Food & Drink

Get your food processor out. It's that time of year when you might have an abundance of basil and other greens which are perfect for making pesto.

This time of year, it's easy to just let the herbs in your garden go. Maybe you've made enough pesto to feed an army or used all the dill you'll need for pickles. But there are good reasons to stay on top of your annual and perennial herbs. Some can be protected from winter, some brought indoors and you can  collect seeds from others.

Beyond farm-to-table comes the concept of seed-to-service on Echo Farm in Whallonsburg, NY. Dillon Klepetar and Taylor LaFleur, who run the farm, have created something similar to a CSA (community supported agriculture) but on a much larger scale. Their venture is called Farmstead Catering which produces, prepares and serves food for weddings and other special occasions.

You're at crusing altitude on a flight home when, suddenly, nature calls. Not a problem since there's a restroom a few rows away; however, the person in the aisle seat won't get up to let you out!

As the temperatures are cooling and autumn is waiting to be ushered in, there's still a lot to be done in your garden and to your lawn.

That's why gardening expert Charlie Nardozzi is paying Vermont Edition a visit.

Seeing something a little offbeat in Vermont is par for the course. But donkeys delivering eggs? Yup, it's a thing in Montpelier.

I love plants with interesting stories. One example is Eutrochium Purpureum. Don't know it? Well, back in colonial times there was a Native American medicine man who made tea from a certain wild plant to help cure typhoid fever. He saved the colonists and his name then became synonymous with the plant; Joe Pye weed.

In the world of on-line dating, first dates are becoming less formal and, instead, turning into quick meetings over coffee or lunch. With this modern, time-saving way of getting to know someone, the opportunity to have multiple first dates in one day is now an option.

Award-winning chef Seamus Mullen grew up in Vermont and is now the owner of several New York City restaurants. And he says you can eat nutritiously while enjoying outstanding dishes.

This time we're faced with a classic etiquette question: how do you reply when someone wrongly assumes you're pregnant and comments on it publicly?

Traveling and eating out usually go hand in hand. But finding an amazing place to nosh while far from home can be a bit tricky, especially when overseas.

This European native wildflower is in the snapdragon family but you'd never know from its shape and size. It has a tall flower spike, was used medicinally to treat respiratory problems and now has many showy hybrids created by plant breeders. I'm talking about Verbascum.

At one time, it was a quirky thing when a food truck showed up at your office once or twice a week. Then came food truck round-ups and, now, there's an explosion of food trucks along the highways and byways of Vermont. Luckily, Seven Days is helping us keep track of 'em all with the Vermont Food Truck Finder!

An important task for a married couple to get to not long after their big day, is sending out thank-you notes to those who participated, celebrated and gave gifts at the wedding. But how long is too long to mail those cards?

It's been a great fruit season and now's the time to pick the late summer fruits and berries. But how and when you harvest can make all the difference.

The process of maturing or aging cheeses to peak ripeness is traditional in Europe, but a more recently adopted practice in the United States. 

When editor and author Judith Jones died last week at her summer home in Walden, Vermont, she was remembered as someone who forever changed our attitudes toward cooking and food. Jones was working for Alfred A. Knopf publishing when she discovered Julia Child, whose groundbreaking book on French cooking had been rejected by other publishers.

Dinner parties and social events often include the consumption of wine, beer or cocktails. But when you make a decision to cut alcohol out of your life, how do you inform your circle of friends with whom you usually share a few drinks? What do you say if they ask why? And should you make a dinner party host aware of your lifestyle change?

We're at that in-between time in the vegetable garden; spring crops are done and summer ones are coming on strong. But one philosophy I live by is to never leave a bed unplanted!

For those of you too young to remember the dark ages of beer, there was a time when there were no micro-breweries; only national brands, a few local brews, and imports. But now, a new brewery has opened in Vermont since you started reading this.