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  • The savory challenges of being a sustainable chef in Big Ag country

    Fifteen years ago, I left a great job teaching at a prestigious northeast culinary school to move back to Iowa and be an executive chef at a Holiday Inn. It was difficult to find people, in Vermont or Iowa, who did not think I was certifiably insane. Those who thought they knew Iowa claimed, “There’s […]

  • Easy, affordable recipes for baby and toddler food

    Never mind the intro, take me to the recipes! If you are what you eat, then the developing years are surely the most important time to eat well. As a parent, you may not be able to give your baby or toddler fresh, homemade foods every day — but there are real benefits when you […]

  • How to stick it to the ice-cream Man

    I’ve written a lot about the consolidation of U.S. food markets, and have become jaded to facts such as: just four firms slaughter 83.5 percent of cows, and so on. But I actually gagged on my ice cream when I read this bit in BusinessWeek: The days of mom-and-pop parlors and local brands are fading […]

  • A guide to grilling without red meat

    As July 4th approaches, it’s time to prepare for picnics and BBQs — and, if you’re eating less and less red meat these days, you’re probably devising alternative strategies for these occasions. There are two main approaches to dealing with this situation: substituting other foods in place of red meat, or bumping dishes that used […]

  • Berries, brewpubs, and a blitz torte recipe

    I am traveling on the West Coast, and have been diligently eating my way southward. I’ve been to Victoria, B.C., for a conference on agriculture and sustainability; to Sooke Harbour, B.C., where I visited Sooke Harbor House and took a tour of their organic garden and on-site water reclamation plant; and to Vancouver, B.C., where […]

  • On summer memories and politically correct peanut butter

    The cool, sunny mornings this time of year always remind me of setting off to work each day during the first few months that I spent living in Boston. It was the summer between my junior and senior year of college, and I was working for a feminist newspaper located in an old factory near […]

  • On slow food, communal eating, and Reubenesque sandwiches

    This is the last in a series of articles about connecting with people over spring meals. Read others on setting up a dining co-op, celebrating Passover, hosting an Earth Dinner, and appreciating slow food. In my last column, I wrote about the slow-food movement, which unites people interested in flavors, food preservation, and, of course, […]

  • Savor your flavors with the slow-food movement

    This is the fourth in a series of articles about connecting with people over food. Read others on setting up a dining co-op, celebrating Passover, and hosting an Earth Dinner. When I told a friend that I was writing an article about slow food, she said, “What’s that? The opposite of fast food?” In a […]

  • Earth Dinners keep cuisine and conversation flowing

    This is the third installment in a series about connecting with friends and family over specific meals; the first was an introduction to dining co-ops, the second a celebration of Passover. At a recent dinner party, I pulled out my deck of Earth Dinner cards. The first one asked, “Who in your life really understands […]