Tag: life

The Backyard Farmer is BACK!

August 28, 2014 by rachelocal

Two years ago when I started this blog and began researching local food options in my area, I was blessed to meet John. He lives down the road a little ways from my house. For a few blissful seasons, I helped him plant tomatoes, potatoes, asparagus, and strawberries and then harvest those beauties plus many others. His backyard is the equivalent of a small farm–he even has chickens! I’m pleased to say that he is open for business this year after […]

Categories: Delaware Farms, Gardening, Local Farms • Tags: farmer's market, food, Food Bank of Delaware, friendship, gardening, inspiration, life, local, produce stand, summer

Cookies Make Everything Better, Even Taxes

August 13, 2014 by rachelocal

It’s August, so why am I doing taxes? It’s a long, boring story fraught with laziness (on my part) and stupidity (on my former tax “accountant’s” part). Seeing as I needed to get some items settled before a pocket-protector-clad IRS agent knocked on my front door, I asked around for a recommendation for a new and improved tax accountant. Based on a tip from my good friend Tiffany, I headed to Maryland with piles of documents in hand. After three hours […]

Categories: Fall Recipes, Local Stores, Recipes, Restaurant, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: accounting, baking, being a grown up sucks, cookies, dessert, food, friendship, ice cream, life, maryland, taxes

How to Throw a Maryland-Style Crab Feast: A Photo Guide

June 25, 2014 by rachelocal

1. Text friends the following message: “crab feast on Sunday?” 2. Gather friends. 3. Line your table with a double layer of the Sunday paper. 4. Buy Old Bay seasoned, steamed crabs and beer (preferably Maryland brewed Dead Rise Old Bay Summer Ale). Side dishes are incidental. 5. Use a mallet and your hands to get at the meaty goodness. 6. Get the kids involved. 7. Don’t eat the lungs, but do eat the “mustard” (aka, the yellow-colored deliciousness found inside, made […]

Categories: Local Stores, Recipes, Summer Recipes • Tags: beer, crabs, food, friendship, life, local, maryland, photography, summer, traditions

Livin’ for the Weekend Brunch

April 30, 2014 by rachelocal

It’s Thursday, which means the weekend is almost upon us! Nothing feels more glorious than driving away from work on a Friday evening. I usually peel maniacally out of the parking lot with the windows down and music cranked, yelling, “Latah, Suckahs!” Not really. I normally walk casually to my car after having wished my coworkers a “Have a good weekend!” or exchanged the obligatory, “Any plans this weekend?” I may exchange an awkward high five and “Happy Friday!” as well, but that’s […]

Categories: Random, Restaurant • Tags: bacon, breakfast, brunch, coffee, Delaware, food, Lancaster Farm Fresh, life, local, restaurants, weekend

Happy, Hopeful Spring!

April 28, 2014 by rachelocal

I think it’s finally safe to say that Old Man Winter has left us in peace. He’s no longer raging with polar vortexes and hurling plummeting temperatures our way. To celebrate, all the flowers and bugs and birds have come out to play, dancing in the sunlight and breeze. I took some time to celebrate with them at Longwood Gardens, capturing a few particularly happy moments with my camera. The conservatory buzzed with pink, purple, and blue. The nectarine trees, tomato […]

Categories: Gardening • Tags: charlotte bronte, flowers, inspiration, life, local, longwood gardens, nature, photography, spring, travel, tulips

I-Tried-To-Make-It-Vegan-But-Failed Smoky Split Pea Soup

April 7, 2014 by rachelocal

Spring is here. Or so they say. I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t been outside in two days. Currently, my husband and I are quarantined due to two different ailments, both plague-like and incapacitating. My windows are open, so I can see the sun and feel the breeze. The weather seems to be perfectly springlike, but like I said before, I’m stuck inside, sick. And not just oh-I-feel-yucky sick. No, no, no – I’m why-does-it-hurt-to-wear-clothes-and-why-aren’t-there-more-episodes-of-downton-abbey sick. While watching reruns of […]

Categories: Recipes, Spring Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: bacon, Downton Abbey, food, life, local, soup, spring, vegan, vegetarian

Bacon, I’d Never Be Mad at You

March 24, 2014 by rachelocal

Who needs March Madness when Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant offers a weekend of Bacon Madness? But as the title of this post states, I’d never be mad at bacon. Because bacon in its varying forms is everything a savory food indulgence should be: crispy, salty, and riddled with flavor and texture. On Saturday, I indulged in the bacon-themed menu at Iron Hill’s Newark location. Before I show you luscious pork belly and perfect pig wings, let me introduce you […]

Categories: Breweries, Local Stores, Restaurant • Tags: bacon, beer, craft beer, dinner, food, iron hill brewery, life, local, March Madness, restaurants

5 Memorable Foods I Ate as a Kid (And Still Crave)

February 20, 2014 by rachelocal

If you’ve been following this blog for long, you know I like my food local, if possible. I do indulge in the occasional California avocado or Florida orange, but overall, my meat and veggies are locally raised or grown within a 100-mile radius of my front door. This is daunting task for someone that grew up in the 80s eating Captain Crunch and drinking Mountain Dew. Lately, I’ve been dreaming about dipping an Ellio’s frozen pizza in ranch dressing (I […]

Categories: Guest Posts, Random, Video • Tags: 80s nostalgia, 80s TV, Bill Cosby, food, humor, jello, life, local, Mountain Dew, nostalgia, photos, school photos

Valentine’s Day and Afternoon Delight

February 11, 2014 by rachelocal

As a youngster in elementary school, I enjoyed exchanging cards and candy with my friends while eating cupcakes and cheese doodles off heart-shaped plates. But once I grew up, Valentine’s Day seemed all hype and no heart. Take the obligatory Valentine’s Day dinner, for example. I have never felt anything other than pressure in the air while sitting among other couples nibbling on their dimly lit, overpriced five courses. Love has nothing to do with the overblown expectations of elaborately […]

Categories: Breweries, Fall Recipes, Recipes, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: Afternoon Delight, beer, cake, dessert, DPchallenge, food, life, local, love, poetry, relationships, Valentine's Day, wordpress

Snow Day Ramen Noodle and Turkey Dumpling Soup

January 5, 2014 by rachelocal

As a child growing up in snowy New England, I reveled in sledding, snow ball fights, and snow angels. But the best part of snow days was coming in from the cold, peeling off the eighteen layers of tights, sweatpants, t-shirts, sweaters and socks from underneath my enormous, one-piece snow suit, and defrosting with a hot bowl of soup. The soup preceded hot chocolate from a packet–the kind with the teeny tiny dehydrated marshmallows that puffed up and felt slippery […]

Categories: Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: childhood, family, food, life, local, ramen, snow day, soup, winter

One-Word Resolutions

December 29, 2013 by rachelocal

We are in the last days of 2013. I remember vividly the beginning days of 2013. For the first five, I was crumpled up in a tightly wound ball of despair in the middle of my bed. That despair turned to anger and eventually I gave up and succumbed to apathy. My motto for 2013 went something like, “Everyone can suck it.” That theme had many crude variations, just ask my husband and my friends. I don’t need to go into […]

Categories: Essays • Tags: 2014, Christianity, food, inspiration, life, Little Mermaid, New Year, resolutions, The Little Mermaid, words, writing

Church on Christmas Eve

December 24, 2013 by rachelocal

Church has been a substantial part of my life since I was born. I attribute this to being the daughter of a pastor. In keeping with this life-theme, it seems as if every time my husband and I take a vacation or a weekend trip, we end up in a church. Not because we attend a Sunday morning service, but because if we pass by, we are compelled to go inside, especially if the church is beautiful with stained glass […]

Categories: Random • Tags: Christianity, Christmas, church, inspiration, life, local, photography, religion

The Tenderloin of Christmas Past

December 19, 2013 by rachelocal

When I think of my own Christmas Pasts, these images float before my eyes… My older brother and I sit in front of the Christmas tree. He’s smiling and exclaiming while clutching the perfect gift: Atari. I’m mirroring his excitement as I gaze in wonder at the pink box of an Easy Bake Oven. I’m a few years older now and wearing a bright color-blocked skirt layered over puffy black tulle. My feet are clad in the sweetest pair of […]

Categories: Recipes, Winter Recipes • Tags: Christmas, dinner, family, food, friendship, holiday, life, nostalgia, video games

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

The Mask is Off

December 5, 2013 by rachelocal

Earlier this week, I told you a secret. And in the telling, everything changed. I felt the pieces of a long-worn mask slowly fall off, revealing the true me underneath. In a companion piece to the one published on Tuesday, I’m writing about this unmasking and the aftermath of domestic violence over at Black Box Warnings. To all those that took the time to read my story on Tuesday: thank you from the bottom of my heart. You defended me; […]

Categories: Guest Posts, Random • Tags: abuse, black box warnings, domestic violence, inspiration, life, violence against women