Life on the Farm
A Tough Nut to Crack
Pine Barrens homesteader and LOTF columnist Lauren Vitagliano loves a challenge in the kitchen. So when she decided to ring in the holiday season by tackling a 26-pound harvest of chestnuts from a nearby farm, she figured marron glacés would be très magnifique. Read on to learn what happened.
Pot Yuck
The potluck is a presumably democratic, decidedly popular way to entertain. It surfaces widely twice a year: in summer and right now, during the holiday season. TPW’s founder/editor explains why she hates potlucks and what needs to be done to save ourselves, and our stomachs, from their ill effects.
Chef Train
Danny Childs, The Farm and Fisherman
The first mixologist to be inducted into TPW’s elite chef-picks-chef club of top toques is “a force to be reckoned with,” according to his selector Melissa McGrath. The drinks chef, meanwhile, toasts the terroir of the Garden State, where he believes he’s “just scratching the surface” for inspiration.
Sunday Kitchen
Pickle Me a Grape
Why not? You’re pickling everything else, aren’t you? Just because grapes are available year-round doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them their due. Especially since you’re likely to use them up as fast as you pickle them.
Life on the Farm
Stop and Smell the Garlic
An anonymous someone once said, “Shallots are for babies, onions are for men, garlic is for heroes.” LOTF columnist Kate Munning pays homage to that clever gastronome with a planting late every fall so she can reap its rewards the following summer.
10 No-Fuss Thanksgiving Dishes
When you don’t have time to preserve anything other than your own sanity, do what you must do and cut back. It’s OK. Very OK. Think of it as starting a new cherished tradition.
Harnessing the Superpowers of the Cranberry
It’s a Thanksgiving staple and deserving of its place on the table on the day we express gratitude for the harvest. But this berry must be cherished – and incorporated into our meal plans year-round. The how-to is right here.
Fortnightly 5
First Rate Second Takes: 11-21-22
You think you know a certain dish – and then you come across a new incarnation of a familiar favorite and fall in love all over again. Well, that’s what a top-tier chef does best.
Sunday Kitchen
Bean Tagine
Meaty only in its heartiness, this special-occasion stew steals from Moroccan traditions as it touts the current season and leans on potent seasonings. It’s an alternative entrée for Thanksgiving as well as a supper for a lazy weekend.
The Cranberry: A Force of Nature
How could a delectable ruby ball native to our very own Pinelands cram so much goodness into such a small package? It's a true wonder of our natural world, according to a scientist who is a fairy godmother to this berry with superpowers. It’s a food to be thankful for and not just at this cranberry time of year, but 365/24/7.
Lucky-Me Leftovers
Duck, Duck, Salad
The next time a dining companion tells you not to fill up on chips, salsa and a starter at your favorite Mexican, invoke the Sue Rule and note that it’s all the good cause of tomorrow’s feeding. Today our resident food-upcycling wiz turns a special entree into a seasonal crispy duck salad.
Sunday Kitchen
Quince
Nothing matches the alchemy of a little heat and spice to transform a food that, at first, repels. Ella reconsiders a fruit and finds a new friend.
Peak Interest
The smartest shoppers know the time is now to hit our Garden State farmers’ markets. The selection is sizable, the quality and community can’t be beat, and the camaraderie the kind of contagious we actually appreciate. Buy as local as local gets this holiday season, and make a resolution to continue that practice in the new year.
Hot on the Trail
Joined at the Mindset
It was a jovial, yet focused night at Ironbound Farm and Ciderhouse, a night when farmers, food artisans, chefs and those who support the Garden State's foodways and food pros gathered to celebrate not only their collective efforts, but a place itself: the culinary trail in Western New Jersey that is Route 579.
Fortnightly 5
Holiday Dreaming: 11-7-22
Thinking about holiday feedings? There’s a lot of that going around. These favorites from the two weeks just past might spark some bright ideas.
Sunday Kitchen
Dandelions, a Leafy Green Surprise
The Rolling Stones sang the truths of this undervalued edible green when they crooned that it’ll tell no lies and it’ll make you wise. Delicious, nutritious and versatile, you’ll find it a smart addition to seasonal meals.
Life on the Farm
Birds from Paradise
One visit to a mindfully run animal farm can make it quite evident that all turkeys are not raised equally. In her first Life on the Farm column for TPW, Abigail Sickler takes us from a Butterball upbringing to her farm in Cumberland County, where the grasses on which her turkeys graze aren’t just greener, they’re a veritable salad bar.
Baker to Baker
Chelsea Frost, Pie Girl
In the latest installment of TPW’s monthly column featuring Martha Rabello talking shop with a fellow practitioner of the pastry and baking arts, she visits with the baker best known as “Pie Girl,” whose stalls at farmers’ markets and pop-ups about town are almost as well-known for their waiting lines as they are for the talented chef’s way-beyond-humble pies.