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
Growing herbs: The Best Idea I’ve Had This Spring
It began with a little basil. Last spring, I planted some in a window box on the side of our house. The side that apparently got more bugs than sun. It had a good run, providing me plenty to sprinkle into my scrambled eggs, but not quite enough for the giant batch of pesto I … Read more
An Ode to the Start of Farmers Market-ing
FARMERS MARKET SEASON HAS BEGUN! At least my Mount Vernon market opened today, on the oh-so-happy first day of May. It’s been a long winter folks, and I was so happy to see those familiar farmer faces today. Especially Jesús Ochoa, who I wrote about last year. I planned my meals for the week with a big question … 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
High Heels Baby Shower & Best Sugar Cookies Recipe
My friend Lauren is having a baby in about a month. And she still wears heels just about every day. She wore them to the shower. She wears them to work and church. She has dozens of them. So when we set out to plan a baby shower to welcome her little girl and to … 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
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
