Food & Drink

No meal says the Fourth of July quite like a picnic. Spreading out a well-worn blanket on a patch of green grass and dining on cold fried chicken is as much of a time-honored tradition as fireworks and cherry pie. As the season for the ultimate in outdoor dining jumps into high gear next holiday […]

“Would you like to try some pecans this morning?” “Six pecans a day will lower stress.” “Pecans will keep for two years or more in the freezer.” These comments–cheerily addressed to strolling shoppers at the downtown farmer’s market–are the calling cards of Karen and Norma Voss, sisters-in-law who sport matching pink cotton shirts. Behind a […]

Key lime pie was born on a string of rocky islands, where the sounds of waves mingle with the rustle of palm fronds. With its sweet-and-sour flavor, the pie captures the magical mixtures of the tropics–and if you’re 1,500 miles away from the Florida Keys, a bite of key lime pie can bring you a […]

When I was growing up, as soon as school was out for the summer, my mother and I would head for our neighbor’s farm to pick strawberries in the early morning hours. I remember scouting for the reddest, juiciest berries, like prize jewels hidden among the dainty white flowers and green leaves of the plants. […]

It’s a frigid January day, but inside Big Mike’s Prize Winning Chili the air is warm and filled with the aroma of spices. Owner Mike Butchek is behind the stove, stirring a large pot of his secret recipe, taking an occasional break to sit down and chat with customers and enjoy a cigarette. The place […]

Funk’s Grove Sirup Camp is tucked in a grove of towering trees just off a quiet stretch of old Route 66 near Bloomington. At the end of a curved dirt lane sits a modest shingled home and a low-slung brown sap house, which spouts large clouds of steam during the late winter production season. Ancient […]

Twice a week Rosemary Garrett carefully loads about 500 pounds of her freshly picked tomatoes into 20-pound containers and drives them from her home in Chambersburg to Springfield. Garrett is just one of 36 Illinois growers who will be selling produce at the Old Capitol Farmers Market every Wednesday and Saturday from now until October […]

Dottie Washington faced a dilemma. She had dined on a barbecued rib sandwich, tasted a turkey leg, and enjoyed a cheese-filled puff pastry. She had her eye on a chicken burrito that looked too tantalizing to pass up, and yet she hadn’t reached the tables piled high with pizza pies, cheesecake, ice cream, and pasta […]

Nothing says Valentine’s Day quite like chocolate. Rob Flesher knows why. “It’s the food of love,” says the co-owner and sales manager of Pease’s Candy Shops. “There’s a chemical in the chocolate that’s been proven to be an aphrodisiac.” That chemical is phenylethylamine, a substance supposedly produced in the brains of people who are in […]

You could say Dan Heffelmire likes corn. “That’s his life,” says his wife, Connie. “It’s his passion and obsession. He’s out there in the summer trying to create hybrids and hand-breeding corn for the future. His life has revolved around corn. He would do this job if he didn’t get paid.” The Pleasant Plains couple […]

Genda Freeman leads a group of eight people through Schnuck’s supermarket, pointing out an obvious fact of life: if you want to be healthy, you have to focus on fruits and vegetables, not candy and chips. Freeman, a clinical dietitian at St. John’s Hospital, explains how to read nutritional labels on cereal boxes and blocks […]