Monthly Archives: May 2012

Twelves Grill and What I Did With the Leftovers

May 31, 2012 by rachelocal

There’s no better way to spend an afternoon than gallivanting around the countryside with a friend. That’s just what I did Tuesday with my friend, Natalie. We took to the road to find something good and local, and ended up in West Grove, Pennsylvania at Twelves Grill and Cafe. Twelves is an elegant restaurant housed in a renovated 1883-built bank. You can even reserve space for your own wine in the walk-in brass vault to enjoy when you inevitably make […]

Categories: Recipes, Restaurant, Winter Recipes • Tags: farmer's market, food, life, local, locavore, recipes, restaurants, seasonal, vegetarian

Community Food Drive this Saturday!

May 30, 2012 by rachelocal

For all you locals out there, join my church, Eastpoint, for a Community Food Drive to benefit the Food Bank of Delaware. Close to 242,000 Delawareans turn to emergency food assistance each year. With that in mind, Starbucks in People’s Station (2470 Pulaski Hwy, Newark, DE 19702) kindly agreed to host the event with us. The Starbucks and Eastpoint staffs are gearing up for a big turnout. You can bring your non-perishable food donation directly to the main drop off location at Starbucks (you […]

Categories: Gardening, Random • Tags: Christianit, Food Bank of Delaware, Food drive, life, local, Starbucks

Local Treats + Cows = Somerset Farm

May 28, 2012 by rachelocal

“Who wants a treat?” When my dad uttered these words, my eight-year-old self would fly into a flurry of excitement. A treat meant ice cream. And ice cream meant Peaceful Meadows, a dairy farm in Massachusetts (my homeland). Not only does Peaceful Meadows have amazing ice cream treats, but it also has cows. Lots of them to watch whilst enjoying your Coconut Chocolate Almond Hot Fudge Sundae with extra (and homemade) whipped cream. Nothing better in the world even now […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Local Stores • Tags: food, ice cream, life, local, locavore, memorial day

Until Life is Gentle Again Eat Greens

May 26, 2012 by rachelocal

A few years back I survived a particularly difficult patch of life. As I was going through it, my family and friends encouraged and supported me, endlessly and patiently. I remember one encouraging gift I received from my brother and his wife–a hummingbird candle holder (I love birds of all kinds) and a card. The card was the best part, because on the inside I read these simple words: “Until life is gentle again.” That one phrase filled me with […]

Categories: Gardening, Random, Recipes • Tags: food, gardening, life, local, locavore, spinach

An Award! How Lovely!

May 24, 2012 by rachelocal

The lovely Madame Croquette has nominated me for a One Lovely Blog Award. My first award; I’m thrilled! Thank you, Madame, for honoring my blog as lovely! Funny thing is, often when I’m writing a post I think to myself, “Gosh, I use the word lovely a lot. I need to come up with a different adjective.” Lovely is one of my favorite words, so to be nominated for an award with lovely in the title is, you guessed it. […]

Categories: Random • Tags: Anthony Bourdain, antm, blog awards, blogging, Christianity, food, life, local, Tim Riggins

Strawberry Picking with the Joneses

May 23, 2012 by rachelocal

I promised Cindi Filasky I would be back to pick strawberries, so a few days ago my dear friend Phil and I headed to Middletown. I was beyond excited about this adventure because Phil has two amazing children–Sean, a charming, melt-your-heart-with-his-smile four-year-old, and Sophie, an intoxicatingly darling (and outspoken) two-year-old. Such great ages for the wonders of strawberry picking. Combine their adorableness with the the fact that they speak with a lovely South African accent and your heart could literally […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Farmer's Markets, Local Stores • Tags: Christianity, farmer's market, food, gardening, life, local, locavore, photography, strawberries

Strawberries and More at Filasky’s

May 22, 2012 by rachelocal

I’m tempted to start this post with a Strawberry Fields Forever reference, but I won’t. (Or did I?) Instead, I’ll start by simply saying I love Filasky’s Produce! Located in Middletown on Bunker Hill Road, Filasky’s is more than just a place to buy fresh, local produce, it’s an experience! While driving down the long, gravel road with a strawberry field to the right, you can see the red, red berries peaking out from under their plentiful leaves. The fields […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Farmer's Markets, Local Farms, Local Stores • Tags: farmer's market, food, gardening, life, local, produce stand, strawberries

8 Step Guide to Planting Tomatoes

May 18, 2012 by rachelocal

It seems as if everything’s come full circle for me. If you remember, I started my local experiment due to a mind-blowing cherry tomato from John’s Farmer’s Market. Almost a year later, I find myself in John’s backyard helping him plant those very tomatoes. See, full circle. Here’s how we did it, step by step. Step 1 – Dig Holes. (This is, of course after you’ve tilled your plot and made sure your soil is suitable for planting by checking […]

Categories: Farmer's Markets, Gardening • Tags: food, gardening, life, local, locavore, planting, plants, tomatoes

50 Post Thai Coconut Turkey

May 16, 2012 by rachelocal

Monday I hit a blogging milestone. Fifty posts! In celebration, I decided to cook one of my favorite dishes. Off to the store I went to buy coconut milk and diced tomatoes. Everything else waited for me in the pantry and fridge. I know what you’re thinking. . .coconut milk and store-bought canned tomatoes are NOT LOCAL. This is true. BUT if you notice the countdown on the right, I am not going strictly local for 19 more days. Until […]

Categories: Farmer's Markets, Gardening, Recipes, Spring Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: 50 posts, blogging, coconut, food, life, local, locavore, recipes, turkey

Local Inspiration at Harvest Market

May 14, 2012 by rachelocal

Don’t you just love it when an inspiring shopping trip ends in a lovely meal? The inspiration started with a strawberry. To learn more about Harvest Market in Hockessin, I set up an appointment with April Lea, marketing coordinator for the store. Immediately upon entering her office, April asked, “Would you like a strawberry?” Sitting on her desk was a blue container of beautiful, redder-than-red strawberries. I gladly accepted her offer. “Organic,” she said. “And red all the way through.” The […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Local Farms, Local Stores • Tags: Amish, CSA, GMOs, Harvest Market, life, local, locavore, strawberries

Milestone Dinner, All Local and All Delicious

May 13, 2012 by rachelocal

Friday night my husband and I co-conspired and created a delicious dinner made with local ingredients. Every single thing on our plate was local. And most of it was grown in the backyard (or John’s backyard)! I feel like this is a milestone for me, because I grew some of the food we ate. Walked outside and picked it. This milestone seems even bigger, given the fact that it wasn’t hard to make this meal. Everything was on hand. No […]

Categories: Farmer's Markets, Gardening, Recipes • Tags: food, gardening, local, locavore, radishes

Mini-Garden for Mom

May 10, 2012 by rachelocal

My mom’s a funny one. I received an email from her this week stating, “Don’t buy me anything for Mother’s Day, just give me a radish from your garden.” Last year, she wanted cucumber salad. And the year before that, she said nothing more than a Norah Jones CD was acceptable “in this economy.” I usually listen to my mother, but not when it comes to gift giving. Her shunning of gifts makes me think extra hard about that elusive […]

Categories: Gardening, Local Stores, Random • Tags: container garden, family, food, gardening, life, local, mom, mother's day

Reading Terminal Market, a Not-So-Hidden Gem

May 10, 2012 by rachelocal

I’m from the ‘burbs but lucky enough to live only 30 minutes from Philadelphia. Last Wednesday afternoon, I took my brother to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see Van Gogh Up Close, a gift for his 30th birthday. To work off our delicious lunch, we decided to walk toward the museum and take a cab when we felt like it. After walking through Chinatown and near the bus terminal, we saw Reading Terminal Market quite by accident. What a […]

Categories: Farmer's Markets, Local Stores • Tags: Amish, food, life, local, locavore, philadelphia, reading terminal market, shopping, travel

Rewards

May 7, 2012 by rachelocal

John and I planted about 14 tomato plants today and started on another 14 (this is after John planted about 28 of them by himself). I’ll share this process soon, but for now, check out the gifts John gave me before I left his backyard. I scored three radishes, two spring onions, many beautiful romaine leaves, and a jar of pickled beets canned by John’s wife. Thanks for sharing, Kathy! These gifts remind me of a few Proverbs: Well-spoken words […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Farmer's Markets, Gardening • Tags: Christianity, food, gardening, life, local, locavore, Proverbs

8 Reasons to Shop Local (an Infographic)

May 5, 2012 by rachelocal

Originally posted on A Transparent Life:
You already know that I get excited about local and rural shops, but here is a beautiful graphic worthy of printing and hanging on your fridge or desk or wherever you might look at it, to remind you that while box stores might be convenient, the local store is where it’s at: Let’s start a revolution: pass it on!

Categories: Delaware Farms, Farmer's Markets, Local Farms, Random • Tags: farmer's market, food, life, local, locavore, shopping

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