Author Archives: rachelocal

A Winter Wonderland at Terrain

December 7, 2012 by rachelocal

I’ve heard good things about Terrain, a store and cafe in Glen Mills, PA. My brother raved about the coffee; my sister-in-law sent me iPhone photos of the home decor; a friend ranted about the seasonal offerings in the cafe; and my mom found her bliss in their white Cinderella pumpkins. The husband and I traveled the scenic route through the Delaware and Pennsylvania countryside and arrived at Terrain’s busy parking lot in only 30 minutes. As we walked through […]

Categories: Gardening, Local Stores, Restaurant • Tags: Christmas, food, holiday, life, local, photography, shopping, terrain, urban outfitters

Lunch Ladies vs. Ladies Who Lunch

November 30, 2012 by rachelocal

Yesterday I lunched. Granted, I worked, too, but then I lunched after which I shopped. This day of lunch and leisure ignited a long repressed memory. I was once an actual lunch lady. As a former teacher in a smallish school, I endured lunch duty every other week. A lunch lady is remarkably different from a lady who lunches. Let’s compare and contrast, shall we? A lady who lunches chooses a special restaurant in a cute town center. Lunch is […]

Categories: Restaurant • Tags: children, food, life, local, lunch, school, teachers

Name That Recipe GIVEAWAY – Behold the Winner

November 27, 2012 by rachelocal

The time has come to declare a winner in my first ever Name That Recipe GIVEAWAY contest. I needed a name for my chocolate muffin thingies topped with ganache and served with local pumpkin ice cream, and you all came through splendidly. So splendidly that I had a hard time choosing. I loved them ALL. Here’s a complete list of the contenders… The Devil Made Me Do It Cupcakes Died and Gone to Heaven Cupcakes The Cocoamotion Oh my Ganache! […]

Categories: Giveaways, Recipes • Tags: dessert, food, humor, local, video, vlog

The Obligatory After Thanksgiving Post

November 23, 2012 by rachelocal

Now’s the time for a food blogger to talk about all the inventive ways she’s using her Thanksgiving leftovers. Not me. I’m putting stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce between two dinner rolls and calling a day. I’m a purist. You might be asking yourself, How does she have time to post when there’s shopping to be done and sales to be fought over? Well, Inquisitive Reader, I do not shop on Black Friday. I generally avoid shopping altogether, unless it’s […]

Categories: Random • Tags: blogging, family, food, inspiration, life, local, thanksgiving

Name That Recipe GIVEAWAY

November 21, 2012 by rachelocal

Looking to my blogging mentor Jules (Go Jules Go) I’ve decided to be just like her copy her steal her thunder take her advice and host a giveaway. Since she’s tapped the market on ‘stache glasses, slap bracelets, and even canvas prints, I had to come up with something really clever to give away. I would love to send the inevitable winner a bevy of local products, but since winter squash and old potatoes are all that’s local right now, […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Giveaways, Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: cake, chocolate, food, local, name that recipe

Fall Feast Friendsgiving

November 19, 2012 by rachelocal

A few weeks ago I sent out Fall Feast invitations to some old and new friends. Since I love to cook and fall is my favorite season, I enjoy celebrating by making a huge seasonal dinner. I realized today that what I’ve been calling a “Fall Feast” is really my own version of “Friendsgiving,” which is just like Thanksgiving but with friends, as the name so obviously implies. No turkey at my Friendsgiving, though. This year I put a twist […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Local Stores, Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: beef stew, fall, food, friendsgiving, life, local, thanksgiving

Brews and Blogging: A Pictorial Adventure

November 14, 2012 by rachelocal

Last Saturday, I visited a local brewery with an almost local friend. Jules (famously known for the Blog of all Blogs gojulesgo.com) and I met right here on the blogs, thanks to the wonderful world of WordPress. As fate would have it, we live only one state away and about two hours apart. Besides location, we have a lot in common. We blog. We have husbands. Our favorite movie is Clueless. We don’t save champagne for special occasions. We like to […]

Categories: Breweries • Tags: beer, blogging, drinking, food, friendship, humor, life, wordpress

How a Locavore Gets Through the Winter

November 12, 2012 by rachelocal

As I hack into another winter squash, I’m realizing this locavore business just got real. Winter is almost here. Fall is passing with an ever decreasing selection of fruits and vegetables. My favorite Honeycrisp apples are long gone, and the excitement of fall colors is fading to gray. As I puree another butternut squash or seed another pumpkin, I’m thinking of the juicy burst of a sun-ripened cherry tomato. It’s only pre-Thanksgiving November and way too early to reminisce about […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Recipes, Spring Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: food, local, photography, seasons, soup, thai, vegan, vegetarian, winter

Let’s Taste Some Wine!

November 7, 2012 by rachelocal

Rachel’s Table Local Red Wine Challenge Join me as I blind taste test some local wines from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia! {Disclaimer and Spoiler Alert (watch the riveting video first to see which wine gets my highest rating): Seeing as I could not find a local Zinfandel (this type of vine does not exist in the mid-Atlantic states), I chose to compare the California Zinfandels with simple red table wines. In all fairness to the local wineries, maybe their reds […]

Categories: Random, Video, Wineries • Tags: drinking, food, fresca, humor, local, movember, video, vlog, wine, wine tasting

Amish-Inspired Sweet and Tangy Cabbage with Chicken Sausages

October 31, 2012 by rachelocal

On Thursday of last week, the husband and I headed to the Amish Dutch Country Farmers Market. This is a trip I usually make by myself. I have it down to a science; the entire trip only takes about 50 minutes from start to finish (and it’s a full 15 minutes from my house). But when the husband comes with me, I always get sidetracked. First, we taste every single peanut, almond and dehydrated green bean on display at the […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Farmer's Markets, Recipes • Tags: fall, farmer's market, food, halloween, life, local, Polish, shopping

The Spider Queen Bakes (thanks to the world wide web)

October 28, 2012 by rachelocal

Panic was setting in. I was indecisive and pessimistic about the near future. I was loosing sleep at night, having nightmares of goblins, zombie pirates, and evil queens. I felt as if EVERYTHING was hanging in the balance. Believe it or not, my indecision had nothing to do with politics. This past weekend, my lovely friend Nicole threw a Halloween party at her house. Costumes encouraged, of course. I received the invitation four weeks ago and immediately began planning a […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Random, Recipes • Tags: baking, costume, entertaining, fall, food, halloween, internet, local, pumpkin

How to Create a More Sustainable Delaware (and Pumpkin Pie Pudding)

October 18, 2012 by rachelocal

I am a recent contributor to GreenDelaware magazine, a brand new resource for all things green in the First State. You can find it for FREE at any number of Delaware coffee shops and bookstores. Here’s my first article–about Toby, my CSA farmer. Produce at its Best – LOCAL At Bayberry Farm in Middletown, Toby Hagerott is sustaining Delaware, one crop at a time The first time I met Toby Hagerott, 35, of Bayberry Farm, he was selling produce at […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Fall Recipes, Local Farms, Recipes • Tags: fall, farmer's market, farming, food, green, local, pumpkin, writing

Another Reason to Eat Local

October 12, 2012 by rachelocal

While running some work errands today, I happily listened to Here and Now on National Public Radio. John Lippert, a reporter at Bloomberg Markets magazine, shared his report “Danger on Your Dinner Plate.” I don’t usually like to be a harbinger of gloom and doom, but after discovering how lax food safety regulations are in our country and in other food import countries, I had to share. I learned that 48 million Americans get sick and 3,000 die from food borne […]

Categories: Documentaries • Tags: Bloomberg, food, health, local, locavore, news, NPR

Long Time No Blog

October 11, 2012 by rachelocal

Dear Readers, Please excuse my absence as of late. I have been stricken with some sort of plague. In reality, I came down with bronchitis, a sinus infection and an ear infection, all in one fell swoop. I believe the extra congestion in my head has inhibited my ability to think coherently. Hence, no blogs. I am pleased to say that I guest posted over at Rantings of an Amateur Chef. So head over there to see my recipe for Welcome Back […]

Categories: Random, Recipes • Tags: food, humor, life, local, TV

Fall Photo Montage

September 23, 2012 by rachelocal

In my northeast neck of the woods, everyone’s talking about fall. I noticed fellow bloggers are all abuzz regarding this most glorious of seasons as well. I’m jumping on the fall bandwagon, with hot apple cider in hand, to share a host of photos taken at Filasky’s farm on the first afternoon of autumn. As with all good montages, music is of the utmost importance. So either hum your favorite tune, or play this suggested fall photo montage song (really […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Farmer's Markets, Local Farms • Tags: autumn, fall, farming, food, gardening, life, local, photography