Garden-fresh Organic Super Spicy Mustard Greens, Meyer Lemons, Kale, Chard & Herbs, Green Garlic Crackers, Lemon & Red Pepper Crackers and Caper & Sea Salt Crackers

Welcome!

Produce from Patricia's Algarden

German Pretzel Rolls & Chocolate Pudding by me (photo also by me)

Jessie's bright Lemon Curd

Two flavors of Francine's Hot Sauce made with her mom's hot chilis

Samples of Diana's Slow-Roasted Balsamic Strawberries

Cordials, Bitters & Vin d'Orange by Lea

Chocolate Dipped Flowers & Fruit by Carey

Salad DeOliveh by Pamela

Enchilada Sauce by Yesenia

Gorgeous recipe cards for two types of Coconut Manna by Penna

Assorted tasty Crackers by Micah

Turkey & Pork Potstickers by Vanessa

Three types of Preserved Kumquats by me

Hempseed 'Ranch' Dressing by Stephanie

Watermelon Pickles by Claire

Shepherds Pie by Christina

Pulled Pork by Herb

Candy Cap Cookies by Olga & Jim

Lemon Raspberry Bars and Apple-Banana Bread by Amy

Maureen's Creamy Mac

Madge's Sage & Chive Flower Pot Cornbread

Brownies by Kira

Once again the swap was hosted by Patricia in her mixed space Mission locale; it is now the office for her newly launched landscaping business and as well as home base for Zomadic. The swap boasted one of Rob's awesome zome structures this time, which provided a groovy space for socializing while still keeping an eye on the swap table scene.

Potluck chatter in the zome and beyond

Swappers getting to know eachother

Deep in conversation

Framed by the zome

Eyeing swap items

Sampling and bidding

Placing bids

Poised to get to a bid sheet

Making choices

It was another hugely fun swap, and as always I wasted no time cracking into my new larder items. Interestingly there were a number of things that paired together naturally. I put up no resistance.

My swap take-home treats (photo by me)

Garden fresh chard was the perfect bed for my potstickers (photo by me)

I hardly wanted to cut into this cornbread... (photo by me)

but my bowl of chili was begging for it! (photo by me)

These brownies were so rich and chocolatey, milk was a must (photo by me)

A couple weeks later I'm still getting inspired by and feasting on my swapped goods. So tell me swappers, how have you been mixing up what you brought home to your kitchens?

Big thanks to fellow swapper Vanessa for the majority of the photos above (unless otherwise noted, she took 'em!). Check out the rest of her awesome gallery here.

Our next swap will be in June, so tap your culinary creativity and start thinking about what you're going to bring now.