recipes
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For those resolving to eat better and more locally in 2009
Ten Thousand Villages, the wonderful chain of Mennonite-rooted fair trade stores, offers two cookbooks perfect for people wanting to eat better, healthier, more sustainable food — much lower on the food web, with little or no meat, in season — while saving money. The first is the More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre, a nice, […]
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For some families, the holidays are all about the grub
This is the holiday season in just about every culture. I was born and raised a Unitarian Universalist, thus of the Judeo-Christian background, so in my house it’s Christmastime. For some folks, Christmas is about peace and good tidings. For others it is a joyous celebration of the birth of their savior. In my […]
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Long forgotten, chestnuts are coming back with a vengeance, and make a delicious holiday pudding
Nuts about chestnuts. I first learned about chestnuts from “The Christmas Song” (most likely, the Chipmunks’ version), not from tasting one. That happened much later. A couple of years ago, a farmer brought locally grown chestnuts to the back door of the restaurant where I worked. My coworkers and I were excited to […]
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Reclaiming the beauty of Thanksgiving
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. — Cicero In a couple of days, we’ll celebrate our best, most important holiday. While celebrations of the harvest have existed for as long as civilization (for indeed it was agriculture that necessitated both), this particular holiday is uniquely […]
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A meat-free turkey slideshow and other vegetarian Thanksgiving fare
In the spirit of holiday gratitude, Grist would like to give thanks for those creative souls who play with their food. Because without them, we wouldn’t have this festive slideshow of meat-free masterpieces shaped like turkeys! (OK, you’ll notice we snuck in one or two non-edible turkeys too, but they were just too good not […]
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Thanksgiving can reconnect families and revive traditions — like sweet potato rolls
Sweet potato rolls.Photos: April McGregerI remember the look on my grandfather’s face when I tried to politely explain that I couldn’t eat the giblet gravy or the dressing (known in other parts of the country as “stuffing”) that I had always relished. The reason, I informed him, was that I was a vegetarian; those old […]
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To make the Thanksgiving centerpiece a sure triumph, go heritage — and reach for the deep-fryer
Fry ya later, alligator. In the 11 years between the Declaration of Independence and the ratification of the Constitution, arguments raged over the future of the nascent nation. One involved the naming of a National Bird. Writing to his daughter on the subject of his choice for the symbol in 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Eagles […]
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When farmers and activists get together, food culture ferments like delicious sauerkraut
The Carrboro Farmers Market in North Carolina. Photo: North Carolina Cooperative Extension “Thank God, she’s not another one of those community activists.” I was at Terre Madre, Slow Food’s biennial international meeting of farmers, food producers, academics, cooks, and youth delegates in Turin, Italy. I had just introduced myself to a […]
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How I beat KFC’s ‘family meal’ challenge
Recently, the American public was issued a challenge by the folks at KFC (formerly “Kentucky Fried Chicken,” but “fried” just didn’t sound healthy). The fast-food joint argues in its latest commercial that you cannot “create a family meal for less than $10.” Their example is the “seven-piece meal deal,” which includes seven pieces […]