Ashley Meyer

 Eggs have had a tumultuous history in American cuisine. Much maligned in years past by well-meaning health professionals due to their high cholesterol content, eggs are now making a comeback. For years, we were warned against eating foods like eggs that are rich in cholesterol. Now, a large body of research is showing that dietary […]

Bread and I have always had a tenuous relationship. I had dreams of crusty artisan loaves and soft, pillowy rolls, but at a certain point, every attempt produced leaden bricks. It wasn’t until late one night, when I couldn’t sleep and I decided to watch old Baking with Julia Episodes on PBS that I seemed […]

School is back in session and pumpkin spice has started to infiltrate our subconscious, but our local farmers are still out in the fields weeding, watering, harvesting and even planting new crops for fall. The harvest season is in full swing, and every year at this time I revel in the bounty of the peak […]

For centuries people have made cakes to mark special occasions. These confections have evolved from rough, yeast-leavened cakes made by Romans to more elaborate, layered pastries created by 16th-century German bakers, which resembled what is often served today. Since the 1930s when they were introduced, boxed cake mixes have become so prevalent that generations of […]

My mother, amazing cook though she was, did not pack a very good school lunch, at least from a kid perspective. She really didn’t do breakfast at all, and lunch was usually leftovers from dinner the night before. This was in the 80s, before the wonder of celebrity chefs and Food Network-obsessed gourmet kids. I […]

To be clear, I love a good dog as much as the next guy, especially if it’s been locally produced. My favorites are the uncured beef wieners from Stan Shutte at Triple S Farms, and the old-fashioned hot dogs from Dutch Valley Meats in Arthur. And there’s an art to roasting a perfectly golden marshmallow, […]

Kohlrabi is an odd-looking vegetable with an odd-sounding name. Easy to grow and widely available at local farmers markets, this alien-looking vegetable is as versatile as it is weird. A member of the brassica family, kohlrabi has been cultivated in Western Europe since the 16th century, and has its first recorded mention in the United […]

There is not much that I enjoy more than packing a picnic and curling up on a thick blanket to watch a show under the stars. Be it a movie in the park, a concert or community theatre, it’s a lovely way to spend an evening.   Some of my favorite childhood memories of summer […]

Despite the old-fashioned expression, making a pie from scratch intimidates many. It is another culinary skill that has atrophied in our culture over the years, a casualty of convenience and frozen food technology. The saddest part about this is that most folks today clearly have no idea what good pie tastes like. We’ve become so […]

It’s been a busy few weeks. For a while now my daily agenda has felt full to bursting on a regular basis, and I find myself yearning for a little TLC. The healthful surge of energy that accompanied the New Year began to fade about the same time that the flowers (and weeds!) started to […]