Books & bits from small town Vermont
By Randal Smathers Can eating your veggies make you healthier? There's an innovative program in Rutland that aims to show it's a fact. Each Wednesday, 100 bags of locally grown vegetables are handed out by the Health Care Share program to families and residents of senior and assisted living homes whose doctors have prescribed them.… Continue reading Food, from farmers
So on Monday I finally got my American citizenship at a ceremony in Montpelier, so no more green card. It was a nice ceremony. The speech from Judge William Sessions was heartfelt, but it rather missed the point for me and most of my fellow emigres, or at least the ones to whom I spoke.… Continue reading As American as ice cream
An update from my friends with the beef (grass fed, humanely slaughtered and downright delicious from Pawlet, VT. ... The cows came in a little smaller than last year, so they are just $400 per quarter ... cut, wrapped and frozen. Drop me a line and I'll forward your their contacts. I'm a confirmed carnivore, and I… Continue reading Grass-fed Vermont beef
Sure, pizza's a vegetable. After all, the cheese you put on top might be. What? What? Last week I was cooking for a bunch of kids. So, pizza. In the process of emptying the fridge of bags of shredded cheese for the pizzas, I came across a bag of Price Chopper "Low fat" shredded mozzarella.… Continue reading Near-food products
One of the more charming rituals of Old Rutland is bocce at the Italian American Club on Grove Street. The Paramount Theatre has an evening of bocce and a meal for 8 to 24 people as an auction item for its annual Festival of Trees fundraiser. Save the date ... Saturday, Dec. 3 at 6… Continue reading Bocce, even
The Paramount Festival of Trees has auction items donated from Good Commons in Plymouth (a four-course dinner for two with wine pairings and a "Culinary immersion," from Manchester (Up for Breakfast and Northshire Bookstore gift certificates), from Downtown Grocery in Ludlow, from Weston, we have seasons' tickets from the Weston Playhouse, dinner at the Bryant House… Continue reading From our friends around Vermont
The Paramount's Festival of Trees has loads of food-oriented auction items this year ... gift certificates to many of the wonderful eateries in and around Rutland ... the RAFFL / farmers' market gift basket that was such a hit last year ... new this year is a beach house barbeque at Mountain Top Inn for you and… Continue reading For my fellow foodies …
I have friends in Pawlet who keep a few cows and sell the beef by the quarter periodically. The cattle are free-range, grass-fed, humanely slaughtered (not an oxymoron); the beef is excellent. It's $500 for a mixed quarter (so not a front or hind quarter) ... just under 100 pounds, cut, wrapped and frozen. Drop me a… Continue reading Beef available
The latest industrial food atrocity comes from Washington State via apple packager Snokist (full story here). The scariest line from the report? FDA regulations to (sic) allow companies to "recondition" food, but the final product must be free of contamination ... This after Snokist "heat treated" several ginormous bags of moldy applesauce intended for baby food, then… Continue reading Applesauce
From the top: 8:45 AM -- RAHA learn to skate / learn to play hockey program for kids at Spartan Arena. 9:15 AM -- Race-day registration opens for the Halloween 5K put on by city rec. Race time is 10. 10 AM -- The One City One Prompt event, a two-hour shared writing experience, starts at… Continue reading Body and mind Saturday
