July 2, 2008Ode to the Mason jar
In case you missed it, check out today's Front Burner column about the Mason jar's 150th birthday this year. The actual birthday, I guess, would be the patent date of November 30, but with so many pressure cookers hissing away during the summer months to preserve veggies from the garden, it seemed like a great time to wax nostalgic about the versatile container. As I wrote in the column, my memories are full of Mason jars. And those jars in my mind are filled with everything from Grandma's damson preserves to Paw-Paw's honey to the squirrel torsos Mom used to can for Dad's eating pleasure. In fact, our pantry was always lined with a whole rainbow of fruit- and veggie- filled Mason jars. And that was just the beginning. They hung out in the shed, filled with seeds, and in the garage, filled with nails and pins and anything else my dad or my grandfather saw fit to fill them with. I'd love to know your fondest memories of the Mason jar. Does anyone collect them? As you'll see in my column, they can be worth quite a bit of money if you know what you're looking for. Matthew Rowley, who wrote a book called "Moonshine!" shared a recipe with me for the story, but it came in too late for press. I'll share it here instead. It's not what you're thinking, you naughty kids! That stuff is illegal! This is a recipe for a spiced-up homemade "ketchup" that Rowley says is tasty on everything from sandwiches to soup to roasted meat. Sounds like a great way to spice up meatloaf, too. June 24, 2008Look under the lid!
Just the other day, I was telling my friend that I miss the good old days when you knew whether or not you'd won something as soon as you twisted the lid off a product. When my grandfather owned his country store in Goshen, I used to pop the top off Coke bottles and find out if I'd won a free Coke or something just by looking under the top. These days, all you get is something like LJK9BF7V. Maybe that means I won a brand new Corvette, but I'm too lazy to go online or call or do whatever it is I'm supposed to do to decipher the code. Now I'm starting to sound a lot like my co-worker, Kevin Kittredge. Maybe I should give him this topic for his next "Grrrrrr!" column. There is a point to all this whining, though -- I just got the coolest e-mail from the folks over at Duke's mayonnaise. This summer, they're having an "Under the lid" promotion. All you have to do is remove the safety seal and look under the lid to find out if you've instantly won $100 in free groceries or a free 32-ounce jar of Duke's mayo. The cash would be awesome, but I would be tickled pink to just win a free jar of Duke's. Lots of Southern cooks swear by Duke's mayonnaise and wouldn't use any other brand (I'm betting that Edna Lewis did NOT use Hellman's). So while we're all planning our macaroni salad, potato salad, deviled eggs and other mayonnaisey dishes for Fourth of July cookouts, maybe we should sneak a peek under that lid! Photo source: www.dukesmayo.com June 19, 2008This 'n' thatAnd now, for your occasional round-up of random, food related news: * Update: The online local food guide has been updated with about a dozen new farms! If you haven't checked it out yet, please do. You can search by the type of local food that interests you, such as eggs or fruit or pork, as well as your location. You could even search by both! * White Lily, the queen mother of all light, fluffy Southern biscuits, has been produced in Knoxville, Tenn. since 1883. But the new owner, the J.M. Smucker Company, has seen fit to move production of this Southern specialty to two Midwest plants. It's a change that has some biscuit lovers recoiling in shock. As blog reader Deb, who sent me this tip, put it: "Oh, the horror!" * Chocolatepaper, Southwest County's trendiest sweet shop, is opening a second location in downtown Roanoke. Matt Burkett, who owns the card shop/chocolate shop with his uncle, Mark Burkett and Stan McCulloch, says they hope to open the new store by September 1. * Finally, Thai Orchid, which was formerly housed at the Jefferson Motor Lodge, has re-opened in downtown Roanoke. The new location is in the former Swagat Indian restaurant spot on First Street near Florabella. June 16, 2008Ahhhh, look at all the lovely cherries!
Check out these babies. Do they make your mouth water? My editor, Kathy Lu, went cherry picking for her birthday on Saturday and lugged home 20 pounds of sweet dark and white cherries. She was kind enough to bring me a half-gallon of the little garnet jewels. The orchard is called Levering Orchard, and it's located out near Fancy Gap. Kathy says the cherries were $2.49 per pound. She and her husband pitted and froze most of theirs with plans to make ice cream, cherry sauce or smoothies. Since she's also a talented baker, they may show up in a dessert at some point, too. Unfortunately, while these cherries do make my mouth water, they also make my throat and ears itch like mad. It's a mystery allergy that I seem to have developed over the past couple of years. Some call it "Oral Allergy Syndrome." Here's an interesting article on the topic that appeared in U.S. News and World Report. Continue reading "Ahhhh, look at all the lovely cherries!" » June 11, 2008Update from the FDAThe Food and Drug Administration yesterday updated its list of states and countries exporting SAFE tomatoes. Namely, Florida tomatoes have been approved. But here's the whole list, followed by a few paragraphs of additional information that I found on the FDA Web site. If you have other questions, I would encourage you to visit the site. I'm off to a neat assignment now (for next week's column), but I'll be back this afternoon with another entry. The list of APPROVED states: June 10, 2008You say tomato, I say salmonella
In case you've missed it, the Food and Drug Administration is advising against the consumption of certain kinds of raw tomatoes, including red plum, red Roma and red round. Apparently, folks across the country have fallen ill with salmonella infection and the FDA believes it has been linked to tomatoes. I'm really disappointed by this outbreak. It's almost tomato season here, which should be a time of joy for tomato lovers everywhere. It's a time to savor that first tomato sandwich or a big bowl of warm, juicy fruit with cottage cheese. And while the best tomatoes, hands down, come right out of a backyard garden, people with no time to garden deserve the very best of the season, too. When I went grocery shopping on Sunday, many tomatoes had all been pulled from my Kroger store. Cherry, grape and on-the-vine tomatoes are still okay, according to the FDA. The administration has released a list of states where tomato production has NOT been affected by the outbreak. Read on for the list. May 23, 2008Burning money
I know it caught my eye, because like many other Americans, we plan to have a few friends over for a cookout this holiday weekend. From the article: Food inflation is the highest in almost two decades, driven by record prices for oil and gas, mounting global demand for staples such as wheat and corn, and rising costs for proteins such as chicken. I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed the difference in my grocery bill every time I go shopping. Just about everything on my list is more expensive, and it seems to be most noticeable in the produce department. But maybe that's just where I'm paying closest attention. How does it all really break down? Well, that was the most interesting part of the CNN version of the same story, in my opinion. While they say the overall cost of the cookout has gone up about 6 percent from last year, they provided some exact figures for all the individual components. See below the jump: May 22, 2008Where's the beef (in SWVa)?
There's no telling how many patties on a bun he must've consumed to come up with the "state-by-state guide to 100 great burger joints." As with any food tour book, I've always got to find out right away whether any eateries in our neck of the woods made the list. In this case, only one place made the list. And it's the same place that makes just about every American road food book that hits the shelves. Did you guess which restaurant it is? Don't cheat! Hazard a guess before you click to the jump. May 20, 2008Go lay a record-setting egg
The egg, which was found at Julie and David Hewitt's farm, weighs 8 ounces and measures 8 inches in circumference. If this is for real, then one of the Hewitts' 30,000 chickens has been working overtime. The couple told the BBC that they aren't sure which one of their chickens actually laid the egg. No comment on how one would go about determining that....is one chicken walking funny? This does make me think, however, about my recent infatuation with farm fresh eggs. I'm pretty sure that as long as I can get my hands on country eggs, I'll never buy grocery store eggs again. May 9, 2008The Charlottesville sceneThe Washington Post recently did an interesting story about the burgeoning food scene in Charlottesville. If you haven't had a chance to read it, click here. After seeing the article, I can't wait to check out Mas, a Spanish restaurant that supposedly serves up great tapas. Anyone else have a favorite restaurant in Charlottesville? Or any thoughts on what makes the dining scene better than Roanoke's, if anything? While I'm sharing random tidbits, I'll share a random recipe. I found this recipe for Mango Chicken Curry on Simply Recipes. Yellow curry...golden raisins...mangoes...heavy cream...what more could you want? Since Swagat, one of downtown Roanoke's Indian restaurants, has apparently closed down, maybe it's time to perfect some Indian food at home. Enjoy! Before I go, I wanted to let you all know that I'll be in Florida this weekend and the first part of next week visiting my grandmother for Mother's Day. When I get back, we can dish about grouper sandwiches and conch fritters and key lime pie. Until then, please enjoy the guest blog entries on Monday and Tuesday by my colleague Nona Nelson, who can typically be found over at Happy Wag, the Roanoke Times pet blog. Thanks, Nona! April 24, 2008Some worthy linksI never got a call back from the Health Department today, so I can't update you on the glove-wearing rules in our parts. Such is the life of a reporter. As soon as I find out more, I will be sure to pass it on. All of you cooking show addicts out there need to check out this fun quiz. The creator photoshopped the famous chefs out of their kitchens and it's up to you to guess which picture belongs to which chef! After doing this quiz, you'll surely know whether you watch too much Food Network. Report back on your score. Steven Colbert fans might be amused by this video about the REAL battle in Philadelphia. And it isn't between Hillary and Barack. Attention chocaholics! On our new Salem community site, So Salem, you can find a recipe for cookie crumb truffles by Michele Carder at Michele's on Main. She also offers up a recipe for making homemade chocolate. Enjoy! April 15, 2008Remembering Lib
Tomorrow's Front Burner column pays tribute to a lady who had her fingers in a lot of different pies around Roanoke. I would say "literally," but Lib Wilhelm's granddaughter, Kristin Breakell, said her grandma wasn't much for baking. She sure did know a lot about other kinds of cooking, though. Lib, who died earlier this month at age 86, started catering out of her Roanoke home more than 40 decades ago. She didn't stop catering until she was in her early 80s. And in those early years, when her business was still getting started, she also worked at St. John's Episcopal Church, The Shenandoah Club and the Patrick Henry Hotel. But it didn't take long for Lib to gain a reputation for her professionalism and her food. Her most famous recipe, a spicy cheese slaw, has been shared around Roanoke for years and will run with tomorrow's story. She was also the first caterer to start serving made-to-order shrimp and grits at parties. April 8, 2008Smorgasbord!
It's one of those days when I have a bunch of little food news items to pass along. So, without further ado, here goes: 1. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are at it again; dreaming up yet another crazy doughnut flavor combination. This time it's the Caribbean Kreme doughnut, which features "the intense flavors of freshly ripened tropical fruits." If that sounds good to you, keep reading: The new doughnut is filled with a blend of mango, pineapple and passion fruit and topped with white frosting and shortcake crunch. The KK company suggests that you pair the doughnut with their new Caribbean Kreme Chiller, a blend of pineapple, mango and orange flavors that can be ordered in the creamy version or a frozen fruit version. I'm guessing the latter is a bit healthier, and as soon as I hear back from the PR folks, I'll let you know. UPDATE: Boy, when I figured the creamy version would be more fattening than the fruity version, I never imagined just how big a difference there'd be. According to the Krispy Kreme spokeswoman, the fruity Chiller has 170 calories in the 12 oz. size and 280 calories in the 20 oz. size -- and 0 grams of fat in both. By comparison, the 12 oz. creamy version has 620 calories and 28 grams of fat, while the 20 oz. has 960 calories and 40 grams of fat. So if you're on a diet, choose the fruity one! April 7, 2008Food for thought
The Shannons make a living raising and selling pastured chickens, pork, turkeys and rabbits. They also sell chicken eggs and will be selling duck eggs this summer. I met with the Shannons for a local food project and they sold me the most delicious Thanksgiving turkey I've ever had. A little ways down in the newsletter, after the Shannons described their new products and their children's involvement in the farm (Sami is raising ducks for eggs and Natasha is starting her own little flock of Bourbon Red turkeys), they moved on to prices. Here's the part that made my heart sink: March 28, 2008Do you like biscuits? Who doesn't!?
Some would say that if you don't like biscuits, you just aren't a true Southerner. March 11, 2008More likely to eat green?Tomorrow's Front Burner column is about two local restaurants that have made an effort to be more environmentally friendly. February 28, 2008And now, a pleasant interludeWhat you see below is a very unusual form of art by London photographer Carl Warner. Warner has created several landscapes made entirely out of food, and you can see more at the link above. Thanks to the folks over at Slashfood for bringing Warner to my attention. 
February 20, 2008Bits of news from Bittman and beyondNew York Times food writer Mark Bittman has debunked a few kitchen myths on his blog, Bitten. February 14, 2008A love letter with big rewardsI do like to talk about chain restaurants sometimes. But for the most part, I'm more interested in local establishments. February 11, 2008Let them eat bugsUPDATE posted Tuesday: Speaking of bugs in chocolate, check out this entry from one of my favorite blogs, Slashfood.
“Insects can feed the world. Cows and pigs are the S.U.V.’s; bugs are the bicycles.” That was spoken by a guy named David Gracer for a New York Times article about edible bugs. Gracer is apparently a huge proponent of eating bugs (entomophagy), and he has been traveling around trying to talk chefs into hopping aboard the bug bus. Now, I like to think of myself as a fairly adventurous person when it comes to food. And I think the argument that bugs are simply the land version of shrimp or crawfish is a compelling one. But could I eat a bug? Well, I just shuddered, if that tells you anything. What do y'all think? And I'm sure one of you is going to point out that I've probably eaten lots of bugs, just without knowing. Thank you in advance for that.
January 23, 2008Mercury maki?
I don't want to be an alarmist, but I found this article in The New York Times today rather alarming. Although the samples were gathered in New York City, experts believe similar results would be observed elsewhere. Does news like this change the way you eat? January 17, 2008Football and food!Well, today would have been a great day to share some of those cornbread recipes from "The Cornbread Gospels," except that book is sitting on my desk in downtown Roanoke and I'm sitting in front of my home computer wearing fuzzy kitty cat slippers. January 15, 2008The 30-story farmI could say so many things about this, but I think I'm just going to keep my smart mouth shut. I couldn't resist passing along the link anyway. What do you think? |
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