Lest we forget: a visual ode to the invisible faces of farm-to-table
Sustainable, mixed-use, fresh, local, seasonal, sustainable, organic, value, community, nutrition . . . any litany of adjectives describing the farm-to-table concept seems to leave out an essential element: the human one. Because food doesn’t actually come from...
Calf nursing by the lake (everything eats)
We squeezed in one last late-summer day at Lake San Antonio this week, slowly cruising the perimeter in a rented ski boat. School is back in session and the lake was empty; better for the animals who call the lake home. In the course of an afternoon we saw the...Fair food and plenty of it
I’m excited and VERY happy to introduce you to my guest blogger, friend and novelist Laura Benedict. Laura and I met in St. Louis many years ago and have fortunately maintained a long-distance friendship via phone and Facetime, chatting regularly about our...
First pick of home-grown blackberries
My neighborhood doesn’t have sidewalks, so that awkward strip of land between property line and county-maintained street is a landscape free-for-all, a curb value coda. A few neighbors fill the space with asphalt. Others plant prim mounds of multicolored...
Butterfly snacking on a flower (everything eats)
Nearly 500 feet above sea level on a sweltering Big Sur summer afternoon, a swallowtail butterfly dips its slender, curved proboscis into the sweet nectar of a purple lantana. So lovely and wonderful.
Biking the Silver Strand
I’d heard there was biking on Coronado. I took this as a personal challenge; there’s nothing more I love than than wandering down a new street or trail. There’s a thrill of discovery in experiencing a new piece of the world first-hand, the...
Food for the soul
Seen on my lunchtime walk at the beach: a yellow school bus parked next to a red fire truck, bus driver and firefighters all perched on the low storm wall, alternately sipping coffee, crunching apples, rummaging through coolers, watching the water, waiting for us to...
Who figured out a beaver’s behind tastes like raspberry?
This is not urban myth: castoreum, the product of the anal glands of the beaver, is used in some food products with the FDA’s blessing. Here’s the lowdown.
From French Chef to Fat Chef in fifty years
Fifty years ago Julia Child celebrated butter and cream, teaching us how to craft soufflés and beef Wellington on The French Chef. When her show was originally on the air, the average weight of an adult woman then was 140 pounds. In 1997 the International Federation...Is making dinner getting boring? How about glowing sushi?
I know a few things about zebrafish, much of it from writing Animalfish Alphabet. I know that they are small, non-aggressive, inexpensive aquarium fish. They are native to Southeast Asian rivers and streams. They easy to breed and produce transparent embryos, so...
Algae burger on rye, anyone?
You will probably never deliberately order an algae burger on rye, a bean-and-algae burrito, or an algae caesar salad. But a day will eventually come when you will be inadvertently making algae a part of your diet: How can this be, you wonder? Start by enjoying this...Welcome to my skillet!
I'm Maggie, a food-loving, curiosity-seeking, nature-loving mom. I'm here serving up bite-sized recipes, raves, and reviews about food and family, food and culture, food and the environment, and food and travel. Thanks for stopping by!