Organic Food

A National Look at School Lunches, Part 1

A National Look at School Lunches, Part 1

By guest blogger Ed Bruske from The Slow Cook One school serves chicken nuggets, frozen in a distant factory and reheated for a few minutes in the oven. Another school prepares chicken on the bone, brined and roasted from its raw state in an eight-day process. One school feeds 5-year-olds up to 15 teaspoons of […]

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Trout Cooked over a Wood Fire

Trout Cooked over a Wood Fire

Who knows what is going to happen to our seafood-eating habits over the next decades, thanks to the Gusher in the Gulf. Fortunately, trout is a freshwater fish, and according to the excellent sustainable seafood guide put out by the Monterey Aquarium, it is totally good to eat—farmed trout, too. (I know, it’s all so […]

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Sour Cherry Sauce—and a Yummy Breakfast Parfait

Sour Cherry Sauce—and a Yummy Breakfast Parfait

Very soon, the sour cherries will make their fleeting appearance at local farmer’s markets. If we are lucky, they will be out for two to three weeks. If you see them, grab as many as you can, and plan to spend the afternoon or evening pitting them and making the most beautiful magenta/hot pink cherry […]

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Ice Cream Float of the Month: Blueberry!

Ice Cream Float of the Month: Blueberry!

I’m still obsessed with ice cream floats these days, and this blueberry float is one I’ve tried that is not only refreshing and delicious, but also so very lovely to look at. I think you could serve it as a fancy dessert at a dinner party. Or, more to my habit, just have it by […]

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Finding a Great Recipe while Lost in Harlem

Finding a Great Recipe while Lost in Harlem

The other week I had an event to go to at Fort Washington Park in Harlem, New York. It was the spring picnic for Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project. I had a driver named J.R. Crayton pick me up (in a Prius), since I wasn’t sure where the park was. Well, we started talking. […]

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Ardie's Garlic Chicken

Ardie’s Garlic Chicken

Memorial Day isn’t just a holiday for picnics; it’s a holiday for remembering. I love to remember my lost relatives (although none of them served in the military) by making their recipes and tasting the past with them. For my mother’s mother, I always enjoy making her Ham and String Bean Soup (a real Pennsylvania […]

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Strawberry Whip: A Simple Spring Dessert

Strawberry Whip: A Simple Spring Dessert

The strawberries are ripening! And these days it’s even more important to choose organic strawberries. Methyl bromide, which is heavily used on chemically grown strawberries, is one of the most toxic agricultural chemicals in use (toxic to humans and to the atmosphere). I just read that a new chemical was approved for strawberries, since methyl […]

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Quick and Easy Couscous  (10 minutes max)

Quick and Easy Couscous (10 minutes max)

Sometimes you want something as a side dish that is filling, satisfying, yummy, and just quick as can be. That would be couscous. What is couscous? It’s a teeny-tiny little pasta-like thing that originated from the food cultures of Africa and the Middle East. You can get mixes in the store and pay more for […]

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