Tag: food

Hope Floats

December 11, 2013 by rachelocal

Last week was a little intense over here on the blog, so I’m bringing some fun to the table today. In the form of beer. And ice cream. Because no matter how bad life gets or how much stress the day brings, hope floats. And so does ice cream. In a glass of beer. I present to you, faithful readers, the perfect remedy for your winter blues, or better yet, the ideal no-time-to-think-about-it, last-minute dessert for a holiday dinner. Hope […]

Categories: Breweries, Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: beer, Christmas, cocktail, dessert, food, holiday, ice cream, inspiration, life

Wicked Good 90-Second Pie Crust

November 26, 2013 by rachelocal

I’m usually all about slow food, taking my time, cooking with care. But at Thanksgiving, I kick it into high gear, thinking ahead and taking shortcuts to get good food on the table with plenty of time left over to visit with friends and family. Which is why I usually buy pies from the local Amish bakery. But this year, inspiration struck when my dear friend Sarah Sleeper came to visit. When Sleeps got off the plane, she had a […]

Categories: Recipes, Summer Recipes, Video, Winter Recipes • Tags: baking, dessert, food, friendship, local, New England, pies, thanksgiving

Make-Ahead Butternut Squash Soup with Parmesan-Reggiano Croutons

November 24, 2013 by rachelocal

The Thanksgiving frenzy is upon us. This year, I’ll be partaking in Thanksgiving dinner in a yet-to-be-determined restaurant in the Boston area. (Risky, I know, but I like to live on the culinary edge.) Just because I won’t be slaving away in the kitchen doesn’t mean I haven’t thought about Thanksgiving-y foods and made up my own perfect menu in my head. It seems like all Thanksgiving dinners are so sternly rooted in family tradition that it’s hard to change […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Random, Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: butternut squash, dinner, family, food, life, local, thanksgiving, Turkey Day

Six Reasons Katniss Everdeen Makes a Case for Local Eating

November 22, 2013 by rachelocal

Over a year ago, at the very start of this blog, I wrote a little-read post about Katniss Everdeen and how her victory in the Hunger Games could be attributed to a diet of local foods. I thought I’d re-share today, in honor of today’s opening of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I’ll be in the theater tomorrow night with friends, marveling at Jennifer Lawrence and wishing I had my own bow and arrow (and my own Gale). *** “May the […]

Categories: Farmer's Markets • Tags: food, humor, hunting, Katniss, Katniss Everdeen, life, local, locavore, movies, The Hunger Games

Fall Photo Montage at Longwood Gardens

November 12, 2013 by rachelocal

Snow is in the forecast, which means fall is passing by. I thought I’d revel in it a bit more by sharing some photos I took on a recent trip to Longwood Gardens. Spanning over 900 acres of Pennsylvania countryside, Longwood Gardens was once the estate of Pierre DuPont. An avid gardener and agriculturist, Mr. DuPont built the gardens, the conservatories, and preserved the trees on the property, which now stand proud and strong at 200 years old. Given my […]

Categories: Gardening • Tags: fall, food, longwood gardens, pennsylvania, photography, travel

Churrasco de Rachel

November 8, 2013 by rachelocal

‘Tis the season for fall flavors like pumpkin pie with cinnamon and butternut squash with nutmeg. But this is not a post about the bounty of fall. Instead, I’m bringing back the cleaner, simpler flavors of summer. This recipe was inspired by my recent conversation with Barbara Hubbard of Living Bread Ministries and her description of the cuisine in Brazil (see my last post to read more). She said: “…the Gaúcho (cowboy – nickname of those from Rio Grande do Sul) prides […]

Categories: Recipes • Tags: Brazil, churrasco, food, life, local, steak, travel

Blogging for Brazil

November 3, 2013 by rachelocal

Many of you don’t know this about me but I am both a pastor’s wife and a pastor’s daughter (double whammy!). Church, in various forms, has been a part of my life since the dawn of my time here on earth. Currently, I’m part of Eastpoint Community Church which not only serves those that walk through the doors each Sunday, but also reaches out to the nearby community and to the desperately poor around the world. We take our social justice […]

Categories: Random, Restaurant • Tags: bloggers for the poor, blogging, Brazil, Christianity, church, churrascaria, food, life, social justice

Trick or Treat!

October 31, 2013 by rachelocal

I think I’ve been tricked…into eating Doritos. Want to know why I’m looking at this particular Dorito with confusion and dread? And what is resting precariously on that fake-cheese dusted chip? You’ll have to visit my clever friend’s blog, Go Jules Go, to watch the spectacularly spooky and ghoulishly hilarious video. CLICK HERE TO SEE ME MAKE THIS FACE: I understand that Doritos may not be on my locavore diet, but since it’s Halloween, I get a free pass into […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Random • Tags: doritos, food, Go Jules Go, halloween, humor, junk food, trick or treat

Pitcher Full of Fall

October 2, 2013 by rachelocal

The weather cools. Change looms. For me, fall has always been a time of renewal–like my own personal new year. The air feels fresh. Summer’s humidity fades into cobalt blue skies punctuated with layers of bright-white clouds. While this season of newness inspires my senses (particularly my culinary senses), it also quietly heralds a melancholy I can’t quite explain. I think I miss the constant activity of summer, but then realize the shorter daylight hours of winter’s approach are only […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Fall Recipes, Recipes • Tags: apples, autumn, cocktail, fall, food, friends, friendship, life, seasonal, wine

Happy (Avocado) Birthday (Frosting)

September 20, 2013 by rachelocal

When I walked into the kitchen the morning of September 18, four surprises awaited me: 1. Recipes and cookbooks strewn about the kitchen floor, thanks to two ridiculous cats who like to hunt each other. 2. A heart-warming, thoughtful, funny Happy Birthday post from real-life friend and fellow blogger, Jules. (As a belated gift to me, please check it out: Do You Know What Today Is?) 3. This birthday card from Mr. Rache, because we are romantic. 4. And a […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Recipes, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: avocado, birthdays, cake, cats, food, frosting, life, vegetarian

Summer Farewells

September 17, 2013 by rachelocal

Although we had an almost unbearable three day heat-and-humidity wave just last week, this morning the air is crisp and the breeze is cool. Fall is my favorite season, but this year I’m hard-pressed to say goodbye to summer. It could be because this summer was full of travels, good food, and more importantly, people I love. So take a moment with me to say a final farewell to summer, as I subject you to a photo journal of my […]

Categories: Restaurant • Tags: chicago, food, life, local, New England, photography, summer, tennis, travel, vacation

KING of the Food Snobs

September 12, 2013 by rachelocal

A while back, I wrote a post about how I was fearful of becoming a food snob. After boring my friends with talk of grass-fed meat, local eggs, and the evils of Taco Bell, I feared the worst – I was a genuine food snob with elitist views about butter, produce, and even oatmeal. To make myself feel better about my snobbery, I regularly visit an intriguing blog authored by my friend, Sean–Skinny Girls and Mayonnaise. In my opinion, Sean […]

Categories: Guest Posts, Random • Tags: food, food snob, humor, life, local, Sean Colgin, Thomas Keller

An Eggsperimental Breakfast

August 29, 2013 by rachelocal

Weekends are for two things: sleeping and big breakfasts. Well, maybe only for big breakfasts if you have kids. I don’t, so I sleep in and then eat a big breakfast. This past weekend I decided to try a little experiment with my breakfast. I chose two eggs–one was free range, pasture fed, hormone and antibiotic free and bought locally from my farmers market. The other egg was the grocery store brand. Here are the eggs in question: I took […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Farmer's Markets • Tags: bacon, breakfast, eggs, food, labels, local, shopping

Peppermeister Roulette: The Clear Winner and a Spicy Recipe

August 27, 2013 by rachelocal

Remember Peppermeister Roulette 3: Duel to the Death? (If you haven’t watched this fierce, fiery battle, click here and enjoy: PEPPERMEISTER ROULETTE 3.) Before getting down to business with those peppers, Peppermeister and I enjoyed a cocktail while checking out his pepper plants. He grows a wide variety in containers on his patio and deck among the bucolic setting of his backyard. It was all polite exchanges and clever banter outside, but when we took those peppers inside, things got […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Gardening, Recipes, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Video, Winter Recipes • Tags: food, HOT, local, salsa, vegan, vegetarian

Peppermeister Roulette 3: Duel to the Death

August 14, 2013 by rachelocal

Last year, I played the first round of Peppermeister Roulette when the venerable Peppermeister gave me a bag of his colorful, home-grown, organic hot peppers. In February of this year, I played a second round with another gift from Peppermeister – dried peppers. Each time, I proved my pepper prowess. But there was one more pepper I needed to dominate – PEPPERMEISTER HIMSELF. With fire in my eyes, I challenged him to a Peppermeister Roulette duel. Who will win? YOU […]

Categories: Gardening, Video • Tags: challenge, food, HOT, humor, Peppermeister Roulette, vlog