• art,  edible madison,  farmers market,  farms,  food,  local

    Art in Unexpected Places

    For my first article for Edible Madison magazine in fall 2010 (which was, in fact, my first published piece of food writing), I visited Fountain Prairie Inn and Farms. I had a lovely time meeting and interviewing John and Dorothy Priske about their herd of Highland Cattle, which they raise for grass-fed beef on their sustainable farm.  You can imagine my surprise and delight, then, when I went to drop off a package at the post office in downtown Madison and saw an art installation featuring pictures of the long, curly horns of the Priskes’ cattle, in very Georgia O’Keefe-like style. I love finding art in unexpected places, especially when it…

  • farms,  food,  green living,  recipes

    A Seasonal Recipe with Swiss Chard

    I’ve been busy these past few days taking care of my brand new baby boy. I wrote this post last Sunday, the day I went into labor! I didn’t have a chance to post it then (for obvious reasons), so I’m posting it now in case anyone is looking for a good recipe to use up summer veggies. I’ll be back soon! Back to baby cuddles and kisses… At this time of year, big bunches of green things arrive in my CSA box from Vermont Valley Community Farm. Some of them have obvious uses, like lettuce for salads or pea pods for stir fry. Other veggies require a little more…

  • blogging,  cheese,  farms,  food,  local,  restaurants

    A New Project… and an Announcement

    I’m back over at Wisconsin Public Television’s website, blogging about sustainable and local food for the next 5 weeks. My posts will go up every Tuesday. Come on over and check out this week’s post about How to Eat Locally Without Lifting a Finger. I love to cook, and when I agreed to do a food-specific blogging series for WPT, I had grand visions of trolling the aisles of natural foods co-ops and the winter farmers’ markets to come up with new ways to eat squash and kale. And then came a little “bump” in the road. Literally. I’m 15 weeks pregnant and, though very excited, I’m finding it hard…

  • chocolate,  farms,  green living,  holiday,  local,  nerdiness

    How I Became a Bacon Snob

    When most people think of the farmer’s market, they think about its midsummer bounty: the fresh cut flowers, the fragrant herbs, the rainbow of summer vegetables. I, too, adore the height of summer. I hoard and preserve tomatoes for sauce, strawberries for baking, and giant vats of pesto for pasta. But last Saturday, during my first trip to the Dane County Winter Farmer’s Market, I realized that some of my favorite market treasures are available year-round. Here’s what I bought last week: Jordanal Farms. This place has turned me into a bacon snob.  No, “bacon snob” is not an oxymoron. If you have ever tasted Jordanal Farms’ nitrate-free, pasture-raised bacon,…

  • farms,  food,  green living,  local,  recipes

    Celebrating Local Farmers

    Yesterday when I checked my mailbox, I saw the winter edition of Edible Madison magazine nestled among the usual holiday ads and credit card applications. I was excited not only to curl up with the magazine and feast on food-related articles, but also to take a peek at the finished product of the feature I wrote about John and Dorothy Priske of Fountain Prairie Inn and Farms. To write the article, I had a great time hanging out with the Priskes on a fall Saturday at the Dane County Farmer’s Market, where they sell grass-fed beef and pork. I also drove out to their beautiful farm in Fall River, Wisconsin,…