Sunday, August 28th, 2011. Irene came to upstate NY as a Tropic Storm and left her mark. A gigantic mark. I’m not sure we even know how big a mark as everyday, updated news comes across the wire and there is more & more devastation. Roads, sidewalks, trees, electric poles, street lights, covered bridges, foot…
{weekend reading} IRENE EDITION
This was my special note in last week’s {weekend reading}: SPECIAL NOTE: We want to wish all of our fellow East Coast friends a safe weekend. Hurricane Irene seems like it will indeed be a doozie! +++ Boy was it. Schoharie County has mostly been washed away and locally many farms and families are trying…
{join the fun} NOFA-NY’s Locavore Challenge
We are proud to announce that we are the ‘Blog Sponsor*” of this year’s Locavore Challenge by Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). As a group, From Scratch Club, strive to eat as locally and as organic as possible for the health of our families, the community, the world at large and to…
{SALSA} making good use of fresh summer veggies
Did you know I lived in Mexico for a while? Well I did. It was a phenomenal time, and I wish I could have stayed longer. When I was there I learned a lot about real Mexican cuisine, especially specific to the region where I resided. Foods I learned and now love and crave include pozole (corn…
{hello} I’m Becky
Hi, I’m Becky. I am a lover of baking who has recently discovered the wonder of preserving. I love reading cookbooks, and if you came to my house you would see a pile of cooking magazines and books on every end table and flat surface. Seriously. A good day for me involves picking fruit or…
{COMMUNITY SHARECROPPING} Home Grown Wheat
Our rabbi, Jonathan Rubenstein of Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs, runs a non-profit bakery out of the temple. Most Friday mornings he is there, baking challah and babka, plus his kick-ass granola. When we sold our house and garden in Argyle, New York three years ago and were moaning about where we would go to garden, Jonathan’s…
{weekend reading} LOCAL EDITION
SPECIAL NOTE: We want to wish all of our fellow East Coast friends a safe weekend. Hurricane Irene seems like it will indeed be a doozie! FARMERS MARKETS SATURDAYS, 9am-1pm unless otherwise noted Albany Central Avenue Farmers Market, Parking Lot of The Linda, 339 Central Avenue, 10-2pm. Brunwick Farmers’ Market, Town Office Rd & Rt…
{Fresh from the Garden} Summer Rolls with Cucumber Dipping Sauce
For all of my adult life, I’ve been a big fan of Asian rolls. I didn’t grow up in the most food-savvy town and it’s nice to look back and see how my experiences and my taste buds changed as I traveled and moved farther away from home. At first I only knew about egg…
{FSC Field Trips} Is U-Pick the new Coffee Talk?
A few weeks ago Christina and I went out to Winney’s Farm to pick blueberries. Liz came to meet us with her adorable kiddos. We only spent an hour there but I was able to get several quarts of blueberries. More recently we took an FSC outing to Fix Brothers Farms to pick peaches. I…
{Savory} Yogurt Inspirations
I was 19 years old the summer I spent two weeks helping to build a wall around a schoolyard in a rural Turkish village. During breaks, villagers expressed their gratitude (or maybe just entertained their own curiosities about us) by offering us a drink called Ayran. It’s a salty yogurt drink that on those hot,…
{community} Be a Dinner Elf
Food is much more than a series of nutrients and calories. Food brings people together to celebrate the good times and helps sustain us during the tough times. Some recipes are infused with memories and help honor important people and times in our lives. Food is at the center of any good get-together: a casual…
{competition} Brown Betty Farm at The Altamont Fair
FSC Contributor, Liz and her flock of five lambs, sheep and a ram, as Brown Betty Farm took the Altamont Fair’s Sheep Shows by storm by snatching multiple blue and yellow ribbons on her Altamont Fair debut. Its been a week-long affair, in the fair’s sheep barn, where she’s managed taking care of and showing…
{weekend reading} LOCAL EDITION
FARMERS MARKETS SATURDAYS, 9am-1pm unless otherwise noted Albany Central Avenue Farmers Market, Parking Lot of The Linda, 339 Central Avenue, 10-2pm. Brunwick Farmers’ Market, Town Office Rd & Rt 7, Brunswick Farmers Market at The Crossings, Colonie, Crossings Park of Colonie, Albany-Shaker Road across from Emerick Ln. Delmar Farmers Market, 332 Kenwood Ave., Bethlehem Middle…
Life’s a Peach {Especially with a Stiff Cocktail}
A few weeks ago, I went on a From Scratch Club field trip peach picking with some of the other AMAZING contributors. And I tell you, did I ever pick peaches. I picked two bushels full, which equates to about 65 pounds of peaches. After blanching, skinning, pitting, slicing, canning, processing, freezing, and other various…
Lard {Yes, that’s what I said: Lard.}
I should admit that, straightaway, this task was a stretch even for me. In a moment of pure curiosity (lunacy?) and inability to turn down a good deal, or a free deal, I graciously accepted a cooler full of pig fat from a local farmer. Josh from West Wind Acres had a few pigs processed,…
