I remember the moment that I realized there were raspberry and blackberry bushes in the back yard of my newly bought house a few years ago. Pure joy. I have always loved fruit picking – it’s one of my favorite pastimes. Over the past few years we’ve planted fruit bushes and trees in our third…
{bread making} Homemade Naan
We are trying hard to cultivate frugality so we can stop working and do what we want; writing, gardening and traveling. This is not an easy lift for me. I have taken to silently chanting “cessation of desire” every time I step into a store. Because of our life style goals, that is, life without…
{FSC Book Club} Assignment 1 & 2 Recap
We read, we cook, we chat. That is the FSC Book Club. Can you believe it? We’ve already finished our first two assignments for Round 4 of the FSC Book Club. We are reading and and cooking our way through Put ‘Em Up Fruit: A Preserving Guide & Cookbook. Creative Ways to Put ‘em Up and Use ‘em…
{photo diary} Farms, Food and Photography
Words: Amy Halloran Images: Ellie Markovitch When Ellie Markovitch began organizing a Farms, Food and Photography Teen Camp the Agricultural Stewardship Association and the Arts Center of the Capital Region, she asked me if I wanted to do a class on pancakes. Of course I said yes because there are few moments I don’t want to talk about…
{fancy food club} We’re Bringing Fancy Back
Awhile back I wrote a piece about our Fancy Food Club. Since the other three couples in our club were Navy families, they have since moved from the area. This just left Chris and I and we certainly weren’t prepared to give up FFC. So, here’s a quick recap of what it is: a group…
{grain brains challenge} Alan’s Rye Berry Salad
Grain Brains Challenge: A recipe challenge to help you get whole grains into your mouth, not just your kitchen. I love wheat berry salad. The nutty-crunchy-sweetness in most recipes is just delicious. But I got curious about how it might taste without the crutch of a sweet component. What about a more savory grain salad? No raisins…
{recipe} Versatile Green Herb Sauce
This month’s recipe from my kitchen takes its inspiration from both Asian Indian and Argentine cuisine. My CSA share from Soul Fire Farm has been wonderful, and full of greens. In the past week, I got a nice bunch of curly parsley and lemon basil. Curly parsley gets a lot of flack for being nothing…
{meet the meat} Grass Fed Ground Beef
You wouldn’t think that ground beef would need it’s own blog post, would you? Well, it does. Ground beef from feedlots (ie. the stuff you generally get in the conventional grocery store) is relatively forgiving. You can cook the heck out of it and it still tastes the same. Many a frying pan of taco…
{reflections on food} My Independence Day
Last 4th of July I began my independence from sugar. I went to the parade on Avenue A, the street where I grew up. The parade began with my generation, in the thick of the centennial spirit of the mid-seventies. One year I wore the bridesmaid gown I wore at my uncle’s wedding. The next…
{drink it up} Lemon Syrup, Lemonade & Lemon Vinegar
Editor’s Note: Jennifer Wilkerson has given us homemade bread & dinner rolls and farmer’s cheese… now she brings us a triple doozy: Lemon Syrup, Lemonade & for your cleaning needs lemon vinegar. Man, she’s good isn’t she? -Christina When farmers markets and fruit stands are bursting with seasonal goodness meals are easy. Any combination of…
Experimenting with Green Wheat: Freekeh & Gruenkern
While obsessively researching wheat on the web, my husband Michael came across a description of freekeh, or Gruenkern (pronounced groon cairn), that is, green wheat. It is apparently something of a craze in certain foodie/grainy circles of people and a traditional food in both the Middle East and a few villages near Wurzburg, Germany; go…
{diy project} Pickled Red Onions
Often times my favorite part of a meal are the condiments. Condiments take everything to the next level whether it is your favorite barbeque sauce, mustard, hot sauce, pickle or even ketchup. I often find food to simply be the vessel that delivers the delicious flavors of all the extras. One of my go to…
{fsc classes} My Flour Evangelism at the New HWFC
Honest Weight Food Coop has a new store, and I got to break in the new teaching kitchen. The day after it opened, I offered a Flour Tour and treated a dozen people to my flour evangelism. The gist of this mission is to use whole grain flours, preferably stone milled, and made from grains…
{recipe} Customizable Cold Sesame Noodles
I like recipes that can be adapted for different situations, dietary conditions and to seasonal availability of produce. I also like to have some that are really easy and quick to make, because let’s face it, sometimes you just want to eat without a lot of fuss, but still make something healthy. This recipe lends…
{Know Your Farmer} tangleroot farm & my kohlrabi salad
We have new farmers this year. They fell into our lap at the last minute and I couldn’t be happier. I’m still getting to know them, but from what I can tell so far we were lucky to find them because their veggies are outstanding. I had hoped to sign up for a CSA this…
