Fermented foods: gosh, they’re cool
I have pickles on the brain these days. I know, it’s the time of year of farmers markets and fresh foods galore. And, trust me, I think about those enough, too. (Even on this rainy past Saturday, my family had to lure me away from my long stay at the market with a brunch of … Read more
“The person who’s cooking should not have to do the dishes.”
During a recent interview with the Village Green Network, Joel Salatin called it “one of the keys to slow food.” And, no, he wasn’t talking about grazing animals on pasture. He was talking about housework, specifically about spreading it around — almost like manure on a field (metaphor mine, not his) — among the members of a household. … Read more
See Fish, Eat Fish: A Trip to Bonita Cozumel
Our weeklong trip to Cozumel really was a mixture of seeing fish, eating fish (and ice cream and churros and mojitos) and repeating. A wonderful recipe for a vacation, I must say. After three blissful half-days with the vivacious Alfonso (our Zumba-loving, camo-wetsuit-clad scuba instructor), my husband and I became PADI certified scuba divers! My … Read more
Glorious lamb and a story along those lines
“It’s 9 a.m. on a Sunday, and my bathrobe and hair already reek of garam masala — burnt garam masala, to be exact. Who’d have known that the key to this Indian-Pakistani recipe for lamb biryani would be the French cooking mantra of mise-en-place? Or that the minute it takes for the pile of spices to get … Read more
Top 10 Misconceptions about Ag & Farmers
Photos from the past year, covering Virginia agriculture. I got an ag email today that I just have to share. You see, it’s Virginia Agriculture Week starting March 17, so I’ve been getting all sorts of info goodies from the state’s Department of Agriculture (and it’s fabulous communications director, Elaine Lidholm) in the week … Read more
Going online to buy local produce? Exploring Relay Foods
When I first met with Caesar Layton for a story about Relay Foods, a Charlottesville-based online grocery store and farmers market that recently expanded into DC and Baltimore, I didn’t quite get the convenience factor. I mean, I am one of those people who drives to three or four different stores and markets each week. I … Read more
Small town famous & a food site you should love
First, I wrote about the great small town food I discovered in Sedan, Kan. — population 1,200 — for you all here at the blog. Then I wrote about it for American Food Roots, this fabulous new site launched in the fall by four storied food journalists, one of whom happens to be my neighbor. … Read more
Cathal Armstrong’s Alexandria
It all started on a boat in the Chesapeake when a DC chef asked me, “Have you been to Cathal Armstrong‘s restaurants?” I’d been living in the DC area a few months and my food writing career had been focused mostly on my comfort zone of agriculture stories. I could barely feign to be some … Read more
Kansas Country Eats — a visit to Sedan
After two weeks of holiday traveling — almost five days of it on the road from Virginia to Oklahoma to Kansas and back — there were plenty of highlights and, overall, far too much eating. There was a four-day streak of big meals in Oklahoma (we consumed so much butter that we ran out and … Read more
Highlights: Virginia Farm-to-Table conference
It took some prodding from an ice cream-making farmer I met for a story, but boy was I glad I decided to attend at least one day of the Virginia Farm-to-Table conference last week. Sure, it was a 3-hour drive to Wyers Cave, Va., but waiting there was a wealth of food story ideas and the people … Read more
