Cooking Tips & Techniques. Chef Inspiration.
Every year to celebrate our Food Gypsy anniversary we turn the focus from our usual banter and throw the spotlight on our readers. Every life has a story, and sharing those stories are as essential to being human as breathing. In this tale we travel south to Anderson, South Carolina for a back-to-school conversation with reader Lou Hart, living his culinary dream.
Before there was Stewart, Lawson or Oliver, before anyone had heard of Morimoto or Batali, there was Child. No one, not even Julia Child herself, could have predicted the impact and legacy that has been spawned as a result of television's first superstar food maven. In "Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child", author Bob Spitz takes us into a her life with care and humanity.
Whether you're growing them yourself or bringing them home from the farmer's market, often times we drag in more than we bargain for in our garden goods. Try a low solution vinegar wash for great results, from our garden to yours.
Among the brilliant ideas gleaned from years of gardening beside my Mother, the Master Gardener. When faced with a shortage of pots for your plants, just grab a bag of dirt (or potting soil) and GI Joe it!
Making the perfect Pate Brisse (pie crust) has been one of those things that has been hit or miss for me, I love to bake, but pie crust has proved my nemesis. That is, until a few classes at Le Cordon Bleu where my then instructor (now finacé), Chef Benoit taught me the art of the perfect pie crust every time.
While we've been making a move to co-habitate, the garden has been taking off in varying shades of green, but first we had to take rocky terrain and turn it into arable land capable of fostering food stuffs with the aid of a little cardboard gardening.
There's cheese, and then there's great cheese, and then there's great Canaidian cheese, band a bunch of artisnal Canuk cheese makers together and you have The Great Canadian Cheese Festival (#TGCCF) June 1 - 3, 2012 in Picton, Ontario. The single largest exhibition of Canadain artisan, farmstead and specialty cheese from coast to coast.
In an urban environment it's easy to detach from the where our food comes from. Many of us have never had to milk a cow, catch a squealing piglet or yank a clucky hen from her nest to gather eggs. Which is why farms like Mariposa Farm, open the public Friday, Saturday and Sunday, are so necessarily, and so very much fun.
My little eco-sprouts are growing like proverbial weeds. Pumpkins, sunflowers and geraniums are up and leaning into the light on the sills of my kitchen.
The city's newest brew pub, Mill Street Brew Pub hit the ground running early this year with a big, splashy opening. Located in one of downtown Ottawa's historic buildings, along the river's edge; it's spectacular location attracted a great deal of attention from curious folks (like me) who were eager to see the end result. So once all the fuss died down a bit we ventured out for an early lunch on a Sunday to take a peek.
Dirt eggs, earthy, with a side of grit. No, we're not eating them, but we'll be enjoying lovely stuffed squash blossoms by June, and prefect little gourdes come harvest time. This is one of three eco-friendly indoor starting methods I'm trying this year for eco-seedlings. The eggshells will contain the seedlings in a tiny cocoon as stalks harden and tender roots grow.
Time to get back to the dirt, to tend those things sprouting and eager for sun, the tiny seeds we sowed last year, the corner we cleared in a bargain with Mother Nature. I invite you to follow this year's Gypsy Garden and share tips & ideas for all things green and growing.