What would a local food system look like? Unless really hard times come when we are unable to import anything, we are likely to continue to draw upon distant sources for such things as olive oil, citrus fruit, avocados, pistachios, and high fructose corn syrup (just testing to see if you are paying attention on that last one).

There are two local-food related things that I love about spring time—the first fresh greens of the year and breaking out the grill. While a spring greens salad with a grill burger made from local beef is a nice way to kick off the spring season, I decided yesterday to try to combine greens and grilled meat in one dish.

The premise behind the Volumetrics Diet, created by Dr. Barbara Rolls, is that people like to eat. Her solution is to eat more food that is less dense, like non-starchy vegetables, and to sneak them in to the dishes we’re already eating. Dr. Rolls is a professor of nutritional sciences and the Helen A. Guthrie chair in nutrition at Penn State. She’s creator and author of The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet, a #1 New York Times Bestselling Diet book. Listen to her interview with WPSU’s Patty Satalia.

It’s February. There’s nothing I can really say that’s redeeming about local eating in February in Pennsylvania except that we’re one month closer the return of good local veggies than we were in January. 

Okay, there’s one other thing I can say. It’s a good time for soup, and I love soup. Far and away my favorite soup of all time is a Portuguese chorizo, kale and potato soup. I don’t know where the recipe is from, unless “my mother” is a suitable answer. This soup is flavorful and hearty and a good way to use any potatoes you have put up from last year that are getting all wrinkly and soft. 

Every year, cranberries are the one ingredient that I can’t seem to find a place for. I love them, but can’t bear the sight of that cylindrical slab or goopy sauce. After a myriad of berry-big failures, I’ve vowed to take a lighter, simpler approach: a salad.

Now think harder, what did the turkey look like? It was beautiful, of course, and looked just like your hand that you’d traced and colored in class: a sizeable bird, wild with full plumage and deep natural colors that was just large enough to feed the small village.

So, what’s different?

“I say I’ve been retired since I was 26 because I wake up with the same question as a retired person. What am I going to do today? If I want to watch birds I watch birds, if I want to drink 10 cups of coffee I drink 10 cups of coffee,” Sapia said, lifting his cup.

Thankfully, my mom taught me this salty little secret when I was growing up and it led us to having yearly masterpieces on the porch and in the kitchen. It’s so simple and delicious how the flavors marry to create an Autumn-style sunflower seed.

The best thing about this recipe is that it will work with plenty of other seedy seasonals – in my opinion, most tastefully with butternut squash.

The festival is hosted by the winery each year and features local vendors selling cheese, honey, salsa, pumpkins, and even soap. Many of the vendors in attendance said they have been unaffected by any problems with the economy.

The bell pepper’s quirky shape is a perfectly sweet substitute for the average bowl, and can hold flavors twice as savory as its own.

Try adding a festive kick to your favorite fall dishes with these Spicy Beef Stuffed Peppers.

More than 25 vendors from the Boalsburg Farmers Market supplied produce to the region’s best restaurant chefs, who prepared delicious dishes for guests to sample. The festival was organized to thank community members, customers, and vendors of the market for their support throughout the year.

If you love fall and football as much as I do, check out this simple recipe for a sweet and tangy apple coleslaw that everyone will love. Serve it cold or atop your favorite pulled pork recipe to land an automatic first down every time.

We really need young people to get involved in farming if we want to continue enjoying fresh local food. A little deception is necessary to keep the tradition going, so I avoided talking about the first 15 years on the farm.

Most people think this is the end of the growing season, but for farmers, it’s really the busiest time of year.

Continue reading for some of our favorite apple recipes.

Looking for inspiration? Try this recipe for Baba Ghanoush from Jenna Weber for PBS Food. It makes use of the final eggplant of the season and is delicious as a sandwich spread or an appetizer with crackers and olives. 

I recently caught a re-run episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network. This particular episode was about crunchy food and featured the Indonesian Corn Fritters served with a sweet tangy chili soy sauce from E&O Trading Co. (now known as E&O Asian Kitchen) in San Francisco. They looked and sounded pretty heavenly. Since I don’t have any plans to visit San Francisco in the near future, my next step was to re-create the dish in my own kitchen.

We came to a conclusion—it’s all subjective. When you garden, you go into it with a variety of goals in mind. These might include fresh-grown herbs and veggies, saving money, or just making the yard look prettier. These are the yardsticks to measure a good garden year.

In reality it’s always harvest time on a vegetable farm and August poses a special challenge because after months of ceaseless activity fueled on the previous winter’s lethargy, the farmer has to pull out of some unmentionable orifice the energy and enthusiasm that made spring planting seem so appealing.

People around here often either grew up on a farm or have gardens, and know how carrots grow. Still, I suspect few know the details of growing less common vegetables. Today’s discussion reveals the shocking truth about life in the eggplant patch at harvest.

Submit your recipe today!

August 4th through 7th is Local Foods Week in Centre County, an appropriate time for restaurant goers and chefs to get acquainted. On Tuesday, August 7th, the Boalsburg Farmers Market is sponsoring an event that provides an excellent opportunity to do so.

As we have been saying all season, the crops are coming on early and fast this year. This week we will have an abundance of basil, carrots and cucumbers. It is a great time to make some pesto, as well as freeze some basil for the winter months.

Last week at the Learning Kitchen event, Sc’Eric shared recipes for: Sichuan Carrot Smoothie; Beetnik’s Tonic; Bee Kind Cranberry Sangria; Frozen Punch Mould. Continue reading to see the recipes!

Continue reading for the following recipes: Classic French Salad; Grilled Moroccan Beets with Ginger-Lime Vinaigrette; Salmon Niçoise with Red Pepper Mustard Vinaigrette.

Webster’s disappeared from the State College area for a little while when they had to move from their downtown location, then into and out of another location (where the Callao Cafe is now located!). But they have finally found a perfect space to combine book-browsing and cafe-eating for State College patrons.

Join Sc’eric, Master Cocktailian from Fuji Jade Garden Restaurant, for “Cocktails from the Garden,” and Paul Kendeffy, Executive Chef at Zola’s New World Bistro and The Gamble Mill Restaurant, for “Farm to Fork: Fast and Flavorful.” Find out how to use market fresh ingredients to make cocktails and sangria and learn how to incorporate less common vegetables into everyday meals.

If you missed the first Learning Kitchen event, continue reading for recipes from Mark Johnson and Grace Pilato.

Attendees enjoyed live music, local food and beverage sampling, and an art exhibit presented by the Farmland Preservation Artists.

There were several bikes parked just outside the front door. Evidently, this is a frequent stop of biking townspeople. It makes sense to me. Bike a few miles, burn some calories, stop to fill up that food/drink tank of your stomach, then bike away again. Everyone’s happy!

Johnson, chef at Elk Creek Café + Aleworks, and Pilato, local chef and cooking instructor, demonstrated how to use and prepare products from market vendors like radishes, garlic scapes, beets, and basil.

Share your favorite recipe by July 1st for a chance to win a pound of organic zucchini from our friends at Jade Family Farm.

Mark Johnson, chef at Elk Creek Café, will demonstrate quick pickling techniques for fresh vegetables and methods for brining inexpensive cuts of meat like pork bellies.

Grace Pilato, accomplished chef and cooking instructor, will show how to make a variety of pestos and goat milk ricotta cheese with seasonal herbs.

Continue reading to see recipes for rhubarb sorrel crisp, banana rhubarb pie, rhubarb torte, and more. And check back early next week for our June recipe contest!

It’s a little touch of European cafe-style happiness in the middle of a historic town. It’s the feeling of being involved in the community, and yet, somehow elevating the community … adding something special to the recipe of community. A sprinkle of joy + a dash of delectable delights + sunny sentiment = Welcome to Helena’s!

I know better now, of course. And judging from the (modest) increase in sales of our Jade Family Farm rhubarb, folks in Happy Valley are catching on, too. Now you can find it from several vendors at most local farmers markets – and sometimes in supermarkets. 

Whether you started tomatoes from seed or bought the plants at your favorite garden center or farmer’s market, transplanting them the right way is very important.

While the Pump Station does not memorialize fallen soldiers like the historic attractions surrounding it, the cafe seems to memorialize the long-lost time of gathering by the gas station for a chat with neighbors and friends. This place has a happy sort of nostalgia. A little gas station/garage that used to shelter cars in need of repair now takes a turn as a place for human refueling, refreshing, and restoration. Massive windows encourage the sunlight to flood in, which we all know gives us necessary vitamin D and improves our moods!

So in we went.