Have you been missing those one dollar samosas, mini burgers, pizza slices, craft beer, cupcakes, yoga certificates, theater tickets and other items that Baltimore Avenue Dollar Strolls bring to the neighborhood every summer? We have some good and bad news. Let’s start with good – this hugely popular event is coming back this summer and will again include tons of great $1 deals on Baltimore Avenue from 42nd to 50th Streets, from a growing number of participating local businesses.

The somewhat sad news is that there will be only two strolls this summer, down from four strolls in 2011. We hear that it’s a great effort and expenses to put this event together (the attendance grew to 20,000 visitors in 2012), with little revenue for participants, so the organizers had to make the decision to cut the number of the strolls for this year.

This year, the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Strolls are scheduled for June 13 and September 12, to ring in and close out the summer season. We’ll let you know more later about who will take part in these events and what they will offer.

Here’s another CSA option in West Philly. The West Philly Foods CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program is taking applications for the upcoming growing season.

Run by The Enterprise Center, this CSA includes a box of fresh, locally grown produce – from herbs to tomatoes to berries –  delivered monthly and optional items, including jams, pies, baked goods and bread. The program even includes shares for beer, pesto and flowers.

The program is also committed to providing fresh produce to low-income residents around the Walnut Hill and surrounding neighborhoods. The program also employs local youths in the program and helps connect a growing network of young urban farmers.

Pick-up locations include the Walnut Hill Community Farm at 46th and Market and Milk and Honey Market at 45th and Baltimore.

Spring is finally here and The Porch, once a congested parking lot and now an animated public space adjacent to the second busiest train station in the country, is getting ready to start its 2013 season programming. Beginning this Wednesday, April 3, all are welcome to stop by The Porch between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on most weekdays and enjoy gourmet food trucks, live music, street performers, fitness bootcamps, and a beer garden. Here’s more information on what’s coming up this month.

Lunchtime Accordion Serenade, Mondays & Fridays, Noon – 1 p.m.

Experience the beauty of solo accordion, from Eastern European to South American, Polka to American Jazz.

WXPN Philly Local Wednesdays, Wednesdays, Noon

Live music every Wednesday from Philly’s rising stars.
April 3 – Dante Bucci
April 10 – The Fleeting Ends
April 17 – Christie Lenée
April 24 – The Splashing Pearls

Gourmet Food Trucks

Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
The Cow and the Curd
Cupcake Carnival
Lucky Old Souls
The Sunflower Truck Stop

Fridays, 11:30 a.m. -2:30 p.m.
Just Jackie’s Food Truck
Say Cheese
Spot Burger
Sweetbox Cupcakes

Bodyrock Fitness, Thursdays, 6 p.m.

Put your lunch break to work for you with fitness programming from University City’s BodyRock Bootcamp.

April 4 – Bootcamp
April 11 – Bokwa
April 18 – Zumba
April 25 – Bootcamp

Give And Take street performers and The Little Circus

The Give and Take Jugglers and Little Circus shows feature juggling, comedy, vaudeville, circus arts and theater.

Wednesday, April 3, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Street Performers

Friday, April 12, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Little Circus

Backpack Gallery, Friday, April 5, 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Combining contemporary visual art and performance, the Backpack Gallery brings the art to you.

The Porch Beer Garden, Thursday, April 18, 3-8 p.m.; Friday, April 19, 3-8 p.m.

Experience the Outdoor Beer Garden at The Porch at 30th Street Station. Bridgewater’s Pub will offer German and craft beers. Enjoy the fresh air and live music.

For more information about events at The Porch at 30th Street Station visit http://universitycity.org/porch-events

Mariposa celebrates a year in its new home next week.

Our friends over at Mariposa Food Co-op have had a fantastic year since they moved to their new location at 4824 Baltimore Ave last spring and to mark the first anniversary of the move the store is planning a full week of celebration that begins this Saturday, March 16 (March 17 is the actual anniversary).

Here are some things that the store is planning and inviting residents to check out:

– In-store product sampling and special sales all week

– PARTY on Sunday, March 24 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be food, entertainment, raffles, and fundraising for a food justice and anti-racism library.

– Mariposa is also recruiting new members. If you are a member, each time you refer a new member your name will be entered in a drawing at the anniversary party on Sunday. Prizes include gift baskets, food and health and beauty products.

The inside of the new Mariposa location back when was all still just an idea.

It has already been a year since Mariposa opened at the new location. Here’s a quick look at how it got there:

• When it was all just a dream.
• A peak inside before renovations began.
• Mayor Michael Nutter stops by to celebrate before the renovations officially get under way.
• A video that gives sneak peak inside the store in March, a couple of days before the grand opening.

The new Cedar Park Cafe location at 2035 N. 63rd St. (Photo from Yelp)

We have some good news and bad news for those of you who enjoyed a hearty, all-day breakfast at the Cedar Park Cafe on the 4900 block of Baltimore Avenue, which was heavily damaged in the Christmas Eve fire that destroyed Elena’s Soul. The bad news for Cedar Park residents and others nearby is that the cafe has relocated to north 63rd Street near the Overbrook train station. The good news is that it might come back.

The roof collapsed at the cafe’s Baltimore Avenue location when a wall fell on it as crews demolished what was left of the adjacent Elena’s Soul building. The cafe’s owners hope to return to Baltimore Avenue later this year.

Rimedio at 45th and Spruce streets. What kind of place might make it here?

Café Renata (Facebook page) on the 4300 block of Locust opens for brunch this weekend. But the Spruce Hill neighborhood is apparently losing a brunch spot as Rimedio, the Northern Italian brunch and dinner joint, has closed. A notice is posted on the restaurant’s front door at 45th and Spruce claiming that it is several months behind in rent.

Rimedio’s apparent departure (their website is offline too) has sparked some conversation about what kind of business might succeed at the 45th and Spruce location, where two businesses have opened and closed since the original Rx restaurant, which had a lengthy spell of success, changed owners in 2010.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about what kind of place might succeed there.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) yesterday cleared the way for local ice cream producer and retailer Little Baby’s Ice Cream to open shop on the 4900 block of Catharine Street, across the street from Cedar Park. If all goes as planned, the shop should be open by April 1.

Little Baby’s has been wooing Cedar Park residents for a while now and even sent them an “open love letter” on Valentine’s Day. The Cedar Park Neighbors civic association loved them back with a letter of support to the ZBA, which late yesterday provided Little Baby’s with the necessary permit to convert the storefront at 4903 Catharine into the company’s first retail shop west of the Schuylkill.

The company got a massive boost in the form of a 5-year, $50,000 loan from The Enterprise Center to expand into Cedar Park.

Little Baby’s Ice Cream is handmade in their production facility in East Kensington. Their dairy comes from Trickling Springs Creamery in Chambersburg, Penna. Here is a great profile on the three musicians who turned their passion for ice cream into a successful business.