Hometown Homegrown in Pittsburgh

If you made it out to the Hometown Homegrown event at the Senator John Heinz History Center today, you ate a bunch of good local food. Bottom line. If you didn't, well, you better mark your calendar for next year! To pretend you're living in the moment, reread my tweets of the event.

I got there right at 10:00AM, so the action was just starting...

There were more than 50 local vendors on the 5th floor of the museum, and I stopped by almost all of the booths. Some of my favorites were:

{Soup Nancys}

Aside from their punny name, these ladies have some serious soup!  I tired a lentil and vegetable soup, which was a gorgeous, saturated green, and summery color. The eggplant still had some bite, which was so lovely as most eggplant I've had in liquid-based cooking methods usually turn up soggy. 

Check plus! You can find their soups and more at their booth in the Pittsburgh Public Market {in the Strip}.

{Gryphon's Tea}

Their table was decked out in samples of several of their tea mixtures...a welcomed site for me! I love teas, and their Lady Grey was right up my alley. They had it in an iced tea form, and it hit the spot. Such a lovely floral and citrusy taste for an iced tea. I'll definitely go check out their dozens and dozens of teas at the Public Market soon. Husband will be thrilled!

Soup Sega! {Bulgarian Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center}

You guys, this table was decked out. It was filled with Macedonian pottery, some of which was for soup serving.  

The ladies offered me a small cup of their Creamy Mushroom Noodle soup, and I wish I would have had the forethought asked for more - it was buttery, but not too heavy. The mushroom slice in my cup was cooked well, and was brightened with a little lemon and parsley at the end. 

This also seems like a fun date night - taking Husband to the Soup Sega! Kitchen in West Homestead to savor a few of their many soups. Heads up - they're only open from September through May. {Who would want to cook soup in the summer?!}

{Wild Purveyors}

I zoned in as soon as I saw WP was here - I've been waiting for their UpLa store to open for months now {well, since I've moved here at least}, and it looks like it should happen soon! I met Cavan of WP, who told me himself it would be soon. I HAVE PROOF, PEOPLE! I can't wait.

Today he was offering house-made cheeses, placed simply on a board.  Drop by their store of Butler Street later this summer for local, 'found' food. Exciting!

{Home Cooked by Donna}

I hadn't the stomach space to try any of their food, but I know I'm making a point to in the near future. The smells coming from their booth were homey to this Southerner. With a menu that features buttermilk pancakes and a smiling, sweet lady behind the booth telling me about them - how can you go wrong? Their whole chicken wing breakfast special {with home fries and eggs} has my name on it.

{5 Generation Bakers}

I was lured over in to the last corner of the 5th floor by the sweet scent and sizzle of girdled french toast. Spakrling on the griddle was a handful of sliced cinnamon sugar bread, which had been daintily dipped in spiced egg batter.

 I could kick myself for not taking advantage of their two-for-$5 special on their loaves of bread.  {A full stomach certainly can could your judgement.} I plan to buy a loaf at Giant Eagle for the french toast recipe card I grabbed from their table.

After stuffing my face with deliciousness for over an hour, I took a break and sat in on a cooking demo.  The demo was hosted by Chris Fennimore and Rick Sebak from WQED, and they made some delicious cookies, which they called "Cowboy Cookies;" Where I come from, those are called Kitchen Sink Cookies. 

What a cutesy demo - they were cracking family/appropriate jokes the whole time {I was sitting in a room mostly filled with seniors}, playing up their audience.  Everyone loved their jovial cooking stove-side manner. As I promised on Twitter, I'll post the recipe soon for those that didn't pick one up.

As I made my way down to the bottom floor {I realize I did everything backwards}, I stopped at the cookbook swap table. Too bad I didn't bring one to swap! I love all of my cookbooks equally.

 Our tunes were provided by the Pittsburgh Banjo Club - Such fun, upbeat music!

With a full stomach and a bag full of brochures/recipes/coupons, I left the Heinz History Center a happier person. I love that our new city has so much to offer foodies!

Did you go to the event? What were some of your favorites?