Generally, there are three types of people: Those who won’t eat cranberry sauce at all. Those who like it cooked and gelatinous. And those who prefer their sauce raw. I fall firmly into the raw camp. It is simply not a Thanksgiving meal without that tart, sweet, fresh, palate-cleansing, and gorgeously magenta blob of cranberry […]
Organic Food

The Cranberry Sauce Controversy (with Poll and Recipe!)

How to Find and Cook an Organic Turkey
As Barbra Kingsolver writes so charmingly in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, turkey farming is a brutal business—unless you can find an organic, preferably small-farm, source. My mother raises turkeys every year on her farm, and the birds are surprisingly sociable, friendly, and enjoyable to watch. It almost makes me feel bad about eating them. But then […]

‘Tis the Season for Hot Apple Cider
Actually, the season is almost over. That’s why we have to enjoy every second left of apple season, and with it, apple cider both cold and hot. Here in Pennsylvania the leaves have already fallen, and the frost has killed off everything in the garden except for the kale, garlic, and celery (which, honestly, I […]

The End of Farmer’s Market Season…Waaaaaaah!
November is here, and the last farmer’s market of the season in Emmaus is on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This week things are already winding down. The vendors are thinning out, and the crowds are filled with hard-core regulars rather than the summertime occasional shoppers. In the few short years that this market has been […]

Recipe: Chicken and Gravy in 15 Minutes
The other day I was in a four-hour meeting in New York City. Sometimes in New York, no matter where you are, you can smell food cooking from a restaurant or apartment somewhere. Well, all during that four-hour meeting I smelled chicken and gravy. It didn’t stop me from paying attention (it was a very […]

Recipe: Carrot Salad (When There’s Nothing Else in the Fridge)
Sometimes you just need a fresh vegetable accompaniment to a meal, and the refrigerator is either empty or pathetically filled with rotting, shriveled produce (yes, even my fridge can look like that!). Usually, all that’s left standing at that point are the carrots. That’s exactly what happened last week, so I decided to whip up […]

Recipe: It’s Applesauce Season
Right now is the perfect time to head to a farmer’s market or orchard and buy lots and lots of apples. Sure, you can make pie with them, but applesauce is healthier, easier to freeze, and yummiful. Plus, it’s really easy to make. My kids love it. I love it, too—especially with plain Greek yogurt […]

Buttery Biscuits in a Snap!
Did you ever make something good to eat—like a nice pot of soup—and realize that you were out of bread, or even worse, out of good bread? I adapted this superbuttery drop biscuit recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and it never fails to please. The best thing about these biscuits is they are superquick […]
Scratch
Raised on America’s first organic farm, Scratch author Maria Rodale learned how to make everyday favorites from, yes, scratch — the way you remember them; the way they turn out best.
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Organic Manifesto
Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment.
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