The Hungry Hoosier

The Juniper Spoon: Catering with a Conscience

Originally published in newspapers with great taste on July 12, 2007

Imagine sitting down at the dinner table with your family for a meal that includes seasonal fruits and vegetables from the garden, beef or pork from a nearby farm where you know the farmer treated his animals well and didn’t load them up with growth hormones or antibiotics.  End dinner with a crème brûlée for dessert made from eggs gathered that very morning from the hen house. For most of us this is some sort of Martha Stewart-meets-Laura Ingalls Wilder fantasy.

For a growing number of families in Montgomery County this is no fantasy, it’s a reality. The real kicker is that they don’t have to lift one finger to enjoy such a feast. These are people who purchase home-delivered meals from The Juniper Spoon. Guests at wedding receptions, attendees of corporate functions, and other groups all around central Indiana are also benefiting from the fruits (and vegetables) of The Juniper Spoon’s labor. 

The Juniper Spoon is the family-run business of chef, and former organic farmer, Lali Hess and her organic gardener/full-time student husband Doug Miller. The Juniper Spoon is a unique whole-foods catering service creating fresh and inspired dishes for large and small events as well as family dinners. They describe their food as hand-crafted, using original recipes influenced by traditional dishes. For ingredients, they turn to their own organic garden and year-round greenhouse, and the family farms that surround them. Their commitment to fresh and local foods is rooted in their commitment to strengthening the local economy, supporting the bio-region, and because fresh and local just plain tastes better. Catering with a conscience.

Their full-service catering operation can do it all from hors d’oeuvres and “conversation platters” to lunches and dinners. Their culinary repertoire includes vegetarian options and a United Nations’ worth of ethnic dishes - African, Asian, Eastern European, Indian, Latin America, Middle Eastern, and Spanish. All dishes are made from scratch and rely on whole foods rather than over-processed short cuts. 

Their dinner delivery service currently is limited to the Crawfordsville and Montgomery County area but growing demand from other parts of central Indiana could expand the service area. The dinner menu changes weekly and a meal for three (or two and a next-day lunch) is $30 plus tax and comes with directions for heating and serving.

For the catering side of the house, Lali and company a variety of servives - buffets and stations for large events and seated service for smaller affairs. They can handle the décor and centerpieces, and have serving ware for a variety of moods and settings - elegant, rustic, Asian-inspired. One look at the catering menu confirms that there is a lot of creativity at work from a brunch menu with Homemade V-8 Juice from Homegrown Tomatoes, Free-Range Tarragon Chicken Salad on Homemade Pitas on the lunch menu, and Thai Red Curry Shrimp on the dinner menu, and a conversation platter of Indiana Artisan Cheeses. These are some top-notch selections.

I’ve had ninety-nine unimaginatively-catered meals for every one that was creative and memorable. Cold-cut platters and chafing dishes of dried-out, flavorless lasagna seems to be the norm at most of the functions I attend. After learning about The Juniper Spoon I might take some desperate measures to get into one of their events - crash a wedding reception, dress in drag for a ladies tea, or maybe even change jobs to get in on one of Lali’s corporate gigs.

Lali Hess can be reached email and by phone at 765-794-0533 and much more information is available in The Juniper Spoon website.

A Local Easter Ham

This year we're having a local ham for Easter. The hog was raised, butchered, and the ham smoked within 40 miles from our home. In years past I have prepared grocery-store hams and heritage hams shipped from the West Coast. This will be our first local ham. If you are interested, Moody Meats with shops in Avon and Ladoga is taking orders for Easter Hams. They specialize in sustainably-farmed, all natural pork, beef, and poultry. You can learn more at their website.

Mushroom Shack, That's Where It's At"

Being of a certain age, whenever I see the word "shack" I think of the love-variety immortalized in song by the B-52s. When I saw the signs for the Mushroom Shack at the Crawfordsville Armory, I just had to check it out. I'm glad I did. This place has the most unusual combination of menu items I've ever seen under one roof, (tin roof rusted or any other). In fact, I can almost guarantee you will not find morel mushrooms, alligator, bluegill, and pumpkin rolls sharing space on any other menu in this galaxy. That and more, however, is what you get at the Mushroom Shack.

Even better, this place will soon be on wheels and easily transported to any location. Scott Thompson is the guy running the show. Based out of Rockville, Indiana, Scott can be reached by phone at 765-362-1448 or 765-344-2010 if you want to know more about the Mushroom Shack. If you want to try the grub, the best bet is the Crawfordsville Armory (1405 South Washington Street) where they operate several days each week. Click here for hours, days of operation and menu. So, hop in your big-as-a-whale Chrysler and set sail for the Shack.

Phelps Family Farms, Ladoga

A few weeks ago I wrote an article called Six Degrees of Kevin's Bacon in which I discussed how far removed we are from much of our food - bacon for instance. Last week I had a chance to reduce to one the degrees of seperation between my bacon and me. I had the opportunity to buy bacon directly from the farm family who raised the hog. Phelps Family Farms of Ladoga, Indiana specialize in pasture-raised pork and beef as well as free-range eggs. I also purchased some pork burgers and both were exceptional. Sure, I paid more but I can feel good that I am helping to support a real family, this family treats their animals well, the eco-impact of my purchase was minimal (they are just 25 miles from my house), and the taste was exceptional.

Members of the Phelps family and their products are available at the Trader's Point Organic Farmer's Market. The Phelps can be reached by phone at 765-942-2047. 

Johnny Provolone's, Crawfordsville

A pizza joint, like pizza itself, ought to have character. Most of the pizza consumed in this country comes to our doorstep from one of the many mega-chains. They offer fast, convenient, and cheap. Obviously, there is a place for that in the marketplace. The one thing they lack, however, is a distinct character. That is where the independents come in. The folks in Crawfordsville are fortunate to have the Lowe Brothers who own and operate Johnny Provolone's.

I had driven by the place on a number of occasions while visiting Crawfordsville on business but I had never had a chance to stop and eat. Last week, I decided to pack up the family and take a short road trip for dinner for pizza at Provolone's. Arriving at about 6:20 in the evening we had no trouble at all finding street parking in downtown Crawfordsville. Stepping inside I was reminded of some of the family-owned pizza spots in places like New York City. The unmistakable perfume of garlic and italian spices hung in the air and the place has a relaxed, family-friendly vibe.

We were greeted warmly by our server and in a dead giveaway that this place caters to families, they were one step ahead of any requests we had to accommodate our small kids - highchairs at hand, drink cups with lids.

As we checked out the menu (available here) I was immediately impressed at some of the more unusual pizza combinations - BLT, Chicken Bacon Ranch, Baked Potato. Pizza sizes range from 10" to a colossal 28" We settled in a couple of 10" hand-tossed pizzas - one with cheese only on half and green olives on the other half and for the other one, the Mobster (pepperoni, sausage, onions, green peppers, black olives, and mushrooms).

After only about 12 minutes we were dividing up pieces onto out disposable plates. The thing that impressed me first was the crust. The hand-tossed crust was light and a good kind of chewy. To often, pizza crust is neutral in flavor. This tasted like great, fresh, Italian bread and it provided a great foundation to the rest of the pie. The sauce was flavorful with a great tomato zip. The meats were mildly spicy and the vegetables colorful and crispy. I also appreciated the fact that the pizza was not drowning in melted cheese, allowing all the flavors to work together. The kids enjoyed their pizza and out five year old, who is usually a light eater, scarfed down four pieces of cheese pizza.

Johnny Provolone gets a big thumbs up from the Hungry Hoosier. Check them out the next time you are in Crawfordsville. They are located at 116 South Washington Street and they can be reached by phone at 765-361-6840.