A simple mascarpone tart topped with heirloom figs and peaches collected from the orchards of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. This post is sponsored by Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in support of the Heritage Harvest Festival. Click here for festival details. Jump to recipe. [Read more…]
hill & holler at blenheim vineyards library series dinner
On a luminous April afternoon, Brian and I took the winding country roads out of town to the Hill and Holler at Blenheim Vineyards Library Series Dinner. Hill and Holler, a Charlottesville dinner event company, puts on dinners at local farms with an ever-changing roster of local chefs. It’s the brainchild of Tracey Love, who is also the head of sales at Blenheim Vineyards, which was a partner for the April event. Arriving early, we had a chance to wander, explore, and take in the sweeping vistas of the historic Blenheim property. [Read more…]
sage gold rush cocktails
Sage-infused honey syrup lends a subtle smokiness to this gold rush cocktail recipe.
bold rock cider tour + weekend links
A few weeks back, I took a press tour of Bold Rock Cider. Our group of journalists, writers, and bloggers visited the Bold Rock cidery, tasted some of their offerings, and met John Washburn and Brian Shanks of Bold Rock, as well as Virginia Secretary of Agriculture Todd Haymore who was there to kick off Virginia cider week. Agriculture is Virginia’s largest industry by a mile and it’s crucial to the state’s future, so it was great to hear Secretary Haymore discuss his stewardship of the state’s agriculture. The focus of the evening, of course, was Virginia apples, so a host of growers and cider producers were also in attendance. [Read more…]
meet yer eats farm tour, charlottesville
I’ve come to think of learning about seasonal food from the comfort of a Brooklyn address as akin to being a teenager, when you’re the all-knowing king of the teensiest sliver of actual life. The teenage world is prescribed; their intricate social customs and language have little bearing on the world at large. In your heart, you feel like you’ve figured it all out, but have yet to consider all the things you don’t know, with the compromise and complexity of adult life only a distant possibility. For better or worse, to be teenaged is to exist in a bubble.
In the same way, I thought I knew a lot about local food when I lived in New York City. [Read more…]