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The opinions expressed in these blogs are solely those of the people who wrote them, and do not represent the views of WPSU or Penn State University.

Live Local Music

Introducing the Blue Robot Summer 2013 Writers

Posted by Pat Baxter on 05/23 at 04:56 PM

Blue Robot is back in the game with three new writers ready to tell their stories of music happening here in State College and across America. Meet the new writers who are blogging this summer, and stay tuned for their upcoming articles!

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News

2013 Tour de Corl Street

Posted by Mike D on 05/23 at 03:22 PM

Story by Jessica Paholsky

Corl Street Elementary School Principal Scott Mato organized the second annual Tour de Corl Street to promote health, safety and fun during this year’s National Bike Month. On Wednesday, May 22, the event brought together first to fifth-grade students, their teachers and their families. An avid biker, Mato said he believes community events like this can encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

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Local Food Journey

Fundamentals of Pairing Wine with Food

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/23 at 12:17 PM

In wine and food pairing, the fundamental goal is balance. The flavors found in both the wine and the elements of a dish should be balanced and neither should overpower the other. A well matched pairing should enhance the existing elements of each and ultimately bring out new flavors that are not detected in the wine or food when they stand alone. As a wine educator, the most frequent questions my students always ask how they can make safe pairing choices when they are on their own, either at home or dining out. Here are some basic guidelines that are fairly universal in the world and I find that they are a great place for beginners to dive in and start playing with their pairings.

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Local Food Journey

PASA sows seeds of sustainable, innovative farming practices in Pennsylvania fields

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/20 at 09:58 AM

Article by PASA Staff

Back in the early ‘90s a small gathering of Centre County “kindred spirits” came together around the idea of founding an organization that focused on a variety of sustainable farming practices, addressed issues family farmers faced, and filled a need for those who wanted to support “alternative” agriculture, as some may have called it back then. Through the dedicated efforts of this group (many of whom still live, work, and farm in Centre County), the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) took root over 20 years ago and today continues to flourish throughout Pennsylvania.

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Local Food Journey

LFJ Farm Report: Mud season at Green Heron Farm

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/17 at 09:22 AM

Editor’s Note: The LFJ Farm Report is a sort-of-regular-whenever-I-get-copy series here on Local Food Journey that takes a look at what is happening on area farms. If you would like your farm to get a mention and report on what you have happening, please send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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Local Food Journey

WPSU radio story asks: Can State College support a local food co-op store?

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/15 at 10:39 AM

A few weeks ago, WPSU ran a story by Kate Lao Shaffner during Morning Edition on the new Friends & Farmers organization. We wrote about them back in early April. Their goal is to establish a co-op grocery store with local food here in State College.

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Local Food Journey

Want to become a food blogger? Write for Local Food Journey!

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/14 at 01:58 PM

Hi everyone! We are looking for volunteer writers for Local Food Journey. If you have a passion for local food, the philosophy behind local food, and enjoy writing, then we would love to have you join us as a contributor. This blog has always been about the local food community and having the community contribute to content we believe makes perfect sense.

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Local Food Journey

Elk Creek brewer offers summer beer/food pairings

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/10 at 11:35 AM

Editor’s Note: This is part 1 of a two-part look at summer food and beer pairings with Centre County brewers - today, Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks, and next Friday, Otto’s Pub and Brewery. Traditionally, pairings of food and drink has usually been about wine. But over the last decade or so, as craft beers and ales have become more and more prevalent, beer and food pairings have come to the forefront. Everybody knows how well a nice cold glass of beer goes with wings or burgers, but what about more adventurous pairings? I recently talked to Tim Yarrington, the brewer responsible for the excellent libations that Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks puts out on a regular basis, about some beer food pairings that will make you want to head to Millheim and grab a growler or two.

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Local Food Journey

Finally, someone sets the record straight on what’s “real” Pennsylvania Dutch food

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/08 at 02:05 PM

I grew up in York, PA, which is part of what is considered the most famous of our state’s “Pennsylvania Dutch” country. While York doesn’t attract the throngs of tourists that Lancaster does, Pennsylvania Dutch cooking has had a big influence on the area’s local eating. Because of this, I consider myself a bit of a Pennsylvania Dutch food “purist”—for example, I know that if a book has a recipe for “Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie” and it includes a crust, then it’s not an authentic recipe. So, I was quite thrilled to stumble upon an NPR blog post about a new book by a Pennsylvania Dutch food expert, William Woys Weaver.

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Local Food Journey

Local plant sales offer variety of food and ornamental plants

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/06 at 03:15 PM

Plant sales are a fairly common sight in and around Happy Valley in May. They are a boon for gardeners who want to find unusual or native plants to add to their garden. They are also a good way to keep your garden a more “pure” source of local food, since instead of buying plants that were shipped to a big box store, you buy plants from a local vendor or organization.

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Local Food Journey

Farmer’s market season gets underway in Centre County

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/03 at 01:04 PM

While a few farmer’s markets in central PA operate indoors during the cold months, the warmer weather of May means it’s time for outdoor farmer’s markets. Here’s a general guide to what you can expect at an outdoor farmer’s market.

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Local Food Journey

At the Dinner Table with French Penn State Graduate Student Sandra Rosseau

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/02 at 10:00 AM

Editor’s note: At the Dinner Table is a new series on Local Food Journey. The concept behind this feature is a type of conversation you might have at dinner with a friend. I am sure many of you have talked local food at dinner, while having local food on the table (how meta is that?), so this series will feature members of the local community talking about local food and the role it plays in their lives. This is the first in the series, and in this inaugural At the Dinner Table I talked to Sandra Rosseau, a PhD student at Penn State from France. She came to Penn State in 2007. Her research interests now focus on the roles that humor plays in the context of Franco-Algerian memory. In her free time, she enjoys music, photography, and as you will soon see, cooking.

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Local Food Journey

Stanford student finds connection between local food and building a diverse community

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 05/01 at 11:02 AM

Local food has many benefits, from supporting local businesses to just plain tasting good. But did you know that local food has potential to enhance diversity and improve race relations in the local community? A student from Stanford makes his case on the Huffington Post.

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Local Food Journey

Recipe: Spinach salad with bacon and smoked cheese

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 04/29 at 12:42 PM

I didn’t care how many times Popeye beat Bluto after downing a can of spinach, as a kid I just plain HATED spinach. But as my culinary horizons broadened as I grew up, I quickly learned that spinach didn’t have to be a lifeless splatter of lumpy green on a plate. In fact, spinach has become my favorite salad green, and since it is a spring crop, we are in spinach season here in Central Pennsylvania.

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Local Food Journey

Otto’s spring/summer menu includes food grown in on-site garden

Posted by Jamie Oberdick on 04/25 at 12:37 PM

Otto’s Pub and Brewery finds a lot of what they serve both on the plate and in the pub glass from local vendors, but one source can be best described as hyper-local—a couple of onsite gardens. These onsite gardens may entail some work—when I talked to Pete Herncane, head chef of Otto’s, for this post he had just came in from weeding their garden—but they offer a source of very fresh herbs and vegetables for their local food menu.

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