Jul
13
WPSU’s local food blog, Local Food Journey, is holding a contest to find the best local sweet corn recipe. I offered up the following:
I grew up next to a farm, and our neighbor, the farmer, had the perfect recipe for the most delicious sweet corn around. The secret is in the freshness of the corn. He grew his own and shared with us, allowing us kids to roam the fields all summer, and to pick corn for dinner in the evening.
Here’s his recipe, as it has been repeated in our family for years:
First, fill a large pot – the biggest you can find – with cool, clear water. Put it on the stove and start it to boiling.
Once it starts to boil, head out to the corn field. Pick a dozen or so ears, no more than you can hold in your arms, shucking the husks and dropping them on the ground as you go. You want to work quickly because fresh corn is best.
With your arms laden with your harvest, hurry back to the house. If you happen to drop an ear, leave it and keep going! It is too late for that one, and stopping to pick it up will make the others that much older.
Drop the ears in the pot, boil for about ten minutes. Remove the ears with tongs, and serve immediately. Butter and salt to taste.
Repeat as necessary until you are full.
I doubt it will win, but that’s what I think of when I think about sweet corn and summertime.
Tags: cooking, local food, sweet cornJul
6
A recipe for grilled peaches from Salon.com.
I hear local peaches are coming into season. I’ll have to take a look this week and try this on the grill. Yum.
Tags: fruit, grilling, local food, peaches, recipesJun
26
What Borough Council giveth, it can taketh away.
After an unnamed vendor threatened to sue over his exclusion from the Farmer’s Market, the Council voted to take back control Tuesday. Producer-Farmers, who had been given control of the market in February, were angered by the decision.
Association members Lois Stringer and Whitney Duley said they were shocked and disappointed to receive notification of the vote Tuesday morning.
“I guess there’s nothing we can do,” Duley said. “I thought it had been going extremely well. We got some new people, and we got some really nice products in.”
I hope things resolve for the best. Personally, I insist on knowing the origin of the veggies I eat. I’d love to see everyone label their produce with the state and county of origin.
Better still, Borough Council could enforce their own producer-only ordinance and tell this litigious vendor to get lost.
Tags: Bellefonte, farmer's market, food politicsMar
8
Ars Technica examines the second generation of internet grocery delivery services.
I have to question the wisdom of introducing a premium service of any sort in the midst of an economic recession[1]. I doubt we’ll ever see a service like this here in central PA, but anything that offers the promise of getting fresh, healthy food into the hands of Americans gets my hearty endorsement.
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1: I will believe we are out of the recession when the unemployment numbers return to saner levels and the job listings in the newspaper take up more than two pages.
Feb
16
The incomparable Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver, used his TED talk to deal with diet, obesity, and what we’re doing to our children. From the site: “Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.”
Tags: Diet, food politics, Jaime OliverFeb
13
Finally a definition, of sorts:
New rules announced Friday say organic milk and meat must come from livestock grazing on pasture for at least four months of the year, and that 30 percent of their feed must come from grazing. The old rules said only that animals must have “access to pasture.”
At this point, I’ll take progress wherever I can find it.
Tags: food politics, organicFeb
6
According to an article in today’s Centre Daily Times, Bellefonte Borough Council has ceded control of the Bellefonte Farmers Market to the Bellefonte Farmers Market Association. The Association has been adamant that the market remain producer-only, and it would appear they now have to power to make it so.
One only hopes Councilman Beigle and Mayor Goldman are still willing to shop there.
Tags: Bellefonte, farmer's market, food politics, local foodFeb
1
I’m starting a new job in the morning. It is similar work, but it promises to be much more challenging and, hopefully, rewarding. As a result, I needed to try on some of my suits that I haven’t worn in quite a while. This prompted me to pull out the bathroom scale and… let’s just say it is no wonder my suits don’t fit quite right.
Operating on the premise that eating well will be cheaper than taking my suits to a tailor, I’m going to begin a new diet. Not some faddy lose-weight-quick scheme, but something I’ve done before and that has worked for others. Mark Bittman outlined it in his Food Matters book, and he puts it succinctly:
Eat less of certain foods, specifically animal products, refined carbs, and junk food; and more of others, specifically plants, in close to their natural state.
It isn’t a diet per se. I think of it as being more akin to a minor, gradual lifestyle change.
Bittman also mentions that he doesn’t eat any animal products before his evening meal. I’m going to endeavor to start doing that as well.
Tags: DietJan
21
The debate over whether Bellefonte’s Farmers Market should be producer only reignited Monday night at the Borough Council meeting. The issue was tabled for now, but if you feel passionately one way or the other contact your Council member.
The Council is expected to pick up the issue again at its February 1, 2010 meeting.
Tags: Bellefonte, farmer's market, food politics, tomatoesDec
15
The Governors’ Pub is now open! They reopened on November 21st, and I went there for lunch the following Monday. I’ve been there for lunch twice now, including this afternoon for lunch.
The Centre Daily Times ran a brief item on the opening this weekend.
I often judge a restaurant by the quality of the iced tea it serves. On that basis alone, Governors’ Pub is a hit! It isn’t the best restaurant tea I’ve ever had (that title is still held by the former High Street Pub, whose tea required no sweeteners and was delightfully smooth and had a hint of fruitiness), but is is a far cry from the teas I’ve had that taste like they’ve been filtered through cigarette butts.
Our waitress, clearly new at the job, held her own while managing at least six tables of lunch customers.
I very much enjoyed my Hasting’s Stacker, a sandwich made with turkey, provolone cheese, tomato slices, coleslaw, and french fries, all on generously thick slices of what appeared to be a cross between pumpernickel and white bread. Served with a side of fries or coleslaw (I had fries), it is a bit pricey for Bellefonte at $8, but was well worth it.
I’m looking forward to trying the Governors’ Pub for dinner sometime soon. I’m particularly interested in seeing their wine list. I’m hoping we’ll see great things from Governors’ Pub. For now, I’m glad to have a nice place to eat lunch downtown again.
Tags: Bellefonte, Restaurants, The Governors' Pub
