Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Lets Spice It Up! Spice Truck Returns to the Harvest Market


The Lets Spice It Up! Spice Truck pays a return visit to the Downtown Elgin Harvest Market this Thursday, August 12 from 10am-4pm at our temporary new location at the Old Gail Borden Parking Lot at the southwest corner of Kimball Street and N. Grove Avenue across from the Gail Borden Public Library.

Michael and Lisa will be on hand with all of your favorite dried spices, soup bases, sauces, salsas and much more! For more information about Let's Spice It Up! visit their website at http://www.letsspiceitup.com/

Also as a special treat this week, we welcome back Dustin from Mad Discs and Dyes who will be conducting an interactive T-shirt tie-dying demonstration beginning at Noon.

The Harvest Market's temporary move to the Old Gail Borden Lot is for this week only due to the pavement reconstruction project at the intersection of Highland and Douglas Avenues from August 12-16.

The Market will return to our usual home at the Civic Parking Lot on Thursday, August 19th from 10am-4pm.

Monday, August 09, 2010

"First Thursday" Harvest Market Recipe - Grilled Pizza


At each and every "First Thursday" Harvest Market, Chef Virginia Lopez conducts a cooking demonstration sponsored by Ziegler's Ace Hardware at 215 N. Spring Street in Downtown Elgin. This past Thursday, August 5th, Chef Lopez showed Harvest Market patrons the secret to grilling great pizza. That's right...pizza on the grill! Now she is sharing her recipe with you as well:

PIZZA ON THE GRILL

Pizza on the grill is one more reason to fire up your grill this summer! There are many pizza dough recipes out there. This one is good, quick and easy.

1 package (¼ ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
2¾ to 3 cups all- purpose flour
½ teaspoon herbs of your choice fresh or dried (optional)

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar, baking soda and 2 cups flour. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6to 8 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

On a floured surface, roll dough into a 13-in. circle or shape dough by hand. Keep a built up edge. Brush one side with olive oil and place oiled side down on medium heat grill cook covered for about 4 to 8 minutes. Remove from grill. Put sauce and topping of your choice on the browned side and place back on the grill, cover and cook for 4-to-8 minutes longer or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

Some suggestions for toppings:

Sauces: barbeque sauce, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce
Meats: cooked Italian sausage, bacon, barbeque chicken
Grilled Vegetables: eggplant, broccoli, onion, sweet red pepper, green pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes
Don’t forget salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to spice it up!

To download the recipe in PDF form, click here!

And be sure to check out Chef Virginia Lopez's cooking demo at our September "First Thursday" Harvest Market at the Civic Parking Lot at Highland and Douglas Avenues on Thursday, September 2nd from 10am-6pm.

Highland-Douglas Intersection Closed Aug. 12-16 for Pavement Reconstruction

Harvest Market Relocated This Thursday Due to Construction

The intersection of Highland Avenue and Douglas Avenue will be completely closed beginning approximately 5:00 A.M. on Thursday, August 12 to allow for reconstruction of the pavement through the intersection. Pavement removal, grading, framing and pouring the new pavement will occur on Thursday and Friday. On Monday, August 16, temporary asphalt will be placed over the new concrete base and the intersection will be re-opened as soon as the asphalt has time to properly cool. Complete closure of the intersection allows the work to be completed within a five day time frame as opposed to approximately four weeks if the construction was staged and traffic allowed through the intersection during the reconstruction period.

Local access to businesses on Highland and Douglas will be maintained via detoured traffic patterns through the Civic Center Parking Lot and through the alley that runs behind the properties on Douglas Avenue.


Click here for Detour Map > > >


Due to traffic being redirected through the Civic Center Parking Lot, the Harvest Market will be relocated on Thursday, August 12 to the former Gail Borden Library Parking Lot, on the southwest corner of Kimball and N. Grove, across from the Centre. Market hours that day will be 10AM to 4PM.


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Streetscape Work Continues on Highland


Work on Phase 4 streetscape improvements continues during the week of Aug. 9, 2010. New curb and gutter was placed along the east side of Grove Court, the north side of Highland Avenue from Grove Court to Center Street and on the east and west sides of Spring Street between Highland Avenue and Division Street. Work continues on installing new street light wiring, traffic signal cable, planter boxes, new colored sidewalk and brick paver fields. Weather permitting, this stage of the work is expected to be completed by the end of August.

On Tuesday, August 10, reconstruction of a manhole in the intersection of Highland Avenue and Douglas Avenue will take place. Traffic will be directed through the construction by construction personnel. Motorists are asked to use caution through the work zone.

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Weekly Progress Meetings

Weekly progress meetings for the Central Business District construction project are held on Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. at the construction office located at 201 E. Chicago Street. Business and property owners are invited to attend the first 15 minutes of the meeting if they have any questions or concerns regarding the construction.

Specific questions regarding the construction may be directed to Shelley Costello with TranSystems at 847-871-3185.

For general information on the project, please contact Joe Evers at 847-931-5955 or visit the City's website at www.cityofelgin.org and click the Gettin' Around in Downtown icon.

Harvest Market Temporarily Moving to Old Gail Borden Lot on August 12



Due to the pavement reconstruction project that will completely shut down the intersection of Highland Avenue and Douglas Avenue in Downtown Elgin from Thursday, August 12 through Monday, August 16, this Thursday’s Downtown Elgin Harvest Market will be temporarily relocated THIS WEEK ONLY to the Old Gail Borden Parking Lot on the south side of Kimball Street across from the Gail Borden Public Library. Hours of operation are 10am-4pm.

The Harvest Market will return to its usual home at the Civic Parking Lot at Highland and Douglas Avenues next to City Hall on Thursday, August 19.

In addition to a wide selection of locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and other food items, the Harvest Market welcomes back Mad Discs and Dyes for another T-shirt tie-dying demonstration at Noon on Thursday.

Nestled in the heart of historic Downtown Elgin within minutes of the Grand Victoria Casino, Metra and the scenic Fox River, and within walking distance from Downtown’s dining and shopping district, the Harvest Market attracts hundreds of local residents and workers each and every week.

For more information about the 2010 Downtown Elgin Harvest Market, please call Jason Pawlowski, Promotions Coordinator for the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin, at (847) 488-1456 or e-mail: jpawlowski@elginil.org