Author Archives: Virtual Farmgirl

Scanning my farm mail, this nugget from the Center for Rural Affairs newsletter jumped out at me. In late October, Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture organized a “Matchmaker” event to encourage better relationships between farmers and buyers. The event was set up speed-dating style, with farmers meeting with buyers for supermarkets, restaurants and food co-ops. CRAContinue reading “'Speed Dating' for Farm Product Buyers & Sellers”

In honor of our favorite Patron Saint of Children, 4H Champ and family host a wonderful gathering. This time we were treated with the presence of the iFarmer’s Twin and another lovely couple. My luck, one of the guests is a purchaser for a pork plant in Chicago. I could have picked his brain allContinue reading “Happy Saint Nicholas Day!”

It’s unnatural how happy I am that tomorrow is the grand opening of a Trader Joe’s in Oak Park. Trader Joe’s is really just a step up from Aldi (same family anyway). But I do so love their three-layer hummus. And their frozen food section keeps our freezer well stocked with tasty last-minute meals. AndContinue reading “Woo Hoo…We're Getting a Trader Joe's”

It was super cool to download my digital edition of Small Town Living and see, smack dab in the middle of the publication, a story about the Alpaca Farm Girl Katie Spears. Check it out. Katie tells the story of how she first started thinking about raising these fuzzy creatures when her child got aContinue reading “Farmgirl Katie's Alpaca Adventure”

I think we managed to pick out our best tree ever. It’s a beautiful spruce from a tree farm in Spalding, Mich., which is practically Canada. Not exactly local. Oh well. We hauled it in from the sleet this afternoon, let it dry out a bit, then decorated it this evening. It’s the first timeContinue reading “It's Not a Village Without a Newspaper”

I don’t like turkey. I’ll eat it, but I don’t particularly care for it. I’ve even made it before and am getting better at seasoning the bird. I mainly endure it during the holidays when it’s served, then dream up as many ways of doing leftovers that I can think of to drown out theContinue reading “I Have a TXG Confession…”

If truck and plane deliveries ceased, Los Angeles would run out of food in just three days. On the flip side, if the Detroit area got just 20 percent of its fresh food from local sources, it would create 40,000 jobs. Wow. This according to a piece in Project for Public Spaces. I certainly agreeContinue reading “Here's a Disturbing Thought…”

Cast iron is the most awesome cookware. And the best part? There is no way I’m going to bust up this pie dish. After breaking at least three glass and ceramic pie plates and either losing or damaging my supposedly sturdy metal ones over the last five years, I hesitated to drop any more cash.Continue reading “Who Needs Fine Crafted Ceramic When You Have Cast Iron?”

Finally have my feet up after two days of running around, grocery shopping and menu planning. It’s really not so much menu planning as it is food transport since we’ll be at three pitch-in Thanksgiving meals in as many days. I pretty much have it all scheduled out, ingredients purchased and travel dishes at theContinue reading “Warming the Kitchen Up for the Holidays”