August 27: Urbana, IL

The Urbana Sweetcorn Festival brought the 80s band Survivor to town!

I didn’t get any corn (for the second year in a row), but I did eat some funnel cake and rock out with my friend Natalie.  Carnival food is sometimes the best worst indulgence.

September 2: Urbana, IL

Knowing that the Animal Sciences in the College of ACES at the University studies livestock, they have to do something with the livestock.  I had heard rumors of a meat sciences laboratory.  A lab where I could buy high-quality, local, and very fresh meat at competitive prices.  It became an adventure to find it, and buy some meat.

Well, apparently, the locals know all about it.  And they also know about the eggs sales in the meat sales room, too.  It pretty much looks like a butcher shop with cases of lamb, veal, beef, pork, and chicken you can buy.  It also has cases full of sausages and brats that you can buy.  Here’s what I got:

The shop also had some helpful posters about beef and pork:

I cooked the rib eye and ham, but those recipes are in the next post.

How to find Farmer’s Markets in IL

Find a place in Illinois near you that offers fresh farm goods by using Illinois Farm Direct – the farmer-to-consumer directory of locally produced foods.  It’s an excellent source of consumer information.

Thought for the week: “A man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.” – William Shakespeare (1564-1616)